MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[joehakes]

Please don't mistake me for someone with the tiniest amount of interest in this or any Super Bowl...

...but Armywife's mention that the Bears were in the Super Bowl in 1985 made me wonder if Prince and Billy Joel were as passe then as they are now.  Maybe next year they can get Up With People and the Ink Spots for the halftime show. 

I just hope Billy doesn't accidentally dislodge any of Prince's clothing...

David,

The Up with People reference will be lost on many people, but that's one of the funniest comments I've heard on this Super Bowl.  The halftime stuff is the biggest gripe I have with this game each year.  Pretty soon it will be long enough for the players to go home, have a meal and a nap and then come back for the second half.

Another great thing about DIII, no really long halftimes.

[dansand]

The halftime stuff is the biggest gripe I have with this game each year.  Pretty soon it will be long enough for the players to go home, have a meal and a nap and then come back for the second half.

A big Amen to that! I'd also include the two week layoff, which just gives the media an extra week to focus on pointless minutiae and re-hash told and re-told human interest angles.

[Titan Q]

AndOne, I tried to "quote" your post inquiring into the crowd at the IWU-NCC game but I accidentally deleted it.  I apologize.

The 1800 figure was very fair.  I guessed 2000 on the air, so if anything I thought the official total was a little low.  In any event, I thought it was a nice crowd for a Wednesday for 1-6 vs 3-4.

I believe you said, "I thought there were always 2600 at the Shirk."  Last year IWU averaged 2470...that number is of course made up of some games with about 2000 and others with about 2800.  Now, of course a team isn't going to draw as well at 1-6 in the CCIW as it does as a Top 10 team.  The regulars are still there and in their usual seats (and the student crowd was good vs NCC), but in a season like this  you lose the casual Bloomington-Normal basketball fan with no ties to IWU.  During good seasons, IWU is fortunate to have a ton of those types.

I believe you also questioned whether or not the place holds 2600.  There are exactly 2600 seats in the Shirk Center -- that's the number of seats they sell for NCAA tournament games (assigned seating).  And of course there is all that standing space along the railing, which is where any amount over 2600 comes from....

http://www.iwuhoops.com/south1.jpg

There should be a very good crowd tonight for the Elmhurst game.  Illinois State hosts rival Bradley down the street at Redbird Arena at the same time.  ISU is honoring Doug Collins by naming the court after him, so about 9000 expected tonight at that one....

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/02/03/sports/doc45c3efede9d62193624030.txt

Anytime ISU plays, IWU losses about 200 crossover fans it seems, but I'd guess 2400 or so tonight at the Shirk Center. 


http://www.ncaa.org/stats/m_basketball/attendance/2006_basketball_attend.pdf

[AndOne]

Q----

Thanks for the Shirk attendance info.
Shame, shame for deleting my post. I won't give you a -1 like a lot of people on here would because I know it was accidental.
I will also bow to your familiarity with Shirk as far as the figure of 1800 for Wednesday's game.
The one thing I am still surprised by is the fact that some of the Student Sections were the least populated. I'm sure this year's Wesleyan record accounts for that.

I talked to a couple of people at a high school game last night who are going to the Bradley-ISU game so I expect your estimate of a large crowd there is true. A friend of mine who has a daughter who is a junior at Elmhurst told me the daughter and several of her friends would be at the IWU-EC game tonight so your attendance will prob be good.

For the NCC game Wed----were you wearing a white shirt and seated at the end of
a table on the balcony on the opposite side from the players benches?

[Titan Q]

For the NCC game Wed----were you wearing a white shirt and seated at the end of
a table on the balcony on the opposite side from the players benches?

Yes.

[Pat Coleman]

AndOne, I tried to "quote" your post inquiring into the crowd at the IWU-NCC game but I accidentally deleted it.  I apologize.

Heh, a Freudian slip, so to speak.

[armywife]

Are any of the Augie posters going to Carthage for this game and if so, will you be updating the board? Anyone want to pick a winner and a score? I haven't been following Carthage very closely this year, but they have always been tough to beat on their own floor.

It's hard to believe that the season is almost over. It all went really fast this year for some reason. Thanks to all of you CCIW experts for keeping the rest of us on top of what has been happening.

[AndOne]

For the NCC game Wed----were you wearing a white shirt and seated at the end of
a table on the balcony on the opposite side from the players benches?

Yes.

I thought that may have been you. You did well---I counted only 3 times that you fell off your stool during the game! 

My above post to you must have riled up somebody--I lost 2 points since then. I know you didn't mean to delete my original post. I didn't even know you could delete somebopdy else's post. Hmmmmmm......................

[79jaybird]

Good luck to all tonight.  Perhaps Elmhurst can break that dominant record that IWU has at home vs. EC.  I think a real key for Elmhurst tonight are 2 things A) Getting off to a good start, which has been a problem of late.  They don't find their rhythm until the latter portions of the first half, and that has caused problems. B) Turnovers and "no brainers" as my coach used to call them.  It's no secret that Elmhurst has given the ball away too many times.  That's tough to overcome at home, and even moreso on the road. 
For IWU, it cannot be the Zach Freeman vs. ____ show again.  The Titans need everybody on the court to contribute.  I think this is going to be a much tougher IWU team Elmhurst is going to face tonight, than what was present at our house a few weeks ago.

[diehardfan]

I'm going to ask this in what is probably a vain hope that anyone will do anything about it, but I have to try anyway. I would really love and appreciate periodic score updates if anyone is listening to the North Park @ Wheaton game. Thanks!

Links at www.wetn.org for Audio and video.

[79jaybird]

EC 17 IWU 8 15:00 to go 1st half

EC 8-0 run to open up the game.  From the radio, sounds like there is a good contingent of EC fans at the Shirk.  Perhaps we will get our first W in Bloomington?

[79jaybird]

EC 41
IWU 27  half

[Gotberg]

I'm going to ask this in what is probably a vain hope that anyone will do anything about it, but I have to try anyway. I would really love and appreciate periodic score updates if anyone is listening to the North Park @ Wheaton game. Thanks!

Links at www.wetn.org for Audio and video.

I love listening to the Wheaton announcers - they're so bad they're good

[dansand]

Disappointing news from Kenosha as Augie loses 66-56. They're still in pretty good shape with a game-and-a-half lead and three of their last four at home. They'll need to put this one behind them and get ready for Wheaton on Wednesday.

Apparently Nate Swetalla suffered a knee injury, hopefully not serious. In any case, not good news.

[79jaybird]

Another interesting night in the CCIW.  I knew Augie was going to fall in 1 of their 2 road trips this week.  (I just picked the wrong game.  )
I hope Nate Swetalla's injury is just a minor case, and he is back on the court Wednesday. 
First Elmhurst win in Bloomington in 19 years.  I would guess this is also the first time Elmhurst has swept the season series vs. IWU?

Good points:

1) Fast start  8-0 run really took the crowd out of the game and established some momentum, that was non-existent vs. Millikin
2) Points in the paint-  Moreso to Nick Michael, as Ruch was kept relatively quiet on the offensive front.  Defensively, Ruch was grabbing boards and a big presence.
3) Not as many turnovers and "miscues"

Still have to watch:

1) Closing out the halfs quietly.   Even though this game was for the most part, a 12 point affair,  Elmhurst allowed IWU to creep back late in the half.  Finish strong.
2) While the turnovers were down, EC still had some fouls and IWU was in the double-bonus for a lengthy time period.

All in all, a solid road win against the always tough IWU at Shirk Center.