MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Greg--

I realize that as a city dweller you may not be the owner of vehicle, but if you are, Naperville will allow it within the city confines for a small fee. However, a parking space, either on campus, or in the vicinity, might be a problem. If you do drop in, make sure to take a tour of the new residence hall-recreation center which is immediately west of the hanger.

I'm Mr. Public Transportation. That's how I roll. I can make that walk down Brainerd Street from the train station to the airplane hangar with my eyes closed.

[AndOne]

Top 15 (16 actually) returning scorers (CCIW-only stats):

(school year noted is for this coming season)

1. Steve Djurickovic (JR), 6-3 G (Carthage) - 25.4
2. Roshawn Russell (SO), 5-10 G (North Park) - 14.4
3. Nick Williams (SR), 6-5 F (North Park) - 13.5
4. Doug Sexauer (JR), 6-7 F (IWU) - 13.4
5. Ben Panner (SR), 6-3 G (Wheaton) - 12.6
6. Sean Fendley (SR), 6-1 G (Carthage) - 12.1
7. Travis Rosenkranz (JR), 6-0 G (IWU) - 11.1
8. Sean Johnson (JR), 6-1 G (IWU) - 10.6
8. Joscar Demby (SR), 6-7 F (Millikin) - 10.6
10. Tim McCrary (SO), 6-6 F (Wheaton) - 10.1
11. Reid Barringer (SR), 6-0 G (NCC) - 10.0
12. Chris Childs (SR), 6-2 G (Elmhurst) - 9.9
12. Phil Schniedermeier (JR), 6-7 C (North Park), – 9.9
14. John Koschnitzky (SO), 6-6 F (IWU) - 9.4
15. Jordan Zimmer (SO), 6-5 G (IWU) - 8.8
15. D.J. Cooper (SO), 6-0 G (North Park) - 8.8

With several good "bigs" no longer in the picture, year of the guard in the CCIW?

[Gregory Sager]

With several good "bigs" no longer in the picture, year of the guard in the CCIW?

Bigs always seem to emerge. Nevertheless, I'm hoping that it will be an off-year for CCIW centers, since NPU has Schniedermeier and an improving backup in Crosby, and thus stands to gain from a lack of good competition in the low post.

I think that the more interesting question is how far down the league will be overall as compared to last season. The class of '09 was outstanding -- it contained five of the league's top six scorers and four of its top five rebounders, and it included two of the best players in the country at their respective positions (Kent Raymond and Brent Ruch) plus a couple of All-Region picks (Andy Wiele and Chris Drennan). The class of '10 appears to be really weak by CCIW standards; only five of the top twenty scorers and two of the top ten rebounders from last season will be seniors in 2009-10. Only four members of that class were All-CCIW players last year, none of them first-teamers.

As a rule of thumb, seniors dictate the comparative strength of a league, as gauged against itself from year to year. The indicators seem to show that 2009-10 will be a down year for the CCIW, although it'd be hard to not drop off at least somewhat from last season's all-time non-con best of .793. The question is whether enough talented players who were either stuck behind, or deferred to, last year's seniors can emerge enough to offset those indicators.

[Warren Thompson]

Greg--

I realize that as a city dweller you may not be the owner of vehicle, but if you are, Naperville will allow it within the city confines for a small fee. However, a parking space, either on campus, or in the vicinity, might be a problem. If you do drop in, make sure to take a tour of the new residence hall-recreation center which is immediately west of the hanger.

I'm Mr. Public Transportation. That's how I roll. I can make that walk down Brainerd Street from the train station to the airplane hangar with my eyes closed.

Greg:

I'm happy you use public transport. Would that more folks would.  Why drive when you can let someone else operate a bus or an AMTRAK or an "L" train?

Now if only Chicago would bring back streetcars/light rail vehicles. (For some reason, now lost in the mist of time, I was in Chicago in 1958 on the day when the last streetcars ran their routes.)

[Gregory Sager]

Streetcars or light rail would be absolutely chaotic in modern-day Chicago streets. Managing traffic flow in the streets of this city is hard enough as it is, even if you factor out the relative inattention of the modern cell-phone-laden driver. (I speak from bitter experience as a pedestrian and bicyclist.) But expanding the current rapid transit rail and commuter rail lines is something that Chicagoland drastically needs. The CTA el and the Metra rail system need more lines; more trains going to more areas of the city and suburbs would mean fewer cars on the road.

The CTA bus system and the Pace (suburban) bus system are pretty good, although budget cutbacks have kept both systems from covering all the areas of the city and suburbs that they ought to reach. However, those diesel engines really belch out a lot of fumes. The newer models are much more environmentally friendly, but, again due to budget cutbacks, the CTA and Pace bus fleets aren't being converted to newer models as quickly as they ought to be.

I'm not a fan of Mayor Daley, but one thing I'll say on his behalf is that this city has gotten much more bike-friendly during his administration.

[robertgoulet]

CCIW basketball alumni related post:

Former NCC players' (Bill Stang, Mike Kulbeda, and Vince Perillo) band "The Lady Upstairs" is opening for multi-platinum alternative-rock band Lifehouse at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in the inaugural outdoor concert in the football stadium on July 26th.

That's one tall band.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=308618

[Titan Q]

No athletics tie whatsoever to this NY Times article, other than IWU Dean of Admissions Tony Bankston being quoted.  Tony has come a long way since his posting days here as "Chucker"...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/education/edlife/26guidance-t.html?pagewanted=1&%2339&%2359&_r=2&sq=Lynn%20O&st=cse&%2359;Shaughnessy&scp=4


I can't confirm whether or not Dean Bankston is still a noonball chucker.  Last I heard his skills were quickly diminishing.

[John Gleich]

Streetcars or light rail would be absolutely chaotic in modern-day Chicago streets. Managing traffic flow in the streets of this city is hard enough as it is, even if you factor out the relative inattention of the modern cell-phone-laden driver. (I speak from bitter experience as a pedestrian and bicyclist.) But expanding the current rapid transit rail and commuter rail lines is something that Chicagoland drastically needs. The CTA el and the Metra rail system need more lines; more trains going to more areas of the city and suburbs would mean fewer cars on the road.

I think a streetcar line from the train stations to Michigan Ave, the Museum Campus, and Navy Pier would be used very much and be very useful for Chicago.  They used to run the free trolleys as recent as last year but have nixed them due to lack of funding (gotta wonder what they're doing with all that sales tax/parking meter/Chicago Skyway money!).  It obviously wouldn't pay to have them everywhere like they used to (far before my time, but I've read about Chicago's largest-in-the-world system of streetcars), but high traffic areas would definitely benefit from a streetcar, IMO.

[Gregory Sager]

Streetcars or light rail would be absolutely chaotic in modern-day Chicago streets. Managing traffic flow in the streets of this city is hard enough as it is, even if you factor out the relative inattention of the modern cell-phone-laden driver. (I speak from bitter experience as a pedestrian and bicyclist.) But expanding the current rapid transit rail and commuter rail lines is something that Chicagoland drastically needs. The CTA el and the Metra rail system need more lines; more trains going to more areas of the city and suburbs would mean fewer cars on the road.

I think a streetcar line from the train stations to Michigan Ave, the Museum Campus, and Navy Pier would be used very much and be very useful for Chicago.  They used to run the free trolleys as recent as last year but have nixed them due to lack of funding (gotta wonder what they're doing with all that sales tax/parking meter/Chicago Skyway money!).  It obviously wouldn't pay to have them everywhere like they used to (far before my time, but I've read about Chicago's largest-in-the-world system of streetcars), but high traffic areas would definitely benefit from a streetcar, IMO.

I just don't see the already-clogged streets of the Loop and Near North being further congested by slow-moving streetcars, to say nothing of the chaos that would be created by installing overhead electrical lines. The best solutions for the traffic problems in downtown Chicago are: a) more tourist-oriented buses (which is what those "trolleys" were; they were actually buses that looked like trolleys, and, you're right, they should've never been nixed; and b) an expanded subway network that would integrate the three transportation nexuses across the river from the Loop (Ogilvie Trans. Ctr., Union Station, and the Greyhound bus depot), Navy Pier, and Michigan Avenue (including the Mag Mile and the Museum Campus / Soldier Field area) into the current el system.

[petemcb]

Streetcars or light rail would be absolutely chaotic in modern-day Chicago streets. Managing traffic flow in the streets of this city is hard enough as it is, even if you factor out the relative inattention of the modern cell-phone-laden driver. (I speak from bitter experience as a pedestrian and bicyclist.) But expanding the current rapid transit rail and commuter rail lines is something that Chicagoland drastically needs. The CTA el and the Metra rail system need more lines; more trains going to more areas of the city and suburbs would mean fewer cars on the road.

I think a streetcar line from the train stations to Michigan Ave, the Museum Campus, and Navy Pier would be used very much and be very useful for Chicago.  They used to run the free trolleys as recent as last year but have nixed them due to lack of funding (gotta wonder what they're doing with all that sales tax/parking meter/Chicago Skyway money!).  It obviously wouldn't pay to have them everywhere like they used to (far before my time, but I've read about Chicago's largest-in-the-world system of streetcars), but high traffic areas would definitely benefit from a streetcar, IMO.

I just don't see the already-clogged streets of the Loop and Near North being further congested by slow-moving streetcars, to say nothing of the chaos that would be created by installing overhead electrical lines. The best solutions for the traffic problems in downtown Chicago are: a) more tourist-oriented buses (which is what those "trolleys" were; they were actually buses that looked like trolleys, and, you're right, they should've never been nixed; and b) an expanded subway network that would integrate the three transportation nexuses across the river from the Loop (Ogilvie Trans. Ctr., Union Station, and the Greyhound bus depot), Navy Pier, and Michigan Avenue (including the Mag Mile and the Museum Campus / Soldier Field area) into the current el system.

OK.  To be honest, I looked it up in Webster's Universal College Dictionary and couldn't find it, so this is total guesswork.  "Nexuses"?  Nexuii?  Nexii?  Hubs?

[Gregory Sager]

I didn't look it up when I typed that post, and I probably should've. I took a stab in the dark that "nexuses" is the plural of "nexus". Both Merriam-Webster and American Heritage say that either "nexus" or "nexuses" are acceptable plurals for "nexus".

English words borrowed from Latin are tricky, because some of them have been modified to take English plurals rather than Latin ones, while others have managed to hold onto their Latin plurals even though they don't really make sense in English. Take "stadium", f'rinstance. The proper Latin plural is "stadia", and even though it's still considered to be an acceptable plural in English, it sounds strange and has been largely superseded by the equally-acceptable "stadiums". On the other hand, the word "alumnus" still retains its Latin plural, "alumni", in English -- and, as far as I know, nobody has ever tried to throw out "alumni" and replace it with "alumnuses".

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Streetcars or light rail would be absolutely chaotic in modern-day Chicago streets. Managing traffic flow in the streets of this city is hard enough as it is, even if you factor out the relative inattention of the modern cell-phone-laden driver. (I speak from bitter experience as a pedestrian and bicyclist.) But expanding the current rapid transit rail and commuter rail lines is something that Chicagoland drastically needs. The CTA el and the Metra rail system need more lines; more trains going to more areas of the city and suburbs would mean fewer cars on the road.

IMHO - chicago has an opportunity to great expand its transportation opportunities by using the abandoned railroad viaducts (many of which now dont even have tracks on them) that still divide the city into many small isolated communities.

have just returned from seattle where an expanded light rail system is the current rage.

i thinks chicago's greatest transportation shortcoming was the notion that all rail lines and highways had to lead downtown.

dgp


I think a streetcar line from the train stations to Michigan Ave, the Museum Campus, and Navy Pier would be used very much and be very useful for Chicago.  They used to run the free trolleys as recent as last year but have nixed them due to lack of funding (gotta wonder what they're doing with all that sales tax/parking meter/Chicago Skyway money!).  It obviously wouldn't pay to have them everywhere like they used to (far before my time, but I've read about Chicago's largest-in-the-world system of streetcars), but high traffic areas would definitely benefit from a streetcar, IMO.

I just don't see the already-clogged streets of the Loop and Near North being further congested by slow-moving streetcars, to say nothing of the chaos that would be created by installing overhead electrical lines. The best solutions for the traffic problems in downtown Chicago are: a) more tourist-oriented buses (which is what those "trolleys" were; they were actually buses that looked like trolleys, and, you're right, they should've never been nixed; and b) an expanded subway network that would integrate the three transportation nexuses across the river from the Loop (Ogilvie Trans. Ctr., Union Station, and the Greyhound bus depot), Navy Pier, and Michigan Avenue (including the Mag Mile and the Museum Campus / Soldier Field area) into the current el system.

[petemcb]

I didn't look it up when I typed that post, and I probably should've. I took a stab in the dark that "nexuses" is the plural of "nexus". Both Merriam-Webster and American Heritage say that either "nexus" or "nexuses" are acceptable plurals for "nexus".

English words borrowed from Latin are tricky, because some of them have been modified to take English plurals rather than Latin ones, while others have managed to hold onto their Latin plurals even though they don't really make sense in English. Take "stadium", f'rinstance. The proper Latin plural is "stadia", and even though it's still considered to be an acceptable plural in English, it sounds strange and has been largely superseded by the equally-acceptable "stadiums". On the other hand, the word "alumnus" still retains its Latin plural, "alumni", in English -- and, as far as I know, nobody has ever tried to throw out "alumni" and replace it with "alumnuses".

Something that I run into  more frequently lately is the use of "alumni" when speaking in the singular. 

[CCIWchamps]

I saw a very interesting game up in Deerfield last night.  IWU (Sexauer, O'Callahan, Lawson, Dwyer, Reed, another freshman from Riverside-Brookfield I think it was (who looked good) along with a couple of others versus a Wash U/Wheaton hybrid team featuring, among others, Sean Wallis, Alex Toth, Jake Carwell, Andy Wiele and Kent Raymond.  IWU got off to a sluggish start, but when Reed and the other freshman came in, they ignited a bit of a comeback and the game stayed within 3-5 points with Raymond looking very ordinary and turning in a non-Raymondesque performance.  With five minutes to go, and the hybrids up by 3 or so, Raymond took over, began driving, dishing, shooting, controlling play, being forced almost out of bounds along the baseline, pivoting, fading into the corner of the floor and just draining a high-arching 3 pointer to take the lead into double digits.  A couple of minutes later, the hybrids had themselves a 64-47 win.  Willis looked very smooth.  Wiele and Carwell put on a dunk exhibition at halftime that surpassed anything I had seen out of them to this point.  Reed and the other freshman were two of the brighter lights for IWU.

When do they play again?

[petemcb]

I saw a very interesting game up in Deerfield last night.  IWU (Sexauer, O'Callahan, Lawson, Dwyer, Reed, another freshman from Riverside-Brookfield I think it was (who looked good) along with a couple of others versus a Wash U/Wheaton hybrid team featuring, among others, Sean Wallis, Alex Toth, Jake Carwell, Andy Wiele and Kent Raymond.  IWU got off to a sluggish start, but when Reed and the other freshman came in, they ignited a bit of a comeback and the game stayed within 3-5 points with Raymond looking very ordinary and turning in a non-Raymondesque performance.  With five minutes to go, and the hybrids up by 3 or so, Raymond took over, began driving, dishing, shooting, controlling play, being forced almost out of bounds along the baseline, pivoting, fading into the corner of the floor and just draining a high-arching 3 pointer to take the lead into double digits.  A couple of minutes later, the hybrids had themselves a 64-47 win.  Willis looked very smooth.  Wiele and Carwell put on a dunk exhibition at halftime that surpassed anything I had seen out of them to this point.  Reed and the other freshman were two of the brighter lights for IWU.

When do they play again?

I'm not sure what their team name was so I'm not positive how to read the schedule on the Joy of the Game website.  This is a guess, but I believe they might be playingat 9:20 p.m. Tuesday night this week versus one of the teams that NCC has in the league.  If I'm correct, then they're also playing August 4 at 8:00.  If I'm able to confirm that, I'll let you know.  Othewise, you might be best to tap into your Wheaton network and see if they know any more than I do.