MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Greek Tragedy]

I think the OAC is 20-4.

[Gregory Sager]

Don't shovel dirt upon the CCIW coffin just yet, gentlemen. There's still a lot of non-con ball to be played.

[Greek Tragedy]

Don't shovel dirt upon the CCIW coffin just yet, gentlemen. There's still a lot of non-con ball to be played.

I wasn't implying that at all.

[Stertorous Thunder]

It was an odd night to watch games on the computer, because by now I'm used to almost every school having someone call the game, and yet the only game with PBP and commentary was Aurora @ North Central. The Carthage @ Ripon game didn't even have sound at all; the camera mic was turned off. At least in the Carroll @ UWW game I was able to enjoy hearing some of the older UWW fans spit vinegar at the refs throughout the contest.

I've been spoiled, particularly by watching certain CCIW sports broadcasts, which can be surprisingly sophisticated and professional for such small schools.  When my nephew joined a D2 soccer program this year I assumed that I would see game coverage that at least matched what I've seen in D3.  I can personally report that one camera set up high in a press box to cover an entire soccer field without commentary, additional angles, or replay is unwatchable.  Even casting a broadcast to the largest screen in my house couldn't make players and jersey numbers distinguishable from one another.  I watched the first game of the year, only to learn that the uniform numbers on the school website were incorrect, and the player I had been tracking all game long was not my nephew.  Later in the season I watched most of a game and assumed that I watched my nephew play in his normal position, only to learn that he had left the game under concussion protocol early on and I had cheered on his backup with a similar haircut for 80 minutes.  I told my brother-in-law that unless he started sitting near the microphone and providing unofficial commentary, I was only going to be able to watch away games with proper announcers and camera crews, which is a shame.

Bad game coverage has to hurt your team's recruiting, especially if you're a school that seeks to bring in talent from outside of your region.  And if you're a parent who can't make it to games in person, you're likely going to favor colleges that put effort into broadcasting.

At your next performance review, Greg, you should definitely mention your achievements in contributing to North Park's coast-to-coast and international recruiting efforts; they're probably significant.  In particular, there are undoubtedly several families staying up in the middle of the night in Scandinavia to watch their children that are big fans of Greg Sager and the camera and editing crews at North Park.

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst made short work of Transylvania this evening in Lexington, 87-63. Tagen Pearson led the way for the 'jays with 19, including 5-9 from distance, Matt Woloch scored 16, and John Ittounas contributed 13. Jonathan Zapinski pulled down 11 boards, as Elmhurst clobbered Transy in the rebounding department, 46-31.

[Gregory Sager]

It was an odd night to watch games on the computer, because by now I'm used to almost every school having someone call the game, and yet the only game with PBP and commentary was Aurora @ North Central. The Carthage @ Ripon game didn't even have sound at all; the camera mic was turned off. At least in the Carroll @ UWW game I was able to enjoy hearing some of the older UWW fans spit vinegar at the refs throughout the contest.

I've been spoiled, particularly by watching certain CCIW sports broadcasts, which can be surprisingly sophisticated and professional for such small schools.  When my nephew joined a D2 soccer program this year I assumed that I would see game coverage that at least matched what I've seen in D3.  I can personally report that one camera set up high in a press box to cover an entire soccer field without commentary, additional angles, or replay is unwatchable.  Even casting a broadcast to the largest screen in my house couldn't make players and jersey numbers distinguishable from one another.  I watched the first game of the year, only to learn that the uniform numbers on the school website were incorrect, and the player I had been tracking all game long was not my nephew.  Later in the season I watched most of a game and assumed that I watched my nephew play in his normal position, only to learn that he had left the game under concussion protocol early on and I had cheered on his backup with a similar haircut for 80 minutes.  I told my brother-in-law that unless he started sitting near the microphone and providing unofficial commentary, I was only going to be able to watch away games with proper announcers and camera crews, which is a shame.

Soccer games are the worst, as far as D3 livestreaming is concerned. Only a minority of schools have broadcasters, almost all of them restrict the coverage to one camera, and it's often badly placed (ground level is by far the worst place to put a camera for a large-field sport such as soccer, football, or lacrosse).

Bad game coverage has to hurt your team's recruiting, especially if you're a school that seeks to bring in talent from outside of your region.  And if you're a parent who can't make it to games in person, you're likely going to favor colleges that put effort into broadcasting.

I agree 100%.

At your next performance review, Greg, you should definitely mention your achievements in contributing to North Park's coast-to-coast and international recruiting efforts; they're probably significant.  In particular, there are undoubtedly several families staying up in the middle of the night in Scandinavia to watch their children that are big fans of Greg Sager and the camera and editing crews at North Park.

Thanks! We take pride in doing the best we can with what we have in the NPU sports information department. SID Tyler Woolbright prioritizes putting his departmental resources into the Viking Sports Network, and it shows. We get lots of affirmation via calls, texts, and emails from parents, neutral parties, and even opposing fans -- and some of the kudos come our way through the AD or through NPU's president herself rather than directly to us, which helps our cause. (And, yeah, the friends and families of our Scandinavian student-athletes think it's the best thing ever -- even if they have to stay up until 2 a.m. to watch their favorite player in action.)

It really is a great way for a small school with a limited media reach to put its best foot forward.

[mwunder]

Bad game coverage has to hurt your team's recruiting, especially if you're a school that seeks to bring in talent from outside of your region.  And if you're a parent who can't make it to games in person, you're likely going to favor colleges that put effort into broadcasting.

I tried telling this to a certain AD at Carthage who is no longer an AD anywhere after some particularly lackluster efforts by their SID and department. We were spoiled by Steve Marovich at Carthage. Now, instead of an actual game write-up, we are treated to a bullet-point list of "How it Happened". Here are a few samples of memorable moments from current game recaps this season.

• With a good free throw from Emma Thistle, the Firebirds led 16-2 going into the second quarter. (women's game)
• Final score: Carthage 85 - Thiel 66 (Wrong final score)
• Ripon initially held a slim two-point lead early in the first half courtesy of a three-pointer. (who made the shot?)
• Julian Campbell's successful free throws narrowed the deficit to 41-24.(what's with the free throw mentions?)
• Despite the late surge, the home team secured the victory in the closing seconds.(lazy)

If ADs and SIDs don't think that kids are checking out their schools' websites before they arrive, they're just not paying attention.  I realize it's not the only thing kids look at, but it's one of them.

[Gregory Sager]

Bad game coverage has to hurt your team's recruiting, especially if you're a school that seeks to bring in talent from outside of your region.  And if you're a parent who can't make it to games in person, you're likely going to favor colleges that put effort into broadcasting.

I tried telling this to a certain AD at Carthage who is no longer an AD anywhere after some particularly lackluster efforts by their SID and department. We were spoiled by Steve Marovich at Carthage.

Indeed. "The Pistol", as Bosko used to call him, left big shoes to fill in the Carthage sports information department.

[iwu70]

IWU plays Wittenberg tonight -- 7:30 p.m. -- over in the Great Lakes Tournament in Ohio.  I think Marietta tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.

'70

[Gregory Sager]

Wabash 70
North Park 63

Kolden Vanlandingham: 21 pts
Shamar Pumphrey: 14 pts, 6 rebs
Taijon Berry: 7 rebs
Kyren Gardner: 6 rebs

The Vikings went into a deep freeze in the second half, shooting only 25% from the field and 11% from distance. There were a lot of frustrating in-and-out balls and missed shots right at the rim, but a lot of rushed, feet-not-set jumpshots as well. The intention of the Vikings is to speed up their opponents, but they need to cut down on the number of inevitable mistakes that a team playing at high velocity makes.

Take nothing away from Wabash. Even though Wabash's best offensive weapon Ahmoni Jones had a terrible game, the Little Giants guards did a superb job of picking him up as well as taking care of the basketball and playing great defense.

[iwu70]

IWU over Wittenberg, 72-59

For Witt:

Killens 22
Queen 9
Harrison 9

For IWU:

Yoder 28
Wilmsen 18
Seven others scoring in single digits

IWU goes to 2-1.  The Titans play Marietta tomorrow.

A break-out scoring game for Luke Yoder.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

Holy cow.

Crown 64
Augustana 61

Crown? Crown?

I don't think that a CCIW team has lost to an opponent whose court is surrounded on three sides by walls that are only a foot and a half out of bounds since Eisenhower was in the White House.

Thing have gone seriously awry in Rock Island.

[iwu70]

Piedmont over Wheaton, 79-66.

'70

[Gregory Sager]

First round of the Pfund:

Piedmont 79
Wheaton 66

This was never a game, but there's no shame in losing to the Lions -- they're a good team that took a real run at D1 Coastal Carolina in the preseason and played national power Emory really tough five days ago. For Wheaton, Kyle Neibsch had 17 (including 5-9 from downtown) and Soren Richardson added 11. Nate Sock made his first appearance of the year, which is a good sign for the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance.

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW is now 16-11 (.593).