MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[joehakes]

Dennis,

Change your picture to reflect how deep your head is in the sand.  If a football game ends 21-14, isn't that just a 3-2 game in reality?  Football appeals to you as an SID because they take 2 minutes to measure every play.  How many yards did he make/lose?  Was there a sack?  Did the left guard grade out at 90%?  It's all smoke and mirrors of stats, which keeps SID's in business. 

The World Cup will be fun to watch because there is not clear cut favorite this time around.  Also, it will be interesting to see the Czech (I think it's their team) 6'8" guy play.

Nobody should have been better heading the ball than Prikkel with his size 10.5 head.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The 6'8" guy better be good because they are now up to 5 starters out with injury.  I think the US might even have a chance to move on because of it.

[Titan Q]

Maroa-Forsyth's Austin Peebles is heading to Division II St. Joseph's (Rensselaer, IN)...

http://www.mariondaily.com/articles/2006/06/07/sports/sports04.txt

http://www.saintjoe.edu/news/announcements.html?id=3687

As recently as just a couple weeks ago I had heard he was very seriously considering Millikin.  Elmhurst also recruited him hard and I know NAIA St. Xavier offered him a scholarship.  Only the D2's pursuing him are mentioned in the article.

I saw Peebles play 3 games in person last year and I guess I am not sold on him being a player at a GLVC power (St. Joe's was 31-3 overall last year and 17-2 in the league).  I figured Peebles would be a perfect CCIW or Olivet Nazarene/St. Xavier type.  He is kind of a Chris Martin type player, but he is 6-3, not 6-6.  He was a great Class A player, but there is a big difference between Class A and Class AA.  I'm interested to see how things play out for him at St. Joe's.

[petemcb]

I'll try and do this quick so we get two consecutive basketball-related posts on at this time of year.  There is a summer league that may interest some of the people on this board.  It is run out of Prairie Lakes Des Plaines Park District on Tuesday nights with games from 6:30 to 10:30 or so.  I just got my hands on the league schedule. Here are some of the more interesting games in the next few weeks:

6-13  North Central vs. Augie 8:30
         CURF vs Carthage alums (Theo, Menard, Garnes,  McDaniel, etc)  9:30
          Elmhurst vs St. Xavier 9:30

6-20  Carthage alums v North Central 7:30
          Carthage alums v Carthage split squad 8:30
          Elmhurst vs Carthage split squad 8:30
          Augie vs CURF 9:30

6-27  Elmhurst vs Augie 7:30
         North Central v Carthage split 9:30

Other teams of note include the "Bodines" who feature Lucas Johnson (Maine West/ U of I), U of C, Benedictine, Lake Forest and others.  It's a great way to spend a summer evening.  Admission is free.

[Gregory Sager]

I'll try and do this quick so we get two consecutive basketball-related posts on at this time of year.  There is a summer league that may interest some of the people on this board.  It is run out of Prairie Lakes Des Plaines Park District on Tuesday nights with games from 6:30 to 10:30 or so.  I just got my hands on the league schedule. Here are some of the more interesting games in the next few weeks:

6-13  North Central vs. Augie 8:30
         CURF vs Carthage alums (Theo, Menard, Garnes,  McDaniel, etc)  9:30

I'm disappointed that the Carthage alum team doesn't include Ron Santo's favorite former Redmen hoops star, Jason Wheeler. 

[Jim Matson]

The video was indeed cool.  But I agree with Ypsi that the defenders will adjust quickly if this is used too often.  You can't run into a defender with your eyes averted and claim a foul.  And while an intentional head-butt would be called, I doubt that an honest play for the ball would result in a foul.

We can soon be talking about this in its rightful place on this board.

And thanks Dennis.  I had finally put out of my mind that North Park has done a nice three-peat on the Wheaties.  Now I gotta think about it all over again...

[Thud Bucket]

What kind of chance does Jordan Morris have of seeing some floor time this coming basketball season for IWU? Jordan was a pretty good player for Washington HS and Pekin HS, but I don't think he saw much action his first year at IWU. I really don't know too much about IWU or who they have coming back, but I think they lost a few kids who played a lot. Maybe Morris can move up the playing time charts a little bit. But I don't know if he's still playing at IWU...

[Mr. Ypsi]

What kind of chance does Jordan Morris have of seeing some floor time this coming basketball season for IWU? Jordan was a pretty good player for Washington HS and Pekin HS, but I don't think he saw much action his first year at IWU. I really don't know too much about IWU or who they have coming back, but I think they lost a few kids who played a lot. Maybe Morris can move up the playing time charts a little bit. But I don't know if he's still playing at IWU...

TB, I will have to nominate this for understatement of the year (millenium?)  IWU graduated 6 of their top 8 (7 of 9?), including Adam Dauksas and Keelan Amelianovich, who, between them, had 5 All-America awards and 2 CCIW MOP awards.

As to your specific question, I will yield to those closer to the program. but there is certainly room for worthy candidates to move up.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Oh, all right, teach - my book report on "The Boys of Summer"

If anyone believes anything I say after screwing up the Staleys with Stanleys (Greg, thanks for the catch - I knew it was the Staleys, but had just been talking Stanley Cup on another website and had a brain-fart!)

Not as many d3 references as I thought.  Gil Hodges played for St. Joseph's (Indiana), Carl Erskine went to Anderson (Indiana) after he retired, and Elwin Charles (Preacher) Roe went to Harding (Arkansas) - since I am not as conversant with all 400+ d3 teams as Pat, Ralph, and others, I figured at least 1 or 2 of these must be d3, but they are all d2.

Before hitting the ACTUAL d3 connections, I must mention that Branch Rickey, who brought Jackie Robison in to destroy the color barrier, was a Michigan grad.

Ralph Branca went to NYU.  (After Bobby Thompson's home run, I'm not sure whether NYU wants to admit that!)

DePauw is the big winner: Buzzy Bavasi was a classmate of Ford Frick, Jr.  Ford Frick, Sr. (later the commissioner of baseball) used his influence to get Buzzy into baseball.  30(?) years later Danny Erskine (son of Carl) played football at DePauw (nothing in the book about their record against Wabash!)

Finally, the CCIW: at the time of the interview cited in the book (1970?), Roy Campanella's son Tony was a football player at Elmhurst.  I'm almost positive there was a second Elmhurst connection, but the book has no index, and I cannot find it - perhaps in my initial reading, I read that page twice.

[David Collinge]

Division 3 on the World (Cup) Stage:

I was just perusing the broadcast info on the World Cup from XM Satellite Radio, trying to decide if I should get up for England/Paraguay at 6am tomorrow, and found this:

World Cup Tonight
Monday - Friday 6:30PM ET
XM 148
Recapping the day's action and setting the stage for upcoming matches, Dwight Burgess anchors the starting eleven as World Cup Tonight delivers the latest headlines and highlights of FIFA World Cup Germany 2006.

Since 1996 Dwight Burgess has been the radio and TV play-by-play announcer for the Columbus Crew. During his career he has also broadcast various other US Soccer, MLS and NPSL/MISL matches, and has spent two seasons in the booth for The Ohio State University men's basketball games. Dwight is also the Head Coach for Men's and Women's Soccer at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

(emphasis added)

Cool.  8)

[Ralph Turner]

Mr. Ypsi, Branch Rickey is also one of ours...Ohio Wesleyan!

http://baseballreference.com/schools/ohwesleyan.shtml

[Mr. Ypsi]

Mr. Ypsi, Branch Rickey is also one of ours...Ohio Wesleyan!

http://baseballreference.com/schools/ohwesleyan.shtml

Cool!!

[joehakes]

DC,

Dwight Burgess  is also on the DIII Men's Soccer Committee and a great guy.  He has been able to promote soccer and DIII through his radio work in a number of venues. 

[Titan Q]

What kind of chance does Jordan Morris have of seeing some floor time this coming basketball season for IWU? Jordan was a pretty good player for Washington HS and Pekin HS, but I don't think he saw much action his first year at IWU. I really don't know too much about IWU or who they have coming back, but I think they lost a few kids who played a lot. Maybe Morris can move up the playing time charts a little bit. But I don't know if he's still playing at IWU...

As I see it, Jordan Morris will enter the 2006-07 season right in the middle of competition for the starting job at the 2-guard.  He was a very good player at Pekin H.S..  I think Jordan was one of just a few IBCA Class AA all-state players to end up in the CCIW (Mike Kolze - Augustana, Chris Drennan - North Central, ?).  Coach G at Augustana (who recruited Morris pretty hard) told Scott Trost last year that he thought Morris was better than Brandon Holtz (Bloomington H.S.), who ended up taking a scholarship to D1 Illinois State....so, we'll see, but Morris has a chance to be a good CCIW player.

In just looking at the players I feel have a legitimate chance to start next year, I think IWU's depth chart looks something like this:

PG Andrew Gilmore (6-1 So)/Sean Dwyer (5-11 Fr)
SG Andrew Gilmore (6-1 So), Jordan Morris (6-3 So)/Mike Harrigan (6-1 Sr)
F Darius Gant (6-4 Jr)/Tyler Smith (6-5 Sr)/Brian Nussbaum (6-6 Jr)
F Andrew Freeman (6-6 Sr)/Brian Nussbaum (6-6 Jr)/Darius Gant (6-4 Jr)
C Zach Freeman (6-7 Sr)

After the Freemans, I see Darius Gant and Andrew Gilmore as the next closest things to "probable starters", so that point-guard battle will impact the starting 2-guard spot.  If Dwyer wins a starting job, Gilmore would have a good chance to start at the 2. 

Even though next year's IWU guards will be very inexperienced, I think they have a chance to be pretty solid as a unit.  Mike Harrigan - a transfer from D1 Loyola (walk on) and a very good player at Brother Rice - is in that 2-guard mix as well, so there is not only some potential talent, but also depth. 

Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

[Pat Coleman]

Believe Darius Gant needs to change his name, then.