MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[robberki]

IWU fans ARE loyal....I have not had the opportunity to see their student section in person.  However, their loyalty seems to be much more townfolk than student body, from what I have seen of them on the road.

Does quantity equal quality?

Here is a pic from the IWU/Elmhurst game last season...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/shirk8.jpg

The entire section across from what is the EC bench in the photo is typically full of IWU students, as is a good chunk of that section at halfcourt...not to mention the IWU pep band (adjacent section) and cheerleaders.  

There are probably 300+ IWU students at the average CCIW game at Shirk Center.  

I don't know...looks like 275 to me.

[tjcummingsfan]

wearing Elmhurst baby blue?

[Titan Q]

wearing Elmhurst baby blue?

Not quite Elmhurst blue, but certainly not the best choice for the 2007 Hoopers Club shirts.

[Viking Blue]

For the record, that was a question about the student body, not a slam.  I have never been to the Shirk for a game, much like Redmenfan.  I would agree that schools would love to have community involvement like Bloomington-Normal does. 

North Park surely would, but it's a rather large "community".  Third largest in the nation, I believe.

[Mr. Ypsi]

For the record, that was a question about the student body, not a slam.  I have never been to the Shirk for a game, much like Redmenfan.  I would agree that schools would love to have community involvement like Bloomington-Normal does. 

North Park surely would, but it's a rather large "community".  Third largest in the nation, I believe.

It was the 'quality' comment I took badly, but no harm, no foul.

Community size is an interesting question in terms of community involvement.  While B-N is obviously not Chicago, it is plenty large enough to have lots of other entertainment choices (including, for bball fans, d1 bball at ISU).  Many (perhaps even most) d3 schools are in much smaller towns where there ARE far fewer other outlets.  But large (even very big city) environments also have an obvious plus: if NPU could draw just 1/100 of 1% of Chicago-land, the Crackerbox would be too filled to admit students!

[AndOne]

Matt Rogers was, as usual, a very tough customer -- and Mitch Raridon played well tonight, too. But NCC overall doesn't really have the horses that should allow them to hang with the league's upper echelon. The reasons that the Cards have been able to hang, and the reasons why I think they'll continue to be a threat in each of their next 11 games, are Todd Raridon's excellent coaching and the good team chemistry that the Cards enjoy. There will be nights when the Cards are in a tough one like they were tonight in which they'll manage to finish the job.

An old adage in sports is the you "play with what you brought." I know this may sound like an excuse, and some will no doubt label it as such, but the Vikings faced a shorthanded NCC team last evening. I'm not looking for sympathy here---and even if I was, I know no CCIW team is going to be handing it out, but rather rejoicing in NCC's bad luck on the injury front. I'm also not making excuses, and again, some misguided individuals may well label my ramblings as such, but facts are facts. Injuries have virtually decimated the Cardinals this year with Chris Drennan missing 7 games during which the Cards, after starting 5-0, went 1-6 during his absence. In Chris' first game back this past Saturday, he scored 23 and he and his teammates knocked off the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance and his #13 ranked mates. In that game, the Cards then lost center Jeremy Williams indefinitely.
With the 6'5" Williams, as well as 6'5" Justin Johnson out the Cards, somewhat vertically challenged to begin with, are further handicapped especially with regard to an inside presence. Hence the reliance on Rogers and Drennan. The Cards varsity van that arrived at the North Park gym last night contained only 7 healthy players.

Had the Vikings had to face a healthy Cards team with Williams and Johnson available, I dare say the outcome probably would have been different. If you doubt that, remember their availability would have given the Cards an even stronger interior presence. And while the Vikings, who don't really feature a strong interior defense by the admission of their own fans and posters, may have been able to throw up an acceptable defense against 2 strong inside players, the chances of their doing so against 3 such players would have been been statistically significantly decreased to the point I believe the outcome would have been different.

As far as "having the horses" as GS put it, I was a little surprised that at least some of the freshmen on the NCC varsity roster, who played so well in defeating a much taller NPU JV squad in triple OT earlier, did not see any action.  However, I'm not the coach, and Todd Raridon and his staff have forgotten more about basketball than I ever learned.       

[79jaybird]

I have been to many games at the Shirk Center and IMO, it's the best place in the CCIW to watch a game, whether you are pulling for the home or away team.  One of my favorite games of note was the IWU/EC game when Dauksas hit that game winning shot.
IMO, the Shirk is an "arena", and not just a gym like EC/NPU/MU/ etc.  There is a nice mix of students, family, and local support that creates a sea of green.   
Plus, they are not "fair weather fans" as there is a always a ton of fans at an IWU game.
If Carthage is able to consistently play the way they did yesterday, there is no doubt that the Redmen should be considered one of the top teams.  Steve D. is for real and what I like about him is that he is not afraid to shoot (challenge) anybody on the court.  He completed dominated the game last night, which spooked Elmhurst.

[AndOne]

For the record, that was a question about the student body, not a slam.  I have never been to the Shirk for a game, much like Redmenfan.  I would agree that schools would love to have community involvement like Bloomington-Normal does. 

North Park surely would, but it's a rather large "community".  Third largest in the nation, I believe.

Community involvement and support for IWU is superior. While a vast portion of the stands do take on the look of my mom's retirement/nursing home, they do travel well, and you can always count on facing a large and supportive crowd of Wesleyan fans even when the Titans go on the road.

However, as I said earlier (scroll up), the crazy kidz at NPU can show the student section at IWU how to act. Last Wed in Bloomington, they acted like buffoons using language they'd never let their own parents hear.   

[Pat Coleman]

A story from the Decatur Herald & Review...

Rosenkranz makes his point

Interesting quote for Marc Smith to make:

"He's fast, and he runs their show well...we need a point guard like him.''


I'm guessing Mark Patrick isn't going to like that.

Q:

Milikan is one terrible team - it was like watching a bad high school game sorta like the one in which IWU played NCC at home. I am questioning the parity in the CCIW this year?

I'd bet a lot of money you are OurHouse reincarnated.  I mean, anytime Rosenkranz or Johnson has a great game, it must be because the opposition is terrible, right?

Questioning the parity in the league?  You'll get laughed out of here saying that this year.

Pick a name and stay with it.

Wow, nailed it.

[Titan Q]

It was pretty obvious to me that our new friend makemyday is OurHouse in disguise, but thank you for the IP address verification.

[aceon2]

Favorite gyms

1)Wesleyan, can always count on big time attendance
2)Wheaton, King Arena just was a good place to play a game
3)Carthage, varied as to attendance, but the fans that showed were good
4)North Park, despite its size always had some interesting characters
5)NCC, even though the gym is different, the students behind the basket were great
6)Augie, another great place when its full, but it was hard to fill
7)Elmhurst, never really showed a great crowd
8)Millikin, see 7

[Titan Q]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3201198

Pepperdine men's basketball coach Vance Walberg has resigned from his position, effective immediately, the school announced Thursday afternoon.....

Eric Bridgeland, in his second year as an assistant coach at Pepperdine, will take over as interim head coach. Bridgeland was a head coach for seven seasons at the Division II and Division III levels and posted an overall record of 115-65 (.639).


Bridgeland, the former coach at Puget Sound, is who coordinated IWU's 12/30 practice at Pepperdine and was so gracious in doing so.  He asked all kinds of questions about the CCIW, D3, etc that morning.

Great to see a D3 guy get a shot.

[Viking Blue]

Regarding the B-N fan base, a few of us were actually having this discussion the other night about the community interest and following for Wesleyan.  The question was posed to me as to why it was so great, and I actually mentioned that, even though ISU is in town, I have always gotten the feeling that Wesleyan is actually the peoples' team.  It appears, from the outside looking in, that IWU sports are the main attraction in town, which is understandable, especially considering the consistent success of the basketball program there. 

I also posed this question:  How many ISU players can you remember starring in the NBA?  Now.... how many Wesleyan players?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Regarding the B-N fan base, a few of us were actually having this discussion the other night about the community interest and following for Wesleyan.  The question was posed to me as to why it was so great, and I actually mentioned that, even though ISU is in town, I have always gotten the feeling that Wesleyan is actually the peoples' team.  It appears, from the outside looking in, that IWU sports are the main attraction in town, which is understandable, especially considering the consistent success of the basketball program there. 

I also posed this question:  How many ISU players can you remember starring in the NBA?  Now.... how many Wesleyan players?

IWU: one, but I doubt anyone in the CCIW will ever see the likes of Jack Sikma again.

ISU: there have probably been a couple who got 'a cup of coffee', but if there have been any stars, I'm at a loss to remember who.

That said, if future NBA stars is the draw, I'm sure it would be fair to say you are much more likely to see them visiting in Normal than in Bloomington.

I can't speak for now, but back when Mr. Ypsi shared the campus with mastodons I'm pretty sure that the Titans were indeed more in the hearts of the locals than the Redbirds.  (Besides, we beat 'em in the very last game before they dropped us because they had gone d1 and couldn't condescend to play us anymore - which is why Tom Gramkow may always be a half-step above any of the other greats in the hearts of Titans!)

[Titan Q]

Regarding the B-N fan base, a few of us were actually having this discussion the other night about the community interest and following for Wesleyan.  The question was posed to me as to why it was so great, and I actually mentioned that, even though ISU is in town, I have always gotten the feeling that Wesleyan is actually the peoples' team.  It appears, from the outside looking in, that IWU sports are the main attraction in town, which is understandable, especially considering the consistent success of the basketball program there. 

I also posed this question:  How many ISU players can you remember starring in the NBA?  Now.... how many Wesleyan players?

I don't think that's quite it, Viking Blue. 

Bloomington-Normal is now a community of over 120,000.  The reality is that the core group of IWU men's basketball fans from town that shows up for CCIW games night in and night out, year in and year out numbers about 1500.  (Add in the students and miscellaneous others, and there is your big conference game crowd of 2000+.)  That is certainly not a huge % of B-N's population.

Illinois State, the co-leader (6-0) in probably the best DI mid-major league, the Missouri Valley, had 6723 at beautiful Redbird Arena last night for the win over Wichita State.  Last year Illinois State averaged just 5092, and it may have been the final nail in the coffin for Porter Moser, who was fired as head coach....but 5092 is more than double what IWU has averaged the last 5 years (roughly 2200), and IWU is third in Division III in that span, behind Hope and Calvin. 

And now with U.S. Cellular Colliseum, there is an arena football franchise and hockey team in town...a lot of other sporting draws really.

So to say IWU is the "peoples' team"?  I don't think that is quite it.

I'd say it simply that IWU has had an amazing tradition of success and consistency and that has led to a lot of different people finding Titan basketball. 

- Kids grow up going to games (there has to be a 100+ little kids at every big Titan home game) with their parents and they become IWU fans

- Someone moves to town and decides to check out Division III basketball and falls in love with the atmosphere

- A lot of people who go to Wesleyan decide they like Bloomington-Normal and make it home (like me).


The other huge reason is the caliber of the student-athletes IWU has had.  Titan fans really become attached to the players.  Wesleyan, like the rest of the CCIW, has been fortunate to have some real first-class kids over the years...kids you can really root for.

IWU is extremely fortunate to have incredible community support, but in the big picture, the Titan basketball community is still a pretty small part of Bloomington-Normal.