MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[OC_SID]

Gregory,

What is/was your definition of a marching band? Chapman has a "pep" band that marches at halftime of the football games. There are only 20 or so volunteer members, but they put on one heck of a halftime performance, drawing much response from the fans. Their routines are a riot...sort of like a Standford band without as many members.

Between the band and the cheerleaders, it has really "upped" the fan experiece. And after they performed at our last home game last fall, the players went over and gave them an ovation...both the cheerleaders and the band.

I'm agnostic on the subject of what does or does not constitute a marching band, Dahlby. I've honestly never given it a thought. I simply copied down the names of the eight D3 schools from the two websites I cited in my previous post. I would consult them to learn their definitions of what constitutes a marching band, particularly www.marching-band.net.

The list is not accurate because Baldwin-Wallace also has a marching band. They brought the band back a couple years ago.

[wwjjdd]

Interesting read on Goshen College not playing The National Anthem before games.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Indiana-college-not-playing-the-national-anthem-?urn=ncaab-wp4428


I think the highlite of the article was the tweet from some dude about banning Goshen from NCAA competition.     Doh!!!

Yeah, that cracked me up, too. "What? You mean that Goshen College is already banned from NCAA competition? Oh ... it's not a member of the NCAA? Uh, never mind."

The Goshen basketball team might find that it has better luck with "America the Beautiful" than it did with "The Star-Spangled Banner", seeing as how the Maple Leafs went 11-18 and finished last in the nine-team Mid-Central College Conference last season. Hey, it worked for the Philadelphia Flyers. In the '70s the Flyers started playing a recording of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" before home games in lieu of the national anthem, and the "Broad Street Bullies", as the Flyers were nicknamed back then, went on to win a couple of Stanley Cups.

Problem is, "America the Beautiful" doesn't fit Goshen College's core values, either, as it's not a pacifistic song. Here's the third verse:

    O beautiful for heroes prov'd
    In liberating strife,
    Who more than self their country lov'd,
    And mercy more than life.

Of course, if Goshen College was truly attempting to reflect the community in which it's located, it'd play "Himno Nacional Mexicano" before every sporting event.

In the late 1950's or early 60's the Cubs played the National Anthem only on weekend and holiday games.  As I'm sure you are aware, it worked wonders for them!!!!  [heavy sigh] 

[Mr. Ypsi]

All of a sudden every Tigers starter looks like Justin Verlander!  I hope this was not a deal with the devil that suddenly Justin looks like Brad Penny!

(Although a 4 for 1 deal might be OK. )

[gobrits]

Marching bands are very rare on the D3 level. According to www.collegetoolkit.com and www.marching-band.net, of the 450 or so schools that are D3 members, only eight currently have marching bands: MIT, McMurry, Mississippi College, Oberlin, Sewanee, Vassar, UW-Whitewater, and Wooster.

Albion has had a marching band since the mid-1970s. My daughter, who graduated three years ago, was a member of its color guard for four years. "The British Eighth" typically has 70-80 members, and it's pretty good. Also funny.

I think Adrian started a marching band recently, and I've read on the MIAA football board that Trine has one. Does Alma still have those guys who march at halftime in kilts?

[GoKnights68]

He also pointed out that Calvin is unusual in its faculty-coach model, and that any football coach would also have to be a faculty member and teach a class. That (along with the college's other requirements) cuts down on the pool of potential coaches, and of course selection of the right coach is crucial.

The faculty-coach model would seem to be a pretty big dilemma for football at Calvin considering the large amount of a coaching staff that is required for a collegiate football team. Or maybe just the head-coach would need to be a faculty member?

[oldknight]

He also pointed out that Calvin is unusual in its faculty-coach model, and that any football coach would also have to be a faculty member and teach a class. That (along with the college's other requirements) cuts down on the pool of potential coaches, and of course selection of the right coach is crucial.

The faculty-coach model would seem to be a pretty big dilemma for football at Calvin considering the large amount of a coaching staff that is required for a collegiate football team. Or maybe just the head-coach would need to be a faculty member?

I find it hard to believe this is a problem difficult to surmount. Brian Diemer has been Calvin's men's cross country coach since 1986 and I'm pretty sure he has never been a tenure-track professor at the school. I'm not even sure what regular course offering, if any, he teaches. When the time comes to hire a head football coach, he could also be asked to teach one HPERDS class on coaching football.

[calvinite]

I believe the policy is that all phys ed professors (HPERDS or what ever they now call it) must coach at least one sport -- not that all coaches at Calvin need to be Calvin profs as there are several varsity coaches who are not professors -- I don't believe either the womens or mens soccer coaches are professors in addition to Diemer who was already mentioned). I don't think the hockey coach is on Calvin's faculty either, but Hockey might not be a varsity sport.

[Knight2Day]

He also pointed out that Calvin is unusual in its faculty-coach model, and that any football coach would also have to be a faculty member and teach a class. That (along with the college's other requirements) cuts down on the pool of potential coaches, and of course selection of the right coach is crucial.

The faculty-coach model would seem to be a pretty big dilemma for football at Calvin considering the large amount of a coaching staff that is required for a collegiate football team. Or maybe just the head-coach would need to be a faculty member?

There are multiple coaches at Calvin which are not Calvin faculty...Brian Diemer, Chris Hughes, and Mark Recker specifically

[Happy Calvin Guy]

He also pointed out that Calvin is unusual in its faculty-coach model, and that any football coach would also have to be a faculty member and teach a class. That (along with the college's other requirements) cuts down on the pool of potential coaches, and of course selection of the right coach is crucial.

The faculty-coach model would seem to be a pretty big dilemma for football at Calvin considering the large amount of a coaching staff that is required for a collegiate football team. Or maybe just the head-coach would need to be a faculty member?

There are multiple coaches at Calvin which are not Calvin faculty...Brian Diemer, Chris Hughes, and Mark Recker specifically

There are also multiple professors in the department that are not coaches, so perhaps there is no requirement either way.  Seems that Calvin has the freedom to hire a football coaching staff without a requirement that they teach any classes. 

Regarding the name of the department--on the website it is still linked to as HPERDS, but this past year it was officially renamed Kinesiology, yet the course codes still show up as PE and the major/minor names link is still Physical Education.  The real winners here are the ones who get paid to print the ever-changing departmental letterhead. 

[Knightmare]

Any updates now that tuition has been paid?

Calvin doesn't start classes until next week after Labor Day.  Not sure about other MIAA institutions but best wait until there have been a few days of classes to see who shows up to class, especially those pesky 8am ones 

[Knight2Day]

Any updates now that tuition has been paid?

Calvin doesn't start classes until next week after Labor Day.  Not sure about other MIAA institutions but best wait until there have been a few days of classes to see who shows up to class, especially those pesky 8am ones 

I would say that what makes me most nervous is the thought of the players from last year at Calvin who won't show up to Calvin classes...at least on time or enough to get a high enough GPA....

[hoopdreams]

Hmmm, sounds like somebody might know something but doesn't want to speculate.....

[sac]

Our new friend from the Kalamazoo Gazette, Graham Couch is also apparently an expert on Quarterback talent when not waxing about D3 basketball fans and levels of delusionalness.  In a recent interview he came up with this gem about WMU's QB.

"I think Alex Carder is the best college quarterback in the state."


This is the same state with Kirk Cousins(a solid all Big 10 type QB with amazing leadership skills) and Denard Robinson(who did something last year no other college QB has ever done in history). 

[Knight2Day]

Hmmm, sounds like somebody might know something but doesn't want to speculate.....

I prefer to keep most of my inside knowledge close to the vest. No use in spreading gossip when people will find out the goods sooner or later...sometimes you just have to sit back and watch

[gohope]

Hmmm, sounds like somebody might know something but doesn't want to speculate.....

I prefer to keep most of my inside knowledge close to the vest. No use in spreading gossip when people will find out the goods sooner or later...sometimes you just have to sit back and watch

You do KNOW what happens to people who were vests???!!!