MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[northb]

One thing I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned in the C'stone/MIAA discussion is the quality of the education.  University?  Ya right!  I'd say a student athlete interested in getting a great education (not to mention the cache attached to the diploma) ought to pick any MIAA school over the Golden Eagles--if they've got the academic potential to succeed there. 

One draw that Cornerstone has to a certain portion of the pool of potential students is the (more) conservative religious atmosphere (than when compared to Calvin or hope).  Some students prefer that point of view.

[northb]

If you're going to schedule opponents based on a coach's character ... why'd Hope play Calvin so often during the Douma years?

Intentional foul - 2 shots and the ball to Calvin

Ha! best one this month   

[Sturdevant]

One draw that Cornerstone has to a certain portion of the pool of potential students is the (more) conservative religious atmosphere (than when compared to Calvin or hope).  Some students prefer that point of view.

northb, maybe you could explain this one a bit better... don't quite know what you mean by more conservative religious atmosphere...

yes, the RCA and CRC are pretty similar yet i would imagine you'll find some significant differences in the religious atmosphere between hope and calvin also

[northb]

One draw that Cornerstone has to a certain portion of the pool of potential students is the (more) conservative religious atmosphere (than when compared to Calvin or hope).  Some students prefer that point of view.

northb, maybe you could explain this one a bit better... don't quite know what you mean by more conservative religious atmosphere...

yes, the RCA and CRC are pretty similar yet i would imagine you'll find some significant differences in the religious atmosphere between hope and calvin also

In my (limited) experience the atmosphere at Cornerstone is more conservative than at Calvin.  Rules are more tightly held at C'stone vs. more freedom at Calvin (and I presume Hope).  One recent example was the expectation that all profs at C'stone are expected to sign a form indicating they will not smoke or drink alcohol on or off campus.

[Sturdevant]

In my (limited) experience the atmosphere at Cornerstone is more conservative than at Calvin.  Rules are more tightly held at C'stone vs. more freedom at Calvin (and I presume Hope).  One recent example was the expectation that all profs at C'stone are expected to sign a form indicating they will not smoke or drink alcohol on or off campus.

thanks for the info... so, you're telling me cornerstone is SCARY conservative, at least it can't be as bad as wheaton....

oops, i probably offended someone

[wolverinekeith]

Josh Englesma of Covenant Christian is officially a Knight.

That's great news that I had also heard, but was unable to confirm.  With Engelsma, Mantel and the Schuster kid from Denver, Calvin has some serious size coming in to complement the perimeter guys they brought in last year. 

And as a Calvin alum, I can attest to the fact that Cornerstone is definitely more conservative than Calvin.  They're more conservative in many ways, including Biblical interpretation as well as attitudes towards "worldly" things, such as drinking and dancing.  In my experience, kids choose one school or another and typically know what they're going for.  Among non-athletes, I don't think there's a lot of cross-shopping the two. 

Oh, I'm another lurker (of a few months) who decided to come out and post.  You can find my handle on SBell's BankHoops.com site, as well as most of the Michigan sites. (Just wanted to say hi.)

[Shareef23]

Englesma needs to add some muscle, but he is a great kid and hard worker. I believe he pulls a 4.o GPA or something close to it. Never meet a more down to earth kid in my life. He'll be a solid player for Calvin.
There's no doubt C'Stone as a school is more conservative, but for some reason that doesn't translate to their men's hoops program. There is a serious double standard there. And no I'm not just throwing acusations out there. It's a fact. But I'm not gonna start embarressing kids on the internet. I think most of you know what I'm talking about.

[wolverinekeith]

But I'm not gonna start embarressing kids on the internet. I think most of you know what I'm talking about.

Yeah...I think if people are ardent enough followers to post here, they're up-to-date with the Bronkema and Voorhees sagas.  We'll see what, if any, strides the program makes in the coming years. 

[SBell]

Andy Sierminski 6-6 from Jackson Lumen Christi to Olivet. Just saw him play last weekend, and he's better than he was a year ago, which was still pretty solid ...

[SBell]

Damn, tell the truth about Douma and all my karma disappeared?

I'll keep dropping knowledge on you, though, even while the faceless junior high girls play petty Internet games.

[Shareef23]

People don't like hearing the truth SBell, even if it is in the past. I'll say it, the man was sleazy. Did he actually cheat? Who knows? But I can tell you he made alot of low class moves. That made Calvin look bad. I never ever want the program I support to be portrayed in that light again.

[MIdoubleA]

Did I just miss all of the Hope recruit posts, or are they having a down year? What about Albion? All i've been hearing is Calvin gets this guy and Calvin gets that guy. It's scary 

I tried to consult the ever-truthful Mlive board and ran across some funny posts. Check out 1725.1.1 and let me know what you think. Some of the responses are good too...

[Gregory Sager]

Calvin has no problems wasting a game on Ferris or Grace Bible. Hope had Grace on their schedule until this year. And we know that neither school is ducking C'Stone. Calvin also play at Regis last year another D 2 school. They both also put Aquinas on the schedule. Wasted game. Both Calvin and Hope don't set up their schedules to get into the tournament. They schedule games to make them a better team.  I believe that both KVS and GVW had very little respect for one, Kim Elders.

Exactly how does scheduling Grace Bible make Hope or Calvin a better team?

[oldknight]

Exactly how does scheduling Grace Bible make Hope or Calvin a better team?

Greg:

I can think of only two reasons for Calvin's scheduling Grace Bible. In the last couple of years it has been Calvin's first game in their Calvin Tip-Off Tournament at Knollcrest. Playing a game against Grace in the first game of the season does have the virtue of allowing VandeStreek to play and observe a variety of players in his opener in a game that is nonthreatening (insofar as losing is concerned). The last couple of years Grace has been reasonably competitive (they did win the NCCAA national tournament this past year) so the games have not been totally worthless for the Knights. Grace only lost to Aquinas by 1 point this past year. However, several years ago when Calvin played them Grace was awful and those games were complete throwaways. I think Grace is losing a couple of key players from this past year's national championship team and I hope that doesn't mean they will return to awfulness again. The only other reason I can think of for playing Grace is that Calvin is simply doing a favor to another Christian college in West Michigan. Grace does put together a pretty tough schedule in order to be prepared for a tournament run in the NCCAA's every year. If you wonder how scheduling Grace helps make Calvin or Hope a better team then you really must wonder about D2 Grand Valley who toasted Grace by about 50 this past year.

[Gregory Sager]

Oh, I perfectly understand and acknowledge the "we're doing Grace Bible a favor" rationale, because that's been explained to me by Sac and others before. My question was aimed directly at Shareef's statement that Hope and Calvin "schedule games to make them a better team." Given the ridiculously lopsided scores that the two schools have racked up against Grace Bible over the years, and the fact that Shareef even mentioned Grace Bible earlier in his post, it looked to me as though he was radically contradicting himself within the space of a single paragraph.