MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I can tell you the tri-state was a breeeze (of course that was at about 10pm last night).  We made it to Barrington and crashed for the night.  Once we've all hit the showers and grabbed some breakfast we're off to the Point.

Go HOPE

[John Gleich]

Safe travels Hope fans!

[realist]

Like it or not the MIAA, and Calvin gain more by Hope winning than we do by Hope losing.   Personally I like the thought that should Hope win the whole thing forever half of Hope's losses this season will have been to Calvin.
Old School etc.  I only did the tally to repond to Sac's comment about the lack of Calvin posters.  Please post to your hearts content.  The more the merrier.

[northb]

This time before a tournament game is eerie, the usual posters are off to travel to the game, and a quietness descends, like in the eye of a hurricane.  We wait for the storm to start again, readying our internet connections, face paint and foam fingers.  Waiting....waiting...

[almcguirejr]

Like it or not the MIAA, and Calvin gain more by Hope winning than we do by Hope losing.   Personally I like the thought that should Hope win the whole thing forever half of Hope's losses this season will have been to Calvin.

I don't see how Calvin gains anything by what Hope does.  Calvin's season is over.  Saying we lost to a sweet sixteen (elite eight, final four, etc) team 3 times doesn't change how I feel about how this season went.  I respect Hope but  I just don't think Hope is a great team.   

I'm about as big a fan of Hope as I am Ohio State and Notre Dame so count me out embracing the thought that Hope wins it all. 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Like it or not the MIAA, and Calvin gain more by Hope winning than we do by Hope losing.   Personally I like the thought that should Hope win the whole thing forever half of Hope's losses this season will have been to Calvin.

I don't see how Calvin gains anything by what Hope does.  Calvin's season is over.  Saying we lost to a sweet sixteen (elite eight, final four, etc) team 3 times doesn't change how I feel about how this season went.  I respect Hope but  I just don't think Hope is a great team.   

I'm about as big a fan of Hope as I am Ohio State and Notre Dame so count me out embracing the thought that Hope wins it all. 

al - I hear you completely.  Felt exactly the same way every time Calvin has gone further in the tournament than we have.

Man am I hooked on this place.  We stopped for a bite at a Culvers about an hour from Stevens Point.  My son points out that they have wireless internet, so I had to run out to the car and grab the laptop.  Just trying to break the eerie silence.

Go HOPE!

[dothedew]

al jr..... I also don't think Hope is a GREAT team. I do think that they are a special team...that has the potential to make the run all the way to and through Salem (on game at a time)
I think the team to win it all for Hope was last year that just turned COLD at Witt in the Sweet 16.
I have always wondered what a Hope/Calvin fan is supposed to do as the other team advances.
Personally I always found myself cheering for the MIAA all the way in the NCAA b/c it would help the conference gain respect in the future years.
However after the fact and having to deal with the "banner" chant it hurts a little bit.
LORDY LORDY do we need/want one of our own...for the men.
GO BLUE GO ORANGE GO HOPE!!!

[Civic Minded]

Still several hours and counting...passed a car with UWSP in it's back window, and the adreniline kicked in big time.  So anxious for gametime, anxious to see how we stack up with Carroll, anxious to see the Dutchmen in action one more time.

This info will be too late for most posters/lurkers, but there's a huge speed trap on I-90 around Madison.  Luckily for this leadfoot, I was obeying the traffic rules fairly closely.  Six pull-overs in a mile have convinced me to continue my more cautious approach. 

Is it game time yet??

(Yea Culvers for my posting up fix...)

[northb]

al jr..... I also don't think Hope is a GREAT team. I do think that they are a special team...that has the potential to make the run all the way to and through Salem (on game at a time)
I think the team to win it all for Hope was last year that just turned COLD at Witt in the Sweet 16.
I have always wondered what a Hope/Calvin fan is supposed to do as the other team advances.
Personally I always found myself cheering for the MIAA all the way in the NCAA b/c it would help the conference gain respect in the future years.
However after the fact and having to deal with the "banner" chant it hurts a little bit.
LORDY LORDY do we need/want one of our own...for the men.
GO BLUE GO ORANGE GO HOPE!!!

It would still be 2-1 

[SKOT]

Still several hours and counting...passed a car with UWSP in it's back window, and the adreniline kicked in big time.  So anxious for gametime, anxious to see how we stack up with Carroll, anxious to see the Dutchmen in action one more time.

This info will be too late for most posters/lurkers, but there's a huge speed trap on I-90 around Madison.  Luckily for this leadfoot, I was obeying the traffic rules fairly closely.  Six pull-overs in a mile have convinced me to continue my more cautious approach. 

Is it game time yet??

(Yea Culvers for my posting up fix...)

Don't get a speeding ticket in Wisconsin!  They are incredibly expensive.  While in high school, I got a ticket for going 24 over on the Chicago Skyway (59 in a 35, who knew the speedlimit dropped 20mph before the toll...) and paid $75.  My brother got one, IN WISCONSIN,  for going 22 over a week later and had to pay $295! 

[goodknight]

Like it or not the MIAA, and Calvin gain more by Hope winning than we do by Hope losing.   Personally I like the thought that should Hope win the whole thing forever half of Hope's losses this season will have been to Calvin.

I don't see how Calvin gains anything by what Hope does.  Calvin's season is over.  Saying we lost to a sweet sixteen (elite eight, final four, etc) team 3 times doesn't change how I feel about how this season went.  I respect Hope but  I just don't think Hope is a great team.   

I'm about as big a fan of Hope as I am Ohio State and Notre Dame so count me out embracing the thought that Hope wins it all. 

al - I hear you completely.  Felt exactly the same way every time Calvin has gone further in the tournament than we have.

[realist]

All sports conferences have reputations.  Therefore all the member schools of those various conferences are party to those reputations.  If you go to the MIAA women's chat room you will see an article recently posted by a USM fan.  According to that article the USM coach had instant respect for Calvin.  Why.  Because Hope beat his team last year in the finals.  All season long many posters here lamented how the MIAA was down this year, and the problems this was causing for qowi etc.  The MIAA was considered down because it did not do well against other conferences.  Cheer for whomever you choose.     My point is the better Hope does in the tournament the better it is for all MIAA teams.  If you don't agree, just ask yourself if it benefited (or hurt) UM or MSU or any Big 10 team when OSU got humiliated back on Jan 8th.  Perhaps part of the reason why prized Big 10 recruits bolt for OK, and USC was lack of respect for Big 10 football.  Success breds success. 

[realist]

SKOT:  When did they move the Chicago Skyway to Wisconsin?
Having traveled in WI it is never wise to be to aggresive speed wise on their roads.

[northb]

All sports conferences have reputations.  Therefore all the member schools of those various conferences are party to those reputations.  If you go to the MIAA women's chat room you will see an article recently posted by a USM fan.  According to that article the USM coach had instant respect for Calvin.  Why.  Because Hope beat his team last year in the finals.  All season long many posters here lamented how the MIAA was down this year, and the problems this was causing for qowi etc.  The MIAA was considered down because it did not do well against other conferences.  Cheer for whomever you choose.     My point is the better Hope does in the tournament the better it is for all MIAA teams.  If you don't agree, just ask yourself if it benefited (or hurt) UM or MSU or any Big 10 team when OSU got humiliated back on Jan 8th.  Perhaps part of the reason why prized Big 10 recruits bolt for OK, and USC was lack of respect for Big 10 football.  Success breds success. 

I think your point is well made, when focusing on the general reputation of the league and member schools.  Does it do anything tangible or quantifiable (i.e., boost a rating that helps with seeding next year)?  Absolutely not.  I choose to root for Hope in the rare  occassions that they are still playing when Calvin has hung up their shoes for the season for a simple reason:  In the end, the school to the west really is very similar to Calvin in mission, constituency, and, of course, in the master plan 
As I often told old Diesel Don's father, there is no shame in going to the 2nd best school in the MIAA.  

[pointlem]

Civic Minded, I just passed all those pulled-over cars after Madison, too . . . never seen so many highway patrol cars working the same mile.

Wondering if I might get a ticket to the second game tonight, I went to the gym, and was redirected to the university box office in the "university store" (which I think was on Portage Avenue).  They said they were sold out.  When I asked where to park---explaining that I was from Michigan---the ticket manager overhead the conversation and said she had 2nd game tickets set aside for Hope, and happily sold me one (even after I said I didn't want to deprive any rabid Pointer fans of such . . . though presumably their hard core fans would have gotten tickets earlier). 

That was unexpectedly nice hospitality, I thought (and, after all, I guess it takes a serious fan to come all this way).