MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[BrainOfJ.]

Attendance
@ Hope 1110
@ Albion 356
@ Calvin 557
@ Tri-State 255
TOTAL = 2278

Was Calvin's attendance "standing room only" too for their final game at the Fieldhouse? I sure hope their next stadium is bigger.

[Stinger]

Attendance

@ Calvin 557

Was Calvin's attendance "standing room only" too for their final game at the Fieldhouse? I sure hope their next stadium is bigger.

That number, right there, ultimate definition of  "fairweather".

[calvin_grad]

Attendance

@ Calvin 557

Was Calvin's attendance "standing room only" too for their final game at the Fieldhouse? I sure hope their next stadium is bigger.

That number, right there, ultimate definition of  "fairweather".

Unfortunately, you are right on.  I have a feeling that after the novelty of the new gymnasium wears off, it's going to be like a morgue for all but about 2 games a year there.

[sac]

Having more than 1 kid on the varsity from Grand Rapid Christian HS would help the ol' attendance numbers.

Help may be on the way.

[HopeConvert]

Mind you, he had some reason to whine. The officiating was brutal.

I'll give credit to Smith. He put together a strategy that was really Alma's only chance to win: slow down the game, press the perimeter. I'm sure Hope took the game as an opportunity to work on some things. Since "some things" includes a 1-2-2 zone with Klein at the point, which Alma torched, I'm guessing we might not see that zone again. That's the only explanation I have for changing defenses after you held the opponent to 18 in the first half, and then to stick with one that is giving up open shots and leading to a lot of offensive rebounds for the opposition.

Bowser had a beautiful little lay-in in his short time in the game. He looked unhappy about being taken out.

[realist]

Having more than 1 kid on the varsity from Grand Rapid Christian HS would help the ol' attendance numbers.

Help may be on the way.

While I would like to believe you are right about more players from GRC I doubt that is a major key.  As the student poster from Calvin said a week or so ago the students at this time don't seem to have a lot of confidence in KVS.   It would be very nice if you are correct about some help coming.
Frankly nothing will do more for attendance than winning more games.

Interesting Stinger is critical of the Calvin/Olivet game drawing 557 while those powerhouse teams with renowned fan support Kalamzoo/Albion had
356.  Is that the pot calling the kettle black

[wiz]

There's no 'c' in Haklin.[/quote]

And there is no "w" in Kalamazoo.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Attendance

@ Calvin 557

Was Calvin's attendance "standing room only" too for their final game at the Fieldhouse? I sure hope their next stadium is bigger.

That number, right there, ultimate definition of  "fairweather".

Unfortunately, you are right on.  I have a feeling that after the novelty of the new gymnasium wears off, it's going to be like a morgue for all but about 2 games a year there.

Relax everyone, it's the postseason.  Even our friends in Holland who we should all aspire to be like drew only 1/3 of their normal crowd.  This is just the nature of games that aren't on the printed schedule.  No, I'm not predicting that Calvin will fill out the arena w 5k fans every game for years to come, but I don't think it'll be a "morgue".   You are right though that the key factor is the W column.

[sac]

The good people of Holland had a good excuse..........West Ottawa HS  played Holland HS in the district semi's in Grandville.  There was even a coach or two missing.

.......at least thats the story and I'm sticking to it.  Hope just doesn't draw well for the first night of the MIAA tournament, never have.


In reality 80 more people watched Calvin/Olivet III than Calvin/Olivet I

1-30-08.......477
2-27-08.......557

150 or so more showed up to watch Albion/Kzoo III vs Albion/Kzoo II

[AndersDY]

Bowser put up 5 points in less than 1 mintue of playing time (he had 4 in under a minute against TSU).  That kid needs more playing time, IMHO.

I sat by someone else who had the exact same opinion. Perhaps Sac needs to put back up his previous "more Bowser" icon.

[gohope]

Auuugggghhhhh!!!  Still recovering from getting home after the game last night to find my "AARP" card in the mailbox!!!!  Noooooooooooooooooooo!!! But I digress.

Some thoughts from last night's game:

*  #21 Matt Brown for Alma provided some good humor for the crowd at the DeVos as he had two pretty clear attempts to "slam" or "dunk" the ball. But alas, he must have missed that day of practice as he went 0 for 2 .  Fortunately his other shooting was much better 7 for 15 FG and 5 for 6 at the 3pt.

*  As mentioned, it was kinda quiet at the DeVos (and at the other playing venues also) last night. About 50 Dew Crewers and 1110 in attendance, but you could still hear the cheerleaders, which made the next cheer pretty hilarious if you put 2 and 2 together. They started cheering, "T-W-O, Shoot two." (repeat a few times). Well at the same time they're doing that cheer, Derek VanSolkema steps behind the arc, and as they say, "Nothing but net!" Guess the cheerleaders need to do that cheer more often!

*  And nothing better than watching John Creek have enough of the coach from Alma. Yep, he got teed up and I'm a bit puzzled as to why he didn't get a second. Yap, yap, yap. He seemed more mouthy than my furry friends when they see a squirrel enter "their" yard.  Hey coach, go play some golf.

*  FDF - have you figured out yet what Will Bowser would have scored if he, like Tony "I gotta play the ENTIRE game" Benford would score in a game, if he would have played the entire 40 minutes? Last night Will played 2 minutes and scored 5 points and had 1 rebound.  Not bad.  (correction, my bad. Mr. Benford only played 37 minutes last night. Must have had the flu.)

*  Nice game also for Marcus Vanderheide - 22 points, 11 bounds, 4 assists, and as usual a hug for Grandpa and Grandma after the game.

*  As HopeConvert noted, the Alma coach did do some things different against Hope, such as the post-modern style of the 4 corner stall. But Hope's D caught on and unfortunately it was back to the chalk board for Alma, but alas, they had run out of chalk.

Well, next stop, the Semi-Finals on Friday. Safe travels to all!

[Stinger]

Interesting Stinger is critical of the Calvin/Olivet game drawing 557 while those powerhouse teams with renowned fan support Kalamzoo/Albion had
356.  Is that the pot calling the kettle black

I can't speak for Albion fans.  I was there.  I supported my team.  There were more K fans there last night than were Calvin for the "Mocini Miracle" game. 

Your team just played its last game in Calvin Fieldhouse, which has hosted Final Fours, and has had 2 national championship teams. 

You had 557 people show. I think that speaks volumes.

[Civic Minded]

Here's the secret about post-league attendance at the Dutchy schools.  Season ticket holders have to pay for admission to the tournament games.  Fickle fans everywhere will avoid paying, especially for the first game of the tournament, especially when they expect their team to play on.  Wrong?  Absolutely.  Truth?  Unfortunately so.   

Bowser can and will be a force to reckon with.  At this point, however, I'm guessing that his defense needs more work.  Tanis has put extra work into his defense, and he's seeing more playing time as a result.  As has been said before, we aren't at practice, and therefore aren't the best judges of who should and should not be playing.  As frustrating as it is (heck yeah I wold like to see more Bowser), we'll have to trust the coaching staff to make the best decision.

[HopeConvert]

Reason #2851 why DIII is better than DI:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/grant_wahl/02/26/abusive.fans0303/index.html

Let's hope it never gets like this.

[hoopdreams]

having watched a couple of the freshmen play several times in HS, AAU, etc... more than watching the limited minutes (knowing already what they are capable of), the frustrating part is seeing how timid they are on the court compared to their HS careers.  I'm not buying into the whole transition to colllege, playing against older, stronger kids stuff .  I'm pretty sure it has to do with them playing in fear of getting pulled for making a mistake and not having an opportunity to get comfortable.

That being said, if they all return next year, we will be seeing plenty of them in the future.

FWIW, the points/rebounds that Bowser has attained, have basically been against kids who couldn't start on many west michigan HS teams or never made an all-conference team.  No offense to them or Will.

As far as the gr christian grads continuing on to Calvin, it sounds like Oostema to AQ is a done deal, and Schultze is most likely headed out of state.