FB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[dawgs go deep]

CRZK....I think you must have given the kid some valuable advise.  I agreee that invited and preferred are the same.    I told you I was bored and about to retire.....this is just supposed to be stress relief....it hasnt quite worked that way!

[Gray Fox]

dgd,
A worthy 200.

I think Wabby made a very good choice in the long run.  Even if he does not end up as a QB, he will have had a solid shot at it, and the coaches will find a place for him to maximize his talents.

I'm looking forward to seeing you both in San Antonio.

[Sabretooth Tiger]

DF1:

It's really the Linfield fans who praise Andy Collins as the "sole factor in [Oxy's] success" . . . not the Oxy fans.

tooth

DF1,

Welcome aboard.  It's great you decided to leave the shadows and enter the light.

About what tooth said, I think it depends on how you measure success.  Without Collins Oxy is probably over .500 but they definitely aren't 9-1, 10-2 the last two years.  Even the NWC fans who have little positive to say about the SCIAC will sing Collins' praises. 

The think Rockcat has a very good point . . . I'm guessing that our friends in the NWC, while perhaps agreeing that the SCIAC is on the way up, will withhold unbridled respect until we (as the the royal SCIAC  "we") get some playoff wins in the west with a team not led by Collins . . . or until a SCIAC team plays the 'Cats a little more closely than we have the past two years.

I have to think that Oxy's '04 performance against Willamette and Concordia was the wake-up call.  Getting a SCIAC playoff win, or two, or three or more this year would be great and help bring positive attention to our southern island.

[dawgs go deep]

tooth, I agree, can you believe it, and will add that if the Dawgs can come away with wins against Whitworth and Trinity, the SCIAC's image will also be enhanced.

I got the power!

GO DAWGS!

[Sabretooth Tiger]

Wins over Trinity and Whitworth could be very big for the Bulldogs.  If you look at the pre-season top 25 in the d3 poll, you'll see that Trinity and Whitworth are the top among the "also getting votes" category just out of the hunt.  If Redlands can rack up a couple of w's to start the season, that would be huge for the Bulldogs in terms of getting some national ranking attention and would set up quite the match with Oxy, assuming the Tigers are successful in their opening non-league tune-ups . . . which admittedly are not nearly as challenging as Redlands'.  You should also note that the only other SCIAC vote pre-season vote getter at this point is Cal Lutheran.

9 days to camp, let's hope the Tigers put together a good O line and find some speed and hands in their receivers along with some speed, smarts and hitters with in the db corps.

[rockcat]

DGD,

That was exhausting but I'm happy you're at 200.  It will make things more fun.

Sabre,

you have summarized my thoughts well. 

[dawgs go deep]

Yo cat was it the first 199 that were exhausting or #200??

Im spreading the good stuff around!

It would be great if both were undefeated when they play ...it would make it that much sweeter!!!!!!!

[swede]

tooth, I agree, can you believe it, and will add that if the Dawgs can come away with wins against Whitworth and Trinity, the SCIAC's image will also be enhanced.

I got the power!

GO DAWGS!

I agree. Both will be tough games but if you can go 2-0 I'll be rooting for you. Hey wait, regardless of the outcome I'll still root for you. If the Tigers win the SCIAC, I'll root for them providing its not against A NWC team. 

[rockcat]

Yo cat was it the first 199 that were exhausting or #200??

Just that long one.  You're always talking about going deep but that was more like an 8 minute, 15 play drive!

[vycali]

longtime college football fan but newcomer to d3.

so just how good is occidental? will they have any problems in their early games?

[Sabretooth Tiger]

If you are seriously interested in the answer to that question, you may:

1.  Go back through this board and read previous posts;
2.  Go to www.oxy.edu and find the football links to read articles;
3.  Do the same for the rest of the SCIAC teams (Redlands, Cal Lutheran, Claremont, Pomona, LaVerne, Whittier);
4.  Go to the main d3 football page and read the pre-season top 25, pre-season All Americans, and archived "Around the Nation" and "Around the Region" articles;
5.  Purchase a copy of the soon to be released "Kickoff" publication that will be available in a couple of weeks.

You'll learn, among other things, that Oxy has won the SCIAC the past two years, won two playoff games in 2004 before losing to eventual national champion Linfield in the Western Regional finals, lost to Linfield in the first round of 2005, that the Tigers have the first team pre-season d3 All American quarterback in Andy Collins, are ranked in the d3 top 10 pre-season, and have to replace a big chunk of last year's offense lost to graduation.

As for the "early" games . . . Lewis & Clark is coming off of a shortened season and through a rough patch in its program, so it's hard to say.  Colorado College did not have a great year last year, but is returning most of its starters, so it will be a mature and experienced group that could prove to be a vastly more challenging opponent this year.  Don't know much about the 2006 version of the Stags as of yet.  The fourth game of the year, a league match against Redlands, will undoubtedly be very exciting and may well have playoff implications for both teams if they come into that weekend undefeated.

How good is Oxy really?  I guess you'll find out when all the rest of us do . . . each Saturday this fall beginning on September 9. 

sabretooth

[rockcat]

vy,

I think Sabre is being a bit over cautious.  The only two games that may be tough will be Redlands and Cal Lu.  They should run through the non conference schedule, which won't be a good measurement of how good they really are because the three teams won a combined four games last year.

As Sabre said, "Kickoff" will probably be the best way to learn all about d3 football before the season starts.  They guys who run this site know more than pretty much anybody.

[Sabretooth Tiger]

Rockcat . . . not over cautious . . . just avoiding hubris.   

[rockcat]

Don't be so PC buddy  .  You've got to ride the wave of this success (maybe I've spent too much time around Linfield fans who for some reason come across as arrogant! ).

[Sabretooth Tiger]

Rock dude, it has nothing to do with being "pc" . . . a term that I abhor.

The Tigers will win or lose it on the field.  The way I see it, some old fart like me saying that Oxy will stomp L&C, Colorado College and Claremont is pretty meaningless and, imho, disrespectful to those programs.  I realize this may be a minority opinion.

A question was asked and I tried to provide a fact based answer . . . guess it's the lawyer and former player in me . . . I never was a cheerleader . . . unlike our current president who was the head cheerleader at Phillips Academy in Andover.  (Source, MSN Encarta).  I'll save commenting on what exactly that suggests.

I'm just too old school . . . I think trash talk is trash.  It smacks of ignorance (imho).  As the saying goes,  actions speak louder than words.  I can pull for my team w/o disrespecting the competition.

that's why my screen name is taken from an extinct mammal.

cheers,

tooth