FB: Empire 8

[realistic]

Q - Good points all around. 

I would also add that it's always been cyclical in D-III as well.  While MUC is the best ever and not looking like they will slip anytime soon there have been these runs for years.  Dayton, Augustana, Ithaca, etc.  I would love to see more than those 2 teams there all the time, but it will happen at some point and in the meantime, I am with Q - enjoying beating SJF, Cortland, etc.

Pat - I thought it was a pretty good read though.

[maxpower]

I'll admit I was a little harsh, and as I told Bombers798891, I (obviously) didn't know he wrote it and find his posts on this board to be among the most informative. Basically, I started skimming after flipping to the second page, which is where most of the real speculation took place. But it struck a couple of my pet peeves:

1) Quick-hitting newspaper-sentence format. (E.g. 1-sentence paragraphs and two consecutive paragraphs that begin with "but".)
2) The article being about twice as long as it needs to be, given the amount of information in it.

Basically the whole article is a re-working of two questions you ask at the end:

How can no one else be good enough to beat these guys? Shouldn't someone be able to do it, eventually?

And I would rather have read an article that attempts to answer these questions, rather than just pose them.

[maxpower]

PS I know that style of writing comes with the territory, but I can still be annoyed by it.

[Bombers798891]

PS I know that style of writing comes with the territory, but I can still be annoyed by it.

Yeah, it's a newspaper thing, which is probably where I picked it up. But it's not for everyone.

The reason I made it longer was because I figured that most people who go to that site don't know anything about D-III football, so I thought it was necessary to give the history lesson. Heck, I couldn't even find a photo of a D-III team to use in the piece!

Honestly, I would have loved to answer those questions at the end. But that's the thing, especially with MUC. When you look at a 179-5 record, that essentially encompasses three cycles of recruits, I mean, heck, I'm not even that good in Madden If the rest of college football can't figure out how to do it, what hope to I have? I'm sure a lot of it has to do with facilities, financial aid, D-I spillover, the academics at a school.

[maxpower]

But that's the thing, especially with MUC. When you look at a 179-5 record, that essentially encompasses three cycles of recruits, I mean, heck, I'm not even that good in Madden If the rest of college football can't figure out how to do it, what hope to I have? I'm sure a lot of it has to do with facilities, financial aid, D-I spillover, the academics at a school.

But the awesome thing about being a journalist (and what so few sports journalists EVER do) is that you can take a chance. No, you're not better at coaching football than the coaches, but your job is to look at it as an outsider with very different but still very relevant experience. I mean, Bill Simmons ain't running any teams, but that doesn't stop him from acting like he is (even though i didn't like your article, i would rather read it than bill simmons six days a week and twice on sunday [that was for you Q]).

[JQV]

Honestly, I would have loved to answer those questions at the end. But that's the thing, especially with MUC. When you look at a 179-5 record, that essentially encompasses three cycles of recruits, I mean, heck, I'm not even that good in Madden If the rest of college football can't figure out how to do it, what hope to I have? I'm sure a lot of it has to do with facilities, financial aid, D-I spillover, the academics at a school.

You guys are overthinking this.  College football ain't rocket science.  Institutions that dedicate resources to winning college football games win college football games.  That can mean facilities (see Fisher), coaches, recruiting budgets, academic support, strippers, whatever.

Watch how RPI jumps from very good to elite in that new park they are opening.  You can match UF's jump from solid SEC team to elite program with the money Spurrier dragged out of Boosters.  Now UF has so much money it is stupid and they get every recruit because those resources are there.

[Bombers798891]

Honestly, I would have loved to answer those questions at the end. But that's the thing, especially with MUC. When you look at a 179-5 record, that essentially encompasses three cycles of recruits, I mean, heck, I'm not even that good in Madden If the rest of college football can't figure out how to do it, what hope to I have? I'm sure a lot of it has to do with facilities, financial aid, D-I spillover, the academics at a school.

You guys are overthinking this.  College football ain't rocket science.  Institutions that dedicate resources to winning college football games win college football games.  That can mean facilities (see Fisher), coaches, recruiting budgets, academic support, strippers, whatever.

Watch how RPI jumps from very good to elite in that new park they are opening.  You can match UF's jump from solid SEC team to elite program with the money Spurrier dragged out of Boosters.  Now UF has so much money it is stupid and they get every recruit because those resources are there.

I think you're half right, but the thing that makes D-III different than D-I is that a lot of these big name institutions are defined by their athletic teams and hey, if we've got to give the football coach a raise even while we're cutting back elsewhere, well, that's what we do.

On the D-III level, while I think any school would prefer success over mediocrity, I just don't believe that there's an institutional drive at a lot of places. IC's building that new A&E center, and it's absolutely going to help the athletics programs at IC. But it's also going to do a lot for the school as a whole. It's not just some giant christmas present for the athletic department, which I think is different than how it would come across at a big D-I school

[JQV]

Big DI schools are only "defined by their athletic programs" because you don't live near them and didn't grow up around them.  Academic news is local.  No one here knows anything about IC's academic programs just like no one in New York knows anything about Florida's academic programs (even though UF is one of the top public universities in the nation on a par with UNC).

Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the schools that dedicate resources to athletics win.  It is true of our alma mater. 

[Bombers798891]

Big DI schools are only "defined by their athletic programs" because you don't live near them and didn't grow up around them.  Academic news is local.  No one here knows anything about IC's academic programs just like no one in New York knows anything about Florida's academic programs (even though UF is one of the top public universities in the nation on a par with UNC).

Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the schools that dedicate resources to athletics win.  It is true of our alma mater. 

I would agree that resource allocation is important yes. You make a fair point on the D-I programs academics

[JQV]

Lots of karma snipers out there for a pretty non-controversial topic.

[PBR...]

Big DI schools are only "defined by their athletic programs" because you don't live near them and didn't grow up around them.  Academic news is local.  No one here knows anything about IC's academic programs just like no one in New York knows anything about Florida's academic programs (even though UF is one of the top public universities in the nation on a par with UNC).

Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the schools that dedicate resources to athletics win.  It is true of our alma mater. 

how do u explain notre dame and charlie weis then....   

[JQV]

I actually read a great story on Sportsline earlier this summer about Notre Dame.  I can't find it right now but the premise was that Notre Dame's ridiculous TV contract with NBC is actually hurting Notre Dame financially.  The Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12 schools each get more TV revenue annually from their conference than Notre Dame gets from NBC.  The numbers baffled me but checked out.  Until the SEC re-upped with CBS this summer, the Big Ten was leading the way in TV revenues by school because of that network they started.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Heck, I couldn't even find a photo of a D-III team to use in the piece!

You should have asked.  I have some pictures from the End Zone when MUC played SJF in the playoffs at home a couple of years ago.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

strippers, whatever.

I missed the strippers at MUC.

[PBR...]

I actually read a great story on Sportsline earlier this summer about Notre Dame.  I can't find it right now but the premise was that Notre Dame's ridiculous TV contract with NBC is actually hurting Notre Dame financially.  The Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12 schools each get more TV revenue annually from their conference than Notre Dame gets from NBC.  The numbers baffled me but checked out.  Until the SEC re-upped with CBS this summer, the Big Ten was leading the way in TV revenues by school because of that network they started.

u r correctamundo...in fact it was quite surprising to me how quickly the big ten network was picked up by so many carriers(albeit a slugfest w/ comcast).... but u can see where the future is headed where each conf. is going to hold the rights to their broadcasts and eventually pay per view for a majority of games. the numbers are staggering how much revenue the big ten channel is generating already, much beyond all projections at this point. ND is going to get left in the dust...besides the tv money the grants the big schools get for research projects is huge and has really helped them load up on latest technologies and showcase the school w/ cutting edge technology for potential students/athletes. pbr barely recognizes the psu campus when walking around so many buildings have been torn down and replaced by research/development/engineering buildings its staggering.