FB: Midwest Conference

[LFCdad]

Scottie you seem to know the program pretty well.How high of a retention rate do they have? LFC has 29 FR,21 SO but drops down to 12 JR and 11 SR. and thats after 3 good yrs. Did you play and if so how big was your team?

[scottie]

LFCdad - I'm sorry to admit that I'm only an enthusiastic fan, not a former football player.  I have however competed for MC athletically (briefly) and coached there as well.  Today, I'm a "distance-fan" who relies on combining box scores, SID releases and institutional memory (more than ten year's worth) for my remarkably insightful remarks.   

I have not broken down the MC roster year by year in order to scientifically prove my retention theory.  But I would say that the retention trends of the football team and the overall enrollment of the college are commensurate.  (That means "equal" for any IIAC fans who might be reading this...)  Through facility planning and fundraising to benefit the academic, residential and athletic qualities of the campus, Monmouth's enrollment has benefitted - both in terms of attracting new students and retaining the students that they already have.  It would not surprise me if freshman-to-sophmore retention figures are in the upper 80 percentile or even in the low 90 percentile.  And, generally, once a student has spent two years at an institution it is much less likely that they will leave.

[ScoutTeamHero]

As a conference I don't think that there are any real programs besides SNC, and Monmouth has been building one the last few years as well.  If you look at SNC and MC, they have been bringing in quality kids and have always had numbers.  For the most part teams usually bring in what they need and aren't deep at any position.  IC and Carroll are building but they aren't there yet.  Hopefully Lawrence will begin to turn it around with their new staff.  Ripon has been off but I think they are there.  The others aren't even close.

Monmouth and SNC are good teams but when they play average high school teams week in and week out in conference they don't get any better.  The only way to get any respect is to get better as a whole conference.  It will only make everyone else more competitive. 

lfcsports,
LFC was fortunate to have players fall in their lap and that turned into a championship.  They need to find themselves and settle on a coach.  For your AD, is this year just a tryout for the coaching staff or what?  And it was evident that LFC thought their season was over after SNC in '02 because they didn't bother to show up in the playoffs.

[meachscribe]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/coll/oct05/364706.asp

Since the Red Ducks are asleep at the wheel, I'll help them out.  I may be an ass, but thank you to this guy.

With that being said, SNC will hang a 45-10 type game on the Ducks this weekend. 

For those who want to be entertained, take a look at the photo of Coach Ernst on the Ripon Web site.  Holly bucktooth!!

[LFCdad]

Hey Scout you seem a little bitter about LFC winning the championship.It dosn"t say much for the rest of the conference if like you say one baby U can fall into the lap of a school and turn that team into a champ. I'm not sure who you are pulling for but  you said in your last post that the only real program was SNC with MC building one the last few years.Then you say IC ,Carroll,Ripon And hopefully LC are all turning it around. If all those teams are on the up-swing like you say then you don't have to worry about the MWC getting any respect do you?

[Dolph Stanley]

"Monmouth and SNC are good teams but when they play average high school teams week in and week out in conference they don't get any better.  The only way to get any respect is to get better as a whole conference.  It will only make everyone else more competitive."

There is another way for teams like Monmouth and SNC to gain respect.  Apply for admission in a conference in which the majority of schools place the same emphasis on football as you do.

The simple fact is that schools like Grinnell, Lawrence and Beloit will never field teams of 90+ players.  These schools are already at full enrollment and their philosophy is different (Before you get mad, I am not saying it is better or worse, simply different.)  In the near future it would not surprise me to see a major realignment of the D3 conferences in the Mid West with football being a major force in who ends up where.

[Dolph Stanley]

The Beloit - Ripon game promises to be a fairly major event as it is DeGeorge's last home game.  Come on down, I'll leave a bag of popcorn under the stands from this weeks game so it gets good and stale.

[The Roop]

Dolph,

It has been pretty cool lately so I don't think leaving the popcorn outside would cause it to go stale fast enough. Get a bag of Wal-Mart popcorn and set it next to a vaporizer for a few days. That should closely approximate what I remember.

Plumbing so bad that water seeped from almost every interior wall in the stadium, which created the most unique popcorn known to man. And to think they remodeled the place. Go figger......

[coolaw56]

LFCdad:  We were lucky enough to have found a great school like LFC and have our son play on the 2002 Championship team.  Or should I say "LFC was fortunate to have players fall in their lap and that turned into a championship."  Although we are not from Illinois and had never heard of Lake Forest College, it was actually what we saw when we went on a tour that impressed us and helped our son decide LFC was a great fit for him.  As for that championship, no song has more meaning for me than "Magic Carpet Ride."  Oh what a smile and what  memories that song brings.  As for this year, it's nice to see a changing of the guards like in 2002 (the first time in 19 years for LFC), but I'm anxious, as is everyone, to see what happens the first round of playoffs.  For the boys at LFC, keep your heads up, and good luck against Carroll tomorrow.  They always play you tough. 

[scottie]

I can't attend the game but called for an update.

Just starting the second half - Monmouth 35, IC 0

[ccfan69]

Carroll 40 LFC 13 Final.....Nice Job Pioneers.  Defense really helped out in this game.

[ICBlue]

Went to the IC/St. Norbert's  game, as an IC fan, hopefullI can still give an objective response.

1. Monmouth is better than anyone in the conference... period.  Better than St. Norbert's, better than Carroll, etc. 

2. Monmouth's main strenght that no one talks about EXECUTION.  They did a great scouting job, develop a game plan and then did it!

3. QB, RB, size of lineman no one is better in the conference.

4. Where were the D2 and D1AA schools, that some of these players on Monmouth could be playing for when it came time to recruit?

My Blueboys had heart, gave it there all but, when you play an better team (Senoir Day and Homecoming on the same day too!?!) ... this is what happens.  Hopefullly when the four key starters for the Blueboys come back next year (QB,OL,DB,DL) come back next year.. it will be a better game.

Hats off  to the Scots and everybody in the conference should be now routing for the Scots to go two or tree deep in the play offs.

[The Roop]

IC,

Whose to say that there weren't any 1AA or D2 schools interested in some of the Monmouth players. 1AA and D2s don't have many scholarships available so "4 year rides" aren't that common. I'm just guessing but if offers were made it probably involved walking on for a few years. Then maybe getting a scholarship in the junior or senior season.

[Jester76]

Well once again the Scots come off a good week and they only gain 3 little votes.  And yet Coe can lose to Wartburg who has yet to be recognized.  Man people really do have a negative opinion of our conference.  Our conference I think is better than the credit we get for it.  I just think Monmouth has put together a quality team and it is a giant in comparison to the rest of the conference.  Well as far as respect goes that is cool don't give any to the Scots so that they can sneek up behind someone in the playoffs and suprise the whole D3football.com world.

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Jester,

  Well as far as respect goes that is cool don't give any to the Scots so that they can sneek up behind someone in the playoffs and suprise the whole D3football.com world.

Ain't gonna happen.