FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Photos for bc]

will miss you all, have one for me  

[Jeremybozz]

I have no problem with my smite to -4 karma if it is for something other than offering sympathies to Dr. Geisert on the death of his wife.

[HeardEnough]

Any word on anyone from the ODAC making the All-American team?

[stickyfingers]

man, beaver is giving away the pass or run in his stance

[D3Waterboy]

Way to go ESPN....late in the 4th quarter of the Stagg Bowl today they showed Wesley beating MHB in the quarters, not BC...I think all other games were right, but not that one...go figure.

[pakownr97]

Way to go ESPN....late in the 4th quarter of the Stagg Bowl today they showed Wesley beating MHB in the quarters, not BC...I think all other games were right, but not that one...go figure.

I saw that and screamed at the tv, but other than that, I thought Bender and Curry were a huge improvement over Spielman and whoever did the games before.  They were not only better announcers, but they were much better prepared.

Also, the officiating was maybe the best I've ever seen at the D3 level.  The only mistake I noticed was at the end of the game.  After MUC's defensive penalty, they left only two seconds on the clock.  I think they should have gone back to about 11 seconds, but I am never sure of college rules vs. NFL rules.  In any case, can we get Michigan officials for all of Bridgewater's playoff games?

[pakownr97]

I predicted the score would be MUC 28, UWW 21.  I thought MUC by 7, and at first I was going to go 35-28, but I thought the weather would make the game a lower scoring affair, so I went with 28-21.  The way the field was breaking up in the first half, I was looking pretty good, then the field seemed to hold up better in the second half.

Oh well, I did have Mount Union to win it all. 

[D3Waterboy]

Everyone here should take a look at Keith's first response (at noon today) in the Daily Dose "Game Day In Salem" blog (link is at the top of the front page).  Nice salute to Stone Station fanatics...go guys (and gals too !).

[JT]

Bill Curry works hard.  He played for Lombardi and was a DI hc,  in spite of his slip ups he put forth a nice broadcast.  Listened to both d3football.com and ESPN , props to all invovled.

[patcummings]

Posted this on Dailydose, thought I'd share here too...

A few thoughts as I sit in Charlotte's airport awaiting a connecting flight back to Philadelphia...

WHAT A WEEKEND.

Best Stagg Bowl weekend I've been a part of...

1.  Sat with Mount and UWW fans on the plane from Charlotte to Roanoke.  Mount fans were calm, WW visibly jumpy.  Their major question: "Why Salem?"  Answered later...

2.  Hotel Roanoke - 8:30am, "kid" calls and confirms Stone Station is well established at the stadium parking lot, with chicken on the grill.

3.  10:00am - Kmac and I arrive at the stadium and pull right up to Stone Station...witness Llamaguy, Skoaltrain, et al getting down with all that is good in tailgating.  TV cameras come by to take pictures of the 75 chicken quarters on the massive grill.  This is going to be good.  Ric, HSCoach, Theaprof, Seventiesraider, Skunkssidekick, and plenty of others are there.  I think to myself...without D3football.com, this doesn't happen.

4.  11:00am - Crowd building in the parking lot and OLineMom arrives with her 17 pans of brownies...and they are as good as advertised.

5.  11:20am - The chicken comes off the grill and Theaprof is the first to get a piece.  He reaches into the container to pull a leg out...the bone comes out and the rest of the meat is left in the container.  WOW.  I was fourth in line and Llamaguy's weeklong marination did it's job.  Some of the best, most tender BBQ chicken I've ever had.  The Whitewater folks start to flock over to "Stone Station" and they too get in line...first come first served with the chicken.

6.  11:35am - The first 45 quarters that were done are now gone and the remaining 30 are coming off the grill.  Looks like a Soviet bread line...except, without the poverty, etc. 

6a.  11:38am - Stone Station wins best tailgate award and package of goodies from 94.1 Star Country FM.

7.  11:43am - Chicken is gone...still people in line thinking more are on the way.  Sorry...as Llamaguy said, first come first served.  A gaggle of WW folks are chomping away, and those who didn't get the bird got Olinemom's brownies...scout teamers are there, a ton of WW parents including starting TE Pete Schmitt and starting LB AJ Raebel.  Good people...

8.  12:00pm - I head on up the press box for the duration, the crowd still kicks on...as Skoaltrain remarked..."There were people on the phone telling those they were talking to...'I'm at Stone Station."

8a.  For those who don't know, Stone is a reference to the Bridgewater College president...Bridgewater tailgaters gave their tailgate location such a name for their on-campus tailgates and have since carried it on the road...and oh how far they've come.

9.  Why Salem?  I saw some of my flight-mates hanging at Stone Station.  That should be enough reason.

10.  Myles Brand was there.  I was really surprised to here that he would be in attendance, and almost as surprised that Pat Coleman was able to interview him on the sidelines at the start of the third quarter.  His overall remarks summarized...1.  We're glad you webcast the game, 2. Even though brackets are regional in D3, this truly remains a national championship, 3. D3 has about 25 schools waiting to gain full membership, bringing total numbers to around 450, chances are they would cap that membership there.

11.  Great game...you had a feeling UWW was always in the hunt.

12.  Would have never predicted UWW wouldn't score for more than 2.5 quarters of football.  That was their downfall...

13.  Replay was well used, took no more than one minute from announcement of review to result of review.  The MIAA officials did a decent job overall, I give them a 8.5 out of 10...I think they definitely missed on a few calls, but the ones they made were right on.

14.  If Justin Beaver can get out of bounds or in the end zone on that last drive, it would have greatly increased UWW's chances of a shot on that onside kick.

15.  Salem does a great job with the Stagg Bowl, no question...but after watching the field debacle from the 2004 D1-AA championship in Chattanooga, they knew they had to get an artificial surface if they wanted to keep the game.  The field conditions today didn't determine the outcome, but they didn't help either.  If Salem wants the Stagg Bowl beyond 2006, one of the things that will sure up their bid is an artificial surface at Salem Stadium.

16.  Got back to the airport by 515 thanks to "kid" and several Mount and UWW fans were there.  Got to talking with Bob Berezowitz's brother who was on my flight.  He was obviously disappointed and said he would have rather been going back after a win, but having spent parts of seven seasons covering the Stagg Bowl, and the men's Final Four, this much is clear...no other D3 team, of the 231 out there, are playing today. 

The road to Salem is the chore...get to Salem, and winning is merely icing on the cake.  There is no need to say "I told ya so..." about some off the wall predictions.  Two teams got there, and no one else can say they did.  Just getting there TRULY is 9/10ths the battle, the remaining portion is left on the field. 

WW players will look back on this at some point and reflect, knowing that they their experience was a good one.

17.  Bill Curry from ESPN2's broadcast was also on my flight.  Didn't get a chance to talk to him but this much is clear...he appreciates D3.  His comments on the Friday night preview at halftime of the D1-AA champ game were very well received by the NCAA committee watching...from where we stand, ESPN2 is an outsider when it comes to D3, we want to see outsiders respect our niche of the market and not treat us as a circus sideshow as some felt from 2004.  Good job Bill and Gary Bender.

18.  Best Stagg Bowl weekend so far...thanks to the following:

Pat Coleman for his great job on the sideline, he was supplied with lots of great details as well from "kid"
Gordon Mann for his production of the broadcast - he was the traffic controller and we couldn't have done it without him
KMac for being Kmac
All the Bridgewater folks who came and made the Salem experience that much better for fans who might not have known the difference...they do now.
Carey Harveycutter and all the Salem gang for being gracious hosts
Brad Bankston and Chris Kilcoyne from the ODAC for another flawless day of game management...
NCAA Representative Wayne Burrow...first for stopping by Stone Station and appreciating it...secondly for acknowledging he lurks here on the message boards and was familar with Stone Station and Llamaguy in particular...and for well, just being the type of NCAA rep you would want to have.  Very appreciative of the local support from the BC folks, appreciative of D3football.com...another good job Wayne.

I've finally made it home...hence my modifying...certainly a much shorter trip than the one down to Roanoke.

[Bwana]

I do not whethere there was more mayhem at the Stagg Bowl or at the Sesame Street on stage show we took the three WMD to this AM (NoVA parents can be so pushy!), but upon returning home I greatly enjoyed the on site broadcast team...Bill Curry said a lot of great things about D3 football, and all but declared  Mount Union the preeminent college football program in the country.  There was a lot of stuff they put out-like the differences in scholarships-that was old news to D3 fans but was probably brand new information for D1/1A/2 supporters.

Curry was also amazed that Mount Union kept their program at such a level even though they are not allowed to visit recruits, but can only talk to them when they visit campus.  About that point my middle guy jumped on me so I missed if this is an OAC rule or a D3 rule, but Curry was duly appreciative.

Now the guys in the studio...I thought they left a lot to be desired.  Some haircut I was not familiar with and a former Georgia coach who acted as if the game was keeping him from his tee time.  Curry and his partner more than made up for them...great job in the booth!

[D3Waterboy]

The D3 guys (Pat, Keith, etc.) were VERY complimentary of the Stone Station road show...sounds like there are now 2 traditions at Salem: a MUC victory and the hospitality of the Bridgewater faithful. Maybe the  eagle players can change one of those traditions in years to come...

[amonachino]

To LLama, Kid, and Oline Mom,    Very special thanks for the brownies and chicken from a purple raider who antlers. 

[seventiesraider]

 Thought I'd come over to "your house" and say thanks again for the hospitality. Everything and everybody was just great and a lot of fun. Stone Station and everyone behind it is one great reason to never move the Stagg out of Salem. It was my sixth trip and my most fun, and not just because of Kmic and Garcon. Thanks again from me and Kevin (2019Raider)

[theaprof]

I, too would like to express my thanks to everyone that was down in Salem and made this the best Stagg Bowl yet for me.

Stone Station--you guys are amazing--I remember meeting a bunch of you guys in Alliance a few years ago--had a great time then--had an even better time this year.  You do ODAC and Bridgewater proud--you are truely a class act--too bad more of D-III doesn't get the opportunity to see the kind of sportsmanship that you display by coming down and supporting not just your team, but the whole Stagg concept as well.

Olinemom--I can't say that I am sorry that the team you were backing lost, but it was great to meet you and i can't thank you enough for your support of the sport as well.  And anybody that gets up early so she can bake extra brownies so both teams get some is a winner in my book.

All of you who missed the pregame activities in the parking lot missed a lot of what DIII is all about--MUC and UWWW fans having a good time together--sharing chicken, brownies and fellowship sponsored by ODAC and Bridgewater fans.  I wish all sporting events could be this fantastic.

Thanks again!