D3 Championship Belt

[Pat Coleman]

If you're referring to Pat, you're way off on that. Pat is legendary here for his ambivalent (at best) attitude towards this board in general and The Belt^TM as a concept. He's like a teacher who sits at his desk grading papers and pretending not to notice while we shoot spitwads and make armpit noises in the back row of his classroom.

What's the next step up from ambivalence? I think I'm there. I find it amusing.

[Pat Coleman]

Oh, I read. I made my peace with the concept of the Belt last season sometime.

[KnightSlappy]

I would think certain providers of D3 basketball information might find it worthwhile for the marketing value alone.

If you're referring to Pat, you're way off on that. Pat is legendary here for his ambivalent (at best) attitude towards this board in general and The Belt^TM as a concept. He's like a teacher who sits at his desk grading papers and pretending not to notice while we shoot spitwads and make armpit noises in the back row of his classroom.

Even more than that, Pat has been trying to shut this board down for years! 

[Gregory Sager]

If you're referring to Pat, you're way off on that. Pat is legendary here for his ambivalent (at best) attitude towards this board in general and The Belt^TM as a concept. He's like a teacher who sits at his desk grading papers and pretending not to notice while we shoot spitwads and make armpit noises in the back row of his classroom.

What's the next step up from ambivalence?

Um ... the mildly-entertained interest of an adult watching a three-year-old pull his pants on backwards? The detached observation of someone sitting on a park bench looking at ants swarm over a popsicle dropped in the grass? Help me out here, Bill.

[Smitty Oom]

This would be so much cooler if there was an actual belt that got passed around.

That would be pretty much the coolest thing in college sports, actually.

I agree 100%... the kids would love it, as I'm sure many read these pages... someone just needs to take the bull... er, the belt... by the horns....

As a very recent graduate of a MIAC school I am proud to say I never read these forums until after I played my last minute on the court. With that being said, I would have totally made this Belt^TM and passed It^TM around the MIAC teams if they beat us, as I knew enough of the other players where it would be a cool bit. I love this thread and continue to follow it. This idea would also make a great news story for those d3 players trying to get their 15 minutes of fame on ESPN! Anyways, I am glad the Tommies were able to snag The Belt^TM back from the lowly WIAC for the remainder of the season! Here is hoping It^TM travels well this winter around the great state of MN!

[Gregory Sager]

I can still remember former Wash U All-American Sean Wallis talking about winning The Belt^TM during a postgame interview. That felt like a truly subversive triumph of sorts for us idiots who've spent so much time constructing the elaborate mythology of Thee Most Glorious Bespangled Cincture^TM.

[sac]

A more creative me might have given it a shot last year when Hope had It^Tm.  But I have no idea how you'd present it to the opposing team.  "Here, here's this... thing I made, go cherish it and pass it on to your next vanquisher"

[Mr. Ypsi]

A more creative me might have given it a shot last year when Hope had It^Tm.  But I have no idea how you'd present it to the opposing team.  "Here, here's this... thing I made, go cherish it and pass it on to your next vanquisher"

Hey, that could be a new requirement for winning The Belt^TM: if the team is not familiar with this thread, then no Belt^TM for them!

Bill, think that would pass muster with the Weasels?

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

A more creative me might have given it a shot last year when Hope had It^Tm.  But I have no idea how you'd present it to the opposing team.  "Here, here's this... thing I made, go cherish it and pass it on to your next vanquisher"

I think it would be like a trophy game in football. There are lots of ways those get stored/presented (The Little Brown Jug is in a box, Paul Bunyan's Axe just gets carried out. My suggestion would be for the holding team captain to wear it out during pre-game intros, then hand it over to the school AD. If there's a new champion, the AD gives it over to the opposing team in some way (coach, captain, AD, assistant, just someone that isn't going to do something stupid with it or steal it). But there are probably other ways.

I just think it would be good food, good publicity for the provider/sponsor, and make for shareable moments suitable for social media. People making the belt around the waist sign, belt celebrations, and I'm sure things I haven't thought of (belt tours around the winning campus or something).

It's ridiculous, and that's the point. It's not opera, it's basketball -- it's supposed to be fun, especially in D3 because no one is getting rich off it here. Plus, it's no more ridiculous than Minnesota and Iowa annually playing for a 98.3 pound bronze pig and grown men sprinting to the sideline to raise it.

To sac's point, this is why I think it would be tailor made for Pat or Dave to provide/sponsor (because inevitably someone will break it). Then it's not like some clownface just made it for his team.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

If you're referring to Pat, you're way off on that. Pat is legendary here for his ambivalent (at best) attitude towards this board in general and The Belt^TM as a concept. He's like a teacher who sits at his desk grading papers and pretending not to notice while we shoot spitwads and make armpit noises in the back row of his classroom.

What's the next step up from ambivalence?

Um ... the mildly-entertained interest of an adult watching a three-year-old pull his pants on backwards? The detached observation of someone sitting on a park bench looking at ants swarm over a popsicle dropped in the grass? Help me out here, Bill.

Anyone west of the Hudson river watching a Red Sox-Yankees game?

[Gregory Sager]

To sac's point, this is why I think it would be tailor made for Pat or Dave to provide/sponsor (because inevitably someone will break it). Then it's not like some clownface just made it for his team.

I think that the social awkwardness involved in sac or some other fan just walking out of the stands with a strange bespangled object, approaching the coach or captain of the victorious opponent, and saying:

"Here, here's this... thing I made, go cherish it and pass it on to your next vanquisher"

... has a goofy, bizarre charm all to itself that makes it rather appropriate for such an object.

If you're referring to Pat, you're way off on that. Pat is legendary here for his ambivalent (at best) attitude towards this board in general and The Belt^TM as a concept. He's like a teacher who sits at his desk grading papers and pretending not to notice while we shoot spitwads and make armpit noises in the back row of his classroom.

What's the next step up from ambivalence?

Um ... the mildly-entertained interest of an adult watching a three-year-old pull his pants on backwards? The detached observation of someone sitting on a park bench looking at ants swarm over a popsicle dropped in the grass? Help me out here, Bill.

Anyone west of the Hudson river watching a Red Sox-Yankees game?

That's actually not a bad analogy.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think the captain of the losing team should meet the captain of the winning team at midcourt and kneel, with head bowed, to preset the belt above his head to the victors.  It feels like the only proper way to pass it along.

[lmitzel]

To sac's point, this is why I think it would be tailor made for Pat or Dave to provide/sponsor (because inevitably someone will break it). Then it's not like some clownface just made it for his team.

I think that the social awkwardness involved in sac or some other fan just walking out of the stands with a strange bespangled object, approaching the coach or captain of the victorious opponent, and saying:

"Here, here's this... thing I made, go cherish it and pass it on to your next vanquisher"

... has a goofy, bizarre charm all to itself that makes it rather appropriate for such an object.

I was daydreaming about something like this as a PA guy, making an announcement postgame after losing The Belt^TM about a transfer ceremony (like mentioned above) at center court while 90 percent of the crowd looks on going, "Huh?" Might be worth it.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

I think the captain of the losing team should meet the captain of the winning team at midcourt and kneel, with head bowed, to preset the belt above his head to the victors.  It feels like the only proper way to pass it along.

What, followed by a lament about dishonoring his family and committing seppuku?

I'm thinking more like a slightly fearful AD quickly passing off The Belt^TM into a crowd of collegians engaged in rowdy celebration. Can you imagine the players' celebration if someone like Macalester or Gallaudet won The Belt^TM? Would be the highlight of their career.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

To sac's point, this is why I think it would be tailor made for Pat or Dave to provide/sponsor (because inevitably someone will break it). Then it's not like some clownface just made it for his team.

I think that the social awkwardness involved in sac or some other fan just walking out of the stands with a strange bespangled object, approaching the coach or captain of the victorious opponent, and saying:

"Here, here's this... thing I made, go cherish it and pass it on to your next vanquisher"

... has a goofy, bizarre charm all to itself that makes it rather appropriate for such an object.

I was daydreaming about something like this as a PA guy, making an announcement postgame after losing The Belt^TM about a transfer ceremony (like mentioned above) at center court while 90 percent of the crowd looks on going, "Huh?" Might be worth it.

You wouldn't build it up in pre-game? I guess maybe it's my frame of reference, but I'm envisioning the student sections being clued into it (4 OAC teams were top 30 in attendance last year). I would think the CCIW would be similar in that regard.

Interestingly (probably not, actually), a number of the professional wrestlers and personalities from the early TV era of the sport were from Robbinsdale, MN in the Twin Cities.