Wisconsin D3 Basketball Challenge

[Greek Tragedy]

Teams I've seen in person
Augustana (CCIW) 12/17/22
Beloit (MWC) 12/3/22
Bethany Lutheran (UMAC) 11/12/22
Carthage (CCIW) 12/17/22
Carroll (CCIW) 11/12/22
Concordia - Chicago (NACC) 11/15/22
Concordia (WI) (NACC) 11/15/22
Dubuque (ARC) 11/12/22
Edgewood (NACC) 11/19/22
Elmhurst (CCIW) 11/16/22
Greenville (SLIAC) 12/1/22
Lake Forest (MWC) 11/8/22
Lakeland (NACC) 11/8/22, 12/1/22
Marian (NACC) 11/16/22
Martin Luther (UMAC) 11/12/22
MSOE (NACC) 11/12/22, 12/14/22
Monmouth (MWC) 12/3/22
North Central (IL) (CCIW) 11/19/22
Northland (UMAC) 12/30/22
Ohio Wesleyan (NCAC) 12/29/22
Oshkosh (WIAC) 12/29/22
Platteville (WIAC) 12/3/22
Ripon (MWC) 11/11/22
River Falls (WIAC) 12/30/22
Stevens Point (WIAC) 11/19/22, 11/22/22, 12/3/22, 12/14/22
St. Norbert (NACC) 11/11/22
St. Olaf (MIAC) 12/29/22
St. Scholastica (MIAC) 12/30/22
Stout (WIAC) 12/29/22
WLC (NACC) 11/12/22, 11/22/22
Whitewater (WIAC) 11/19/22, 12/30/22

[Greek Tragedy]

For gym #17, we were back in Oshkosh, but at Kolf, not the Oshkosh Arena where the Wisconsin Herd play their G-league games. Almost as expensive though. $9 for old people, $5 for brats at the gate. The line was huge to get tickets, but you could scan the QR code and buy tickets online. I don't know what qualifies as an adult-group ticket, but that's what I bought and it was cheaper. The student didn't question me at all when he scanned my ticket on my phone, so I don't anticipate the police showing up at my door.

There seemed to be a good sized crowd there, but the box score says less than 400. However, Kolf holds something like 5,000, so there could be 2,000 there and it would seem empty. Point had a good traveling section with Oshkosh only an hour away. The Oshkosh fans were pretty vocal with the band and some students there.

Kolf is a multi-use facility with the track around it. I'm not a fan of that kind of gym, but I don't pay the bills. As mentioned, it holds 5,000, so it's hard to get any kind of exciting atmosphere in there. It's also on the dark side, especially when you get further up the bleachers, another thing I don't like.

If you were a Pointer fan, this was a rough one, losing 81-45.

Check out the pictures on the Facebook group page.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/650269139884255/

[Greek Tragedy]

I headed to Menomonie and Eau Claire for Gyms #18 and #19 in the #wisconsind3basketballchallenge. Aside from the courts, it doesn't look like there have been any renovations and that's a good thing sometimes. I enjoy the old school feel of the old "high school" wooden bleachers. As uncomfortable as they are, they're usually better than the hard plastic bleachers nowadays.
I've always enjoyed going to Johnson Fieldhouse at Stout. It has the track around it, but the place is a lot smaller than Kolf, so it doesn't seem as bad. The lighting is good as well. I've also always been amused by the press boxes they have above the bleachers. Makes them feel "big time"? I don't think Stout has ever had "heydays," but they had some really good, raucous crowds, at least when I've gone for Point games.
A pretty small crowd there last night. Oshkosh's small traveling crowd made up for the lack of numbers as they stomped on the bleachers a lot, screamed objections, and raised their "3" signs every time the Titans made one. Not a lot of action from the home crowd, but the Blue Devils were always behind. They had a few good runs to get the crowd back into it, but it was overall a comfortable win for Oshkosh.
It took me about 35 minutes to get to Eau Claire from Menomonie, so I missed the the last 5 minutes of Oshkosh's win and the first 5 minutes of the Eau Claire/La Crosse battle. Despite what the box scores say, there was a lot more fans at the Eau Claire game. La Crosse brought a good crowd and both sets of fans were really into the game. It was probably the best game I've seen as a neutral fan.
Zorn still looks the same, aside from the fancy new floor. It gets a little dark in the upper level and if you sit/stand in the last row, it's a pretty bad view...like you're looking above the rafters. It does have an intimate feel with no room on the baselines. Zorn is the opposite of River Falls' new Don Page Arena. Fancy and new to old school and nostalgic.


https://www.facebook.com/groups/650269139884255?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=702048168039685

#greektragedy08

[Greek Tragedy]

Game 1 -Tuesday 11/8
Lakeland 98, Lake Forest 72
Game 2 - Friday 11/11
Ripon 68, SNC 55 - Best Crowd
Game 3 - Saturday 11/12
MSOE 85, Martin Luther 45
Game 4 - Saturday 11/12
Bethany Lutheran 95, at WLC 78
Game 5 - Saturday 11/12
Dubuque 68, at Carroll 53
Game 6 - Tuesday 11/15
Concordia-Chicago 87, at Concordia (WI) 85
Game 7 - Wednesday 11/16
Elmhurst 86, at Marian 68
Game 8 - Saturday 11/19
Stevens Point 75, at Edgewood 71
Game 9 - Saturday 11/19
North Central 87, at Whitewater 86
Game 10 - Tuesday 11/22
Stevens Point 60, WLC 59
Game 11 - Thursday 12/1
Lakeland 155, Greenville 127
Game 12 - Saturday 12/3
Monmouth 77, @ Beloit 65
Game 13 - Saturday 12/3
Stevens Point 78, @ Platteville 74 OT Best Game
Game 14 - Wednesday 12/14
MSOE 73, Stevens Point 64
Game 15 - Saturday 12/17
Carthage 85, Augustana 78
Game 16 - Thursday 12/29
St. Olaf 78, Stout 45 (at St. Norbert)
Game 17 -Thursday 12/29
Oshkosh 64, Ohio Wesleyan 52 (at Oshkosh Arena)
Game 18 - Friday 12/30
Whitewater 89, Northland 46 (at River Falls)
Game 19 - Friday 12/30
River Falls 73, St. Scholastica 55 Best Gym
Game 20 - Wednesday 1/18
Oshkosh 81, Stevens Point 45 (at Kolf, Oshkosh)
Game 21 - Saturday 1/21
Oshkosh 83, at Stout 72
Game 22 - Saturday 1/21
La Crosse 68, at Eau Claire 66

[Greek Tragedy]

Wisconsin Destinations:
Lakeland - 11/8/22, 12/1/22
Ripon - 11/11/22
MSOE - 11/12/22, 12/14/22
WLC - 11/12/22
Carroll - 11/12/22
Concordia (WI) - 11/15/22
Marian - 11/16/22
Edgewood - 11/19/22
Whitewater - 11/19/22
Stevens Point 11/22/22
Beloit 12/3/22
Platteville 12/3/22
Carthage 12/17/22
St. Norbert 12/29/22
Oshkosh (Oshkosh Arena) 12/29/22
River Falls 12/30/22 (2 games)
Oshkosh (Kolf) 1/18/23
Stout 1/21/23
Eau Claire 1/21/23

Superior
Northland
La Crosse
Lawrence
Maranatha Baptist

[Greek Tragedy]

Teams I've seen in person
Augustana (CCIW) 12/17/22
Beloit (MWC) 12/3/22
Bethany Lutheran (UMAC) 11/12/22
Carthage (CCIW) 12/17/22
Carroll (CCIW) 11/12/22
Concordia - Chicago (NACC) 11/15/22
Concordia (WI) (NACC) 11/15/22
Dubuque (ARC) 11/12/22
Eau Claire (WIAC) 1/21/23
Edgewood (NACC) 11/19/22
Elmhurst (CCIW) 11/16/22
Greenville (SLIAC) 12/1/22
La Crosse (WIAC) 1/21/23
Lake Forest (MWC) 11/8/22
Lakeland (NACC) 11/8/22, 12/1/22
Marian (NACC) 11/16/22
Martin Luther (UMAC) 11/12/22
MSOE (NACC) 11/12/22, 12/14/22
Monmouth (MWC) 12/3/22
North Central (IL) (CCIW) 11/19/22
Northland (UMAC) 12/30/22
Ohio Wesleyan (NCAC) 12/29/22
Oshkosh (WIAC) 12/29/22, 1/18/23, 1/21/23
Platteville (WIAC) 12/3/22
Ripon (MWC) 11/11/22
River Falls (WIAC) 12/30/22
Stevens Point (WIAC) 11/19/22, 11/22/22, 12/3/22, 12/14/22, 1/18/23
St. Norbert (NACC) 11/11/22
St. Olaf (MIAC) 12/29/22
St. Scholastica (MIAC) 12/30/22
Stout (WIAC) 12/29/22, 1/21/23
WLC (NACC) 11/12/22, 11/22/22
Whitewater (WIAC) 11/19/22, 12/30/22

[Greek Tragedy]

Home teams are just 10-10 with me present, that included a 6-game losing streak.

Stevens Point is 3-2 with me around.

[Gregory Sager]

Which D3 gyms in America's Dairyland do you have yet to hit this season?

[Greek Tragedy]

I did go to De Pere for a game, but I actually didn't see St. Norbert play. I saw Stout v St. Olaf. If I have time, I'll make it back up there to see the Green Knights play. I have a weekend planned to see Superior one night and Northland the next day. I'm planning on seeing La Crosse take on Point. Tomorrow, the plan is to head to Watertown to see D3 part-timers Maranatha Baptist play a D3 team, Martin Luther.  Appleton should be pretty easy for a weekday game, if needed, to see Lawrence play.

Wisconsin Destinations:
Lakeland - 11/8/22, 12/1/22
Ripon - 11/11/22
MSOE - 11/12/22, 12/14/22
WLC - 11/12/22
Carroll - 11/12/22
Concordia (WI) - 11/15/22
Marian - 11/16/22
Edgewood - 11/19/22
Whitewater - 11/19/22
Stevens Point 11/22/22
Beloit 12/3/22
Platteville 12/3/22
Carthage 12/17/22
St. Norbert 12/29/22
Oshkosh (Oshkosh Arena) 12/29/22
River Falls 12/30/22
Oshkosh (Kolf) 1/18/23
Stout 1/21/23
Eau Claire 1/21/23

Superior
Northland
La Crosse
Lawrence
Maranatha Baptist

[bulk19]

Thanks for the update, Greek Tragedy...

This Blugold wonders if you have any other tidbits about UWEC/Zorn? How was the popcorn? (My go-to pregame meal was usually two hot dogs. Ha. I have not been on lower campus or in Zorn for 15 years; it has changed so much with all the new buildings there I probably wouldn't recognize it from when I was a student there many moons ago...)

You caught Zorn just in time, as a new arena is slated to open in 2024 - adjacent to where the hockey arena is along the Chippewa River, if you are familiar with that site?

PS - you have some pretty neat photos on your Facebook page that capture your travel challenge escapades throughout the state....

[Greek Tragedy]

I headed to Watertown for Gym #20 in the #wisconsind3basketballchallenge. I think the last time I was at Maranatha Baptist, I got a red card playing for Lakeland.

Being that Maranatha is pretty small and they aren't very good, I was expecting about 50 fans there. The box score says 250, so I'll go with that. The gym reminded me a little of my junior high school with the stage on one end and the size resembles Marian's Sadoff gym. I was told by a student that the reason the crowd was larger than usual was because Martin Luther, their opponents for the night, actually had a campus in Watertown as well, before moving/joining the campus in Minnesota. They still have a few Martin Luther fans in the area. I Googled it to read up on it a little more. The school that was actually there was Northwestern. They combined with Dr. Martin Luther in Minnesota and now it's called Martin Luther College. Close enough.

Anyway, I was greeted to a nice-sized crowd (at least for the size of the gym) and an enthusiastic student section that stood the whole time, even when they were down double digits late in the game. They cheered not only big plays, but also hustle plays, guys diving for loose balls, a guy throwing the ball off an opponent before going out of bounds and a nice dunk by 6'11" freshman named Goodnews. It was truly a real fun crowd.

The price was right too. $5 for old people, free for the brat. Honestly, this should be the standard.

This challenge has been fun and has taken me to places that I never had any intention of going. I'm glad I was able to make it here. Nice people. Fun atmosphere.

[Greek Tragedy]

One amusing thing I wanted to add is that Maranatha must be very proud of being in Watertown. There's a player on their team from Watertown and the PA guy says, "...Ben Price, from our very own THE(E) Watertown..." like when the players say, "THE(E) Ohio State University." The guy running their Twitter account Tweeted the same thing. Pretty funny. "Thank you for choosing THE Watertown, Wisconsin"

[Greek Tragedy]

Thanks for the update, Greek Tragedy...

This Blugold wonders if you have any other tidbits about UWEC/Zorn? How was the popcorn? (My go-to pregame meal was usually two hot dogs. Ha. I have not been on lower campus or in Zorn for 15 years; it has changed so much with all the new buildings there I probably wouldn't recognize it from when I was a student there many moons ago...)

You caught Zorn just in time, as a new arena is slated to open in 2024 - adjacent to where the hockey arena is along the Chippewa River, if you are familiar with that site?

PS - you have some pretty neat photos on your Facebook page that capture your travel challenge escapades throughout the state....

Thanks. I apologize for never answering your question. Not too much else to add about Zorn. It's the same, basically! No popcorn. I had a nice meal prior to the Stout game, so I wasn't in the mood for popcorn at Zorn. I did find a Panda Express afterwards, so that was my late night meal when I got home late after the 4+ hour drive. I do remember going to Zorn for a Point game way back when their games were huge with Eau Claire, literally standing in the last row in the 2nd level. Pretty sure the Pointers got smoked too. Nice to hear they are building a new gym. I have been to hockey games in Eau Claire, heckling the Hicks brothers while cheering on the Pointer hockey team. Glory days.

[Greek Tragedy]

Here in Appleton for Gym #21 in the #wisconsind3basketballchallenge to see Lawrence host Knox. I always liked this gym.

Some good memories. I saw Lawrence's first game of the season vs Oshkosh on their way to an undefeated regular season in 2005-2006. I also saw their last game of the season, a full house to see a barn burner as IWU came in and beat the Vikings in the NCAA tournament. They actually had to add seats just to qualify to host. They also had to clear out the gym after the 1st game. The picture of the outside of the gym is where I had to walk to after the 1st game so we could get back in line for the 2nd game. Mind you, it was March and the line was past the street. I was always curious how long fans were standing out there waiting for the 1st game to end.

I also saw Grinnell here for the 1st time back in their heydays when The System was in full swing backed by Little Dave Arsenault, John Grotberg and Bobby Long. Some good Ripon v Lawrence games too. Outside of Stevens Point's Quandt (and Lakeland, of course), I may have been here the most (or Oshkosh's Kolf).

The Alex is a neat gym. It's a stand alone facility, so it's a cool building from the outside. Not really on campus, but by other sports facilities.

The game itself was nothing to write home about. I thought I was in for a good game between two ok teams as Knox beat Lawrence by 10 previously. I was very wrong. Know quickly built a big lead that got to 30 points (or close to that) just in the 1st half. The 2nd half was basically cruise control, though Lawrence cut it to about 15.

The box score says there was 375 at the game, but it was more like 100. It was a cold January midweek game, the gym is off campus and Lawrence isn't very good.

The price was right, it was 5 clams to get in, but they made up the cost by charging me $2 for a really small bag of popcorn.

One strange thing is that they started the game early. I got to the Alexander Gymnasium about 8 minutes early. By the time I got into the facility, I could hear them playing already. It was 6:56 and they were already at the 17 minute mark. So they started the game about 10 minutes early?? Who does that? Weird.

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@greektragedy08 on Twitter

[WUPHF]

If you had to guess, Greek, how many Division III basketball games have you attended over the course of your life?