Quote from: matblake on November 13, 2021, 10:36:15 am

Quote from: Go Thunder on November 12, 2021, 06:33:51 pm

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 12, 2021, 06:19:43 pm

C'mon, Wheaton, throw us a bone here. No live stats, no screen graphic to indicate the score. I had to wait until the wide shot showing the scoreboard at the end of the quarter before I knew what the score was.

I agree 100%.  When Wheaton goes to a tournament we are always treated better with the same announcers the home team gets with stats.  If you cant treat games that Wheaton does not participate the same as they treat you maybe its time to consider cancelling tournaments.  Its your tournament.  When I watch Wheaton games in others tournaments we are nearly always treated the same as the home team.  We Wheaton fans really appreciate it.

Agreed.  That's really poor and not a good look for Wheaton where in general they do a good job of broadcasting both men's and women's on campus sports outside of perhaps tennis and swimming (there might be logistical or technical reasons for those perhaps?).  If you're going to have it live streamed, do it right.  I'm going to send an e-mail to the Sports Information Department.  Seems like a good place to start to at least have the issue addressed.  This might be the only chance Maryville and Otterbein parents/fans have to interact with Wheaton.

I'm sure it wasn't Brett's fault. Something must've gone wrong that was out of his control.

That is what happened.  They worked on fixing the software issue that caused the issue, but nothing worked.  They did inform NPU and Otterbein's SID's of the issue as well.  I was also impressed that he got back to me on Saturday when he had a football game, the basketball tournament, a NCAA tournament soccer game, cross country regionals, and a swim meet going on that day. 

As we approach the final week, we have POY/COY awards to consider.

I think it's likely a clean sweep by NCC and depends somewhat on who Jeff Thorne nominates. My choices would be:

OPOY: Andrew Kamienski, WR-best offensive player on the best offense and #2 rated offense in the country
DPOY: Jake Beesley, DB--the best player on the conference champ defense
COY: Jeff Thorne

The only debate I would have is  making Wheaton DT Jake Holladay Co-DPOY. The Thunder have the #1 Defense in conference, lead the nation in sacks, #2 in the nation in run defense and Holladay has been dominant in every game this year. He is having a similar year to McRae in 2019 who was DPOY and D3DPOY.  I think Beesley is the best player on that defense and their secondary is elite, which is why they are a top 10 defense in the country.

I agree. Your case for co-defensive player is strong.  However unfair though, I have to go with Beesley.  Wheaton found out the hard way that throwing his direction is like saying, "It's ok, we didn't really need that yardage and down, we'll make it up someplace else I guess."

Quote from: matblake on October 24, 2021, 05:53:16 pm

Kudos to the Wheaton broadcast team for honestly going over the perilous situation Wheaton is in with its Pool C status. Detailed explanation of the selection process and criteria as well as distinguishing from Division I. Good reminder for the well versed and tutorial to someone newer to D3.

What were the key points in that discussion?

1.  Pool A (Automatic Bids)-Given to conference champions
2.  Pool C (At Large Bids)- At Large Bids which covers all 6 regions-5 Pool C berths available this year
3.  Assuming that both North Central and Wheaton win out or that both Wheaton and North Central finish with identical 8-1 records, Wheaton not eligible for a Pool A Berth, as NCC won head to head.
4.  Each region will have a final ranking of teams within that region decided by a committee from that specific region
5.  Pool C Bids decided by a National Committee based on specific criteria from remaining regionally ranked teams not given an automatic bid by Pool A.
6.  One of the criteria is strength of schedule.
7. Strength of schedule is partially determined by both opponents winning percentage and the opponents opponents winning percentage (the winning percentage of the teams your opponent played).
8.  Wheaton will have a low strength of schedule in light of playing Northwestern who has a poor record and plays in a conference with a poor out of conference winning percentage.
9.  Wheaton will also have a low strength of schedule as the CCIW performed uncharacteristically poor in their non-conference games this year.  As a result, Wheaton's CCIW opponents will also have lower strength of schedule.
10.  There is no such thing as the "eye test" with regards to selection.
11.  With there being 6 regions and only 5 at large berths, Wheaton may be blocked from being considered by other teams from other regions with identical records and better strength of schedule.
12.  Where Wash U and Chicago are ranked regionally will be important for the Thunder's selection.

I would also be remiss if I didn't give a doff of the ol' chapeau to Pat and to Greg Thomas, not just for having Kyle on the Around the Nation Podcast but also for their astute observations about NPU football. Pat's been to Holmgren Athletic Complex to see a game at Hedstrand Field, as he mentioned on the podcast, but Greg reached all the way back to North Park's 2013 coaching transition from Scott Pethtel to Mike Conway and referenced the flexbone triple-option offense Pethtel used in order to make a point about the specifics of overhauling a college football program. That level of deep-background homework impresses me, regardless of whether or not my alma mater is the subject matter.

There's not another network that is so successful in covering the entirety of its members as D3sports and its subdivisions.  Plus, they've been at it with largely the same core since 1999.  Do you think any other executive might come up with a story on how many games can be seen in a region in one weekend (still one of my favorites) and then regularly attempt it?   I just get such a better picture nationally because of the information on the site.   

Quote from: matblake on October 14, 2021, 01:48:52 pm

Quote from: TrueGreen on October 14, 2021, 01:26:50 pm

Wheaton: (5 out of 7 because they left got kicked out of the CCIW during the 60s) none in the 70s or 80s.

Fixed it for you.   

But seriously, good work on the decades thing! Good info there.

I go pretty far back, but not to the 60s. Please do tell. Has to be a great story behind getting kicked out of the CCIW?!?

I don't go that far back either.  But Wheaton was really good at basketball in the 50's.  So my recollection on what I've read is that the other schools got together and said, if you don't leave we're going to kick you out.  So, I believe that Wheaton did leave "voluntarily" beginning in 1959.  They rejoined the conference in 1967 I believe.  And upon their return to the CCIW Wheaton wasn't a top tier team in football and basketball until the late eighties/early nineties.  Anyone else care to chime in with what they know? 

That 2010 game v Augie was the 3rd in a string of last second losses for the Vikings that effectively sent Barnes out of coaching into business. The heartbreak of that 2010 game was only surpassed by the legend of the couple previous seasons. The game at Augie where Swider let Augie score just to get the ball back and the Thunder scored in under a minute including a 2 pt conversion to win. The game @Wheaton that the Thunder, down by less than a TD, went down the field and QB Chupp ran it in on the last play (4th down) of the game to win. At least 3 crushing defeats in a row.

I believe that game was before video, but you could listen to it online (with lots of buffering).  Mine buffered for what felt like 8 hours just prior to that last play.  Was happy with the ending though.

Dear Opposing Offensive Coordinators,

Please stop trying to reach block Jake Holladay and Dallas McCrae. I have seen every team try this over the past 3 years with zero success. Was there a coaches convention where you all agreed this was a good idea or do you not watch tape? I am not sure I understand the strategy. Double team or block down and pull around are your best options. You can continue to try reach blocks at your own peril.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Observer

Dear Concerned,
Would that reach block be a standard blocking scheme that would be able to be completed successfully against other opponents?  Do teams regularly change blocking schemes based off opponents strengths and weaknesses?  Would it be wise to simply scrap sections of the playbook because of McCrae and Holladay or do you just try and hope you get lucky on a one off play?

Sincerely,
Asking for a Friend