FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 05:06:06 AM

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sac

Ride home the other night with my uncle, the topic of MIAA football and Calvin's addition came up.  He asked me how Suomi was doing. ;)



Quote from: HOPEful on January 30, 2023, 09:31:15 AM
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on January 27, 2023, 08:43:53 PM
Alas, I disagree about Finlandia.  I fear that not only will the football program never be stable or successful, I fear that the college itself will go under within the next couple of decades...

I would tend to lean this direction. It's hard enough running an athletic program in Houghton/Hancock. It's even harder when you're the #3 team in town (I know NMU is 90 miles away, but anyone considering Finlandia is more likely to consider Michigan Tech and NMU as well)

Not sure Tech and Finlandia are drawing from the same type of students.  The "Tech" is pretty specific and Tech's admission requirements are, while not high, much higher than Finlandia.  NMU and Finlandia are much more in line with each other, NMU must accept all Michigan high school graduate applications with 2.25 or higher gpa, Finlandia accepts 2.25 or higher.  Finlandia is also twice as expensive as NMU.

The amazing thing about Finlandia is how they somehow get so many students and student athletes from far off places without really any academic specialty to draw them there.  The mens basketball team has 9 guys from outside Michigan/Wisconsin.  Its sort of weird, like where's the furthest away I could go to get away from my parents.  Hancock, MI, perfect!


HOPEful

Quote from: sac on February 10, 2023, 01:01:17 PM
Not sure Tech and Finlandia are drawing from the same type of students.  The "Tech" is pretty specific and Tech's admission requirements are, while not high, much higher than Finlandia.
By same type, I was really just meaning those willing and seeking to attend college in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
Let's go Dutchmen!

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formerd3db

#9932
Well, you guys called it. Finlandia is closing its doors after 126 years. Really sad, although not surprising. I had held out hope that they would really make it (you know, that old mentality of a goal line stand). But as all of you mentioned, it was a tough challenge for many reasons. I believe one of the mistakes they made was not recruiting primarily from the Upper Peninsula high schools. There are a lot of good 8 man hs teams there. They would never have been an upper tier program,  but I believe could have been a decent one in their league had they followed that philosophy.  Trying to bring players in from states like Florida was never going to work, unlike how it did for other schools at times in the past (Mount Union, Olivet, etc).

I also just noticed that Dufrane had left and Joby Sullivan had been named interim hc. Dufrane must have seen the writing in the wall"  or he had some inside info this was going to happen soon. All too bad, but reality of life.
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

Mr. Ypsi

Yeah, I predicted it, but it still came about a decade earlier than I thought it would.

RIP, Suomi College! :'(


sac

Suomi/Finlandia's demise is long and complicated I'm sure.   Its always had an uphill battle sharing the UP with three much cheaper state schools a couple CC's and a population in the UP of just over 300,000 many who don't hold higher education as a priority.  Bottom line Finlandia was expensive.

As far as athletics and their weird roster composition, even Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan have mostly out of state athletic rosters. 

I'm not well versed on Suomi/Finlandia history but I believe Suomi was mostly a two year school and in order to survive many years ago chose to become a 4 year school.  It worked for awhile I guess and probably only prolonged its demise.


Finlandia has teachout agreements with 4 schools Michigan Tech, Bay College, Adrian and Wartburg, soon to add No. Michigan.





TUAngola

Trine's 2023 Football Schedule is out.  All four non-conference games are matchups with the HCAC:  At Anderson, home RHIT, home Franklin, and at Hanover.  The MIAA schedule is the same as last year with home sites flipped.  Not a very imaginative non-conference schedule.  Would love to see a NCAC, OAC, or CCIW game in there, maybe even a WIAC. 

The Third Division

Quote from: TUAngola on March 24, 2023, 04:34:55 PM
Trine's 2023 Football Schedule is out.  All four non-conference games are matchups with the HCAC:  At Anderson, home RHIT, home Franklin, and at Hanover.  The MIAA schedule is the same as last year with home sites flipped.  Not a very imaginative non-conference schedule.  Would love to see a NCAC, OAC, or CCIW game in there, maybe even a WIAC.

Would you call this a team deciding to play it safe as a result of only playing teams from a single conference?

Dr. Acula

Quote from: TUAngola on March 24, 2023, 04:34:55 PM
Trine's 2023 Football Schedule is out.  All four non-conference games are matchups with the HCAC:  At Anderson, home RHIT, home Franklin, and at Hanover.  The MIAA schedule is the same as last year with home sites flipped.  Not a very imaginative non-conference schedule.  Would love to see a NCAC, OAC, or CCIW game in there, maybe even a WIAC.

I'd think of the OAC schools Heidelberg would be a nice OOC for Trine both geographically and quality.

TUAngola

Quote from: Dr. Acula on March 24, 2023, 06:49:06 PM
Quote from: TUAngola on March 24, 2023, 04:34:55 PM
Trine's 2023 Football Schedule is out.  All four non-conference games are matchups with the HCAC:  At Anderson, home RHIT, home Franklin, and at Hanover.  The MIAA schedule is the same as last year with home sites flipped.  Not a very imaginative non-conference schedule.  Would love to see a NCAC, OAC, or CCIW game in there, maybe even a WIAC.

I'd think of the OAC schools Heidelberg would be a nice OOC for Trine both geographically and quality.

...or Ohio Northern.  We play ONU in most non-conference schedules in other sports at Trine.  As far as Trine 'playing it safe' in the non-conference schedule I don't know.  I thought the football program wanted to bring increased competion by dropping long time rival Manchester from the football schedule, but adding Anderson last year wasn't really an upgrade.  RHIT and Hanover will be tough, don't get me wrong.  And Franklin has historically been good, but they also have had a few down years lately.   

DBQ1965

Following up on the "Finlandia" discussion, here is some interesting news ... and a plug for my alma mater, the University of Dubuque.

https://udspartans.com/news/2023/4/14/mens-hockey-university-of-dubuque-to-add-mens-and-womens-hockey.aspx
Reality is for those who lack imagination 😀

sac

Calvin football has released its 2024 schedule.

https://calvinknights.com/sports/football

That will be a roster loaded with Fresh/Soph and whatever transfers/already on campus guys they can add.  Eight weeks of football and only 2 homes for a brand new program is weird.



The "Heartland" tips that the MIAA/Heartland crossover will continue for at least a couple more years.

The Third Division

I thought Calvin wasn't gonna play varsity until 2025. I would have reckoned they play JV next year.

One thing I know for sure, their athletics are really good overall so I wouldn't be surprised if they made some noise in the MIAA within their first 10 years.

formerd3db

Quote from: The Third Division on May 19, 2023, 11:25:32 AM
I thought Calvin wasn't gonna play varsity until 2025. I would have reckoned they play JV next year.

One thing I know for sure, their athletics are really good overall so I wouldn't be surprised if they made some noise in the MIAA within their first 10 years.

No, the plan from the beginning as they said was like many of the other recently established college football programs- a season of practice followed by the first varsity season. I also believe they will be a legit/setious contender for the league title sooner than many people think.
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

formerd3db

Breaking MIAA news:

Media reports tonight that Olivet College announced today a name change to the University of Olivet. Details and probably in effect in the near future, by the end of the summer/start of this fall semester. Not sure how I feel about this just yet-certainly a break with tradition. ??? :)
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

Pat Coleman

Quote from: formerd3db on May 22, 2023, 09:32:06 PM
Quote from: The Third Division on May 19, 2023, 11:25:32 AM
I thought Calvin wasn't gonna play varsity until 2025. I would have reckoned they play JV next year.

One thing I know for sure, their athletics are really good overall so I wouldn't be surprised if they made some noise in the MIAA within their first 10 years.

No, the plan from the beginning as they said was like many of the other recently established college football programs- a season of practice followed by the first varsity season. I also believe they will be a legit/setious contender for the league title sooner than many people think.


Actually, their initial announcement didn't specify:

https://calvin.edu/news/archive/football-is-coming-to-calvin-university
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.