FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[formerd3db]

To all of my colleagues and friends here on the MIAA board, same goes to all of you - I wish each of you and your families/friends a most wonderful holiday season this weekend, week and next weekend.  Enjoy posting with all of you.

[bulldogalum]

Indeed, Merry Christmas to everyone on the board.  It's been a fun year.

[wlcalum]

I also must add Merry Christmas to you all. May ythe blessings of this season be upon you and your families.

On another (sad) note - did any of you put up a holiday tree? I have a Christmas Tree  - and will spend my time in Church enjoying the true message of Christmas.

[ROOKIE]

To:formerd3db, bulldogalum, wlcalum,
Gentlemen. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It's been a good learning experience for me the last month. Let's keep this board going.
You guys are first class. Thanks. The Rookie.

[ADAWGISADAWG4LIFE]

To all:

Havent been on in a while but as it is now the Christmas season I have some time to post.  Just wanted to wish a merry christmas to all and have fun but be safe ringing in the new year!!!

[formerd3db]

DAWG:

Hope things are going well for you and that you had a nice holiday break.  A couple of quick questions, as I saw recently the new announcements at Adrian regarding elevating men's lacrosse to a varsity sport (and adding women's lacrosse) and the new stadium.  First, from the announcement, it appears that the new stadium will be ready for this next season 2006?  If so, wow, that is a very fast time table for construction, unless construction has started already.  Nonetheless, as much as I like Maple Stadium and it having served the college well over the last 30 years or so, it is great to see that Adrian will have an on-campus stadium returning back like in the "really old days" of old Alumni Field there.    Much better for the student body and just more of that "old college tradition".

Secondly, with Adrian elevating men's and women's lax to full varsity status, perhaps the other MIAA schools will follow their lead.  I think that is great.  Hope (and Alma more recently) have had Club Lacrosse for years with Hope's being almost nearly a varsity sport as far as its organization structure.  Way back when I was there, I remember Hope's team playing several DI schools on Spring Break down south (like Clemson, John's Hopkins, etc.) and while they got "killed" in the score, it was great experience for coming back and playing the state schools that had lacrosse (like U of M which has their lacrosse as "Varsity Club" designation which is between a club status and a full varsity status; unfortunately MSU has discontinued their program - they should restart it).

Finally, are you going to be back with Adrian staff this fall or is it time to move on in your career?  Just curious.  Best to you this year and whereever you end up, please keep in touch with us here. 

Bulldogalum:
Would like to hear your thoughts about Adrian's new announcements too!  Hope your holiday with family was enjoyable.

Rookie:
You've been kind of quiet during the holidays here (but then again, so have the rest of us on our MIAA board!)  Hope all is well.

[has been coach 1]

Heard Tri-State hired a local High School guy with No DIII recruiting experience at all. Was also a indoor football league coach.

Heard they paid him $48,ooo and gave him two full time assitants that will make $25,000........

Dosen't sound like to much of a commitment from the administration to turn things around there.

[bulldogalum]

formerd3db:

I probably don't know as much as DAWG about the timetable for finishing the stadium, as I'm not around campus as much anymore, but from what I've heard they're expecting the facility to be finished in time for next season.  My reaction was the same as yours--that's pretty quick.

At any rate, I'm thrilled to see that we're putting a stadium on campus.  When I was there, there were plenty of people that made it to games, but many students just stayed in their rooms, opting not to make the trip across town to watch a game at the Mape.  By putting a stadium on campus, we'll be able to get more of those lazy students out to the games. 

As for lacrosse, I think it's great that we're making it a varsity sport.  I made it out to a game or two last year (Adrian's first season), and it was very exciting to watch.  I certainly hope other MIAA schools will follow suit.  Lacrosse could be an exciting addition to the spring schedule.

As to DAWG returning to the Adrian sidelines, I certainly hope he does for Adrian's sake, but if a better offer comes along, I would hope he'd take it.

Christmas up north was a good time.  My parents were sure to show me your Christmas card, looked good except for all the Hope attire .  Hopefully you had a fine holiday season as well.

Now, I'm waiting on the results of my exams from the fall, they should be posted this week sometime.  All this waiting makes it difficult to enjoy all the great bowl games on TV.

[formerd3db]

bulldogalum:

Good to hear from you.  Thanks for your thoughts about your alma mater's "new digs" and sports program expansion.  I agree with your assessment - it can't but help Adrian.  They need to get enrollment up above 1000 for next year and hopefully that will help with both student-athletes and non-athletes.

Glad to hear you had a nice Christmas and New Year's holiday.  Glad you liked our card also .  Sorry you guys couldn't go to the Motor City Bowl with us - we missed having you, but I certainly understand.  Also, good luck on the results of your exams.  I know how anxious that can be waiting and thus less able to enjoy the bowl games and such more.  However, I am confident you will have done well.  We always think we do worse than we actually do most times.  Anyway, keep the faith in ALL aspects.  Keep in touch.

[formerd3db]

wlcalum:
Hope your holidays were good.  What's the latest, if you've heard anything, on WLC program recruiting, etc.??

[wlcalum]

fd3db

Holidays were great thanks, but did not talk football over the holidays. I would hope they are out pounding the bushes for kids.
I know there are some really good players here in north east wi who could make an impact right away. Would have thought the coaches would have tasked the players to make an appearence at their old hs to talk to some recruits but did not hear of any contact. I know some word has gotten around about WLC up here but most are scared away by the initial cost. Wish they would check into the aid available before saying no right away. I'm glad we did.

[ROOKIE]

formerd3db,
Come to think of it, yeah I have been pretty low key over the Holidays.But Ihave been watching and listening to everything that's been posted lately. Speaking of Adrians "old" Maple Stadium can you give me a little history about it. Doesn't Adrian High School play there too? Back to the question posted a few weeks ago... I don't know if "K" College will affected by recruitment in that area because of the new tuition policy in that area of the state. You know it's good to see how well the MIAA tradition keeps going year after year. There was a magazine that was given to me during the football season... it was really cool because it had the history of the MIAA and greatest games ever played. I'll have to dig it for you guys and post some of the stories in it. Later. Take care. Thanks for your thoughts. Rookie.
PS Who is DAWG? A coach for Adrian??

[ADAWGISADAWG4LIFE]

formerd3db:

I hope the christmas season and the new years were kind to you and that all is well in your neck of the woods.  First off for the stadium from what I am hearing, the ground between the 13th and 16th of this month.  The weather is treating us well for this plan and the final plans are al most finished from the word ive heard passed down.  The beauty of building the stadium is that we will be digging down 7 feet which is well below the frost line and which will allow a head start before the spring. As it stands the real bulk of work on the stadium is to be done from March to September.  The agreement which I have heard from the powers that be is that at the very least the stands, locker rooms, bleachers and lights will be done and ready to go for our first game of the season.  THis is a promising future for the program and once fully completed will give us facilities that are the best in the league.  After the stadium is done there will be numerous other improvements, the track will begin in the spring and baseball, softball, swimming pool and hockey rink are all to follow. 

As for the lacrosse program a coach willbe hired soon but the sport will still be club level for the 2006 season and it is supposed to be varsity starting in 2007.  It would be beneficial for us to have the rest of the league follow suit, however lacrosse is a growing sport down in Ohio so we will have some help in that area.  It should only help build the enrollment and improve the school as a whole. 

As for my location next year, I plan on being back with the Adrian staff and am looking to hopefully advance my position a bit from this year.  However time will tell what happens with any of the jobs at the college and that time will be coming shortly.  I do know that I would hate to have been a part of the program for the last 5 years and not get to see its rebirth in 2006.  The product weve been putting n the field is good and now the facilties will finally catch up.  My goal at the moment is to gain some more experience in a farmiliar locale and then take it and run, so in final answer im hoping to parlay my current job hopefully into a two year gig or so, baring something better coming on the radar but from what I hear i dont know if thats gonna be possible for other places to compete for a while with some of the packages ive heard mentioned for our staff next year.

Its an exciting time for the college and also for the league.  It was nice to see the presidents vote to allow us use of a football in our non traditional spring practices so that we are now creeping towards equal footing with other leagues in the area.  I wouldnt mind seeing our number of non traditional dates jump from the 9 the MIAA allows now to the 15 allowed by the NCAA, but all in due time hopefully.  I think the new president here at Adrian may help to change some thinking I hearhe played a large role in passing the ball usage in spring practice and hee brings some new ideas and a great attitdue to the league and to our campus.

Thats about all ive got for now.  Hope I answered some of your questions for ya!

[formerd3db]

Rookie:
Sounds like you had good holidays.  Sometimes "low key" is better!  Ours were like that this year.  Regarding your questions:  Maple Stadium is a nice stadium, "bowl" type atmospehere to play in; many colleges and high schools would "give their eye teeth" to have such nice facilities.  The college has shared it with the h.s. for over three decades.  However, as our [Adrian] colleagues here on the MIAA board have noted, it is time for Adrian to return to an "on campus" stadium - will be very good for the students and just the "plain" old college football tradition atmosphere there.

DAWG is a former Adrian standout fb player who now is on the coaching staff there.  He is a good regular contributor to the board here - during the "off season" of course, as he adheres to the accepted protocol of current players, coaches, staff, etc. avoiding of posting during the season .  Off season posting for those people is acceptable, however.   BTW, hope you enjoy the MIAA  history in the magazine - some very interesting stories over all the years.


DAWG:
Good to hear from you.  Holidays were low-key here at our "end of the woods" but that's okay and enjoying family during that time and celebrating the true reason is the most important.  Hope yours was good.

Certainly exciting to see all the new changes taking place at Adrian.  Glad to hear you will be back there again and sounds like you have a good long range "game plan" for your personal future career.  We'll look forward to seeing the new stadium next season.  Also, it is encouraging to know that the league presidents finally voted in common sense with regard to the use of a football during spring workouts.  There is no reason not to, yet still be able to keep the overall traditional perspectives in context.

Yes, I hope the rest of the league will follow in upgrading lacrosse.  Hope has a stable program (I believe Alma's is also).  Thanks again and keep in touch.

[wlcalum]

Being somewhat new to DIII football - why is it that hoops and baseball can have such involved"practices/games" to get ready for the season, yet we just now get to run drills with a football this year? The MIAA has a rich football history yet "dropped the ball?" when it comes to keeping up with the other sports.

It is great to see that most of the football fields are being improved,

Wish we had room on campus to put our new complex. We need to get a move on finishing our complex. Locker rooms, showers, home grandstand, restrooms instead of port-a-poties, would be nice. 

Any snow across the border there guys? It's all melted here in WI. Fog report says we will get hammered end of Feb first of March. Will see.