FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bleedpurple]

Meh, they're announcers.  Let them whinge.

Berry football chose the contest, made a good showing and should be commended for doing so.  Playing UWW is never easy.  Beating UWW is even more difficult, but not impossible

The topic of D3 football performance has been done to death, but it's always fun to go around again.  D3 has 3 1/2 tiers of programs.  The seven or eight programs really committed to national competitiveness with focus, money and institutional support; the 20 or so lagging just behind; the great unwashed; the easy beats.

What happens on the field and in front of the announcers is just the end point of all the work that goes to getting there.  And all that work doesn't have one special secret, like money or territory advantage or legacy.  All those help, of course, but there's no one secret sauce.  In the end, it's the whole program being focused enough to reach the top of the nationally competitive pile.  And the effort/money/staffing/talent needed to get there is very high and always rising.  The guys behind have to run twice as fast to get to the front, but no one is stopping them.  It's there for the taking if an institution is committed to doing it.  Berry had a good look and should be commended.  The announcers were essentially complaining that it's too hard. Lucky for Berry they aren't the AD or program people.

This is a phenomenal post!  And I actually had the exact same thought as your last line.  I know it's a student production, so grace ought be applied. But if I were the AD and was made aware of their comments, I would address it.  They appear very contrary to the approach and attitude of the Berry athletic program or at least the football program.  As far as the Berry program, I'm super impressed. I'm a fan. 

[crufootball]

So, with 5 schools in the Top 30, convince me again that the WIAC has no advantages.

I think the tenor of the argument as I understand it is not whether the WIAC has advantages. Heck, privates have their advantages too, just different ones. (UMHB had an 82 million dollar donation that led to the Cruthedral. Pretty sure no WIAC school has had an 82 million dollar donation).

I believe the argument is whether the advantage is so great that it cannot be overcome by other schools with the commitment from administration, vision, plan, and leadership.  I think there are a number of football programs, St. John's included, that have had more success than any WIAC school over the past 20 years, save one.

I think the other critique of the Berry announcers' comments about "big bad state schools" is just a lack of respect for whininess.  Whining is weak.  Get better. 

There is no such thing as an equal playing field in life.  In spite of much public whining about that in our culture today, there never will be. Run the race marked out for you with passion and commitment and excellence and you will succeed.  Rely on excuses and whine about the playing field and you will fail. It's not really that complicated.

The Cruthedral is nice but not $82 million nice, that is reserved for Texas high schools haha, the stadium was part of fundraising campaign that over its course raised $82 million and allowed us to build quite a few things in addition the stadium.

With that said I very much agree that all schools can choose to act on their advantages if they wanted to. Countless schools in the division use those advantages to attract some of the best and brightest in the country in their respective areas, if they wanted to devote some of their resources to football surely some of them are smart enough to beat us football schools haha

[retagent]

My point is that it's silly to deny the advantages. Embrace them. Again 5 schools in the Top 30. Pretty hard to explain without noting the advantages. Pointing them out is not necessarily complaining about them I didn't hear the Barry/Berry announcers, and I am not supporting what they said, Just making an observation.

Schools in Ohio, Florida, California, Texas and other states that have a strong tradition in football and large populations, also have advantages. As do other schools. Denial is not a river in Egypt. I just made that up.

[BoBo]

Meh, they're announcers.  Let them whinge.

Berry football chose the contest, made a good showing and should be commended for doing so.  Playing UWW is never easy.  Beating UWW is even more difficult, but not impossible

The topic of D3 football performance has been done to death, but it's always fun to go around again.  D3 has 3 1/2 tiers of programs.  The seven or eight programs really committed to national competitiveness with focus, money and institutional support; the 20 or so lagging just behind; the great unwashed; the easy beats.

What happens on the field and in front of the announcers is just the end point of all the work that goes to getting there.  And all that work doesn't have one special secret, like money or territory advantage or legacy.  All those help, of course, but there's no one secret sauce.  In the end, it's the whole program being focused enough to reach the top of the nationally competitive pile.  And the effort/money/staffing/talent needed to get there is very high and always rising.  The guys behind have to run twice as fast to get to the front, but no one is stopping them.  It's there for the taking if an institution is committed to doing it.  Berry had a good look and should be commended.  The announcers were essentially complaining that it's too hard. Lucky for Berry they aren't the AD or program people.

This is a phenomenal post!  And I actually had the exact same thought as your last line.  I know it's a student production, so grace ought be applied. But if I were the AD and was made aware of their comments, I would address it.  They appear very contrary to the approach and attitude of the Berry athletic program or at least the football program.  As far as the Berry program, I'm super impressed. I'm a fan.

I don't think the announcers were students. The camera operators probably were, but the announcers definitely were not.

[Cowboy2]

My point is that it's silly to deny the advantages. Embrace them. Again 5 schools in the Top 30. Pretty hard to explain without noting the advantages. Pointing them out is not necessarily complaining about them I didn't hear the Barry/Berry announcers, and I am not supporting what they said, Just making an observation.

Schools in Ohio, Florida, California, Texas and other states that have a strong tradition in football and large populations, also have advantages. As do other schools. Denial is not a river in Egypt. I just made that up.

I just got that D-enial joke. I've mistakenly called it that forever  jk

While Texas may be more populated, with a large amount of high school football programs, it still makes recruiting very competitive with the amount of college football programs that target the same athletes. Not sure how up to date this listing is, but I don't think too many other states have the same amount college teams that Texas has:

https://www.recruittalk.com/colleges/texas/football

There are only so many scholarships for kids coming out of high school. Then there are a ton of colleges that come in from out of state to purge recruits TX. Cough cough, OU Sooners!

Ironically, Texas has a strong HS football tradition, but most people that do not follow football outside of the D1 level really know of all the other high quality programs in TX, "that still provide young student athletes the opportunity to continue playing in college." I think it's awesome because it shows that a young individual can continue their dream while obtaining a degree, should they not make the D1 level. However, there are still a lot of good athletes that want to go to the UTs and A&Ms to walk on, because of the lack of news coverage of these smaller schools. The 6A high schools have 10k + fans at each game. When the big schools go through and hand pick the few they want, only then do parents and HS players start to look for other spots to continue playing. There are some good news outlets that promote small college football (Dave Campbell) but for the most part, the general population is unaware of D3 football in Texas. This is one disadvantage for the D3 teams in TX....lack of awareness. As opposed to Wisconsin where there may be only 1 D1 Football program.

Most of the TX D3 programs are private schools. So while I understand the argument from both sides, it does make recruiting a bit of chore when the TX D3 teams have 30+ scholarship programs going after the same fish in the pond. Some programs have strong support from upper campus, who have committed resources to grow their programs, such as the referenced UMHB fundraising etc. and then other schools are trying, but it takes time to build tradition and success. Some struggle with enrollment. It's not a knock at any program, but the teams that have continued to have continuous annual success, like UMHB and HSU, should be recognized for being able to sustain that.

Most of the ASC teams have 50,60, heck 100 freshman go there to continue playing and earn a degree. I don't know how many colleges are in Georgia, but Berry does have a melting pot for talent. However, most of the SAA schools have smaller recruiting classes due to the nature of the institution and smaller enrollments. Trinity usually only brings in 28-32 first years.

Obviously I used Texas as an example. Even though there are a lot of programs, there is also a lot of recruits to sift through with all of our high schools. While Wisconsin may have fewer schools, they also have a smaller population so it kind of, in a way, cancels each other out.

Yes, the UWWs and UMHBs are consistently good, but both have shown this year that they are human. Berry also showed everyone that they're not too far away either. I think it's mute point now.

[retagent]

Good post Cowboy2. It shows that another axiom is true. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Perceptions aren't always the reality.

[bleedpurple]

Good post Cowboy2. It shows that another axiom is true. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Perceptions aren't always the reality.

As long as we all just keep giving 110% we'll be just fine. 

[palum]

Kansas just announced that this weeks game with Duke is sold out. Only the second sell out since 2009. Looks like LL's stock is rising

[emma17]

Kansas just announced that this weeks game with Duke is sold out. Only the second sell out since 2009. Looks like LL's stock is rising

... and w Nebraska looking for a head coach. Success is great- but man, the tough decisions that come with it.

[emma17]

UW LaCrosse week. Like the old days now.
Seems like Stutzman has been playing on that team forever. He's a great ball player.
No doubt an interesting week for Lewandowski.

[bleedpurple]

UW LaCrosse week. Like the old days now.
Seems like Stutzman has been playing on that team forever. He's a great ball player.
No doubt an interesting week for Lewandowski.

It's got to be like Thanksgiving week for Lew.  Thankful to be at UW-W and getting ready to do some carving! Let's go Hawks!

[colinsteinke]

UW LaCrosse week. Like the old days now.
Seems like Stutzman has been playing on that team forever. He's a great ball player.
No doubt an interesting week for Lewandowski.

The WIAC does feel "better" when UWL is good, too.

I am curious about the Lewandowski piece--he transferred of his own volition. It's not like he got beat out or pushed out...unless I'm unaware of something. So aside from beating your old teammates, where's the fire come from?

[emma17]

UW LaCrosse week. Like the old days now.
Seems like Stutzman has been playing on that team forever. He's a great ball player.
No doubt an interesting week for Lewandowski.

The WIAC does feel "better" when UWL is good, too.

I am curious about the Lewandowski piece--he transferred of his own volition. It's not like he got beat out or pushed out...unless I'm unaware of something. So aside from beating your old teammates, where's the fire come from?

I'm only guessing on this. I would think there is an underlying feeling amongst the UWL players that Lew felt his talent belonged at a higher level of football. His path took an unfortunate twist w Maryland, leaving him w a decision to make: return to UWL or go elsewhere. He made the decision to join UWW, which I'm guessing still leaves his former UWL teammates thinking "Lew feels UWW is better than UWL".
Now, I'm sure us UWW fans agree wholeheartedly, but Lew still has to deal with knowing what his former teammates think, and I'd imagine a big victory would go a long way to justifying his decision. A UWW loss or narrow victory gives the UWL folks some "I told you so" mojo.

[DuffMan]

Now, I'm sure us UWW fans agree wholeheartedly...

[colinsteinke]

Now, I'm sure us UWW fans agree wholeheartedly...

Didn't y'all just lose to Bethel?