FB: American Rivers Conference

doolittledog · June 04, 2025, 09:48:21 AM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on June 03, 2025, 11:23:20 AMLuther will be leaving the ARC after this upcoming season:
https://d3sports.com/notables/2025/06/luther-leaves-arc-for-mwc

This comes as a surprise to me. Luther is an original member dating to 1922. 7 of the 9 members of the conference can trace their roots in the conference to the 1920's - 1930's.

With the facilities improvements underway at Luther. Renovated field house and I thought an indoor practice facility. Their history of athletics success and strong financial position, I believed they were attempting to improve football and basketball to competitive standards. And their overall athletics department were already strong.

I'm not sure this move will drive enrollment. They should be more competitive on the athletics side. Cornell went from a bottom feeder in the IIAC to .500 in football with the move to the MWC. I would think that improves attitudes on campus.

It also seemed like Luther did a bit of a dig to the ARC in their statement about athletics and academics, with the ARC firing back in their statement noting the conferences academics in their release.

Still, this is a sad day to see an original member leave.

doolittledog · June 06, 2025, 06:18:29 PM

Interview with the Luther President
https://youtu.be/QfmCqrFIhfI

HansenRatings · June 09, 2025, 11:22:21 AM

I had an interesting conversation with a Luther grad at a church event last night. He was a early '00s grad, and was on the Swimming & Diving team. The interesting thing given his perspective from the S&D side was that most of the college programs he competed against were MWC teams, so for him personally, he was a big fan of the move.

He brought up the general difference in enrollment between Luther and the rest of the ARC, but that's a somewhat outdated argument (and a weird one to make when half the MWC is below 1,000 students). Luther's been bleeding students recently. I think when I was in school circa 2008-2012, they were consistently above 2,000 students. In 2020? 1,785. This last fall? 1,374. I had no idea their einrollment was declining so quickly until looking it up this morning. From the interview doolittledog posted, the college president brought up that only 1/3 of their students are from Iowa, and this move aligns them with institutions that better encompass their student body's geographic footprint, so if this move helps them stabilize enrollment, that alone makes it a great move for them.

He brought up the academic argument, too, saying the MWC schools are a better fit. Yes, I was wearing a Wartburg shirt when he said this (and our pastor is a Wartburg grad!), but I didn't take the bait.

Another thing from the President's interview, which I've been wondering about, is that the MWC doesn't sponsor wrestling. Seemed like they're going to try for an affiliate membership in the ARC. I think the CCIW would probably be the next best option. He also mentioned that "some sports" will have tougher competition in the Midwest conference than the American Rivers. I am very curious which sports he's thinking about. Looking at the sports rated by Massey, the only sports that are anywhere close to ranked the same are tennis. In every other sport, the American Rivers conference is head & shoulders ahead of the Midwest.

DriftlessDuhawk · June 09, 2025, 11:41:15 AM

A lot of non-answers in that interview...

I think that the most interesting aspect was that he said they had an invitation to the MWC since 2022. From my understanding, they did not alert the league office to their intention to leave the conference until the day prior to the press release. They are also not leaving the conference in the way agreed upon in the bylaws, and thus will be paying additional fees to leave in such a hasty manner. It makes you wonder why they sat on this idea for so long, but now feel the need to rush out of the league.

HansenRatings · June 09, 2025, 12:19:53 PM

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on June 09, 2025, 11:41:15 AMA lot of non-answers in that interview...

I think that the most interesting aspect was that he said they had an invitation to the MWC since 2022. From my understanding, they did not alert the league office to their intention to leave the conference until the day prior to the press release. They are also not leaving the conference in the way agreed upon in the bylaws, and thus will be paying additional fees to leave in such a hasty manner. It makes you wonder why they sat on this idea for so long, but now feel the need to rush out of the league.

He said the most recent invitation came at the end of May? I'm assuming that was just the public invitation, since it appeared form his other responses that they had been prepping to leave the league since 2022.

I'm not a reporter by any means, but talking to the couple of folks I know who are actually "in the know," the ARC was not caught off guard by this announcement at all, and they've been passively courting new members for a while. Sounded like there were 2-3 different schools interested.

hazzben · June 13, 2025, 01:02:38 PM

If you're thinking you still need a place for your wrestler to compete, seems counterproductive to take a dig at the athletics and academics of your historic conference home on the way out. Why on earth would the ARC give Luther affiliate wrestling status. IMO, the dumbest thing the MIAC did was let MAC leave for football and keep their other sports. This one seems even more obvious from an outsiders perspective. If I'm ARC presidents/AD's "Don't let the door hit ya on the way out"

Fannosaurus Rex · June 14, 2025, 06:40:11 PM

The weekend Wall Street Journal has an article about how to spend a three day weekend in Dubuque. Of course the fist thing to do should be to get back in the car and drive to Pella. They missed that obvious move but it still paints Dubuque in pretty nice light.

DriftlessDuhawk · June 19, 2025, 03:09:26 PM

Quote from: Fannosaurus Rex on June 14, 2025, 06:40:11 PMThe weekend Wall Street Journal has an article about how to spend a three day weekend in Dubuque. Of course the fist thing to do should be to get back in the car and drive to Pella. They missed that obvious move but it still paints Dubuque in pretty nice light.

Now I'm not sure I would go as far as to say you should be spending a full 3-day vacation in Pella

, but the article Fannosaurus Rex is referring to is written by David Farley, who is a native of Dubuque. Farley also owns lots of real estate in the city of Dubuque, and those who are aware of this took the article in a very tongue-in-cheek way, as clearly there is no ulterior motive behind the article...

That being said any sort of Dubuque itinerary that does not include a stop by one of the two casinos in town, a drink from Fat Tuesday's or the Walnut Tap, or dinner and live music at the Yardarm on the river is not exactly highlighting the best of things to do in Dubuque, in my opinion. He did get it right that the best burgers in town do come from Paul's Tavern, however, so I will give him that.

doolittledog · Reply #45038 - Re: FB: American Rivers Conference

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on June 19, 2025, 03:09:26 PM
Quote from: Fannosaurus Rex on June 14, 2025, 06:40:11 PMThe weekend Wall Street Journal has an article about how to spend a three day weekend in Dubuque. Of course the fist thing to do should be to get back in the car and drive to Pella. They missed that obvious move but it still paints Dubuque in pretty nice light.

Now I'm not sure I would go as far as to say you should be spending a full 3-day vacation in Pella , but the article Fannosaurus Rex is referring to is written by David Farley, who is a native of Dubuque. Farley also owns lots of real estate in the city of Dubuque, and those who are aware of this took the article in a very tongue-in-cheek way, as clearly there is no ulterior motive behind the article...

That being said any sort of Dubuque itinerary that does not include a stop by one of the two casinos in town, a drink from Fat Tuesday's or the Walnut Tap, or dinner and live music at the Yardarm on the river is not exactly highlighting the best of things to do in Dubuque, in my opinion. He did get it right that the best burgers in town do come from Paul's Tavern, however, so I will give him that.

Going way back here. The old dog track has morphed into a casino and great live music venue. We highly recommend. I liked Fat Tuesday's, but we were more Whiskey River (pretty much across the street) types. One summer I lived across the street from the Walnut but wouldn't go there as it was known as a Loras bar

I am to this day, a Dog House fan. A couple of years ago my daughter got kicked out of Paul's because the bouncer didn't like her attitude...all 4'11" of her attitude! So I have not been to that place. I agree, the Yardarm is a great place during the summer months. Our kids and their friends agree.

DriftlessDuhawk · Reply #45039 - Re: FB: American Rivers Conference

Quote from: doolittledog on Today at 08:21:12 PMGoing way back here. The old dog track has morphed into a casino and great live music venue. We highly recommend. I liked Fat Tuesday's, but we were more Whiskey River (pretty much across the street) types. One summer I lived across the street from the Walnut but wouldn't go there as it was known as a Loras bar I am to this day, a Dog House fan. A couple of years ago my daughter got kicked out of Paul's because the bouncer didn't like her attitude...all 4'11" of her attitude! So I have not been to that place. I agree, the Yardarm is a great place during the summer months. Our kids and their friends agree.

I was unaware of your game doolittle...

The Whiskey is one of the best kept secrets in Dubuque.