Topics

Remember the two years we won the HL?  It was't that long ago.  Hopefully these recruits will help to bring us back to the top of the league again.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/softball/news/2015-16/15065/crusader-softball-inks-seven-to-nlis/#.Vk5bvYQ4ko8

MLB announced Tammy Cecchini as the head coach of the women's tennis team back on October 14th.  We knew her background from previous releases (Penn State #1, and stuff).  Being in the same household with HFBC Dave, I think they'll compare notes on recruiting (just like I am sure the Avery's do).  Well, Tammy signed her first recruit.  I'll bet there will be more to come and the women's tennis team will be neck and neck with men's tennis in terms of success.

Now, if we can just get M&WT&F (and M&W swimming and women's golf) to recruit as hard........ 

Looks like Jim Daugherty has gotten a couple more nationally ranked players play for the brown and gold.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mtennis/news/2015-16/15056/ancona-brozovich-ink-nlis-with-mens-tennis/#.VkzhbYQ4ko8 

Now, if only track and field would follow his lead 

Alec played 37 out of 40 minutes against Rhody.  Keith 34, Tevonn 31, Vashil 29, and Darien 24.    I think there's gonna be a lot of resting tomorrow night. Also figuring Darien's ankle will swell up on the plane ride home and he'll not be in the rotation for the next two games to rest for the Oregon trip.

It's on to URI. Here's the URI game recap vs. American:

Rhode Island opened its season with a victory, but the 65-42 win over American came at a cost Friday night, as E.C. Matthews went down in the first half with an apparent knee injury.

As he spun and drove to the basket midway through the first half, Matthews went to the floor and grabbed his knee. He did not return to the game and will undergo testing to determine the extent of the injury.

Despite playing without Matthews, Rhody (1-0) built a 13-point lead by halftime, going into the break up 36-23. American (0-1) put up a fight in the second half, closing within 44-38 with 12:01 to go. Rhode Island responded with a 10-0 that effectively put the game away. The Rhody run featured a pair of 3-point shots by Four McGlynn and baskets from Hassan Martin and Jared Terrell.

Inside the Box Score

Rhode Island showed it can score in transition, getting 14 fast break points. On the other end, the Rams did not allow American any fast break buckets.
Rhode Island's bench gave the Rams a big advantage, outscoring their American counterparts, 24-4.
The Rams turned 17 American turnovers into 25 points.
Four McGlynn led a trio of Rams in double figures, scoring 15 points. Jared Terrell added 14 points, and Hassan Martin had 10 points.
Kuran Iverson and Jarvis Garrett combined for 17 points and 12 rebounds, grabbing six boards apiece.
Rhode Island was tremendous from the floor, making 24-of-46 (52.2 percent) shots. Defensively, the Rams held American to just 34.8 percent from the field, including 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Stat of the Game
4 – Guard Four McGlynn had all four of Rhode Island's 3-point baskets on the night.

It's on to Jacksonville. It'll be a homecoming of sorts for all of our Florida players. Hopefully the improvement made over the last two weeks will translate into another competitive performance. Jacksonville started out the season with an impressive win at Delaware (CAA) like they would burn through the schedule undefeated. But they have shown over the long season that they have some weaknesses. While this may probably wind up being another loss, we need to show we belong on the field. The last time we played, JU beat us 86-7.

No one else has started this topic so I will.

IPFW has always been a thorn.  What's projected for this year?

We played a solid second half of the first quarter and a good 2nd quarter  against THE TOP PFL TEAM to go into the locker room at the half down only 14-17. Yeah, we self destructed in the 3rd quarter, but considering who we were playing and who we had on the field, I think we set a solid foundation for a win vs. Stetson next Saturday.  The PFL is not a balanced league.  Period.  There are the haves and the have nots.  We have to first win the "have not" championship.  We can move in that direction with a win on Saturday.  We need to beat Stetson  first -- and we can.  Then hopefully Butler. Those two wins could give us the confidence to take Morehead. 

I see weekly overall improvement on a week to week basis.  Not huge improvement, but improvement.  I could not say that from 2010 -2013. These kids will give us two more wins this season despite their youth and inexperience. It starts with Stetson.

They are out.  Alec is 1st team.  Vashil, Tevonn, Darien 2nd team.  Felder POY.

VALPO
http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/14946/crusaders-picked-to-win-horizon-league-four-named-preseason-all-league/#.Vh6j2da4ko8

HORIZON
http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/valparaiso-tabbed-horizon-league-favorite-felder-voted-player-of-the-year-in-preseason-poll

The trip back from Davidson will be sweet.  The Victory Bell should start ringing about midnight.  But starting Sunday AM it's on to Drake.

This is a copy/paste from MLB's AD report sent out to Crusader Club members.  I have attached the Schedule Table [Click to enlarge].  Mark does a good job in explaining the scheduling strategy -- a strategy I am in line with.

Division I Football Championship Subdivision schools play a standard 11 game schedule. With 8 games dedicated to Pioneer Football League play that leaves three non-conference games. Ideally each year we will play one game against an FCS team with a full complement of scholarships, one game against a Division I opponent with some scholarship restrictions (Ivy League, Patriot League or Northeast Conference) and one game against a regional Division II or NAIA school.

Games against full scholarship teams allow our players to test themselves against top competition and in memorable environments. In addition the guarantee pay outs for these games now regularly exceed $100,000 and this money is reinvested into the football program. Patriot, Ivy and Northeast teams are our best option to schedule home and home series against other Division I programs, since they do not offer as much scholarship support. Top level PFL teams over the last couple seasons have proven able to win these games. Lastly, with the high level of the other two games, ideally our third non-conference opponent each year will balance the schedule with less of a challenge. We will look regionally to NAIA and some Division II programs to fill this spot.

We want our football non-conference schedule to help move the program forward and prepare us for Pioneer Football League play. Our current approach does so by offering a good mix of competition levels, bringing in additional resources, signaling our place as a Division I program and appealing to recruits. Below is a look at our non-conference opponents over the next several seasons and how each one fits with the three scheduling categories outlined above.

Never too early to start considering retention of the Hoosier Helmet, right Tex?

The schedule is slightly in our favor.  We come off a game with Stetson on October 24th followed by our bye weekend (Halloween). Butler, on the other hand, is on the  road against Dayton on the 24th and again @ Marist the 31st -- both tough physical teams.  Coming into what will be a real competitive Stetson game, we will have to deal with a very strong Dayton team. But I am optimistic that we will come into Stetson confidently, play well, win, and then build on that in the bye week while Butler has other things on their mind.

Now back to focusing on Davidson 

Just setting a placeholder for next week.  I'll have the Sagarin update and scores from the other PFL games to start the week off.

[Sacred Heart's passing connection of quarterback RJ Noel (Lowell, Mass.) and wide receiver Tyler Dube (Southington, Conn.) were selected on offense, as well as lineman Nick Bartoli (Falls, Pa.).]

Well, the first game of the 2015 season is history.  Despite the score, there were some things to be positive about. The EKU thread is the place for that. 

Now it's on to Sacred Heart at home.  The SHU Pioneers are located in Fairfield, Connecticut.  They won the NEC last year and went to the FCS playoffs, losing to Fordham of the Patriot League 44-22.  The NEC is an FCS scholarship program, but SHU might not be at the maximum 65 scholarship level yet like EKU.  They wee picked 3rd this year which means they could have lost a l;to of talent from 2014.

And I don't see where they are taking in loads of transfers from FBS programs like a former Big 10 All-Conference  player or a transfer from U of Kentucky (who we held to 7 yards on 6 carries  ).  So, if what I said about the FCS advantage for EKU was 3 out of every 5 plays, in my view, SHU might have a 2 out of 5 advantage. 

With game two, we get back our suspended players and both Dalton and Scott have a game under their belts.  We also have 10 days to lick our wounds and prepare.  Sacred Heart opens at home Saturday against D-II St. Anselm College, Manchester, NH, who were 6-5 last year.  Former VU FC coach and Valpo grad Bob Muckian was on the staff last year but is no longer with the program, but he posted on Twitter that St. A's is going D-III. 

Anyhoo, I think we will be ready and look forward to a more competitive match-up.  I will be at Brown Field for this one.

FROM THE SHU WEBSITE:  http://sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-footbl/indexEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The two-time defending Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart Pioneers were picked to finish third in the 2015 NEC football preseason coaches' poll, released on Thursday at the conference's inaugural Social Media Day at MetLife Stadium.

The Pioneers garnered two first-place votes, with Bryant topping the poll with four first-place votes. Duquesne was picked second and had the last first-place vote.

Six Pioneers were selected to the 2015 Preseason All-NEC Football Team. Sacred Heart's passing connection of quarterback RJ Noel (Lowell, Mass.) and wide receiver Tyler Dube (Southington, Conn.) were selected on offense, as well as lineman Nick Bartoli (Falls, Pa.). Noel led the NEC with 2,477 passing yards and 23 touchdowns last season. Dube had a conference-high 79 receptions and 16 touchdowns, as the duo both appeared on the All-NEC First Team in 2014.

Three Pioneers appear on the Preseason All-NEC team on defense. Linebackers James Rentz (St. Augustine, Fla.) and Connor Candito (Shrewsbury, Mass.) were selected as well as defensive lineman Connor Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass.). Rentz led Sacred Heart in 2014 with 12.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss to earn First Team All-NEC honors. Earlier this month, Rentz was named to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America Third Team. Both Candito and Caveney were All-NEC Second Team picks last season. Candito tied for the team lead in interceptions last season while also recording 58 tackles. Caveney had 9.5 tackles for loss and three sacks a year ago.

Sacred Heart has reached the NCAA FCS playoffs in each of the last two seasons. The Pioneers finished the 2014 season nationally-ranked for the first time in program history. Sacred Heart opens the 2015 season on September 5 against Saint Anselm at 6 p.m. at Campus Field.

I thought it might be appropriate to segregate our thoughts, reactions and comments about this trip into a separate string so that the information and observations are concentrated and easily referenced in the future.  (BTW, what happened to the sports message icons? There used to be football, basketball and soccer icons but I don't see them anymore.)

The Montreal games are against much younger squads I am assuming.  And there ate two games on Sunday.  I am also assuming that we will not be able to judge minute allocation in these games as Bryce will be trying all sorts of combinations and giving everyone opportunities.  He might even divide the team into two squads -- who knows? In the remaining three games, we might begin to see more set rotations, however. Thoughts?

Carin Avery just released the 2015 VB schedule.

http://valpoathletics.com/volleyball/news/2015-16/14753/crusaders-announce-2015-volleyball-schedule/#.VcI_Ifvn_4Y

A quick look at the opponents indicates another 20+ win season.  That same look does not show scheduling the best possible opponents (Power conference teams) to challenge us to finally get past the HL final and into the NCAA tournament -- thoughts?

[9/3]

Some (selected) impressive scheduling among PFL teams at the beginning of the season

9/3
Valpo - EKU (OVC)

9/6
USD plays FBS San Diego State University 
Morehead vs. James Madison (CAA)
Jacksonville vs. Delaware (CAA)
Butler at Indiana State (MVC) -- then they play D-III Franklin and Taylor in successive weeks.

9/12
Drake at North Dakota (Big Sky)

9/19
Drake at South Dakota (MVC)

Incredible destruction of Japan in the the final.  The mark of a good program is peaking at the right time. This team of tremendous women athletes built on each game to peak at the 16 minute mark of the final with their 4th unanswered goal.  What a run!

I know there have been many issues with Title IX, some of which I deplore.  But had it not been for that piece of legislation, winning WC-2015 would not have ever occurred. And I would submit that Title IX drove the rest of the world into keeping up.

And with out it, we, as a forum, would never have the pleasure of knowledgeably discussing not only our VU male sports teams but also all the Valpo women's sports.  And I really get excited for these young women. Maybe it's because I have a daughter and three grand daughters, but it's so great to see these women excel athletically in front of 53,000+ people in Vancouver and millions across the world.

Following agibson's coverage on the general MSO thread, it occurred to me that now might be a good time to post the thread for the upcoming season.  What with two internationals in the lineup and a very promising incoming group, I know that Mike is excited for the new season to begin.  Last year, the team did very well in their OOC games against some impressive competition, but wound up in the middle of the pack in HL play.  Hopefully they can straighten that out this season 

The Women' World Cup is in the quarter finals and the VUWSO 2015 schedule is out. Beside the normal HL 9 games it is quite ambitious and includes Notre Dame and Northwestern among a lot of good D-I opponents. Our women are the defending HL champs.  Here's hoping for a repeat. 

First of all: I am a solid supporter of the current staff.  I was ecstatic about the 4 wins in the first year. I loved that with a couple of exceptions we were competitive in at Least 7 of the 12 games we played (I would love to have the MSU and USD games back).

Now with the spring game in the past and we will have a 2015 roster that will be 50% newbies,  where will we be come Thanksgiving?  I will not post a poll yet --- too early.

But,,,,,,

Pluses:
Strong returning running attack
Experienced defense
Year 2 of the system

Issues:
New untested QB
Lack of experienced depth
New receiver unit

Other:
Open at EKU followed by SHU -- both FCS scholarship programs.

We could win 1 and just miss out on 5 others or win any bunch of 5 other games.  At this early point in time, what opinions (not necessarily predictions) do you have about how our 2015 squad will perform?

Jeremy Getz threw the javelin a new era best of 212-9 at the Tennessee Relays this past weekend. Hate seeing my record get pushed a bit further down the list, but hey that was 48 years ago so I should let go (or not)  . He had been throwing in the 160's until this southern trip. I was waiting for him to break out and was wondering why he was not even coming close to his previous bests. He placed 8th in a tough field. The winner threw 275-11  -- almost the length of a football field. Great for Jeremy to see and compete against national level competition.  The new javelin coach is having an impact.

[Justin Stovall]

While checking the Football site for Spring Practice dates I noticed that we have had two, not as of yet announced, staff changes for next season.  So I thought I'd scoop the SID 

We've lost Justin Stovall, LBs and ST Coordinator,  to Columbia University of the Ivy League.  Definitely a step up the coaching ladder for him.  We'll miss his enthusiasm and hope we can replace his coaching skills.  Taking his place is a 1999 Valpo grad.

KURT MATTIX
[From the U of M Athletic site]

Kurt Mattix is in his second season as a staff intern with the Michigan football program. He joined the Wolverines after spending the previous two seasons (2009-10) as the tight end coach at Ball State University under former U-M assistant coach Stan Parrish.

He brings 13 years of coaching experience to Ann Arbor. Mattix was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at St. Joseph's in 2008 and spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Wayne State (2004-07) before joining Parrish's staff in Muncie.

Mattix began his coaching career as an assistant at Portage High School (1998-99). He moved to the collegiate ranks as an assistant coach at Trine University (2000) and Anderson University (2001) before accepting a graduate assistant position at Ball State during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.  Mattix earned his bachelor's degree from Valparaiso in 1999.

We also lost 4 year coach Steve Donovan, who was the tight ends coach last year, to Wisconsin Lutheran where he is now the DC.  It's D-III but a step up in responsibility for him.  Replacing him is:

SAMI CAYGOZ
[From the Kings College FB site]

Assistant Football Coach / Tight Ends.  Entering his second season at King's in 2014 is assistant coach Sami Caygoz who coaches the Monarch tight ends.

Caygoz came to King's after concluding a fine career at Franklin & Marshall College where he was a three-year starter for the Diplomats, changing position three times for the betterment of the team.  He started all 32 games at F&M, including a pair of post-season appearances. Caygoz was an All-Centennial Conference selection at center in his final season in 2012 where he was responsible for all offensive line calls and led a unit that allowed the least number of quarterback sacks in the Centennial Conference

He began his collegiate playing career at Division II University of New Haven (CT) where he started five games as a true freshman before transferring to F&M. Caygoz earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Franklin & Marshall in May of 2013.

Caygoz is a 2009 graduate of Jefferson Township High School where he was captain of the 2008 North 1 Group 2 State Sectional Championship Team. He was also named to the New Jersey Super 100 All-State Team

Not really Horizon, but doesn't belong on Other Sports but former Nebraska HFBC Bo Pellini is now the HFBC at Youngstown State.  Valpo may see him in future guarantee games.  Good catch for YSU.

Another get for the golf team.  For a long time the minor sports lagged behind the "revenue" sports in being competitive in the HL.  Things are really changing for the positive.  Congrats to Dave Gring in bringing Mitchell Wittman into the Valpo sports family.  Not only are we seeing that good #1 guy/gal, but we are now seeing more and more quality depth.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mgolf/news/2014-15/14207/wittmann-signs-nli-with-mens-golf/

[TEAM STATISTICS (With some selected comparisons to 2013) VALPO OPP]

Here are the final stats.  Clearly there is dramtic improvement and what is also clearly demonstrated is that this team was more consistent, more disciplined and was better offensively than it's predecessor.  And the defensive improvement was off the charts.

TEAM STATISTICS  (With some selected comparisons to 2013) 
                                       VALPO  OPP 
SCORING                          287  337     (202  496)   
   Points Per Game             23.9  28.1    (18.4  45.1)   
   Points Off Turnovers          35  81 
FIRST DOWNS                    231  256 
   Rushing                           94  114 
   Passing                          118  133 
   Penalty                            19  9 
RUSHING YARDAGE             1824  2258   (1275  2836)   
   Yards gained rushing       2007  2458 
   Yards lost rushing             183  200 
   Rushing Attempts              445  492 
   Average Per Rush              4.1  4.6 
   Average Per Game           152.0  188.2 
   TDs Rushing                        17  26 
PASSING YARDAGE               2489  2619  (2398 - 3121)   
   Comp-Att-Int          219-386-15  220-375-8  (285-429-12 217-324-3)   
   Average Per Pass                6.4  7.0 
   Average Per Catch            11.4  11.9 
   Average Per Game           207.4  218.2 
   TDs Passing                        15  18 
TOTAL OFFENSE                  4313  4877    (3673  5957)   
   Total Plays                        831  867   (817  770)
   Average Per Play                 5.2  5.6 
   Average Per Game           359.4  406.4    (333.9  541.5)
KICK RETURNS: #-Yards   48-1045  48-846 
PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards   14-208  16-125 
INT RETURNS: #-Yards         8-78  15-245 
KICK RETURN AVERAGE          21.8  17.6 
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE         14.9  7.8 
INT RETURN AVERAGE            9.8  16.3 
FUMBLES-LOST                  14-5  14-4   (20-9  24-12)
PENALTIES-Yards            56-482  69-698   (82-757  77-759)
   Average Per Game            40.2  58.2 
PUNTS-Yards                55-2040  56-2004 
   Average Per Punt             37.1  35.8 
   Net punt average             32.6  30.6 
KICKOFFS-Yards            58-3035  61-3397 
   Average Per Kick              52.3  55.7 
   Net kick average              37.3  34.9 
TIME OF POSSESSION/Game 30:33  29:27 
3RD-DOWN Conversions      67/183  61/167 
    3rd-Down Pct                   37%  37%    (38%  49%)
4TH-DOWN Conversions       21/35  11/28 
   4th-Down Pct                   60%  39%   (54%  44%)
SACKS BY-Yards                11-72  5-39    (13-81  26-154)
MISC YARDS                          17  -6 
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED            36  45 
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS     13-16  9-14 
ON-SIDE KICKS                     0-1  2-3 
RED-ZONE SCORES    (37-46) 80%  (43-51) 84% 
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS  (24-46) 52%  (35-51) 69% 
PAT-ATTEMPTS               (30-33) 91%  (38-40) 95% 
ATTENDANCE                     14231  17475 
   Games/Avg Per Game      6/2372  6/2912 
   Neutral Site Games              0/0 

Score by quarters  1st  2nd  3rd  4th  Total 
Valparaiso             64   64   96    63  287      (38    46   70  42  6  202)
Opponents            78  84   87    88  337     (150  184   62  93  7  496)

*  *  *  *  * 
SAGARIN RATINGS --  Valpo no longer last!!!!   
189  Jacksonville         AA =  44.70    9   2 
206  Lehigh               AA =  41.40    3   8 
213  San Diego            AA =  39.60   9  2
217  Drake                 AA =  37.55    7   4   
219  Dayton               AA =  36.89    8   3   
235  Marist               AA =  27.05    4   7   
238  Butler               AA =  25.58    4   7   
241  Campbell             AA =  23.66    5   7   
246  Morehead State       AA =  20.00    4   8   
247  Stetson              AA =  19.41    5   7   
248  Valparaiso           AA =  19.35    4   8  
249  Columbia             AA =  19.07    0  10   
250  Miss. Valley State   AA =  18.93    2   9
251  Savannah State       AA =  15.51    0  12   
252  Davidson             AA =   9.96    1  11   

MASSEY
24 W Illinois       MVFC    5-7
57 Jacksonville     PFL     9-2
62 San Diego        PFL     9-2
80 Dayton           PFL     8-3
81 Drake            PFL     7-4
88 Lehigh           PL      3-8
103 Marist           PFL     4-7 
109 Butler           PFL     4-7
111 Campbell         PFL     5-7   
112 Austin Peay      OVC    1-11    
113 Stetson          PFL     5-7   
114 Cornell          Ivy     1-9   
115 Robert Morris    NEC    1-10    
116 Morehead St      PFL     4-8
117 Delaware St      MEAC   2-10   
118 Valparaiso       PFL     4-8   
119 Nicholls St      SLC    0-12   
120 MS Valley St     SWAC    2-9   
121 Columbia         Ivy    0-10   
122 Houston Bap      SLC     2-9   
123 Savannah St      MEAC   0-12    
124 Davidson         PFL    1-11

[Jacksonville 0-0 9-2]

San Diego 7-1 9-1
Dayton 5-2 7-3
Drake 5-2 6-4
Campbell 4-3 5-6
Marist 4-4 4-7
Stetson 3-4 5-6
Morehead State 3-5 4-7
Butler 2-6 4-7
Valparaiso 1-6 3-8
Davidson 0-7 1-10
Jacksonville 0-0 9-2

With that heartbreaking last second win on Saturday, USD won the PFL outright when JU vacated all games on the schedule.  This is the second year in a row where a PFL kingpin has had to forfeit wins due to unspecified violations.  I checked the JU site and the PFL site but couldn't find any details.  Anyone know anything about this?

    

This is a placeholder for the game in two weeks -- one that I will attend in person.  This game can be win #4.  Jacksonville destroyed Davidson today -- their QB threw for 5 TDs in the FIRST HALF!  But every week is a new week and we do know that Davidson took Dayton to OT earlier in the season.  Let's not get ahead of ourselves. USD in the next game.  But I did not want to forget to get this string started.

Tough opponent that's on a roll.  But nothing can take away the transfer of the Hoosier Helmet to NW Indiana's only FCS football team!

62-52 over Morehead 

We can beat these guys!

Please post on other one.

Dayton will be in a bad mood having been beaten by USD 40-29.  Our boys should be in a bad mood as well after coming so close.

[There's a Reason Why Your Kids Aren't Playing - They're Not Good Enough]

This is a scrape from the Boston Globe.  Thoughts?

There's a Reason Why Your Kids Aren't Playing - They're Not Good Enough

The fall sports season is reaching its zenith. Boys and girls at all levels and grades are running, stretching, planning and preparing for cross-town or cross-county rivals. Fall, especially in New England, is a wondrous time of year even if the Red Sox aren't participating. [Here in Florida, it's cause for a street party whenever the temperature falls below 70 during the day.]
For high school athletes, it means all those sweaty summer practices, workouts and sports-camps are finally going to pay some dividends.
The heart of any school athletic season brings with it busy schedules, frantic parents or older siblings driving kids from one field to the next, competition, camaraderie, joy, and disappointment.
One question every coach from Pop Warner and Youth Volleyball, on up through the highest levels high school competition in Texas, has heard in their coaching career is this:
"Why isn't my kid playing?"
This topic came up in the wake of a column that ran in the Boston Globe last week about the lack of play for some in youth sports.
The absurdity of many "win-at-all-cost" coaches in youth sports is neatly matched by the fanaticism of "play-my-kid-or-else" parents at the high-school level.
When the games start to count, the main reason why your kid isn't playing is simple:
"They're just not good enough."
"He/she just isn't fast enough."
"He/she just isn't strong enough."
"He/she just isn't tall enough."
"He/she is too fat/too skinny."
"He/she just didn't try hard enough in practice."
"He/she should not play over Jimmy/Jenny because they're faster, quicker, stronger, taller, and/or try harder."
Good coaches, however, are not usually that blunt or honest.
We'll focus on football for the rest of this conversation. Although much here applies to all sports, regardless of the game or gender. Many coaches are notorious for not telling what you and I would consider the "truth."
The coach of New England's NFL entry has mastered that skill. And high school coaches who fancy themselves as the "Belichick of the _______ League" are likely to follow his lead.
Parents get a little nutty at times when it comes to their children and youth/high school sports. Nearly every parent ever [this one included], at one time or another in the dark recesses of their minds, fancies a scenario where their son or daughter can master this or that sport well enough to earn a free-ride to college. When that dream/delusion is squashed after meeting the reality of genetics, talent, and/or interest, it's hard to reconcile.
For the parents, that is.
The thing is that many kids know what they're good at, and what they're not good at. When it comes to football, for instance, most of the middle-schoolers or freshman already know the one or two kids who are good enough to play on the varsity team. And be the ones likely to catch the eye of a college recruiter. Their parents do not.
The rest play because they enjoy it, need the discipline, want to belong to a team, have dreamed of it since they were 5 or 6, are trying to make their parents happy, need a varsity sport on their college application, or some combination thereof.
There is another level of high school athlete, the non-elite, that encompasses about 99 percent of those who play high school and/or youth sports. They're the ones whose career in organized athletics will end with their final high school game. Some of these kids are very talented and skilled. They're able to throw the ball AND catch the ball, much to the delight of Gisele Bundchen. They can beat anyone in a footrace. They can bench twice their body weight.
Others possess marginal athletic skills, but make up for it practice, by getting stronger and quicker, and with on-field effort.
And no matter how much little Billy tries, no matter how much little Billy wants to play, there's no guarantee that he will play. [Unless he's participating in a league that mandates or guarantees playing time.] Participating in high school sports, for instance, is no different than any other education experience. You learn about winning and losing. You learn about bad calls and bad breaks. And some kids just aren't good enough to play, at least on a routine basis.
Far too many children today are living in a world where they never learn "no." They don't know how to handle disappointment and failure. Nor do they know how to react and move on when they don't get their own way. Interacting with actual people, and not just the screens on their iPhones or iPads, is a challenge, if not an impossibility. I won't call this "abuse," but it's pretty damn close.
This is a world constructed by "well-meaning" but dangerously naïve parents. The children know no better because this is what they're taught. Real-life doesn't come with "Participation Awards," "8th-Place Trophies" or laudatory bumper-stickers telling everyone that you're able to do your job without screwing up.
Playing a team sport, like football, with the right coaching can help students learn life's difficult lessons, including Mick Jagger's truism that "you can't always get what you want."
The joy of winning, the life-time friendships that are crafted among teammates, the sense of accomplishment and, for some, that varsity letter, makes the effort worth the risk. Some kids just aren't good enough to play at any competitive level . This is not a moral judgment. They're too big, too small, too slow, don't work hard enough off the field, or aren't physically strong enough to be safe while being on the field against better athletes who won't take it easy on them.
It sucks when your kid isn't playing. Been there, done that. No reasonable parent wants to see their child hurt. But no one escapes this life unhurt, emotionally if not physically.
When these kids move on in life, they are going to get rejected when they apply for college, turned down when they ask out someone for a date, fail to get the job they want, the shift they want at work, and taste failure and disappointment on multiple fronts.
Legitimate safety concerns aside, coaches should try to get make sure everyone gets some playing time. But that should never come at expense of other kids who are more talented, try harder or spend more time practicing.
My son earned a starting spot senior year on his varsity football team. When it became evident he wasn't going to play much after the first few weeks of the season, he made the difficult decision to leave the team. He focused full-time on his studies and conditioning, so he could qualify for a military scholarship. The sophomore who replaced him is now playing at a Div. I-AA school on scholarship. This turned out to be a great decision for my son, who is a third-year US Army ROTC cadet. Win-win.
Their coach wasn't very good, and would be fired before my son graduated. This taught my son another important life-lesson: All your bosses aren't going to be great. Sometimes, leadership is going fail and take everyone down with it.
No child should be forced to play sports. And no child should ever go out for any team thinking they're going to be guaranteed a spot or playing time, no matter how loudly their parents complain. There is, however, much on the upside to playing team high school sports that barely gets mentioned nowadays.
In that sense, sports is a true metaphor for life. No one is guaranteed "playing" time in life. For the most part, hard work, effort, planning and desire is rewarded. The benefits can be wonderful. But it's good to prepared when it doesn't work out that way.
The OBF (Obnoxious Boston Fan) column is written by award-winning journalist and Bay State native Bill Speros. Bill has written and reported for ESPN, CBSSports.Com and was a sports/deputy sports editor at several metro daily newspapers. Reach Bill on the OBF Facebook page, on Twitter @realOBF or at his
OBF email Address.

Time to put the oh-so-close-it-cuddah-been-us loss behind us and move on to Morehead.

Morehead like Valpo and Davidson have been bottom feeders low these last few years. Can we build on the positives and fix the errors?  Will Ben be OK or will Scoot be our starting QB?  Will the D keep getting more confidence? 

Football, WSO, and VB won on Saturday.  MSO won on Friday night at home.   Nice to hear the bell ring so frequently in one weekend.  Didn't hurt that it was Homecoming.

[UPSET OF THE WEEK:]

Next up is Drake.  They pounded Davidson 51-14 today. But Valpo has had a history of playing Drake tough - especially at Brown Field.

Drake is 3-3 coming into Brown Field.  They opened the season suffering a 22-45 drubbing at the hands of National D-II power Grand View and then bounced back against NAIA Truman State 13-7.  They've lost to WIU and JU as well.

Common opponents:
Western Illinois -- Both lost:  Valpo 45-6, Drake 38-13
Marist -- Drake won 21-6;  Valpo lost 35-7 (Marist switched QBs for Valpo and their offense started to click and we killed ourselves)

PFL scores that might shed some light on possible opportunities:

Drake 51 Davidson 14 

Dayton 31 Marist 21

USD 31 Stetson 23 -- this is a bit surprising and says that maybe USD is not as good as the pre-season polls said they were.  It also says that in their second season, Stetson has greatly improved.

JU  45  Morehead 26 -- Morehead can score, no doubt about it -- they laid 42 on us last year and 76 the year before

UPSET OF THE WEEK:

Campbell 28 Butler 9 -- BU was not dominating in their win over D-III Wittenberg in OOC games and have lost to YSU (44-13), JU (35-7) and now Campbell.  Stetson scored 41 on them as Butler won by only 8.

After that disastrous self- destruction versus Marist, the Crusaders have to come back strong.

MBU lost to SW Baptist 56-0 this Saturday.  They are 0-6.  They have scored 43 points and have given up 329.  They are primarily freshmen and sophomores.

Watching the Dayton soccer match and how nice the soccer venue now looks, I started thinking about the graphic/map of the 30 year plan.  In that plan a new soccer only stadium was planned near the to-be-built new field house.  Why not switch the layout?  Keep soccer/lacrosse on Brown Field and build a football-only stadium by the new field house with the stands closer to the field?  One of the problems with the current layout is that the FB field runs east-west instead of N-S.  By putting the football field in the planned soccer field location, it would then be in a N-S orientation.  Then move the FB locker room to the field house and use the ARC locker space for other sports.  Just a thought.

[MARIST]

OK. Not that it makes any difference in the world order of things, but here's my take on the remaining schedule now that we have a sample of what kind of team we have this season and how the coaching change is impacting the program so far:

     MARIST  -- 50/50  Could be a close win. 

     MISSOURI BAPTIST -- 75/25 A Valpo Homecoming win

     DRAKE -- 40/60 Could be a very competitive loss

     @ MOREHEAD STATE -- 50/50  Could be a close win

     @ DAYTON -- 25/75 A Dayton win by 3 TDs.  Too much to overcome.

     BUTLER -- 40/60 Could be a competitive loss (but a vote for a maybe surprise upset)

     @ USD -- 25/75  A USD win by 3+TDs.  We're not at that point yet.

     DAVIDSON -- 75/25 A Valpo win at home to conclude the season.

OPTIMISTIC FORECAST FOR REMAINING GAMES: 4 wins vs. Marist, MBU, Morehead, Davidson)

PESSIMISTIC FORECAST FOR REMAINING GAMES:  2 wins (MBU and Davidson)

Marist is winless so far but hung in with preseason favorite, USD losing only 20-16.  However this is USD's second cross-country trip in two weeks west-to-east and they got beat pretty handily by JU.  Maybe they weren't as good as people thought.  16 points is a lot for Marist to score this season so far.  We get them on our turf on Saturday. If we continue to improve in all areas and work hard to correct the mistakes that have haunted us, this could be a close win.  Marist ALWAYS plays tough defense.  We need to be ready.

Campbell has a bye this weekend to recuperate from a tough OOC schedule. 
PREVIOUS CAMPBELL SCORES:

UNC Charlotte 33  Campbell 9   Charlotte is FBS -- Conference USA

@ Appalachian State 66 - Campbell 0  ASU is FBS -- Sunbelt Conference

@ Charleston Southern 34  Campbell 10  CSU is FCS scholarship -- Big South Conference.

No easy opponents here.

We are coming off our first OOC win since 2009.  Hope none of our kids are banged up. 

TKE at UWM is under investigation for selectively, and with premeditation, giving women at a party a date rape drug when dispensing alcohol at bars within the house.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2014/09/19/university-wisconsin-fraternity-accused-categorizing-date-rape-victims/UkjkSbNgUEmg8kIpsNVtoI/story.html?p1=Topofpage:sub_headline_1

Couple of excerpts:
    A fraternity in Wisconsin is under investigation for slipping "date rape" drugs into the drinks of party-goers who were color-coded with X's written on their hands, according to a report.
    A friend of this female guest said to get into the fraternity house they had to know someone inside. When they arrived at the party, they received a black or red X on their hand.
    This same fraternity was investigated last year in connection with three sexual assaults. Charges were not filed but the calculated process of getting into TKE parties still reads like a well-oiled machine

How absolutely moronic are these cretins?  This happened a week ago in the midst of the NFL domestic violence implosion and the uproar over the devaluation of women.

Just wanted to get this out of my head/heart.

I am very proud of the people on this forum, because it reflects a deep and broad appreciation for what the Valpo athletic program (as well as  the the university in general, not to mention the world at hand) is meant to convey -- it's part of a bigger picture.  You guys  look at the bigger picture and the dialogues are so stimulating (even Setshot's digs).  Yeah, we disagree at times, and sometimes we go a little over the top, but generally this is a place on the internet where I feel very much at home. 
Thanks,
Bud

[William Jewel College:]

It's two weeks before the Crusaders go to Kansas City to play William Jewel.  WJC won on Saturday 29-26 vs. Southwest Baptist

William Jewel College:
Ranking: #146 National Liberal Arts College (2014)
Undergraduates: 1,052 (2014)
Acceptance rate: 60.90% (2014)
Tuition: $31,000 USD (2014)

Coach C says they are going "back into camp" over the next two weeks to find the most competitive 22 football players for this game.  Let's see what that produces on September20th.

VUMSO pulled out two 0-0 Dbl. OT ties against North Carolina State of the ACC and Davidson of the A-10 this weekend.  Two clean sheets and they were close in shots in both games (out shot Davidson and were only outshot 22-18 v. NC State).

http://www.valpoathletics.com/msoccer/news/2014-15/13839/mens-soccer-opens-season-with-draw-at-nc-state/#.VASnwUsXKgE

http://www.valpoathletics.com/msoccer/news/2014-15/13843/crusaders-scrap-with-wildcats-for-second-straight-draw/#.VASnj0sXKgE

OK.  How will this team respond after the loss to WIU? Will they correct the mistakes that led to big plays or will they think that after playing a scholarship FCS team sort of respectably (lowest FCS loss margin in 11 years), they can just throw their cleats on the field and  beat a D-II team?  Will they emerge from the tunnel a different team from the past 4 years or will they come out the same as in the past?  I will be there to see what the answers are.

[WIU Football site]

Might as well put in a placeholder for this game. 

To get us thinking, this is copied from the WIU Football site (link below):

A group of officials were also on hand Friday night working the scrimmage. The night session wrapped up the 10th practice of fall camp. According to head coach Bob Nielson, his team is continuing to make improvements.

"I definitely think we are on track in most areas, however, you always want to be further ahead. Offensively and defensively we have made good progress. We continue to work hard with our kicking game units. We still have some work to do there," said Nielson."

RUNNING BACKS SHOWING DEPTH: Heading into fall camp, one position group that would be a team strength was running back. Senior J.C. Baker (5-8, 180) was named to the College Football Performance Awards Watch List following his 1,149-yard performance last year. Fellow senior Nikko Watson (6-0, 250) is closing in on the career 'Top 10' rushing yards as a Leatherneck. That 1-2 punch is joined by junior Kyle Hammonds (5-7, 165), sophomore Devon Moore (6-2, 220), and redshirt-freshman Devin Sanders (5-9, 185) to give Western a talented group of running backs.

http://goleathernecks.com/index.aspx?path=football&

From the MVFBC web site:

Four Valley Football teams -- including three in the Top 10 -- are in the Sports Network Top 25 rankings, announced Friday.  North Dakota State is No. 2, behind Eastern Washington.  Nine league teams received votes, and joining North Dakota State in the Top 25 are UNI (9), South Dakota State (10), and Youngstown State (24). 

WIU Received 5 votes, San Diego got 1 vote (the only PFL team mentioned) and Indiana State got 1.

WIU was  4-8 overall and 2-6 in the MVFBC (9th out of 10 teams -- Indiana State was below them)

Generally, I like it.  Individual sports' pages much cleaner.  The bottom half of the home page is very busy, but it's all about social media and reaching out, staying touch, etc.  Makes it easier to check on Facebook updates etc. when before you had to chase around to find stuff. 

On a scale of 5:

     

[max]

This article was published in the NWI Times recently and underscores the use of lacrosse as a way to attract students and increase revenue to the schools mentioned.  One theme is that whether the school is D-I or D-III, the lacrosse pool of students is a new source to mine.  Most of the schools that are going in this direction are D-II and D-III.  Names mentioned:  DePauw, Wabash, Indianapolis.

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/private-schools-add-lacrosse-to-attract-students/article_ed02ec5b-8c9b-5e4f-9223-a2403782e534.html

These other articles focus on the same strategy.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/04/lacrosse_is_the_new_recruiting.html

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-04-04/liberal-arts-colleges-lacrosse-students/54002080/1

Running with the articles' premise, as a D-I university, Valpo would have to run a 'scholarship' program, but the D-I max is 12.6 men and 12.0 women which can be divided among all players - if at all.  Lacrosse teams typically carry 33-60 players.  So......  even with a full compliment of scholarships (not required by NCAA), if each program brought in 44 kids, that's 88 additional students @ ~ $45K, that generates $3.96 million, less the cost of scholarships (24.6 X $45K = $1.1 million) leaves $2.86 million in new revenue.  If the cost of operations and travel of both a men's and a women's program (probably need to add both for Title IX reasons) was, say, $1.0 million, that still leaves $1.86 million in new revenue annually.  With zero scholarships, it's a net of $2.96 million.

And the playing facility (Brown Field) is already in place and would only need another set of lines painted on it.  Locker space is a different issue. It's an all-weather sport so no cancellations.

Worth discussing?