The second game at Carleton College on this Saturday afternoon lined up like this:
Home Team
Tia Elbert - Tartan
Taylor Thunstedt - New London-Spicer
Anna Monke - Fergus Falls
Madison Lee - Maranatha Christian Academy
Anna Pfefferle - Northfield
Michaela Rasmussen - Holy Family
Chase Coley - Minneapolis Washburn
Carly Sigurdson - BOLD
Vanessa Lane - Pequot Lakes
Kayla Nickles - Braham
Head Coach - Tylor Coley - Minneapolis Washburn
Asst Coach - Keith Wilson - Minneapolis Washburn
Player Rep - Tammy Filzen
Away Team
Carlie Wagner - New Richland-H-E-G
Hannah Grim - Rosemount
Bailey Strand - Fergus Falls
Bryanna Fernstrom - Chisago Lakes
Mackenzie Uter - Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
Abby Miller - Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
Annalise Savageau - Osakis
Allie Knuti - Mountain Iron-Buhl
Siri Sviggum - Kenyon-Wanamingo
Head Coach - Jason Kuehn - Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
Asst Coach - Patrick Kaplin - Osakis
Player Rep - Jane Runzhiemer
The home team would get off to a great start in this one; bolting out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first two minutes thanks to scores by hometown favorite Anna Pfefferle's score in the paint at the 17:00 mark and a lay-up in transition just thirty seconds later. The lead would soon balloon to 12-3 on a drive and finish by Tartan's Tia Elbert at the 15:54 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by New London-Spicer's Taylor Thunstedt at the 15:21 mark. An offensive rebound and putback by Maranatha Christian's Madison Lee that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory charity stripe shot sent the lead to 15-3 by the 13:37 mark before the away team was finally able to make some inroads on the deficit. A drive and one-handed shot by Rosemount's Hannah Grim at the 13:10 mark and a jumper along the left baseline by Minneapolis Washburn's Chase Coley at the 12:58 mark helped to ignite a bit of a spark. Grim was able to uncork a "3" from the left wing area at the 11:36 mark and a "3" by Kenyon-Wanamingo's Siri Sviggum suddenly had the away team within six trailing 19-13 at the 11:02 mark.
And, of course, you had to figure that ANY team that has a certain player with the name of Carlie Wagner on it would have a chance to open things up offensively as well and she finally made her presence felt for the away team as she nailed a "3" from the left top area at the 10:20 mark that sliced the home team's lead down to 21-16. A drive and finish along the left baseline by Grim with 9:57 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Chisago Lake's Bryanna Fernstrom with 9:15 left pulled the away team to within three trailing 23-20. The away team would stay within striking distance over the next minute and a half but could never seem to quite get over the hump. With the home team clinging to a one-point 23-22 lead, Fergus Falls' Anna Monke made a pretty move along the right baseline for a finish with 7:59 left that upped the lead to 25-22 and free throws by Elbert with 7:35 left along with a Coley jumper with 7:10 left pushed the lead back up to 29-23. Elbert's drive and finish with 6:49 left not only wowed the crowd but also drew a foul as well and she sank the ensuing freebie that expanded the lead to nine at 32-23. Elbert would strike again with 5:45 left on a lay-up in transition and then a "3" by Monke from the top of the key with 4:30 left had the home team up by ten at 37-27. Grim's lay-up in transition with 3:37 left helped the away team keep things reasonably close but an offensive rebound and putback by Coley of her own miss with 2:44 left along with a Thunstedt "3" from the left wing area with 2:09 left had the home team up 44-30. The away team would counter with two scores by Wagner who seemed to have her very own cheering contingent on hand at West Gym on this day - a jumper with 1:51 left and a "3" from the left top area with 1:30 left but the home team would maintain its double-digit advantage down the stretch with freebies from Thunstedt and a lay-up in transition by BOLD's Carly Sigurdson. Elbert's "3" from the right wing with just :36 left allowed the home team to hold a comfortable 53-39 lead by the time the buzzer ended this high-scoring first half.
The home team picked up right where they left off once the second half got underway as points in the paint by Pfefferle and Coley had the lead at 60-46 by the 16:22 mark. Then Elbert, who simply had a tremendous game on this day, connected on a lay-up in transition at the 15:25 mark to up the margin to sixteen at 62-46. A jumper in the lane by Coley at the 14:56 mark and a "3" by Thunstedt from the right top area at the 14:33 mark now had the home team up 67-49 and things looked grim for the away team by this point. But a Wagner jumper at the 13:52 mark along with a "3" from Fergus Falls' Bailey Strand from the right wing area at the 13:25 mark plus a pull-up jumper by Wagner at the 12:40 mark had the away team back to within fifteen trailing 71-56. Back-to-back scores by the hometown favorite Pfefferle helped the home team increase their lead back to nineteen at 75-56 at the 11:43 mark but Fernstrom's heroics over the next minute - a score in the paint at the 11:25 mark and an offensive rebound for a putback at the 10:01 mark that sandwiched a charity stripe shot - at least kept some hope alive for the away team trailing 78-61.
But the problem for the away team in this situation was that, in all-star games, defense is something that tends to be overlooked unlike regular-season games. As such, there was no quick cure to stop the home team's multi-faceted scoring machine as scores by Pfefferle and Coley had the lead at twenty at 84-64 with 7:34 left. The away team, however, with nothing to lose on this day, was having too much fun and a "3" from Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted's diminutive Abby Miller from the right wing area with 6:14 left along with a "3" from Wagner from the left wing area with 5:44 left whittled the home team's lead to 87-73. A pull-up jumper from Coley, however, got the home team a 91-73 lead and a shot at breaking the century mark as well. The away team would try to pad their scoring total on this day and help do their part to light up the scoreboard as well as Wagner connected with a lay-up in transition with 4:20 left and a pretty reverse lay-up by Osakis' Annalise Savageau pulled the away team to within twelve trailing 91-79 with 3:47 left. Coley's score in the paint with 2:58 left upped the lead to 93-79 with 2:58 left but then Wagner uncorked a "3" from the left top area with 2:31 left to help the away team to pull within eleven trailing 93-82. But the home team would inch closer and closer to that century mark in the last two minutes. Monke snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:18 left and an Elbert lay-up with 1:11 left made the home team's lead 97-85. Finally, a Thunstedt "3" from the right wing area with :38 left put triple digits on the scoreboard and an offensive rebound and putback by Pfefferle with :14 left put the finishing touches on a 102-85 victory for the home team.
The post-game ceremonies afterward included the introduction of the finalists for the 2014 Miss Basketball Award and those finalists included:
Kenisha Bell - Bloomington Kennedy
Chase Coley - Minneapolis Washburn
Cayla McMorris - Park Center
Brianna Rasmusson - Fergus Falls
Carlie Wagner - New Richland-H-E-G
To the delight of the many New Richland-H-E-G fans in attendance on this day, Wagner got the nod for the award which, for all she has done in her high school career, seemed fitting. But I think you can also look at the big picture and reflect what a great season this has been on the high school front with so many great players out there and the unpredictability that was prevalent during the state tournament. This was a fun year to be sure and I hope that the coming years will provide more of the same.
Los Angeles Rams
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Minnesota Girls All Star Series - Game 1 - 4-26-14 1:00 P.M.
Made my way down to Northfield on this halfway sunny but cool spring day to take in the two Minnesota Girls All-Star Games over at Carleton's West Gym on this Saturday afternoon. The players in this All-Star series were split into four different teams and the first game had this group of players:
Home Team
Cayla McMorris - Park Center
Sydney Lamberty - Park of Cottage Grove
Claire Lundberg - Anoka
Grace Sawatzke - Monticello
Ellie Thompson - Chaska
Madison Dean - Jordan
Amazih Eickhoff - Albany
Aunika Bastian - Mankato Loyola
Michaela Noga - Parkers Prairie
McKena Panning - Chaska
Head Coach - Jeremy Post - White Bear Lake
Asst Coach - Bryan Doughty - White Bear Lake
Player Rep - Brenda Niebuhr
Away Team
Kenisha Bell - Bloomington Kennedy
Tonoia Wade - Bloomington Kennedy
Brianna Rasmussen - Fergus Falls
Amanda Christianson - Alexandria
Jill Conrad - Centennial
Monica Vega - Ada-Borup
Alexis Alexander - Champlin Park
Shelby Kaster - Win-E-Mac
Melissa Gehl - Fulda
Darby Youngstrom - North Woods
Head Coach - David Smart - Ada-Borup
Asst Coach - Chris Kujava - Ada-Borup
Player Rep - Pat Buresh
The home squad got off to a good start in this one as early scores by Park's Sydney Lamberty and Jordan's Madison Dean made it a 4-0 game and two more Dean scores - a lay-up at the 16:08 mark and a drive and finish in transition at the 15:32 mark - made it an 8-2 game before the away squad finally got untracked. A lay-up in transition by Ada-Borup's Monica Vega; who was wearing a protective mask after an apparent nose injury, cut the home team's lead down to 8-6 by the 14:50 mark. Park Center's Cayla McMorris; playing loose and adventuresome on this day with a state title finally in her pocket, helped get the home team back up by six points with her back-to-back scores at the 14:35 and 13:31 marks for a 12-6 advantage but the away squad would scratch and claw their way back into this one. A score down low by Fergus Falls' Brianna Rasmussen at the 12:28 mark and a score in the paint by North Woods' Darby Youngstrom cut the home team's lead down to 12-10 at the 11:59 mark. Centennial's always-reliable Jill Conrad connected with a jumper from the left elbow area at the 11:07 mark to help keep the away team close; trailing 14-12 and two free throws by Alexandria's Amanda Christianson drew the away team even closer trailing 18-17 as the home team's early advantage suddenly seemed precarious.
The home team clung to that one-point advantage over the next two minutes before the away team finally captured their first - and only - lead of the game on a pretty move and finish along the left baseline by Champlin Park's Alexis Alexander with 8:12 left for a 23-22 advantage. But a "3" from the right top area with 7:19 left by Parkers Prairie's Michaela Noga allowed the home team to recapture the lead - this time for good - for a 25-23 advantage and a "3" by McMorris from the left top area with 5:48 left expanded that lead to 28-23 and two free throws by Albany's Amazih Eickhoff with 5:26 left suddenly upped the home team's lead to 30-23 to complete this decisive 8-0 burst. A "3" from the left corner by Dean with 3:51 left and a score in the paint by McMorris with 2:48 left now had the home team up by ten at 35-25 before the away squad finally was able to stop some of the bleeding right before the half when Win-E-Mac's Shelby Kaster snared an offensive rebound for a putback with :28 left that cut the home team's lead down to 35-27 at halftime.
After an interesting halftime shooting contest between players of the afternoon's second game that saw New Richland-H-E-G's (and future Minnesota Golden Gopher) Carlie Wagner barely miss her first half-court shot attempt - and then bury her second attempt off the glass to the delight of the crowd on hand, it was back to the business at hand as the home team slowly built on it's advantage it had established late in the first half. Chaska's Ellie Thompson snared an offensive rebound for a putback and got fouled in the process and the ensuing freebie had the home team up 38-27 at the 17:21 mark. At the 16:06 mark, Thompson struck again as she connected with a jumper along the left baseline and two Eickhoff free throws less than a minute later now had the home team's lead at 44-30. A lay-up in transition by the willowy Lamberty upped the lead to 46-30 at the 14:34 mark before the away team managed to get a bit of an offensive pulse. Rasmussen connected with a lay-up in transition at the 14:03 mark and two free throws by Bloomington Kennedy's Kenisha Bell got the away team back to within ten trailing 46-36 by the 13:11 mark. But two more Lamberty scores - down low off the glass at the 13:00 mark and a lay-up in transition at the 12:36 mark - put the lead back at fourteen for the home team at 50-36. Conrad tried to help the away team's fortunes as she connected on a lay-up at the 10:57 mark but a Noga "3" from the right corner at the 10:15 mark had the home team up 57-41 and the away team was now in a hole.
The away team certainly had no intentions of throwing in the towel, though, and a Conrad jumper with 9:51 left and a "3" from the left wing by Bell with 8:41 left helped slice some of the fat off of the deficit as the home team's lead was trimmed to 61-46. Two Kaster scores - a lay-up in transition with 7:56 left and a jumper off of an inbounds pass with 7:28 left - coupled with a Vega score in the paint with 7:02 left drew the away team to within nine trailing 61-52. But just when the away team looked to be on the verge of getting close, things suddenly went awry and the home team was able to put the finishing touches on this one. A score in the paint by Lamberty drew a foul and she made good on the obligatory freebie for a 64-52 advantage. Chaska's MaKena Panning scored in the paint with 6:18 left and a McMorris score with 5:40 left had the home team up by fourteen at 68-54. A Thompson "3" from the left top area with 4:31 left and a Dean lay-up with 4:01 left increased the home team's lead to sixteen at 73-57. Thompson snared an offensive rebound of her own miss for a score with 3:17 left for a 75-59 lead for the home team. The away team got late scores from two former Northwest Suburban Conference foes - Alexander and Conrad - but a score by Panning with :25 left was icing on the cake for the home team as they recorded a 79-66 victory.
Home Team
Cayla McMorris - Park Center
Sydney Lamberty - Park of Cottage Grove
Claire Lundberg - Anoka
Grace Sawatzke - Monticello
Ellie Thompson - Chaska
Madison Dean - Jordan
Amazih Eickhoff - Albany
Aunika Bastian - Mankato Loyola
Michaela Noga - Parkers Prairie
McKena Panning - Chaska
Head Coach - Jeremy Post - White Bear Lake
Asst Coach - Bryan Doughty - White Bear Lake
Player Rep - Brenda Niebuhr
Away Team
Kenisha Bell - Bloomington Kennedy
Tonoia Wade - Bloomington Kennedy
Brianna Rasmussen - Fergus Falls
Amanda Christianson - Alexandria
Jill Conrad - Centennial
Monica Vega - Ada-Borup
Alexis Alexander - Champlin Park
Shelby Kaster - Win-E-Mac
Melissa Gehl - Fulda
Darby Youngstrom - North Woods
Head Coach - David Smart - Ada-Borup
Asst Coach - Chris Kujava - Ada-Borup
Player Rep - Pat Buresh
The home squad got off to a good start in this one as early scores by Park's Sydney Lamberty and Jordan's Madison Dean made it a 4-0 game and two more Dean scores - a lay-up at the 16:08 mark and a drive and finish in transition at the 15:32 mark - made it an 8-2 game before the away squad finally got untracked. A lay-up in transition by Ada-Borup's Monica Vega; who was wearing a protective mask after an apparent nose injury, cut the home team's lead down to 8-6 by the 14:50 mark. Park Center's Cayla McMorris; playing loose and adventuresome on this day with a state title finally in her pocket, helped get the home team back up by six points with her back-to-back scores at the 14:35 and 13:31 marks for a 12-6 advantage but the away squad would scratch and claw their way back into this one. A score down low by Fergus Falls' Brianna Rasmussen at the 12:28 mark and a score in the paint by North Woods' Darby Youngstrom cut the home team's lead down to 12-10 at the 11:59 mark. Centennial's always-reliable Jill Conrad connected with a jumper from the left elbow area at the 11:07 mark to help keep the away team close; trailing 14-12 and two free throws by Alexandria's Amanda Christianson drew the away team even closer trailing 18-17 as the home team's early advantage suddenly seemed precarious.
The home team clung to that one-point advantage over the next two minutes before the away team finally captured their first - and only - lead of the game on a pretty move and finish along the left baseline by Champlin Park's Alexis Alexander with 8:12 left for a 23-22 advantage. But a "3" from the right top area with 7:19 left by Parkers Prairie's Michaela Noga allowed the home team to recapture the lead - this time for good - for a 25-23 advantage and a "3" by McMorris from the left top area with 5:48 left expanded that lead to 28-23 and two free throws by Albany's Amazih Eickhoff with 5:26 left suddenly upped the home team's lead to 30-23 to complete this decisive 8-0 burst. A "3" from the left corner by Dean with 3:51 left and a score in the paint by McMorris with 2:48 left now had the home team up by ten at 35-25 before the away squad finally was able to stop some of the bleeding right before the half when Win-E-Mac's Shelby Kaster snared an offensive rebound for a putback with :28 left that cut the home team's lead down to 35-27 at halftime.
After an interesting halftime shooting contest between players of the afternoon's second game that saw New Richland-H-E-G's (and future Minnesota Golden Gopher) Carlie Wagner barely miss her first half-court shot attempt - and then bury her second attempt off the glass to the delight of the crowd on hand, it was back to the business at hand as the home team slowly built on it's advantage it had established late in the first half. Chaska's Ellie Thompson snared an offensive rebound for a putback and got fouled in the process and the ensuing freebie had the home team up 38-27 at the 17:21 mark. At the 16:06 mark, Thompson struck again as she connected with a jumper along the left baseline and two Eickhoff free throws less than a minute later now had the home team's lead at 44-30. A lay-up in transition by the willowy Lamberty upped the lead to 46-30 at the 14:34 mark before the away team managed to get a bit of an offensive pulse. Rasmussen connected with a lay-up in transition at the 14:03 mark and two free throws by Bloomington Kennedy's Kenisha Bell got the away team back to within ten trailing 46-36 by the 13:11 mark. But two more Lamberty scores - down low off the glass at the 13:00 mark and a lay-up in transition at the 12:36 mark - put the lead back at fourteen for the home team at 50-36. Conrad tried to help the away team's fortunes as she connected on a lay-up at the 10:57 mark but a Noga "3" from the right corner at the 10:15 mark had the home team up 57-41 and the away team was now in a hole.
The away team certainly had no intentions of throwing in the towel, though, and a Conrad jumper with 9:51 left and a "3" from the left wing by Bell with 8:41 left helped slice some of the fat off of the deficit as the home team's lead was trimmed to 61-46. Two Kaster scores - a lay-up in transition with 7:56 left and a jumper off of an inbounds pass with 7:28 left - coupled with a Vega score in the paint with 7:02 left drew the away team to within nine trailing 61-52. But just when the away team looked to be on the verge of getting close, things suddenly went awry and the home team was able to put the finishing touches on this one. A score in the paint by Lamberty drew a foul and she made good on the obligatory freebie for a 64-52 advantage. Chaska's MaKena Panning scored in the paint with 6:18 left and a McMorris score with 5:40 left had the home team up by fourteen at 68-54. A Thompson "3" from the left top area with 4:31 left and a Dean lay-up with 4:01 left increased the home team's lead to sixteen at 73-57. Thompson snared an offensive rebound of her own miss for a score with 3:17 left for a 75-59 lead for the home team. The away team got late scores from two former Northwest Suburban Conference foes - Alexander and Conrad - but a score by Panning with :25 left was icing on the cake for the home team as they recorded a 79-66 victory.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Thoughts On UW-Superior Decision To Leave The WIAC
I wanted to wait a few days to avoid any knee-jerk response when I saw the news early in the week that UW-Superior had made its intentions clear to leave the WIAC and had filed an application to join the UMAC. I suppose, like many, I was caught off-guard when I saw the news and was genuinely surprised that the UW-Superior Athletic Department had made the move at this time. Keep in mind, once I get beyond the reaches of the MIAC things get a little hazy for me and my knowledge of the WIAC; much less UW-Superior is not that great although I am proud to call UW-Superior Womens Basketball Head Coach Don Mulhern a very good friend; someone I really enjoy talking to and learning from. Still, I have some misgivings about this whole thing and there's a few points I'd like to touch on.
First, what's in it for UW-Superior to make the move to the UMAC when they've been a part of the WIAC since the Woodrow Wilson administration (1913)? Per the UW-Superior website, a host of reasons were given that included "competitive balance, a decrease in travel and missed class time for student-athletes, as well as financial considerations." Now, I'm going to be thinking strictly in terms of women's basketball here with my thoughts on the issue of "competitive balance". Let's remember here that Mulhern took the helm of a UW-Superior that was at rock bottom a few years ago and has slowly but steadily improved the program to a point now where it is very competitive in the WIAC. Just this last season alone, the Yellowjackets knocked off eventual Final Four participant UW-Whitewater in one of the WIAC semifinal playoff games; thumping the Warhawks 84-63 right there in Whitewater before losing in the WIAC Championship in a tough one to UW-Oshkosh. So just where the womens hoops program has been and where it is now under Mulhern's tutelage, the "competitive balance" thing for me is a tough sell. The travel time/missed class time issue I don't have as much a problem here because, let's face it: Those 7-8 hour trips (or longer) down to Whitewater, Platteville and La Crosse take their toll on all the student-athletes that have to make that jaunt during the season. You can't "move" the school to a different location to somehow alleviate the travel considerations and I'm in no way implying that the UW-Superior Athletic Department is trying to pull a Georgia Frontiere/John Shaw here either by the proposed move to the UMAC. At the same time, just how much will those travel considerations/missed class time issues be lessened if the jump to the UMAC is approved? Yes, you do indeed have something of a new crosstown rival with St. Scholastica which is a positive but, at the same time, you're still going to have long hauls down to not only the Twin Cities with Northwestern and North Central but also out to Bethany Lutheran in Mankato, Martin Luther out in New Ulm and UM-Morris in Morris. So I'm guessing here that, while travel time considerations are improved somewhat, the "improvement" is only marginal at best. I can't really say too much either way on the financial "considerations" but I'd ideally like to have some more specifics on what those "considerations" are.
Second, let's suppose that the UMAC governing board approves UW-Superior's application to join the conference. What reactionary moves might occur because of this move? Now, bear in mind, Division III is a totally different world as opposed to Division I where money and TV contracts rule. I'm not even remotely suggesting that there's going to be a wholesale shuffling and realignment in the WIAC, UMAC or any other conference. Still, I think it is fair to say at the very least that, this proposed move by UW-Superior is the key that opened the door should other moves occur in the coming years. Now, I have been an advocate of having the MIAC expand by getting both Northwestern and St. Scholastica into the conference and then going into North/South divisions. Needless to say, UW-Superior's move, if approved, pretty much makes that a moot point. But, just for the sake of argument here, what's to stop a Macalester or a Carleton from exploring their options if they suddenly found greener pastures somewhere else? Again, I'm not even remotely suggesting that they will or have plans to but, what if? Certainly, the WIAC cannot be doing any backflips about losing a long-time member such as UW-Superior; onerous travel times or not. The void left by UW-Superior would reduce membership to eight schools which, in the short view, may actually help with scheduling and the like but I would have to think that, somewhere down the road anyway, there will be a desire for the conference to expand to ten schools. And, if there is, who do they go after? Edgewood? Carthage? St. Norbert? There are options out there for them certainly should they decide to exercise them at some point. And, if they do, how would this affect the MIAC or the IIAC? Or even the Midwest Conference? Only time will tell.
I just think there's some things to watch here and I also think that there's a need for caution before someone else starts thinking "what if?". The UMAC will definitely be getting a new look with the addition of UW-Superior should this come to pass and it will be interesting to see what results it brings and if other dominoes start to fall as a result.
First, what's in it for UW-Superior to make the move to the UMAC when they've been a part of the WIAC since the Woodrow Wilson administration (1913)? Per the UW-Superior website, a host of reasons were given that included "competitive balance, a decrease in travel and missed class time for student-athletes, as well as financial considerations." Now, I'm going to be thinking strictly in terms of women's basketball here with my thoughts on the issue of "competitive balance". Let's remember here that Mulhern took the helm of a UW-Superior that was at rock bottom a few years ago and has slowly but steadily improved the program to a point now where it is very competitive in the WIAC. Just this last season alone, the Yellowjackets knocked off eventual Final Four participant UW-Whitewater in one of the WIAC semifinal playoff games; thumping the Warhawks 84-63 right there in Whitewater before losing in the WIAC Championship in a tough one to UW-Oshkosh. So just where the womens hoops program has been and where it is now under Mulhern's tutelage, the "competitive balance" thing for me is a tough sell. The travel time/missed class time issue I don't have as much a problem here because, let's face it: Those 7-8 hour trips (or longer) down to Whitewater, Platteville and La Crosse take their toll on all the student-athletes that have to make that jaunt during the season. You can't "move" the school to a different location to somehow alleviate the travel considerations and I'm in no way implying that the UW-Superior Athletic Department is trying to pull a Georgia Frontiere/John Shaw here either by the proposed move to the UMAC. At the same time, just how much will those travel considerations/missed class time issues be lessened if the jump to the UMAC is approved? Yes, you do indeed have something of a new crosstown rival with St. Scholastica which is a positive but, at the same time, you're still going to have long hauls down to not only the Twin Cities with Northwestern and North Central but also out to Bethany Lutheran in Mankato, Martin Luther out in New Ulm and UM-Morris in Morris. So I'm guessing here that, while travel time considerations are improved somewhat, the "improvement" is only marginal at best. I can't really say too much either way on the financial "considerations" but I'd ideally like to have some more specifics on what those "considerations" are.
Second, let's suppose that the UMAC governing board approves UW-Superior's application to join the conference. What reactionary moves might occur because of this move? Now, bear in mind, Division III is a totally different world as opposed to Division I where money and TV contracts rule. I'm not even remotely suggesting that there's going to be a wholesale shuffling and realignment in the WIAC, UMAC or any other conference. Still, I think it is fair to say at the very least that, this proposed move by UW-Superior is the key that opened the door should other moves occur in the coming years. Now, I have been an advocate of having the MIAC expand by getting both Northwestern and St. Scholastica into the conference and then going into North/South divisions. Needless to say, UW-Superior's move, if approved, pretty much makes that a moot point. But, just for the sake of argument here, what's to stop a Macalester or a Carleton from exploring their options if they suddenly found greener pastures somewhere else? Again, I'm not even remotely suggesting that they will or have plans to but, what if? Certainly, the WIAC cannot be doing any backflips about losing a long-time member such as UW-Superior; onerous travel times or not. The void left by UW-Superior would reduce membership to eight schools which, in the short view, may actually help with scheduling and the like but I would have to think that, somewhere down the road anyway, there will be a desire for the conference to expand to ten schools. And, if there is, who do they go after? Edgewood? Carthage? St. Norbert? There are options out there for them certainly should they decide to exercise them at some point. And, if they do, how would this affect the MIAC or the IIAC? Or even the Midwest Conference? Only time will tell.
I just think there's some things to watch here and I also think that there's a need for caution before someone else starts thinking "what if?". The UMAC will definitely be getting a new look with the addition of UW-Superior should this come to pass and it will be interesting to see what results it brings and if other dominoes start to fall as a result.
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