I am not sure where to start for this article. This was a game that held so much meaning, so much emotion, and winning would have given Ferrum a chance at the playoffs. The fact that it was Senior Day, and the knowledge that the Ferrum Seniors could be participating in their last game added even more drama to the day.
For me, I was destined to watch the game via the Internet broadcast. A broadcast that had it's share of rare technical glitches through the first three quarters, but seemed to straighten out in the last period.
In trying to sum this game up, I would say that from what I saw, Maryville made a study of the Ferrum offense and defense, and really controlled both sides of the ball. Ferrum had its bright spots, but overall, it was Maryville that shone the brightest.
There is not a lot to say. I do not look to lay blame on anyone, Ferrum has had a really good season, but they were not the best team on the field today. It will take time for Ferrum to get over this, for fans to get over this, and me to get over this, but when its all said and done, I say that Ferrum is building a playoff caliber program and that it is a process. A process that takes time. I know that Ferrum will lose a lot of Seniors, but they have a wealth of underclassmen that, if they will stay at Ferrum, and stay the course will be part of a very strong program in the years to come.
I know there will be naysayers, looking to blame the coaches. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but from where I sit, Ferrum has as good of a head coach as there is in the USA South, and if he stands behind his assistants, then that is good enough for me.
So the game is over, and the season is over too. I guess if CNU loses tonight to Methodist, then Ferrum CNU, and Maryville will be 5-2 in the conference and be co champions. CNU will still get the trip to the playoffs as they own the tie breaker over both teams. Go Monarchs...a co championship is better than no championship.
Lastly, I want to say a big thank you to the Internet broadcast crew of today's game. I was really glad to find out that you read the blog, and I really appreciate the mention of the blog during the broadcast. I did not expect that....I will work on more nicknames for next year.
Keep your heads up Panthers, your efforts and abilities will not soon be forgotten. Thanks Seniors for all you have done!
Sabtu, 10 November 2012
The Sports Law Hall of Fame
As such, I am proposing we—sports lawyers everywhere and the Sports Law Blog in particular—begin talk of a “Sports Law Hall of Fame.” The SLHOF is an idea, and will need to be defined collectively by industry experts and historians. However, as a start, I propose three categories for inclusion into the SLHOF:
1. Practitioners
This category would include individuals who, through their efforts, have advanced the field of sports law. Potential candidates could include Marvin Miller, Bob Woolf, Don Fehr, David Stern, etc.
2. Athletes
It is sports after all and athletes have played a pivotal role in shaping our industry. Curt Flood, Reggie White, Andy Messersmith, Spencer Haywood, Oscar Robertson, Maurice Clarett, etc.
3. Educators
As a faculty member I’m biased, but I’d argue it takes teachers to advance the concept of sports law. To be considered, one needs to be retired. Paul Weiler and Bob Berry seem like fine first inductees.
4. Memorabilia
While plaques of contributing individuals would be interesting, what I really want to see would be historic memorabilia such as:
- The letter Curt Flood wrote MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn on December 24, 1969.
- The check, un-cashed, from the NFL to the USFL for $ 3.76 representing the trebled damages ($1) and interest for their antitrust infringement?
- Spencer Haywood's contract with the NBA's Seattle Supersonics triggering the draft eligibility debate in professional athletics.
- The letter from Bart Giamatti that was faxed to all MLB teams on March 6, 1989 outlining baseball’s agreement with Pete Rose?
- Any correspondence between Al Davis and the NFL related to franchise relocation.
- The letter from Brown University's athletic director to the gymnastics and women's volleyball coaches letting them know that their sports had been cut.
A Look At History
To see a video about special day in Dartmouth, Cornell and Ivy League football history, visit this link.
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The forecast for kickoff in Hanover, courtesy of AccuWeather, is 45 degrees and partly sunny.
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The forecast for kickoff in Hanover, courtesy of AccuWeather, is 45 degrees and partly sunny.
Jumat, 09 November 2012
Stub Hub vs Season Tickets: Northwestern
Today we continue our home-game feature StubHub vs. Season Tickets, in which we compare the cost of getting seats to each and every Michigan game in The Big House on StubHub vs buying season tickets, "seat donations" and all.
Our hypothesis for this ultra-scientific MZone study is as follows:
Even when paying over face value for the handful of big games in which supply and demand cause StubHub ticket prices to rise, it will still be cheaper - and probably substantially so - to buy one's tickets each week via StubHub
To recap the parameters of our study and what different seats in The Big House cost:
We're assuming two tickets to each game (together) and looking at different seat locations, all of which now require a "preferred seat donations" (aka PSDs). For those not familiar with PSDs, Michigan's website describes them as follows:
Cost to Purchase U-M Season Tickets in 2012
Michigan only has 6 homes games this season due to the opener in Dallas against Alabama. And of those six games, all of them have a face value of $75 each - except the MSU game which is $95 per ticket. Thus, one's "face value" ticket cost would be $470 per ticket. But...
The Athletic Department cuts one a break and charges only $390 for season tickets, which works out to $65 per ticket (it's impossible to know how/if they charge differently for the "big" games so we'll have to make it an even $65 each).
Now tack on your "donation" of $50-$500 per seat and your actual cost of one season ticket is $440 in the endzone, $515 in the "Blue" section, $640 in the "Maize" section, $765 in the "Valiant" section and $890 in the "Victors" section. Now double that for a pair of tickets.
Northwestern
Just a note that the ticket prices for this article were gathered on StubHub late Thursday night (technically Friday morning) before the game..
Season Ticket Price - Endzone Seats:
You, dear season ticket holder, have two seats in the endzone which cost $130 plus $100 for your PSD divided by 6 ($16.67) for a grand total of $146.67.
StubHub Price - Endzone Seats:
As of late Thursday night (technically Friday morning), there are just over 1,200 seats left for sale on StubHub. We found two in Endzone Section 8, Row 96 for $45/each. Now take on $4.95 for the StubHub "electronic delivery charge" (read: a fancy way to charge you for an email) and $9 for StubHub's service fee.
Endzone Total:
Season Ticket Endzone Guy - $146.67
StubHub Dude - $103.95
Winner: Mr. StubHub - $42.72
Want better seats? Okay...
Season Ticket Price - Maize Section:
Two tickets in sideline sections 3, 4, 20, 21, 42 or 44 cost you the same $130 as Endzone Guy. But you also had to shell out $500 divided by 6 ($83.33) for a grand total of $213.33 for your chance to watch Michigan take on the Wildcats.
StubHub Price - Maize Section:
Found two in Section 3 for $71 each. Same $4.95 "electronic delivery charge" and a service fee of $14.20 for a total of $161.15.
Maize Section Total:
Season Ticket Maize Guy - $213.33
StubHub Dude - $161.15
Winner: Guy Giving Dave Brandon The Finger by$52.18
Now let's live large...
Season Ticket Price - Victors Section
Two tickets in Section 1, right on the 50, only cost you $65 each as part of your season tix. But $1,000 divided by 6 tacks on another $166.67 (yikes!).
StubHub Price - Victors Section Price:
I found two tix in Section 2, Row 81 for $79 each (plus $4.95, plus a service charge of 15.80).
Victors Section Total:
Season Ticket Victors Guy - $296.67
StubHub Dude - $178.75
Winner: NOT Season Ticket Guy by $117.92
Season Totals*
Endzone Seats on StubHub:
UMass - Saved $64.72
Illinois - Saved $31.72
MSU - In the red $155.28
Northwestern - Saved $42.72
Total Endzone StubHub Savings/Loss So Far - Loss of $16.12 *
Maize Seats on StubHub:
UMass - Saved $87.38
Illinois - Saved $43.38
MSU - In the red $176.62
Northwestern - Saved $52.18
Total Maize Section Savings/Loss So Far - Savings of $6.32 *
Victors Seats on StubHub:
UMass - Saved $165.24
Illinois - Saved $98.12
MSU - In the red $161.48
Northwestern - $117.92
Total Victors Section Savings/Loss So Far - Savings of $219.80 *
Very interesting that - so far this season (with only one marquee home game) - the better seats you want to sit in, the more you save going the StubHub route.
* We didn't start this series until after the Air Force game and thus don't have exact figures, but a cursory check before the game as we were thinking about a post topic like this revealed something between the UMass and Illinois numbers. We'll factor those in at the end of the season.
Our hypothesis for this ultra-scientific MZone study is as follows:
Even when paying over face value for the handful of big games in which supply and demand cause StubHub ticket prices to rise, it will still be cheaper - and probably substantially so - to buy one's tickets each week via StubHub
To recap the parameters of our study and what different seats in The Big House cost:
We're assuming two tickets to each game (together) and looking at different seat locations, all of which now require a "preferred seat donations" (aka PSDs). For those not familiar with PSDs, Michigan's website describes them as follows:
The Victors Club Preferred Seat Donation is a part of University of Michigan Athletics overall annual giving program. Currently, three sports have some portion of the season tickets requiring a Preferred Seat Donation -- Football, Men's Basketball Courtside Seats, and Ice Hockey Club Seats. (Note: Courtside and Hockey Club Seats are sold out. You may contact the Victors Club Office to learn more about future availability.)
The color-coded diagram indicates the football preferred seating areas of Michigan Stadium. There are four different annual donation requirements -- Victors ($500 per seat), Valiant ($375 per seat), Maize ($250 per seat) and Blue ($125 per seat). The End Zone donation requirement ($50 per seat) applies to any new season tickets holders in 2005 and beyond.
Cost to Purchase U-M Season Tickets in 2012
Michigan only has 6 homes games this season due to the opener in Dallas against Alabama. And of those six games, all of them have a face value of $75 each - except the MSU game which is $95 per ticket. Thus, one's "face value" ticket cost would be $470 per ticket. But...
The Athletic Department cuts one a break and charges only $390 for season tickets, which works out to $65 per ticket (it's impossible to know how/if they charge differently for the "big" games so we'll have to make it an even $65 each).
Now tack on your "donation" of $50-$500 per seat and your actual cost of one season ticket is $440 in the endzone, $515 in the "Blue" section, $640 in the "Maize" section, $765 in the "Valiant" section and $890 in the "Victors" section. Now double that for a pair of tickets.
Northwestern
Just a note that the ticket prices for this article were gathered on StubHub late Thursday night (technically Friday morning) before the game..
Season Ticket Price - Endzone Seats:
You, dear season ticket holder, have two seats in the endzone which cost $130 plus $100 for your PSD divided by 6 ($16.67) for a grand total of $146.67.
StubHub Price - Endzone Seats:
As of late Thursday night (technically Friday morning), there are just over 1,200 seats left for sale on StubHub. We found two in Endzone Section 8, Row 96 for $45/each. Now take on $4.95 for the StubHub "electronic delivery charge" (read: a fancy way to charge you for an email) and $9 for StubHub's service fee.
Endzone Total:
Season Ticket Endzone Guy - $146.67
StubHub Dude - $103.95
Winner: Mr. StubHub - $42.72
Want better seats? Okay...
Season Ticket Price - Maize Section:
Two tickets in sideline sections 3, 4, 20, 21, 42 or 44 cost you the same $130 as Endzone Guy. But you also had to shell out $500 divided by 6 ($83.33) for a grand total of $213.33 for your chance to watch Michigan take on the Wildcats.
StubHub Price - Maize Section:
Found two in Section 3 for $71 each. Same $4.95 "electronic delivery charge" and a service fee of $14.20 for a total of $161.15.
Maize Section Total:
Season Ticket Maize Guy - $213.33
StubHub Dude - $161.15
Winner: Guy Giving Dave Brandon The Finger by$52.18
Now let's live large...
Season Ticket Price - Victors Section
Two tickets in Section 1, right on the 50, only cost you $65 each as part of your season tix. But $1,000 divided by 6 tacks on another $166.67 (yikes!).
StubHub Price - Victors Section Price:
I found two tix in Section 2, Row 81 for $79 each (plus $4.95, plus a service charge of 15.80).
Victors Section Total:
Season Ticket Victors Guy - $296.67
StubHub Dude - $178.75
Winner: NOT Season Ticket Guy by $117.92
Season Totals*
Endzone Seats on StubHub:
UMass - Saved $64.72
Illinois - Saved $31.72
MSU - In the red $155.28
Northwestern - Saved $42.72
Total Endzone StubHub Savings/Loss So Far - Loss of $16.12 *
Maize Seats on StubHub:
UMass - Saved $87.38
Illinois - Saved $43.38
MSU - In the red $176.62
Northwestern - Saved $52.18
Total Maize Section Savings/Loss So Far - Savings of $6.32 *
Victors Seats on StubHub:
UMass - Saved $165.24
Illinois - Saved $98.12
MSU - In the red $161.48
Northwestern - $117.92
Total Victors Section Savings/Loss So Far - Savings of $219.80 *
Very interesting that - so far this season (with only one marquee home game) - the better seats you want to sit in, the more you save going the StubHub route.
* We didn't start this series until after the Air Force game and thus don't have exact figures, but a cursory check before the game as we were thinking about a post topic like this revealed something between the UMass and Illinois numbers. We'll factor those in at the end of the season.
Sports Law Links
1. Kathleen Sharp, the author of a new book entitled "Blood Medicine," wrote a short article about the clinical and litigious history of EPO, a drug prominently featured in USADA's "reasoned decision" pertaining to Lance Armstrong. It is a fascinating account of the drug's history.
2. Claire Zovko penned a follow-up essay about basketball arbitration procedures within FIBA and the NBA.
3. Sean Patrick Griffin, a professor of criminal justice at Penn State Abington, wrote a comprehensive update to the recent sports gambling-related arrests in New York, Nevada, and elsewhere.
4. The Southern Economic Association ("SEA") annual conference is next week in New Orleans. Of the 200+ sessions at the SEA conference this year, six sessions are devoted to sports economics. The complete program can be found here. Three or four papers will be presented during each sports-related session. As was the case in previous years, a fair amount of research at the intersection of sports law and economics will be presented. There is an entire session on sports gambling. In addition, there is a session entitled "Sports Economics and the Law."
What Can Brown Do . . .
The latest Teevens Teleteaser from the Dartmouth sports publicity office:
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Defensive back Mike Banaciski, linebacker Michael Runger and linebacker Garrett Wymore were announced Thursday as members of the Capital One Academic All-District football team as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The honor recognizes achievement on the field as well as in the
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Defensive back Mike Banaciski, linebacker Michael Runger and linebacker Garrett Wymore were announced Thursday as members of the Capital One Academic All-District football team as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The honor recognizes achievement on the field as well as in the
Kamis, 08 November 2012
Know Your Foe: Northwestern 2012
Michigan welcomes Northwestern to A2 tomorrow for the Wolverines' penultimate home game of the 2012 season (I know, they grow up so fast, don't they?). Michigan holds a 53-15-2 edge against the former Mildcats, including last season's game at Ryan Field (also known as The Big House West when Michigan plays there). And yet it's the 7-2 Purple Cats coming into town ranked 21st in the Coaches' Poll and 24th in the BCS against the unranked Wolverines. But you knew all that. What you didn't know is all down below in the MZone's World Famous KNOW YOUR FOE: Northwestern 2012 Edition.
HISTORY - On May 31, 1850, nine Methodist men gathered in a law office above a hardware store in Chicago to plan a university that would serve the former Northwest Territory, a vast region that included what are now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota. Though the school is non-sectarian, some religious overtones remain, including two biblical passages on its crest (along with untold souls mortgaged to the Devil after allowing the former football laughingstock to play in the Rose Bowl in the mid 90s). Since the departure of the University of Chicago in 1946, Northwestern remains the only private Big Ten School (with Ohio State the conference's only community college). Interestingly, Northwestern and U of C almost merged in the 1930s, but the plan was killed by the Northwestern trustees. Sure, they would have created an academic powerhouse with potentially the worst combination of football teams since, uh, never.
LOCATION - Evanston, Illinois. The village was named for Northwestern's founder, John Evans and has some lame nicknames like E-town, the City of Homes and -- wait for it -- Heavenston (I just threw up in my mouth a little bit). In the 1960's, the university changed the shoreline of Evanston by dumping landfill into Lake Michigan to allow more land for campus buildings. On the not so Heavenly side of Heavenston: the relationship between the village and the university has turned a bit frosty as, per the founding charter, Northwestern does not have to pay property taxes. Ever. Sweeeet deal if you can get it (No, Exxon, you're not a college).
And although it's more a 'burb than a "college town," it's still a great place to live. A lively downtown, easy access to Chicago, and a beautiful beach (when it's warm enough) make Evanston one of the more desirable and expensive suburbs of Chicago. It's also home to numerous famous people, including the Cusacks, Jeremy Piven, Charles Gibson, Donald Rumsfeld, and Eddie Vedder. Not bad for a town of about 75,000.
NICKNAME - Wildcats, named by a Chicago Tribune reporter in 1924 (and thus not in honor of that shitty Goldie Hawn movie). Some of the school's previous nicknames include the Fighting Methodists and the fear-inspiring Purple. In 1972, with a nod to popular culture at the time (and probably just the overwhelming urge to get high), the student body voted to change the school nickname to "Purple Haze". It never stuck.
MASCOT - Willie the Wildcat is the costumed mascot for the university. The original mascot was a live bear cub named Furpaw (before they were known as the Wildcats). But in 1923, after a losing season, the university abandoned Furpaw (as a mascot) because they believed he was bad luck. If Northwestern continued this practice of changing mascots after bad seasons, they'd be on about their 80th mascot by now (although, before Pat Fitzgerald, they pretty much used to do the same thing with their coaches).
COLORS - Purple and White (which replaced Black and Gold in 1892). In the '90s (1990s, that is) they were ahead of the current college football uni cliche and added black to their unis. And while black and purple aren't a good combo, this color addition corresponded to the time when Northwestern stopped being a laughingstock on the gridiron. Thus, no surprise, they kept the black (as every other school seemingly added the color to the uniforms as well).
Logo - After struggling through the '70s to find a logo, Northwestern settled on their current version in 1981 and have not changed it since. The stylized bold N is sometimes adorned with a snarling wildcat, but the N is the symbol of the university and has been the only adornment to the football helmets for 25 years (not counting the grass and mud stains when they used to get their asses kicked game in and game out pre-Gary Barnett).
While the current N is solid, and has provided the university and its sports teams an identity for a long time, I think Northwestern made a mistake in 1967 when they went away from using this guy.
(Bottom logo from Chris Creamer's SportsLogosNet).
FIGHT SONG - The Northwestern fight song, Go U Northwestern, is a solid middle of the pack song for the Big Ten. Theodore Van Etten, inspired by a 20-7 victory over Indiana, wrote the song in 1912. Yes, it's pretty sad when your fight song was written because of a victory over Indiana - in football. The song was originally titled Go Northwestern Go but was changed soon after.
By the '80s, students and fans began yelling "Go 'Cats!" at the end of the song's chorus repeat which, if you ever witnessed N'Western football in the '80s was probably just a clever way of calling the team pussies.
ACADEMICS - Quite simply, Northwestern kicks some serious academic ass. They are currently the top school in the Big Ten according the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, coming in at #12 (ahead of the second-ranked school in the B1G, #29 Michigan).
Maybe it's because of these high academic standards that NU has some traditions that sound as boring as they do intellectually inspired. Take for example, Mayfest and Dillo Day. According to the school website, "the roots of Northwestern's end-of-the-year celebration, Mayfest, reach back to the 1890s, when students would celebrate the 'renunciation of the May Queen of the temporal world for a spiritual one.'"
Uh...yeah. I'll take Hash Bash, thank you very much.
Wait it getsworse better: "Nowadays, Mayfest is a weeklong celebration capped by a more recent tradition, Armadillo Day. In 1972, Northwestern students from Texas held a small celebration in honor of the armadillo. More than 25 years later, 'Dillo Day is the culmination of Mayfest and an all-day Saturday event on the lakefront with bands, games, and vendors."
All righty.
ATHLETICS - According to the Wikipedia article probably written by Northwestern's mom, "In the 2010-11 school year, the Wildcats had one national championship, 12 teams in postseason play, 20 All-Americans, two CoSIDA Academic All-American selections, 8 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, 1 conference Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, 53 All-Conference and a record 201 Academic All-Big Ten athletes. Overall, 12 of Northwestern's 19 varsity programs had NCAA or bowl postseason appearances."
Historically, it hasn't been as good. Northwestern is a charter member of the Big Ten, and promptly called dibs on the cellar. Though their women's lacrosse team has won 6 national titles, and their 1931 basketball team was proclaimed National Champs by something called the Helms Athletic Foundation, there have been few brights spots. Several low lights, including basketball and football players charged with bribery and point shaving, as well the infamous soccer hazing incident.
FAMOUS ALUMS - Their alumni list is about as impressive as any in the country. When you combine a powerful academic school with one that's also strong in high profile areas such as drama and journalism, you're going to get a list with a ton of people that everyone knows. From the entertainment field you have Ann-Margaret, Zach Braff, Cindy Crawford, Marg Helgenberger, Charlton Heston, Shelly Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jeri Ryan, Seth Meyers, David Schwimmer, Zooey Deschanel, Kimberly Williams and Warren Beatty (although a good number of these folks didn't graduate). That's a pretty good babe quotient there too. From the business world Northwestern can claim the past and present CEOs from companies such as Wells Fargo, Motorola, Paramount Pictures, Office Depot, AON and some company we've never heard of, Playboy. Numerous journalists are NU alumni including Christine Brennan, Gregg Easterbrook, Rachel Nichols, Michael Wilbon, and Brent Musburger. Former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. And Stephen Colbert. That pretty much trumps any astronauts or athletes that Michigan might be able to brag about. The school has also produced a number of presidential election losers (William Jennings Bryan, George McGovern, and Adlai Stevenson) and just plain losers (Rod Blogojevich, Jerry Springer), but no Presidents.
THE GAME - While NW is 7-2, those wins are about as impressive as Michigan's 6 -- i.e. not so much. The only team they've beaten with a winning record is the same 5-4 Gopher squad Michigan stamped out last weekend. In fact, Northwestern's best win may be a 29-28 loss at home to Nebraska (and we use the term "home" loosely even though the game was in Evanstan as there were way more Husker fans). So I guess this weekend we find out which team is more legit...ish. While KYF thinks the opening 13 line was a little high, after Devin's breakout and playing in The Big House, go Blue:
Michigan -31
Northwestern - 24
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| The Latin means "Holy shit, this school's expensive!" |
LOCATION - Evanston, Illinois. The village was named for Northwestern's founder, John Evans and has some lame nicknames like E-town, the City of Homes and -- wait for it -- Heavenston (I just threw up in my mouth a little bit). In the 1960's, the university changed the shoreline of Evanston by dumping landfill into Lake Michigan to allow more land for campus buildings. On the not so Heavenly side of Heavenston: the relationship between the village and the university has turned a bit frosty as, per the founding charter, Northwestern does not have to pay property taxes. Ever. Sweeeet deal if you can get it (No, Exxon, you're not a college).
And although it's more a 'burb than a "college town," it's still a great place to live. A lively downtown, easy access to Chicago, and a beautiful beach (when it's warm enough) make Evanston one of the more desirable and expensive suburbs of Chicago. It's also home to numerous famous people, including the Cusacks, Jeremy Piven, Charles Gibson, Donald Rumsfeld, and Eddie Vedder. Not bad for a town of about 75,000.
NICKNAME - Wildcats, named by a Chicago Tribune reporter in 1924 (and thus not in honor of that shitty Goldie Hawn movie). Some of the school's previous nicknames include the Fighting Methodists and the fear-inspiring Purple. In 1972, with a nod to popular culture at the time (and probably just the overwhelming urge to get high), the student body voted to change the school nickname to "Purple Haze". It never stuck.
 |
| He looks like a Looney Tunes character |
COLORS - Purple and White (which replaced Black and Gold in 1892). In the '90s (1990s, that is) they were ahead of the current college football uni cliche and added black to their unis. And while black and purple aren't a good combo, this color addition corresponded to the time when Northwestern stopped being a laughingstock on the gridiron. Thus, no surprise, they kept the black (as every other school seemingly added the color to the uniforms as well).
Logo - After struggling through the '70s to find a logo, Northwestern settled on their current version in 1981 and have not changed it since. The stylized bold N is sometimes adorned with a snarling wildcat, but the N is the symbol of the university and has been the only adornment to the football helmets for 25 years (not counting the grass and mud stains when they used to get their asses kicked game in and game out pre-Gary Barnett).
While the current N is solid, and has provided the university and its sports teams an identity for a long time, I think Northwestern made a mistake in 1967 when they went away from using this guy.
(Bottom logo from Chris Creamer's SportsLogosNet).
FIGHT SONG - The Northwestern fight song, Go U Northwestern, is a solid middle of the pack song for the Big Ten. Theodore Van Etten, inspired by a 20-7 victory over Indiana, wrote the song in 1912. Yes, it's pretty sad when your fight song was written because of a victory over Indiana - in football. The song was originally titled Go Northwestern Go but was changed soon after.
By the '80s, students and fans began yelling "Go 'Cats!" at the end of the song's chorus repeat which, if you ever witnessed N'Western football in the '80s was probably just a clever way of calling the team pussies.
ACADEMICS - Quite simply, Northwestern kicks some serious academic ass. They are currently the top school in the Big Ten according the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, coming in at #12 (ahead of the second-ranked school in the B1G, #29 Michigan).
Maybe it's because of these high academic standards that NU has some traditions that sound as boring as they do intellectually inspired. Take for example, Mayfest and Dillo Day. According to the school website, "the roots of Northwestern's end-of-the-year celebration, Mayfest, reach back to the 1890s, when students would celebrate the 'renunciation of the May Queen of the temporal world for a spiritual one.'"
Uh...yeah. I'll take Hash Bash, thank you very much.
Wait it gets
All righty.
ATHLETICS - According to the Wikipedia article probably written by Northwestern's mom, "In the 2010-11 school year, the Wildcats had one national championship, 12 teams in postseason play, 20 All-Americans, two CoSIDA Academic All-American selections, 8 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, 1 conference Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, 53 All-Conference and a record 201 Academic All-Big Ten athletes. Overall, 12 of Northwestern's 19 varsity programs had NCAA or bowl postseason appearances."
Historically, it hasn't been as good. Northwestern is a charter member of the Big Ten, and promptly called dibs on the cellar. Though their women's lacrosse team has won 6 national titles, and their 1931 basketball team was proclaimed National Champs by something called the Helms Athletic Foundation, there have been few brights spots. Several low lights, including basketball and football players charged with bribery and point shaving, as well the infamous soccer hazing incident.
 |
| "Nation, last weekend USC coach and human weasel Lane Kiffin was once again accused of cheating..." |
THE GAME - While NW is 7-2, those wins are about as impressive as Michigan's 6 -- i.e. not so much. The only team they've beaten with a winning record is the same 5-4 Gopher squad Michigan stamped out last weekend. In fact, Northwestern's best win may be a 29-28 loss at home to Nebraska (and we use the term "home" loosely even though the game was in Evanstan as there were way more Husker fans). So I guess this weekend we find out which team is more legit...ish. While KYF thinks the opening 13 line was a little high, after Devin's breakout and playing in The Big House, go Blue:
Michigan -31
Northwestern - 24
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