Division II Athletics: Part II

(Please read Division II Athletics: Part I below before reading this article.) As I mentioned in the previous article, Division II athletics have held a special place in my heart for over a decade now. Some of you are probably wondering: How did this connection start? (Some of my loyal readers surely know the answer; nevertheless, it is still a good idea to hearken back to when it all started.)

It was the late 90s, certainly a whimsical time for some. I was young and pondering about being born in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In particular, I felt that I needed to embrace being a native of St. Cloud and form a connection with the city. Being into sports, what better way to do that than to follow a St. Cloud team? The problem is, St. Cloud isn’t that big of a city. So there are no professional sports teams there. However, there is a university there, St. Cloud State University. So I decided to start following their athletics teams. To be exact, I followed men’s basketball, football, and even their golf team.

Over the next few years I was able to go to multiple basketball games at Halenbeck Hall and some football games, initially at Selke Field, and later at Husky Stadium. The games that I didn’t go to (which was most of them since I lived in Esko, Minnesota) I listened to over the internet on the radio. I spent many an evening listening to Jay Caldwell of WJON give the play-by-play. One season in particular stands out, the 2000-2001 basketball season.

Every game that year I either went to or listened to on the internet. I still remember the starting lineup. A 6’2” freshman guard from Litchfield, MN Alex Carlson (The older brother of John Carlson, and in my mind, a better athlete than John. At the very least he had a better college athletics career than John.); a 6’1” sophomore guard from Morris, MN Forrest Witt; a 6’6” sophomore forward from Cold Spring, MN Jason Kron; a 6’9” junior forward from Bratislava, Slovakia Rado Rancik; and a 6’7” junior forward from Portage, WI B.J. Brant. What was great about that starting lineup is that they all averaged double figures (ok, Alex Carlson averaged a little under 10, but that is pretty close) and they could all shoot the 3-ball. It was the most balanced starting lineup I have ever seen. Unfortunately, that season would end with a close loss to Southwest Minnesota State in the region final (essentially the sweet 16 of Division II basketball). The game I try to remember though is the game before that when they beat the defending national champions Metro State by about 40 points by hitting 3-pointers from all over the gym.

In conclusion, I urge you to support your local Division II College’s athletics programs (well, it doesn’t have to be a local Division II college, St. Cloud State certainly wasn’t local for me) and hopefully you can build great memories of Division II teams just like I have. I will try to take my own advice and get out to seen the Michigan Tech Huskies in action more often as well.

Division II Athletics: Part I

Division II athletics have held a special place in my heart since about the turn of the millennium. I have unfortunately been somewhat disjointed from Division II athletics for a few years now. This past Saturday we were reunited though, as I went to watch my Michigan Tech Huskies in a basketball match against Hillsdale College.

It was great to be out supporting Division II athletics once again. I was especially excited to be at this game because it featured one of the best players in Division II basketball, Michigan Tech’s Ali Haidar. Haidar came into this game averaging about 26 points and 11 rebounds per game. He definitely did not play his best game against Hillsdale, but he still had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Fortunately, Michigan Tech was still able to secure a 73-55 victory over a then undefeated Hillsdale squad thanks to some strong guard play on the offensive end of the court. All in all, I was impressed by Haidar’s supporting cast on the perimeter. In particular, I was impressed by Brown’s drives to the tin, Armga’s mid-range jumpers, and Culy’s 3-pointers. Hopefully, I will be able to make it to a Michigan Tech basketball game again soon.

Manziel Captures 2012-2013 College Football MVP Award

I am the judge and the jury and the verdict is usually guilty. However, this time I have decided to give a second chance. That is why jasathletics.blogspot.com would like to name Johnny “John Football” Manziel of Texas A&M as its 2012-2013 College Football MVP. This is the first time that a freshman has won this prestigious award, and this is the first time that a player not from the Big 12 Conference (Texas A&M was in the Big 12 last year though and who really knows what is going on with the conference landscape in college sports these days) has won the award. This was not an easy decision at all. Jordan Lynch (who finished in a close second) of Northern Illinois put up some huge numbers this year. He threw for 2962 yards and 24 TDs and only had 5 INTs. He also ran for 1771 yards and 19 TDs. Manziel’s stats were equally impressive though and they were accumulated against better competition. Manziel threw for 3419 yards and 24 TDs and only had 8 INTs. In addition, he ran for 1181 yards and 19 TDs. In the end, what really hurt Jordan Lynch was his bad performance in a losing effort against a well below average Iowa team, which was one of only two BCS conference teams that Northern Illinois played this year (the other was a Kansas team that was even worse than Iowa). Against Iowa Lynch was 6 out of 16 for only 54 yards. He did run for 119 yards and 1 TD though. On the other hand, Manziel’s solid performance against Alabama, who is probably the best team in college football (sorry Notre Dame fans), in a win helped put him over the top. In that game he threw for 253 yards and 2 TDs and ran for an additional 92 yards. That game was in Tuscaloosa too. For those of you that don’t think Johnny Manziel should have won this award because of his off the field issues, I would like to let you know that I am aware of his arrest this past summer and am ready to drop a guilty verdict at any moment if he makes a mistake. If such a situation comes about (I sure hope it doesn’t), he will be stripped of the award and it will be given to Jordan Lynch. But for now, jasathletics would like to congratulate Johnny Manziel for a great season. Furthermore, I suspect that tonight Manziel will become only the second player in the history of college football to win the jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football MVP and the Heisman Trophy in the same year.