Leatherneck Nation

LocalYokelFan wrote: Sun Oct 01, 2017 2:12 pm Let me slow this down, maybe certain people are still recovering for yesterday.

Q-Lot was "closed" prior to kickoff because it was full - ie, no more room for people to park/set up new tailgates. Tailgating itself was "shut down" (or at least they asked people to) in the second half. This is against the published tailgating policy, which states that tailgating ends 30 minutes after the game ends. I asked the very friendly and professional OPS staff why they were trying to end tailgating early, and they simply stated, more or less, that they had multiple problems with students at the other end of the Q-Lot that resulted in the decision to end tailgating early. Not a great look.

And no doubt, big Nielson and crew fan, I think it was a mistake letting that staff get away. If you calling that a "man-crush" makes you feel like a bigger, better, cooler Leatherneck fan, keep at it. Doesn't bother me a lick.

I personally think it's stupid that tailgating is open during the game as far as being cooler Leatherneck fan i just think that having standards for your players and actually caring about players who put that uniform on before you are the coach are important if just thinking winning games is the only thing important in a coach that's your prerogative.

I'm not going to be baited into a year old discussion that really boils down to 2 people having very different opinions on a coaching staff. None of my original comments had anything to do with Fisher v. Nielson. If we want to go there, I thought Coach Fish and Crew did fine yesterday and all year so far. 3-1 with a FBS win - I'll take it. Yeah, maybe we tried too hard to establish a run game when throwing the ball would have been more effective early, but I think that's the identity we established the first 3 weeks. It'd be hard to come out and switch that - talk about opening yourself up for criticism if it didn't work!

I also thought that comeback was pretty special and bodes well moving forward. The 'Necks had no quit in them! Put 2 more minutes on the clock and we probably win that thing! Heck of a coaching effort for that to unfold like that. On the other side, I'd say that's a legit criticism of Coach Nielson, he doesn't do very well with big leads. I mean, how many yards does a receiver need to get before you huddle up your defense and say "Yo guys, #17 isn't going to touch the ball again and here's how we're going to make sure of that."

The 'Necks had some stupid early penalties and were bad on first down in the first half. It seemed to always been 2nd and 13-15. I think pinning that responsibility on a 3-0 coaching staff isn't fair and why I won't do it. I think it's much more accurate to credit them for getting the guys to compete until the final whistle blew at the 60th minute. That should pay off down the stretch and win some of those close games we lost last year.

Personally, what I saw is kinda what I was worried about when I said this in my original preview of the game:

The guys will have to work to keep their excitement in check though, so they don't do "too much" and blow past assignments or get sucked into giving Streveler too much space to run.

It was the first home game, it was homecoming, new Hanson statue, lots of excitement...RAH RAH RAH!!! In situations like this, it's often actually harder to perform at the level that you have been able to do because you're all pumped up and the excitement and adrenaline tries to make you do more. End result is, you try to do too much and you blow coverage, miss assignments, overthrow the ball, and overrun routes.

You see that in the quote from Coach Fisher: "I challenged our guys at halftime, I said 'This isn't us'." He's right...in the other games, they didn't have all that hype going into the games...they played THEIR game and worked together as a team. This weekend, there were some exceptional individual performances, but in many cases, especially in the first half, they weren't playing like a team, they were playing like a bunch of talented individuals all trying to do more than what is expected of them.

When Fisher had a chance to have them sit down and really give a good talking to them, they started to really get it, although it took another ~8 minutes of game time to really sink in, and by then we were just too far behind to catch up. I honestly think we would have done better in this game if it had been just an "average" conference game and if it was at USD. No hype, players just doing their jobs, doing everything that is expected of them at 100% of their capability and not trying to do more than they have trained to do.

I've always hated the "give 110%" line. To me, giving 100% is giving everything that your body is capable of giving, doing everything that you have been trained how to do, and doing it at the very best quality that you can do. When a musician "gives 110%" they overblow notes and sound like crap. When a racecar driver "gives 110%", they go into a turn too fast and hit the wall or spin out of control. And when a football player "gives 110%" they play like we did in the first half of this game.

Our team obviously has a great deal of talent and are well coached, as evidenced by the ability to very nearly come back from 32 points down in the second half against a good MVFC team, but this was one of those situations where, despite it looking like things would be in our favor...the situation actually wasn't.

Game Day Observations:

Big crowd at the Alumni Tent for lunch.

The trash containters and recyclable containers at the Tailgate were filled to-overflowing at 2PM. We will either need to develop a way to empty those containers during the tailgate or place more containers in Q-Lot.

The marked sections for "Purple Platoon" and "Student Section" were on the east side of Hanson Field. But the Western cheerleaders were on the west side. Seems like those groups need to be in the same location.

The Western students should really be on the same side as the team. Sections F and G on the west side should be set aside for them.

When the new seating was built on the east side in 2007, the Western team was on the east sidelines. That all changed when Coach Nielson took over in 2013. The team then moved to the west sidelines.

wiu712 wrote: Sun Oct 01, 2017 7:49 pm Game Day Observations:

Big crowd at the Alumni Tent for lunch.

The trash containters and recyclable containers at the Tailgate were filled to-overflowing at 2PM. We will either need to develop a way to empty those containers during the tailgate or place more containers in Q-Lot.

The marked sections for "Purple Platoon" and "Student Section" were on the east side of Hanson Field. But the Western cheerleaders were on the west side. Seems like those groups need to be in the same location.

The Western students should really be on the same side as the team. Sections F and G on the west side should be set aside for them.

When the new seating was built on the east side in 2007, the Western team was on the east sidelines. That all changed when Coach Nielson took over in 2013. The team then moved to the west sidelines.

Not to disagree but I came to WIU in 2010 and they were on the west side then as far as student seating goes the seating on the west side sucks i sit there during the spring game cause everyone else does but it is so uncomfortable and the purple seating over there is just horrible other than location I can't figure out why anyone would ever pay to sit there the one negative to the east side is the sun.

The team's move from the east side line back to the west side must then have happened when Coach Mark Hendrickson took over as Head Coach from Don Patterson in 2010.

The team made the initial move from the west side to the east side in 1972.

While I was more than glad to see the fight left in this team after halftime, I sure wish they'd come out playing like we saw them play in the 3 previous games. I know the offense has been slow to get going this season, but the defense had been pretty much spot on.

Not taking anything from the Yotes - they are for real; but I thought it was going to be a dogfight from the opening kickoff to the horn. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.......hope we get back on track for UNI.

Necks fall short in top-10 match up.

From today's Western Courier:
https://westerncourier.com/38910/sports ... -match-up/

WIU rallies late, but falls to USD 38-33.

From the McDonough County Voice:
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... -usd-38-33

My two cents!

So just a couple of comments regarding WIU’s Homecoming Celebration!

1. Everyone that I talked to said that the unveiling ceremony of Rock Hanson was spot on and very well done. Band, ROTC, the right amount of comments from the “powers that be!” It is a really “classy” statue in a class setting! Thanks Thompsons for a wonderful gift to the university.
2. From what I could see, the campus was truly dolled up for the occasion. A lot of mums all over the place and grasses too, entrances to Q, Alumni House, outside and around the Union, Western Hall, the quad, and Hanson Field. The gates at Sherman Hall looked great as did the flowers and grasses that are visible from there to the steps of Sherman. I even thought the square in Macomb looked great after the parking make over and addition of street lights and such. All the banners were hung by the (chimney) with care. Anyway, nicely done.
3. Dunkin Donuts looked just as it did in the picture that 712 provided from the Voice! I am sure it will be done sometime in November.
4. I have gone over the USD fan board a couple of times and last year I even tried to get registered but failed to get it done. I was glad to see that we were well represented there so nice job. Have not heard from Western101 for a while and it was good to know that he is alive and well. There are a couple of USD fans that have a habit of really dissing WIU, athletically, educationally, and campus wide and they have never even set foot on campus or taken a look at program offerings. I saw a couple of USD fans in Q and asked them, “so what do you think?” They were pleasantly surprised, loved the campus, the tailgate, and the town. Very Vermillion like in their opinion. Guess some of the Yote fans were under the impression that all the buildings were shuttered and dust and paper would be blowing around the square. I had the chance to introduce myself to the President of USD and the Athletic director who had to have played basketball on the fence. They both were enjoying the moment and the President thought Macomb was very “Vermillion” like, just bigger!!!!! Enough said on that!
5. I like the sound system music and band music that is played throughout the game. The barks are okay too I guess. Walked by the speakers in the north endzone with my hands over my ears. Loud and proud! How about a little “Living on a prayer” or “Jump” in between quarters!!!!!!!!
6. Heard the Rocky theme too and that sets me up for my game comment. It seemed to me that the Necks were back on their heels the entire 1st half. Could not get comfortable with the ground game and SeanMac and the “airforce” were not quite in syc! Late second quarter that 3 plays and punt really killed us and gave USD the chance to score once more with time running out. That touchdown was the deciding factor in the game. First round, USD! The tide turned with about 5 minutes to go in the third, and the rush was on. Unfortunately the series that included unsportsman like penalties and pass interference took way too much time on the clock and we were fighting that to the end. Second round WIU! Unfortunately there was not another round, but you never know………I like Norris! He is the Indy Bowling Ball and getting him going is the key in my opinion. I love the A train Mcshane on the outside.
7. I get a sideline pass for every game and I have to tell you, I am probably not going to use it. Can’t see squat as far as I am concerned. Better up in the stands. Guess I am going to have to buy season tickets in the future. Stood in the north endzone at the end of the first half after experiencing the game on the sidelines for the 1st quarter. Sat up under the press box with my “Alumni” friends and spouse the second half. Perfect spot.
8. Tailgating was phenomenal! Gotta find a way to get students into the stands. A lot of fraternity flags waving out there in the eastern portion of Q lot, gotta get them involved in the future!
9. There was a who’s who of WIU football standing watching the parade at the alumni house. 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s………great turnout.
10. Finally, my wife and I walked out of Hanson with the football players and staff of both teams. The sun was setting and there was a hint of burning leaves/fall in the air. I fell in love with her surrounded by WIU and Hanson Field…will never forget it. I had my best team back in 89/90. We lost a ball game at Naperville North before Christmas, we were 15 down at half without our point guard who had the flu. We battled back and had a shot at the buzzer to win the game and at that moment, I realized just how good we were. We beat them to clinch the conference title in February! WIU beat Western Kentucky during the regular season way back when, but WKU beat the Necks when it counted in the quarter finals which is also called the “Sledge Hammer Game!” History has a habit of repeating itself!!!

Enough said!!!!! jc