mcfalcons83 wrote:Well said. I have relatives that say I know you like Bowling Green but who's your real college team you root for and I just shake my head.
That happened to me many times. Now, since I talk about BG wherever and whenever I can, the question never comes up. Now, it's "Man you have issues because you follow BG so much". Really? I have issues? but it's perfectly fine for you to worship at the altar of Woody Hayes 22 hours a day?? LOL!
69 days....
Michael W.
BGSU-12 TIME MAC CHAMPION
FALCON FOOTBALL ROCKS!
Flipper wrote:Have we not been working hard to raise funds to date? Have we been taking it easy on that front?
Always more can be done. The personal touch is key and seems to come and go. I don't think they do enough to keep people coming and/or pulling in the new customer to become a long-term customer. The old friendly BG attitude doesn't seem to come through like it once did. Just my opinion.
I proudly chose to be a Falcon and a Falcon I will remain until the end.
Flipper wrote:Yep...they exist in little glass boxes. Nothing we do now will change them. But hey...I wouldn't think that peopel around here would take much pride in a "small college championship". I mean for God's sake...they called us "small"
We should start calling it a Division II national championship. That's, in effect, what it was. At the time, the NCAA only had two divisions: university division and small college. The university division became Division I; Bowling Green and the rest of the MAC moved up to what is now Division I in the 1960s. The small college division was later split into Division II (for schools with athletic scholarships) and Division III (for schools without).
Right...we started playing in 1919. You could argue that the MAC was not truly considered part of D1 football until 1968 when we became regular participants in one of the eight or so recognized bowl games (even though our opponents were what would now be called FCS schools..Davidson, William and Mary, Richmond) . When schools like Florida started going to the Tangerine bowl because their conferences would allow more bowl participants, we were relegated to the sidelines for six years..we did not have a bowl game so our champs stayed home. They stayed there until the Raisin Bowl came along in 1981 . Since 1981 we've had at least one bowl game to go to...and now thanks to ESPN's need for programming..we have several more. We've diluted and polluted that once exclusive term "bowl bound" as badly as anyone...and I salute them for doing so. Typically..It's a nice trip for people who want to make it. The kids get presents and much of the costs are covered by the bowl guarantee.
This is where things get interesting from a semantic POV. I contend that the earliest date you can definitively state that we became a part of what is called D1 is 1968..you could argue that we would be considered what is now called FCS (or 1AA) from 68-85 based on our bowl and typical OOC opponents and the fact that the NCAA called us 1AA for a few years in the 80's. I'm not going to quibble on that point...we'll say D1 is D1 and go with 68. So..from the most charitable interpretation of the term I can find..we were outside of D1 for about 50 years and we've been inside of D1 for about 50 years.
For me, BG being a program that consistently shoots for the big guys and can beat them starts with the Blackney years (that Purdue win in ..72?...is an outlier). Blackney gave WVU a hell of a game in 1991, beat navy ad then Fresno State in the Raisin Bowl when they had some NFL talent. He then followed it with a close loss (a game that turned on an official's call) to Ohio state, a big win against a GOOD ECU team and another bowl win. So really...our time as national players really started about 25 years ago.
My point is this...we have as much "history" and "tradition" as a roughly D2 level program as we do D1 (50 years) and philosophically, closer to 75 years as an "outsider". So...stop freaking out when I suggest we drop a level. we've been there..we've done that. we were proud of who we were and we flourished!
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
Typically..It's a nice trip for people who want to make it. The kids get presents and much of the costs are covered by the bowl guarantee.
Not that I disagree with the premise, but I would venture to say that the MAC loses money on every bowl game they are invited to with the occasional exception of the bowl at Ford Field if you have a local team. In fact I would bet that each of those games end up costing at least $100,000 more than the guarantee
Most MAC schools lose money on transportation, lodging, and buying tickets to the games that they can't sell. Not to mention every school has to now pay to get passports for every player before the season because of the Bahamas Bowl.
I think everyone is in agreement that Bowls should be cut by about a third or half....it was supposed to be a reward for a great season, now it's just 6-6 or 7-5 and you're going somewhere.
Flipper wrote:Right...we started playing in 1919. You could argue that the MAC was not truly considered part of D1 football until 1968 when we became regular participants in one of the eight or so recognized bowl games (even though our opponents were what would now be called FCS schools..Davidson, William and Mary, Richmond) . When schools like Florida started going to the Tangerine bowl because their conferences would allow more bowl participants, we were relegated to the sidelines for six years..we did not have a bowl game so our champs stayed home. They stayed there until the Raisin Bowl came along in 1981 . Since 1981 we've had at least one bowl game to go to...and now thanks to ESPN's need for programming..we have several more. We've diluted and polluted that once exclusive term "bowl bound" as badly as anyone...and I salute them for doing so. Typically..It's a nice trip for people who want to make it. The kids get presents and much of the costs are covered by the bowl guarantee.
This is where things get interesting from a semantic POV. I contend that the earliest date you can definitively state that we became a part of what is called D1 is 1968..you could argue that we would be considered what is now called FCS (or 1AA) from 68-85 based on our bowl and typical OOC opponents and the fact that the NCAA called us 1AA for a few years in the 80's. I'm not going to quibble on that point...we'll say D1 is D1 and go with 68. So..from the most charitable interpretation of the term I can find..we were outside of D1 for about 50 years and we've been inside of D1 for about 50 years.
For me, BG being a program that consistently shoots for the big guys and can beat them starts with the Blackney years (that Purdue win in ..72?...is an outlier). Blackney gave WVU a hell of a game in 1991, beat navy ad then Fresno State in the Raisin Bowl when they had some NFL talent. He then followed it with a close loss (a game that turned on an official's call) to Ohio state, a big win against a GOOD ECU team and another bowl win. So really...our time as national players really started about 25 years ago.
My point is this...we have as much "history" and "tradition" as a roughly D2 level program as we do D1 (50 years) and philosophically, closer to 75 years as an "outsider". So...stop freaking out when I suggest we drop a level. we've been there..we've done that. we were proud of who we were and we flourished!
Flip,
Generally agree w/ most of your history, except I'm pretty sure that Miami in particular, and perhaps even Toledo played in Tangerine Bowl vs SEC teams... And were successful.
I was at BOTH Purdue games ( prior to most recent game), saw wins at Syacuse TWICE ( are you reading this Dino?), as well as a lot of the "big time" games that didn't wind up as wins. But those SU wins were back in 70's as well .
Education our Challenge, Excellence our goal. (look it up)
Flipper wrote:I contend that the earliest date you can definitively state that we became a part of what is called D1 is 1968..
I'm pretty sure Bowling Green and the MAC have been Division I since 1961. We just didn't have a dependable bowl tie in until 1968.
the fact that the NCAA called us 1AA for a few years in the 80's.
For what it's worth, I think that was 1982 only. In mid-1983, the NCAA tweaked its attendance rules in a way that allowed the entire MAC to become a I-A conference again.
