Who is stopping anyone from building their program? I keep hearing this vague myth that the MAC is holding teams back from spending big money to improve their major sports because other teams can't or won't do the same. Where does stupid **** like that come from? MAC schools can pay their coaches, improve their facilities and increase their budgets however they wish. It's more lacking the funds to do so that is holding MAC teams back. Blaming the non-achievers is a cop-out. But what school has an extra $5M-$10M to put into athletics that hasn't done so already?

(02-24-2013 09:49 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 08:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Yes but don't underestimate the importance and value of being a land grant or similar institution. We are mostly former normal colleges (teacher schools) and similar institutions while the MWC has a bunch of schools equivalent to Ohio State and Michigan in their area. The fact they have smaller populations is what keeps them closer to us than to those Big 10 schools but they still tend to have advantages to us.

My ninety year old mother, a proud Toledo grad, is fond of saying "Toledo was NEVER a normal school".

Well that is just fine though what does that have to do with what I said? I said that the MAC was made up of mostly normal colleges and similar institutions. Perhaps you think that Toledo isn't a similar institution to most of the MAC? Personally my experience with Toledo has shown me that they are very similar to the MAC's institutional profile. Schools like Toledo and Akron are the reason I did not just write "normal colleges". In fact the only school that I think does feel different as an institution is Buffalo and that is partially due to its private background and its different focus (for one NY schools feel a bit different from Michigan and Ohio schools).

(02-26-2013 10:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 09:49 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 08:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Yes but don't underestimate the importance and value of being a land grant or similar institution. We are mostly former normal colleges (teacher schools) and similar institutions while the MWC has a bunch of schools equivalent to Ohio State and Michigan in their area. The fact they have smaller populations is what keeps them closer to us than to those Big 10 schools but they still tend to have advantages to us.

My ninety year old mother, a proud Toledo grad, is fond of saying "Toledo was NEVER a normal school".

Well that is just fine though what does that have to do with what I said? I said that the MAC was made up of mostly normal colleges and similar institutions. Perhaps you think that Toledo isn't a similar institution to most of the MAC? Personally my experience with Toledo has shown me that they are very similar to the MAC's institutional profile. Schools like Toledo and Akron are the reason I did not just write "normal colleges". In fact the only school that I think does feel different as an institution is Buffalo and that is partially due to its private background and its different focus (for one NY schools feel a bit different from Michigan and Ohio schools).

I don't know...Toledo kind of reminds me of Oxford or Harvard but with damn good athletics.

(02-26-2013 10:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 09:49 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 08:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Yes but don't underestimate the importance and value of being a land grant or similar institution. We are mostly former normal colleges (teacher schools) and similar institutions while the MWC has a bunch of schools equivalent to Ohio State and Michigan in their area. The fact they have smaller populations is what keeps them closer to us than to those Big 10 schools but they still tend to have advantages to us.

My ninety year old mother, a proud Toledo grad, is fond of saying "Toledo was NEVER a normal school".

Well that is just fine though what does that have to do with what I said? I said that the MAC was made up of mostly normal colleges and similar institutions. Perhaps you think that Toledo isn't a similar institution to most of the MAC? Personally my experience with Toledo has shown me that they are very similar to the MAC's institutional profile. Schools like Toledo and Akron are the reason I did not just write "normal colleges". In fact the only school that I think does feel different as an institution is Buffalo and that is partially due to its private background and its different focus (for one NY schools feel a bit different from Michigan and Ohio schools).

No, see, its just kind of funny, like "we were never NORMAL", get it? Normal? Like "usual"? Like we weren't "normal"? A play on words?

(02-26-2013 11:57 PM)Campbell4President Wrote:  

(02-26-2013 10:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 09:49 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 08:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Yes but don't underestimate the importance and value of being a land grant or similar institution. We are mostly former normal colleges (teacher schools) and similar institutions while the MWC has a bunch of schools equivalent to Ohio State and Michigan in their area. The fact they have smaller populations is what keeps them closer to us than to those Big 10 schools but they still tend to have advantages to us.

My ninety year old mother, a proud Toledo grad, is fond of saying "Toledo was NEVER a normal school".

Well that is just fine though what does that have to do with what I said? I said that the MAC was made up of mostly normal colleges and similar institutions. Perhaps you think that Toledo isn't a similar institution to most of the MAC? Personally my experience with Toledo has shown me that they are very similar to the MAC's institutional profile. Schools like Toledo and Akron are the reason I did not just write "normal colleges". In fact the only school that I think does feel different as an institution is Buffalo and that is partially due to its private background and its different focus (for one NY schools feel a bit different from Michigan and Ohio schools).

I don't know...Toledo kind of reminds me of Oxford or Harvard but with damn good athletics.

Really? Huh, I find that Oxford and Harvard remind me of Toledo but with lousy athletics except for that game with the wall thing at Oxford, which is actually at Eton, but Oxford claimed it in a recent recruiting video.

(02-26-2013 12:55 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(02-26-2013 11:38 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-26-2013 11:08 AM)axeme Wrote:  

(02-26-2013 10:36 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 08:18 PM)axeme Wrote:  Odd that it's not winning for either.

Well, winning hasn't helped us in football.

I think that's "not winning enough."

We're 34-8 the last 3 years. And we haven't lost in Huskie stadium since 2009. How could you really win more?

I was referring to the the MAC as a whole. Obviously, NIU has won enough and been rewarded with a BCS bowl. How has winning not helped you? I thought the comment about how winning hasn't helped "us" was conference related. I don't understand it otherwise.

Winning hasn't helped NIU in attendance, that's what I was referring to. Apparently you were talking about something else though.

(02-27-2013 08:27 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(02-26-2013 10:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 09:49 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(02-24-2013 08:55 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Yes but don't underestimate the importance and value of being a land grant or similar institution. We are mostly former normal colleges (teacher schools) and similar institutions while the MWC has a bunch of schools equivalent to Ohio State and Michigan in their area. The fact they have smaller populations is what keeps them closer to us than to those Big 10 schools but they still tend to have advantages to us.

My ninety year old mother, a proud Toledo grad, is fond of saying "Toledo was NEVER a normal school".

Well that is just fine though what does that have to do with what I said? I said that the MAC was made up of mostly normal colleges and similar institutions. Perhaps you think that Toledo isn't a similar institution to most of the MAC? Personally my experience with Toledo has shown me that they are very similar to the MAC's institutional profile. Schools like Toledo and Akron are the reason I did not just write "normal colleges". In fact the only school that I think does feel different as an institution is Buffalo and that is partially due to its private background and its different focus (for one NY schools feel a bit different from Michigan and Ohio schools).

No, see, its just kind of funny, like "we were never NORMAL", get it? Normal? Like "usual"? Like we weren't "normal"? A play on words?

Now now, none of that. Not allowed here.

Northern Illinois State Normal School. Just rolls off the tongue. NISNS!! NISNS!!