IUP Football 2021

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

It's hard to say but Schmidt looks like a good pickup to me. He's got decent size and he looks pretty quick. He was obviously dominant on that level in HS.

Very dominant. His stats can make one dizzy. I think he can play somewhere at IUP. It will be the coaches challenge to find out exactly where that is. I think he is 6-0 and slightly over 200.

[jrshooter]

The biggest problem that I see with the local high school athletes is their lack of elite competition. You just simply do not get that in these parts. Let me give an example of what I mean here. When I was younger I played a lot of summer basketball against local athletes who were quite good for this area. These were guys who were all-county or maybe a few that were all-district and guys who won conference and district titles. They were good ball players to be sure. A few names you may recognize would be Indiana County Judge Tom Bianco, Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel, and Penns Manor coach Billy Packer.

Then in the winter I would play on Saturday evenings down at the Memorial Field House if there was no IUP game that night or over at Zink Hall. The competition level was usually really amped up quite a bit. There were a lot of guys who played their high school ball in city league or quad A. Most of them were not overly huge guys but the biggest thing that I noticed about them was that they were much more used to playing MUCH faster and quicker than what the local players offered. It was a BIG difference to be honest. Unless you play in that sort of fast lane of athletic competition it can be very daunting to acclimate yourself to it. Just a completely different game and a different breed of athlete that is produced in it. That is one of the biggest things that local athletes face. Plus, in years past the coaching they received usually was not up to par of what their more urban counterparts would get. I still recall a local football player who came to IUP from Purchase Line some years back and he was baffled at how very little he knew of the game---I guess I didn't know anything he said.

Saltsburg had a lot of lean years on the gridiron before some recent success. Their 1981 and 1991 teams were pretty epic.

This is an excellent point. I don't know if it's quite as crucial as it used to be, especially in basketball and baseball.

When I was covering Franklin/Fulton counties, I'd have the occasion to cover Southern Fulton, Fannett-Metal, even Forbes Road (you wanna talk about the middle of nowhere). Each year, I'd see some kids with legitimate athletic skills, and you knew they wouldn't get developed. The best basketball competition they would face would be the first round of states each year, when their team would lose by 45 to a Pittsburgh-area team with street-saavy players.

Football ... they never had a chance to step on the field. We'd never know.

Travel ball has changed the basketball/baseball picture. It doesn't matter where you are now, if you want to develop and want to put in the time, you'll find a travel program. You might travel 50 miles on weekends for it, but plenty do.

Again, football doesn't have that parallel.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The biggest problem that I see with the local high school athletes is their lack of elite competition. You just simply do not get that in these parts. Let me give an example of what I mean here. When I was younger I played a lot of summer basketball against local athletes who were quite good for this area. These were guys who were all-county or maybe a few that were all-district and guys who won conference and district titles. They were good ball players to be sure. A few names you may recognize would be Indiana County Judge Tom Bianco, Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel, and Penns Manor coach Billy Packer.

Then in the winter I would play on Saturday evenings down at the Memorial Field House if there was no IUP game that night or over at Zink Hall. The competition level was usually really amped up quite a bit. There were a lot of guys who played their high school ball in city league or quad A. Most of them were not overly huge guys but the biggest thing that I noticed about them was that they were much more used to playing MUCH faster and quicker than what the local players offered. It was a BIG difference to be honest. Unless you play in that sort of fast lane of athletic competition it can be very daunting to acclimate yourself to it. Just a completely different game and a different breed of athlete that is produced in it. That is one of the biggest things that local athletes face. Plus, in years past the coaching they received usually was not up to par of what their more urban counterparts would get. I still recall a local football player who came to IUP from Purchase Line some years back and he was baffled at how very little he knew of the game---I guess I didn't know anything he said.

Saltsburg had a lot of lean years on the gridiron before some recent success. Their 1981 and 1991 teams were pretty epic.

That's diamond mining. Nobody expects the kid to play for a couple years.

The Heritage to his first IUP practice will be like playing Saturday pick-up to Joe's team. He'll have a year of culture shock (as do most freshmen).

Luckily Tort has a program where freshmen aren't needed. Redshirt. Adapt. Get stronger. See ya down the road.

[IUPNation]

I'm also an Esch Hall alumni. I was sad seeing the basketball courts come down with the buildings.

I got trapped in the Esch elevator once...that was fun.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I got trapped in the Esch elevator once...that was fun.

My sister lived in Scranton and then the Lazor Brothers Apts across from Foster Dining (down the hill on Grant right behind the current parking garage).

I lived in Esch and then moved to Jamestown Village, which is the unofficial home of the 'tool shed' on Fisher Ave.


Elkin is the last of the 'old dorms still standing aside from the honors dorm.

[IUPNation]

My sister lived in Scranton and then the Lazor Brothers Apts across from Foster Dining (down the hill on Grant right behind the current parking garage).

I lived in Esch and then moved to Jamestown Village, which is the unofficial home of the 'tool shed' on Fisher Ave.


Elkin is the last of the 'old dorms still standing aside from the honors dorm.

[IUPMonk]

The Angry Mob Tool shed is on Fleming Ave. The tool shed by the Jamestown Apartments is the Angry Mob Auxiliary Tool Shed and was heavily used when the main tool shed was under renovations and when the ground hog (not IUPGroundhog, a real ground hog), was running a muck inside the Flemming Ave shed. The ground hog (not IUPGroundhog, but a real ground hog) was recently located to a bucolic little farm near Yellow Creek and turns out he was a she and has since given birth to several pups all of which are far enough away from the Angry Mob tool shed as to not pose a threat although rumor has it that the groundhogs (not IUPgroundhog, but real groundhogs) have taken up residence under a tool shed on the farm not associated with the Angry Mob. The main tool shed back on Fleming Ave is now Angry Mob Tool shed HQS and the Jamestown Apartments tool shed is back to being the auxiliary tool shed.

[iupgroundhog]

The Angry Mob Tool shed is on Fleming Ave. The tool shed by the Jamestown Apartments is the Angry Mob Auxiliary Tool Shed and was heavily used when the main tool shed was under renovations and when the ground hog (not IUPGroundhog, a real ground hog), was running a muck inside the Flemming Ave shed. The ground hog (not IUPGroundhog, but a real ground hog) was recently located to a bucolic little farm near Yellow Creek and turns out he was a she and has since given birth to several pups all of which are far enough away from the Angry Mob tool shed as to not pose a threat although rumor has it that the groundhogs (not IUPgroundhog, but real groundhogs) have taken up residence under a tool shed on the farm not associated with the Angry Mob. The main tool shed back on Fleming Ave is now Angry Mob Tool shed HQS and the Jamestown Apartments tool shed is back to being the auxiliary tool shed.

Thanks for the clarification, Monk. Saves me from having to call my lawyer.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

The Angry Mob Tool shed is on Fleming Ave. The tool shed by the Jamestown Apartments is the Angry Mob Auxiliary Tool Shed and was heavily used when the main tool shed was under renovations and when the ground hog (not IUPGroundhog, a real ground hog), was running a muck inside the Flemming Ave shed. The ground hog (not IUPGroundhog, but a real ground hog) was recently located to a bucolic little farm near Yellow Creek and turns out he was a she and has since given birth to several pups all of which are far enough away from the Angry Mob tool shed as to not pose a threat although rumor has it that the groundhogs (not IUPgroundhog, but real groundhogs) have taken up residence under a tool shed on the farm not associated with the Angry Mob. The main tool shed back on Fleming Ave is now Angry Mob Tool shed HQS and the Jamestown Apartments tool shed is back to being the auxiliary tool shed.

The Monk is certainly one of the leading and renowned experts on Angry Mobs. He was at Watts in 1965, Grant Park in Chicago 1968, Poland 1981, China 1989, LA in 1992, and most recently at the steps of the Capitol in January and has researched and written extensively on them. I certainly salute his scholarship and the courage that he has shown to put himself into harm's way time and again to document these Angry Mobs.

[IUPMonk]

Thanks for the clarification, Monk. Saves me from having to call my lawyer.

You're welcome. Having been retired for 3 years now and spending more time mediating family miscommunications, I have learned that clarification is handy and oft used tool in the communication tool box.

[IUPMonk]

The Monk is certainly one of the leading and renowned experts on Angry Mobs. He was at Watts in 1965, Grant Park in Chicago 1968, Poland 1981, China 1989, LA in 1992, and most recently at the steps of the Capitol in January and has researched and written extensively on them. I certainly salute his scholarship and the courage that he has shown to put himself into harm's way time and again to document these Angry Mobs.

I think it's an inherited trait as my ancestors were involved in documenting the Angry Frankenstein Mob in Transylvania back in the day. Matter of fact, my great grandfather gave me some ancient manuscripts on the selection and care of Angry Mob weapons of destruction which I promptly sent back to Transylvania for storage in their historical vaults lest they fall into the wrong hands.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

I think it's an inherited trait as my ancestors were involved in documenting the Angry Frankenstein Mob in Transylvania back in the day. Matter of fact, my great grandfather gave me some ancient manuscripts on the selection and care of Angry Mob weapons of destruction which I promptly sent back to Transylvania for storage in their historical vaults lest they fall into the wrong hands.

LOL. You're killing me here! Maybe some of us on this forum should handle color commentary for the IUP football broadcasts.

Sounds like you are in the mold of the archaeologist Bugenhagen from the Omen films.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

LOL. You're killing me here! Maybe some of us on this forum should handle color commentary for the IUP football broadcasts.

Sounds like you are in the mold of the archaeologist Bugenhagen from the Omen films.

Bravado Joe once asked Jack if he was a poster on the basketball message board. True story. Jokingly, but he asked him on the air.

[IUPalum]

Bravado Joe once asked Jack if he was a poster on the basketball message board. True story. Jokingly, but he asked him on the air.

I was the one that reported that and heard it live!

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Bravado Joe once asked Jack if he was a poster on the basketball message board. True story. Jokingly, but he asked him on the air.

Jack couldn't post here----I never heard a single "Man, oh, day!"