Tag Archives: NCAA Division 3 Sports

September 1, 2010 · 12:44 am

NCAA DIVISION 3 FOOTBALL PRESEASON TOP 25

Well, the NAIA will start week 2 of their football season this coming Thursday night and D3 will begin their season this Saturday. The time seemed ripe to take a look at the Preseason D3 Top 25. It will surprise nobody familiar with Division 3 football that Wisconsin-Whitewater and Mt Union are ranked 1 and 2. For the past 5 years in a row the D3 Championship Game has been between these 2 teams when the dust settles in the playoffs. Yes, playoff-hungry 1A football fans will revel in the fact that the lower divisions settle it on the field in a playoff and not with the BCS system. Anyway, some people love the fact that the Warhawks and Purple Raiders have owned the playoff game for half a decade and some find it boring. Others insist if the other teams don’t like it one of them can rise up and actually beat one of these 2 in the playoffs. To the Top 25. I threw in their helmets, too, since part of this blog’s purpose is to familiarize new fans with these teams. Helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project at : http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

1. WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER WARHAWKS

2. MOUNT UNION PURPLE RAIDERS

3. WESLEY WOLVERINES

 

4. LINFIELD WILDCATS

5. ST THOMAS TOMMIES

 

6. MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS

7. CENTRAL DUTCH

8. WITTENBERG TIGERS

9. ST JOHN’S JOHNNIES

10. DELAWARE VALLEY AGGIES

11. OHIO NORTHERN POLAR BEARS

12. COE KOHAWKS

13. THOMAS MORE SAINTS

14. NORTH CENTRAL CARDINALS

 15. HARDIN-SIMMONS COWBOYS

16. UW-STEVENS POINT POINTERS

17. MONMOUTH FIGHTING SCOTS

18. WILLAMETTE BEARCATS

19. TRINE THUNDER

20. OTTERBEIN CARDINALS

21. WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON PRESIDENTS

22. MISISSIPPI COLLEGE CHOCTAWS

23. JOHNS HOPKINS BLUE JAYS

24. WABASH LITTLE GIANTS

25. MONTCLAIR STATE RED HAWKS

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August 23, 2010 · 3:18 pm

THE 20 COOLEST FOOTBALL HELMETS IN NCAA DIVISION 3

Well, from the e-mails I’m getting people want another Top 20 Contest. On top of that Division 3 fans have been complaining that I’ve done 2 NAIA Top 20 lists but only one for them, but that’s only because I didn’t branch out to D3 sports until recently. To keep everyone happy I’ll continue to feature NAIA football teams in my Cool Helmet Of The Day posts and do a Top 20 List for D3 football teams. These rankings are in no particular order and the votes of my readers will, as usual, dictate the winner. As always you can reach me at Thtcom15@aol.com to cast your vote. Football helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project at: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

20. MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS

Location: Belton, TX

Conference Affiliation: American Southwest Conference

Comment: Crusaders is easily one of the coolest names a sports team could have. Out of all the Crusader teams throughout college sports I think Mary Hardin-Baylor has the coolest helmets! The only way their helmets could get any better would be if they had a picture of Crusader Rabbit on them!

19. URSINUS BEARS

Location: Collegeville, PA

Conference Affiliation: Centennial Conference

Comment: What better name for sports teams at a school called Ursinus than the Bears? (Maybe “Da Bears”) And using the same reasoning I used with Mary Hardin-Baylor above I picked Ursinus because out of all the Bears teams throughout college athletics Ursinus has the coolest helmet! Should I apply the Mary-Hardin Baylor template even further and say the only way the helmets could be any better would be if they had a picture of Yo- naaah!

18. TRINITY BANTAMS

Location: Hartford, CT

Conference Affiliation: New England Small College Athletic Conference

Comment: When you hear the word Bantam you think “scrappy” and “hard fighting” and “feisty” so it’s the perfect nickname for sports teams. And the Bantam on the helmet looks like he could kick Foghorn Leghorn’s butt all over the barnyard. Still, I’d like to see a team called The Orpingtons but I’m kind of eccentric .

17. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY MARINERS

Location: King’s Point, NY

Conference Affiliation: Liberty League

Comment: What better name for – okay, I’ll stop! But you do have to admit that the Mariners is the perfect name for the academy’s sports teams. And aside from people sometimes throwing mean-spirited Seattle Mariners jokes their way there’s no real down side to the nickname.

16. ANDERSON RAVENS

Location: Anderson, IN

Conference Affiliation: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

Comment: Go ahead and insert your own Edgar Allan Poe joke here. All I’ve got to say is that out of all the Ravens teams in college sports the Anderson helmets will definitely stay with you, or my name isn’t Annabel Lee. (Get it? The obvious joke would have been some kind of “Nevermore” reference or something like that, so I – oh, forget it!)

15. UMASS-DARTMOUTH CORSAIRS

Location: North Dartmouth, MA

Conference Affiliation: New England Football Conference – Boyd Division

Comment: I don’t care if it’s The Black Pirate or Captain Blood or The Black Swan or Nate And Hayes, people love the romantic image of pirates! The Corsairs have such a cool helmet, nickname and logo it’s easy to imagine that the fans don’t even care what their record is…I’m just kidding, of course. You know how fans are!

14. LAKE FOREST FORESTERS

Location: Lake Forest, IL

Conference Affiliation: Midwest Conference

Comment: The helmet makes sense when you know that one of the school’s mascots is a Bigfoot-type creature. It’s not the least bit true that Quentin Tarantino went to Lake Forest and the helmets are an odd tribute to him.

13. WASHINGTON AND LEE GENERALS

Location: Lexington, VA

Conference Affiliation: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Comment: Okay, I know it’s just a W and an L but it’s the coolest possible rendition of a W and L conjoined into one great-looking helmet! Personally I think we should launch a movement to have this logo added to our alphabet as a combined W and L sound. It could be used in words like owl, bowling, etc.

12. CARLETON KNIGHTS

Location: Northfield, MN

Conference Affiliation: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Comment: What’s not to love about a helmet this eye-catching? What kid wouldn’t want to strap this on his head on Saturday afternoons? The city flies under the radar, but Northfield, MN is known just as much for college football as it is for the time when the residents rose up and kicked the butts of the Jesse James Gang in the 1800’s! “Don’t call us Squareheads” should be the town’s official slogan (People who’ve seen The Long Riders will get it).

11. MORRISVILLE STATE MUSTANGS

Location: Morrisville, NY

Conference Affiliation: New Jersey Athletic Conference

Comment: Forget about SMU, these Mustangs know how to rock a helmet with an equine mascot! Just keep your “Jack Woltz in The Godfather” jokes to yourself! By the way, the Morrisville State helmets would make great “knight” pieces in a chess set made out of tiny football helmets. We could just use plain helmets as pawns since I doubt any school’s administration will have such low self-esteem that they’d call their teams The Pawns.

10. SAINT OLAF OLES

Location: Northfield, MN

Conference Affilation: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Comment: The Oles, another Northfield football program,  sport an incredibly cool logo that looks great on helmets, T-shirts, etc. And by the way, there’s no truth to the story that the school’s teams are named after “Ole” Olsen from the comedy team of Olsen and Johnson. (Say what you will, it takes guts to try to get away with an Olsen and Johnson reference in the year 2010!)

9. OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY POLAR BEARS

Location: Ada, OH

Conference Affiliation: Ohio Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

8. SAINT NORBERT COLLEGE GREEN KNIGHTS

Location: De Pere, WI

Conference Affiliation: Midwest Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

7. TUFTS JUMBOS

Location: Medford, MA

Conference Affiliation: New England Small College Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

6. ROWAN PROFS

Location: Glassboro, NJ

Conference Affiliation: New Jersey Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

5. NC WESLEYAN BATTLING BISHOPS

Location: Rocky Mount, NC

Conference Affiliation: USA South Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

4. HEIDELBERG STUDENT PRINCES

Location: Tiffin, OH

Conference Affiliation: Ohio Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

3. MARITIME COLLEGE PRIVATEERS

Location: Throggs Neck, NY

Conference Affiliation: Eastern Collegiate Football Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

2. KENYON COLLEGE LORDS

For their entry click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/16/the-coolest-helmet-in-the-north-coast-athletic-conference/

1. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BLUE JAYS

For their entry click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/21/the-coolest-helmet-in-the-centennial-conference/

For NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/

For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/

For The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

For Division 2’s Coolest-Named College Sports Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d2-20-coolest/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 21, 2010 · 12:36 am

THE COOLEST HELMET IN THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE

Team: Johns Hopkins Blue Jays

Site: http://www.hopkinssports.com/

Comment: I know Johns Hopkins is usually thought of as a Lacrosse power, but their football players are no slouches either. In last year’s NCAA Division 3 playoffs they were true Road Warriors, too, winning games at the Sydney-Hampden Tigers and the Thomas More Saints before falling to the Wesley Wolverines. Forget the Orioles and the Ravens, Baltimore needs to realize Blue Jays football is the best thing to happen to their city since John Waters and Divine!

As always, football helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project at: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

And for more cool helmets plus cool logos and team names click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-names-and-cool-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 19, 2010 · 12:40 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – WHITTIER COLLEGE

WHITTIER COLLEGE POETS

Location: Whittier, CA

Division: NCAA Division 3

Conference Affiliation: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.wcpoets.com/landing/index

Comment: Remember this exchange in Aristophanes‘ comedy The Frogs – Question: What do you expect a poet to do? Answer: Why, save the nation, of course! We won’t be putting that much pressure on the Whittier teams, thankfully. It would be easy to go the cheap joke route and say something like “What’s the matter? Was the nickname The Ballet Dancers already taken?” But I actually think poets are pretty cool – just ask Francois Villon!    

For more of NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/   

 For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

And for The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 17, 2010 · 12:46 am

QUICK TAKES III: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE

Bland Response – On August 28th the Cumberlands Patriots take on the McKendree Bearcats in the Big River Bowl. On playing a ranked team on opening weekend Patriots Head Football Coach John Bland had this to say: “We have a tough schedule to start with and only two weeks to get ready for one of the top 10 teams in the nation.” Bland’s Patriots have won back-to-back Mid-South Conference divisional titles and went on to the 2009 playoffs where they lost to the Lambuth Eagles.   

Son Of BAPSSAS – At the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (cool team name The Drovers) the Bill And Pat Smith Scholar Athlete Scholarship actually had two recipients this year. The first was Tashina Ototivo and now, since Bill Smith decided to sponsor another recipient, Dakota Webster, who plays for the men’s basketball team at USAO! Besides having a name cool enough to be the title of a movie, Dakota stood out with his classroom excellence (3.82 GPA), on-the-court performance (A 53.8 percent shooter) and with community work at the Special Olympics.  “It’s definitely an honor,” Webster said on finding out he was the recipient, “I was excited. It’s definitely going to help.” Webster’s a biology major who may very well be operating on some of us down the road so let’s be really really nice to him!

The Battle Of Hastings – Don’t like that title? How about “Hastings Pudding” for you Harvard alumni? No? Oh, forget it! The Hastings Broncos men’s soccer team has been picked in the coaches’ poll to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference title this season. The Broncos were 16-4-3 overall last year and 10-1-1 in conference play, taking the GPAC title. 

HSPN ZONE – While this is generally a college sports blog I also like to cover items that slip through the cultural cracks (see my pages on Navajo and Bunyoro Mythology) so this story is appropriate. HSPN is the Homeschool Sportsnet (www.HSPN.net) which is to Homeschool sports what Balladeer’s Blog tries to be for NAIA and NCAA Division 3 sports. For the 4th year HSPN will be running the National Homeschool Scoreboard, a free on-line service where teams can have their scores, schedules and stats reflected in real-time! For more details go here:   
The National Homeschool Scoreboard is now 4 Years Old 

 
It’s New Year’s In August At Saint Xavier – The SXU Cougars athletics department has launched a new website at http://www.sxucougars.com/ and their 2010-2011 athletic season begins this week! On August 21st the men’s soccer team travels to Columbia, KY to play the Lindsey-Wilson College Blue Raiders. And be sure to ring in this New Year in Cougar athletics by watching Rob Huizenga’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on August 20th! At Midnight we’ll all gather ’round to watch another Illinois governor fall!
 
Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks: Why, What Wonders We’re Witnesssing! – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team is coming off 5 straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and more importantly are the defending National Champions of NCAA Division 3. They’ve been picked to repeat in some of the preseason polls and if you know D3 football you just know the Mt Union Purple Raiders are also right near them in the rankings. Every year since 2005 the D3 Championship game has been played between those two teams when the dust settles in the playoffs. The Warhawks begin their title defense on September 4th against the Adrian College Bulldogs. Personally I wish they could play a team like the Connecticut College Camels in a game they could call The Alliteration Bowl. Too bad CC doesn’t sponsor football!
 

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 16, 2010 · 1:14 am

THE COOLEST HELMET IN THE NORTH COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Team: Kenyon College Lords

Site: http://athletics.kenyon.edu/index.xml

Comment: Not to be confused with the Amherst Lord Jeffs, who play in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, the Kenyon Lords are named after Lord Kenyon (“It’s a switcheroo!”), an English Lord who was one of the first financiers of the school. An English Lord getting a mad posh to finance a school in Ohio, USA sounds like a premise for a new movie starring Hugh Grant as Lord Kenyon and Elizabeth Hurley as Bishop Philander Chase, founder of Kenyon College. Naaah. She doesn’t have enough range.

As always, football helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project at: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 15, 2010 · 5:03 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM- SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE

SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE VIXENS

Location: Sweet Briar, VA

Division: NCAA Division 3

Conference Affiliation: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Major sports: soccer, softball, volleyball, swimming, tennis, lacrosse, field hockey, horseback riding

Site:  www.vixenathletics.com

Comment: As the nickname Vixens would imply this is an all-female institution. (For those who don’t know a vixen is a female fox). Really cool name for sports teams and their colors are pink and green so that’s pretty cool, too!

For more of NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/   

 For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

And for The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 12, 2010 · 12:10 am

QUICK TAKES – VARIETY PACK STYLE

Guilt By Association –  The Saint Ambrose Fighting Bees were picked to come in second in The Association’s Midwest League in the Conference’s football preseason poll (They were tied for second with the Grand View Vikings). The McKendree Bearcats were picked to repeat as Midwest League champs. St Ambrose kicks off its 2010 season at the Trinity International Trojans on Sept 4th.

This Crew Is Anything But Motley – Rob Weber, head rowing coach for the Franklin and Marshall Diplomats, announced this week that three-year veterans Brittany George and Ho Hong Lau (better known as the Kobe and LeBron of Men’s Crew) were elected captains of their respective teams by their teammates. Forget what’s going on with the Miami Heat this year, B.G. and Double-H are the combo to watch!

If You’ve Got Half A Mind To Run A Marathon – The Lewis-Clark State Warriors are hosting the Clearwater Half-Marathon on August 21st. The year has yet to be announced. (I’m kidding! The year will be 1973) The event raises money for the Warriors’ athletic department and cross-country program. Lewis-Clark State is located in Lewiston, ID and that city’s Chamber of Commerce is located near Hell’s Canyon! Not since Elvis Presley sang the eminently forgettable song “Compliments Of Fort Lauderdale Chamber Of Commerce” has a Chamber of Commerce been linked to something this cool! They should call themselves The Hell’s Canyon Gang just to scare the crap out of the tourists!

USF Pulls In A Quixotic Quintet – Jed “J-Stu” Stugart, the new head football coach for the Sioux Falls Cougars, announced the latest additions to his coaching staff. Isaiah Jackson, former South Dakota State Jackrabbit, Lee Marks, former Boise State Bronco and Zach Dickson, fresh from 7 years with the Colorado Buffalo football program. Also added to J-Stu’s coaching staff were Lavell Jackson, defensive back coach and Dusty Hovorka, International Man Of Mystery!

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August 6, 2010 · 6:09 pm

BALLADEER’S BLOG IS EXPANDING ITS SCOPE

The reaction of the NCAA Division 3 schools’ administration and students to my D3 Edition of the 20 Coolest Named Sports Teams has been so overwhelming  I will now be covering Division 3 sports in addition to NAIA sports. I can be reached about stories in these sports at Thtcom15@aol.com . For links to my various Top 20 Lists click below:

For more of Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/  

For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

And for The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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