[NU Sports] Other Facts About NU Football

[John Labbe]

I still don't see the beef.  The press release says the following:

"Coach Randy Walker is the first Northwestern coach since 1931 to direct three consecutive Wildcat teams to six or more victories. The last coach to do it was Dick Hanley (1929 to 1931)." 

It doesn't "compare" anything.  It just notes the last time this happened.  It asserts no opinion about whether Walker or Hanley was a better coach.  This is one stat listed, among many, as you point out.  The fact that the press picked up on this stat and not others isn't the fault of the athletic department.  And incidentally, I think the press has given quite a lot of coverage to several of our players this year, in particular Bazanez.  The thing about six wins has been mentioned here and there, not exactly featured.

If Ohio State and Penn State both win out this year, do you expect OSU to release a press release saying that although Tressel has secured a share of another Big Ten title, fans shouldn't think much of this, because Woody would have won 'em all and would never have lost to Penn State?  Neither the sophisticated fan, nor the casual observer, needs this history lesson.  Why would we want to emphasize to the casual observer that our coach is just OK, but not really that good?  I simply don't see the logic.  When it comes to promoting the current program, why do we urge "restraint?"


On Tuesday, November 08, 2005, at 01:01AM, <cherron604 at aol.com> wrote:

>Stephen is exactly right - if the press release had just said something like 'back-to-back-to-back six-win seasons', everything would have been fine.  But the press release compared eras - It specifically compared the present to the Dick Hanley era:
> 
>http://nusports.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/110505aah.html
> 
>College football fans (and NU list members) know that comparing eras is wrong - but casual readers don't always - making it even more necessary for the Athletic office to exercise restraint in writing their press releases.
> 
>I note also that the press release mentions at length career milestones for Baz, McGarigle, Sutton, Philmore, Lane, Henderson, Herbert...But the Sun-Times beat reporter didn't mention any of that.  She just regurgitated the 'six-win' information.  I think I speak for most list members when I say that the Athletic office should emphasize on-field (and off-field) accomplishments of our student athletes, as opposed to simplistic (and sometimes misleading) comparisons of coaching records across eras.  Then perhaps the press would emphasize those things too.
> 
>Chuck Herron   Tech '85
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: SjT (Stephen J. Truog) <sjtruog at yahoo.com>
>To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
>Sent: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 18:54:47 -0800 (PST)
>Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Other Facts About NU Football
>
>
>>  This '6-win' nonsense has to be addressed.
>>  
>> What we know - RW has had 3 consecutive 6-win
>> seasons.  The last instance of 3 consecutive 6-win
>> seasons was indeed 1929-1931.
>>  
>> BUT
>>  
>> During the Dick Hanley era (1927-1934), Northwestern
>> averaged 8.25 games a year.  These consisted of 5.38
>
>I don't think anyone's saying that -- as mentioned
>with numbers from rushing and passing records to
>coaching win totals, you can't compare eras.
>
>What it does say is that Northwestern -- for the first
>time in a long time -- has reached that magical 6-win
>mark (usually a bowl mark - save for stupid 12-game
>seasons in Hawaii:) ) for the third straight year.
>It's a solid step toward building a consistent
>program.
>
>For instance, Big Ten teams that have currently put
>together 6-win seasons (including this year):
>Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Minnesota. Iowa can
>add to the list, but it'll be tough. So that puts us
>in the upper half of the league.
>
>You can't compare eras - but that 6 win mark is a big
>one for modern football and consistency. Hopefully
>it'll be the foundation of the program for years to
>come and that extra practice will help get the young
>line to become more dominant for Sutton next year.
>
>GO CATS!!!
>-SjT
>
>* * * * * * * * *
>STEPHEN J. TRUOG
>sjtruog at yahoo.com
>GO CATS!!!
>
>
>        
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