Column

Jason Dannelly Predicts the 2014 NAIA Football Championship Series Qualifiers

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Dustin Rinker

Carroll College RB Dustin Rinker. (Helena IR Photo)

Every year this moment in the season comes and every year it’s like my version of X-Mas. There’s nothing better in my world than seeing 16 NAIA football teams advance to the postseason and letting the craziness begin.

This year, the craziness might have started a week earlier than usual. Morningside, Southern Oregon and Georgetown College both all on the final day of the NAIA football regular season changing the perspective of the NAIA postseason immensely. That’s three of the NAIA’s top five teams falling, making the new No. 1 team in the NAIA Carroll College

Being rated in the Top 2 and Top 4 are probably the two biggest factors in making the NAIA Championship Game. Top 2 (as long as you put in the bids) guarantees you home field advantage through the semis. Top 4 obviously gives you the same advantage until the semifinals which many will argue is the most important. Given the Thanksgiving holiday, no one wants to be on the road that weekend and traditionally the home teams have had a much higher rate of success than the road teams during the Turkey Day weekend.

Before predicting anything we have to know the facts. Who won, who lost and who is a conference champion. Remember, all conference champions rated No. 20 or higher earn an automatic berth. Continue reading →

Jason Dannelly: A Look at the Final Week of the NAIA Football Regular Season

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10339739_1703721843187182_1827114446610379474_nEarlier this week I had intentions to write a conference by conference breakdown of who is in and who is out of the NAIA Football Championship Series. But as life would have it this week has been much busier than normal. Something about a trip to Minnesota, a snow storm and another job kind of got in the way.However, the NAIA wrote a great breakdown of the final week of the regular season. You can read that article here.

The number one thing everyone needs to remember is this: Conference champions rated #20 or better get automatic berths to the postseason. If you are a conference champ and rated #23 in the final poll, you are out of luck. If you are conference co-champs and you are rated #21 and the other team is #15, you are on the outside looking in.

The magic number to remember is 20.

So who am I talking about specifically? Langston, Reinhardt, Saint Francis (Ind.) and Webber International. All of these teams can either win or have part of a conference title by winning this weekend. However, they will all need the help of a lot of other people outside of their control if they are going to make it to the postseason. Continue reading →

Jason Dannelly: Two Weeks Left Until the NAIA Football Regular Season Ends

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Brandon Wegher of Morningside

Brandon Wegher of Morningside

My first year covering the NAIA as a true national journalist was 2002. I knew the teams and the conferences, kinda. And I knew who was good, sorta. But when this time of year came around I found myself scrambling to try to figure out what the heck was going on in each conference. I made bold predictions that made me look like an idiot and I guaranteed outcomes that I had no business commenting on.

12 years later . . . not much has changed!

The NAIA postseason is taking shape. If you want to be a part of it, don’t have three losses. It’s been nearly impossible through the years to make the postseason with three losses, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t happen.

Where we see the exception is typically in conferences where teams are forced to play a lot of games outside of their league schedule. The Central States Football League is the most notable in this department and unless Langston wins out they will be left without a postseason rep once again. The Lions are 5-3 and finish up against Bacone and SAGU, the next best teams in the league over the next two weeks. Continue reading →

Former NAIA RB Doug Wasylk Gained A Son But Lost His Wife. Please Donate.

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Doug and Elise WasylkThis week I will not be writing a review or preview of what’s going on in NAIA football. Sometimes, tragedies happen that touch you and remind you that even though we take college football very seriously, in the end it is just a game.

One of my favorite NAIA football programs has always been the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) because of the type of young men on their teams and how well they were coached. There was never a shortage of stars. Players of the year nationally, conference players of the year and countless NAIA players of the week were all over the rosters through the years.

But for every star, there were 15 blue collar kids working their butts on to bring them glory. That’s the very basis of NAIA football and that’s what Doug Wasylk of the University of Saint Francis exemplified. Wasylk was the type of NAIA RB I loved to watch. Tough, gritty and one that would NEVER give up. In his career he rushed for over 1500 yards and 14 touchdowns and played alongside a couple of superstar NAIA running backs.

Right now, Doug needs everyone’s help.

Recently he was blessed with the birth of a son, Tucker Dean Wasylk, but in the process of birth he lost his wife, Elise. All the families are going through a tough time right now. In order to ease the financial burden in these tough times, a Go Fund Me account was set up by a close friend of Doug and Elise.

Please donate and spread the word. I cannot think of a more deserving person in this world to receive unconditional support from everyone, including strangers. When I see a former NAIA athlete going through a major tragedy like this I can’t help but think of all the other people out there willing to donate and help out.

Please, spread the word and help a person in need. http://www.gofundme.com/gbgv74

****Update as of 8:00 CT on 10/27/14 – 50K raised for the Family****

Thanks – Jason Dannelly

Jason Dannelly: How I Became and Remain a Lifelong Fan of the Kansas City Royals.

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The Dave Dannelly Family

A couple years ago I was in Kentucky covering an NAIA football game. The Yankees and the Red Sox were locked up in their first postseason skirmish that would later result in the Red Sox coming back from behind in the series and eventually moving on to win their first World Series since 1918.

During the course of that night one Athletic Director was pretty frustrated. Somehow, he was an avid Yankees fan and was taking every pitch personally that night. At one point I thought I was going to have to drive him home because he was so inconsolable after the loss.

Innocently I asked, “How are you, an AD in Kentucky, a fan of the Yankees?”

His reply, “Because I like winners and the Yankees have always been winners. Who do you like?”

“The Royals.” Continue reading →

Jason Dannelly: NAIA Football Recap and Predictions for Sept 27th

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I wasn’t lying went I said there were a lot of “trap games” in NAIA football. Not only did the No. 1 team in the country lose last weekend but a total of nine teams that were rated or receiving votes were upset by lower ranked or unranked teams.

Obviously the biggest shock was Grand View University losing to Marian. When I looked at all of the games last weekend this game didn’t even cause me to give it a second look. It had all the makings of another GV win, so kudos to Marian for upsetting the NAIA’s top team and causing a stir at the top of the rankings.

In the end, it makes the season a whole lot more fun when there are few different teams at the top of the rankings. Some of the best in the NAIA already have a notch in the loss column and I do not believe it discounts them as a team or takes them out of the running for a potential national title. Continue reading →

Jason Dannelly: NAIA Football Review/Preview for Monday, September 8th.

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Photo Courtesy of SOU Sports Information

Photo Courtesy of SOU Sports Information

Breath.

Just inhale . . .follow with an exhale.

It’s going to be okay.

The college football season is officially fully underway and from looking at the NAIA twittersphere one would think the season is over for some of these teams. Sure there were some pretty good upsets this weekend but overall it shouldn’t change your opinion on many of these teams quite yet.

Unless the injury bug bit your team hard this weekend because the name of the game in the NAIA is depth. Teams that have depth can survive a few bumps and bruises while teams that lack it will really struggle this year.

Early last week I said the game of the week was going to be Carroll College at Southern Oregon. The NAIA national office also officially gave the game that title and the Raiders and Saints did not disappoint. SOU defeated Carroll 38-35 as quarterback Austin Dodge found Victor Dean from 22 yards out with just seven seconds left to play in the game. The TD capped off a seven play, 80-yard drive that took just 1:23 to execute.

Dodge was impressive going 21-30 on the day for 281 yards passing, two touchdowns and no interceptions but equally as impressive was Raider running back Melvin Mason who rushed 27 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Mason’s performance was easily the grittiest we have seen from a running back in a big NAIA game for quite a while. Continue reading →

Jason Dannelly Review/Preview of NAIA Football for Sept 6th

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Technically we are two weekends into the NAIA football season and seemingly there haven’t been any giant causes for panic and things are not on fire. Well, not yet anyway. So before any coaches jump onto a horse and start launching tridents at their opponents let’s actually see what we have learned the first two weeks of the season… .

Jason Dannelly Review/Preview of NAIA Football for Sept 6th

The End Of Californication, One of My Favorite TV Shows Ever.

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Last night was the series finale of “Californication” on Showtime. This has easily been one of my favorite shows ever on TV. Early on the writing was comical, sexy, controversial and left me binging new episodes as I caught up three seasons into the show

But even as a big fan of the show, I have to say the last couple of seasons have been disappointing. It’s almost like the writers were expecting that season to be the last and phoned it in until the found out “crap, we need to leave this open for another year!”

Hank Moody is probably a top five all-time television character for me. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t point out I often found Moody to be someone I could relate to given my life and some of the situations I have gotten myself into.

While the Moody character often was seen as someone with little self control and his own worst enemy, in the end he cared deeply about those who were close to him and was always trying to do good for them despite the mess he found himself in. Continue reading →

I Met Roger Clemens in an Elevator Today at the CWS and Had Nothing to Say.

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It happened again today.

There I was minding my own business in the press box at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, covering the College World Series. Some would say I’m extremely focused on my work. Others, who know me, would tell you I am completely oblivious to my surroundings.

I had to jump on the elevator so I could meet someone who covering the CWS for the first time. My plan was to grab them outside the elevator, bring them up to the media level, show them where everything is and then jump back onto the elevator so I could head to the field and shoot some photos of the start of the game.

Moving past the security I hopped on the media elevator (which BTW is 10 billion times faster than the old elevator at Rosenblatt). When the door opened on the ground level I saw the guy I was looking for and waved for him to come up with me. Three other people got on the elevator with the person I was waiting for and at first I paid no attention to them.

DING – Door Closes

I finally survey our new friends in the box. Then I notice, “huh, that guy that in the corner is a pretty big dude.”

Then I notice, “huh, he must be here for Texas because he has a burnt orange polo on.”

Then I notice, “huh, that’s a different sort of hat he’s wearing. There’s no team on it…it just says “Rocket”. Continue reading →