[TheChairGuy]

Okay, so it is between what use-to-be-called Division I-AA teams....nonetheless one is my alma mater Villanova University and it's a big deal as (Division I-A) football was axed after the 1980 season...just before I began there in 1981

I remember being plenty bummed reading about in in March 1981 in the New York Times one Sunday...a few months after accepting and enrolling there So, this is quite a change to be in any football championship 28 years later.

Footnote: 1980 was Howie Long's senior year at 'Nova

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-fcschampionship&prov=ap&type=lgns

December 18, 2009
Championship Game - Finley Stadium/Davenport Field, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Villanova vs. Montana
8:00p (Eastern Time)| ESPN2

'V' for Villanova!!!

John

[droht]

Hopefully you took the 5 year plan and were there for the NCAA hoops title in '85.  Villanova was my second choice; should have been my first.  But that is water under the bridge.

+1 on the football game tonight.  They are fun to watch.

[TheChairGuy]

Hopefully you took the 5 year plan and were there for the NCAA hoops title in '85. 

I was on the 'normal' 4 year plan....and Spring 1985 was my senior year.  That NCAA championship was truly quite a send-off for us seniors

Dwayne McClain, the starting small forward on that team, was a Marketing major, too, so I came to know him pretty well (a really decent, bright chap).  He was drafted by the Indiana Pacers, played a year - and ended up playing in the Australian league for 18-or-so years.

John

[droht]

See John, if I had gone to Nova I would have gotten that math right...

As long as you weren't hanging with Gary McClain I'm sure things were good. 

[TheChairGuy]

As long as you weren't hanging with Gary McClain I'm sure things were good. 

No, that McLain (spelled differently than Dwayne's last name) was not very nice...a real cocky kid he was.

I knew (Center) 'EZ' Ed Pinckney and Harold Jensen from that team a little, too. They were really decent guys and I understand still are today.

John

[TheChairGuy]

Heck Yeah!

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=11703158

Good for alumni contributions, I'm sure

John

[Len_Dreyer]

Watched the game with my brother-in-law, who's a Griz alumni. Good game, especially for Matt Szczur. Even my brother-in-law was rooting for Matt.

[droht]

Not sure how much national press this story has gotten, but Matt is a serious hero, way beyond the football field:

The Villanova wideout will still donate bone marrow to a 1-year-old girl who has juvenile leukemia. And the 5-foot-11, 195-pound junior won't have to miss a Football Championship Subdivision playoff game to do so, as thought. The FCS (Division I-AA) playoffs will run from Nov. 28 through Dec. 18.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/villanova/20091121__Nova_s_Szczur_learns_he_can_play_and_be_a_donor.html

[satfrat]

It was a good entertaining Championship game as was the 2 playoff games last week. After Montana  went into halftime with a 14-9 lead, I expected them to dominate the 2nd half but it was just the other way around. Villinova domianted the 2nd half tonite just like they did last week when they had to come back from a 14-0 halftime deficit. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[TheChairGuy]

Not sure how much national press this story has gotten, but Matt is a serious hero, way beyond the football field:

The Villanova wideout will still donate bone marrow to a 1-year-old girl who has juvenile leukemia. And the 5-foot-11, 195-pound junior won't have to miss a Football Championship Subdivision playoff game to do so, as thought. The FCS (Division I-AA) playoffs will run from Nov. 28 through Dec. 18.

Yeah, they mentioned that last night on TV...it's a blowaway piece of news for a 20 year old..he really is a star in so many ways.  I don't follow Villanova baseball, but they also mentioned he might forego his senior year at 'Nova as he is likely to get drafted quite high as he is a preemo catcher, too. 

Talk about talent with a heart...that young man has it

Robin/satfrat - I thought the same as you.  'Nova looked like it was being pushed around and their secondary looked hopeless against the pass (even in the pouring rain) in the 1st half.  The second half was just a completely unexpected event to unfold.

For the most part and for most sports...Villanova has kept recruiting to student/athletes...so when they occasionally win a championship (the ladies won the Cross-Country title last month, too) it's pretty deserving.  Probably the only small college that compares on a national level that recruits true student athletes (that win) is Duke. 

There are only 6300 full-time undergrads at 'Nova...very small next to many better known and better financed state universities.

It's a pretty special place as it turns out...even if it wasn't originally my first college choice (Bucknell and William and Mary were)

The bar is now set high for Jay Wright and the men's hoops squad this year

John

[twitch54]

Congrats to 'Nova !!!

and they are getting a 'snowy' homecoming today.....we're expecting 1 to 2....not inches but 'feet' of the white fluffy stuff !!   I love it !!!!!!