Monday, May 31, 2010

2010 Incoming 'Cats: Linebackers

Welcome to our the first round of our special series featuring our incoming 'Cats of 2010. Over the next few months the ADvantage will be posting up video of Linfield's incoming class by position group. We'll alternate defense/offense each week until we're wrapped up.

Wildcat11 wants to note that I was unable to track down every single player DVD. Some didn't have a DVD on file and others I just couldn't find. If I didn't have your video posted PLEASE don't take it personal. WC11 tried his best and if you didn't have a DVD on file then I looked for a clip on-line. I never want to short change our 'Cats.

The first group we're going to feature is what is looking like a very talented incoming crop of Linebackers. Our incoming LB's represent 3 states (Oregon, Washington, California) and each have outstanding credentials. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of impact this group will have on the defense and special teams in 2010.

Video are in alphabetical order (Last name) and may have been edited to save time/space, and some indicate jersey numbers)


Louie Colasurdo - Lincoln High School (Portland, Or) Highlight Comp.


Tim Edmonds - Liberty High School (Hillsboro, Or) Highlight Comp.


Dom Forrest - Jesuit High School (Beaverton, Or) Highlight Comp (#5 in Green)


Sam Gauksheim -Olympia High School (Olympia, Wa) Single Game Footage (#33 in blue)


Andres Gil - Ontario Christian High (Chino Hills, Ca.) Highlight Comp


Mason Haye - West Linn High (West Linn, Or.) Highlight Comp


Michael MacClanathan - West Linn High (West Linn, Or) Highlight Comp


Cole Midkiff - Crespi Carmelite High (Encino, Ca) Highlight Comp


Logan Norris - Buena High School (Ventura, Ca) Highlight Comp


Josh Smith - Camas High School (Camas, Wa) Three Game Footage (#21 in black)


Cameron Talley - Liberty High School (Renton, Wa) Various Game footage (#44 in white top)

Missing Footage: Kohl Calhoun - Rex Putnam High (Milwaukie, Or)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

2nd Wave of 2010 Incoming 'Cats has been released

Zack Hickman, Josh Yoder, and Monterill Anderson are just three names of a
talented incoming Catdome class.

Linfield Sports has released the second round of incoming 'Cats for the 2010 season. Not only is this class shaping up to be large in numbers but also large in talent. WC11 has to say that I'm usually on the end of "wait and see" in making predictions in how new players to the program will make an impact, especially at Linfield, but it's hard not to get excited about where our already tremendous program is heading.

ADvantage Catdome will start a weekly post that features our incoming 'Cats next week. We'll post up portions of the video that the staff has on hand of our newest family members. Each week, we'll feature a new position group and leading off will be the Linebackers. So check in next Tuesday or Wednesday for that segment to kick off.

For all of those new Wildcats and new parents reading this post welcome to the 'Catdome! Wildcat11's best advice is to enjoy each moment of this journey, prepare to work hard not only physically but mentally, and welcome the challenge of competition! Prepare for the best four years of your life! Go 'Cats!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Linfield Baseball Wins Regional on their way to the DIII World Series!



YEAH! Now that was a fun weekend at Roy Helser field as our Linfield Wildcats starved off elimination after a 10-4 loss to Pomona Pitzer on Thursday night to bounce back and shut out and eliminate Chapman 6-0 and then hammer Pomona Pitzer 10-0 to send Linfield to the Regional Championship game where the 'Cats pasted a hard playing but out of gas Mississippi College squad 12-3 to send Linfield to the Division III college World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Catdomealumni.com is going to spend a little more time reviewing the Regional as it was a real treat to watch this squad rally and really put on a great performance. The support for the team was great by the community and the students and it made Helser Field the place to be this past weekend.

Go 'Cats!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Later Menlo. It was real while it lasted.

Menlo finally made it as the top story on D3football.com

Menlo and D3football.com made it official last week that our Football-Only members from Atherton, California has parted ways with the Northwest Conference and Division III to join the NAIA as an independent. This is really no surprise to those that follow the Advantage as we’ve discussed Menlo rolling out of the NWC many times. We actually first mentioned the possibility of Menlo leaving back in 2007. It was just a matter of time.

In fact, I can remember the VERY first time hearing that Menlo would only be a temporary member in the conference. I was at a hoops game at another NWC school where Linfield was playing and I had the chance to talk to the Athletic Director of this school (NOT Linfield). This was back in 2006 after Menlo recently joined the conference as a football-only member. We were discussing football in the world of division III and I brought up Menlo and how great it would be to get the autobid starting in 2008. The A.D. smiled at me and said he wouldn’t expect Menlo to be in the conference “for very long”. I was a bit stunned by this because the conference and our ‘Cats have struggled so hard in finding other DIII schools to play. Now remember this revelation was back in 2006 so I had to put some thought into the “why”. After thinking about it and asking around to those that run in NWC circles it started to become clear. The NWC Presidents didn’t want Menlo and I’m sure Menlo didn’t want the NWC but it was a marriage out of necessity for both.

The NWC AD’s and coaches absolutely wanted that auto-bid and after the screw job the NCAA DIII committee (*cough* a certain SCIAC coach on the committee *cough*) put on Whitworth in 2007 you couldn’t blame the NWC for having the vision to pursue Menlo as their 7th member for the autobid.

For Menlo, it was also a good situation in terms of having 6 other teams on their schedule, competing in a top DIII football conference, and allowing players a shot at post-season awards. It allowed some stability for a program that was on an island in the bay area.

It seemed like a pretty decent marriage until Pacific made it official that the Boxers would be back playing football in 2010. Once the Boxers made the announcement, I knew what that AD told me back in 2006 would eventually come to be.

For the NWC, Pacific coming back means that even without Menlo the conference retains the auto-bid and really that’s all the Northwest Conference schools wanted to begin with. The relationship with Menlo was no longer a necessity and now just a bonus with having another DIII team on the schedule. Don’t get me wrong, I truly believe that most of the head coaches and some of the AD’s in the NWC would rather keep Menlo in the NWC. Why not? It’s a small private college, another DIII game on the schedule year-in and year-out, and good people are running their program, but this isn’t a football issue. This is institutional issue.

In my opinion, the presidents of the NWC did not want Menlo from the jump. They just don’t fit the “profile” of the other NWC schools when it came to admissions and academic standards of the other NWC schools and when your average GPA of incoming freshmen is a 2.9 and 960 SAT score you can understand why some in the NWC had a problem with allowing Menlo in. I’m speculating here, but you could understand why some in the conference might see the Oaks admission standards as a major recruiting advantage for Menlo while others in the conference probably felt the rep of the NWC schools would be brought down by Menlo’s “profile”.

But all of this is now moot because Menlo saw this coming down Main Street and dumped the NWC before the conference had an opportunity to pull the plug. But the NAIA? Really?

However, if you’re Menlo I guess it makes sense. You have to know your shot at a Division III playoff berth as an at-large member is probably slim to none, you have this incredible untapped talent base that is limited by not being to offer scholarships, no redshirting, and other rules of Division III that limits who you can bring in. All of that goes out the window and Menlo can pretty bring in who they want without the restraints. Granted, there are only 2 other NAIA independents on the ENTRIE west coast (Azusa and Southern Oregon), you’re not in a conference anymore, and you’ll probably have to replace a number of the NWC schools off your schedule, but Menlo can now do what they want without having the NCAA or the NWC putting pressure on them to fall in line.

In the end, it was good while it lasted. I suspect Linfield and Menlo will continue the series after 2010 but as soon as George Fox starts football up again I would expect the series to end. It’s been a rather interesting ride and I think there are no hard feelings. Both Menlo and the NWC gained and benefited form the relationship and I think both are fine in headed their separate ways.

(WC11 notes: the above opinion article is solely WC11’s opinion. In fact, WC11 has never talked to anyone within Linfield about Menlo situation or status (too busy asking them how recruiting is going and trying to secure free swag) WC11 formed his take by talking to others around the NWC and west coast who know “stuff” over the past couple of years.)

Monday, May 17, 2010

Catdomealumni.com's 2010 Billboard is up!

When you walk out of the Rose Garden in Portland and look across the street to the grain warehouse you might see some familiar faces (o.k. I photoshopped them in) as Catdomealumni.com has rolled out our 2010 Billboard. Brad Thompson was nice enough to donate the pictures of Quarterback Aaron Boehme and last year's stable of running backs (Aaron Williams, Taylor Avritt, Kevin Abbott, and Simon Lamson). All five returners look to play a big role in the success of the 2010 Wildcat team. Wildcat11 gave love to the defense last year with the trio of LB's so WC11 went with the offense this season. Also, you can always take a look at our first billboard on Catdomealumni.com's Media Page.

WC11 has many irons in the fire right now with projects and takes on various subjects I want to get to but I'm scrambling right now so work with me as I try to get your Wildcat fix through the long wait to August. Go 'Cats!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Brett Elliott and his Blaze are on the NFL Network TONIGHT!

Former Linfield All-American Quarterback (04 & 05) and current Linfield quarterback coach, Brett Elliott, will be LIVE on the NFL network tonight as his Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League will be at the Milwaukie Iron. Kickoff is at 5pm (PST) and rumor is that Elliott might be mic'd up during the contest.

While the Blaze have struggled to a 1-3 start, Elliott's play has been exceptional. Through 4 games BE has 82 completions to 136 attempts for 906 yards. Probably the best stat is that BE has tossed 18 TDs to only 2 picks and has a 113.5 passer rating. The Blaze has another tall task as they square off vs the 4-1 Iron on the road.

WC11 is ticked because I forgot to set up my DVR before I left work today but I'll see if someone can hook me up with the game so I post up a clip of The Butcher in Action.

NFL Network
Utah Blaze vs Milwaukie Iron
Kickoff: 5PM (Pacific Time)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The only time you can ever use the terms "Powder" and "Puff" when talking football at Linfield.

(The 'Cats coached up their ladies into an overtime thriller.)

Our Catdomealumni.com news team was on the scene (one of the players emailed me) for a Linfield spring football game this past Friday night at the Catdome. No, it wasn’t the ‘Cats you know in action but it was Linfield’s Alpha Phi sorority chapter hitting the turf for a game to raise money for the Alpha Phi foundation. However, our ‘Cats did have a hand in the action as the coaching staff of the two powder puff teams.

The teams were split by year in school as the A-Phi Seniors and Frosh (Sojo) teamed up to take on the sophomore and juniors (Semen). Yes, that was the team name they picked out……

In the end it was Sojo coming out on top in a 12-6 barn burner in overtime. Sojo drew first blood on a pick six early in the second half but that was soon countered on a 50 yard dash by a Semen running back. With the game tied at the end of regulation, semen choked away (Hi-Yo) the game after dropping a 4th down TD in the corner of the end zone and Sojo went on for the win with a Boehme-like QB scramble to seal the deal.

I’m sure the boys were proud of their ladies and their teams in a fun filled event for a good cause. Go ‘Cats!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cutting Room Floor: 2002 Linfield vs Wartburg, NCAA Playoffs



We're taking another step back in time for this week's cutting room floor clip and for a good reason. Last week a package arrived at the Wildcat11 household and upon opening the box it was Christmas in April. Mike Rhodes, who shot incredible footage of Linfield football from 2001-2004, sent Wildcat11 raw tapes Mike shot from 2001-2003 for WC11 to copy. This was like having Fort Knox pealing off a pallet of gold bricks and dropping them off at my door.

So as a tip of the cap to Mike and to give you a small preview of what Catdomealumni.com will be able to mine out of these tapes, we're bringing you a stripped down highlight from Linfield's very first NCAA Division III playoff victory over the Wartburg Knights in 2002. In a beautiful late November day, the 'Cats jumped all over the IIAC's champion on the way to a 52-15 playoff victory.

Wildcat11 shed a little tear when he opened this box

Monday, May 3, 2010

'Cats Baseball Sweeps PLU to clinch NWC title and Playoff Berth!



YEAH! While Wildcat11 fully admits to not being the most knowledgeable fan of Divsion III baseball, I've had the pleasure of shooting video of the 2010 Linfield baseball team this season. What an incredible last month of baseball the 'Cats played. Linfield split a non-conference 4 game series with #2 Champman down in LA, next went on to sweep George Fox in Newberg last weekend (first time Fox has been swept at home in GFU program history), and then with an NCAA playoff birth and the NWC championship on the line, this team went out and took all three games from #16 Pacific Lutheran.

About a month ago I was a little worried that Linfield might be hosting their 2nd consecutive regional without actually getting to play in it. The 'Cats dropped some conference games that they know they shouldn't have. But instead of pressing and gripping too tight our 'Cats broke out the camo and rifles and went on the hunt instead of being hunted.

Above is a video of Linfield's 8-5 NWC clinching victory over Pacific Lutheran. (BTW, baseball is pretty hard to shoot with one camera). Congrats on the Linfield players and the staff on the incredible job they did this season. Catdomealumni.com will be there at the regionals and reporting back to you.