Terry Gibbons Steps Down

The UW- Eau Claire Blugolds will be searching for a new head man to lead the men's team in 2012.  Terry Gibbons stepped down as head coach of the Blugolds yesterday after 16 years at the end of the bench.  Gibbons announced his somewhat unexpected retirement at a press conference last night.  He will continue with the university in his teaching capacity as well as taking on a new role as assistant to the athletic director.


Gibbons has led the Blugolds for 16 seasons racking up a career record of 235-185.  His career was highlighted by a 2001 trip to the DIII national title game which saw the Blugolds end as runner-ups. 

However, Gibbons has had considerably less success in recent years including a 9-17 2011 campaign.  The Blugolds recent struggles have many wondering if this decision was made on his own accord.

Personally, I have to think that Athletic Director Scott Kilgallon had a say in Gibbons' retirement.  The success for the Blugolds just hasn't been there in recent years and I think it was time to head in a different direction. 

Gibbons new position "special assistant to the athletic director" seems to be a reparation for the old coach, encouraging him to go quietly.

Kilgallon has began a national search for the man who will attempt to turn around what once was a storied program.  The UWEC job should be a highly sought after position as most WIAC jobs are.  The opportunity to live and work in a great city such as Eau Claire along with the opportunity to compete in the best DIII conference in the country would be a great for any up and coming coach.

Demise of DIII Athletics

Players suiting up under this banner deserve more attention.

NCAA DIII Hockey and SNO Tap have never been one in the same sentence. Today that all changes.  We've tried shedding some light on DIII Basketball because ultimately these are the athletes we know best.  They represent the SNO Tap writers the best because Charlie, Big Cat, Easy E, Fant, and new addition J Nelly have all had experience in DIII athletics either on the football field or the basketball court. All of the writers outside of Pratt attend, or in my case attended, a college or university that participates in Division III athletics. I also might argue that UW-Milwaukee should hardly be considered D1, but that's neither here nor there.

 The problem is, some of the best stories in college athletics might come from these non-scholarship athletes, but that makes it less sexy to media outlets outside of the local newspaper.  DIII athletics usually takes extraordinary performances to garner any attention (e.g. Caltech Beavers snapping their 310 game losing streak in conference play, a crazy play on Sportcenter's Top 10 plays, or DIII Football being televised on ESPN). 

When I attended a basketball game inside the Schuldes Sports Center at St. Norbert, it was downright sick to think that high school games usually drew a higher attendance.  How is that a college atmosphere? I'm sure many of the other writers on the blog would say the same thing.  Unless it's the UW-EC vs. UW-Stout I-90 rivalry, attendance is usually sparse.  Football games usually draw a larger crowd, but their exposure is severely limited to local media.  I can tell you that UW-Whitewater played in the DIII National Championship Football game because it was brought to us by our darling ESPN, but I can't even remember if they won. Unless you're an avid fan of that sport, or play at that level, you hear nothing of DIII athletics. 

Now, even I said that the UConn women could beat a DIII guys team.  That was uttered for the sole reason of trying to get under the skin of fellow writers.  But, I really think they'd make it a game if they could slow down the pace and force guys into a half-court offense.  Anyways, it really is a sham that DIII athletics isn't a larger part of national recognition.  These athletes work just as hard, their play is just as exciting, albeit not elite, but there are very competitive national tournaments and match-ups that should be exposed to the sports fans of the world.  Will that ever happen? As our Wisconsin Rapids anti-school referendum friend would say, ABSOLUTELY HELL NO.

 I'm not breaking any news here, but that's because college athletics has been, and always will be about Division that "pays" its athletes with scholarships and reaps millions and millions of dollars in TV rights and likes.  It's just unfortunate that DIII athletics doesn't get more of the spotlight, and maybe as technology continues to take us to new heights in what we can watch and when, the ultimate sports fan will be capable of expanding their horizons to that of DII and DIII athletics.  For now, these athletes will continue to work countless hours a week for half-empty gyms; all for the love of the game, the purest motivator in sports.

-Patrick