Welcome to Chargerblue.com, your Internet home for Hillsdale College Football. Keep up to date on the Chargers, the GLIAC, and NCAA Division II football with Andy Losik's Charger football news and comment blog.
Hillsdale College grad and Oakland Raiders rookie Jared Veldheer was named as the first team left tackle in Pro Football Weekly's All Week 7 team. Veldheer and the Raiders laid a 59-14 beating on the Broncos. He had another excellent performance this week as Oakland moved to 4-4 on the year. Pro Football Focus All Week 7 team
For the ninth consecutive year the Hillsdale College Gridiron Club will be hosting a tailgate tent in front of the field house this coming Saturday when the Chargers meet the University of Findlay Oilers. Come enjoy free beer, college football on a big screen and storytelling with former Chargers and parents. Festivities start at noon. There is no admission charge. We will be selling game squares for $10 each with a $125 winner announced every quarter. All of the proceeds benefit the football program.
Click here for a printable Gridiron tent sponsorship form. If you or your company are interested in sponsoring the Chargers and receiving a little advertising recognition in the process please email Lenny Stover so he can add your name to the list of sponsors at the appropriate level. Thank you for considering this request. Here's looking forward to watching a Charger victory with you Saturday.
We can also use some volunteers to “work” the tent with us. Please email Lenny if you can spare an hour or more volunteering.
Yes kids, the Video Music Awards had been invented by 1985. Here is a clip from the 1985 version looking back at the best of that year. "Best" is a very subjective term.
2010 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll – November 1, 2010
Teams in red are fellow Super Region 3 teams. Remember this poll has no official bearing on the selection or seeding of schools for the 6 playoff spots. The first set of regional rankings will be announced later today.
Springsteen Madonna Way before Nirvana There was U2 Blondie And music still on MTV
Those are the lyrics from the chorus of the Bowling for Soup song "1985". You could also add to that list Hillsdale College winning an NAIA national championship.
The song is all about a lady who can't let go of her past, "Where's the mini skirt made out of snakeskin? Who's that other guy singing in Van Halen?".
The Hillsdale football program holds onto 1985 too, not for living in past glory but as the measuring stick of what is ultimately possible. Once you win a national championship, you are always trying to get another one. This marks the 25th anniversary of Hillsdale achieving that feat.
Times have changed, but the goal remains the same. Hillsdale won that title as an NAIA school. In 1990 the program switched to NCAA Division II. Many of the NAIA schools in 1985 have also since migrated over to D2. Names like Pitt State, Mesa State, and Carson Newman are familiar D2 names that were NAIA members with the Chargers at the time of the title. Hillsdale actually was co-champs with Central Arkansas that year. The game ended in a 10-10 tie. There was no overtime in college football at the time except in earlier playoff rounds that were settled with sudden death. For the championship game there was none. Since making the move in 1990, it took Hillsdale 20 seasons to return to the playoffs with last year's appearance. Although the NAIA showcased good college football and contained many of the same members, NCAA Division II and the GLIAC has gotten increasingly more competitive over that stretch. The academics at Hillsdale were above average in 1985 compared to other top football programs, but pale in comparison to how tough Hillsdale is academically today.
Hillsdale has not shied away from the challenge and peaked this season at #6 in the American Football Coaches Association D2 poll. Keith Otterbein and his team have made the progress over 9 nines years but continue to show Charger alumni and fans that they are built for the long haul. This year's team is loaded with seniors and experience but its younger players are not afraid of the starring roles, giving the Hillsdale faithful hope that we just might have our own 1985 to talk about soon. Maybe we will take a run at it this year if things play out right.
