Bigger story: Appy State or Boston no-hitter?

I'd venture to say that 2007 Appy is better than 2005 Appy, which was supposed to be good but not I-AA's top team (conventional wisdom had JMU repeating). I don't remember the Kansas-Appy game, but I'm guessing Kansas didn't see Appy's best game that season. This probably was Appy's best game ever, or on a short list. Sure, a big upset, but biggest ever? Even with the fans and everything, I'd take Chaminade and US hockey over this. And I still think this year's Appy is, at mininum, on level with a second-division ACC or Big 10 team (if New Hampshire could convincingly beat Northwestern last year, I'm sure Appy could do likewise were they to meet).

 

Well, all I know about the game yesterday is that it's gonna be broken down into two eras....
"before Upset of Michigan... "BU(M)"
and Post Upset of Michigan "PU(M)"
Anyone disagree?
Was it not that big of game?

 

Appalachian State should be the lead for the next week...

A no-hitter is nice, but to some extent who cares? They'll be talking about the Appalachian State-Michigan for the next decade, but come this time next year nobody will remember which pitchers threw no-hitters this year...

 

A bit of perspective from an ASU alum/non-apologetic fanboy here:

1. I haven't stopped smiling. My second daughter was born early yesterday morning, so it was already tied for first as the best day of my life.
2. It's not the Miracle on Ice. NC and Michigan don't have nuclear weapons pointed at one-another.
3. The game was bigger than the no-hitter, but that kid's story was damn cool and I enjoyed watching it unfold on ESPN last night.
4. At the 2005 game at Kansas, ASU fumbled in the shadow of the KU endzone and then missed a chip shot field goal (same kicker as yesterday) in the first half and trailed 13-0 at the half.
5. At the LSU game later in the year, ASU was trailing 10-0 at the beginning of the fourth quarter when the Mountaineers pulled their starters (LSU was driving for a touchdown, but I choose to ignore that fact). Also, before ASU pulled its starters, App missed a wide-open touchdown catch (think of the one yesterday, but 20 yards up the field and wider open) and banged a field goal off the upright (remember the post Katrina condition of the turf in 2005).
6. ASU was breaking in a new starting quarterback for the 2006 opener against NC State. The starter that day was just recovering from shoulder surgery that, in truth, should have been done about six months earlier. The quarterback you saw yesterday made his first start in the third game of the season last year.
7. ASU head coach Jerry Moore was the HC at Texas Tech in the early 1980s, so he's no stranger to big-time football. He didn't do well and was run out of town on a rail. I believe this is the reason he never left ASU for a higher-profile job, despite having a good track record at Appalachian.
8. This is just my opinion, but my religious beliefs tell me that ASU is having this run of success, in part, because of Moore's humbleness, and his willingness to share his testimony and his time. He has found time to fulfill every speaking request made of him since ASU won the 2005 title. I'm sure he is an expert on chicken dinners.
9. ASU had a change of administration between the 2004 and 2005 season. New Chancellor and staff, board of trustees and Athletics Director. Proactive leaders replaced 30 years of small-time thinking and marking time that got ASU shoved into I-AA in 1981 to begin with (I could go on for days on this subject). Championship programs begin in the President's office. Period. End of story.
10. Appalachian is simply darn good right now.



Oh, and 10. no, We don't normally like being called Appy, but I don't think you'll hear any of us complaining right now.

 

Expendable: Has there been any serious talk about moving up to I-A? I have not a clue whether they can support it now (I have family who has friends who go there, but I hadn't heard anything). Seems like a possible move, at any rate. App has a decent presence in the Triad and Charlotte, from what I've seen.

And what DO you call yourselves? Besides "hot, hot, hot!" I mean

 

It's been a topic for years. It has picked up recently, but a few weeks ago the NCAA put a hold on all divisional movements for four years. We may have missed the boat (I could write on this for days too), but I blame the previoius 30 years not the last two. ASU has come a long, long way in a short time. App should be the ECU of the Mountains, but for the last 30 years of stagnation. The last two years, ASU has averaged over 23,000 (regular season) in home game attendance, despite the stadium having a seating capacity of just 16,650. About 16,000 of the 22,000 at last year's FCS title game were Appalachian fans. Yep, we're Hot Hot Hot (I hate that video, though it was never intended for recruitment. It was supposed to be used at alumni functions. Folks in their 50s and 60s might not hate it as much as the UTube generation).

We generally call ourselves App, App State, or ASU. The reason App folks don't care for Appy is that back in the 1980s and 1990s, before Marshall moved to I-A, the Huntington media/fans used Appy. Many feel it was used in a derogatory way. I can't say whether it was or wasn't, but ASU was a thorn in Marshall's side for years before The Herd moved to I-A, so it's plausable.

 

I'm pretty sure they have the attendance (or close to it) to move up to I-A, but I think the NCAA is making them wait for five years, right?

 

Russia?

 

Many Appy Returns.

That's the story right there. App. State beats Michigan -- AT MICHIGAN! What a great story.

But so is Bucholtz's no-no.

 

Again we agree. WTF.

 

I don't think any basketball game is an adequate comparison. Chaminade over Virginia was huge, as was Alaska-Anchorage over Michigan the year the Wolverines won the title, but both games were essentially road games and it's a hell of a lot easier to upset a team in hoops...

If there's been a bigger upset in my lifetime, I can't think of it... Maybe the 1980 US-Soviet hockey game... Maybe...

 

Not maybe on 1980. The Soviets were proven to be the best team in the world, far and away. The U.S. team was US college players, likely regarded as a rung below Canadian major junior, which was a rung below the NHL, whose best players couldn't beat the Soviets.

The football equivalent would be a D-III school beating the national champions.