Beschorner is tops, simply do the math
By Terry Hersom, Journal sports editor | Posted: Friday, October 14, 2005
Okay, numbers crunchers.
So, Wes Beschorner of South Dakota continues to lead NCAA Division II football in passing efficiency, sporting a rating of 254.7. What does this mean?
Well, if you consider the formula was concocted to reflect 100 points as an average performance, Beschorner's 254.7 is obviously quite high.
But if you'd like to do the math by yourself, the recipe -- and I'm doubting you can do this in your head -- goes like this:
--Divide the quarterback's pass completions (Beschorner has 100) by his pass attempts (135) and then multiply this figure by 100. You'll get 74.07.
--Multiply the yards per pass attempt (1,993 yards divided by 135) times 8.4. The product is 124.00.
--Multiply touchdowns per attempt (25 touchdowns divided by 135) by 100 and then multiply that number by 3.3. There's another 61.11.
--Add the three totals above and you have 259.18.
--Now, calculate passes intercepted (3) divided by pass attempts (135). Multiply this by 100 and then multiply again by 2.0. This all computes to 4.44.
--Subtract this last number (4.44) from the previous total (259.18) and, voila, you have 254.74, which is rounded off to 254.7.
The person who dreamed all of this up is obviously someone capable of sending an insomniac into a coma. Back in the day, the NCAA simply told us who had passed for the most yardage.
For some reason, that still suffices in most other categories. Someday, maybe, we'll determine the nation's top rushers on a similarly complicated formula.
How about total yards divided by total weight of the offensive line, tackle to tackle, multiplied by the number of wins a team has? You could tack on ACT scores and subtract such things as fumbles or excessive end zone celebrations.
For what it's worth, anyway, Beschorner's rating with seven games already in the books is well ahead of anyone else. Jimmy Terwilliger of East Stroudsburg State in Pennsylvania is a distant second at 181.6 and Chris Belmore of North Dakota, USD's North Central Conference co-leader, is next at 176.3.
The Northern League's response to four teams leaving to start their own league may just speak volumes for why this all happened.
The Sioux City Explorers, of course, will be joining clubs from Lincoln, St. Paul and Sioux Falls in the newly formed American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which we'll content ourselves to call the American Association.
Wednesday, while the new league name was being announced at press conferences in Sioux City and Sioux Falls, Northern League Commissioner Mike Stone tried to trump their enthusiasm, rattling his saber with legalese regarding stadium leases.
Stone got his message out through The Winnipeg Free Press, which thrives on controversy, and the story hit the AP wire, suggesting the Northern League might just start up a new team in Sioux Falls. According to Stone, the lease at Sioux Falls Stadium obligates the Northern League to field a team, so they'll just have to produce one if the Canaries actually follow through with the new league. Yeah, right.
There were suggestions that a similar lease agreement could mean the same thing in Sioux City, but I'm advised the Explorers' written lease on Lewis and Clark Park ran out several years ago. The club continues to use the park under a verbal agreement with the city.
For all the interest in chasing these four teams back into the fold, the Northern League wasted no time deleting links to each of their websites from the league's official Internet site. If you type the URL "AmericanAssociationBaseball.com,'' by the way, you'll see the new league has already put up a new site of its own.
Hopefully, the bickering will die down soon and the Northern League will eventually buy into the dream of St. Paul Saints President Mike Veeck, who believes all independent leagues should form an alliance and pursue interleague play to some degree.
The Northern League still has eight teams and several opportunities to attract others. The greatest damage is the geographical void between the Northwest, which would be Fargo along with Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, and the Southeast, which is Kansas City and the three Chicago area clubs, Joliet, Schaumburg and Gary.
However, plans for a suburban Detroit team were already well under way and there were rumors this franchise might squeeze Sioux City out of the picture entirely.
Guess we don't need to hang around for that.
Next time one of those Visa commercials pops up with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his "five metaphors,'' take note of the guy wearing No. 71.
That's Hartington, Neb., native Russ Hochstein, who drew a start in the Super Bowl last January and has been a part-time starter in the Patriots' offensive line the last two seasons.
The production crew must have pinpointed Hochstein as the ham in the bunch because he was given some of the best lines. In one ad, he's crowding Brady's date and saying, "Hi, there!'' In another, he has the final say with, "Why can't I be the director?''
Gregg Moeller, one of Hochstein's former teachers at Hartington Cedar Catholic, now working at Wisner-Pilger, e-mailed an interesting tidbit to the Omaha World-Herald. Turns out, Hochstein was named "best overall actor'' at a drama contest conducted by the Mid-State Conference in his senior year.
Russ won plenty of honors for football, too. At Nebraska, where he played from 1997 through 2000, he's fourth in career pancake blocks with 346. Two of the players in front of him, Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola, are also both playing in the NFL, with the Chargers and Lions, respectively.
Sioux City Journal sports editor Terry Hersom can be reached at (712) 293-4214 or by e-mail at terryhersom@siouxcityjournal.com.
So, Wes Beschorner of South Dakota continues to lead NCAA Division II football in passing efficiency, sporting a rating of 254.7. What does this mean?
Well, if you consider the formula was concocted to reflect 100 points as an average performance, Beschorner's 254.7 is obviously quite high.
But if you'd like to do the math by yourself, the recipe -- and I'm doubting you can do this in your head -- goes like this:
--Divide the quarterback's pass completions (Beschorner has 100) by his pass attempts (135) and then multiply this figure by 100. You'll get 74.07.
--Multiply the yards per pass attempt (1,993 yards divided by 135) times 8.4. The product is 124.00.
--Multiply touchdowns per attempt (25 touchdowns divided by 135) by 100 and then multiply that number by 3.3. There's another 61.11.
--Add the three totals above and you have 259.18.
--Now, calculate passes intercepted (3) divided by pass attempts (135). Multiply this by 100 and then multiply again by 2.0. This all computes to 4.44.
--Subtract this last number (4.44) from the previous total (259.18) and, voila, you have 254.74, which is rounded off to 254.7.
The person who dreamed all of this up is obviously someone capable of sending an insomniac into a coma. Back in the day, the NCAA simply told us who had passed for the most yardage.
For some reason, that still suffices in most other categories. Someday, maybe, we'll determine the nation's top rushers on a similarly complicated formula.
How about total yards divided by total weight of the offensive line, tackle to tackle, multiplied by the number of wins a team has? You could tack on ACT scores and subtract such things as fumbles or excessive end zone celebrations.
For what it's worth, anyway, Beschorner's rating with seven games already in the books is well ahead of anyone else. Jimmy Terwilliger of East Stroudsburg State in Pennsylvania is a distant second at 181.6 and Chris Belmore of North Dakota, USD's North Central Conference co-leader, is next at 176.3.
The Northern League's response to four teams leaving to start their own league may just speak volumes for why this all happened.
The Sioux City Explorers, of course, will be joining clubs from Lincoln, St. Paul and Sioux Falls in the newly formed American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which we'll content ourselves to call the American Association.
Wednesday, while the new league name was being announced at press conferences in Sioux City and Sioux Falls, Northern League Commissioner Mike Stone tried to trump their enthusiasm, rattling his saber with legalese regarding stadium leases.
Stone got his message out through The Winnipeg Free Press, which thrives on controversy, and the story hit the AP wire, suggesting the Northern League might just start up a new team in Sioux Falls. According to Stone, the lease at Sioux Falls Stadium obligates the Northern League to field a team, so they'll just have to produce one if the Canaries actually follow through with the new league. Yeah, right.
There were suggestions that a similar lease agreement could mean the same thing in Sioux City, but I'm advised the Explorers' written lease on Lewis and Clark Park ran out several years ago. The club continues to use the park under a verbal agreement with the city.
For all the interest in chasing these four teams back into the fold, the Northern League wasted no time deleting links to each of their websites from the league's official Internet site. If you type the URL "AmericanAssociationBaseball.com,'' by the way, you'll see the new league has already put up a new site of its own.
Hopefully, the bickering will die down soon and the Northern League will eventually buy into the dream of St. Paul Saints President Mike Veeck, who believes all independent leagues should form an alliance and pursue interleague play to some degree.
The Northern League still has eight teams and several opportunities to attract others. The greatest damage is the geographical void between the Northwest, which would be Fargo along with Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, and the Southeast, which is Kansas City and the three Chicago area clubs, Joliet, Schaumburg and Gary.
However, plans for a suburban Detroit team were already well under way and there were rumors this franchise might squeeze Sioux City out of the picture entirely.
Guess we don't need to hang around for that.
Next time one of those Visa commercials pops up with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his "five metaphors,'' take note of the guy wearing No. 71.
That's Hartington, Neb., native Russ Hochstein, who drew a start in the Super Bowl last January and has been a part-time starter in the Patriots' offensive line the last two seasons.
The production crew must have pinpointed Hochstein as the ham in the bunch because he was given some of the best lines. In one ad, he's crowding Brady's date and saying, "Hi, there!'' In another, he has the final say with, "Why can't I be the director?''
Gregg Moeller, one of Hochstein's former teachers at Hartington Cedar Catholic, now working at Wisner-Pilger, e-mailed an interesting tidbit to the Omaha World-Herald. Turns out, Hochstein was named "best overall actor'' at a drama contest conducted by the Mid-State Conference in his senior year.
Russ won plenty of honors for football, too. At Nebraska, where he played from 1997 through 2000, he's fourth in career pancake blocks with 346. Two of the players in front of him, Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola, are also both playing in the NFL, with the Chargers and Lions, respectively.
Sioux City Journal sports editor Terry Hersom can be reached at (712) 293-4214 or by e-mail at terryhersom@siouxcityjournal.com.
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