I always thought the pre-season scrimmages were not that accurate as to how the teams will fair during the season.   The starters play a limited role in the scrimmage...and usually the better teams use that time to get some live action and then evaluate second and third string players.

Yes...Eli has not been working with his receivers during the off season...this will hurt them come game day...we have a better defensive unit this year and all wounds are healed.  The sucess of the Eagles will come down to Donovan..

Enough about the Eagles...

Any reports on Teams around the NESCAC...?

I have heard the dirty birds are frothing at the mouth to get the season underway.  They are excited to continue the streak...and the seniors certainly want another ring!

For the Philadelphia fans....

Eagles play sunday August 6th (day before my birthday) v.s. the Raiders.  Hall of Fame Game. 

I love football and the Eagles.

Colby is a threat...no doubt about it.  The thing that scares me most about the Trinity/Colby game is that it is the first one of the year, with a relatively young Trinity team, with a new coaching staff.  Colby has strong senior leadership and a lot of momentum after last season.  The only thing that will work to the Bantams favor is that they play in "The Coop"....and we all know what that means for opposing teams...they don't win.

As for Tufts...the Trinty/Tufts game will be their 1,000th all time game.  They will be hyped up and ready to play...but again....they play @ Trinity....they won't win.

So I was looking at the 2003 final poll...well it may not be a bad place to start them anyway...

Trinity ranked #29 in the pre-season polls?  Should they be higher on this list...and when do they pop into the top 25...if they win their first two games by a large margin?

Center for Amherst is second team All-American?  Anyone know about him?

I would have your son fill out 5 seperate applications with each language he is fluent in....If that does not get him in nothing will.

5 languages....and he is in high school!  Forget Williams...Harvard or Yale should be his top priorities.

Trin8-0:

Again, I am not disagreeing with you that the other aspects of the game are extremly important.  However, you say "confidence is merely a by-product of talent, good coaching, and preparation", further strengthening my argument that you still need that last 1/4 of the equation to be undefeated....Confidence!  If you think you can go 8-0....and you have all the other parts to go along with it...you win.

If you lack confidence in anything you do you will always be second best.

As for the rest of the league that bad mouths Trinity...I pose this question:

Are you really upset with Trinity? Or are you upset with yourselves?

Trin8-0:

While I do not disagree with the fact that player quality is far more important than confidence.  You will have to agree that confidence plays a huge role in most sporting events.  This fact is evident when looking at what Trinity has been able to do since 2003 when Trinity finally beat Williams for the first time in howver many years.  Knowing that Trinity could beat Williams made them look less intimidating and more mortal.  I would assume that players from other teams in the league now look at Trinity as a very intimidating presence, and the game is sometimes over before it begins.

Confidence is also attractive to recruits who want to be part of a team that knows or at least thinks they will go undefeated every year!

Coaching is about 1/4 of the equation in football....you still have to get the other 3/4 to be dominant. 

Factor in:

Player quality

Training program

Confidence

If you have all the pieces then there is nothing to worry about...you will be sucessful....Bates does not have all the pieces.

Classic...this board is the best. 

His mistake

I agree with Trin8-0....it could only go up from there. 

They were awful!!!

That is a fallacy....if you look at the lacrosse "All Nescac" there is not one Trinity athlete....that is an indication of their skill, but it also proves that it is not mandatory for a player from each team to be selected to the All Nescac teams.

Sometimes it's difficult to addmitt that a friend's son or even your own son is not as good as one might think.  I am going to say that the coach did not want him...by the way...is that kid going to play for Harvard next year...or was he just excepted for academics?