Quote from: jumbomumbo on January 26, 2025, 07:46:00 PMIn an effort to front run names - I will try to take a stab at what will probably be the hardest to predict weekend of the nescac schedule. The only 2 things I am confident in this weekend are a Hamilton sweep of the Maine teams, and conn losing 2 games by a combined 40 or so points.

Jumbomumbo NESCAC prediction record to date: 13-2 (unfortunately I didn't post predictions in week 1, only discovered this newfound fun after my guy names posted and I encourage more of you to do the same)

Friday:
50 Conn - Trinity 64
57 Bates - Williams 66 (hooray!)
64 Amherst - Colby 80
77 Hamilton - Bowdoin 65
69 Tufts - wesleyan 68

Saturday:
60 Tufts - Trinity 51
70 Amherst - Bowdoin 67
55 Conn - Wesleyan 82
72 Hamilton - Colby 70
66 Bates - Midd 72

I'm obviously going to have tufts projected to win both games this weekend because I'm a super fan, but would take 1-1 on the weekend and that's probably the "most likely" outcome. Massey thinks we're going 0-2, but Mumbo has already proven that's just a algorithm - it couldn't even name a single player out there.

Tufts has a recent history with both Wesleyan and Trinity. Trinity could very well be our "modern day" rival. We pumped them in the regular season in 2022 only for them to hand it to us at home in the NESCAC Qfinals. The games are very chippy and very defensive oriented.  They beat us 3 times last year, and the boys will be  out for revenge.

Wesleyan, on the other hand, is almost always a very close game decided in the final seconds. Very exciting weekend for Jumbo nation, gotta capitalize!

Had to fire up my account to drop in and give kudos and love to JumboMumbo. His prognosticating ability have impressed the powers that be of the D3 Boards, and I've received multiple pings about his work. Gives me great pride in seeing the torch passed and continue on, even if he supports sweaty carolina blue and brown uniforms.

Keep up the great work!

Former Amherst Soccer player weighing in here on my first ever D3 Soccer post (used to have a lot more to post about in the D3Hoops forums, but for obvious reasons, that flame has flickered out like the Encanto house and I am ready for the rebuild). Familiar with Bucket and a couple other names that are loyal to D3 athletics.

I have some answers to a few of the questions being tossed around on the boards:

Q: What happened in the 1H when Coach Serpone was upset with the officials and there was a prolonged stoppage?
A: One of Middlebury's players called Amherst's gay athlete the slur "fagg*t". As has been the case in the past, the most passionate version of Coach Serpone is when an opposing player uses hate speech directed towards one of his players. I don't remember what year or game, but ~5 years ago something similar happened in conference play with the n-word. The haters may say that this is a coaching tactic/antic to fire up his team... and they would be wrong. Coach Serpone has built an incredibly successful program that is built on love. The players love each other and the coach loves the players like his own children. Most of you are parents. If someone attacks your kid, you will probably be upset about it. Pretty sure the initiating slur also goes against that NESCAC sportsmanship statement.

Q: Why was the game chippy?
A: Because the NESCAC has become the overpowering force in D3 soccer for the past ~10 years after taking the torch from Messiah's epic run. Middlebury got one during Messiah's reign back in 2007 which started it, Amherst won one, Tufts was ridiculously good and impressive winning 4, and Conn took home a title. Williams and Bowdoin are perennially in the mix, and you can't sleep on Wesleyan or Trinity some years. 6 of the last 8 national champions are from the NESCAC and the last 3 runner-ups are also NESCAC. So when you get a NESCAC vs. NESCAC NCAA game, it may as well be the National Championship game, and all the players on both teams know this. Midd is always the most physical team in the league and it's not surprising their leaders committed hard fouls in the 1H. That works for them and I don't knock them for a second for their aggressive play. Let the referees handle the on-field action and hopefully no one gets hurt. But it is an absolute war for 90 minutes in an elimination game between conference opponents who both have what it takes to win it all. You go all out. The final whistle blows. You are happy to advance and send the other team home. I am sure all three of the remaining teams are amazing, but as a fan, I am relieved it is not a Midd->Tufts->Conn path. Had Midd won today, they would have to be favorites in Salem.

It sounds like Amherst was the better side today, stifling the Middlebury offense and winning 1-0 despite also not converting a PK. Soccer can be cruel, glad the better team won.

Post game activities
Appreciate the YouTube link! Three sections here:
1) In that video, you've got a handful of kids waving/clapping good bye to the Middlebury fan side of the field. This is trivial and takes place at every intense rivalry of every sport at every high level. Please watch this Saturday's Ohio St / Michigan game, which has similar stakes to today's soccer game. Whoever pulls away or wins it at the end will have 5 guys doing the exact same thing to the opposing fan section in the Big House. Watch Carolina/Duke in hoops and same thing. This is not a culture problem, parenting problem, or coaching problem. This is kids that work their butt off in a war for 90 mins and get to send their haters home. Good call on LSU/Iowa too (everyone loves Caitlin Clarke and no coaches were fired, players suspended, parents attacked, etc for the reciprocal clapping by the LSU squad). Good sports talk show and ESPN.com content. And apparently good message board content. This is sports.
2) Nuhu is heated. He is trying to cross the line and engage, potentially physically, with the Midd sideline, but is restrained. Glad he was restrained. Applause to the leadership and teammates that held back the first year from making a bad decision. Also, who knows what he endured throughout the game. I think it is fair to say from other testimonials on this message board that it was unusual behavior for him, so he's not a guy who psyches himself up by going crazy at opposing fans. Verbal on verbal back and forth that almost gets out of hand also happens sometimes across sports. At the professional level, it usually results in slap-on-the-wrist fines. At the D1 NCAA level, usually nothing. Players are subjected to all sorts of crazy hazing during games such as commentary about your sister/s, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, mom, race, sexual orientation, and then the brute "you f-ing suck number twenty-one!" over and over again. This could have escalated, glad it didn't. I would be remiss not to remind folks that when Williams fell at the buzzer in the 2004 basketball National Championship game a year after winning it all in 2003, their senior 1st Team AA PG did not hug his brothers or shake opponents' hands, but rather Crotty ran to the Amherst cheering section and made gestures and started cussing back and forth with them. Amherst wasn't even in the title game that year. Still puts a smile on my face. Maybe today's Midd fans will smile knowing they got under the skin of Nuhu so much that they were priority #1 for him after the win rather than celebrating with his teammates. Moving on.
3) The air-jerk reserve for Amherst. Okay, yeah I am on the message boards side on this one...and apparently Amherst College is as well as he has already been suspended for the National Semi-Finals. That was dumb, classless, etc. Especially since he wasn't even marquee in the battle which means he wasn't getting it from the Midd students for 90 mins. Apologies to the Midd sideline (females especially) for that. College kids do stupid things sometimes.

The rest of the NESCAC hates Coach Serpone, as evidenced by his 1 COY award. If that's the cost for building a program that has won ~40% of league titles, made it to the Sweet 16 100% of his time coaching, and now 5 Final Fours in 16 years, I think he is good with that tradeoff. His players absolutely love him.

I was at the 2019 and 2021 National Championship games were we lost to Tufts 2-0 and Conn 1-1 in PKs. Two wars. Great sportsmanship by both teams. Tufts couldn't have been bothered less to win another natty, so that was just a flat ending to the game and they deserved the W. The Conn ending was the same as today's ending. 3-4 Conn kids waving home our sideline and alum section as they ran to celebrate the winning PK taker. No fans on on our side cared. They won. They celebrated. They shook our hands and we shook their hands and then we consoled our brothers. That match was cruel.

Amherst and Middlebury soccer do not like one another. It has been this way for 20+ years and will probably be this way for another 20+ years. Thus, the beauty of sports.

Amherst College @ Springfield College
Amherst -26.5 (-110)
Springfield +26.5 (-110)
O/U: 153.0 (-110)

Props
Jayde Dawson FGAs Vs. Springfield Team 3pt FG Made
Dawson -9.0 (-125)
Springfield +9.0 (-105)

Will Coach Hixon win his 776th game tonight?
Yes (-5000)
No (+2500)

Diego Magana FGA
Over: 1.5 (-115)
Under: 1.5 (-115)

Answers to Important Life Questions
Thankfully, he transferred to Michigan so it doesn't matter
I did not know we had a XC team
Choosing between Olson and Toomey is like choosing betweeen a chrome-colored ferrari and a silver-colored ferrari
2007 had more depth, athleticism is a tie, and 2013 had a more efficient starting five
Box out

2007
2013

Quote from: Panthernation on March 27, 2013, 01:18:08 AM
The opportunity cost of a bad Aaron Toomey shot is too high given the talent on the floor around him.

There is no such thing as a bad Aaron Toomey shot.

Quote from: Panthernation on March 27, 2013, 01:18:08 AM
While Toomey helps the Lord Jeffs win big in many cases, he has also been a primary cause for some of their losses and many of their close games.

Just as Kobe, Lebron, and Durant are the primary causes for their teams losses.

I'm over the NESCAC board.
Best of luck to Cabrini on Friday! Should be a very competitive game featuring "two Aarons."

It will feel good to finally be back in Salem after a 5-year drought. I have no doubt both teams will be hungry for the game.

Quote from: nescac1 on March 17, 2013, 07:42:15 PM
Here is a list to get folks started, going back to the mid-90's:

Mike Mayer -- Kevin McHale (per sonofhixon)
Mike Nogelo -- Larry Bird (easy)
Jamal Wilson -- Kobe Bryant
Andrew Olson -- Steve Nash (another easy one)
Willy Workman -- Lamar Odom (per JeffCast)
Andrew Locke -- Dikembe Mutombo
Mike Crotty -- John Stockton
Troy Whittington -- Dwight Howard

Having more trouble for recent stars like Toomey, Coffin, Sharry, Rudin, Rhoten, Wang, Schultz, Kizell ...

This is fun. I will take it with some of the recent stars Nescac1 named:

Wang -- Jeremy Lin (easy)
Coffin -- David Robinson c. 1994
Toomey -- Derrick Rose (always explain Olson as Nash and Toomey as Rose)
Rhoten -- Carmelo Anthony
Schultz -- Kyle Korver
Kizel -- JJ Barea
Sharry -- Kevin Love
Rudin -- (I've got nothing...whoever has a big heart in the NBA)

Adding:

Tabb -- Russell Westbrook
Baskauskas -- Dan Majerle
Thompson -- Gary Payton
Bedford -- Ray Allen
Cole -- Norris Cole
Stovell -- Ronny Turiaf
Kain -- Mike Miller
Harper -- Gary Payton
Dan Martin -- Omer Asik
Zak Ray -- Tony Parker
Petrie -- Dirk Nowitzski
Halas -- Chauncy Billups
Williamson -- Vince Carter
Pierce -- Amare Stoudemire
Sha Brown -- Allen Iverson (very easy)
Weitzen -- Oliver Miller
Taylor III -- Latrell Spreewell
Goldsmith -- Brandon Roy
Hopkins -- Chris Anderson
Kalema -- Fred Jones

Quote from: WPI89 on March 15, 2013, 02:28:33 PM
You guys lost all your momentum with all the "video quality nonsense".  Better get back on track.

NEWMAC is understandably dead - looking for my kicks from you guys!

Walzy how bout at least ranking your confidence levels for the 5 games this weekend?

I would put it:

1)  Amherst Men
2)  Amherst Women
3)  Williams Men
4)  Midd Men
5)  Williams Women

My order is slightly different:

1) Amherst Men
2) Middlebury Men
3) Williams Men

Sweet 16 Prop Bets

Will all three NESCAC teams advance to the Elite 8 in Salem, VA?
Yes +160
No -140

Moneyline "to advance" prices:
Amherst -200
Middlebury -140
Williams +125

Quote from: madzillagd on March 13, 2013, 10:24:20 AM
If this was a 'news' channel the headline today would be:

Maker boxes out Hixon for Regional Coach of the Year.

And the news channel of choice? Why the Amherst College Lord Jeff Cast of course.

"Like" for Madzilla's post

Folks up in Williamstown still waiting to connect to their modem via dial up to find out who won COY.

And if I were a betting man...I would take Hixon to win the NABC New England COY (unless PantherNation can make a case for Nolan Thompson).

Quote from: jumpshot on March 11, 2013, 10:57:23 PM

To Walzy31:

"...and I do not like Williams as a college...." Perhaps the root cause is never winning a soccer game against Williams in your four years as a player. Glad to know that since we disagree about liking Williams College (and many other fine institutions), that you're still learning.

Consider letting it go; life is too short and you'll be happier.

Gotta love defending a rival only to be taunted by them. Yeah no doubt my 0-3 record against Williams is part of my dislike. I could write a thesis about what I don't like about Williams College and that would be chapter three or chapter four out of twenty.

I think it's healthy to have a rival in life. Go tell some Michigan fans to get over Ohio St or UNC fans to get over Duke. Hope/Calvin, Red Sox/Yankees etc. If they agree to dropping their dislike then so will I. Til then, Wuck 'em

Quote from: nescac1 on March 11, 2013, 11:54:44 AM
I share some of the frustration with the quality of the picture and sound in the Williams webcast, but I do think the critique, for both schools, was way over the top.

First, regarding the technical issues with the webcast, if there is a technical solution that could replace Teamline with a higher caliber webcast and without incurring substantially more costs, by all  means, suggest that to the powers-that-be at Williams.  That would be constructive.  Short of that, I don't see it happening any time soon (but hopefully technology will improve just as a matter of better tech becoming cheaper over time, in all events).  Remember, until half-way through last year, Williams was charging for these, so at least now it is free .. a big upgrade.  I know people like to point to how much money Williams and Amherst have, and they do have more resources than any other D-3 schools.  But then again, Williams has a much, much bigger athletics budgets than other D-3 schools simply because it (1) has such a huge number of D-3 sports (many of which are quite expensive, like football, skiing, crew, etc.) and has to spread an athletic budget out among so many sports, with so many participants and (2) pays for a ton of travel for its teams, both during the regulars season but also do to the all the post-season participation.  I'd rather the school have lower-caliber webcasts yet provide a first class varsity athletic experience for a greater number of students (huge varsity rosters due to no cuts in many sports) participating at a high level in a greater number of sports than any other D-3 school in the country.  That being said, I really do hope that Williams can find an affordable way to upgrade the technology, as it would benefit me personally, certainly.  But paying for better-quality webcasts for the very small handful of people who watch them is just never going to be a top budget priority for the Williams administration, and like many schools, even Williams was not immune from the financial crisis and the school cut its spending back by a substantial amount across the board. 

Second, regarding the caliber of the broadcasters, there, I disagree entirely.  There has been variance of quality of the broadcasters for Williams over the years, but generally I find them to understand basketball and know the strengths and weaknesses of the players on the teams, and to generally be fair and balanced while still being supportive of the home team.  It's fun to hear college kids connected to the school and the players in a way that you just don't find outside of D-3, and in some ways as an alum I enjoy that more than a I would a neutral, typical play-by-play.  I do wish the sound caliber was better, but I have no problem with the substance. 

As a Williams guy, if anyone should be annoyed by Amherst homerism, it's me, but I actually enjoy the Amherst broadcasters and find them entertaining.  They are having fun, talking about kids they know and are friends with, giving shout-outs to alums, students, etc.  Again, something unique to D-3 and I don't think D-3 hoops necessarily requires a neutral, NBA-style of broadcast.  Even in D-1, the players are in many ways separate from the rest of the student body, a quasi-professional class of athlete on campus.  that isn't what D-3 is about, and I feel that the broadcast style is in line with that, and doesn't bother me in the least, other than, yeah, it does get a little ridiculuos when EVERY call against Amherst is a bad call .

I was going to defend both schools with identical arguments (and I do not like Williams College as a college) but Nescac1 beat me to it. Just retweeting here.

Amherst 89 - Plattsburgh 72

Toomey with 25, 7, and 4.
Williamson with 16 and 11.
Workman with 11, 9, 5, 3 and 2.

Quote from: Panthernation on March 09, 2013, 12:16:05 AM

Quote from: walzy31 on March 08, 2013, 04:28:11 PM
http://www.ecacsports.com/sports/winter/mbkb/AllStars/2012-13/2013MBBallstars

Perhaps putting an end to the Thompson Vs. Toomey/Workman/Mayer debate?

No, Walzy; actual awards do not put an end to debates over who should have won awards. It's a simple and straightforward theoretical distinction that we have already explained to you. Congratulations to Toomey, Workman, and Mayer.

I'd like two large bills on Cortland. Will you take the other side?

http://www.ecacsports.com/sports/winter/mbkb/AllStars/2012-13/2013MBBallstars

Perhaps putting an end to the Thompson Vs. Toomey/Workman/Mayer debate?