Quote from: FightingCards on November 13, 2013, 10:12:23 PM
Can someone please explain to me what a "Karma Point" is?  Everyone has a +/- deal, and I have nothing.  Am I that boring or is there some type of conspiracy against the "WF"?

"Karma is a feature that shows the popularity of a certain member. To make it available, the administrator must activate it in core features. If members are allowed, they can choose to raise (Applaud) or lower (Smite) a person's karma. This is how a member's popularity is calculated."¹

Conspiracy? Nah, people just have the opportunity to express their opinion about posts and posters. In some cases, (cough*AlDavis*cough) the people have spoken.

¹http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Features_and_Options#Karma

Quote from: PistachioX on November 13, 2013, 12:09:54 PM
You do a fine job, Panther(s).  Truly.  It's all in good fun, but I'm old and I have better things to do... like baking cookies.

I stand corrected on the Foote TD tally Vs. Trin.  My apology for the oversight.  Still.... imagine how his overall efficiency ratings would have dipped, had he not played deep into those last two lopsided games to the tune of 5 and 7 TD, respectively?

"Deep" would be a creative way to describe only one drive in the third quarter (Hamilton) and not playing in the fourth quarter (Tufts). But I'm sure that was just another oversight, because we know you could never be myopic.

Quote from: gridiron on November 05, 2013, 08:35:33 AM
Lumbercat--agreed, the rivalries between all three Maine schools are genuine and fierce, and tend to bring out the best during their contests. 

Hoping for great weather across the league for the upcoming season finales.  Lots at stake for all--

*Middlebury chance to stay alive for piece of league title (admittedly with big assist to the 8 game schedule)

If Middlebury wins a share of the league title, they will have done so compiling the same record while playing the same schedule as Wesleyan. In that case, perhaps it'd be the Cardinals who should be grateful for the abbreviated slate.

Quote from: AlDavis on October 24, 2013, 07:43:37 PM
Maaaaaan , where the hell is the NESCACMan at , I need my info fix........while I am still waiting and also waiting for this Stupid Red Sox game again , then let me Rag on Williams one more time while I am at it.......what is the specific Math word or Definition for this kind of rhythm and sequence for numbers like this pattern-----------------> 8 - 0 ;  6 - 2 ; 4 - 4 ;  2- 6 .

What you're describing, Al, is an arithmetic sequence, with the numbers of wins (or the numbers of losses) changing by the same amount each step. The expression for the nth term of the wins sequence (assuming 2010 is n = 1) would be a_n = -2n + 10, while the nth term of the losses sequence would be a_n = 2n - 2.* Of course, that would suggest that in two years Williams will win -2 games. Perhaps that will make the anti-football faculty happy?

As for Frank's assertions, I see no reason to doubt him. Football is the most popular (by population, and by the other sense of the word) and visible of college sports, so it would make sense that a board looking to change an athletic department's reputation would start their energies there. I also suspect, because of the depth necessary to form a strong team, football might feel the effects of tightening sooner than, say, a basketball team that only needs two or three admits a year to remain competitive.

Also looking forward to NESCACMan's thoughts...

*For the record (get it?), Williams went 5-3 in 2011, not 6-2, so this whole exercise kind of falls apart.

Quote from: Trin8-0 on September 26, 2013, 12:48:03 PM

Quote from: Nescacman on September 25, 2013, 11:52:18 PM
Wesleyan is 6th in the country in total offense. When was the last time a NESCAC team ranked in the national top 10 in any offensive category?

Trinity ranked 7th in the nation in rushing offense just last year. And that was following a full season as opposed to a single game against, by far, the worst program in the conference.

There's also the Middlebury passing attack, which I believe has done one or two good things over the last decade or so.

Quote from: gridiron on August 28, 2013, 02:21:26 PM
Union left the NESCAC earlier (in 1977--per Wikipedia).

This 1994 Sport Illustrated article (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1005871/4/) confirms that date.

NESCAC schools' OOC results seem to be a hot topic recently, and I was lucky enough to stumble across a new site called winsipedia.com that compiled quite a bit of college football history. It's got the all-time results for every FBS team, and a few of them took on NESCACs in the past. Some notable records:

Amherst 40-9-5 against UMass
Bowdoin 8-4-2 against UMass
Hamilton 5-3-1 against Buffalo
Wesleyan 16-9 against UConn
Trinity 12-1 against UMass
Tufts 9-3 against BC
Wesleyan 1-0 against Michigan

The FBS team that gave the NESCACs the most trouble? Army has a career 49-0-2 record against eight different NESCAC schools. (Colby and Midd never played the Black Knights.)

Not sure how valuable all that is for current comparison purposes, but still, cool site.

Quote from: frank uible on August 26, 2013, 11:35:16 AM
My SWAG is that NESCAC is between the 40s among DIII conferences.

SomeWhat Aducated Guess?

banfan, I've been reading your posts for some time now, and I'd like to add my voice to the chorus questioning your dour attitude. Your dislike of Middlebury is obvious, and your continual attacks on Coach Ritter and Coach Early, as well as McCallum Foote, the Middlebury offensive line, and the Middlebury defense are a bit perturbing. It almost makes one wonder where all the anger comes from...

We get it: Trinity beat Middlebury, and Trinity beat Middlebury soundly. It was clear to anyone in Hartford on October 27 Trinity was a far better team--on that field on that date. As has been repeatedly pointed out to you, one game is not the sole determinant of a football team's abilities, and Middlebury has repeatedly shown itself to be more able on other fields and other days.

Middlebury chooses a different method for winning football games than many others in the NESCAC, and one obviously very different from Trinity's. It's a method that relies heavily on throwing the football, and a method that asks its players to do different things than other teams demand. I'm not sure when throwing the football began to suggest a lack of character on the part of the playcallers, as the forward pass has been legal for over a century, but there's no arguing Middlebury has been pretty successful this year using this method. There's also no reason here to get into why a team like Trinity is able to dominate physically all over the field while Middlebury has to take to the air to win.

So it goes: different teams play to different strengths. It's one of the beauties of football, and it's fun to talk about. It's not much fun to read you tearing people down because of those strengths.

Banfan, while game situations obviously play a role, Middlebury throws the ball a lot because Middlebury throws the ball a lot—that's what they do. Look at the conference record books: recently graduated quarterback Donald McKillop is near the top in every passing stat, including attempts. (I'll also note Middlebury has run 50 more offensive plays than anyone in the conference, inflating the passing attempts stats a bit, and Remi Ashkar actually leads the NESCAC in carries with 129. It may be a pass-first offense, but it's not a pass-only offense.)

Your 'Foote will be afoot' line, in addition to giving me a good chuckle, made me think a little more about what we might expect when Foote goes to pass on Saturday.

Trinity does have a very good pass rush—they lead the NESCAC in sacks with 18, including five in the season opening win over Colby. However, a look at the numbers on the other side reveals an equally interesting story.

Foote has dropped back 283 times this year. (271 passes plus 12 rushing attempts, all of which are scrambles or sacks, because they don't call runs for him.) He's been sacked five times—that's under 2%. This is even though Middlebury has faced four teams in the top five in the NESCAC in sacks.

For a point of comparison, the rest of the league has dropped back around 1,328 times. (1,222 passes plus 106 sacks, and while this doesn't include scrambles, the numbers should approximate what we're looking for.) Those 106 sacks in 1,328 attempts are just shy of 8%.

Foote is therefore about four times less likely to get sacked than the average NESCAC quarterback. So, while the Trinity front is very good at bringing pressure, we can see the Middlebury offense is pretty good at repelling it. One thing we can agree on, Banfan: Saturday should be interesting.