Damn, looks like Jose is on guest status. I was hoping he would expound on the "bigger/more pressing issues"  plaguing the league. I suppose his buddy can do that. I was expecting a more imaginative response more worthy of David Foster Wallace than a desperate, impotent swing at Middlebury, an institution I would guess has a far better LGBTQ rating than Amherst...but all that "radical love and care" I'm sure goes a long way.

Sierra, a very misguided, botched prosecution is what most remember now...obfuscating what they DID do...and it's the boorish, mindless frat-boy acting out at one of our premier academic institutions that I was comparing. Lewd and Lascivious actually is a crime fwiw.

Skud, as for popcorn, whilst, there are some who insist on butter, whilst, others prefer salt and no butter, and whilst, still others choose no butter or salt.

Have a great season guys! I will be mostly preoccupied with UK Wildcats basketball.

Quote from: complexcoach on September 08, 2025, 09:31:48 PM

Quote from: SimpleCoach on September 07, 2025, 09:20:12 AM

Quote from: josemourinho on September 06, 2025, 09:41:03 PMWhat gets lost in the discourse is the fact that most, if not all, of the behavior that Amherst gets criticized for is harmless.

Harmless?  Sure.  But its also perceived as disrespectful, unsportsmanlike, and contemptuous.

SC.

Circling back to this comment in light of the recent posts. For the record, I don't condone Jose's name-calling, and I think that anyone who has been around the Amherst Men's Soccer program knows that it's certainly not part of the ethos we subscribe to. I will say, however, that 'perceived' is an incredibly telling word choice in the response of 'SimpleCoach'. If you had played a high level of soccer, you would understand that almost every team, ever, engages in some degree of 'unsportsmanlike' conduct. Does this excuse this behavior? No, of course not. But I think it's also okay to understand that it's part of the game. There's a pretty rigid disciplinary code in soccer that defines what's accepted and what's not; If Amherst were as 'unsportsmanlike' and 'contemptuous' as you and others describe them, they wouldn't be able to field a team due to yellows, reds, and suspensions -- that is evidently not the case. The 'Amtics' narrative -- where Amherst is the only/prime perpetrator of deplorable behavior -- is boring, and if I had to guess, is more reflective of the contempt that builds against successful programs.

For 'SimpleCoach' and alike, I do not blame you for your lack of first-hand exposure to elite soccer environments (speaking strictly from a playing perspective here), and I urge you to try and visit Latin America or Europe in your lifetime to watch a game in person. You will see passion, aggression, and heightened emotions (much of what the U.S. is missing) -- and this is what soccer is all about. This is why we care. And this is why programs such as Amherst are a hotbed for radical love and care towards one another. Sometimes emotions spill over, and the agonistic spirit (I can provide you some light reading if you want to get up to speed, @PaulNewman) takes over -- this is a part of competition, and is definitely not unique to Amherst and/or soccer. If you think that heightened emotions, physicality, and aggression cross the line of acceptable morality, I invite you to enjoy a less physical, more sophisticated activity, such as croquet, polo, or yachting.

This debacle has obviously unearthed some 'Amhate' and provided everyone the justification and impetus to satiate their Amherst-hating craving; I think it would be better to redirect the conversation back to the remarkable performance this young Amherst team put up against Conn on the weekend. Beating a national contender this early in the season is difficult, and to do so resoundingly (I could not remember the last time Amherst-Conn was decided by more than one goal), speaks to the maturity and grit of a team that is not even close to its final form.

I, for one, am excited for another season of Amherst Soccer, but given recent history, completely understand why the other 407 teams may not be.

CC.

This was impressive. An extremely well done SNL-style caricature of a stereotypical Amherst bro...perhaps AI assisted. Duke lacrosse vibes.

This post was actually more dripping in arrogance and condescension than Jose's entry...if indeed they aren't the same person. And hearing guys who landed on 5th base tell other former D3 and D1 athletes that they have no clue about real competition is really rich. Like, for real, read those posts back to yourselves a few times. You are very smart guys. Don't let your generational, deeply entrenched entitlement keep you from seeing things just a bit more clearly.

Quote from: josemourinho on September 08, 2025, 03:22:49 PMI reject the idea that there is some universally accepted "right" way of playing the game.

"Incel"?

Towards someone who has done more for D3 soccer than you will in 5 lifetimes?

That snazzy Amherst education is working just the way most think an Amherst education does work.

What is the total number of human beings on the planet who care how many national title games Amherst has been in? 135? More than 10% of students on the Amherst campus?

Random drive-by of the site this morning and just stunned to find this discussion.

Agyemang is a great story.  Full stop.  The D3 angle is a fun, side element, especially to D3 fans like us, but in truth has only a very incidental relevance to the overall story.  This should NOT be a story about how self-perceived very savvy middle class and upper middle class parents guide their kids to the most advantageous financial and social outcomes.  Could a guy have gone to ITT Tech instead of college, or a more prestigious D3, or a full-scholly D1?  Would he already be making 85K as a high end mechanic for a trucking or RV company?  Really?

Is there anyone on the planet who believes Duncan Robinson and his parents had an extremely nuanced and brilliant strategy to get him to the Miami Heat and a long, lucrative career in the NBA by going to Williams as a way to get to Michigan as a way to get to the NBA.  No, no, no.  Absolutely not.  Oh, sure, but you said Williams, right?  What an opportunity...where you go with a 98% chance to graduate in 4 years with almost 400K of debt in exchange for a 100K+ job that projects to 1.5 million per year inside of 10 years?

First, kudos to @ecsualum who got offended by me and stormed out a couple of years ago.  He highlighted Agyemang's exploits and overall story.  There is NOTHING to criticize here, EVEN IF ESCU only has a 57% six year graduation rate.  What tf are we doing???  The kid was 17, a good athlete, good soccer player, who enrolled at a local college.  He and his family might not have even known the difference between D3 and D1.  They certainly didn't pick the route because some coach said "come here and your next 40-45 years will be great." 

The kid deserves the credit...and congrats to him even if he never earns another dime as a professional and never plays in a WC...and if he merely ends up being the future coach at a ECSU and makes money off camps..or if he chooses to become homeless and live in the woods.  Who cares??? He's made it to a point that announcers on a national broadcast of the USMNT are tripping over themselves about this kid's ability abd potential. 

All of us defend our choices.  We all made the most brilliant decisions in the end, and all of our kids are now excelling at a level that would have been unimaginable but not for our brilliant, savvy decisions.  And nothing is more savvy apparently than leaving the world of D1 to find the elite academics and fantastic ROIs that we've navigated them into.

Brilliant goal, btw...literally within  minutes of the announcers screaming watch out for this kid. 

Sierra, no doubt your take is a popular one.

I personally don't care if Vermont's players are from Pluto. Still have to convince them to come to Burlington, VT. Or try Huntington, WV. I wish there were more "American" players, but maybe "we" just need to get better. UVM survived an incredible gauntlet and was the underdog every step of the way except for maybe the 1st round. Still a stunning achievement getting thru Hofstra, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Denver, and Marshall...all on the road.

I noticed the large international presence, and sure, I wish it wasn't quite so large...but imo the two most key players for UVM were Americans...and I thoroughly enjoyed a dramatically competitive match, with an actual winner of the game, and the emotionality exhibited showed me that the result means a ton to the team, school, and state.

On a side note, anyone know of non-FB and non-BB D1 athletes on significant NIL deals? Anything prohibiting an athlete in D3 from having NIL deals? My granddaughter turns 1 in four days and just wanna be prepared.

Yet another young top coach heading "home." St John's is indeed a sleeping giant. Make room, GAC, St Olaf, Carleton, Macalester....

The Johnnie's are back!

Quote from: blooter442 on December 17, 2024, 08:34:02 AMNot UMass, and I realize that this post is free of D3 references, but thought it was worth noting that UVM — not Indiana, Georgetown, Stanford, UNC — won the national championship last night. I would have rooted for Marshall against most others, but they won a few years ago and as a Mainer I have a soft spot for Vermont...and we had a local guy (Max Murray, Kennebunk HS) playing CB and getting the "hockey assist" for the equalizer. Second sport from UVM to win a national title after the powerhouse ski program. Great watch. Congrats Catamounts!

I thought Max Murray was Man of the Match. Made critical play after critical play. Of course the last ball by the other CB who had to work his way thru some traffic just to get off the long pass over the top from deep in his defensive third was brilliant.

What a night to be a Vermont Catamount....

UVM 2, Marshall 1 OT1

UVM...2024 D1 National Champions

Quote from: EnmoreCat on December 09, 2024, 05:56:43 PM

Quote from: PaulNewman on December 09, 2024, 05:49:49 PM

Quote from: EnmoreCat on December 09, 2024, 05:25:22 PM

Quote from: PaulNewman on December 09, 2024, 01:21:14 PMApropos of nothing....I've got 6, maybe 7 Amherst College t-shirts.

If anyone wants any or all, they're free...and I'll cover the postage and handling.

A few are L and a few are XL.

That does make me feel a little uncomfortable, perhaps it's the shade of purple...😀

I'm guessing you are an extremely fit XXL...but four of them have never been touched and came directly from the Amherst College Bookstore and a little emerging company called Amazon.

Bang on the money, Paul Newman, technically I may be better described as Enmore BigCat, especially if I started regularly imbibing coffee stouts.

The exciting news for me at least is that I am not far from Downtown Enmore and will be re-watching the final on a big screen later today.  The real treat will be when EnmoreKitten returns at the end of the week and we all get to watch together.

Lol...how many times do you reckon you and the Kitten will watch his PK?

Wanna see my kid's walk-off GW in OT2 versus Denison in 2014 to keep the then #2 Lords unblemished at 12-0-0?

Btw, I've tried to log on as just a guest several times and the site won't seem to let me.  But then I see there are frequently "guests viewing" (like 4 at latest checkand often far more).  I would prefer to have the guest option available.  Any technological insights?

Quote from: EnmoreCat on December 09, 2024, 05:25:22 PM

Quote from: PaulNewman on December 09, 2024, 01:21:14 PMApropos of nothing....I've got 6, maybe 7 Amherst College t-shirts.

If anyone wants any or all, they're free...and I'll cover the postage and handling.

A few are L and a few are XL.

That does make me feel a little uncomfortable, perhaps it's the shade of purple...😀

I'm guessing you are an extremely fit XXL...but four of them have never been touched and came directly from the Amherst College Bookstore and a little emerging company called Amazon.

Hop92, if I could have your optimism and your intelligence I could accomplish some things.

Two discrete issues....alleged death of the site...and what folks are looking at when they are here all day and nothing is happening.

Taking those in reverse, I'm not so much referring to "healthy" posters like yourself who routinely check in once or twice a day and then are more active, but judiciously so, during high activity periods. I'm literally asking what folks like myself and others are doing spending literally hours day and night when absolutely nothing is being posted. Studying trends from old threads could work, as stlawus suggested.

Regarding death, there is no question in my mind that participation is way down, and probably for all the reasons people have noted (COVID, lost season, lost site before re-emerging, older crowd using old platforms, anxiety about jumping in, etc).  There were times when literally hundreds were online at the same time....both registrants and guests.  Even in the middle of this season, there would be days with almost nothing. Some of the more active folks have exited or have severely curtailed their participation (Sager, Flying Weasel, Mr.Right, Flounder, blooter, D4pace, Harmanis, Falconer, the Loras crew, a few Calvin posters, couple of Chicago supporters, etc, etc).

Anyway, I managed when there was no board, as did everyone else, and I'm not complaining in the sense of really caring what happens but I really don't. Now I turn to Celtics and UK bball (just got huge win on road at Gonzaga and have an inspirational and exciting new coach), and my emerging competitive pickleball game with a goal of making at least the Elite 8 of the 65+ Pickleball National Championship.

At any rate, this theme was really a side note on folks complaining about their already media-heavy teams not commanding even more attention...and I wanted them to acknowledge that they themselves have little interest beyond their own programs....so why should I give them attention even though I do? Bandwidth aside, there are folks who are here all day and night even though often not posting much themselves and I suppose waiting to see if anyone posts anything positive or negative about their squad.

As for beating the odds, my mother was diagnosed with leukemia 30+ years ago around age 55.  I'm headed to Greensboro Wednesday to celebrate her 89th birthday. Walks 3 miles a day, has all of her faculties, and could be working full-time. She engages in what I term 'competitive living.'

Back when the board seemed like it was affiliated with D3soccer.com, and before I learned otherwise but never accepted, I relied on (in my own mind) "oh, I'm buried deep in the archives figuring out who Brandeis beat in the 2nd round in 1983" or memorizing the list of national champs and finalists or checking out the scoreboard. 

To hear it's dying -- and I agree -- makes me feel like we are most nobly specialists in palliative care...at the bedside...and waiting.

Stlawus, I am deeply offended by your non-stop assaults on Rochester.

Rochester is your Amherst....except for when Amherst is your Amherst.

Another Vermont team makes a Final 4.

UVM headed to College Cup after dispatching Pittsburgh 2-0.

UMass departs in the Elite 8 as Denver romped 3-0.