Quote from: Bartman on September 02, 2025, 07:54:59 AMWEEK #1 PREDICTIONS Finally, the 2025 season begins.

BUFFALO ST. (10).  v.  BROCKPORT(35)
SLU (24)           v.  OLIVET(17)
ALFRED(14).        v.  HOBART(31)
ITHACA(14).        v.  JOHNS HOPKINS(31)
SUSQUEHANNA(38).   v.  UNION(14)
St.VINCENT (31).   v.  HILBERT(10)
RPI (28).          v   WPI(10)
ROCHESTER(24).     v.  OLIVET(17)

Good luck to all.         

Olivet is going to lose a doubleheader???

Quote from: unionpalooza on December 10, 2024, 04:36:45 PM

Quote from: UfanBill on December 09, 2024, 05:38:59 PM

Quote from: tony/troy on December 08, 2024, 10:30:16 PM

Quote from: UfanBill on December 07, 2024, 08:09:40 PMGreat to see eastern teams continue to prove themselves against national competition. Things have surely shifted. I was not surprised that Springfield came to play today since their ground game has been rolling and Cortland isn't the 2023 Dragons. Susquehanna knocking off St. John's was gold and JHU and Salibury showed Maryland strong. Nice...All great programs.  

BTW as a Union fan I'm trying hard to forget the disappointment of this past season. It started with only having 4 scheduled home games and the struggle became apparent quickly in a scrimmage against lowly Hartwick. The Garnet never got it right and 3-7 was exactly where they deserved to be. My sources tell me Union's OOC schedule for next season should include the two agreed upon E8 vs LL opponents(I heard Cortland and Utica?) and Susquehanna. Not sure about Springfield since with Hilbert joining the LL there's now room for only 3 OOC games. 2025 looms just as formidable and forgettable. I hope coach Drach brings in some studs. 

So should Union really be playing Cortland and Utica in 2025 and we also already know Cortland will be playing Ithaca every year, Cortland is "off the board" as far as the 2025 LL/E8 interlock goes.

Should anyone find out anything else besides the above about the eastern side of the 2025 interlock post it.

If and when "enough precincts report their results" then everyone in the east can "project their interlock pairings" for 2025 by process of elimination.

Some of the eastern LL websites sometimes take forever to post upcoming schedules. Would be nice to know before forever.

 

Unless the plan has changed the original press release concerning the Liberty League vs Empire 8 scheduling agreement(https://empire8.com/news/2024/6/19/empire-8-and-liberty-league-announce-football-non-conference-scheduling-agreement.aspx) states..."This agreement will see members of both conferences fill vacancies within their respective schedules with nonconference opponents, with each institution playing two contests (one home, one away) against opponents from the other conference.

yeah, the announcement was pretty unclear as to whether or not Cortaca "counts" as one of the two interplay games.  My hunch is generally no - most years both teams will have two interplay games in addition to Cortaca, exactly for every fourth year when they otherwise would get each other in the regular rotation.  Those interplay games will be in Week 2/3, except that Cortaca can flex to Week 11 when it's a "interplay" game and not an "extra" OOC game.

I for one can't wait for interplay.  Games against every E8 squad every four years sound awesome.  Union v. Brockport and Cortland and Alfred (again)!  Sort of how I felt when Ithaca joined the LL.  These games are way more fun than Montclair or Worcester St. or Oliver. 

Though still hate we had to take in Hilbert as part of the deal.  The far west wing of the LL continues to make no sense.

Only time will tell if I what I heard back when is right, wrong or just be total BS but:

1) LONG STANDING ANNUAL rivalry games between teams from opposite conferences, namely Cortica and I90, would remain annual and be INCLUDED in the two games for all the teams involved.

2) The whole idea behind this agreement was to both reduce the total of needed non conference games from 4 to 3 AND to fill 2 of those 3 with lower cost games requiring no overnight stays and accompanying meals for travelling parties of 70 or so. With the possible exception of whenever SLU and Hartwick play each other, this agreement would do that every single time.

3) Thus, in order to contain costs, the four eastern LL teams (RPI, Union, SLU and Ithaca) will only be playing the four eastern E8 teams (Cortland, Utica, Morrisville and Hartwick). With the exception of the previously mentioned non annual SLU Hartwick matchup, the cost all games would be only two buses for one day each and fast food for the same day trip back home.

4) Obviously, the same would be desired for the west. Only problem is that the west started with 5 from the E8 but only three from the LL. So somebody had to be magically be transformed from a E8 team to a LL team and that somebody was Hilbert. Thus, in order to contain costs, the now four western LL teams (Buffalo State, new to the LL Hilbert, Rochester and Hobart) will only be playing the remaining four western E8 teams (Alfred, new to the E8 Alfred State, Brockport and St. John Fisher). With no exceptions, the cost all games would be only two buses for one day each and fast food for the same day trip back home.

5) Only guessing, but, choosing Hilbert as the team to move probably has something to do with geography and total miles traveled though I will be damned if I can figure out exactly what that is.     

Quote from: UfanBill on December 07, 2024, 08:09:40 PMGreat to see eastern teams continue to prove themselves against national competition. Things have surely shifted. I was not surprised that Springfield came to play today since their ground game has been rolling and Cortland isn't the 2023 Dragons. Susquehanna knocking off St. John's was gold and JHU and Salibury showed Maryland strong. Nice...All great programs.  

BTW as a Union fan I'm trying hard to forget the disappointment of this past season. It started with only having 4 scheduled home games and the struggle became apparent quickly in a scrimmage against lowly Hartwick. The Garnet never got it right and 3-7 was exactly where they deserved to be. My sources tell me Union's OOC schedule for next season should include the two agreed upon E8 vs LL opponents(I heard Cortland and Utica?) and Susquehanna. Not sure about Springfield since with Hilbert joining the LL there's now room for only 3 OOC games. 2025 looms just as formidable and forgettable. I hope coach Drach brings in some studs.   

So should Union really be playing Cortland and Utica in 2025 and we also already know Cortland will be playing Ithaca every year, Cortland is "off the board" as far as the 2025 LL/E8 interlock goes.

Should anyone find out anything else besides the above about the eastern side of the 2025 interlock post it.

If and when "enough precincts report their results" then everyone in the east can "project their interlock pairings" for 2025 by process of elimination.

Some of the eastern LL websites sometimes take forever to post upcoming schedules. Would be nice to know before forever.

 

Quote from: Bartman on October 07, 2024, 11:23:13 PMJohnny U, Great old film of some big shoulder pads on the Statesmen.Hobart was 5-4 that season and the 28-3 loss to Ithaca on the film was our worst of the season. We also played Canisius and LIU back then, but Ithaca has always been tough to beat, that's why Saturday was a big deal.
 As far as the visitor stands we had a full side at the old Boswell Bowl which was in the middle of the campus. Back in the early 1970's the old Boswell Bowl was the scene of some pretty famous lacrosse contests including the 15 pound lake trout game, gutted and hurled at the Cornell bench as a suggested sushi meal for the Big Red.  The new stadium was put up about 1974 with stands on one side as far as I remember.

Wooden bleachers did exist on the visitor's side in the mid 2000's. Drove out to Hobart both in 2005 and 2007 (had to look that up). Watched both games standing on the top "plank" of those bleachers leaning against a metal railing.

The earlier game was a triple OT RPI loss while the later one was an RPI win in the last seconds.

One thing that is undebatable nor based on often faulty memory is that Boswell has the best nearby food options in the Liberty League or possibly anywhere in D3 football. Arby's right across the street and the Wegmans deli not that much further. Forget about that anywhere else.

Quote from: UfanBill on September 17, 2024, 03:16:45 PMUnion travels to play Springfield this Friday at 7:00. The Pride have their option rushing attack rolling having racked up 362 yards rushing in a 38-32 win over crosstown rival WNE. and 557 yards in steamrolling Husson 76-7. Union has fared well against Springfield in the past, winning the last 5 match-ups. Last year the Garnet held the Pride to 150 yards rushing. They'll have to crank up the offense because with new coaching comes new schemes and I think they'll have trouble stopping Springfield's option this time.

Alas the game is being streamed on the NEWMAC Network which uses FLO Sports which is $99.99 yearly or $14.99/month. 
It appears that next week's game at Montclair St. is also a paid subscription broadcast.

As the old saying goes, where there there is smoke there is fire. From Wiki there is the following "observation" about Flo. Enough to keep me clear of it. It reads:

For several years their subscription model has emphasized the per-month price, while the actual subscription was billed annually.[46][47] As a consequence, in 2022 a class action lawsuit was filed against FloSports in New York federal court due to their business practices. The suit claimed that FloSports 'misleads customers into believing they are only being charged a monthly fee — rather than the full annual fee — when they first sign up for the sports streaming service.'[48] FloSports later settled this case out of court in November 2023.[49]

P.S. A second competing streaming service you sometimes come across when wishing to view these games is a subsidiary of a company that is supposedly in financial distress. Not exactly a comfortable landing spot for sensitive personal information.

Conclusion: Stay the hell away from all of them. Instead and where or when available, turn on your radio or connect to a free audio feed that does not require you to provide sensitive information (if there is one). Never heard of anyone ever having a "problem" because they listened to a radio.   

Quote from: Ice Bear on September 13, 2024, 08:40:50 PMI can't stand that FloTV. I agree Mach. I was not happy when I saw that. Garbage. Glad to see RPI handling business though. 32 points is a good sign for the O.

Glad to hear how bad Flo is as I refused to pay for video. Did not like the Flo options and policies. Giving these people access to my credit card or the accompanying information gave me the willies.

Instead of allowing you to pay for a single event, they want you to pay up front for an entire month (about $15).
Then it is YOU who have to go through a bunch of gyrations to cancel before the month expires or they will automatically charge your card for a second month. They require you to agree to that. Not on my watch!!!

As a safety valve, I did briefly consider checking with my credit card company to see if they would only allow a charge from Flo on or about 9/13 but then reject any charges from Flo after that date (in case their online only cancellation procedures has "unforeseeable glitches"). However, if you even consider that, it means you simply don't know or trust this outfit well enough to give them personal information.

Thank you for telling me I did not end up spending money on a product that sucked anyway. Please follow up a month of so from now and tell us if the refund policy is legit or "problematic" (if you cancel).

     

Quote from: Bartman on August 28, 2024, 09:26:19 PMWatched Zac Boyes carve up the Hobart secondary tonight as Hobart scrimmaged Cortland. What an incredible talent , and he didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat.I would be surprised if the Red Dragons do not go undefeated and have a deep run in the playoffs. Hobart did stop Cortland on 2 of the first 4 drives , but the Hobart offense had an an enemic passing game but could run at times. They didn't keep score on the scoreboard, but it probably was forty something to 3( a 43 yard field goal) although I might have missed a score as I left the game for 15 minutes.The bottom line is Cortland is very very good and Hobart has a lot of work to do before opening night against Alfred. .

It happened this week so just laugh. If it happens again next week when it counts then you worry. Not likely with the long standing pedigree of the program.

Back in 2003, RPI was tied at the half with the soon to be national champion in the SEMI FINAL GAME!!!

They did not start 2003 with a scrimmage against a defending national champion. They started it with a scrimmage against a local community college. RPI LOST!!!

As best as I recall, the then RPI coach played the starters on both sides of the ball for a couple of series each then spent the rest of the day looking at everybody else. Probably how he got to a national semi final. The local CC played as if it was their national championship game. The CC was also was pretty good that year but went no further than their first postseason game. Maybe that coach should have looked at more players on scrimmage day.

Quote from: Bartman on August 28, 2024, 08:54:35 AMNo surprises with the LL preseason coaches poll:

1.      Ithaca
2.      Union
3(tie)  RPI(one first place vote)
        Hobart
5.      Rochester
6.(tie) Buffalo State
        Saint Lawrence

Home field could be a factor this year. Hobart has Ithaca and Union at the Boz, but will travel to RPI. Ithaca has RPI at home, Union has Ithaca and RPI at home, RPI has Hobart at home.

Union DOES NOT have RPI at home.

Quote from: Bartman on July 26, 2024, 09:38:25 AM

Quote from: unionpalooza on July 25, 2024, 05:42:42 PM

Quote from: IC798891 on July 25, 2024, 01:45:35 PMI think these rankings are fair given what the teams in question lost.

I think we're really underestimating the losses of Lapp and Burgess for Cortland. They didn't rack up especially gaudy stats, but the fact remains that two receivers that NFL teams are interested in were sharing the field. The way that teams had to defend Cortland is going to drastically change, and Cortland will have to adjust. They'll go 10-0, but I'm not sure the offense will be *that* unstoppable.

Ithaca is losing OL talent, two elite defenders, and have a lot to prove at WR/QB. They are possibly going to be better than their record indicates, but I could still see a really good Ithaca team with 4 losses

Agree with all this.  If anything the rankings for Ithaca and Union are a little generous, given where they ended last year and what they lose on paper.  Both teams return some good talent but have some major questions, and I could see either team finishing anywhere between 10-0 and 6-4.

Where I think the poll whiffed is on RPI, who got no votes, but was within a score of beating Ithaca, Union and Carnegie Mellon last year and on paper returns more than the rest of the LL.  But given recency bias, preseason polls are typically not that good at identifying teams like that are on the rise.

I've got RPI as the favorite this year, especially with their ability to get up for Ithaca and get in their heads. Ithaca will always be strong given the size of the school and ability to attract good coaches and prospects with a nice array of majors to choose from(their addition to the LL improved the overall athletic footprint of the LL across all sports). I think Union looks like Coach Drach has a shot and with his QB background, he should make Union an interesting offense, it will all depend on his preparation on game day  execution.Hobart will be competitive but they have a lot of skill/speed positions to fill, so I have them fourth. It could also be time for the Saints to weigh in on things again. Looking forward to the season

Bart: RPI's defense, in recent years a large part of their success, took a big hit with the loss of their DC to Cornell. Really good guy who everyone likes and respects but probably everyone has heard the joke about Cornell being where coaching careers go to die. Hope it does not swallow up this guy (unless he eventually comes back here!!!).

Any idea what the deal is with what apparently looks like Hobart requesting 3 P.M. start times for away games??? Is it cost saving related allowing them to bus both ways on Saturday and avoid overnight accommodations and meals???

Sure hope this does not catch on conference wide as this conflicts with the 3:30 P.M. time slot when most of the better big college games begin on TV!!!

Don't think a whole lot of D3 football fans (especially those who live close to their home venues) are going to like not being able to zip home and watch the mid afternoon big school games. Noon and 1 works better for them.

Come to think of it, also does not work all that well for certain D3 football fans (guess which ones) whose schools also have "pretty fair" D3 hockey programs that play at 7 P.M. For those who drive to at least some of their teams' away football games, they are really going to hate this if it catches on conference wide!!!     

Quote from: Bartman on July 19, 2024, 02:32:54 PM

Quote from: IC798891 on July 17, 2024, 12:54:50 PMI did not realize Hobart lost essentially all their skill player production. I knew about RB1 and RB2 graduating obviously (It had to happen one of these decades). Did not realize that the pass catchers were also losing so much.

But! There are worse places to be in than returning nearly your entire offensive line and your QB. A strong line levels up RBs. And Colombi has been in the system for a few years. QBs can take leaps late in careers. Tyler Johnson of Alfred went supernova as a senior and hung like 500 yards and 6 TDs on Mount Union in the playoffs. Maybe Colombi gets comfortable behind that line and E.J Taylor is the next excellent Hobart RB and they can surprise people.

I think they might not be at the level we have seen them in the past few years — few teams who graduate that much talent can be — but still good enough to be the sort of "feisty team you don't want to play on the road"

I'm just hoping the Staesmen are feisty enough to give Ithaca a real fight and possibly an upset at home. There will be a lot of opportunity for the 49 Freshman recruits and last years underclassmen to get some critical experience for this year and the future of the program. I like the decision to go down to Randolph Macon(not sure what they return) where we can measure ourselves against a top talent program early in the season . DeWall will be super motivated against Union since his old coaching partner will be looking to take a scalp in Geneva.  I love "transition" years for what they can offer in the way of surprises in identifying new talent and delivering a win against Ithaca/Union or RPI when it is not expected.

Don't know if it will do Hobart or WSC a whole lot of good for athletics in general, but, found out from a young gal working a summer job at a local gas mart that she will be doing her senior year at WSC after her school closed down last spring.

She said it was part of a deal between the two entities that allows the kids from the defunct college to not only transfer ALL their credits to Hobart/WSC but also do so at the tuition level of the defunct school and not the $60,000 or so Hobart/WSC charges these days. She also said that she will be joined this September at Hobart/WSC by about 60 to 70 familiar faces from here old stomping grounds. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me for kids who had their college yanked out from under them.

The only negative I see is that Wells did not play football at all nor play anything else particularly well!!! 

Hope this attachment worked. Unlike many other people these days, sure looks like Moravian is in a New York State of mind.

Quote from: Bartman on November 13, 2023, 12:31:09 PM
ECAC Bowls:

Utica vs Hobart at the BOZ 

Widener vs. RPI at Troy

Brockport vs Carnegie Mellon

Merchant Marine vs. Washington & Jefferson

LL gets two great games to defend the Conference. I think these 4 games might be better than some of the first round NCAA match ups.

Weirdest damned pairings (Brockport at Carnegie Mellon, Utica at Hobart, Merchant Marine at Washington and Jefferson and Widener at RPI) I have ever seen at least on what appear to be sensible "seedings" based on won lost records with ties broken by strength of schedule. It appears the committee simply paired "seeds" one and two, then three and four, then five and six, then seven (RPI) and eight against each other with the lower "seed" always traveling. Looks like they punished the higher achievers with a tougher game and rewarded lower achievers with easier games. What sense does that make???

Were these weird pairings done to save money?? Nope!!! The way they did it results in 1,040 miles traveled lasting a total of 16 hours (longest trip 6:20) requiring three overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Instead, pairing Brockport at Carnegie Mellon (same), Washington and Jefferson at Hobart (or vice versa), Widener at Merchant Marine (or vice versa) and RPI AT Utica (or vice versa) would have only resulted in 860 miles traveled lasting a total of 13 hours (longest trip 5:00) requiring only two overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Point is if any of these guys on this committee are in the financial planning and advising business, absolutely do not hire them to handle your money!!!

Other than that point I have no reason to complain as I get another game just 4 miles from my home. Needless to say, I saw no logical way that could ever happen.

As for the game itself, we get an opponent from a much lower ranked conference (13th while the Liberty League is 6th out of 28). Personnel wise they only average 2.9 per carry on the ground against our good but not great against good teams run defense that allows 3.3 per carry. Passing wise, their all year starter only completes under 52% of his passes in a lesser league while RPI's learning on the job freshman QB is just under 60% in the Liberty League.

While games are played by people on fields and not on paper or computers, this does appear to be a made to order opponent that a win should be expected against assuming the home team is motivated for what is generally considered a secondary bowl.

Quote from: Bartman on November 04, 2023, 03:56:16 PM

Quote from: Machiavelli on November 04, 2023, 02:11:13 PM

Quote from: Ice Bear on November 04, 2023, 02:07:04 PM
Ted Baker (one of my all time favorites), best quote of the first half (and there were a lot to choose from), "I hope the Hobart DB's are taking note that in this game you can grab both shoulder pads of the receiver when covering. I know I'm supposed to be a good boy but come on..."

Excuse me if I misquoted a word or two, but you get my gist. Baker is absolutely one of my favorites. Great game so far. 14-10 Engineers at the half.

'One of my favorites'...oof. Your taste is not impressive. It's pretty god awful to listen to.

THE BOZ CAN NOT BE ENGINEERED. HOMER ANNOUNCERS ARE PART OF IT. Good luck next week to the Engineers and the Union Dogs/Chargers/Colonizing Dutchmen in what should be a dogfight(pun intended) in the Shoeless Bowl

Hobart announcer gets a shout out from this eastern NY quadrant. More familiar with this guy than most from this area as I do watch webcasts of Hobart hockey and he does most/all of the home games.

Sure we know who he likes and would prefer to win but it's never to the point of annoyance. The guy is plain and simple good.

Was planning to see if he got from football to the rink on time for a 4 P.M. hockey game but the damned yard got a falling leaf deluge that had to be dealt with pronto.

Quote from: Bartman on November 03, 2023, 11:30:07 PM

Quote from: unionpalooza on November 03, 2023, 02:17:14 PM

Quote from: Ice Bear on November 03, 2023, 01:55:17 PM

Quote from: Garnet on November 03, 2023, 01:21:17 PM

A dog? A dog named Charger?

And the circle of dumbness that is the Union College name change is complete. 

From Union's earlier press release:  "[T]he College has not had an active mascot to represent its nickname in nearly a decade, and the nicknames under consideration provide us with more exciting mascot options than the current names offer."

And then they pick a name that's even harder to represent that Dutchmen and make the mascot .... A dog?  If we're just going to go with a random mascot, we should have gone with something awesome, like a giant rabbit with big pointy teeth.

A think that's a Hare...saw a huge one with pointy teeth on a golf course in Ireland.....super scary...Charger...The Union Hare

Kind of takes me back to when the Engineers wanted to become Redhawks instead of Engineers. Never thought I would ever see anything worse or more stupid than their new Redhawk mascot that more resembled a chicken (and a red one at that) than any hawk. You just had to see this stupid thing to believe it. Needless to say, it went over in this area about as well as the laughable grand opening of the utterly gross Krispy Kreme donut franchise and lasted about as long.

Getting back to football, it sure looks like the top part of the Liberty League standings is going Pool C (however realistic) or nothing. As of close of business today, not a single one of them has declared for an ECAC game and it is getting awful late.

Regardless of how the game turns out tomorrow, looking forward to listening to the Hobart broadcaster (a good one) doing an hysterical Monarch Notes (for those old enough) version of the wrap up all the while talking as fast as the guy from the old Federal Express commercials and abruptly ending it with a "that's all from here now it's on to the Cooler". Then it's kind of fun to check the other webcast to see if he got to the Cooler by 4 P.M.

Taking a wild guess that the guy does not have to weave his way through a bevy of narrow low speed streets lined with nice and well maintained middle class homes to get to the Cooler like you have to in order to get to the old minor league ballpark.

Just in case it happens again, does anybody remember (or care to remember) what happened the last the last time the Federal government shutdown (2013) during the college football season???

The then Liberty League Merchant Marine cadets had to all go home for three weeks and three games went poof. One (RPI) was made up later but two others (Rochester and then also Liberty League Springfield) were never made up.

However, all other military institutions cadets kept going to class and played all their games regardless of what division they played in.

As best as I recall, the reason for that was that all the others were either under the Federal Department of Defense or part of a SUNY system of which neither were affected by the shutdown. However, the Merchant Marine was under the Federal Department of Transportation and DOT was shut down.

About the only silver lining I can think of this time around is that at least our Liberty League will not have to deal with it. This time around it is somebody else's problem.