FB: Middle Atlantic Conference

[jmcozenlaw]

tweisman - Some have more of an "inside track" to information, but nobody has the market cornered. When Jason states that Wesley will be in the NJAC, it is an opinion, and they probably will be for several years to come. The NJAC, like many other conferences in the Northeast, will undergo changes over time, it's just a matter of how much change and who it affects.

I happen to know, from very firsthand accounts (feasibility studies, fundraising, etc.) that DeSales, Messiah, Arcadia, Eastern and a few other schools have looked at adding football. Most will not (will not name names here). One will. Two might. That's about it. You may very well see that 12 team MAC and a championship game, but not for several years.

This is my opinion, based on facts as I know them, and how the conference shuffle spins down the road is anybody's guess. If anybody, and I do mean anybody thinks they know......they don't.

Jmcozenlaw:

I'm glad to hear your okay after that accident. I enjoy your insightful posts as it seems you are more informed than people realize. I completely understood that nobody truly knows everything unless they are running point on operations, but I was curious to hear either what others opinions are or maybe some inside rumbles they may have heard. It seems like you definitely are closer to those rumblings than others may believe.

I'm not surprised other institutions have thought about sponsoring football, but I'm intrigued to see who would be next to get this conference to 12 members and finally have a conference championship. I'm curious to see the schedule setup for when it does happen. My hunch would be two divisions of six teams. Each team would play the other 5 divisional opponents, a permanent crossover conference opponent, 2 rotational cross division opponents, and a non conference opponent. The final week (Championship Weekend) would match division #1 vs division #1, division #2 vs. division #2, and etc. I believe the Midwest conference does something similar their final week. This ensures every team plays a 10 game schedule with 9 conference games total.

Below is what I think would be a likely divisional setup as it already would follow the conference setup for other sports:

MAC Commonwealth

• Stevenson
• Widener
• Albright
• Lycoming
• Lebanon Valley
• Alvernia

MAC Freedom

• Delaware Valley
• King's
• FDU Florham
• Misericordia
• Wilkes
• 12th MAC Member

What is everyone's thoughts?

Thanks for the well wishes!! Your 12 team breakdown by division is 100% spot on. Alvernia/Albright are neighbors. Lycoming and LebVal are the "a bit more out west teams" and Widener is the "southern" most team to pair up with Stevenson.

The three NEPA schools (Miserables, King's, Wilkes) are obvious. The one NJ team (FDU) is as well from a geographical standpoint. DelVal is obvious in this division along with either Eastern, DeSales, Arcadia...........and a sleeper who would know that I opened my yap as it is a "secret". Shhhhhh!!

[jmcozenlaw]

I'm not going to comment about the Albright situation other than to say.....................after talking smack all week leading up to the game, on the various forums many millennials use to "communicate", I'm surprised the Albright coach didn't kick most of the varsity players off of the team for that dog-like "contest" against DelVal. Never write a check (or talk smack online) that your mouth can't cash (or something like that!!)

Week Seven Predictions:

Stevenson - 51      LebVal - 17  My preseason #2 takes LebVal to the woodshed as it prepares for home games against Albright and Widenerbman
DelVal - 34      King's - 23      The Aggies don't play their best game after last week's destruction of Albright. King's had down Albright 24-7 before the wheels fell off. King's is not bad this year.

Widenerbman - 34      Lycosimba - 17     If this game doesn't bring the MIA Simba out of hiding........he really is in the Witness Protection Program. Seriously. No joke!!

Eagles - 28      Panthers - 23      Trust me on this one. Take it to the bank!!

Wesley - Some astute poster said that Wesley would run the table after the DelVal loss and that the injury to Falkenburg would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. He also predicted a Wesley run to the National Semifinals. I don't know his name...............but I'll be damned if he isn't one sharp azz cookie!!

[bman]

I didn't get predictions in yesterday, but suffice it to say, I would have been correct in my guesses on 2 of the 3 

- Some notes -
Lyco played a very good first half yesterday, and honestly, I thought WU was in trouble, but WU came out in the 2nd half and dominated, so my worries were for nothing...
Stevenson - Tweis-  now I know why I had that Icky feeling regarding your placement of Stevenson in your rankings (I'll get to that in a bit)...
Del Val dismantled Kings this week...and I was not surprised...They should be the consensus #1 in the East (barring a slip up), and with Leb Val, Misericordia and WU remaining, I don't see that happening.   I (almost) want to take the (long for me) trip to Doylestown to see them in person against WU...Almost.  Maybe I'll wait until the playoffs...

Now - on to the life lesson...
There comes a time where you just have to let go...

Tweis...it's that time.  It's time to acknowledge that it's not just mistakes and bad luck at inopportune times...but to be sure that is somewhat a factor.  The reality, is that Stevenson isn't as good as they have been in the last couple years.  Losing the talent you had, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is not easily replaced.  Stevenson has went from the team pressuring the opponent into mistakes, to the team making the mistake.  That's not bad luck, that's the cycle of MAC football...
Tweis - those of us in the Lyco, WU, Albright counseling circle are here for you brother...pull up a chair!

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

[gordonmann]

That would be fun!

[Warren Thompson]

bman: I know Stevenson is down more than a little this season, but it's still nice to make them look mortal.

[bill]

"hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players....

Bman - when you wrote Cosmo's name, I immediately thought of his Dad from Princeton! I was acquainted with the family back in NJ...did not know the brother, but met dad several times as his daughter and I ran in the same social circles back in high school...Nice blast from the past.

[Bartman]

I didn't get predictions in yesterday, but suffice it to say, I would have been correct in my guesses on 2 of the 3 

- Some notes -
Lyco played a very good first half yesterday, and honestly, I thought WU was in trouble, but WU came out in the 2nd half and dominated, so my worries were for nothing...
Stevenson - Tweis-  now I know why I had that Icky feeling regarding your placement of Stevenson in your rankings (I'll get to that in a bit)...
Del Val dismantled Kings this week...and I was not surprised...They should be the consensus #1 in the East (barring a slip up), and with Leb Val, Misericordia and WU remaining, I don't see that happening.   I (almost) want to take the (long for me) trip to Doylestown to see them in person against WU...Almost.  Maybe I'll wait until the playoffs...

Now - on to the life lesson...
There comes a time where you just have to let go...

Tweis...it's that time.  It's time to acknowledge that it's not just mistakes and bad luck at inopportune times...but to be sure that is somewhat a factor.  The reality, is that Stevenson isn't as good as they have been in the last couple years.  Losing the talent you had, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is not easily replaced.  Stevenson has went from the team pressuring the opponent into mistakes, to the team making the mistake.  That's not bad luck, that's the cycle of MAC football...
Tweis - those of us in the Lyco, WU, Albright counseling circle are here for you brother...pull up a chair!

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

Cosmo Iacavazzi......is that the son of the same name that was an All American at Princeton in the 60's?It must be with a name like that. He was A FB in the Single Wing and famous for flying leap  goal line touchdowns for a Princeton team that was actually ranked #10 in the country at one point...by the way he played both ways as a FB and LB.Cosmo got drafted by the Jets but the flying leap didn't work in the NFL, they caught him and threw him back

[jknezek]

Albright really can't get out of their own way this week but I give them credit for facing the mess they created.

One knelt during the anthem... tossed. Two others didn't kneel during the coin toss... tossed. Headlines start to pile up and the school came back around and said... uhh.... just kidding fellows. Come on back.

Basically the upshot is the punishment was stupidly draconian. Broke a minor team decision? Suspend for a game. Go overboard and make ridiculous headlines you can't get out of... walk it all back.

In the end, it seems like they came to the right conclusion. None of this was important enough to toss players from a team. That being said, it's quite clear the school isn't going to have this again. No more votes, athletes can do what they feel is right.

In other words, voting doesn't and can't create unity. Shocking, I know.

http://albright.edu/a-message-from-the-president.html

[bman]

"hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players....

Bman - when you wrote Cosmo's name, I immediately thought of his Dad from Princeton! I was acquainted with the family back in NJ...did not know the brother, but met dad several times as his daughter and I ran in the same social circles back in high school...Nice blast from the past.

Bill
Admittedly, I forgot about his father until I went on-line to try to find their WRs name(Bucci)...he was a stud, as was their QB.  That's when I ran into the story of Cosmo's father.  Great read and great athlete...
I think it will be fun to bring up and discuss some of the great athletes in MAC history.  I'll try to post 1 player each week from the MAC football members...

[bman]

Albright really can't get out of their own way this week but I give them credit for facing the mess they created.

One knelt during the anthem... tossed. Two others didn't kneel during the coin toss... tossed. Headlines start to pile up and the school came back around and said... uhh.... just kidding fellows. Come on back.

Basically the upshot is the punishment was stupidly draconian. Broke a minor team decision? Suspend for a game. Go overboard and make ridiculous headlines you can't get out of... walk it all back.

In the end, it seems like they came to the right conclusion. None of this was important enough to toss players from a team. That being said, it's quite clear the school isn't going to have this again. No more votes, athletes can do what they feel is right.

In other words, voting doesn't and can't create unity. Shocking, I know.

http://albright.edu/a-message-from-the-president.html

Sometimes, someone has to stand up and inject some common sense now and again...that situation had litigation written all over it...

[@d3jason]

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

I played American Legion ball against Todd back in the 80s. Played at our rival high school of Wellsboro, PA. He married a girl from our high school (Mansfield).

[@d3jason]

Albright really can't get out of their own way this week but I give them credit for facing the mess they created.

One knelt during the anthem... tossed. Two others didn't kneel during the coin toss... tossed. Headlines start to pile up and the school came back around and said... uhh.... just kidding fellows. Come on back.

Basically the upshot is the punishment was stupidly draconian. Broke a minor team decision? Suspend for a game. Go overboard and make ridiculous headlines you can't get out of... walk it all back.

In the end, it seems like they came to the right conclusion. None of this was important enough to toss players from a team. That being said, it's quite clear the school isn't going to have this again. No more votes, athletes can do what they feel is right.

In other words, voting doesn't and can't create unity. Shocking, I know.

http://albright.edu/a-message-from-the-president.html

Who knew this topic could be so divisive. Nobody! 

[bman]

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

I played American Legion ball against Todd back in the 80s. Played at our rival high school of Wellsboro, PA. He married a girl from our high school (Mansfield).

You're old...

[bill]

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

I played American Legion ball against Todd back in the 80s. Played at our rival high school of Wellsboro, PA. He married a girl from our high school (Mansfield).

You're old...

I have to second that. If I graduated HS in the 1980's and can't remember that, you must be old!

[jmcozenlaw]

tweisman - Our bad picks continued last week as I had Stevenson by 34 and you had them by 23.................and LebVal beat them. They need to strap it up and take Albright and Widener to the woodshed at home these next two weeks. As I didn't see the Stevenson @ LebVal game, what the heck happened??? After a mediocre Franklin & Marshall team beat LebVal 51-0 to open the season, I thought that it was going to be another long season in Annville. It looks like the LebVal game at DelVal in 8 days might be a tight slugfest!!

Week 8 Predictions:

Wilkes - 20 @ FDU - 38     Two winless teams playing out the stretch with no defenses and little to no running games. Women's Hoops can't start soon enough at FDU!!
LebVal - 47 @ Miserables - 20     If you beat Stevenson, my preseason #2 last week..........you should whack Les Miserables with the recent momentum by the team in Annville.

Stevenson - 23  Albright - 20    I thought this game would be for the MAC title in the preseason. Based on Stevenson giving DelVal a much better game, I'm going with the home team by a FG.

Eagles - 24     Redskins - 20     The miracle season continues for the team predicted by the "experts" to finish at 7-9 and last in the NFC East. Thank you Cleveland for Carson Wentz!!
Penn State - 30     Michigan - 20     The white out partying has been in full force since yesterday!!

Simba - Where the heck are you??