MBB: MAC Freedom League

ColonelJohn4Life · April 30, 2006, 01:48:55 AM

Heh, "Let's Go Expos". That's funny... because the Expos... hhuuuuhhhh

I named my team after my first baseman, "Albert's Poo-holes". Almost named them after my shortstop. "The Furcalcoholics"

My only concern with putting games like Scranton / Wilkes at the Wachovia Arena... one or two games recently haven't sold out the Long / Marts Center, let alone a 10,000 seat hockey arena. And a King's Marywood game, well, you could count the attendance on Mordecai Brown's throwing hand.

My secondary concern... how well can the guards be expected to pivot on ice? Can the big men really post up - how do they get leverage??

NEPAFAN · May 01, 2006, 09:20:46 AM

Speaking of baseball, congrats to Scranton's baseball team. Best season since the 1980s. They have constantly been for lack of a better word, terrible and terrible for a long time. Looks like they are turning it around.

Warren Thompson · May 10, 2006, 05:48:32 PM

Per Pat's front page this afternoon, Arcadia and Manhattanville will become members of the MAC Freedom. With Drew's defection, this means the Freedom will have nine venues.

At the same time, with the retreat of Juniata, Moravian, and Susquehanna to "greener" pastures elsewhere, the MAC Commonwealth will have all of five participants.

[Question: in the interests of balanced membership, will the MAC officials now decree that certain Freedom members move to the Commonwealth? Or is it possible that some new institutions will enter the latter?]

phil · May 10, 2006, 08:02:04 PM

Arcadia and Manhattanville huh ... I guess the other Freedom ADs will be sleeping soundly with these additions!

ronk · May 10, 2006, 10:42:10 PM

Lycoming was missing from the list of Freedom members; inadvertent or are they moving to the Commonwealth?

Gregory Sager · May 11, 2006, 01:45:18 AM

Wasn't Arcadia University one of the two schools created when Duran Duran University split in half back in the eighties?

phil · May 11, 2006, 09:11:40 AM

Gregory,
The other being Power Station University at Le Bon?

If nothing else, I'm sure the folks from the former Beaver College will enjoy those away game trips to Purchase, New York!

Seems like the MAC folks did a lot of work to find athletic programs which won't upset the status quo ... and that's as polite as I can put it.

Warren Thompson · May 11, 2006, 09:32:45 AM

Quote from: phil on May 11, 2006, 09:11:40 AM
If nothing else, I'm sure the folks from the former Beaver College will enjoy those away game trips to Purchase, New York!

As will the people from Wilkes, King's, and Scranton. A trek from the Coal Regions to the northern suburbs of New York City ain't exactly a stroll in the park. On the other hand, the bus trips will provide ample time for catching up on homework assignments (say, a complete reading of several Platonic Dialogues or a couple of chapters from Wittgenstein's Tractatus).

Warren Thompson · May 11, 2006, 10:40:54 AM

Per the MAC Web-site: effective 01 August 2007, Lycoming will move to the MAC Commonwealth.

phil · May 11, 2006, 10:44:33 AM

Scranton to Purchase, NY – the home of Mastercard:

• 270 Miles round-trip on mini-van or bus
• 5+ Hours to contemplate the upcoming game and its result
• The look in a kid's eyes as they see the Gordian Knot of rush hour traffic known as the Tappan Zee Bridge for the very first time ... PRICELESS

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NEPAFAN · May 11, 2006, 10:51:26 AM

Quote from: Warren Thompson on May 11, 2006, 10:40:54 AM
Per the MAC Web-site: effective 01 August 2007, Lycoming will move to the MAC Commonwealth.

I am assuming Lyco volunteered for this? No big implications for the Freedom basketball wise I would think with the two new teams....

Warren Thompson · May 11, 2006, 10:57:50 AM

Quote from: phil on May 11, 2006, 10:44:33 AM
Scranton to Purchase, NY – the home of Mastercard:

• 270 Miles round-trip on mini-van or bus
• 5+ Hours to contemplate the upcoming game and its result
• The look in a kid's eyes as they see the Gordian Knot of rush hour traffic known as the Tappan Zee Bridge for the very first time ... PRICELESS

"PRICELESS," as well: when the Manhattanville players see their first cow on their first farm, their first abandoned coal mine with piles of mine-tailings, and drink in the beauty of downtown Scranton and Wilkes-Barre (BTW lest anyone think I'm unfairly picking on the Coal Regions, I need to point out that the Valiant ice hockey team has doubtless already experienced the charm of Lebanon County and our very own abandoned steel mill).

Gregory Sager · May 12, 2006, 05:16:29 AM

Quote from: phil on May 11, 2006, 10:44:33 AM
Scranton to Purchase, NY – the home of Mastercard:

And PepsiCo, IBM, and Texaco as well.

My upstate high school played Harrison High of Purchase in the state basketball tournament when I was a teenager. I remember some of my schoolmates holding up a sign that said, "Purchase New York: You can have it at cost for $24". Such is the upstater sentiment for the burg at the butt end of New York State, and its environs.

ColonelJohn4Life · May 14, 2006, 04:06:06 AM

Per the front page:
Arcadia joins Wilkes, King's, Scranton, DeSales, Delaware Valley and FDU-Florham in the Freedom Conference for basketball.
My credit to whoever did that listing, starting with the epicenter of Freedom League basketball, and working geographically outwards. Clearly, relevance is based upon proximity to the Marts Center. Many people would list institutions alphabetically, but for the Freedom League, it seems senseless to lead with Delaware Valley.

I'm surprised at the following:
1.) Drew leaves, FDU stays. If we got rid of one of them, for the love of God, couldn't we get rid of both of them?? [Insert Adam Burdett rant on New Jersey HERE.] Those two schools, literally across the street from one another, should be in the same conference.
2.) Lycoming to the Commonwealth. It makes sense geographically for them, but I have to admit, I'll miss Lamade Indoor Stadium.
3.) Arcadia, I get. Manhattanville? Won't EVERY single road game in every sport be a tremendous road trip for them? Ugh, and with the gas prices, suddenly, there's going to be a lot less money to go around and fake scholarships for athletes... I mean, ummm... purchase sneakers, field hockey sticks, and soccer nets.

Let the Colonel Crazies start making signs about Beaver College...

Knightstalker · May 14, 2006, 08:05:59 AM

I think I know why or part of the reason why Drew left the MAC. I was watching the NJ12 news last night and they had a piece on how applications to Drew have almost doubled since they lowered the SAT requirements for the incoming class. Looks like they might be going the way of Caldwell, Bloomfield and a couple of other NJ privates. Is your kid to dumb to get into Seton Hall or Princeton? Does you child have some embarrassing legal issues? Don't worry we have a nice little private school here they can go to and you don't have to be embarrassed when telling where your kids are going to school.