FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[gridiron]

Westcoastdad--do you feel sorry for Colby facing Amherst after their loss last week, or for some other reason?

[Trin9-0]

(1) Trinity has felt for years that it is the rightful owner of the NESCAC football title and that it is pure accident that others have won it, so my guess is that they will be out for blood this year.

(2) Losses to Tufts and Bates, granted both away, will end the Cards season early with games coming up against Trinity, Middlebury, and Amherst.

JEFFFAN, that's an interesting take on Trinity feeling ownership of the NESCAC football title. I agree that culture was present when Chuck Priore was coaching the Bantams, and arguably lasted through the 31 game winning streak (and maybe even the 53 game home winning streak). However, my sense is that Devanney has instilled more respect for the other top teams in the league, with Amherst at the very top of that list thanks to their recent dominance.

Also, Wesleyan doesn't play Middlebury this year.

[gridiron]

Painful that each year NESCAC football followers are forced to consider which teams don't play each other that particular season. Admittedly an old subject for veterans on the board, but unfortunate nonetheless NESCAC continues the anachronistic policy of an eight game schedule.  Let's hope the board rumors here of a ninth game becomes a reality once and for all.

[polbear73]

As I posted earlier, gridiron, the 8-game schedule could have a real impact on the title with Wesleyan not playing Middlebury. 

[gridiron]

Polbear73--Really is an unfortunate situation, especially since the solution is so obvious, and relatively easy to address and implement.  Not talking about drastic changes such as playoffs, or even out of league games.  Simply play the other nine teams in the league...

[polbear73]

Polbear73--Really is an unfortunate situation, especially since the solution is so obvious, and relatively easy to address and implement.  Not talking about drastic changes such as playoffs, or even out of league games.  Simply play the other nine teams in the league...

Could not agree more and I think all of us on this board feel the same way.  Very hard to think of a reason for NOT doing it. 

[frank uible]

Nine game schedules are the camel's nose under the tent of too much football.

[Vandy74]

Polbear73--Really is an unfortunate situation, especially since the solution is so obvious, and relatively easy to address and implement.  Not talking about drastic changes such as playoffs, or even out of league games.  Simply play the other nine teams in the league...

Could not agree more and I think all of us on this board feel the same way.  Very hard to think of a reason for NOT doing it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nwj8nAYEM4

[gridiron]

Frank--you may be 100% correct in that the fear maybe what has prevented progress on this front for many years.  Personally, I don't have the hunger for playoffs that many others do.  IMO, the Ivy League model works great and is one the NESCAC could model itself after.  No playoffs for football is acceptable in that world.  Since the NESCAC chooses to align itself with so many other attributes common to the Ivies, I would think this would be a natural.

I do believe you are right in that some administrators fear the next movement would be for more football beyond nine games.

[gridiron]

Good call on the Tradition front!!!

Fortunately, not all traditions remain unchanged---can you imagine if all progress was halted just because a new way of doing things was never tried before??

[nescac1]

Well, the folks who predicted a rock-bottom season for Williams football have obviously been proven correct.  I just hope the young guys getting PT now buy into the program and the new coaching staff instills a sense of forward purpose, and the team shows some improvement over the course of the season.  Too bad Williams and Bowdoin don't play so at least one of them could get a win out of it!  And I especially hope that the administration eases up just a bit on the very restrictive recruiting parameters that haven't helped (but which by no means are primarily responsible for) the state of the program ...

[middhoops]

This chart is on Wikipedia and purports to lay out athletic spending in 2013-14 for NESCAC schools.  Sorry if my copy and paste didn't line up well.  Here is the site if you want to see the original.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Small_College_Athletic_Conference

Food for thought.


School   Athletic Spending   Div III rank   Amount per (Unduplicated) Athlete   Div III rank   # (Unduplicated) Varsity Athletes   Div III rank   Amount per Undergraduate student   Div III rank
Amherst   $5,822,492   12   $10,324   27   564   41   $3,262   10
Bates   $5,181,170   21   $7,631   105   679   15   $2,893   16
Bowdoin   $5,905,648   10   $9,072   54   651   18   $3,303   9
Colby   $5,149,582   22   $8,110   84   635   19   $2,829   18
Connecticut   $3,756,307   61   $7,322   128   513   66   $2,006   67
Hamilton   $4,869,188   24   $8,618   72   565   38   $2,557   25
Middlebury   $5,235,614   20   $7,588   113   690   13   $2,132   53
Trinity   $5,885,489   11   $8,945   60   658   16   $2,752   19
Tufts         $4,342,883           30    $5,752   266   755   4   $849   282
Wesleyan   $5,379,896   17   $9,134   51   589   24   $1,863   89
Williams   $7,276,419   6   $9,780   36   744   5   $3,548   6

[westcoastDad]

Just a thought after hearing the Amherst coach's comments.  It's never fun for a weaker team to face an Amherst coming off a loss.  Especially their first loss in 22 games. 

Wish I could be there.  My cousin is an FY for Colby and son a junior for Amherst. 

quote author=gridiron link=topic=4146.msg1758953#msg1758953 date=1476190664]
Westcoastdad--do you feel sorry for Colby facing Amherst after their loss last week, or for some other reason?
[/quote]

[PolarCat]

Another random thought on the funding-to-build-great-teams theme.

I once thought that Tufts' location helped, since it is relatively easy for an alumnus or parent to take in a game at Ellis Oval, compared to a alum/parent/fan of Midd, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates or Hamilton.  The theory being more eyes on the game breeds more motivated donors.   So I was really surprised to see so many empty seats in the stands for their Homecoming against Bates.  (I know Jumbo's Mom said she thought the stands were packed, but I just watched Tufts' video highlight reel of the game, and it confirmed my in-person opinion).  So scratch my theory, right?

Maybe not so fast.  Tufts has a secret weapon to help get fans / donors eyes on the game: Their Better-than-NESN Jumbocast (http://www.jumbocast.com/), and OUTSTANDING (well, maybe except for the music) Tufts Football Films channel  https://www.youtube.com/user/jumbosfootball

I mean, it's simply brilliant.  What better way to compete for a talented recruit than by showing him how much better Tufts will "showcase" him for his friends back home, grandparents and girlfriend, compared to the more pedestrian efforts at other schools.  And what a fantastic way to keep alumni, parents and donors engaged with the program from a distance.

[RetiredMule]

So a quick rumor of interest out of Colby, but first the Wesleyan game. Wesleyan is a good team. We are not. We only scored in the 4th with Wesleyan already up 30-0. Colby rushed for 1.7 YPC on 30 attempts, Wesleyan rushed for 8.1 YPC on 35 attempts. Not much else you need to know. On to Amherst. Don't expect the heavens to open and bless us this week.

Now on to the juicer information. The rumors from the Colby mill are saying that Michaeles has been given an ultimatum: Win 4 games this year or it's over. This holds some credence towards what I have been saying for a while. Some of you may remember saying last year that Michaeles would be hard to fire as his wife was the Women's hockey coach. Well, she has been fired from that role and moved to the administration, making the potential removal of Michaeles as HC much easier. Furthermore, it seems Michaeles (perhaps in an effort to combat this) has edited the weekly routine. Colby has historically practiced Tuesday-Thursday, walk through Friday, game Saturday, and film and rehab on Sunday with Monday off. Michaeles has implemented full practices on Sundays now to "combat drinking on Saturdays" and run through issues and prep for the next week. This is apparently sowing discontent amongst both high and low level players and the coaching staff. While I was already negative on greater that 2 wins this year, 4 wibns seems even less possible and will probably result in a head coaching change in Waterville.