FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[lumbercat]

Disagree- the "WE" term would be more applicable if on more than one team. Team never fades.

Regardless of the passage of time or number of teams it strikes me as being indicative of a specific ego.

[SpringSt7]

We desperately need NESCAC sports to return.

[JEFFFAN]

We desperately need NESCAC sports to return.

Best and most accurate post ever on this site!

[amh63]

As others are aware, I am a "sidewalk construction observer", watched  the construction of Amherst's new science building.  Have been watching/reading about Bates' new science building with great interest.  Colby has a new feature wrt it's vast new Athletic Complex.  On Colby's site, there is notice that Nescac swimming championships will be held at Colby.....a Nescac sporting event!!
Oh yes...Amherst is planning for a new Student Center.  Appears to be be placed where the old Science center/complex is...on the Hill overlooking the Holyoke Gap/Range.  No news yet wrt Spring sports.

[nescac1]

Amen, SpringSt7.  Since we've got nothing else to talk about, which is the best version of the team you've followed that you've seen (and if you want to make the argument that it's the best NESCAC team you've ever seen, period, go for it!)

For Williams, I'll go with 1994, certainly one of the best NESCAC teams ever, and my vote for the most dominant Williams team I've seen (I did not see the 89-90 era powerhouses, so can't compare to them).  On offense, the team had a ridiculously stacked offensive backfield (QB Mike Bajakian, TBs Brian Gugliotta and Jamal Pollock, FB Mark Kossick).  Just ran down everyone's throats.  But the defense was what made the team really special, led by All-American LB Bobby Walker, future NFL player Ethan Brooks anchoring the defensive line, and several other legit stars, the defensive front seven was massive and absolutely stacked with playmakers.  The only close game was vs. a really good Trinity team that had been on a big win streak, the other seven wins were all absolutely dominant (the closest margin of victory other than the 4-point Trinity win was 28 points). 

[Trin9-0]

Amen, SpringSt7.  Since we've got nothing else to talk about, which is the best version of the team you've followed that you've seen (and if you want to make the argument that it's the best NESCAC team you've ever seen, period, go for it!)

For Williams, I'll go with 1994, certainly one of the best NESCAC teams ever, and my vote for the most dominant Williams team I've seen (I did not see the 89-90 era powerhouses, so can't compare to them).  On offense, the team had a ridiculously stacked offensive backfield (QB Mike Bajakian, TBs Brian Gugliotta and Jamal Pollock, FB Mark Kossick).  Just ran down everyone's throats.  But the defense was what made the team really special, led by All-American LB Bobby Walker, future NFL player Ethan Brooks anchoring the defensive line, and several other legit stars, the defensive front seven was massive and absolutely stacked with playmakers.  The only close game was vs. a really good Trinity team that had been on a big win streak, the other seven wins were all absolutely dominant (the closest margin of victory other than the 4-point Trinity win was 28 points). 

I'm admittedly biased, as it was my senior season, but I'll nominate the 2003 Trinity squad. Our defense set a NESCAC record for fewest points allowed in a season with 30. Meanwhile, our offense averaged more points than that per game (31).

The following season, Trinity's offense was even more dominant and averaged nearly 39 points per game (5th most in league history) while allowing just 52 points for the season.

While I didn't see the 1993 Trinity squad, they could also make a claim as the best NESCAC team ever as they averaged 44.3 points per game (a NESCAC record) and allowed just 84 points for the season. They hold the record for most points scored in a game (71) and largest margin of victory (71) when they topped Bates 71-0. Their 3,738 yards of total offense ranks 4th most all time in NESAC history.

[nescac1]

Trin 8-0, hard to argue against those teams for, at worst, the very top echelon of NESCAC squads ...

[lumbercat]

No doubt- gotta give the Bantams credit. They aspire to NESCAC Football dominance and they know how to pull it off.

[amh63]

Trin8-0....thanks for the "memories"   Inspired me to look in my "cupboard" of sports...announcements, Homecoming football programs, etc. Found the Sports section of the Sunday Republican (Springfield paper) dated Nov.12,2000. Front page...left side had the headline..Amherst finally takes Williams...subheadline...JEFFS rally ends 14-year drought.  Amherst won 20-12 at Pratt field and finished 7-1 and tied with Colby and Middlebury for the Nescac title.  More important for me  was Amherst won the Little Three title outright!  There were 10,551 fans at the grass covered old Pratt Field.   
Found the "most covered" Amherst vs Williams game",IMO.  It was the New York Times, Sunday, Nov. 12, 1995.  The NYT featured over three days the teams...the team practices and the game.  The headline on Sunday..."Amherst wins 0-0 tie from Williams in mud.  The old Williams field...grass field... was flooded, so that the end zone was covered in water with the football floating around .  It resulted in Williams building it's fine new football complex of today...a field with a crown.  The old field was built in an area that was identified as a flood plain. Today,  both schools have fine football/sports complexes with artificial grass.

[JEFFFAN]

One of the announcers for that infamous 0-0 Amherst-Williams game was none other than Mike Mayock, the current General Manager of the Las Vegas Raiders.   Mike was a former Boston College/NFL player from the Philadelphia area.   Terrific person.  He and I spoke before the game and I advised him that the H was silent in Amherst!   He called me a few days after the game to tell me that the A-W game had set football back a decade.   Amherst, by the way, had offered to host the game and change the rotation, but Williams refused the offer.

[SpringSt7]

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/an-oral-history-williams-plays-amherst-to-one-of-college-footballs-final-ties/article_d6ca2e86-3fba-5520-ac11-a679cff868b8.html

If anyone is interested, here is a really well written oral history of that infamous 0-0 tie in 1995.

[nescac1]

Yeah, that game was a debacle.  Williams also could have played on a nearby H.S. field but because of TV coverage etc. didn't want to move the game.  Huge mistake because that Williams team was flat-out loaded and would most likely easily have won the game if the field featured normal conditions.  And the game ended up being basically unwatchable.  The second-worst decision in the last 30 years of Eph football . 

I am glad that Williams has radically improved its outdoors athletics facilities since that time, so on one ever has to sit through a debacle like that.  I'm hoping, after Colby set a ridiculous standard for the rest of the league, that indoor facilities are up next, because the field house and Chandler are both reaallllly starting to show their age (outside of the main hoops gym in Chandler). 

[JEFFFAN]

I was hoping to offer up a great Amherst team but the archives stink so nothing about Amherst coming from me!

[Jonny Utah]

I was hoping to offer up a great Amherst team but the archives stink so nothing about Amherst coming from me!

I had several friends who played at Williams and would often stop by when I could watch a game (or a stop from Ithaca to Boston.)  Also played against Walsh in HS as well.  That RB from Williams Kossick was one of the best d3 players I've ever seen.  He was a level up from what I remember. 

[nescac1]

Yeah, Kossick (my classmate ) was quite a recruiting coup for Williams.  I believe he turned down an offer from West Point.  His greatest strength was his versatility, since he could play TB, WR, or his natural position, FB.  A four-year starter during a pretty loaded period for Eph football (especially his first two seasons, when Williams when 15-0-1).  He still holds the Eph career scoring record by a massive margin (68 points ahead of the next guy).