FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

I haven't thought about you in 18 months, if that makes you feel better. 

[nescac1]

I think Williams has instituted a sensible COVID campus policy: not nearly as restrictive as Amherst, but still quite cautious in my view ... time will tell how all of these work out, we're all geniuses about this until conditions change radically.

https://williamsrecord.com/457540/news/college-prepares-for-in-person-semester-amid-delta-variant-concerns/ 

[BigKat]

I think as long as you keep fans and players separate ( post game), there should small tailgates allowed. There are some very sound statistics showing outdoor activities are fairly safe.  And as you said, they will happen anyway--just off campus by a street or two Looking forward to the action starting soon!

I would have the dreaded Ephs as the favorites as long as they stay healthy. After that it's a horse race among 4/5 teams IMO.

[amh63]

It is traditional at Amherst to have both the WSJ and NY Times available for students to read at the dining hall...balanced info .  Amherst has closed the dining hall due to COVID and it is now pick up your cold meal.  Amherst's prez has taken recently negative hits in national press for the mess in hiring of coaches.  The WSJ has today a story wrt the very strict steps taken by the prez on student "freedoms"...my wording here.  Seems to have hit a note wrt the administration.  Saw just now online...on the view of the Quad...a outdoor set-up of hot food for outside dining! Ah...the power of the press.

[Nescacman]

https://athletics.wesleyan.edu/news/2021/9/4/general-wesleyan-athletics-spectator-policy.aspx

Seems fan only tailgating will be allowed and the big post-game tailgates with players and parents won't be allowed.

However, our guess is that implementation of this policy in the NESCAC at each school will be similar to how the Taliban are interpreting their laws in Afghanistan right now....will be curious to get reports from our correspondents week one. We know this group will test the rules.

[Nescacman]

What did I miss?

Good to see the band is back together again, with the regulars assuming their normal roles (though Lumber has raised his snarky sniping to even higher levels.  +1 for that).  I'm thrilled that amh63 is still with us, since he's older than Charlie Watts, but still going strong.  And HS 6-2, NESCACMAN and the rest of the band are still here?  Party on!

Heck, even the requisite Obnoxious Rookie Poster this year seems to have some talent, not like old whatshisname from LA who played with Ron Rivera - or was it Knute Rockne? - and knew more about everything than anyone, or that major Mule Tool who carried a grudge because the coach wouldn't start his golden boy son.  Ah, the memories.  Regardless of what happens on the gridiron, it's nice to be home.

Polar...welcome to the jungle...

Btw, shouldn't it be "Hs5-4"....just sayin'   

[DC 53]

This doesn't seem terribly unreasonable, especially given where we've been. It also has a hint of optimism that we can do away with restrictions if numbers improve.

https://athletics.hamilton.edu/news/2021/9/4/general-fan-guidelines-announced-for-fall-sports-season-home-events.aspx

[SpringSt7]

Hamilton seems to be the only school so far whose decisions are grounded in some sort of scientific logic, so that's nice to see. Understand all of the schools airing on the side of caution (except Amherst), but they do seem overly concerned on limiting outdoor social interaction, especially when you consider what we know about both the transmission of the virus and the vaccine's effectiveness.

[Trin9-0]

Btw, shouldn't it be "Hs5-4"....just sayin'   

Get your licks in while you can, but be wary of taking shots at win-loss records. Given Wesleyan's average win total over the past twenty years, perhaps we should refer to you as Nescacman4-4?

Trinity has averaged 7 wins per season since '02. The Cardinals on the other hand have just four total seasons with at least 7 wins in the past half century.

[Nescacman]

Btw, shouldn't it be "Hs5-4"....just sayin'   

Get your licks in while you can, but be wary of taking shots at win-loss records. Given Wesleyan's average win total over the past twenty years, perhaps we should refer to you as Nescacman4-4?

Trinity has averaged 7 wins per season since '02. The Cardinals on the other hand have just four total seasons with at least 7 wins in the past half century.

Hey Hs, last I checked, isn't your livelihood dependent on the school you poke fun at??? I'm sure Michael wouldn't be happy about that...

[Trin9-0]

Hey Hs, last I checked, isn't your livelihood dependent on the school you poke fun at??? I'm sure Michael wouldn't be happy about that...

Who's poking fun? I'm stating facts.

[The Mole]

I will post this again, overall records since 1992 when NESCAC only play began for each team.  The arrival of DiCenzo has changed the dynamic since 2015, so those records are after the /. Kudos to Civetti at Tufts as well. Does not look great for Raymond at Williams, but they are clearly a major factor. Number of championships since 92 and runner ups listed first....

Overall Champs SINCE 1992
Trinity--11
Williams--9
Amherst--7
Middlebury--5
Wesleyan--2
Colby-- 1

RUNNER-UPS SINCE 1992
Trinity--8
Williams--6
Amherst--3
Middlebury--3
Colby--3
Wesleyan--2
Tufts--2

Trinity 180-47/36-7
Williams 160-65-2/20-23
Amherst 160-66-1/31-12
Middlebury 144-83/32-11
Wesleyan 124-103/30-13
Colby 100-126-1/10-33
Tufts 94-132-1/29-14
Bowdoin 61-165-1/3-40
Hamilton 59-168/15-28
Bates 50-177/9-34

Hey Hs, last I checked, isn't your livelihood dependent on the school you poke fun at??? I'm sure Michael wouldn't be happy about that...

Who's poking fun? I'm stating facts.

[Charlie]

Excellent Post it shows that Trinity has had great recruiting , Stable Coaching staffs and a terrific fan base. I think the Social Cloud set up for home games at Wesleyan and recruiting problems at the school will always hold Wesleyan back. I have never heard of a team that has to walk and or ride to their home Football field and their halftime is a room in a cafeteria. Embarrassing that is what $76K gets you for facilities.

Their recruiting is a great deal like the Maine teams excellent schools academically but the admissions are inflexible which means top recruits go elsewhere. When you are competing against Ivy League schools and then are only getting the students who do not get into Ivy  League would you want to play for Trinity , Amherst etc and have a legitimate shot at winning a chip or go to Maine where you will be lucky to get a few wins a season. This coupled with the fact that recruits are smart and know they will to spend 20 hours per week to get ready for a game that you won't win is demoralizing. Couple all of this with an unstable coaching staffs and poor fan base and you can clearly see what teams are tops at NESCAC year after year in football.

[The Mole]

Charlie,

I think if Wesleyan has done anything well, it has been recruiting. Whalen/DiCenzo are replicating what they had been doing at Williams and it is yielding results (see above). I can give you some specific examples of getting kids they would NEVER have gotten. They were #4 in attendance in Division 3 in 2019 at over 5000 per game. A great game day atmosphere, they have brought back alums by winning.

I have stated this prior, but there is a high correlation of those top 5/6 teams with recruiting approaches and success on the field. Again, I can share very specific first hand experience with every school in the NESCAC. Winning matters to alums, recruits and donors. The administrations and ADs that get that will make the effort to put good "product" on the gridiron.

Excellent Post it shows that Trinity has had great recruiting , Stable Coaching staffs and a terrific fan base. I think the Social Cloud set up for home games at Wesleyan and recruiting problems at the school will always hold Wesleyan back. I have never heard of a team that has to walk and or ride to their home Football field and their halftime is a room in a cafeteria. Embarrassing that is what $76K gets you for facilities.

Their recruiting is a great deal like the Maine teams excellent schools academically but the admissions are inflexible which means top recruits go elsewhere. When you are competing against Ivy League schools and then are only getting the students who do not get into Ivy  League would you want to play for Trinity , Amherst etc and have a legitimate shot at winning a chip or go to Maine where you will be lucky to get a few wins a season. This coupled with the fact that recruits are smart and know they will to spend 20 hours per week to get ready for a game that you won't win is demoralizing. Couple all of this with an unstable coaching staffs and poor fan base and you can clearly see what teams are tops at NESCAC year after year in football.

[WesCardPlayer]

I would argue that Andrus Field at Wesleyan is a recruiting advantage, if anything. It's the oldest football field in the country and you're surrounded by the original campus buildings. Wes has a turf field behind the athletic center where football practices, but it's like every other turf field in existence. Wes has a gorgeous athletic center, so the school isn't going to lose recruits because of facilities, certainly not vs the rest of NESCAC. And Wes is doing just fine with recruiting flexibility, certainly since Roth has been president. The one knock on the school, in my opinion, is lack of a winning tradition. There's the history with the Little 3 and all that, but Amherst, Williams, and Trinity have the winning tradition that Wes would need decades to make up.