FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[speedy]

he is actually correct if the schools are within 30 miles of the coast as the ocean really doesnt cool off until end of dec. or jan. perfect example is look at all the times it rains in atlantic city nj and miles inland but by the time the moisture gets to PA it snows as the air has time to cool and freeze the moisture. AC is always warmer than philly in the winter since its on the water and water retains it heat. weather that affects attendance or not well....

That's all very abstract. Brunsick is about 3 miles from the ocean and I can guarantee from experience that Bowdoin's home November game (with either traditonal rival Bates or Colby) is very often played in cold slashing rain. October in Maine tends to be nice but early November is often extremely unpleasant.  There's a reason why Bowdoin is one of the few NESCACs with a true grandstand.

[BobcatsDad]

On the other hand...the weather during the Bates-Hamilton game last year, on Nov. 11 in Lewiston, was spectacular - clear blue skies; 65-70 degrees. You never know. Coastal  or near-coastal Maine (which would include Brunswick and maybe Lewiston, but not Waterville) can have some surprisingly pleasant early Novembers. By Thanksgiving, though, it's usually pretty nippy.  If you check weather.com, you'll see that the Maine schools are not the only ones that get real nippy - Hamilton, Williams, and Midd have pretty much the same weather as Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby. I think Midd and Colby compete for the "coldest in NESCAC" award. 

[speedy]

It's the rain that's a problem in late October and early November in Maine. Here's a link to a story about the game between Bates and Colby on Oct. 28, 2006 that will give you a sense of just how awful the weather can be in Maine toward the end of the season:

http://www.bates.edu/x151651.xml

[Ghostrider]

I have been that the last 4 colby bowdoin games expect for 2007.....

Each has been under 40-45 degree weather and sunny with the exception of one year...2001, where the temp was about 25 degrees... the weather in New England is Unpredictable and to say that maine is worse off the Mass or anywhere else is not accurate. Over the past 5 years the Colby Bates game which is usually week 6 of the nescac schedule has been the worst weather over that time period...rainy and or cold, with some snow....

[BTEXPRESS]

I have seen this topic discussed on the other message boards, but being fairly new to the NESCAC board I thought I would throw this out for discusion. How would you rate the Football stadiums, from top to bottom in the conference in terms of field conditions, crowds, atmosphere, etc.?

[bant551]

Field turf will always defeat grass in my opinion, unless we are talking about a really, really great upkeep job on the natural grass fields that probably is more likely to occur in the NFL than the NESCAC.

Further, as a home player, if I remember correctly at Trinity my senior year (2002 season), 2-3 of the home games were played in driving rain.  But/for the Field Turf, we'd have been playing in mud and/or ripped up dirt/grass (as would our opponents).

Wesleyan has a unique look, based almost entirely on some impressive-looking buildings surrounding the field.  That looked pretty cool, though as for the field itself, I don't remember anything being special.

I think it was Bowdoin that had kind of a cool little natural tunnel through trees that you had to walk through to get to the field, but once again, the field itself/stadium were not memorable.

Was not impressed by field or stadium or field upkeep at Hamilton (weather conditions probably made maintenance impossible).

Williams had a traditional feel to it because of that box arrangement (whatever the proper description would be).

Don't remember much else about the other places, though Amherst at their Homecoming seemed to have a pretty awesome tailgate setup.

[PBR...]

he is actually correct if the schools are within 30 miles of the coast as the ocean really doesnt cool off until end of dec. or jan. perfect example is look at all the times it rains in atlantic city nj and miles inland but by the time the moisture gets to PA it snows as the air has time to cool and freeze the moisture. AC is always warmer than philly in the winter since its on the water and water retains it heat. weather that affects attendance or not well....

That's all very abstract. Brunsick is about 3 miles from the ocean and I can guarantee from experience that Bowdoin's home November game (with either traditonal rival Bates or Colby) is very often played in cold slashing rain. October in Maine tends to be nice but early November is often extremely unpleasant.  There's a reason why Bowdoin is one of the few NESCACs with a true grandstand.

the biggest influence will be wind direction....a nw wind will tend to bring winds from the polar vortex stream and usually quite chilly. whereas when you have the traditional norteaster' roll up the coast that spins counter clockwise and brings in the winds off the ocean(a se wind) which are warmer than the temps over land and thus warms the coastline. when the eye passes the winds will swing around to the nw as the system pulls away and usually ushers in much colder air(changeover from rain to snow).
dont get me started on a a horizontal flow(much like the beginning of last winter) which started out much milder than normal with polar jet and southern jet running parallel to each other

[speedy]

Actually, the Bowdoin football stadium is kind of cool - I'm pretty sure its the only NESCAC with a "grand stand" (it was built in 1903 and is probably one of the older ones in exsistence). Here's a link to some pix that give a sense of how it looks when it's filled with track fans!!!

really shortening this link yikes

[Trin9-0]

I always loved Whitter Field... though the walk from the visitor's locker room to the field seemed to be over a mile.

The visitors stands at Weston Field in Williamstown have that "grand stand" style as well. I have fond memories of watching the '04 Trinity-Williams game from there. Despite the rain the Bantam fans were bone-dry while all the rest were stuck under their umbrellas and ponchos. 

I'd be surprised if there were a "grand stand" older than the one at Whitter. Here's a list of the 10 oldest college football fields still being used:

1. Andrus Field (Wesleyan) 1881
2. Weston Field (Williams) 1883
3. Pratt Field (Amherst) 1891
4. McGee Field (The South) 1891
5. Illinois Wesleyan Field (Illinois Wesleyan) 1893
6. Franklin Field (Penn) 1895
7. Whittier Field (Bowdoin) 1896
8. Washburn Firld (Colorado College) 1898
9. Garcelon Field (Bates) 1899
10. Jesse/Miller Field (Trinity) 1900

[Col. Partridge]

I always loved Whitter Field... though the walk from the visitor's locker room to the field seemed to be over a mile.

The visitors stands at Weston Field in Williamstown have that "grand stand" style as well. I have fond memories of watching the '04 Trinity-Williams game from there. Despite the rain the Bantam fans were bone-dry while all the rest were stuck under their umbrellas and ponchos. 

I'd be surprised if there were a "grand stand" older than the one at Whitter. Here's a list of the 10 oldest college football fields still being used:

1. Andrus Field (Wesleyan) 1881
2. Weston Field (Williams) 1883
3. Pratt Field (Amherst) 1891
4. McGee Field (The South) 1891
5. Illinois Wesleyan Field (Illinois Wesleyan) 1893
6. Franklin Field (Penn) 1895
7. Whittier Field (Bowdoin) 1896
8. Washburn Firld (Colorado College) 1898
9. Carcelon Field (Bates) 1899
10. Jesse/Miller Field (Trinity) 1900

I'm partial to Andrus for the middle-of campus feeling with the buildings all around.  It's a great setting to get wasted on homecoming even if the product on the field is not so great.  The future of that location is not certain, though.  There have been plans to convert that space to a quad for many years, and a consultant the school recently hired suggested that they do that-in which case the football and baseball fields would be moved to the edge of campus where the new field hockey/lacrosse field are.

[Trin9-0]

I'm partial to Andrus for the middle-of campus feeling with the buildings all around.  It's a great setting to get wasted on homecoming even if the product on the field is not so great.  The future of that location is not certain, though.  There have been plans to convert that space to a quad for many years, and a consultant the school recently hired suggested that they do that-in which case the football and baseball fields would be moved to the edge of campus where the new field hockey/lacrosse field are.

That would be a real shame... I agree that Andrus is one of the best settings because of it's campus feel. Garcelon has a similar set-up, though not quite as good. Alumni Stadium at Middlebury offers the best view of any field and Pratt is by far the best place to tailgate.

[tmerton]

Does anyone have a good picture of Weston Field?  I remember our tour at Williams (bus ride around the campus with Coach Farley doing the commentary - I kept thinking "Did he really say that?"), but I have no memory of the field.  I remember the fields at Bowdoin, Middlebury and Amherst very well - they all seemed distinctive for one reason or another.  I just can't remember anything about the field at Williams.

[Trin9-0]

I'm sure this will open a can of worms, but here goes:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a13FvMT0iTNo&refer=us

The gist of the article:

"Sixty-one small American colleges have mounted the biggest protest yet against U.S. News & World Report magazine's annual rankings of higher education."

Trinity & Lafayette (tied for 30th) in the USN&WR rankings are the highest ranked schools whose presidents have endorsed the letter of petition. It also states that though Williams (ranked #1) has not yet signed the protest, they have agreed to stop mentioning the USN&WR results in their sports information and admissions brochures.

[nescac9]

anyone else share in my disapointment that the NESCAC was snubbed on the d3football.com preseason all-american first AND second team?  I know this list amounts to next to nothing, but it would be nice to see one of our boys make it on there.

http://www.d3football.com/all-american/2007/preseason

[labart96]

anyone else share in my disapointment that the NESCAC was snubbed on the d3football.com preseason all-american first AND second team?  I know this list amounts to next to nothing, but it would be nice to see one of our boys make it on there.

http://www.d3football.com/all-american/2007/preseason

Wah.  How about virtually all the East Region teams not getting a single rep on the squad?  Let's face it, as long as their is a MUC, the amount of space on the D3 preseason AA team will be MUC and the rest of D3. 

Although, there was one player from Coast Guard.....

Coast Guard?