FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

Several comments as the start of the school year draws near. 
Conference recruiting....posters all brought up areas that have in the conference no clear answers, IMHO.  One must remember that a recruited player must be able to succeed and he must decide to come.  Any influence coaches have with admissions offices will in the end be based on results over the years...graduation rates. School's support and atmosphere plays a part.  The atmosphere towards sports is changing in Middletown...less isolation of athletes from the general student body, for example.  There is a recent announcement that an alum has endowed the position of AD....possible raise for The football coach of the Cardinals.
With all the talk about Tufts...it should be noted that last season, the roster posted 74 players...if I counted correctly....one short of the limit.  There are other schools that still have not reached the limit...any correlation to recent topics of wins and recruiting criteria?
This Thursday, South Carolina plays its first game....according to my wife's dentist. In the Empire 8, there is talk of preseason practices starting on Friday, while here we have another week before students start arriving....shucks...Amherst's FY players just got their room assignments today.

[iamhuge]

I know , its just good to see some hype and excitement to get over the stodginess.......and would be cool to see some new teams on top....how does Tufts not recruit better is ridiculous with their 6000 enrollment and location and yet have certified midgets on the roster....it is great news seeing that info of that Chance Brady and word of good skill players coming in... Tufts needs some hype , their home games are lame and on paper should be the best.

The Tufts tailgate parties are very very good. 

[iamhuge]

My SWAG is that 4 to 6 of the football playing NESCAC schools have stricter admission standards for football players than Tufts.

I disagree completely with this statement.  I would argue that there are only 1 or 2 NESCAC schools with have stricter admission standards for football players than Tufts.  This is based on some empirical evidence from a few years ago.  It may be different now.

[amh63]

Forgot to add...Trinity's pre-season projection has been posted on its website.

Iamhuge.....nice point!

[iamhuge]

all I can say is...watchout NESCAC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3plN_3sU38

[amh63]

Iamhuge......I 'm assuming that the runner is another Tufts recruit from your son's HS. 
To clarify, my comment earlier to you refers to your tailgate comment . 

[iamhuge]

Iamhuge......I 'm assuming that the runner is another Tufts recruit from your son's HS. 
To clarify, my comment earlier to you refers to your tailgate comment .

I won't comment further other than to ask what you thought of him?

[nescac1]

Wesleyan has a (huge) pre-season roster posted.  Looks like the Cardinals will have to make a lot of cuts this year to get down to 75 guys:

http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/football/roster/index.html

The Cardinals brought in four frosh QB's this year (presumably, there will be some position changes) as well one of the best names in NESCAC: aptly-named 6'4, 275 pound Thor Lichtenstein.  Sounds like a world's strongest man competitor ....

On a less positive note for the Cards, several of their top returning players are not listed on the pre-season roster: much-hyped transfer DL Zach Vinci, starting LB Jared Goldenberg, and all-NESCAC TE Teddy Baker.  Goldenberg appears to have transferred to the University of Miami, guess he wanted a big-time football experience.  If he makes the roster, I'm fairly confident that would be the first former NESCAC guy to play for the U .  That is a pretty big loss for the Cards' program, he started for NJ powerhouse Don Bosco prior to college, and presumably would have been one of the top LB's in NESCAC for the next three years. 

http://www.hurricanesports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=28700&SPID=103763&SPSID=658368

With those two losses, Wesleyan now returns only two from their starting front seven on defense (granted, one of those two is all-NESCAC DL Nik Powers).  That is a lot of pressure on the Cards' stellar back four. Are folks still bullish on Wesleyan for eight wins??? 

[AlDavis]

all I can say is...watchout NESCAC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3plN_3sU38

He looks alright and atleast hustles.....is that boondock  New Jersey High School football , because it looks no better than Pop Warner , very slow and very poor tackling.....that Chance Brady looks to be the much better candidate if this #4 is going to Tufts , nice to see some info tickle in , the write up on Trinity and the Wesleyan Roster , anymore info out there.

[lewdogg11]

all I can say is...watchout NESCAC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3plN_3sU38

He looks alright and atleast hustles.....is that boondock  New Jersey High School football , because it looks no better than Pop Warner , very slow and very poor tackling.....that Chance Brady looks to be the much better candidate if this #4 is going to Tufts , nice to see some info tickle in , the write up on Trinity and the Wesleyan Roster , anymore info out there.

Yo hugeness, maybe you should give the homer High School cheerleading a break.  Weren't you touting your son to go to Florida and Alabama on their message boards back 2 years ago?  And hasn't he gone to more d3 colleges than he's appeared in bottom feeder d3 varsity football plays?  When are you going to figure it out man?  If you want to get all rah rah after the kid does something following his rinky dink HS domination, that is fine, but stop embarrassing these kids.

[AlDavis]

wow....I unleashed Lewdog .....not to rag on this #4 , I just know that kind of zig- zag running will lead to concussion city and I actually have not seen such poor tackling and tackling fundamentals in any Highlight Film I have watched in awhile....he asked what to think , Is this #4  one of the High Powered offensive players coming in for Tufts.

[Knightstalker]

all I can say is...watchout NESCAC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3plN_3sU38

He looks alright and atleast hustles.....is that boondock  New Jersey High School football , because it looks no better than Pop Warner , very slow and very poor tackling.....that Chance Brady looks to be the much better candidate if this #4 is going to Tufts , nice to see some info tickle in , the write up on Trinity and the Wesleyan Roster , anymore info out there.

Princeton High School plays in the Colonial Valley Conference in NJ.  It is not what you would call the football powerhouse conference of NJ.

[Trin9-0]

Haven't checked into this page for a while and had some catching up to do. My biggest surprise is how much preseason hype there is for Wesleyan. I realize they're in the midst of a football renaissance in Middletown but projecting an 8-0 season?!

This is a team who, last year, went 0-3 against Amherst, Williams and Trinity (again), didn't play Middlebury and beat mediocre Colby and Bates squads by a COMBINED 5 points.

I'd think Cardinal fans would be happy with a 6-2 record so long as it includes a win against either one of their Little Three brethren or Trinity. Finishing 7-1 should be cause for a parade.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great for the league to have a team outside of the usual suspects challenging for a NESCAC title but I'll need to see more from Wes to consider them a legitimate title contender.

[amh63]

Trinity8-0....welcome back.  What is your take at this point of the season?
Iamhuge....I am not a fan of HS video and do not know the level of the league.  Have seen too many of them in the basketball recruiting venue.  Having said that, sometimes one can garner the potential talent of a player.  To answer your request....the player shows quickness and speed and decision making. Maybe a good candidate on the defensive side as a defensive back.  Depends on the school he attends...offense versus defense team....special teams?

[gridiron]

Trin8-0  Completely agree with your assessment of Wesleyan.  Heading in the right direction but way too much read into last season's progress.  Spot on with the two VERY tight wins last season, which, had they gone the other way would have left the Cardinals with another losing season.

Most of us would like to see others challenging the top teams, and I'm hoping some are able to this season whether it be Wesleyan or some others.  While I don't necessarily thinks Bates will be able to this season, I think their success last year was much more impressive than what the Cardinals achieved (and not meant as a knock to Wesleyan).