FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Jonny Utah]

I cant really say for sure but Im sure tradition might be the major reason.

[Tonyfromtroy]

   Some three decades ago, Union started beating the living tar (or ----) out of NESCAC teams with regularity and they were unceremoniously escorted to the hatch and jettisoned from the conference. Does anyone seriously believe it eventually will be any different (ditto) if Trinity keeps up their present pace. You know what the say about people who ignore history. Basically, it's something along the lines of not being very bright.

[frank uible]

Tony: Union was booted from NESCAC for violating NESCAC recruiting rules in connection with Union's hockey program.

[gordonmann]

And shortly thereafter the Dutch went DI in hockey, a move we can safely assume Bantams' football is unlikely to make.

[Trin9-0]

I believe it to be a very unlikely scenario that Trinity would be asked to leave the NESCAC simply for winning games.  I also can't imagine that the Bantams will dominate at their current pace for too much longer (especially if Priore does in fact leave for a higher profile job). 

Also there have been complaints from other NESCAC school officials and alumni (mostly Middlebury, Amherst and Williams) who are tired of Trinity dominating the league in football.  The focus of their argument being that Trinity is accepting athletes to play football who are not be accademically eligible for NESCAC schools. 

Though there have been no infractions (and for that matter no formal accusations that Trinity has violated any NCAA or NESCAC rules regarding recruting or accepting student athletes) the administration at Trinity is sure to tighten the reigns on the Trinity football machine.  That is to say, it's a more likely scenario than Williams and Amherst lowering their academic standards to widen their recruiting base. 

Wether this is good or bad for NESCAC football, I am unsure.  And though it may seem that Trinity has an unfair advantage in that they can recruit athletes with a slightly lesser accademic record, keep in mind that Trinity has broken no rules and more importantly... Chuck Priore graduates his players!  In his 5 seasons as the head coach he has done a tremendous job of not only keeping his recruits in the football program, but also the kids he has helped to get into the school have all graduated with possibly 1 or possibly 2 exceptions (and they were not players who contributed to the success of the program). 

The goal of the Division III student athlete is to graduate while also gaining valuable experiences by competing in college athletics.  If Trinity's recruits are accepted by the College's admissions standards AND graduating... what exactly is the problem with them excelling or even dominating in athletics as well?

[frank uible]

Tell the complainig alumni to shut up, mind their own business and, if they don't like it, have their college remove Trinity from the schedule (the latter of which, of course, will not occur).

[dirtybirds8-0]

Alright, why dont we talk about some of the underdogs in this league?  Who do you think will upset who?  and is there a shot for hamilton or bates to win a single game?

[frank uible]

dirty: Bates plays Hamilton at Hamilton on 11/12. Mark your calendar!

[dirtybirds8-0]

yeah, got me there.  I will try to get to that one, should be exciting.  Well, do yu think one of them will win 2 games?

[frank uible]

dirty: 10/15 - Hamilton at Bowdoin; 11/5 - Bowdoin at Bates

[dirtybirds8-0]

frank : Do you really believe that Hamilton or Bates could beat a much improved Bowdoin team?  I think they will both loose by several touchdowns to the polar bears.

[frank uible]

dirty: I'm too lazy to recheck the records, but I believe that over the last 5 years Bowdoin's record is inferior to both Bates and Hamilton. My experience is that past performance is a better indicator of future performance than an optimistic projection.

[NescacAlum]

I dont understand this talk about Bates winning maybe one game. Last year they were 2-6 and could have easily been 4-4 if it were not for a miserable kicking game, costing them the Tufts game (14-12) as well as the Colby game that was lost on the last play of the game due to a blocked extra point and If I am correct they return the rookie of the year in the Nescac at quarterback, who may be the best QB in the league. The teams that should be considered bottom barrel teams are middlebury, hamilton, tufts.

[formerbant10]

I'll take any of the 3 QB's Trinity uses over the kid from Colby.  Tough to put up any numbers when you don't play the whole game, not that they don't have the talent to do so....just makes planning for the Bants that much harder.

[river]

Haverford is reputed to be academically better than many (most?) NESCAC schools, but they're recruiting like . . . .