FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[PistachioX]

Tufts made some "cuts" this past weekend, with some freshmen invited to stay with the team in a non playing capacity (lifting, film, etc), while others were not invited to stay with the team.  Several upperclassmen (Drew Burnett), are helping with the offensive coaches for game/practice prep and film work.  I heard the kid Marcus Edmonds from Central Catholic had a good camp.

(Also a rumor that Dibiaso left Dartmouth because of some sort of off the field incident or problem)

DiBiaso played HS football for his coach father, at powerhouse Everett HS in MA (where he set a state passing record), before doing a PG year at Exeter, and subsequently enrolling at Dartmouth.  I believe he was injured while at Exeter, so didn't play much, if  at all, that season.  His father played college ball at Tufts...so my guess is his transfer had more to do with that, than anything.

[amh63]

NothingButNESCAC.....good stuff on your blog....better yet, good writing!  CAC education shines.
The latest posts wrt to scrimmages..full or short ones, joint practices...whatever, all point to the need to get a ninth game and dropping scrimmages/practice between conference schools.

Another odd thing is happening in the football world...among fans at least.  The rise of " fantasy football".  In a sport that TEAM concept is paramount to success, we see a game that is based on what?....picking individual players from different teams!  There is some of this fantasy concept occurring on other boards...not with the sport of football.
I know, too much idle time....skipping chores and my pile of hardbacks is growing.  Almost a week to go.  Maybe it is the HS band practices starting up again.... My kids HS is a short walk away.

[PistachioX]

I just looked at DiBiaso's bio at Dartmouth ...and I am mistaken.  He did play at Exeter, but was injured/recovering from surgery during his FY at Dartmouth.  He may have just seen the writing on the wall, with regard to his unlikely playing time.  Who knows?

Kids come and go for a lot of reasons - financial, mental or physical health concerns, personal family situations, etc.  I don't think its productive or fair to suggest that this, or any student athlete's transfer was due to some kind of moral hazard or academic short-coming - even if true.  He's a kid, for cripe's sake.

[lumbercat]

Tufts at Bowdoin Saturday 2:00 for "joint practice"

[PolarCat]

Kids come and go for a lot of reasons - financial, mental or physical health concerns, personal family situations, etc.  I don't think its productive or fair to suggest that this, or any student athlete's transfer was due to some kind of moral hazard or academic short-coming - even if true.  He's a kid, for cripe's sake.

Johnny in no way suggested a "moral hazard" or "academic short-coming".  Watching all the Presidential debates I'm really tuned in to logical fallacies this week, and you are making a "straw man" argument. 

It's sort of like saying "it's not fair to suggest PistachioX is being investigated for possession of child porn - even if true."

[PistachioX]

He did allege an incident off the field - under the pretense of a 'rumor.'  That's just not cool.

(Also a rumor that Dibiaso left Dartmouth because of some sort of off the field incident or problem)

[polbear73]

Tufts at Bowdoin Saturday 2:00 for "joint practice"

Thanks, Lumbercat and a +k for invoking the name of Mike Linkovich, who took care of so many of us old Polar Bears over the years. 

[lumbercat]

Middlbury scrimmages Dartmouth JV on Sunday1:00 @ Dartmouth

[NewtoNescac]

I'm loving all these scrimmage updates. Good job guys.

[RetiredMule]

Hey all, this is football board. Talking about Colby's video and website struggles really brings me down.  I kid, but Colby has always had historically bad web administration for athletics.  They normally kick it into gear just in time to make sure the first webcasts go live for those of us away from the Hill to watch.  They have made some progress.  Colby's roster has also added the names of all freshmen, though they have no pictures, numbers or positions.  It lists 22 of them plus 2 sophomore walk ons. 

On a related note, some of the Colby players got to wear GoPro cameras during a bit of testing and practice one before things got too serious.  This is a cool look into the on field life these guys have.  It appears to be done by So. WR Mbasa Mayikana with some clips from some other players. The Mules might not be your team, but a cool video nonetheless. Enjoy.

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

[lumbercat]

Retired Mule
Appreciate your candor - need to invoke the BTP concept in your SID.......or better, bring back Dick Whitmore to walk into his office an tell him how to operate.

[PolarCat]

I've just returned from the Colby-Bates scrimmage.  Contrary to what others have guessed, this was anything but a "shared practice".  The teams played two 15-minute halves (though the second half was extended, because Bates' Coach Harriman graciously told the refs to keep going since Colby was on offense).  It was (almost) full contact, and there were some terrific hits laid on by both sides.  I say "almost" because the Colby QB's wore green pinnies, and Bates was not allowed to tackle them.  The Bobcats put no such restrictions on letting the Mules hit the Bobcat QB's.

I was trying to sort out players' names, by checking the website rosters on my cellphone.  There are probably some errors here (and ultimately, I just gave up and enjoyed the action), but here goes:

Bates started Dugan at QB, and played him for the entire first "half".  To be honest, I was really worried about our ability to run the triple option with Cannone gone.  Those fears were groundless; Dugan looked like he'd been running the triple option "forever", or at least since he played pee wee.  He took some big time hits, but bounced right up.  He obviously took notes on playing tough watching Cannone last year.

The Bobcats drew first blood, on a beautiful run by senior slot Sean Carroll.  The PAT was a close call: high snap, poor hold, and a Mule appeared to get a hand on the ball, but Bates' second year K put it through the uprights.  Unfortunately Colby returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.  (Bates had their FY punter handling kickoff duties today, but the TD was due to missed tackles and great returning, rather than a problem with the kick).  The Bobcats did a great job shutting down the Mules offense, but at the end of the first quarter / half, that return had the game tied 7-7.

At halftime, Dugan was relieved by FY Sandy Plashkes, who in turn was relieved by FY Tyler Baum.  Each had some nice plays, but each displayed some jitters, too.  Plashkes was the victim of one high snap (from a FY center who also seemed a little tentative at first, but settled down nicely), then threw some nice completions, but also a pick.  Baum just SLIGHTLY overthrew a receiver on a beautiful deep route which would have been a certain TD.  Bates showed some great play in the secondary, too.  Unfortunately, with a lot of new players, and Bates playing their first, second and third teams, I wasn't able to single out any players in particular tonight.  I will try harder on Saturday.

Colby played 4 different QB's while I was there.  (If they played Harrington at all, it must have been in the first series before I arrived.  The Bates Football Twitter page stated the game would start at 6:30, but it actually started at 6:00.  I fought traffic all the way from Boston, and arrived at 6:15.  Such is life). 

They alternated Lipani and UConn transfer Ecke.   Lipani struggled on the first series I saw, but was much stronger on his next try.  Ecke made some beautiful passes (including a gorgeous sidelines pass over the receiver's outside shoulder), but also threw a couple in the dirt (though maybe those were busted routes).  Anile seemed to have the roughest evening of them all, never really looking comfortable. 

The big surprise was sophomore Christian Sparacio, who seemed totally at home in the pocket, and threw a NFL-style strike to the corner of the end zone for Colby's sole offensive TD.  I'm not sure where he played last year; Colby's website says "Christian rushed two times for 23 yards and finished with two tackles".  He's a good one, and I wouldn't be surprised if he leap-frogs over Ecke and Lipani = maybe even Harrington - on the depth chart before the end of the season.

Colby had a lefty (#2) handling both punting and kicking.  (I don't know his name, and am guessing he's a first year, since his number doesn't appear on the roster).  Punting, he tried Australian style.  He wasn't always successful, but when he connected, the punts were lethal.  He struggled a bit with the PAT's, but from where I sat, the holds looked pretty suspect.  (Even if you've been holding your whole career, holding for a lefty must entail its own learning curve).  Bates' FY punter has a big leg, getting the ball really high, with a lot of hang time.  He may not be Dave Kurey, but the Bobcats will be okay in the kicking and punting departments.

So that's my (meager) report from the scrimmage.  I'm afraid Nothing But NESCAC won't be handing me that prize sidelines reporter role anytime soon.  (It pains me to admit it, but I'm not even as good as Erin Andrews).

[NewtoNescac]

Polarcat, great job reporting on the Bates-Colby scrimmage.

[polbear73]

Great effort and a great job, PolarCat. Scrimmages are impossible to follow and you provided a great sense of what happened. I know 8 NESCAC teams are having nightmares about the Bates option.

[amh63]

PolarCat...plus K....not only for your post but your effort fighting Boston traffic....so early!
Question....is the traffic to Maine that bad that early?