FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

Thanks all for the info/ responses  Aware Caputi's wife is working...but with three kids in college next year..it maybe "cheaper" to go unemployed.  Scholarships availability within the CAC...based on my experience with multi kids in college at the same time.

[nescac1]

I believe if you are a faculty member (and presumably a coach) at one NESCAC school, your kids go to any NESCAC school for free.  Not 100 percent sure, but I've definitley heard that.  Wonder if that deal changes if you are an ex-coach ... in which case, that would be a pretty darn expensive retirement for Caputi! 

Anyone have any updates on Kelton's future at Williams / Whalen's future at Wesleyan, etc.?  I would think whatever is decided, will be resolved soon ...

[PolarCat]

Mac's challenges at QB this year notwithstanding, all 4 Caputi kids are amazing athletes. The FY at Bowdoin was a triple threat in prep school: Boston Globe All-Scholastic goalkeeper for her school's undefeated soccer team (she went 36-1 in her career with 14 shutouts and helped her team secure the New England Private School Athletic Conference championship); captain of the same school's NEPSAC runner-up WBB team; and co-captain of the Women's Lacrosse team.  Early indications are she will also be playing WLAX for the Polar Bears this spring.

[gridiron]

Off season fodder.  NESCAC tailgate reviews are from visiting fan perspective.  Venues listed in reverse alphabetical order.  Other opinions are of course encouraged.

Williams:   Visiting tailgaters have nice proximity to field.  Location is such that visiting team walks by on way from locker room to field, which the tailgating fans enjoy.  However, beware of the most restrictive tailgating policies in the league (save possibly the new ones at Middlebury).  Many complaints as employees relentlessly enforce causing most all to wonder why it needs to be so different in Williamstown.  Note: review is prior to new field completion.

Wesleyan:   One of the few remaining grass fields in the league as well as one of the few that charge spectators.  Ample parking with one section dedicated to the visiting team fans.  Teams walk by on way to field (similar to Williams) which is nice as well.

Tufts:   Old school grass field makes the games entertaining with grass stains on the uniforms, etc.  Another school that charges admittance to games.  Visitor tailgating is nearby and provides a nice view to the field.  Parking can get tight, so get there early.

Trinity:   Fun to watch a game at the field (despite the sound effects over the loud speaker).  Be prepared to pay to get into the game.  Parking gets extremely tight for tailgating, so if you have much to unload, get there early.  The visitor tailgating area is WAY across the fields requiring a lengthy walk.  Home tailgaters have a bit of a walk as well.  Grounds personnel are very helpful and, if requested, will arrange a ride to the field for grandparents, etc.

Middlebury:   Attractive setting for tailgaters on a rise behind the concrete stadium.  Plenty of parking.  However, the parking attendants restrict entrance to the area until two hours before kick-off.  Additionally, the new no-alcohol policy for tailgaters has many disappointed.  Enforcement is much less aggressive than at Williams.

Hamilton:   Attractive venue with buildings surrounding much of the field.  Visitor tailgating area is close to the field in the end zone, and parking is ample.  One of the easiest places to tailgate and still see the game without leaving the tailgate area, if you so desire.

Colby:   Very pretty setting on a hill.  Tailgaters are nearby with a short walk down the hill through trees to the stadium stands.  Plenty of parking and tailgating area.  Although there is a track around the field, there is an elevated sidewalk in front of the stands facilitating good viewing lines.

Bowdoin:   Grass field and very old feeling venue.  Parking gets tight for tailgaters but the location is close to the field.  Watching games there feels like going back in time to high school days—appealing to some and not to others.

Bates:   Probably the most viewer friendly field in the league as spectators are able to surround the field at a very close distance.  The visiting tailgate area has ample parking, is close to bathroom facilities and is relatively private being behind a building.  The walk to the field, though, takes some time which really is the only complaint.

Amherst:  A tale of two fields.  The new facility results in visiting tailgaters being relocated to an area up the street and by the gymnasium.  Amherst home team tailgaters now reside in both end zones.  While parking is ample in the designated area for visitors, the distance from the field is MUCH less desirable than the old field where the proximity was ideal.  Not a "grandparent friendly" locale either, as those in that category must choose between attending the game or tailgate.  Logistics of doing both will not work.

[lumbercat]

Way too much analysis of Bowdoin and the Caputi family in general- we should move on an leave it alone- board of regents at Bowdoin to debate the viability of continuing with Football as a varsity sport with consideration of head injuries in the violent arena of college football-the liberal element at Bowdoin calls the shots.

[Nescacman]

An FYI item during the news wrt to coaching changes.
Retiring HFC Caputi has a daughter playing on the WBB team.  She is a FY player...Class of 2018.  Did I read somewhere that there is another child..last daughter applying to an CAC school?  May need to get a job soon!

The Caputi family has four children:
Senior son at Bowdoin
Junior daughter at Middlebury
Freshmen daughter at Bowdoin
Youngest daughter a senior in HS, applying ED to a NESCAC school. (until that letter comes no matter which one!)

Oh well...no more QB's.

[quicksilver]

Way too much analysis of Bowdoin and the Caputi family in general- we should move on an leave it alone- board of regents at Bowdoin to debate the viability of continuing with Football as a varsity sport with consideration of head injuries in the violent arena of college football-the liberal element at Bowdoin calls the shots.

The "liberal element" at Bowdoin (i.e., a big chunk of the faculty) has not liked football for decades but has never called the shots on athletics. I doubt that Bowdoin would be conducting a national search for a new head coach if there were secret plans to discontinue the sport . .

[polbear73]

First of all, show me a football playing NESCAC school where a "big chunk of the faculty" isn't liberal. Secondly, a few random comments in the Bowdoin Orient have been blown out of proportion. Bowdoin is not considering giving up football, period.

[quicksilver]

First of all, show me a football playing NESCAC school where a "big chunk of the faculty" isn't liberal. Secondly, a few random comments in the Bowdoin Orient have been blown out of proportion. Bowdoin is not considering giving up football, period.

Exactly -- I meant to say that the "liberal element" at Bowdoin (most of the faculty) is virtually identical to the "liberal element" at all other NESCACs. So nothing unique about the Bowdoin situation. Further, that "liberal element's" distaste for football is hardly anything new and won't be deciding the future of the Bowdoin football program.

[PolarCat]

The very fact we're having this discussion ("Bowdoin is discontinuing the program".  "No they are not."  "Well, maybe.") has got to make it next-to-impossible to recruit talented players this year.  Even more so than a talented HC.

It's not too much of a risk for an assistant coach somewhere to accept the position - it will look good on his resume even if Bowdoin eliminates the program.  But that talented QB or DB that is weighing his options has got to think twice:  "I really love Bowdoin and Brunswick.  But a Colgate or Columbia degree has just as much cachet, those programs will be around for the 4 years I am there, and in the Patriot League I can even get paid to play.  So why should I accept the Bowdoin offer to wear a boring black uniform and play on a crap field, on a team that's relegated to the bottom of the 'CAC, in a program that may be gone before I matriculate?".

By the way, the anti-jock element in Brunswick isn't limited to the faculty.  There are a bunch of students there who hate athletics and athletes (they suffer from the last-kid-picked-for-dodgeball syndrome), and think Bowdoin is crazy for having ANY athletic teams.  Their perfect campus is filled with nerds and mathletes, not jocks.  I know you have that element at every college, but my Polar Bear kid reports it's even more pronounced - and obnoxiously vocal - at Bowdoin.

I understand the incoming President of the Class of 2016 ran on the platform of eliminating "non-essentials" in the athletic budget, and reallocating those funds to provide scholarship help for middle-income families.  A noble thought, right?  Until you look at what he considers "non-essentials":

• Trainers
• Assistant coaches
• Uniforms (athletes would buy them)
• Water on the sidelines (athletes would buy that as well)
• Travel expenses to away games (no clue who would absorb that expense)
• The list goes on.

Even if the program survives, I think the recruiting problem will doom it to mediocrity for the next several years.  Sad.

[jumpshot]

Earlier this year I first raised the issue as to the decline, and ultimate removal of football from small colleges. Early evidence has already shown up with changes at New England prep schools and elsewhere, accompanied by growing popularity of boys volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, etc., increasing. While Bowdoin may be next, the Polar Bears are simply only one school
throughout the country for whom the pressures will be overwhelming. The number of youth playing football has been decreasing for some time ---that's why the NFL set up its Foundation to promote the sport a while back. Amateur athletics in the broadest sense are in a down cycle in America, accompanied by a concomitant increase by "professional" sports at the Division I level.

Football as we know it today will survive for a while in Texas, Florida and the Southeast, parts of California before shrinking ultimately to a National Hockey League model with talent fed by specific locales as with Canada and certain European regions.

Things change ....

[ECoastFootball]

Football as we know it today will survive for a while in Texas, Florida and the Southeast, parts of California before shrinking ultimately to a National Hockey League model with talent fed by specific locales as with Canada and certain European regions.

I do not think I have ever disagreed more with a statement written on this board, ever.

[maineman]

Mac's challenges at QB this year notwithstanding, all 4 Caputi kids are amazing athletes. The FY at Bowdoin was a triple threat in prep school: Boston Globe All-Scholastic goalkeeper for her school's undefeated soccer team (she went 36-1 in her career with 14 shutouts and helped her team secure the New England Private School Athletic Conference championship); captain of the same school's NEPSAC runner-up WBB team; and co-captain of the Women's Lacrosse team.  Early indications are she will also be playing WLAX for the Polar Bears this spring.

We'll be seeing Mac in Lacrosse in the spring, won't we?

[PolarCat]

As far as I know, yes.

[amh63]

Wow...this board does " lead the pack" in gathering football info.
In the WSJ today, there is a major story...Arena Section...titled "How Harvard Became the Harvard of Football". 
Subtitle..."Harvard is leveraging financial aid and donor money to build a dominating football team-- and beat. yale on Saturday".  Almost two page story...including a list of players going to the NFL.
Yes this board wanders a bit...but seems we do know what is going on.
Oh yes...may comment on the tailgate post...good post .   Game day show in Cambridge...possible MIT hack!