FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[PolarCat]

Dartmouth's non-permanently-brain-damaged alumni are better than ours!

(Listen, I love everything about football -- but the more stories I hear about former players' troubling medical histories, the more I am convinced we need to worry less about so-called "pussification" and do everything we can, within reason, to protect players' physical well-being, and Dartmouth does indeed seem to have found a good balance).

As the dad of a current Bates player, I agree with you whole-heartedly.  But I do worry about a society that wants to replace any semblance of physical competition, while spending endless hours and countless millions of $$$ on hyper-violent video games.  I can't help but think that football - with proper safeguards - is ultimately much less dangerous to society than Call of Duty Shadow Sniper Muslim Hunter or whatever the hot game du jour may be.  I'd much rather my kid don pads and helmet and tackle an opponent, than be a couch potato, pretend-killing other couch potatoes via the internet.

[jumpshot]

My prediction made about a year ago (or whenever it was Mt. Hermon-Northfield dropped football) still stands that NESCAC will eliminate football as we currently know it in the foreseeable future with the Maine schools starting the movement. The medical evidence is simply too stark, and alternative options too compelling.

My view on this topic does nothing to reduce the high value with which I hold amateur athletic competition as a source of character and life-long skills and attributes.

We'll just have too find a substitute as a remedy for the "softening" of a portion of a young generation ....

[PolarCat]

If that day comes (and I am starting to worry you may be correct) the movement won't start at Williams or Amherst.  The Biggest Little Game means too much, and the new facilities represent too much effort (and brilliant fundraising success) by the respective development departments.

Nor will it start in Connecticut.  Football in the Coop is too much a part of the Trinity / Hartford State experience, and the Whale has enough clout to keep Wes in the game.  The Jumbos and the Conts are enjoying the new success of their programs, the Mule community is heavily invested in returning theirs to a winning record, and Bates' President Clayton Spencer is too big a fan to let the Bobcats wither on her watch.

If football departs the CAC, the cancer will start in Brunswick, the most ridiculously PC, anti-jock, anti-everything loony bin in academia.  Clayton Rose has proven to be an empty suit, Whittier Field is in disrepair, and the inmates are running the asylum.  The latest blow-up is over tequila.  A couple of girls hosted a birthday party for their roommate, tequila was served, photos of college students wearing sombreros were circulated on the internet, and the righteous indignation of the imperious left rose to a shrieking crescendo.  The Bowdoin Orient is filled with articles and editorials about the blatant stereotyping and racism embodied in the party, and two Student Government members who attended are now facing impeachment hearings.  For attending a birthday party.  Where people acted like college kids.

(The fact that every day of the week of the party, Bowdoin Dining served either Enchiladas, Burritos, Quesadillas or Tacos in one or another of its dining halls, is an irony lost on the angry little snowflakes.  We will gladly chow down on Mexican food when our (financial aid-subsidized) meal plan provides it, but heaven forbid some white students drink tequila.  The consumption of Mexican food, prepared by a non-Latino dining staff is not cultural appropriation, while the consumption of Mexican alcohol by non-Mexicans is).

Luckily, PolarKitten didn't attend the party,  But she tells me there is an even bigger sh*t storm on the horizon: the professional victims and PC Brownshirts have declared war on Canada Goose coats - those lovely, well-made, ultra-warm parkas that keep our daughters (and their visiting mothers) comfortable on those 20-below Maine mornings.  Apparently, the jackets are a sign of socio-economic oppression, and wearing one is a micro-aggression to the students who don't own one.  Petitions are being signed to outlaw them on campus, lest the snowflakes' feel they are somehow inferior.  You can't make this stuff up.

(I am waiting for the College to proclaim that parents visiting their children, trustees attending meetings, and alumni returning for reunions are banned from arriving on campus in a BMW, Cadillac, Lexus or Mercedes, and the only vehicles allowed on campus will be 12-year-old Civics operated by Uber drivers, festooned with Feel the Bern stickers).

Yep.  The demise of NESCAC football will start in Brunswick.  The tips will be used for lost souls who don't identify with their birth gender, and the operating budget will be used to endow chairs in White Guilt Studies and The Economics of Free Stuff.  You can take that to the bank.

[lumbercat]

Jumpshot-

When you refer to "stark medical evidence" aren't you referencing Professional and Big Time college football.

Big Time colleges play 11 or 12 games or more in addition to Spring Practice.
The Pros play 16 games plus exhibition and post season. Players are bigger,  faster and hit a hell of lot harder at these higher levels which is why we are seeing these "stark" results. You are comparing a novice fighter with few golden gloves fights to a career professional prize fighter.

The NESCAC is structured with an 8 game schedule, no spring practice and limited pre season scrimmages for this reason. For the most part the devastating injuries and side effects experienced by football players are predominantly at these higher levels.
Unless there is an unprecedented  rash of devastating head injuries in the NESCAC I don't see the elimination of Football.

Whats next, Lacrosse, Hockey?

We could see the elimination of kickoffs and some alterations to the rules but don't believe we will see NESCAC football eliminated anytime soon. The NESCAC has it watered down about as much as you can get. I forsee some D2 and possibly some smaller D1 schools taking a step back and adopting a NESCAC like approach before the NESCAC abandons football.

The NESCAC has it right.

[polbear73]

If that day comes (and I am starting to worry you may be correct) the movement won't start at Williams or Amherst.  The Biggest Little Game means too much, and the new facilities represent too much effort (and brilliant fundraising success) by the respective development departments.

Nor will it start in Connecticut.  Football in the Coop is too much a part of the Trinity / Hartford State experience, and the Whale has enough clout to keep Wes in the game.  The Jumbos and the Conts are enjoying the new success of their programs, the Mule community is heavily invested in returning theirs to a winning record, and Bates' President Clayton Spencer is too big a fan to let the Bobcats wither on her watch.

If football departs the CAC, the cancer will start in Brunswick, the most ridiculously PC, anti-jock, anti-everything loony bin in academia.  Clayton Rose has proven to be an empty suit, Whittier Field is in disrepair, and the inmates are running the asylum.  The latest blow-up is over tequila.  A couple of girls hosted a birthday party for their roommate, tequila was served, photos of college students wearing sombreros were circulated on the internet, and the righteous indignation of the imperious left rose to a shrieking crescendo.  The Bowdoin Orient is filled with articles and editorials about the blatant stereotyping and racism embodied in the party, and two Student Government members who attended are now facing impeachment hearings.  For attending a birthday party.  Where people acted like college kids.

(The fact that every day of the week of the party, Bowdoin Dining served either Enchiladas, Burritos, Quesadillas or Tacos in one or another of its dining halls, is an irony lost on the angry little snowflakes.  We will gladly chow down on Mexican food when our (financial aid-subsidized) meal plan provides it, but heaven forbid some white students drink tequila.  The consumption of Mexican food, prepared by a non-Latino dining staff is not cultural appropriation, while the consumption of Mexican alcohol by non-Mexicans is).

Luckily, PolarKitten didn't attend the party,  But she tells me there is an even bigger sh*t storm on the horizon: the professional victims and PC Brownshirts have declared war on Canada Goose coats - those lovely, well-made, ultra-warm parkas that keep our daughters (and their visiting mothers) comfortable on those 20-below Maine mornings.  Apparently, the jackets are a sign of socio-economic oppression, and wearing one is a micro-aggression to the students who don't own one.  Petitions are being signed to outlaw them on campus, lest the snowflakes' feel they are somehow inferior.  You can't make this stuff up.

(I am waiting for the College to proclaim that parents visiting their children, trustees attending meetings, and alumni returning for reunions are banned from arriving on campus in a BMW, Cadillac, Lexus or Mercedes, and the only vehicles allowed on campus will be 12-year-old Civics operated by Uber drivers, festooned with Feel the Bern stickers).

Yep.  The demise of NESCAC football will start in Brunswick.  The tips will be used for lost souls who don't identify with their birth gender, and the operating budget will be used to endow chairs in White Guilt Studies and The Economics of Free Stuff.  You can take that to the bank.

I wish I could violently disagree with you but there is no evidence to contradict anything you have said.  In fact, everything that I have heard supports your theory.  In terms of football, Bowdoin seems to continue its policy of benign neglect, perhaps with the hope that it will quietly disappear. 

[dlippiel]

If that day comes (and I am starting to worry you may be correct) the movement won't start at Williams or Amherst.  The Biggest Little Game means too much, and the new facilities represent too much effort (and brilliant fundraising success) by the respective development departments.

Nor will it start in Connecticut.  Football in the Coop is too much a part of the Trinity / Hartford State experience, and the Whale has enough clout to keep Wes in the game.  The Jumbos and the Conts are enjoying the new success of their programs, the Mule community is heavily invested in returning theirs to a winning record, and Bates' President Clayton Spencer is too big a fan to let the Bobcats wither on her watch.

If football departs the CAC, the cancer will start in Brunswick, the most ridiculously PC, anti-jock, anti-everything loony bin in academia.  Clayton Rose has proven to be an empty suit, Whittier Field is in disrepair, and the inmates are running the asylum.  The latest blow-up is over tequila.  A couple of girls hosted a birthday party for their roommate, tequila was served, photos of college students wearing sombreros were circulated on the internet, and the righteous indignation of the imperious left rose to a shrieking crescendo.  The Bowdoin Orient is filled with articles and editorials about the blatant stereotyping and racism embodied in the party, and two Student Government members who attended are now facing impeachment hearings.  For attending a birthday party.  Where people acted like college kids.

(The fact that every day of the week of the party, Bowdoin Dining served either Enchiladas, Burritos, Quesadillas or Tacos in one or another of its dining halls, is an irony lost on the angry little snowflakes.  We will gladly chow down on Mexican food when our (financial aid-subsidized) meal plan provides it, but heaven forbid some white students drink tequila.  The consumption of Mexican food, prepared by a non-Latino dining staff is not cultural appropriation, while the consumption of Mexican alcohol by non-Mexicans is).

Luckily, PolarKitten didn't attend the party,  But she tells me there is an even bigger sh*t storm on the horizon: the professional victims and PC Brownshirts have declared war on Canada Goose coats - those lovely, well-made, ultra-warm parkas that keep our daughters (and their visiting mothers) comfortable on those 20-below Maine mornings.  Apparently, the jackets are a sign of socio-economic oppression, and wearing one is a micro-aggression to the students who don't own one.  Petitions are being signed to outlaw them on campus, lest the snowflakes' feel they are somehow inferior.  You can't make this stuff up.

(I am waiting for the College to proclaim that parents visiting their children, trustees attending meetings, and alumni returning for reunions are banned from arriving on campus in a BMW, Cadillac, Lexus or Mercedes, and the only vehicles allowed on campus will be 12-year-old Civics operated by Uber drivers, festooned with Feel the Bern stickers).

Yep.  The demise of NESCAC football will start in Brunswick.  The tips will be used for lost souls who don't identify with their birth gender, and the operating budget will be used to endow chairs in White Guilt Studies and The Economics of Free Stuff.  You can take that to the bank.

+k polarcat! dlip almost attended Bowdoin. He has been on these boards for quite sometime and to him, this is one of the top ten posts ever! Absolutely hilarious, not only because of it's accuracy but the way it was written. Well done sir, well done.

[fulbakdad]

Polorcat,

My son was down in Mexico last year playing in one of the D3 All Star games down near Mexico City.  One night they actually went out and, gasp, drank some of that local spirit.  Even had pictures taken with sombrero's on.  Will that effect his younger brother when he starts to apply to CAC schools next year?  Or do I need to hire somebody to start to erase that part of our family history? 

[amh63]

 fulbakdad..............you are kidding!   Right?   It depends on where your smart son wants to apply.  If you are serious, I would not worry about it.
Still, PolarCat is the "Man" on "PC Matters"....hey! That is a catchy phrase

[PolarCat]

I wish I was making this up.  But here's the Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/party-culture/2016/03/03/fdb46cc4-e185-11e5-9c36-e1902f6b6571_story.html

The impeachment hearings for the two members of Bowdoin Student Government who attended the party are tomorrow.  Piling irony onto tragedy, the family of one of them donated the primary dining hall to Bowdoin.  The same dining hall that served Mexican food all week to the angst-riddled snowflakes.  (No word yet if the head of Bowdoin Dining will be swinging from a gallows like a big Caucasian pinata during the kangaroo court).

Word has it the family and their very-high-priced attorney are flying in from California to do battle, and the attorney who represented Owen LaBrie (the kid from St. Paul's School who has been branded a Sex Offender for life, because he made out with a schoolmate) has offered his services.

The same issue of the Bowdoin Orient that discusses the impeachment, carries an article about how all future Bowdoin facilities will have non-gender-specific restrooms, and "safe spaces" in the locker rooms for athletes who can't decide if they are feeling like a he or a she on any given day.  Plus an editorial from a student who professes his/her sexuality as "non-binary", applauding the decision.

The Bowdoin Administration has jumped the shark.  Spare yourself the gas, and don't even bother bringing your boy to Brunswick.  Unless Caitlin Jenner is his idol, and he wants to major in Non-Binary Gender Studies, with a minor in The History of Microaggression.

[PolarCat]

fulbakdad..............you are kidding!   Right?   It depends on where your smart son wants to apply.  If you are serious, I would not worry about it.
Still, PolarCat is the "Man" on "PC Matters"....hey! That is a catchy phrase

Depending on the results of the Mexican Inquisition tomorrow, I may be changing my name to BobBear.  It doesn't have quite the ring of PolarCat, but at least I would no longer be saddled with those loathsome initials.

[polbear73]

As I have said before, it's only a matter of time before they go after the Polar Bear mascot who must have eaten an indigenous person at one point.  The ultimate cultural appropriation. 

[Pat Coleman]

Hey PolarCat -- those things you deride are actually real things that affect real people, and while they may not be in your worldview it's probably just good to understand they are in the worldview of the millennial generation.

[PolarCat]

Hey PolarCat -- those things you deride are actually real things that affect real people, and while they may not be in your worldview it's probably just good to understand they are in the worldview of the millennial generation.

Pat, with all due respect: I have two D3 athletes who are very much members of the millenial generation.  The absurdly PC-correct, intolerant nonsense is emphatically not a part of my kids' (or their teammates) worldview.  Any more than the absurd preachings of the KKK or the Flat Earthers was part of my own worldview when I was their age.

The great tragedy on college campuses today is that discussion and debate is not tolerated.  The millienials have their own Silent Majority - the level-headed kids who are afraid to speak up because they have been threatened with sanctions if they do.  I certainly hope you don't condone that.  Because I obviously do not.

[nescac1]

I think there is a middle-ground, here.  Do I think the potential impeachment of these student government folks is flat-out ridiculous?  Yes.  Does that sombrero-themed party sound totally innocuous?  Yes once again (and I'll note that a few years back some Williams students got in hot water, in my view also stupidly, for some sort of sombrero-themed shenanigans).  Has PC culture run amok on many NESCAC campuses? Yes once again. 

On the other hand, the first two parties at Bowdoin, without which the sombrero party surely wouldn't have even been at issue, were at best in very poor taste and it is understandable how those two parties may have upset some students and created a climate of mistrust and, in this case, overreaction.  Just as often as there are ridiculous stories of laughably PC sensitivity on campus, there are also stories of rich, entitled white kids doing dumb thinks like having crack whore parties or putting on dreads and blackface.  I mean, come on.  And PolarCat, your outright sneering mockery of transgender students (as well as similar intolerance or outright bigotry from some of the older generations of alums and parents at some NESCAC schools towards types of behavior and identity that was forced to be carefully hidden until very, very recently in our history) is partially responsible for creating the current climate.  A climate which, again, I do see as an egregious and readily-mockable overreaction, borne out of very real concerns and life experiences that, frankly, may be hard to understand or relate to for someone like myself (and presumably you) who has never been insulted, mocked, socially isolated or in any way faced any obstacle on account of my race, gender, or sexuality.   

[PolarCat]

For the record, I neither sneer at nor mock transgender students, so please don't presume to paint me with that brush.  I have plenty of flaws, but intolerance of folks with different gender preferences is not on the list.

What I do take exception to is an Administration that cannot provide adequate professors and classroom space for students to complete their majors, yet can find the funds to construct "safe spaces" in athletic locker rooms for "non-binary" students, and which allows the business of the college (educating young men and women in the fields of study they have chosen, and for which someone - either the students, their parents, or the financial aid office - has paid dearly) to be sidelined by prolonged soul-searching on these issues.

The same Administration that recoils in horror from students wearing sombreros actually PROVIDED sombreros as props in a photo booth at the 2015 reunions!  While I agree that Cracksgiving and the Gangster Party went too far, how can you persecute college kids for doing something the Administration actually ENCOURAGED at reunions?

We can agree to disagree, but your argumentum ad hominem is misplaced.