FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[lumbercat]

Civetti typically tailors his offense to his personnel and their strengths. Before Brady and their great ground game emerged he didn't hesitate to throw the ball 40-50 times on many occasions.
He may go back to the aerial circus given his returning quarterback while he looks for the next Brady to emerge but I think they will be a force in the league this year no matter how they game plan.

[ColbyFootball]

Civetti typically tailors his offense to his personnel and their strengths. Before Brady and their great ground game emerged he didn't hesitate to throw the ball 40-50 times on many occasions.
He may go back to the aerial circus given his returning quarterback while he looks for the next Brady to emerge but I think they will be a force in the league this year no matter how they game plan.

I tend to agree with you. Civetti has built more than a team, it's a program. That said, I am very happy Colby is done facing Chance Brady.

[PBPOP20]

In the never ending search to find more info on CAC football I purchased "Kickoff 17"  at d3football.com.
Nice summaries the individual previews of each team including position battles to watch, who's under presssure, who's expected to step up and predicted records for all NESCAC teams.

Pretty well done... worth a few bucks.    Dropping the boy off Friday!  Can't wait!

[polbear73]

http://amp.timeinc.net/si/college-football/2017/08/22/elijah-zabludoff-walk-ons-division-iii-scholarship?source=dam

Nice article on Amherst's center.  A good indication of the quality of NESCAC football. 

[dlippiel]

http://amp.timeinc.net/si/college-football/2017/08/22/elijah-zabludoff-walk-ons-division-iii-scholarship?source=dam

Nice article on Amherst's center.  A good indication of the quality of NESCAC football.

Definitely a great article. Sounds like an awesome student athlete. Wishing Elijah a very successful and healthy senior season at Amherst!

[amh63]

Polbear73....thanks for the link!  Plus k.
Eliljah has being playing at RG mainly at Amherst to date....starting in his Soph year, I believe.  Will be a team Capt. in this his senior year.

[jumpshot]

As I pointed out several years ago (about the time Mt. Hermon, the large prep school in Massachusetts dropped football), the sport's decline continues unabated.

The Washington Post says that participation in high school football has declined by 4.5% in the past decade. There has been a net increase of 150 teams in the past 5 years (often with smaller rosters), centered in Oklahoma, Florida, and Arkansas. Conversely, the Midwest and Northeast (including New Jersey) Michigan has lost 57 teams, Missouri 24, and Pennsylvania 12. California also has fewer teams.

Not difficult to "see around the corner" on this topic .... Football "as we currently know it" will continue to decline with more rule changes and still fewer participants.

[ColbyFootball]

As I pointed out several years ago (about the time Mt. Hermon, the large prep school in Massachusetts dropped football), the sport's decline continues unabated.

The Washington Post says that participation in high school football has declined by 4.5% in the past decade. There has been a net increase of 150 teams in the past 5 years (often with smaller rosters), centered in Oklahoma, Florida, and Arkansas. Conversely, the Midwest and Northeast (including New Jersey) Michigan has lost 57 teams, Missouri 24, and Pennsylvania 12. California also has fewer teams.

Not difficult to "see around the corner" on this topic .... Football "as we currently know it" will continue to decline with more rule changes and still fewer participants.

The NFL has done a terrible PR job with respect to safety and the concussions issue in particular. The sport is safer than ever, yet you'd never know it. As soon as getting that message out becomes a priority, you will start to see numbers coming back. Not until.

[IslandTime]

I coach my youngest son's Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee team (10-11yo's) on the Space Coast in Florida and I have 35 boys on my team. Sport is alive and well down here!

But football is a religion in Florida.

And having coached youth football and baseball for 13 years, I have seen significantly more injuries in baseball, especially at the younger ages than football. But then again, I am actually basing that on experience instead of what I see in the media......

[nescac1]

IslandTime and ColbyFootball, the thing is, the biggest concern about football injuries is not what you can observe on the field, but the long-term brain damage from repetitive collisions with large, fast, powerful men, which is now well-documented.  Among NFL players, the evidence of severe long-term brain damage is undeniable, and frankly terrifying.  The question is, how much of a concern is this at lower levels of football, and that is still something that is being studied from what I understand.  To suggest that this is just a PR issue is like saying that the health consequences of long-term tobacco use was merely a PR issue -- it's a very real medical issue, not just a PR issue. 

I myself am torn as someone who loves watching football and still has season NFL tickets, but feels somewhat guilty about it given what we now know about long-term health consequences, which isn't really something you can fairly scoff at or minimize.  It's very very real, especially the longer folks play football and the more serious the level of football that is played.   I feel like at least now NFL players are more educated about the risks, and play because they believe the short-term massive financial (among other) rewards are worth the long-term consequences, so there is a willing assumption of risk.  But no one who plays football in a serious, sustained way should do so without being fully appraised of the very serious risks to long-term health, which really can't be minimized. 

[ColbyFootball]

IslandTime and ColbyFootball, the thing is, the biggest concern about football injuries is not what you can observe on the field, but the long-term brain damage from repetitive collisions with large, fast, powerful men, which is now well-documented.  Among NFL players, the evidence of severe long-term brain damage is undeniable, and frankly terrifying.  The question is, how much of a concern is this at lower levels of football, and that is still something that is being studied from what I understand.  To suggest that this is just a PR issue is like saying that the health consequences of long-term tobacco use was merely a PR issue -- it's a very real medical issue, not just a PR issue. 

I myself am torn as someone who loves watching football and still has season NFL tickets, but feels somewhat guilty about it given what we now know about long-term health consequences, which isn't really something you can fairly scoff at or minimize.  It's very very real, especially the longer folks play football and the more serious the level of football that is played.   I feel like at least now NFL players are more educated about the risks, and play because they believe the short-term massive financial (among other) rewards are worth the long-term consequences, so there is a willing assumption of risk.  But no one who plays football in a serious, sustained way should do so without being fully appraised of the very serious risks to long-term health, which really can't be minimized.

No one suggested football is without risk. But it is far safer now than ever before. And that "fact" has not been publicized enough.

[Grabowski]

I love football, but it's the only sport my kids have played where once in a while play is stopped and an ambulance drives onto the field to take a player away.  Knocking wood...

[AO]

I love football, but it's the only sport my kids have played where once in a while play is stopped and an ambulance drives onto the field to take a player away.  Knocking wood...

It would be kind of odd to see an ambulance on a hockey rink or basketball court.

[nescac1]

ColbyFootball, it's safer in certain ways.  Is the risk of brain damage lowered?  I'm not sure that is a "fact," especially with no baseline past data on athlete brain damage to study against.  Yes, there are more precautions taken in terms of equipment, limitations on practice, etc.  But on the other hand, human beings are bigger, faster, and stronger than ever before, and collisions are consequently more ferocious.  Our skulls haven't gotten any harder to compensate.  And it's repeated, powerful collisions that lead to brain trauma.  I don't think we can fairly say that in that department, which is the one that to me is by far the scariest, football is safer now than before.  I don't want to be a party pooper -- obviously I love football.  But the risks, especially for those who play at higher levels, are quite substantial and still not fully understood. 

[lumbercat]

As the season approaches Middlebury is finally divulging the members of their incoming recruiting class. As I've stated in the past Ritter plays it close to the vest but that's his style. At the end of the day he's the best recruiter in the NESCAC.

Several months back I posted the commitment of an incoming QB from Cal who I anointed as the heir apparent to the great QB lineage at Middlebury.
McKillop...Foote...Milano...Lebowitz.

His name is Jack Newman from Analy, Ca.
If you are a Middlebury fan pray that this kid shows up on the daily announcements of the incoming Middlebury recruits--strange that he has not appeared yet.  They have announced a number of recruits but no sign of Newman. Knowing Houdini Ritter's MO my guess is they are saving the kid for last.

Panthers fans hoping he didn't change his mind and decommit.

If Rocket Jack doesn't show up don't worry, Houdini is already courting highly touted QB Parker Towns of Dallas Jesuit class of '18 as he continues his work on perpetuating that great Panther passing game.

Rumor says Towns has received an "offer" from Middlebury.....I hear that more frequently these days in the NESCAC with HS juniors but will be the first one to admit I don't know the NESCAC rules