FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[westcoastDad]

Makes one understand why the Midds have somewhat protected their #1 QB with conservative play calling.  I remember folks on the board throwing shade on him for not trying to gain additional yards in the final moments of their victory over Lord Mammoths.  Seems to me the coaches were smart.

Playing Bates and knowing Trinity was ahead....very surprised he was exposed to taking unnecessary shots in a game they probably win without him based on reports that the Midds are deep at the QB position. 

Hope he's okay.  But, if not, the future is now for those behind him!

If anyone can recommend a good sports bar in Medford area....I am all ears.  Want to catch 2nd half of Penn St v Ohio St game on Saturday.  Why they have that game at 3pm....just makes zero sense

[Nescacman]

Makes one understand why the Midds have somewhat protected their #1 QB with conservative play calling.  I remember folks on the board throwing shade on him for not trying to gain additional yards in the final moments of their victory over Lord Mammoths.  Seems to me the coaches were smart.

Playing Bates and knowing Trinity was ahead....very surprised he was exposed to taking unnecessary shots in a game they probably win without him based on reports that the Midds are deep at the QB position. 

Hope he's okay.  But, if not, the future is now for those behind him!

If anyone can recommend a good sports bar in Medford area....I am all ears.  Want to catch 2nd half of Penn St v Ohio St game on Saturday.  Why they have that game at 3pm....just makes zero sense

Our view has always been that FLB was a lil bit of a softy...running out of bounds, sliding, etc...not the dumbest thing in the world btw, given his importance to the Team...and that's based on our observations of watching him play in person and via the web. We are sure that will get the Panther Nation fired up, but it's our opinion (and we have some Mid faithful among our correspondents who concur with that opinion)...and we are sticking to it...

Although we think FLB is talented, it brings up the age old question discussed often with the Patriots....is it the QB or is it the system. Since MID has been so good at passing the ball for so long with at least the last 4 QBs including FLB, our opinion is that MIDs success is more about Ritter's system than it is about the QB. Not to say that McKillopp, Foote, Miano and now FLB aren't talented (they all are and were), but give HCOF Ritter some credit. He recruits around his offensive scheme and philosophy...very good receivers who are quick, have great hands, and run solid routes...an offensive line that are smaller, more agile, athletic and pass block very well...pass catching RBs who are good after the catch, are very good open field runners who can also pass block and pick up that blitzing LB or DB...and of course an offensive scheme designed around his players. And now it might be FLB's back-up who is next up and will of course, be very successful.

We pick on a lot of coaches in our league (deservdly so, we might add), but HCOF Ritter does a great job in a not so easy environment. Think about this...Middlebury, VT is not the easiest place to get to (like Colby, Bates and Bowdoin), is a very good academic school (like any school in the NESCAC other than HS), has crappy weather from December to March (much like the Maine schools, Hamilton and Williams), is not the most appealing school for students of color (like many of the schools not close to urban areas), is probably the worst tailgating experience in the NESCAC (other than the view, which is of course spectacular) and still manages to win, consistently, year in and year out. We think some of that has to do with the MID college administration that has the right perspective, in our opinion, in terms of balancing academics and athletics. Bottom line is they have determined that being competitive and winning is important in everything a college does. However, you still need a great HCOF to execute the plan and MID is fortunate to have HCOF Ritter at the helm running a winning, classy NESCAC program. We compare and contrast MID to other schools in the NESCAC who are up against similar obstacles (namely the Maine schools) who should be using MID as a poster child for success. We would also contrast MID to other NESCAC schools (we are thinking of one in particular) in terms of playing and winning in a classy fashion without taking pictures of themselves in front of scoreboards after beating up on NESCAC also rans.

[mariner75]

Makes one understand why the Midds have somewhat protected their #1 QB with conservative play calling.  I remember folks on the board throwing shade on him for not trying to gain additional yards in the final moments of their victory over Lord Mammoths.  Seems to me the coaches were smart.

Playing Bates and knowing Trinity was ahead....very surprised he was exposed to taking unnecessary shots in a game they probably win without him based on reports that the Midds are deep at the QB position. 

Hope he's okay.  But, if not, the future is now for those behind him!

If anyone can recommend a good sports bar in Medford area....I am all ears.  Want to catch 2nd half of Penn St v Ohio St game on Saturday.  Why they have that game at 3pm....just makes zero sense

For game-watching, there are a number of bars/pubs which is very close to the Tufts campus.  One recommendation there would be Joshua Tree.  Enjoy!

[mariner75]

Insert - Davis Square.....down the street from Tufts.

[TheFlock]

http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2017/07/Little-Three-ChampsRoth_Williams.jpg

[BantamMom]

Looking forward to watching (chromecasting) a great game between Middlebury and TRINITY tomorrow!

Nescacman - really?  "a very good academic school (like any school in the NESCAC other than HS)"  - all I can say is "Botton" line is you are a poor loser and a tool. 
ENOUGH ALREADY about that pic, call a whaaambulance. 
It was stupid - now move on...that pic was NOTHING compared to the behavior of the Wesleyan team in the Trinity locker room when my son was still playing - do what Trinity did - beat them to shut them the heck up!

I hope everyone (except Nescacman) has a great weekend and enjoys some good, injury-free football in some great FALL weather (finally summer weather football seems to be ending)!

[nescac1]

Nicely done, TheFlock.  Wesleyan and Amherst were clearly the biggest beneficiaries of one terrible hiring decision by the Ephs.  Prior to that decision, Williams was in the midst of a streak when it beat Wesleyan 24 times in 26 years.  Now, that ain't gonna happen again so long as the current Wesleyan administration continues to emphasize football in the manner that is has (including, smartly, putting a former Eph in charge of the program!).  But, while Wesleyan beat up on a depleted Ephs squad last year, and may well enjoy another win or two while the Ephs are righting the ship, the days of celebrations on Weston field (and general mocking of the Ephs) are coming to an end soon -- it may not be this year, or even next year, but soon enough, the Ephs are gonna get theirs ....

[BantamMom]

TheFlock - that photo showing celebrating football players in front of a lit up scoreboard winning by 45 points is going to hurt some feelings!  LOL  jk - Congrats to all the players!

[Nescacman]

Looking forward to watching (chromecasting) a great game between Middlebury and TRINITY tomorrow!

Nescacman - really?  "a very good academic school (like any school in the NESCAC other than HS)"  - all I can say is "Botton" line is you are a poor loser and a tool. 
ENOUGH ALREADY about that pic, call a whaaambulance. 
It was stupid - now move on...that pic was NOTHING compared to the behavior of the Wesleyan team in the Trinity locker room when my son was still playing - do what Trinity did - beat them to shut them the heck up!

I hope everyone (except Nescacman) has a great weekend and enjoys some good, injury-free football in some great FALL weather (finally summer weather football seems to be ending)!

Wow, BantamMom...we're a little bit sensitive this morning, aren't we...what happened, Ward didn't give you the normal peck on the cheek on his way to work...haha.

If that really happened at Hartford State (and we have discussed this with some inside Wes folks who say it didn't), two wrongs don't make a right. What we will say is that if BantomMom's son spells anything like BantamMom, we know why he went to HS rather than one of the more academically inclined schools in the NESCAC, which is basically every other NESCAC school (other than perhaps, the Camels, who always seem to not get much notice on this Board)...

Now I'm going to leave my office and ask one of the Hartford State alums that work for me to go make me some copies and get me some coffee...haha.

[Nescacman]

Nicely done, TheFlock.  Wesleyan and Amherst were clearly the biggest beneficiaries of one terrible hiring decision by the Ephs.  Prior to that decision, Williams was in the midst of a streak when it beat Wesleyan 24 times in 26 years.  Now, that ain't gonna happen again so long as the current Wesleyan administration continues to emphasize football in the manner that is has (including, smartly, putting a former Eph in charge of the program!).  But, while Wesleyan beat up on a depleted Ephs squad last year, and may well enjoy another win or two while the Ephs are righting the ship, the days of celebrations on Weston field (and general mocking of the Ephs) are coming to an end soon -- it may not be this year, or even next year, but soon enough, the Ephs are gonna get theirs ....

NESCAC1, we have had this conversation...HCOF Kelton was perhaps the worst head coach in NESCAC history, single handily destroying one of the great football programs in D3 history. You or I could have taken over from Whales in 2010 and gone undefeated with that Team (in fact, he made that comment directly to us when we discussed his moving to WES). Yes, the Ephs are on the road to recovery and will soon be back where they belong, among the NESCAC elite...unfortunately, you and many other Eph alums have had to suffer through a lot of bad football over the last 5 years.

[Trin9-0]

http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2017/07/Little-Three-ChampsRoth_Williams.jpg

This is tremendous. To be fair though, we can't ask Wesleyan (or nescacman) to act like they've been there before... because they haven't.

[Nescacman]

http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2017/07/Little-Three-ChampsRoth_Williams.jpg

We've said it before and we'll say it again, we don't have a dog in this fight (ok, that's not altogether true since members of our correspondent network have played/coached at some of the Little Three and NESCAC schools), however....

In our opinion (and we are sure we will hear others), there is a HUGE difference between the above referenced pic (which has been out in the public domain prominently featured on various websites, including Wesleyan's official website for almost a year) and the Hartford State pic posted on a players Facebook page. First off, the Wesleyan pic is not at all about the score, it was about winning a Little Three title. Those that have attended Amhurst, Williams or Wesleyan get it. Winning any Little Three title is a big deal. Winning a Little Three title in football is HUGE, especially for Wesleyan. Which brings us to point two, that was only Wesleyan's 2nd Little Three title since 1970 (the last one was in 2013). The last time they won one up in Billville was 1970. That's 47 years of frustration. What's wrong with celebrating a big win. And what's the difference between this sort celebration and what many Teams in the NESCAC do every time they win on an opponents home field, sing their institutions fight song, alma matter, etc...hell even Penn State does that on the road when they win. Third, this was an institutional photo. The entire Team plus coaches are in the picture. We saw one version where the school President was in the picture. The picture, as previously noted was on the schools website. Does that automatically make it ok? The answer is obviously "no", however we think that proves the point that they were no gloating about the score, rather celebrating a big win. This was not a hidden pic on some players website with only five players pointing at the scoreboard in a blowout win in a meaningless game. Lastly, if this is so disturbing, why are we just discussing this now, a year after the fact and why are we hearing about from Hartford State affiliated posters rather than our Williams friends like Frank and Nescac1. The reason is simple, the Eph faithful get it. They understand what this is about and what it's not about. In contract, our Hartford State friends clearly don't get it. The HS affiliated posters are trying to deflect criticism of their own bad behavior and somehow justify it by posting a picture portraying a completely different situation. Oh, and don't think for second that HCOF Raymond doesn't think about that game (not the picture) every single day and is counting the days when he can be in a position to put the same kind of beating that Wes put on them last year (which, we might add, Williams has gladly done and gloated about in the past).

[ColbyFootball]

Geez Louise!!!
Can we stop the petty back and force. We understand, everyone has differences of opinion on who was unsportsmanlike etc.

We have some exciting football games to look forward to tomorrow. And, I can't wait.

Of particular interest is the Colby Bates game, obviously. I'm getting a gut feeling that Hamilton is going to surprise Williams. I also want to see if Trinity is as good as some believe they are. I don't believe any of the nescac teams are that far and away superior to the field. Lastly, Tufts Amherst should be an interesting hard fought contest.

For what it's worth (which is very little), I'm picking Colby, Hamilton, Trinity and Tufts.

[frank uible]

At the thoroughbred racetrack class means winning as if one is used to it and losing as if one likes it.

[BantFan4Ever]

Looking forward to watching (chromecasting) a great game between Middlebury and TRINITY tomorrow!

Nescacman - really?  "a very good academic school (like any school in the NESCAC other than HS)"  - all I can say is "Botton" line is you are a poor loser and a tool. 
ENOUGH ALREADY about that pic, call a whaaambulance. 
It was stupid - now move on...that pic was NOTHING compared to the behavior of the Wesleyan team in the Trinity locker room when my son was still playing - do what Trinity did - beat them to shut them the heck up!

I hope everyone (except Nescacman) has a great weekend and enjoys some good, injury-free football in some great FALL weather (finally summer weather football seems to be ending)!

Wow, BantamMom...we're a little bit sensitive this morning, aren't we...what happened, Ward didn't give you the normal peck on the cheek on his way to work...haha.

If that really happened at Hartford State (and we have discussed this with some inside Wes folks who say it didn't), two wrongs don't make a right. What we will say is that if BantomMom's son spells anything like BantamMom, we know why he went to HS rather than one of the more academically inclined schools in the NESCAC, which is basically every other NESCAC school (other than perhaps, the Camels, who always seem to not get much notice on this Board)...

Now I'm going to leave my office and ask one of the Hartford State alums that work for me to go make me some copies and get me some coffee...haha.

I don't normally have time to respond to posts (I'm very busy retrieving your copies and coffee LOL!), but you shouldn't make false statements on this board such as, "we have discussed this with some inside Wes folks who say it didn't". In fact it did happen. My son also played for Trinity that year and I saw a pic of it. I actually found the Wes writings amusing at the time because "boys will be boys" and what happens on the field is what really counts. I'm normally amused by your posts and always laugh about the Hartford State moniker. In fact, your writing style, nicknames and sarcasm are part of why I keep coming back to read this board. However I cannot let false statements or perhaps just innocent misinformation on your part go unchallenged.