FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Well, I did put him on the spot, as noted, and gave him about 60 seconds to make picks. What limbs would you go out on?

[The Mole]

Dude, are you trying to make enemies? Someone asks about any previews (in a league and level where there is very little publicity). You feel the need to sarcastically chide the one outlet that covers this level better than anyone? And you throw a young guy under the bus who is trying to promote the coaches and players in and around the league and other conferences? Relax, Francis.

On the D3 Football podcast released today, Pat put Greg Thomas "on the spot" and asked him to pick the winners of each NESCAC opener. His picks were as follows:

Amherst over Bates
Wesleyan over Colby
Hamilton over Bowdoin
Trinity over Tufts
Middlebury over Williams

Not a preview, but good to get some publicity. Keep an eye on The Noontime Sports Podcast (Matt Noonan). Wheaton (MA) grad who does a great job covering New England Sports. He interviewed Dice a week or two ago and gives a lot of coverage to NESCAC CCC NEWMAC MASCAC and ECFC teams with interviews and commentary. He will certainly be putting something out this week.

here is a link to his site: https://noontimesports.com/

Game Week, gotta love it

Any preseason previews out there?

Some really bold picks there by "Greg Thomas"....really going out on a limb....

We continue to believe Noontime is an overrated, hack, NARP who has no clue....if you don't know what a NARP is, Google it....

[Jonny Utah]

Nescacman you have been giving too much credit to Lumbercat's insight into Bowdoin when he seems to have some grudge against Coach Hammer.  At Allegheny and at Wabash, he was very successful in recruiting players from not only nearby, i.e., the Midwest, but from the Sunbelt as well.  He had several All Conference Players from Florida, and Arizona, and an All American from Arizona.  I counted the number of players on the Bowdoin roster from the Midwest and the Sunbelt that have been recruited in this and last year by the current staff are 11.  The key of course is, whether they come from New England, Sweden, or elsewhere , can they make an impact.  At Allegheny, Coach Hammer recruited a wide receiver from Miami who was slightly undersized, but ran a 4.2 forty and had great hands.  An inch taller and he would have been playing in the SEC or ACC and was looked at by several CFL teams.  In Division 3, a couple of high impact players on a team can make a big difference.

Voodoo doctor-

If you insist on continuing to operate on the assumption that recruiting at Wabash and Allegheny is the same as Bowdoin you're delusional. Its apples and oranges as Nescacman says.

Bowdoin admission rate is something like 12%. Admission rate at Allegheny and Wabash are 63% and 65%.

Do you think recruiting is the same at Notre Dame, Duke or Stanford as it is at Central Florida or Louisiana Lafayette?

Well whatever strategies the past few coaches have used hasn't worked too well.  It looks like Bowdoin is trying to get someone outside New England and that coaching/recruiting style to see if that works.  Why not right?

[lumbercat]

No question about that Jonny. If the Hammer can find kids from his old stomping grounds that Polar Bear admissions will accept it may work very well. The key is understanding his Admissions Dept. and figuring out a way to navigate within the "system". He's facing challenges in those areas which he never had to worry about at Wabash or Allegheney.

The recruiting difficulties for the former HFC at Bates were a result of an inflexible Admissions Dept combined with a lack of understanding of NESCAC recruiting and an inability to navigate within the system on the part of of the HFC.

Nothing quite like the NESCACS for recruiting, not even the Ivies.

[PolarCat]

Possible location for Trinity tailgate. Using google maps I see a montessori school on Broad st. across from the football field/tennis cts. With it being a Saturday I wonder if this would be a good location to set up. Thoughts??

Going out on a limb here and guessing this Hawk fellow has never ever been to the HS hood.  Let's play along.

Hawk baby, you can park anywhere within a mile of the Coop, have your tailgate and walk to the game.  Leave ypur canopy and grill set up and your X7 unlocked and saunter back at halftime.  You'll be fine.

As for a bar, I've always BYOB but I think there's a friendly little spot around the corner with cosmos, quiche and amazing fritatas on the lunch menu and a jazz trio.  The bartenders name is Otis Day.  Let him dance with your women and you'll be fine

[amh63]

Most positive news wrt football in awhile is some mentioning of relaxing the tailgating rules.  Hopefully, by the Homecoming game at Amherst vs Williams, the weather and rules will favor tailgating with food tents by other sport teams and a number of academic departments.  Then there is the gathering in the Cage with free food and drinks.  Even the Williams' crowd will have a cookout outside for the Williams' players...before departing on their buses...parked nearby.  It's is a "festival" of sorts.   Note: Homecoming with Wes. has the cookout, etc. and even get invitation for drinks inside the Amherst cage. 

[Hawk196]

Possible location for Trinity tailgate. Using google maps I see a montessori school on Broad st. across from the football field/tennis cts. With it being a Saturday I wonder if this would be a good location to set up. Thoughts??

Going out on a limb here and guessing this Hawk fellow has never ever been to the HS hood.  Let's play along.

Hawk baby, you can park anywhere within a mile of the Coop, have your tailgate and walk to the game.  Leave ypur canopy and grill set up and your X7 unlocked and saunter back at halftime.  You'll be fine.

As for a bar, I've always BYOB but I think there's a friendly little spot around the corner with cosmos, quiche and amazing fritatas on the lunch menu and a jazz trio.  The bartenders name is Otis Day.  Let him dance with your women and you'll be fine

Blah, blah or comedians here....

No I've never been to Hartford, I guess its a ****hole like 90% of Ct (and I'm in NJ). I guess I don't have to pack my 40 for protection, another nearby parent has invited everyone to tailgate at their house.

but thanks for playin

[BigKat]

West Hartford is very nice-for real. Wouldn't worry about Polarcat chirping too much Hawk assuming he's following a Maine football team;)

[Nescacman]

Well, I did put him on the spot, as noted, and gave him about 60 seconds to make picks. What limbs would you go out on?

Our predictions will be posted Friday but how about spreads or scores?

[Nescacman]

Possible location for Trinity tailgate. Using google maps I see a montessori school on Broad st. across from the football field/tennis cts. With it being a Saturday I wonder if this would be a good location to set up. Thoughts??

Going out on a limb here and guessing this Hawk fellow has never ever been to the HS hood.  Let's play along.

Hawk baby, you can park anywhere within a mile of the Coop, have your tailgate and walk to the game.  Leave ypur canopy and grill set up and your X7 unlocked and saunter back at halftime.  You'll be fine.

As for a bar, I've always BYOB but I think there's a friendly little spot around the corner with cosmos, quiche and amazing fritatas on the lunch menu and a jazz trio.  The bartenders name is Otis Day.  Let him dance with your women and you'll be fine

"May we dance with your dates?"

[Nescacman]

Most positive news wrt football in awhile is some mentioning of relaxing the tailgating rules.  Hopefully, by the Homecoming game at Amherst vs Williams, the weather and rules will favor tailgating with food tents by other sport teams and a number of academic departments.  Then there is the gathering in the Cage with free food and drinks.  Even the Williams' crowd will have a cookout outside for the Williams' players...before departing on their buses...parked nearby.  It's is a "festival" of sorts.   Note: Homecoming with Wes. has the cookout, etc. and even get invitation for drinks inside the Amherst cage.

Despite the rules being uniform across the league right now (no masks outdoors for vaccinated fans, no large team/school sponsored tailgates), we are hearing that the interpretation of the rules will vary widely by institution....some schools will be checking vaccine cards/others will not be... some schools will allow smaller, one off tailgates/other schools won't allow any tailgating on campus, even small tailgates....will be interesting to get the reports Saturday and Sunday from around the league and see what actually happens...at least we're going to see real games as of right now...

[ITH radio]

Welcome back NESCAC.

For those travelling to Hartford (my hometown), I'd recommend checking out Bear's BBQ Smokehouse. Other spots I'd add are Vaughn's, Half Door and Max Downtown (albeit this is more on the higher end/pricey as far as HFD goes). Little River Restoratives is borderline hipster, but a cool/funky spot as well.

[Trin9-0]

My understanding is that pregame tailgating at all NESCAC schools (with apparently the exception of Tufts?) is allowed on campus. Just be prepared to show your vaccination card. As for tailgating at Trinity, there are places to tailgate on Vernon Place (just beyond the north end of the field) if the short walk to the Athletic Center parking lots is too taxing. The closest lot does require you to reserve a place in advance, but that's mostly just to keep out the riff-raff like Nescacman.

If you are looking to whet your whistle at a nearby watering hole, try the Tap Cafe across from campus on New Britain Ave. Fair warning; they haven't traditionally been open very early on game days, but that may change if tailgating is indeed limited. Anyways, looking forward to the return of NESCAC football!

For what it's worth, I thought the Greg Thomas pick of Middlebury over Williams was a bit of a surprise... especially on the road.

[nescac1]

Middlebury has its roster out.  Although it has a good number of key 2021 guys back -- in particular Jernigan, Connell, Pistorius, Bailey, Roselle and Paskewitz -- a few important defensive guys opted not to stay the extra year (Huggins and McKissick).  But the biggest missing name is Alex Maldjian; if he's not playing this year, obviously a massive hole to fill for the Panthers. 

[Nescacman]

Middlebury has its roster out.  Although it has a good number of key 2021 guys back -- in particular Jernigan, Connell, Pistorius, Bailey, Roselle and Paskewitz -- a few important defensive guys opted not to stay the extra year (Huggins and McKissick).  But the biggest missing name is Alex Maldjian; if he's not playing this year, obviously a massive hole to fill for the Panthers.

Losing Maldjian is a game changer for the Pants...as most of you know we have been critical of the Pants offensive balance until Alex came on the scene as a rookie phenom in 2019...losing him will def make the Pants (again) uni-dimensional which puts a great deal of pressure on QB Jernigan...and for those of you who question how much of a difference one guy can make, you didn't see Maldjian play in 2019....now we need to reassess our thinking...