FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

Sorry to hear that- hope he can get back for the Colby game.

Unfortunately, we've heard that Boel's 2022 season is over. Feel really bad for him.

We're sure that will lead to another post from "Charlie" talking about the possibility of a Boel medical redshirt.

Boel is a junior and, under the COVID rules, has 2 more years of eligibility (I think).

That is correct..we were (jokingly) talking about eligibility on top of the two years (including the COVID exemption) due to his injury this weekend...hoping he fully recovers from what we heard was a bad knee injury...having seen him play in HS as well, he's a very talented student-athlete...

[SpringSt7]

Sorry to hear that- hope he can get back for the Colby game.

Unfortunately, we've heard that Boel's 2022 season is over. Feel really bad for him.

We're sure that will lead to another post from "Charlie" talking about the possibility of a Boel medical redshirt.

Boel is a junior and, under the COVID rules, has 2 more years of eligibility (I think).

Just to clarify, because it is going to start to get muddy in the next few months and years as we lose track---the COVID eligibility rules do not have any effect on NESCAC athletes. The NCAA ruled that the 2020-21 season would not count towards an athlete's eligibility but no one in the NESCAC competed that year. They don't just magically get a 5th season of competition.

The only thing that will determine who comes back for a "5th year" is whether or not a kid took a semester off in order to come back for a 4th season or if they used a medical redshirt, which would still also require a semester away academically.

Obvious caveat: this does not apply in the same way at Tufts and Wesleyan.

[Nescacman]

Would agree MuleShoe that Colby is definitely on a fast rise as a program. Over that past 3 years that I have seen them when they play us, it is clear that their culture has changed under Cos. Their defense is definitely nasty, but their offense has certainly held them back. I think there are two problems there: 1. QB play is not good. Lack of arm strength, panic in the pocket and is happier to scramble than let the ball fly. 2. Play Calling: Do they have a simpler playbook because of #1 problem above? Their offense has been in the bottom of the league for the past few years. They need to fix this asap if they are to be an upper tier program.
We have very similar issues also, but yesterday was a nice boost to the confidence level. This team since the Bates game has improved in bunches.

Our assessment having watched Colby play now for a few years (40+): Hersch is probably an amazing young man and clearly has some talent, however, as a QB he is at best a good game manager. He is not the kind of player that is going to take the team on his shoulders and win games for you by himself like a Maimaron, any of Middlebury's QBs from the past, Costa et al. Now, if you surrounded Hersch with a stud WR or or a stud RB, you might be able to win with him or someone like him at QB (think of any of the Lord Mammoth QBs of the past, like Ollie). However, without top tier skill players, you are asking Hersch to do way too much. Just our opinion.

We agree that Colby is moving directionally correct as a program. Their won-loss record last year (4-5) and this year (4-3 and probably on their way to their first winning season in awhile) supports that fact. But question for the Board...shouldn't they be? They just spent a zillion dollars on a brand new state-of-the art athletic center, their President and administration are very supportive of athletics (AD Mike Wisecup was the President's former right hand man, he was hand-picked by the President to lead the athletic department at Colby, and he is an Annapolis Alum which means he has tremendous leadership skills-thank you for your service, btw, Mike was a Navy Seal and is a decorated hero), and the admissions department is being very flexible (like Hartford State) when it comes to football. However, the elephant in the room is that no matter how much money they spend, how supportive the administration is or how flexible admissions is, Colby is still located in Waterville, Maine. We think that creates recruiting challenges which are not easy to overcome. Bowdoin hasn't been able to overcome those challenges. We will see if HCOF Matt can overcome them at UBates. The White Mules seem to be doing better than their Maine counterparts in attracting out of state talent but we will see if those guys can play. We're from Missouri.   

[middhoops]

Nescacman, please compare the challenge of Waterville, Maine; vs. Middlebury, Vermont.

[Bucket]

Nescacman, please compare the challenge of Waterville, Maine; vs. Middlebury, Vermont.

LOL. Are you kidding?

[Nescacman]

Nescacman, please compare the challenge of Waterville, Maine; vs. Middlebury, Vermont.

LOL. Are you kidding?

Thank you Bucket...we were going to take the bait, but we'll pass. Anyone educated on the history of the NESCAC can easily answer that question. Why not also compare the challenge of Waterville, Maine to Williamstown, Massachusetts while we are at it??? 

[lumbercat]

I get it, Middlebury is beautiful, it's perfect. We all love to visit Vermont.

Football recruits from Pa, Ct, NJ, NY and beyond come to New England with an open mind looking for a place where they feel comfortable and can get a great education. Maybe their hometown resembles Waterville or Lewiston and they feel at home in a given setting and embrace that particular opportunity.

Yeah, we get it Bucket- any comparison between Waterville and iconic Middlebury is an LOL.

From a true Football recruiting standpoint there are some distinct travel advantages that are very significant for any potential student athlete at Colby and the CBB schools. The Portland Maine airport has been expanded and upgraded to include direct flights from several major hubs. It's a lot easier and cheaper for recruits/students and their families around the Eastern US to get to the Maine schools these days than ever before. Bowdoin and Bates a 30 minute Uber from Portland Airport and Colby about 50 minutes.

While Middlebury is an elite, beautiful venue there may be other factors which are of appeal to a young student athlete and his/her family as they consider Colby or other Maine schools. Certainly no compromise in the quality of the education from school to school...... not an LOL.

[Jonny Utah]

NESCAC football is still a conference where the best teams get their elite talent from NJ, Long Island, CT and the Boston area.  Like the LL you might get a QB or skill player from Florida or California or some random college town where the kid's parents are professors, but I think as long as your top talent is from the Northeast, Colby is going to be at a disadvantage.

[lumbercat]

I agree Jonny but that advantage has narrowed pretty significantly in recent years specifically with Colby where the leaps they have made in their facilities have enabled them to achieve better recruiting results not only in Football but also in Hockey and Basketball.
I also agree with your assessment of the core regions which perennially have fed the winning NESCAC programs but there is a real difference being made outside those traditional recruiting hotbeds and it's a trend that will continue to grow. Most/all NESCAC admissions people want to expand and broaden their geographic diversity and have become increasingly flexible to achieve those goals.

[Bucket]

I agree Jonny but that advantage has narrowed pretty significantly in recent years specifically with Colby where the leaps they have made in their facilities have enabled them to achieve better recruiting results not only in Football but also in Hockey and Basketball.
I also agree with your assessment of the core regions which perennially have fed the winning NESCAC programs but there is a real difference being made outside those traditional recruiting hotbeds and it's a trend that will continue to grow. Most/all NESCAC admissions people want to expand and broaden their geographic diversity and have become increasingly flexible to achieve those goals.

I agree with all said about comparable academic qualities of the schools, as well as quality of facilities.

So, I'd like to go back to the original question that focused specifically on the challenges of recruiting to Waterville, the place, vs. Middlebury, the place. Which, again, leads to an LOL.

[Jonny Utah]

I agree Jonny but that advantage has narrowed pretty significantly in recent years specifically with Colby where the leaps they have made in their facilities have enabled them to achieve better recruiting results not only in Football but also in Hockey and Basketball.
I also agree with your assessment of the core regions which perennially have fed the winning NESCAC programs but there is a real difference being made outside those traditional recruiting hotbeds and it's a trend that will continue to grow. Most/all NESCAC admissions people want to expand and broaden their geographic diversity and have become increasingly flexible to achieve those goals.

As a proud graduate several times over of the Pine Tree Basketball camp with Coach Whitmore, I see nothing wrong with the outstanding facilities that Colby offered.  Ok that may have been 35 years ago but still. 

[lumbercat]

I agree Jonny but that advantage has narrowed pretty significantly in recent years specifically with Colby where the leaps they have made in their facilities have enabled them to achieve better recruiting results not only in Football but also in Hockey and Basketball.
I also agree with your assessment of the core regions which perennially have fed the winning NESCAC programs but there is a real difference being made outside those traditional recruiting hotbeds and it's a trend that will continue to grow. Most/all NESCAC admissions people want to expand and broaden their geographic diversity and have become increasingly flexible to achieve those goals.

I agree with all said about comparable academic qualities of the schools, as well as quality of facilities.

So, I'd like to go back to the original question that focused specifically on the challenges of recruiting to Waterville, the place, vs. Middlebury, the place. Which, again, leads to an LOL.

Middlebury would be considered by most to be a nicer place than Waterville but there may be less condescending ways for a Middlebury guy to make that point.

[Nescacman]

2022 NESCACMAN Week 7 Power Rankings

1). Hartford State Bantams (7-0; Last Week: 1): UBates and Wes are all that stand in the way of a perfect season....magic number for a NESCAC championship is down to 1...can HCOF Matt help his old boss at Wesleyan with an improbable win this week against the Bants? If they do win, might be the greatest upset in Lewiston since Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston...

2). Middlebury Panthers (6-1; LW: 2): Middlebury keeps winning, this time with a big comeback against Colby...last home game of the year this week against Hamilton and then they head to Ellis Oval to face Tufts...need to win out and hope that Hartford State stubs their toe for the Pants to share the NESCAC crown...

3). Wesleyan Cardinals (5-2; LW: 3): 2 big games left against Little 3 rival Williams  and Hartford State....can salvage the season with a Little 3 title and a win in Hartford...need to win out and hope for a ton of help...defense was stellar against the Lord Mammoths and offense did everything but put the ball in the end zone (despite the refs blowing a TD call at the end of the first half)...mixed bag this week on special teams; blocked punt for a TD, decent punting , good kick coverage, fielded punts well offset by 2 missed FGs and a missed XP that almost cost Wes the game...not to make excuses, but their #1 PK has been out since the Hamilton game and the back-up kicker is coming back from an almost career ending knee injury (caused by a cheap shot on a punt in game 1 last year)...Homecoming Week at Wes; we expect a big crowd for the final home game (and a chance to win the Little 3), "Salute to Service", and events honoring the Wes All-80's Football Team as well as inductees into the Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame...

4). Colby Mules (4-3; LW: 4): Need one win in their last 2 games to secure a winning season...won't be easy as they face an explosive Tufts this week at home and then travel down the road to Brunswick to face Bowdoin in the last NESCAC game of the year....a night game in November in Maine...sounds like a blast!

5). Tufts Jumbo's (4-3; LW: 5): Another team fighting for a winning record in what has been a disappointing season for the Jumbo's...travel to Colby this week and then play Middlebury at home in a game that could have NESCAC title implications for Middlebury...

6). Williams Purple Cows (2-5; LW:9): Big win for the Purple Cows over the Bobkitties....QB Vaughn finally provides Williams with some decent QB play for the first time this year on his way to NESCAC Offensive POTW....can he do it two weeks in a row???

7). University of Bates Bobcats (Lewiston Campus)(2-5; LW: 6): Tough loss to the Purple Cows although they played them tough....The reward? They get to play undefeated Hartford State this week...

8). Bowdoin Polar Bears (2-5; LW: 7): Wheels fell of the bus once they lost QB Boel...will try to get a third win in 2022 without their starting QB....will have a tough time scoring this week against a decent Amwurst defense...

9). Hamilton Continentals (2-5; LW: 8): Have given up 40 or more points in 4 of their 5 losses....one exception was only giving up 18 points to the uninspiring Colby offense...as bad as the defense has been, the offense has only scored more than 20 points once this year...we wonder if HCOF Murray sometimes second guesses his decision to leave Alfred for Hamilton???

10). Amwurst Lord Mammoths (1-6; LW: 10): Last in the rankings by default...sort of a cheap imitation version of Colby although the Lord Mammoths defense is better than the White Mules and their offense is worse than the White Mules...we are sure that this is a short term hiccup for the Amwurst program; we can't imagine the administration and the alumni tolerating this situation for very long...very shocking to see the Wesleyan crowd bigger than the Lord Mammoth crowd last Saturday...enjoyed seeing and hanging out with Coach Siedlecki, who was a special guest at the NESCACMAN tailgate...

NESCACMAN's Picks (winners):
2022 Season: 24-11 (4-1 last week)
2021 Season: 33-12
2020 Season: 0-0
2019 Season: 33-12
2018 Season: 36-9
2017 Season: 35-10
2016 Season: 32-8
2015 Season: 30-10
2014 Season: 30-10
2013 Season: 32-8
Career: 285-90 (.760 winning percentage)

[Nescacman]

Public Service Announcement...we highly endorse this event coming up and encourage all of our fellow boardsters in the NY Metro area to attend:

"Brains and Brawn–The NESCAC at 50: Pondering the Past and Future of the Sweatiest of the Liberal Arts"
A Williams Club program at The Penn Club, 30 West 44th St, NY, NY 6:00pm, November 2nd, 2022

Background

Decades before there was a baseball World Series, two of this group of elite colleges staged the first collegiate contest in the National Pastime. These schools produced the country's All-American quarterback in the Roaring Twenties and a slew of All-American soccer players -- when there was no division between major colleges and small ones -- not to mention Olympic and Boston Marathon champions. But the competitive landscape changed 50 years ago when the NCAA created a Division III and
presidents of the leading New England small colleges formed NESCAC.

A half century after its founding, the New England Small College Athletic Conference is no rival to the scholarship-granting Division I sports powerhouses. Yet the league sponsors 27 championships and continues to send select players -- and future Front Office personnel -- to the NFL, NBA and pro soccer leagues while yearly dominating the overall performance rankings of Division III athletics...this despite continuing tension on almost all campuses between the desire to win and yet maintain high academic standards. How does the NESCAC do it? Does winning matter? What might the future hold for NCAA Division III sports as well as intercollegiate athletics writ large.

These schools were present at the beginning with the establishment of the first intercollegiate athletics programs in the late 1800's, and evolved into NESCAC during the 1960s, and became the contemporary "gold standard" of the melding of intercollegiate athletics excellence within a framework of high academic standards.

Panelists Bios

Moderator, Tim Layden, a 1978 graduate of Williams College and former mediocre student-athlete, is an award-winning and nationally recognized sports journalist with more than four decades' experience. Layden is currently a Writer-at-Large for NBC Sports, following a 25-year career at Sports Illustrated. Before that, he worked at daily newspapers in Schenectady, NY; Albany, NY; and New York City.

Dr. Daniel Covell is author of The New England Small College Athletic Conference: A History, which was published in 2022 by McFarland & Company to mark NESCAC's 50th anniversary. Covell played football at Bowdoin and is Professor of Sport Management in the College of Business at Western New England University. Education: Ph.D., University of Massachusetts; M.S., University of Massachusetts; B.A., Bowdoin College (1986).

John Biddiscombe served on Wesleyan's athletic staff for 38 years, the final 24 as its director. He was named Division III Athletic Director of the Year for the Northeast Region by the National Association of College Athletic Directors in 1999-2000.

David Hixon is a legendary Amherst College head men's basketball coach, who holds the record for number of wins in a single sport while coaching at Amherst. During his storied 42-season career at his alma mater, Hixon '75, was the third coach in men's basketball history across all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) divisions to surpass the 800-win mark.

Dr. Joanne Berger-Sweeney is Trinity College's President. An accomplished neuroscientist and experienced leader in higher education, she is the 22nd president of Trinity College. The first African American and the first woman to serve as president of
the college, Berger-Sweeney is a champion of a liberal arts education, improving campus equity and diversity, fostering community and global engagement, caring for the school's proud alumni, and preparing students to lead bold and transformative lives. Under Berger-Sweeney's leadership, the College has experienced notable markers of success across finance, student success, sustainability, and designing a distinctive, relevant liberal arts education. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Wellesley College, her M.P.H. in environmental health sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Ph.D. in neurotoxicology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Tickets
Admission only with prior registration & includes a wine reception. Williams Club Members' tickets are $ 15 and nonmembers, $25. Club Members register via the Members app; non-members register via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brains-and-brawnthe-nescac-at-50-tickets-439692210237

[middhoops]

I agree Jonny but that advantage has narrowed pretty significantly in recent years specifically with Colby where the leaps they have made in their facilities have enabled them to achieve better recruiting results not only in Football but also in Hockey and Basketball.
I also agree with your assessment of the core regions which perennially have fed the winning NESCAC programs but there is a real difference being made outside those traditional recruiting hotbeds and it's a trend that will continue to grow. Most/all NESCAC admissions people want to expand and broaden their geographic diversity and have become increasingly flexible to achieve those goals.

I agree with all said about comparable academic qualities of the schools, as well as quality of facilities.

So, I'd like to go back to the original question that focused specifically on the challenges of recruiting to Waterville, the place, vs. Middlebury, the place. Which, again, leads to an LOL.

Middlebury would be considered by most to be a nicer place than Waterville but there may be less condescending ways for a Middlebury guy to make that point.

My point was surely NOT to dump on Colby.  I have never been to Waterville, but my impression of Maine college towns is favorable.  Given NM's colorful takes on all things NESCAC, I thought it would be entertaining to read his ideas on what makes Waterville a recruiting challenge compared to other schools in the conference.  Comparing it to Middlebury, VT, simply would have made it more relatable to me.  Selfishly.
I apologize if my request appeared to be in any way condescending.  Certainly that wasn't my intent.