FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Jonny Utah]

In NESCAC the 8 game season is not about tradition. In my view it (like other controversial football items) is about suppressing football which the powers that be are fearful will get out of academic control due to alumni and other pressures.

I'm not saying that tradition necessarily has anything to do with the 8 game schedule. I agree that there is some paranoia that football will get too big and overshadow the NESCAC schools academic mission. What I meant was that, as an alumnus who happens to work closely with many Trin football players from the '50s and '60s, it's nice to have a shared experience that is probably more similar in many respects than what other D3 football players may have with their fellow alums.

If the leage were to adopt a 9th game, do you think it would be easier to add it to the end of the season thus starting season at the same time and ending a week later OR should they simply make the scrimmage an actual game?

I believe that if the scrimmage was made into an actual game that the players would have to report a week earlier than they currently do. Coaches need time to prepare and install offensive and defensive systems and players need time to get into game shape. However, this would also increase the costs of running a football program.

Any thoughts?

Don't know if it has to do with this, but it reminds me a little of the private school football league in Boston. (st. Sebs, Nobles, Roxbury Latin).  The league rule there is that they dont exchange football tapes and they arent allowed to live scout.  The coaches just let each other know a week before the game what offense and defense they run.  Kind of wierd.

[Pat Coleman]

It may be legal to play the ninth game in "Week 12" -- the first week of the D-III playoffs. I think it might fall under the same rule that permits the ECAC postseason to be one game during that week.

But I am no expert in this area.

[frank uible]

Last year the NESCAC ADs and coaches proposed that 9th games between NESCAC colleges be added to the front ends of all the schedules in place of the pre-season inter-college scrimmages - the Presidents voted on the proposition, and it failed. The additional cost of such a 9th game compared to a scrimmage would be minimal except in the case of an overnight game trip (all of the scrimmages have involved day trips, I believe, because of the playing of certain scrimmages at neutral sites located intermediately where the scrimmage in question would otherwise cause an overnight trip). If 9th games had been added, there would have been only a few such additional overnight game trips - for instance, Bowdoin or Colby to Williams or vice-versa. Of course, the additional financial burden of any such overnight 9th game trips would only fall on an individual college once every other year because of the home-and-home principle.

[Trin9-0]

Last year the NESCAC ADs and coaches proposed that 9th games between NESCAC colleges be added to the front ends of all the schedules in place of the pre-season inter-college scrimmages - the Presidents voted on the proposition, and it failed. The additional cost of such a 9th game compared to a scrimmage would be minimal except in the case of an overnight game trip (all of the scrimmages have involved day trips, I believe, because of the playing of certain scrimmages at neutral sites located intermediately where the scrimmage in question would otherwise cause an overnight trip). There would only be a few such additional overnight trips - for instance, Bowdoin or Colby to Williams or vice-versa. Of course, the additional financial burden of such overnight trips would only fall on an individual college once every other year because of the home-and-home principle.

That's very interesting I didn't know that the issue was voted on. Was it a unanimous vote and was there any explaination of their decision?

In regards to the cost, I would assume it would be more than just the added travel expenses because if a 9th game were added I would imagine that the players would need to be brought into camp a week earlier as well in order to prepare. That's an extra 3 meals a day for 75(ish) players at the very minimum. Not sure what, if any, the cost would be involving dorms, insurance, etc.

With that being said, I'm all for a 9th game. Hopefully, getting the presidents to at least vote on the idea is a good first step. Remember we aren't too far removed from the days when the NESCAC standings were listed in ALPHABETICAL ORDER!

[Col. Partridge]

When I played 10+ years ago there was talk of playing a 9th game on the front end.  I seem to recall some pushback from the presidents about having football players on campus by themselves a week earlier than anyone else.   (Not that I think that makes any more sense than any of the other excuses).

[frank uible]

I don't believe that the NESCAC ADs and coaches contemplated starting football practice any earlier if the 9th game proposition had passed - but I don't know for sure. Also I don't know whether the proposition failed unanimously. As usual in these matters, the Presidents did not explain their action.

[Pat Coleman]

To drop an additional piece of info into this discussion -- one of the NESCAC schools was sending out feelers for scheduling a non-conference game a few years ago. Obviously, it didn't happen.

[speedy]

Interesting stuff on the defeat of the proposal to add a 9th game. The purported rationale sounds bogus . . .

The NESCAC has a super-majority requirement (8 of 11 votes are required) for modification of the NESCAC agreement.  I'm not certain whether the limit on number of football games is considered to be a part of the agreement (it's in the NESCAC manual, which may be considered a part of the NESCAC agreement).

[speedy]

It may be legal to play the ninth game in "Week 12" -- the first week of the D-III playoffs. I think it might fall under the same rule that permits the ECAC postseason to be one game during that week.

But I am no expert in this area.

That probably wouldn't fly because it would overlap with the start of winter sports. The only workable solution would be to begin the seaon a week earlier . .

[frank uible]

What would NESCAC do if a member scheduled a non-conference game? Expel the member as it expelled Union many years ago for men's ice hockey recruiting violations?

[Knightstalker]

Hudson Catholic in Jersey City is looking for assistant coaches for football and soccer

[labart96]

What would NESCAC do if a member scheduled a non-conference game? Expel the member as it expelled Union many years ago for men's ice hockey recruiting violations?

"How dare a NESCAC member school schedule a non-conference game" - Biff Hudson Rockefeller, Middlebury Student Body President



"Say, Buffy, let's forget these "NESCAC" nerds and go back to Schnectady to see some hockey and eat caviar!"

"Great idea Winston!"

[Knightstalker]

BOL +K TGP.

[Col. Partridge]

Lol!  Someone has a subscription to WSJ online...

[Trin9-0]

What would NESCAC do if a member scheduled a non-conference game? Expel the member as it expelled Union many years ago for men's ice hockey recruiting violations?

"How dare a NESCAC member school schedule a non-conference game" - Biff Hudson Rockefeller, Middlebury Student Body President



"Say, Buffy, let's forget these "NESCAC" nerds and go back to Schnectady to see some hockey and eat caviar!"

"Great idea Winston!"

I can't believe this hasn't come up sooner... check out the full video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=666421576429916514&q=prep+unit+tea+party&hl=en

"NO ONE'S HARDER THAN A NEW ENGLAND GANGSTA"

To drop an additional piece of info into this discussion -- one of the NESCAC schools was sending out feelers for scheduling a non-conference game a few years ago. Obviously, it didn't happen.

Pat I'm very curious as to what NESCAC school might have been putting out these "feelers" and how many years ago.