FB: Liberty League

['gro]

I hear that shannon sharpe is going to auction off the marbles he keeps in his mouth during his broadcasts.

[Touchdown Tommy]

My favorite HD moment:  when ABC began broadcasting the World Cup Finale in SD for the first five minutes -- after I invited two female coworkers to come watch on the new 50" Plasma.  After panicking at the unclear cropped image and running into my bedroom to confirm the issue, I went back and saw a glorious HD picture...and it gave me a true appreciation for HD.  Just don't believe the 1080p hype.

Oh wise Frank: Can you explain the difference between 720i and 1080p?  Starting to look at plasma's and see a new technology.  What is the ranking of brands/quality?  I see that Pioneer sets the high end and the Westinghouse/LG/private labels set the low end...

[dea]

You are absolutely correct about Union not being able to stop the big pass play. However,if the offense is taking advantage of all its opportunities then it can make up for the poor play of the secondary. In the game yesterday Union could've scored  40-50  given all the opportunities the offense was given.  On a side note, nobody in the LL except for RPI has an average margin of victory of greater than 6 PPG.  Union is at 6.2 and Hobart is at 4.75.

[Wizardman]

I still stand by my belief that Union is one of the most overrated teams right now in college football. Yes, they're 4-1, but they could've been just as easily 1-4 with their shoddy defense. Once November hits, we'll know Union's true colors. Util them, I can't make any true judgments on them, I can only offer my opinion.

[Frank Rossi]

I think we have some short memories.  In 2005, Union went 10-0 and nearly beat Rowan in the 2nd Round of the Playoffs...but their regular-season wins were not pretty:

King's Point - 23-17W in OT

F&M - 14-10W by Hail Mary

Coast Guard - 7-0W by INT return for TD with < 1 minute left

RPI - 49-42W by shootout

Ithaca - 55-41W by shootout

It truly is a game of inches and luck at times, but Union has not won pretty even in going 14-1 in its last 15 regular-season games.  Does this let them off the hook for poor plays and paltry performances?  No.  However, until they lose again, a W is a W.  I fear to say that because they have some decent non-league opponents (Muhl, F&M and Springfield), they get a pretty good lesson week-in and week-out of what is needed to win, be it pretty or ugly.  I'd say the same for Hobart...admirable non-conference schedule there too.  Alfred will be a challenge.

[Frank Rossi]

My favorite HD moment:  when ABC began broadcasting the World Cup Finale in SD for the first five minutes -- after I invited two female coworkers to come watch on the new 50" Plasma.  After panicking at the unclear cropped image and running into my bedroom to confirm the issue, I went back and saw a glorious HD picture...and it gave me a true appreciation for HD.  Just don't believe the 1080p hype.

Oh wise Frank: Can you explain the difference between 720i and 1080p?  Starting to look at plasma's and see a new technology.  What is the ranking of brands/quality?  I see that Pioneer sets the high end and the Westinghouse/LG/private labels set the low end...

There are three types of HDTVs:  1) 720p, 2) 1080i and 3) 1080p.  The "p" stands for progressive scanning, while the "i" stands for interlaced.  The number stands for the number of lines of resolution.  Now, this is where things get complicated as most consider 720p better than 1080i.  Why?  Because "interlaced" really means that the television is only updating 540 lines at each refresh (back and forth on one of a pair of lines) to give the appearance of 1080 lines.  However, 720p is actually refreshing all 720 lines constantly.  Thus, for high-speed motion broadcasts, including sports, many people complain that 1080i televisions, especially lower-end models, "ghost" and "artifact" to the point of painful.  In fact, I set my cable box to 720p to avoid such an issue.  The lower definition can really only be spotted in larger TVs (usually >50"), so it's really not a big dropoff in definition.

Now, there is also 1080p -- what many stores are trying to shove down consumers' throats.  It is the resolution of 1080i, but it has the progressive nature of 720p.  Thus, it has less ghosting at a better resolution.  HOWEVER, no networks broadcast in 1080p.  The only use you may have for 1080p is with a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD disc, as some will be native at 1080p.  Even if you plan on getting these higher-end disc players, you should realize that the resolution increase is negligible for a viewer on TVs of 50" or less.  Since 1080p televisions can sometimes be double the price of 720p/1080i televisions, it really is not worth the extra money at this time.  Even five years down the line, it is unlikely that most, if any networks will broadcast in 1080p.

So, my best answer for you is to purchase a television that is 720p/1080i capable so that you can have the best of both mainstream worlds.  For instance, here is my television that I adore:  edited to shorten link/pc -- there is also a 42" model available.  Don't be fooled by salesmen, and always watch high speed in 720p for the best bang.

[res ipsa loquitur]

Well, I'll admit I don't know dick about TV's.  But Phillip Rivers looks pretty good tonight.  On my pathetic non-HD 33 inch tube.

And, like Rossi, I think the Alfred-Hobart game will be a fun one to watch. 

How bout them Cowboys?

[Jonny Utah]

How many o-lineman return from last years Union team?  I thought they were solid and a reason the entire offense did so well....

Still way to early for any pool c talk although that springfield/Union game was a big one..

[Frank Rossi]

One starting O-Lineman returned for Union from 2005.

['gro]

Who's the hottest team now in the LLPPFFL??  Miracle 'Gro put up a blazing 123 points yesterday (not bad since this league only has 8 starters instead of 9). Hats off to AJ, you put up a good fight (JAX defense stepped it up) and you would of beat just about anyother team that week, but this was not your week.

Who Dey??

[Tlm]

How many o-lineman return from last years Union team?  I thought they were solid and a reason the entire offense did so well....

Still way to early for any pool c talk although that springfield/Union game was a big one..

Union returned one O-lineman this year.  The 4 that graduated had a combined 13 years of starting experience.

A couple other comments:

One of the most unproductive arguments that any football team can engage in is whether the offense or defense is not holding up their end of the game.  Teams win games.  Teams lose games.  Every season there are going to be games when the defense has to bail out the offense and vice versa.  Last seaon, Union's defense bailed them out vs Kings Point, F&M and Coast Guard.  The offense bailed them out vs UR, RPI and Ithaca.  The bottom line for all of the Union fans is that the team is 4-1 and undefeated in the LL.

Much has been made of the competitiveness in the LL this year.  I would agree.  From top to bottom the LL may be the most competitive conference in the country.  It is certainly as competitive as I can ever remember the LL or its precurser, the UCAA.  Consider that of the 9 head-to-head games so far this season in the LL, only one game (WPI at KP), was settled by more than one score.  The average margin of victory for the 9 games is 5.4 points, and if you take out KP's 33-14 win vs WPI, the average victory margin drops to 3.7.

Finally, things have to be heating up around the league when Frank Rossi starts talking about playoff scenarios, AQ's and Pool C bids.  

[Senor RedTackle]

RT was away on Sunday from PP and returns to see that Frank Rossi was on 'posting steroids' all day. Nice work Frank on the playoff scenario breakdown...RT found that very helpful. He also enjoyed hearing FR drop knowledge on televisions. RT will be certain to ping FR when making any major purchase....and avoid spending money on Consumer Reports.

RT is still hacked off about giving up 4TDs in the 2nd half and losing to the Larries. WTF?? That one hurts a ton.....playoffs, in RT's opinion, are an extreme longshot but one never knows....at this point, RT is worried about who RPI has left. The way this year is going in the LL, no game is an automatic "W" anymore...

['gro]

'gro listened to the RPI/SLU game.  gro can only think of 2 games this reminds him of: vs. Rochester in '00 and Ithaca in '01. Both RPI losses.

in each game the opposing team found something that worked and did it over and over and over with no adjustments by RPI (either the coaches didn't make adjustments, or the players didn't follow through, not placing blame here).  UR ran a post corner about 17 times in a row and IC ran the ball off tackle down the field in those games. Haven't seen enough RPI football to see if any current losses were of that type, but they are the most annoying.

SLU was seemingly passing with ease in the 4th qtr.

[Jonny Utah]

How many o-lineman return from last years Union team?  I thought they were solid and a reason the entire offense did so well....

Still way to early for any pool c talk although that springfield/Union game was a big one..

Union returned one O-lineman this year.  The 4 that graduated had a combined 13 years of starting experience.

A couple other comments:

One of the most unproductive arguments that any football team can engage in is whether the offense or defense is not holding up their end of the game.  Teams win games.  Teams lose games.  Every season there are going to be games when the defense has to bail out the offense and vice versa.  Last seaon, Union's defense bailed them out vs Kings Point, F&M and Coast Guard.  The offense bailed them out vs UR, RPI and Ithaca.  The bottom line for all of the Union fans is that the team is 4-1 and undefeated in the LL.

Much has been made of the competitiveness in the LL this year.  I would agree.  From top to bottom the LL may be the most competitive conference in the country.  It is certainly as competitive as I can ever remember the LL or its precurser, the UCAA.  Consider that of the 9 head-to-head games so far this season in the LL, only one game (WPI at KP), was settled by more than one score.  The average margin of victory for the 9 games is 5.4 points, and if you take out KP's 33-14 win vs WPI, the average victory margin drops to 3.7.

Finally, things have to be heating up around the league when Frank Rossi starts talking about playoff scenarios, AQ's and Pool C bids.  

I agree with you TLM but I think Unions Defense actually bailed them out against Ithaca last year as they were able to stop IC in the fourth while ICs defense could not stop Union.......(The union offense was on their a-game as well.)

I havent seen any union games this year but an experienced oline has to be a part of the problem...

[tecmobowler]

Yeah I agree.  Union started to get some pressure on Felicetti late in the game.  That nutty kickoff was certainly the shift in momentum though.

Can't fathom how Union is struggling, or how they struggled against some teams they did last year.  Their defense was swiss cheese for most of the Ithaca game, but that offense looked like it could score 50 a game.  Is it the loss of the WR? Turnovers? Motivation? I don't get it.