FB: Liberty League

[JT]

latest cable update...comcast comes out of nowhere to almost match verizons pricing and throws in free dvr for the year as well as hbo!! giddy up...now we are talkin this is gettin  good  ...also forgot they threw in the movie tier as well

Keep the updates coming PBR

its good stuff ball is in veritastic's court right now waiting to hear back...verizon has a nice bundle package and price but comcast is blowing down the doors off monty hall....behind door #1 pbr we have free dvr, free hbo, free movie tier, and a lower monthly bill? do you want this or see whats behind door #2?

JT wonders if Dolanvision would battle Verizon over JT's business.  They didn't seem to blink a few years ago when they lost a couple 100 thousand subs to Direct TV when they refused to make the Yankee YES channel part of basic cable instead of a premium channel.

[Jonny Utah]

its not a copout, i just dont see the difference between that and a qb calling a time with 1 second left, or a defensive coach doing it when he sees his D isnt aligned right. 

Heres the difference. 

The QB calls a timeout because he doesnt like the defense he sees.

The coach calling the timeout is doing it because he wants to see the excitement of the play to happen and then have the kicker kick it again.  He WANTS the kicker to kick a FG that doesnt count.  If all he wanted to do is ice the kicker, he could call a timeout right when the FG unit goes on the field.
Baseball has a rule (cant remember the exact rules) that basically lets umps call something if there is a "travesty of the game".  This is sort of what is happening with these FG timeouts.  Its within the rules, but its a flaw that will be fixed.

So Reg is right.

Firs I never agreed with him, the rule should not be changed...sorry guys, just because it changes the excitement doesnt mean it should be changed...and i shouldnt..

Also, The coach does not want the "excitemen" of the game changed, I'm sure he doesnt care at all about that.  He wants to mess the kicker up.  He doesnt call a TO right when the field goal unit comes on the field cuz there might be 20 seconds left on the play clock.  Let those 20 seconds wind down, then call it and let the kicker think abotu it some more, let the pressure build, let the wind pick up. anything.  'm sure if the wind was 30 MPH in his face he wouldnt call it but he is looking for some sort of edge.

First off, are you telling me that this is good for the game?  Its clear that the refs are unable to take the ball away from the center right when the coach calls the timeout.  So its a flaw in the system where the refs are not able to stop a play from happening that they know isnt going to count.  

Back in the day, the clock would stop after a first down when the guys holding the chains would run up to the ball and set the 10 yard first down sticks up.  Then teams were taking advantage of that and using up more time than the league (and coaches) thought they needed.  So everyone agreed that the rule should be changed and they changed it.  Nothing is perfect, but this is something that needs to be fixed.

This is the third time in three weeks were plays are happening that shouldnt be happening.  Kind of common sense here I would think.  Bill Belichik really didnt break the nfl rules by videotaping the jets because the letter from the NFL said that the tapes cannot be used that game.  The Pats werent using then that game because they wanted them for future games.  They technically didnt break the rules, but commone sense prevailed and rightfull justice was served.  

[JT]

The Yankees are The Rev's favorite team, but even The Rev is disturbed by Steinbrenner's denial of reality.

JT doesn't think that Steinbrenner lives too many days in reality lately.  He's looking quite haggerdly lately.  Methinks he's suffering from dementia.  His recent newspaper interview about firing Torre might have been one of his "on" days.

['gro]

Good post JU, but me thinks the NFL rule is that teams aren't allowed to have any video equipment on the field.

[Jonny Utah]

Good post JU, but me thinks the NFL rule is that teams aren't allowed to have any video equipment on the field.

I think the original letter said that they could, but not use that footage that game.  It should have said "dont videotape the other team" but it didnt.  Couldnt find it in a quick search, but nonetheless, Belichik was being a smartass about it.

Here it is....

"Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."

So Belichick took the last part "accessible to club staff members during the game" as meaning that he could do it if he used the tapes after the game.  Kind of being sneaky about it but kind of right I guess.  I think the NFL should have been a little more clear with the writing, but teams knew what was right and wrong.....

But d3fan should have supported the cheating then by belichick right?

[labart96]

This may only be interesting to TGP and the Rev, but here's a mid season Bart review:

After losing so many key players from last season's LL co-champion and NCAA play-off squad, most D3 pundits labelled 2007 as a "rebuilding year" for Hobart.   Even TGP's original prediction was a 7-3 regular season finish and ECAC bowl game.  So why does a 3-2 record half way through the season not feel like a good start for this year's Hobart team?  Probably because of the fact that two last second (and totally back breaking) mistakes in the Dickinson and RPI games cost Hobart two games they could/should have won.  Subtract those two gaffes and Hobart is sitting at 5-0 and looking great for a fourth consecutive invitation to the NCAA D3 Championship tournament. 

Although winning out (and catching some lucky breaks if other Eastern Region leaders crap out down the stretch) would help, a NCAA selection after an 8-2 finish is a long shot at best given the selection committee's past history (see last season's exclusion of 9-1 Cortland) and the fact Hobart would likely lose out in a LL championship tie-breaker scenario due to their head to head loss to RPI. 

Kind of ironic that Hobart is team is playing to expectations on one hand, but is simultaneously underachieving with the 3-2 mark it's earned to date.

Despite the rough start, there have been some bright spots:

The biggest has to be Andy Strom's excellent play at QB.  The California Kid had some huge shoes to fill replacing graduated career QB stat record holder Shawn Mizro this season.  What Strom has accomplished to date is nothing short of remarkable.  Check out these stats:

107 of 162 (66%) pass completions for 1,354 yards, 13 TDs and only 1 INT for a 161.5 QB efficiency rating.  Strom is currently the stat leader (#1 QB in Passing, Efficiency and Total Offense) in the LL.  Add in that Strom has also rushed for 170 yards and 1 TD, and this kid definitely gets an A+ at the season's half way mark.

Beneficiaries of Strom's great start have been WRs James Wright and Ryan LiDrazzah who both have 5 TDs on the year and have averaged 98.6 and 72.6 yds/game, respectively.

As expected Hobart has used a RB by committee approach.  Anthony Hobaica has 302 yds on 73 carries and 3 TDs and FY transfer Andy Marlier has rushed 46 times for 177 yards and 4 TDs.

Hobart is also doing a great job of controlling the time of possession (TOP).  Averaging about 34+ minutes a game to their opponents 25+.

Although the season to date numbers on defense are similar to last season's overall averages, in TGP's opinion, this year's Hobart squad is really struggling on defense.

Last year Hobart gave up a lot of yards a game on defense, but generally held opponents to about 19 pts per game.  The 2006 Hobart D was good at stopping the run (allowed avg of 118 yds/game).  Hobart would give up a long pass here and there, but in general, Hobart would come up with key stops when needed.  The front seven usually controlled the line of scrimmage, created havoc in the backfield and basically forced opposing teams to go to the air (which often allowed Hobart to capitalize in creating turnovers). 

So far this season, Hobart has allowed about 28 points per game and an astounding 195 rushing yards a game.  One area that has improved a lot from last year is Hobart's passing defense (but you have to question those numbers given the fact most squads would pass less if they could rush for almost 200 yds a game).  Not to mention that off the 5 games played to date only 2 teams (RPI and WPI) had anything resembling a passing attack. 

Another area for concern is that Hobart is also only +1 in the turnover column.  Although Hobart has done a much better job avoiding the kinds of turnovers that killed them against Dickinson, I believe the Hobart D will need to come up with more big plays (sacks, fumble recoveries and INTs) when it goes against stronger teams like Alfred and Union down the stretch.

Special teams has been as good as expected with Dom Ancona doing a nice job taking over the PAT and FG duties.  Dom leads the team in scoring with 39 points from 6 of 8 on FGs (long of 41) and 21 of 22 in PATs.  He is also averaging about 53 yds on kick-offs.  The only area I could see Hobart needing to step up in here is to improve from being in last place in the league on kick off returns (16.7 avg).

Here are some other interesting stats on Bart as compared to their LL foes:

#1 in Total Offense
#2 in Scoring Offense
#1 in Pass Offense
#2 in Rushing Offense
#1 in Pass Efficiency
#1 in Penalties (as in best)
#1 in Red Zone Offense

#5 in Scoring Defense
#2 in Pass Defense
#6 in Rushing Defense
#4 (tie) in Turnover Margin
#5 in Sacks
#6 in Red Zone Defense

#8 in Kick off Returns
#2 in Punting
#2 in Punt Returns
#3 in FG %
#1 in PAT %

The remaining schedule for has Hobart facing some old rivals and big games, the final three having possible NCAA and/or ECAC play-off implications:

10/13 Merchant Marine 1 pm
10/20 St. Lawrence 1 pm
10/27 Alfred (currently ranked #15 in the nation) 1 pm
11/3 at Union 12 pm
11/10 at Rochester 12 pm

Should be an interesting 5 weeks.  Go Bart!

[Jonny Utah]

Too much Hobart Football talk in that post but I did notice this piece...

"most D3 pundits labelled 2007 as a "rebuilding year" for Hobart."

Who are the "D3 pundits"?  Isn't LLPP the most knowlegable group of d3 fans on the planet?

[labart96]

Too much Hobart Football talk in that post but I did notice this piece...

"most D3 pundits labelled 2007 as a "rebuilding year" for Hobart."

Who are the "D3 pundits"?  Isn't LLPP the most knowlegable group of d3 fans on the planet?

Yep - TGP would say that most of the LLPP had Hobart coming in either second or third in the LL this season.  The D3 kickoff write up also predicted Hobart with an 8-2, 6-1 record due to the question marks at QB, RB, etc coming into the season.

[PBR...]

lasagna is one of the hot meals being served by the catering crew today one of pbr's fav's...pbr swears they put crack in it....pbr just cant get enuf and keeps going back for more and more...the more you eat the more you want....its downright scary at times how much lasagna pbr puts away

[Regulator]

lasagna is one of the hot meals being served by the catering crew today one of pbr's fav's...pbr swears they put crack in it....pbr just cant get enuf and keeps going back for more and more...the more you eat the more you want....its downright scary at times how much lasagna pbr puts away

PBR-
Why are you typing so Supermannish lately? 

[PBR...]

lasagna is one of the hot meals being served by the catering crew today one of pbr's fav's...pbr swears they put crack in it....pbr just cant get enuf and keeps going back for more and more...the more you eat the more you want....its downright scary at times how much lasagna pbr puts away

PBR-
Why are you typing so Supermannish lately? 

unforunately jammed at work....dealing w/ a ton of system upgrades...nights and weekends lately....btw anyone looking for a great deal on tivo here is one that you make $31 bucks on the deal after rebate pretty solid on buy.com

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90136908

[JQV]

The Yankees are The Rev's favorite team, but even The Rev is disturbed by Steinbrenner's denial of reality.

JT doesn't think that Steinbrenner lives too many days in reality lately.  He's looking quite haggerdly lately.  Methinks he's suffering from dementia.  His recent newspaper interview about firing Torre might have been one of his "on" days.

This is dead on based on what I see and hear around Tampa lately.

[JT]

The Yankees are The Rev's favorite team, but even The Rev is disturbed by Steinbrenner's denial of reality.

JT doesn't think that Steinbrenner lives too many days in reality lately.  He's looking quite haggerdly lately.  Methinks he's suffering from dementia.  His recent newspaper interview about firing Torre might have been one of his "on" days.

This is dead on based on what I see and hear around Tampa lately.

Unfortunately JT has seen it happen to one of his grandparents.  There is an unmistakable far away look in Steinbrenner's eyes.  JT's Grandfather has that look.  Kinda like the real man is in there somewhere, but has days where the real person can't fight through the fog.

However JT's GP is 92 and was sharp as a tack until about 90.  George is only 77.

[Knightstalker]

KS has seen an uncle and a friends father both start suffering from Dementia around the mid 70's.

[PBR...]

come on 'gro upload your groove for some hammertime critique...

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. recording artist-turned-preacher MC Hammer
is alive and well, contrary to some online reports, TMZ.com said Wednesday.
Hammer, whose real name is Stanley Burrell, is famous for singing the 1990s
anthem "U Can't Touch This." He also appeared in the first season of the
celebrity reality TV series, "The Surreal Life."
Reports have been circulating on the Internet that he recently died.
However, his representative said people have been confusing Hammer with another
man named Stanley Burrell, who recently died.
Not only is Hammer alive but he is also starting up a new Web site called
DanceJam where visitors can upload videos of themselves dancing and Hammer will
critique them.