FB: Liberty League

[lewdogg11]

Remember the poll is not "who will most likely win a share of a conference title" but "who will win the east." What has Union proved in the playoffs in the past couple years or the LL in general that's so absolutely head and shoulders above anyone on the list (other than Leb Val)?

When was the last time Ithaca, Alfred, Montclair, Leb Val or Del Val won the East?

I did say "other than Leb Val" but all of those teams have been in the playoffs more recently than Union. Gotta be in it to win it. When was the last time Union was in the NCAA playoffs? Hell, in the last four years, Union has won five games in a season more times than it's been in the bracket.

Hell, Union beat Ithaca last year, and Ithaca didn't make the playoffs. And the last time they did, they lost to Curry, but THEY'RE in the poll. Again, the poll is about THIS years teams.

+K to the LL posters for fighting the fight, whether it be Union or any other LL team.

I don't see it as a fight.  It's more of a slap in the face. 

Lebanon Valley has averaged 3.63 wins a year since 1999.  They have 1 decent year last year, come in 3rd in the MAC yet they are a thought at this point?  I thought you had to win consistently to be considered a strong program.  Including ECAC games, Curry has a 2-7 postseason record, each loss being a blowout.  And on top of it, they beat Hartwick and Ithaca, E8 teams...  It's just all a little stupid if you ask me.

[AUPepBand]

A husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart. The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart.
'What do you think you're doing?' asks the wife. 'They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans' he replies.
'Put them back, we can't afford them' demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.
A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket. 'What do you think you're doing?' asks the husband.
'It's my face cream. It makes me look beautiful,' replies the wife. Her husband retorts: 'So does 24 cans of Budweiser and it's half the price.'

Outstanding! +K

[SJFF82]

Ahhhh....82 remembers getting blasted daily (few years back) for 'begging' for a little SJF respect.  

[SJFF82]

Doesnt Mt. Union win the East every year anyway?  Why weren't they in the poll?

[lewdogg11]

Ahhhh....82 remembers getting blasted daily (few years back) for 'begging' for a little SJF respect.  

No one is begging for respect.  Just using a little logic.

[SJFF82]

Ahhhh....82 remembers getting blasted daily (few years back) for 'begging' for a little SJF respect.  

No one is begging for respect.  Just using a little logic.

yeh...that is why I used begging like...'begging'.  Was just a little sarcasm.

[Pat Coleman]

Doesnt Mt. Union win the East every year anyway?  Why weren't they in the poll?

Welcome back to the site. Already discussed and North was already voted on. 

[SJFF82]

Doesnt Mt. Union win the East every year anyway?  Why weren't they in the poll?

Welcome back to the site. Already discussed and North was already voted on.  

Thank you....who won the North?       The Union? (and i dont mean the Dutchmen...)

[Pat Coleman]

In a rout, yes.

[lewdogg11]

The beach sure did look good today...

[rams1102]

The beach sure did look good today...

Thanks +K  I needed that.

[pumkinattack]

Hope everyone is managing to stay out of county jail here. 

I agree with the general sentiment here, but I haven't yet seen Pat ever give an inch on anything (in my time, in what I've read, for context), so you're probably needlessly contributing to early stage carpal tunnel.  That being said, don't sleep on Hobart this year.  They return just about everything on O (Marlier's gone, but I didn't hear any non-Bart fans have anything to say about him anyway, so his departure and the fact that two other backs took a lot of carries last year shouldn't be anything one would point to as a sign of weakness, although I did like him) and are very deep with talent and experience at LB and in the secondary.  As TGP mentioned, it's all going to come down to Vella.  Union should be the favorite as "co-champ" and winner of that dunce cap bowl, but Union had a home heavy schedule last year (IC, Bart, SUS, and I believe RPI) and by Frank's same logic a couple of breaks in the Bart game and that outcome is flipped (not fumbling on the 1 yard line, couple of debatable calls), so there'll be plenty of competition in the LL this year...just not from SLU, MMA or WPI probably. 

This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but if there's anyone in upstate who might be getting the groundbreaking night game between Hobart and SJF, can you PM me if there's any chance you can record said game and I can throw dome duckets to you to get it shipped out to ATL.  I'm flying back into the country at 7pm and when I asked my wife if we can change the return to an earlier flight I think I saw a couple of blood vessels pop in here temple. 

Oh yeah and props to SF for showing me a good time one night in Cinci.  Unfortunately I had to be lame and bale with my DD fairly early, but he was a good host nonetheless and I was at my tipping point where I had actually become known at the local "entertainment venues" with two other colleagues.     

[Frank Rossi]

Hope everyone is managing to stay out of county jail here.  

I agree with the general sentiment here, but I haven't yet seen Pat ever give an inch on anything (in my time, in what I've read, for context), so you're probably needlessly contributing to early stage carpal tunnel.  That being said, don't sleep on Hobart this year.  They return just about everything on O (Marlier's gone, but I didn't hear any non-Bart fans have anything to say about him anyway, so his departure and the fact that two other backs took a lot of carries last year shouldn't be anything one would point to as a sign of weakness, although I did like him) and are very deep with talent and experience at LB and in the secondary.  As TGP mentioned, it's all going to come down to Vella.  Union should be the favorite as "co-champ" and winner of that dunce cap bowl, but Union had a home heavy schedule last year (IC, Bart, SUS, and I believe RPI) and by Frank's same logic a couple of breaks in the Bart game and that outcome is flipped (not fumbling on the 1 yard line, couple of debatable calls), so there'll be plenty of competition in the LL this year...just not from SLU, MMA or WPI probably.  

This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but if there's anyone in upstate who might be getting the groundbreaking night game between Hobart and SJF, can you PM me if there's any chance you can record said game and I can throw dome duckets to you to get it shipped out to ATL.  I'm flying back into the country at 7pm and when I asked my wife if we can change the return to an earlier flight I think I saw a couple of blood vessels pop in here temple.  

Oh yeah and props to SF for showing me a good time one night in Cinci.  Unfortunately I had to be lame and bale with my DD fairly early, but he was a good host nonetheless and I was at my tipping point where I had actually become known at the local "entertainment venues" with two other colleagues.    

Well said, PA.  And I'm not discounting Hobart at all this year, as TGP can tell you from our offline conversations leading up to this season.  I think one of the biggest games of the season that might actually tip the entirety of the LL scales this year (since there are only six league games per team for now) is Rochester @ Union on 9/25.  Union comes in with an opening game @ ITH and a bye week -- perhaps underprepared for a ROC team that, if they can get consistent in the QB department this year, could stun the entire league.  We always used to argue that playing SPR in Game 1 for Union was a bad idea since the defense would play a scheme that they'd use either zero or one time more all season -- making the defense underprepared for the first LL games.  Here, we have a case of just having one game period before LL play begins.  It's an odd scheduling anomaly.  In comparison, since SUS left the LL, Hobart ends up with 3 pre-LL games.

If Union were to lose that game, it would really put four teams in play for the championship -- Hobart, RPI, Union and Rochester.  SLU and WPI with new head coaches seem like longshots, and MMA is always a tough team to watch in terms of their inability to carry early- and mid-season momentum all the way because of their undersized nature in most years.  I'm not saying those teams don't stay in play for a little while, but my guess is we'll see them fade by Week 7 or 8.

So, mark your calendars:  ROC @ UNI on 9/25.  It really is a crucial game for everyone in the LL to watch.

[Frank Rossi]

I know I give him a lot of crap on here, but I believe in equal time.  So, I wanted to thank Pat Coleman for inviting me to be a voter in this year's D3football.com Top 25 Poll.  This will be my 15th year covering Union Dutchmen Football and D3 Football at large, so it's something that I really take seriously.  I don't believe in playing favorites when it comes to a poll like this, especially since there are fewer than 30 voters in it -- every point matters in helping to shape the spotlight that certain teams might not otherwise get if not for this Poll each week.

It'll be helpful to read analysis in the first few weeks of the season concerning the crossover (OOC) games that will be played by most teams.  That will help shape my ballot -- it was tough coming up with a preseason ballot from a blank slate.  After toying with it with the information provided for a few hours, I think I came up with a fair ballot -- but Week 1 could destroy that thought immediately.  We shall see.

So, I look forward to hearing your points of view on games I didn't get to see personally -- especially for games not involving Liberty League teams.  I'll be pretty transparent concerning my ballot if asked, but I will not generally release my entire ballot in order to help protect the other voters who might not be willing to show their entire slate.

[dlippiel]

Regarding the preseason poll;

-Leb Val receives 10 more votes than Alfred...interesting
-Will the MAC be the premier league in the East this year
-Union the LL favorite receives 12 votes? Slap in the face to the LL or not? Pumpkin heads getting 3 votes and  the Engineers no where to be found
-Montclair State comes in at #25 representing the NJAC
-Curry 6 votes one more than Ithaca's 5
-Fisher receives 21 votes one more than Frank W-less Rowan

Many questions and thoughts in dlip's head. He for one really enjoys pre-season poll because they give his D3 obsessed ass something to talk about before the season starts. It will be interesting to see how the season plays out and how these top 25 teams fare.