FB: Liberty League

[Frank Rossi]

Eh... Union and Muhlenberg stopped playing, and Hobart and Dickinson stopped playing -- I don't see much CC/LL crossover in our future, Jonny.

[EDIT: Looks like the preference is ODAC and MAC crossover:

Sep. 1.     Washington and Lee    29    Johns Hopkins    45    Final
Sep. 2   Muhlenberg    29    Wilkes    22    Final   
Sep. 3   Ursinus    13    Bethany    23    Final   
   King's    35    Moravian    50    Final
   McDaniel    21    Catholic    28    Final - OT
   Lebanon Valley    6    Franklin and Marshall    30    Final
   Randolph-Macon    51    Dickinson    0    Final   
   Susquehanna    24    Lycoming    27    Final   
   Bridgewater    38    Gettysburg    22    Final
   Juniata    31    Grove City    26    Final]

[Jonny Utah]

Eh... Union and Muhlenberg stopped playing, and Hobart and Dickinson stopped playing -- I don't see much CC/LL crossover in our future, Jonny.

Well it at least gives you 10 more options for a game.

I'm assuming these LL schools are looking a few years down the line anyway.  Union and IC know their 1st weeks are available again. 

I still don't know what Ithaca and Cortland are going to do.

[Jonny Utah]

Eh... Union and Muhlenberg stopped playing, and Hobart and Dickinson stopped playing -- I don't see much CC/LL crossover in our future, Jonny.

[EDIT: Looks like the preference is ODAC and MAC crossover:

Sep. 1.     Washington and Lee    29    Johns Hopkins    45    Final
Sep. 2   Muhlenberg    29    Wilkes    22    Final   
Sep. 3   Ursinus    13    Bethany    23    Final   
   King's    35    Moravian    50    Final
   McDaniel    21    Catholic    28    Final - OT
   Lebanon Valley    6    Franklin and Marshall    30    Final
   Randolph-Macon    51    Dickinson    0    Final   
   Susquehanna    24    Lycoming    27    Final   
   Bridgewater    38    Gettysburg    22    Final
   Juniata    31    Grove City    26    Final]

And PAC.  But all you have to do is make some phone calls.  Plenty of those schools are looking for games in other sports as well.

[ITH radio]

Hobart starts a 1:1 with former DC and now HC of Shenandoah for ODAC next year.

[Frank Rossi]

Hobart starts a 1:1 with former DC and now HC of Shenandoah for ODAC next year.

1 down, 29 to go...

[wally_wabash]

Eh... Union and Muhlenberg stopped playing, and Hobart and Dickinson stopped playing -- I don't see much CC/LL crossover in our future, Jonny.

[EDIT: Looks like the preference is ODAC and MAC crossover:

Sep. 1.     Washington and Lee    29    Johns Hopkins    45    Final
Sep. 2   Muhlenberg    29    Wilkes    22    Final   
Sep. 3   Ursinus    13    Bethany    23    Final   
   King's    35    Moravian    50    Final
   McDaniel    21    Catholic    28    Final - OT
   Lebanon Valley    6    Franklin and Marshall    30    Final
   Randolph-Macon    51    Dickinson    0    Final   
   Susquehanna    24    Lycoming    27    Final   
   Bridgewater    38    Gettysburg    22    Final
   Juniata    31    Grove City    26    Final]

And PAC.  But all you have to do is make some phone calls.  Plenty of those schools are looking for games in other sports as well.

While it's true that there are enough elective games amongst all of those leagues to fill out all of the LL's non-conference needs, it's not as easy as just making a few phone calls.  All of those teams may not necessarily say yes to a LL team.  While the teams from all of those leagues are potential non-conference partners for LL schools, all of those teams from those other conferences are potential non-conferences partners for each other.  They aren't exclusive to the LL, even if the LL has the most pressing need.  And to Frank's point which shouldn't be overlooked, there are no games to be had once you get to Weeks 4, 5, and 6 and everybody else is booked with their own league schedules. 

[Jonny Utah]

Eh... Union and Muhlenberg stopped playing, and Hobart and Dickinson stopped playing -- I don't see much CC/LL crossover in our future, Jonny.

[EDIT: Looks like the preference is ODAC and MAC crossover:

Sep. 1.     Washington and Lee    29    Johns Hopkins    45    Final
Sep. 2   Muhlenberg    29    Wilkes    22    Final   
Sep. 3   Ursinus    13    Bethany    23    Final   
   King's    35    Moravian    50    Final
   McDaniel    21    Catholic    28    Final - OT
   Lebanon Valley    6    Franklin and Marshall    30    Final
   Randolph-Macon    51    Dickinson    0    Final   
   Susquehanna    24    Lycoming    27    Final   
   Bridgewater    38    Gettysburg    22    Final
   Juniata    31    Grove City    26    Final]

And PAC.  But all you have to do is make some phone calls.  Plenty of those schools are looking for games in other sports as well.

While it's true that there are enough elective games amongst all of those leagues to fill out all of the LL's non-conference needs, it's not as easy as just making a few phone calls.  All of those teams may not necessarily say yes to a LL team.  While the teams from all of those leagues are potential non-conference partners for LL schools, all of those teams from those other conferences are potential non-conferences partners for each other.  They aren't exclusive to the LL, even if the LL has the most pressing need.  And to Frank's point which shouldn't be overlooked, there are no games to be had once you get to Weeks 4, 5, and 6 and everybody else is booked with their own league schedules.

It isn't going to be easy, but I say they get it done without cross country trips or 9 game schedules.  Even the E8 teams might benefit by changing their schedule structure/bye weeks to accomodate LL rivalries that both conferences benefit from (IC/Cortland, SJF/Rochester) or at least saving teams like Utica from going to Ohio for games.  Alfred and Buff State played in week 2.  If playing in week 2 saves them a trip to Ohio, it doesn't seem to difficult to have other teams in the conference do it.

That being said, I don't know the personalities of some of these ADs or coaches and whether or not a school refused to play another school for some reason.  I know the Big East teams took some court action against teams that jumped to the ACC and some of those feelings still linger to this day (Uconn/BC), so I'm not sure how they feel about the Ithaca move (I'm sure it isn't as bad as the Big East).

[AUPepBand]

Eh... Union and Muhlenberg stopped playing, and Hobart and Dickinson stopped playing -- I don't see much CC/LL crossover in our future, Jonny.

[EDIT: Looks like the preference is ODAC and MAC crossover:

Sep. 1.     Washington and Lee    29    Johns Hopkins    45    Final
Sep. 2   Muhlenberg    29    Wilkes    22    Final   
Sep. 3   Ursinus    13    Bethany    23    Final   
   King's    35    Moravian    50    Final
   McDaniel    21    Catholic    28    Final - OT
   Lebanon Valley    6    Franklin and Marshall    30    Final
   Randolph-Macon    51    Dickinson    0    Final   
   Susquehanna    24    Lycoming    27    Final   
   Bridgewater    38    Gettysburg    22    Final
   Juniata    31    Grove City    26    Final]

And PAC.  But all you have to do is make some phone calls.  Plenty of those schools are looking for games in other sports as well.

While it's true that there are enough elective games amongst all of those leagues to fill out all of the LL's non-conference needs, it's not as easy as just making a few phone calls.  All of those teams may not necessarily say yes to a LL team.  While the teams from all of those leagues are potential non-conference partners for LL schools, all of those teams from those other conferences are potential non-conferences partners for each other.  They aren't exclusive to the LL, even if the LL has the most pressing need.  And to Frank's point which shouldn't be overlooked, there are no games to be had once you get to Weeks 4, 5, and 6 and everybody else is booked with their own league schedules.

It isn't going to be easy, but I say they get it done without cross country trips or 9 game schedules.  Even the E8 teams might benefit by changing their schedule structure/bye weeks to accomodate LL rivalries that both conferences benefit from (IC/Cortland, SJF/Rochester) or at least saving teams like Utica from going to Ohio for games.  Alfred and Buff State played in week 2.  If playing in week 2 saves them a trip to Ohio, it doesn't seem to difficult to have other teams in the conference do it.

That being said, I don't know the personalities of some of these ADs or coaches and whether or not a school refused to play another school for some reason.  I know the Big East teams took some court action against teams that jumped to the ACC and some of those feelings still linger to this day (Uconn/BC), so I'm not sure how they feel about the Ithaca move (I'm sure it isn't as bad as the Big East).

Pep heard from a pretty reliable source that Ithaca, despite bolting from the Empire 8 next year, will continue to play Alfred for at least two and, more likely, four years. Pep assumes, for Cortaca's sake, the Bombers' other non-conference games next year will include Cortland State.

Given the Bombers' plans to keep AU on the schedule, Pep assumes Ithaca will also establish game contracts with three other Empire 8 foes to fill out its non-conference schedule. Guess IC can probably pick and choose....

[AUKaz00]

It isn't going to be easy, but I say they get it done without cross country trips or 9 game schedules.  Even the E8 teams might benefit by changing their schedule structure/bye weeks to accomodate LL rivalries that both conferences benefit from (IC/Cortland, SJF/Rochester) or at least saving teams like Utica from going to Ohio for games.  Alfred and Buff State played in week 2.  If playing in week 2 saves them a trip to Ohio, it doesn't seem to difficult to have other teams in the conference do it.

Bengals-Saxons was Week 3 (Husson & RPI were Alfred's first two opponents).  But, the logic still holds the same.  And any league with an odd number of teams will have to alternate byes during the conference portion of the schedule, like the E8 is doing this year.

[Frank Rossi]

One thing is clear: there's been a huge move away from midseason OOC games since the AQ format and ensuing realignment started in 1999.  Union was the exception for a while with games vs. Salisbury, Springfield, and others midseason, and I remember Audino beginning to question the logic of that scheduling because it was banging up players he needed as his roster depth was dwindling with the resource shift he was experiencing in his last 8-10 years.  It's no surprise that they concentrated instead on early week OOC games -- despite being a trimester school in which classes don't start until Labor Day week in most years.  Larger conferences, less Pool C bids since 2005, and the desire to utilize a midseason bye for several reasons (including mending and midterm prep/taking by players) have acted as disincentives for such games in the past decade.

[Bartman]

One thing is clear: there's been a huge move away from midseason OOC games since the AQ format and ensuing realignment started in 1999.  Union was the exception for a while with games vs. Salisbury, Springfield, and others midseason, and I remember Audino beginning to question the logic of that scheduling because it was banging up players he needed as his roster depth was dwindling with the resource shift he was experiencing in his last 8-10 years.  It's no surprise that they concentrated instead on early week OOC games -- despite being a trimester school in which classes don't start until Labor Day week in most years.  Larger conferences, less Pool C bids since 2005, and the desire to utilize a midseason bye for several reasons (including mending and midterm prep/taking by players) have acted as disincentives for such games in the past decade.

This is all very complicated ...... Hobart scheduled Brockport, Shenandoah and Ithaca for the next 2 years before Ithaca joined the league(still only a 7 game schedule).....Shenandoah replaced Endicott (2 HC alumni from Hobart), but we probably need Endicott back now. Anyway, future schedules have some big Gaps even with one more LL Football member. I am thinking the Vassar Rugby team looks pretty good(really!), maybe we can convert them...but they may think wearing  helmets and pads are kinda wimpy...

[stlawus]

Crappy weather in Canton but SLU does what it needs to do to get the win.

I have not seen Union play until today, but for a "down" program they have a lot of pieces going forward and I'll be quite surprised if they're not competing within a couple years.  Good o-line, excellent RB and a gritty defense. 

Obviously you have to give credit to Hobart for grinding out yet another last minute win, but let's be real here.  That was a massive choke job by WPI.  Hobart started the final drive with 22 seconds on the clock and WPI let them march all the way down the field.  Inexcusable for any team to allow that to happen.  That being said, it raises the hype for next weekend's showdown in Canton.  Can't wait.

[Bartman]

Congrats to SLU on the win against a feisty Union squad. Hobart goes 58 yards in 15 seconds to pull out another win on a day where neither team was perfect but the effort was there. This comeback was ridiculous with only 22 seconds left. Not sure why WPI didn't kick the ball further on the final kickoff as Sweeney only needed a couple of passes for the win......and if Hobart started back on the 25 or 30 things may have been different. Craig had them line up for a tying 35 yard field goal with 7 second left and then changed his mind after a time out........crazy, not sure what he was thinking on third down with one time out left and both of our kickers having been invisible this year.
Anyway ...we play for all the marbles next week in Cantadia ....hope the weather holds so both teams can demonstrate their skills....if it comes to a last drive..at least Sweeney should be pretty confident  

[res ipsa loquitur]

Hobart really are the cardiac kids this year.  Not sure my ticker could handle another minute of that game, with 3 scores in the last 101 seconds.   Should be another nail biter next week. 

[Bartman]

Hobart really are the cardiac kids this year.  Not sure my ticker could handle another minute of that game, with 3 scores in the last 101 seconds.   Should be another nail biter next week.

This has to be some kind of record where a team is behind in every win , and comes back in this fashion. The last drive was ridiculous , you have to believe that there is some type of unexplained intervention.....anyone who thought they would come back to win this one (tie maybe) is kidding themselves . I thought the defense played well against the run but the pass defense was disappointing given the skills (although we did get 2 critical interceptions)....the OLine was vulnerable for the first time this year, WPI had some nice athletes and they will really challenge SLU this week.....As far as the "LL Championship" game, Hobart  just needs to get the Saints in our familiar position at the end of the game ....behind with little time left....I sure would hate to have a multiple possession lead...no game plan for that