FB: Liberty League

[Frank Rossi]

All I know is when RPI goes D1, i'm starting my own website (www.usedtobed3football.com) and i'm gonna make some new message board friends so I don't have to carry on with you losers.

If those friends are crickets, more power to ya.

[Jonny Utah]

Back to another point you mentioned Frank,

Is it really that hard to find teams to fill out a 10 game football schedule?  You should know 2 years in advance who you are going to play, and 3-4 years in advance you should be talking to other schools trying to find other games.  Ithaca never seemed to have a problem with it.

[Pat Coleman]

This RPI transition to D1 has me thinking.

Are the recruits now being told that RPI might or will become D1?  If so, what are they told about scholarships in the future (if there are any)?  Is it then fair that RPI may have d1 recruits on a d3team?  Is if fair not to tell the current freshmen?   What has the coach been told?  Did he take the job on a "rumor" that they were going D1? 

This was the scenario when UAlbany beat Union in 1997 54-0 to end the series.  The thing was that Albany was at D2 in a transitional year and had already been recruiting D1-caliber players.  The difference, too, was that Albany announced their plans and their transition attack publicly so that everyone was on the same level of knowledge by that point.

The coach knows everything about the decision mechanics, and you can't tell me that it wasn't enticing in the consideration to come on board (let's face it, it's an honor to be able to build up a program in such a way, and there are virtually no expectations when it comes to wins and losses in that scenario for years -- it's job security). 

I think part of the silence is based on one of your other questions.  I think there's a concern that the LL would question the acceptability of a member school stacking their decks with D1 recruits.  If RPI showed their hand, the LL might vote to remove the school prior to the actual transitional year(s) in order to remove the advantage and begin to go after other schools for the LL (I know there has been some mutual interest in that department between LL schools and schools outside the LL).  The reason why they aren't rushing to accept a NINTH member is that 9-team leagues are a problem for Pool C purposes (only 1-2 OOC games per school make everyone's OWP stick between .480 to .520 while other conferences have much wider margins).  However, an EIGHTH member is desirable in football based on the need to keep some sanity in scheduling (ask the E8 ADs how much fun scheduling up to 4 OOCs per year was).

Overall, JU, it's a legitimate set of questions -- and it's not being ignored by member schools from what I understand through conversations during the offseason.  However, there's only so much that can be done to force RPI to answer the question at this point.

Nine-team conferences are much more of a scheduling issue than a Pool C issue. I doubt too many ADs are doing Pool C math but many understand the concept of someone having an open date every weekend of conference play and the struggles to fill an open date in Week 9 or 10 or 11.

[JT]

Over 28,000 posts is impressive, even if it is part of your gig.

[AUKaz00]

Back to another point you mentioned Frank,

Is it really that hard to find teams to fill out a 10 game football schedule?  You should know 2 years in advance who you are going to play, and 3-4 years in advance you should be talking to other schools trying to find other games.  Ithaca never seemed to have a problem with it.

I thought part of the problem was that teams couldn't start filling out their OOC games until they know their conference schedule.  Now, I don't know how far in advance those get set, but Alfred seems to have a different conference schedule every other year or so.  If you need to fill 4 games and don't know which weeks those will be, I could understand the scramble for finding dancing partners.

[Frank Rossi]

I thought part of the problem was that teams couldn't start filling out their OOC games until they know their conference schedule.  Now, I don't know how far in advance those get set, but Alfred seems to have a different conference schedule every other year or so.  If you need to fill 4 games and don't know which weeks those will be, I could understand the scramble for finding dancing partners.

I think the LL has maintained a common set of eight Saturdays for league games -- when SUS dropped out of the league, that week either became a bye week or another OOC scenario for each team.  However, the LL has games scheduled through 2015 currently from a schedule I saw.  If RPI were to bolt and another team came in, then the league would likely attempt to just schedule in the new team into RPI's slots.  The only asterisk is that the LL does put one bye week in the mix inside the league weeks for each team.  That can be the most challenging game to schedule for the teams since it's in the heart of the season for most other schools.  Yet, the guess work is minimal since there is some continuity in the LL schedule. 

The E8 has had bigger challenges as teams have disappeared and then been added.  So, the E8's attempts to schedule can be much tougher without a real level of continuity.

[Jonny Utah]

Back to another point you mentioned Frank,

Is it really that hard to find teams to fill out a 10 game football schedule?  You should know 2 years in advance who you are going to play, and 3-4 years in advance you should be talking to other schools trying to find other games.  Ithaca never seemed to have a problem with it.

I thought part of the problem was that teams couldn't start filling out their OOC games until they know their conference schedule.  Now, I don't know how far in advance those get set, but Alfred seems to have a different conference schedule every other year or so.  If you need to fill 4 games and don't know which weeks those will be, I could understand the scramble for finding dancing partners.

Right.  The problem with the E8 is that some teams have left and some new ones are coming in.  But there should be a core group of teams (Ithaca, Alfred, SJF, Hartwick, and Utica) who have their schedules filled out for the next 4-8years, and 2 years at the very least.

[dlippiel]

This was the scenario when UAlbany beat Union in 1997 54-0 to end the series

dlip remembers this game well, it was a nightmare!

[dlippiel]

In regards to RPI hockey moving to the Hockey East Conference dlip has mixed feelings about the benefits of such a move for RPI. HE is arguably one of the toughest, if not the toughest, most competitive conference in all of D1 hockey top to bottom. To dlip, for RPI to be competitive on a nighyly basis they would have to make many changes within the program itself. At this point RPI has been unable to mount any consistent success in the ECAC for years(the weakest of the big four conferences). If things were to stay the same and they made the move to HE they would become the new door-mat of HE year in and year out. Interesting topic 

As far as football goes dlip really does not see any benefit in making the vertical move. As Frank pointed out already, the risk far outweighs the rewards in regards to the D3/D1 grandfather clause. There are obviously some signs showing that this vertical move may be a direction the school is pursuing (stadium, new coach, etc) but to dlip, with as much distaste he has for RPI (in a sporting sense  ) he would be very sad to see RPI football make this move and leave the LL.

Lew's post regarding RPI's shortcoming's on the football field makes sense to dlip. Even though some of the so-called "surprise" or "disappointing" losses have come to teams that were not "awful" dlip concurs with Lew that they were indeed teams RPI should have beaten during the aforementioned years. dlip himself felt inside that during many of these years RPI was going to continue and/or return to the form of the semi-final team. Yet it seemed that each year, they would be undefeated and strong with high expectations then lose to a SLU, U of R, or MM team they should have beaten. Who knows maybe this was all perception and inside feeling. That is how dlip tends to roll with his D3 football. Sometimes he isn't as tight on the specific details but roles from feeling, momentum, expectations, and perception.

[AUKaz00]

Back to another point you mentioned Frank,

Is it really that hard to find teams to fill out a 10 game football schedule?  You should know 2 years in advance who you are going to play, and 3-4 years in advance you should be talking to other schools trying to find other games.  Ithaca never seemed to have a problem with it.

I thought part of the problem was that teams couldn't start filling out their OOC games until they know their conference schedule.  Now, I don't know how far in advance those get set, but Alfred seems to have a different conference schedule every other year or so.  If you need to fill 4 games and don't know which weeks those will be, I could understand the scramble for finding dancing partners.

Right.  The problem with the E8 is that some teams have left and some new ones are coming in.  But there should be a core group of teams (Ithaca, Alfred, SJF, Hartwick, and Utica) who have their schedules filled out for the next 4-8years, and 2 years at the very least.

I agree and yet the games among that core group have moved dramatically.  It was only 4 years ago when we talked about the season-ending gauntlet that Alfred had with Hobart, Ithaca and Fisher.  Then Fisher was moved to week 8 for 2 years and now it's week 5.  Maybe the coaches/ADs asked for this and we're just along for the ride, but it seems chaotic and that can't make it easier to schedule multiple OOC games.  I guess other than Utica, every other E8 team has remained where they have been and even Utica is in week 11 for the 3rd straight year, so I'm probably overthinking it because of the importance of the Fisher game these past 7 years.

[Naked Nott Run]

NNR is back in action...how has everyone been!?

[dewcrew88]

10/8 vs Utica
You ever have one of those horseflies that follows you around and you sprint up the street and that little f'er is still buzzing in your ear and dive-bombing into your head?  That is Utica.  Under the former regime, RPI just couldn't get up for Utica.  RPI pretty much embarrassed the entire LL last year by getting doubled up by Utica who went 0-5 in the E8.  RPI has actually lost twice to Utica in the series history.  Once again, I think this is one of those games that RPI SHOULD win and might not in the past, but they will this year.
RPI 24
Utica 0

While your prediction's off, i love the comparison to an annoying bug.

[lewdogg11]

10/8 vs Utica
You ever have one of those horseflies that follows you around and you sprint up the street and that little f'er is still buzzing in your ear and dive-bombing into your head?  That is Utica.  Under the former regime, RPI just couldn't get up for Utica.  RPI pretty much embarrassed the entire LL last year by getting doubled up by Utica who went 0-5 in the E8.  RPI has actually lost twice to Utica in the series history.  Once again, I think this is one of those games that RPI SHOULD win and might not in the past, but they will this year.
RPI 24
Utica 0

While your prediction's off, i love the comparison to an annoying bug.

Look, i was as ready as anyone to give Utica their due last year.  I was impressed by them.  They were 5-1 with some serious points scored, then they finish 0-5 in the E8.  Even 1 win in the E8 would have been nice, but it didn't happen.  So that said, yes, Utica is still just an annoying horsefly on RPI's schedule.  A win against Utica does NOTHING for RPI, but they've shown that they can lose to them which is much more harmful and painful.

[Frank Rossi]

We have a new Commissioner:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/2011/7/28/gen_0728111335.aspx

[Frank Rossi]

Senor RT reported to me last night that while at an Upstate NY bar, he overheard a guy telling girls how he got a full ride to play football for Springfield.  My response was, "Yeah, it's called Amtrak."  Now back to our regular programming.