FB: Liberty League

[Jonny Utah]

Anybody concerned that there may be a few LL teams thqt don't put together full 10 game schedules?  E8 has a commitment with Landmark league, NJAC and CC.  I know RPI is playing Dean, Union always has NE teams, and IC will always have Cortland....Are there enough New England teams to fill out the LL schedules?

I've never been concerned with this.  There are 7 NEWMAC teams (leaving 4 empty non-conference slots open), 11 MAC teams (MAC has appeared to leave two non-conference slots open), 9 MASCAC teams (leaving 2 slots), 7 CCC (leaving 4 slots), 7 ECFC teams (this league is changing and a few teams would be longer road trips), PAC leaves 2 spots open as well.

Throw in the other Ohio/NJ/PA schools in leftover conferences and I think you have a good balance.  And are we sure that the NJAC/E8/CC/Landmark are doing to fill out their schedules completely are is there some wiggle room there.  Ithaca is playing JHU and Cortland next two years I'm guessing.

[Caz Bombers]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

[IC798891]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

Lest we ever forget Hobart's infamous 8-game schedule of 2011, after which they won something like 32 straight games in the regular season

[Oline89]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

I do think it matters with recruiting.  An athlete  always wants to play the max number of games, if he has a choice between 10 game schedule at Union and a 9 game schedule at SLU, I bet he chooses Union. 

[Caz Bombers]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

I do think it matters with recruiting.  An athlete  always wants to play the max number of games, if he has a choice between 10 game schedule at Union and a 9 game schedule at SLU, I bet he chooses Union.

If that's what the hypothetical dude makes his choice on, said hypothetical dude is flunking out by 2nd semester, tops.

[WashJeff68]

The PAC has 11 teams playing football. Starting next season all games will be against conference members.

[unionpalooza]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

I do think it matters with recruiting.  An athlete  always wants to play the max number of games, if he has a choice between 10 game schedule at Union and a 9 game schedule at SLU, I bet he chooses Union.

If that's what the hypothetical dude makes his choice on, said hypothetical dude is flunking out by 2nd semester, tops.

Exactly.  Sadly, though, I sometimes worry kids make their decisions this way.  I see on Twitter that Union frosh WR Nick Dunneman has transfer offers from Mt Union and Georgetown, and it's like please dude, do the rational thing...

[Oline89]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

I do think it matters with recruiting.  An athlete  always wants to play the max number of games, if he has a choice between 10 game schedule at Union and a 9 game schedule at SLU, I bet he chooses Union.

If that's what the hypothetical dude makes his choice on, said hypothetical dude is flunking out by 2nd semester, tops.

Huh, educate me here.  Are you saying the educational difference between SLU and Union is that steep?  I was picking 2 schools with very similar campuses, "rankings" and liberal arts philosophies.  One plays a 9 game season, one plays 10.  Why is the student athlete who chooses more games flunking out?  The comparison of St Lawrence and Union is a little different than comparing Mt Union and Georgetown, no?

[Caz Bombers]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

I do think it matters with recruiting.  An athlete  always wants to play the max number of games, if he has a choice between 10 game schedule at Union and a 9 game schedule at SLU, I bet he chooses Union.

If that's what the hypothetical dude makes his choice on, said hypothetical dude is flunking out by 2nd semester, tops.

Huh, educate me here.  Are you saying the educational difference between SLU and Union is that steep?  I was picking 2 schools with very similar campuses, "rankings" and liberal arts philosophies.  One plays a 9 game season, one plays 10.  Why is the student athlete who chooses more games flunking out?  The comparison of St Lawrence and Union is a little different than comparing Mt Union and Georgetown, no?

Because if the kid decides his college based on which football team plays one more non conference game than the other, he's too stupid to have been admitted to that college at all. (Frankly, I thought my meaning was quite obvious. Unionpalooza got it immediately.)

[Oline89]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

I do think it matters with recruiting.  An athlete  always wants to play the max number of games, if he has a choice between 10 game schedule at Union and a 9 game schedule at SLU, I bet he chooses Union.

If that's what the hypothetical dude makes his choice on, said hypothetical dude is flunking out by 2nd semester, tops.

Huh, educate me here.  Are you saying the educational difference between SLU and Union is that steep?  I was picking 2 schools with very similar campuses, "rankings" and liberal arts philosophies.  One plays a 9 game season, one plays 10.  Why is the student athlete who chooses more games flunking out?  The comparison of St Lawrence and Union is a little different than comparing Mt Union and Georgetown, no?

Because if the kid decides his college based on which football team plays one more non conference game than the other, he's too stupid to have been admitted to that college at all. (Frankly, I thought my meaning was quite obvious. Unionpalooza got it immediately.)

Well, then you completely missed the point.  The "kid" was smart enough to be admitted to Union (USN&WR #48 liberal college) and St Lawrence (#68). Maybe go check the definition of "obvious" again. Later fellas, see you in the fall....

[Ice Bear]

Rochester and I think St. Lawrence didn't always play 10 in the best of times. Doesn't seem to really matter.

I do think it matters with recruiting.  An athlete  always wants to play the max number of games, if he has a choice between 10 game schedule at Union and a 9 game schedule at SLU, I bet he chooses Union.

If that's what the hypothetical dude makes his choice on, said hypothetical dude is flunking out by 2nd semester, tops.

Exactly.  Sadly, though, I sometimes worry kids make their decisions this way.  I see on Twitter that Union frosh WR Nick Dunneman has transfer offers from Mt Union and Georgetown, and it's like please dude, do the rational thing...

Ice Bear thanks Palooza for the info on Nick D. Ice assumes Dunneman is a very bright kid as well as a very good football player. Ice says many factor could come into play influencing his decision.

Ice would honestly like to see him become a Hoya. Ice says a degree from Georgetown and the experience that would potentially go along with it would be top notch (school prestige, living in DC), especially if football doesn't work out. Ice says you head to Mt. Onion and you significantly drop the level of education you receive (Ice is not saying this with his nose up like a NESCAC **** would say it, but it is the truth), you still risk the chance of injury and/or not playing much because of the ridiculously high level of competition there (Nick is an excellent player, don't get Ice wrong but we are talking about UMUC here). Between it's recruiting practice, draw of top talent, and the amount of quality players there that never see the field... Nick would be taking a big chance going there with the downside being much worse and in IBHO, much more possible.

Ice says either way, he'll say it again. He wishes Nick the best of luck and is grateful for all he gave to the Dutchmen this season. Ice enjoyed watching him play ball.

[IC798891]

I've never for a second understood the issue with the transfer portal. Non-athlete students transfer all the time, for all sorts of reasons. Would you begrudge the existence of transfers if the top [whatever major] student at Union left for to another school because they felt it was a better fit?

So why would you care if there's an option for your WR to do it?

[unionpalooza]

I've never for a second understood the issue with the transfer portal. Non-athlete students transfer all the time, for all sorts of reasons. Would you begrudge the existence of transfers if the top [whatever major] student at Union left for to another school because they felt it was a better fit?

So why would you care if there's an option for your WR to do it?

I'm increasingly of two minds.  On the one hand, I totally see it as you do - kids transfer all the time, and every kid should find the best fit.  On the other hand, it seems to have two downsides.  The first is that it makes it very easy for kids to transfer on the basis of short-term football goals, to the detriment of the overarching goal, which is the education.  And anecdotally, there seems to be a lot of that decisionmaking, though to your point, only the kid can really know how/why they're making that choice.  And of course, everyone has a right to make poor decisions.

Second, though - committing to a team ought to mean something.  A college invests in you, coaches invest in you, your teammates invest in you - and sure, if its a bad fit or you find a better educational opportunity or whatever, you have to do the right thing for yourself.  But I see all these kids hopping on Twitter to announce their "commitment" to a school, and that no longer really means anything at all.  It just means they're committing a year, and then they may bounce if something shinier comes along.  One of the great lessons of D3 athletics - one that really comes in useful all one's life - is what it means to commit to a group of people, and to owe something to them, and them to you.  It's not the end of the world, but the transfer portal does seem to muddy that lesson.

[Pat Coleman]

Having the opportunity to play 11% more contests is not a small thing. I am all for getting the student-athletes as many opportunities to compete as permissible.

[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear says **** the portal. Ice says btw, meet John Poppe, the new Union College Head Football  coach: https://unionathletics.com/