FB: Liberty League

['gro]

Gro and poppa gro got into this big fight senior year of high school... Gro wanted to go to Brown (on an academic scholarship) but didn't want to play football. Poppa gro wanted his son to play ball at a big time DI to make up for the missed goals of his own personal life... then gro said "I don't want... your life". Then billy bob picked me up in his truck and we went to a strip club and saw our teacher.

[zachattack22]

Does size matter? Hmmmm...Union does not have a large enrollment at all...ZA thinks Gro hit it on the head regarding success....Other programs may have been ahead of the game due to more of a financial and emotional commitment to their programs.....Once you start winning and you add better facilities and still offer a quality education, they will come....And success breeds success.

However, its not just parity in the LL...it's pretty much parity all over excepting a few.....IF three years from now, Union and Fisher meet and Union kicks the hell out of them...to ZA, that doesn't make anyones program better...JUST BETTER THAT YEAR!

This is why teams have to come to play each and every play of every game.....There's going to be a team that you used to dominate, ready to take it to you if you're not ready....

That's why football is GREAT!!!  LOVE IT!!!  There's only a few programs that truly stand above the DIII ball we see each year.....

[realistic]

hahahahahhaha

Could have seen that coming out of this discussion, nice.....

[lewdogg11]

Gro and poppa gro got into this big fight senior year of high school... Gro wanted to go to Brown (on an academic scholarship) but didn't want to play football. Poppa gro wanted his son to play ball at a big time DI to make up for the missed goals of his own personal life... then gro said "I don't want... your life". Then billy bob picked me up in his truck and we went to a strip club and saw our teacher.

Yeah, the same thing happened to me.  I was on a free ride to Florida State.  Then I blew out my knee, and I just ended up coaching JV High School ball in town.  My girlfriend even got naked for my best boy.  Life is a trip.

[lewdogg11]

Does size matter?

ZA, my girlfriend says it doesn't.  But she always closes her eyes and says 'Enginegro' when we're 'together'.  I don't get it.

[Frank Rossi]

Looks like a 7-3 or, at best, an 8-2 season.  They best win the LL.  This is an instance where that 10th game has only a marginal benefit and a lot more risk.

Every year, the pundits have predicted a 7-3 or worse when the Statesmen graduate key players, and this has not been the case. Mike Cragg and the coaching staff keep bringing in the talent. We will have to see how things go next season. Union will have a lot of new faces at key positions next year, as well.

I'm aware, but I didn't post Union's schedule and tout a tenth game :-)

[radiomike]

Miami has some good programs for students but overall they aren't a great school

I agree. They have some great individual professors, but take a look at the US News Rankings... Syracuse, Texas, NYU, Michigan, Florida, UNC all are ranked ahead of them! RPI and Rochester also! Miami was 54th, tied with Maryland and Pepperdine.

[zachattack22]

Does size matter?

ZA, my girlfriend says it doesn't.  But she always closes her eyes and says 'Enginegro' when we're 'together'.  I don't get it.

[radiomike]

[I'm aware, but I didn't post Union's schedule and tout a tenth game :-)

Well, I won't state what I think a rebuilding Union will do next year. I do know that Coach C has been wanting a 10th game for quite awhile. I would love to see a 10-0 season!

[The Truth 00]

54th out of how many schools people?  ok, maybe i shouldn't have used great but its a very good school, not to mention that it isn't easy to get into. 

[zachattack22]

Does size matter?

ZA, my girlfriend says it doesn't.  But she always closes her eyes and says 'Enginegro' when we're 'together'.  I don't get it.

Wow, my post didn't post...ZA's wife says size doesn't matter, but ZA constantly catches her staring at the cucumbers in the vegetable section....So ZA started paying much more attention to the large honey dew melons to counter the affect.

[radiomike]

54th out of how many schools people?  ok, maybe i shouldn't have used great but its a very good school, not to mention that it isn't easy to get into. 

That is due to taking everybody from Florida first! 54 out of 124.
RPI is 42, Rochester is 34.

[Frank Rossi]

[I'm aware, but I didn't post Union's schedule and tout a tenth game :-)

Well, I won't state what I think a rebuilding Union will do next year. I do know that Coach C has been wanting a 10th game for quite awhile. I would love to see a 10-0 season!

Cragg coaches better from behind (i.e., with low expectations), so that's why I think 8-2 is feasible.  When his team was expected to perform and win certain games, it seemed like his coaching decisions were atypical for him.  However, the Alfred and Rowan games appeared to be coached in a more Cragg-like fashion.  I feel bad because, technically, going for two backfired on Cragg, even though Hobart converted...it put the onus on Rowan, a team that might well have played more conservative for a chance at overtime.  I think the lesson from Cragg's decision is to go for two in that situation only with < 1 minute left and with the opponent having less than two timeouts.

However, for next year, I doubt that 8-2 will get him into the NCAAs, unless it's 8-2 Liberty League Champs.  The Liberty League team at 8-2 will almost never go ahead of the OAC team at 7-2/8-2.  I think RPI and one of the non-league opponents beat Hobart, to be honest -- and I'm not sure about the Union game yet.  I liked some of Union's new prospects, but it will depend on whether the team can put it together by Week 9.

[radiomike]

Cragg coaches better from behind (i.e., with low expectations), so that's why I think 8-2 is feasible.  When his team was expected to perform and win certain games, it seemed like his coaching decisions were atypical for him.  However, the Alfred and Rowan games appeared to be coached in a more Cragg-like fashion.  I feel bad because, technically, going for two backfired on Cragg, even though Hobart converted...it put the onus on Rowan, a team that might well have played more conservative for a chance at overtime.  I think the lesson from Cragg's decision is to go for two in that situation only with < 1 minute left and with the opponent having less than two timeouts.

However, for next year, I doubt that 8-2 will get him into the NCAAs, unless it's 8-2 Liberty League Champs.  The Liberty League team at 8-2 will almost never go ahead of the OAC team at 7-2/8-2.  I think RPI and one of the non-league opponents beat Hobart, to be honest -- and I'm not sure about the Union game yet.  I liked some of their new prospects, but it will depend on whether the team can put it together by Week 9.

I don't think this is true. I think this is evidenced by the USMMA game. This year was a bit strange. I think there were some things that just did not work out, in terms of consistant performance week to week, as evidenced by the Union game, compared to some of the others. Coming from behind and winning is a good skill to have, but that was not what he had in mind.

[PBR...]

supermike your wrong on your statement about kids going div I schools just to turn pro pbr knows many who went after academics first and athletics second  in div I

With the brass ring of pro sports contracts a long shot at best, going D1 just for athletics is a waste of time and money, except for those very few exceptional athletes that get the nod or are elite enough to get noticed or work hard enough to earn the shot at the pros. Athletics can get a student into college and assist them financially in terms of scholarship, but in today's economy, it just does not make sense that the norm is athletics first, school second.

couldnt of said it better radio....super there are plenty of very good div I schools academically..... it also depends of your major...you make fun of miami but miami has traditionally had one of the best oceanography schools so you plan to study the ocean and get your masters/ph.d. miami is the school for you....univ of virginia, duke are very good schools academically, boston college as well....and that is not even bringing up northwestern...most div I athletes are smart enough to know they wont go onto the next level so academics is going to play a part in their decision.