FB: Liberty League

[realistic]

come on.....stuff happens everywhere in the country.  Look at statistics, NYC is the safest big city in the country.  Violent crimes have gone down across the board for the past 5-6 years.

Generalizations like that bother me because 99% of the time they aren't true.  Did a mentally disturbed man cut someone with a saw on the subway?  Yes.  Was he barely injured and was the man subdued by other subway patrons until ploice arrived?  Yes.  Is that an extremely rare case?  Yes.

I have lived in NYC for over 3 years now and the worst things I have seen is 2 old chinese women get into a fight on a subway car and another fight between 2 men not happen when one shoved the other out of the train as the doors were closing.

You guys make it seem like walking down the streets is like Mad Max or something.

[JT]

come on.....stuff happens everywhere in the country.  Look at statistics, NYC is the safest big city in the country.  Violent crimes have gone down across the board for the past 5-6 years.

Generalizations like that bother me because 99% of the time they aren't true.  Did a mentally disturbed man cut someone with a saw on the subway?  Yes.  Was he barely injured and was the man subdued by other subway patrons until ploice arrived?  Yes.  Is that an extremely rare case?  Yes.

I have lived in NYC for over 3 years now and the worst things I have seen is 2 old chinese women get into a fight on a subway car and another fight between 2 men not happen when one shoved the other out of the train as the doors were closing.

You guys make it seem like walking down the streets is like Mad Max or something.

No, but being alert keeps JT out of trouble.  NYC is what it is.  Crime is down but that doesn't mean there are fewer nuts.

[Garnet]

The image of New York cracks Garnet up.  Garnet has been making the trip to lower Manhattan daily for the last 15 years and has never seen anything close to the things you guys are talking about.

[Touchdown Tommy]

Garnet: You guys should hear what a native Midwesterner thinks of NYC...

[Knightstalker]

Downtown isn't where the fun stuff happens, it is in places like the East Village, on the subway lines.  The major Manhattan lines are usually pretty good, but if you are heading to the boroughs they can get fun.  The E train and the L train were two of KS favorites when he had to work in the City.  Manhattan is fairly tame during the day and certain areas are dead at night.  But nighttime is when all the really fun people come out.

[icgrad87]

Kelly Leak gets nominated for an Oscar

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/24/film.oscars.haley.reut/index.html

[PBR...]

pbr was one of the cattle on the E .... every morning roughly 7:05am pbr would get cussed out and threatened by some nut job at 58th and lex...then pbr started threatening back and the dood would go nutz not on me but mostly store fronts that were still chained up....and several times the dood would try cuss across the avenue at me since pbr was the only one around and pbr would for fun swear back at him and this drove him crazy as he tried to get across the avenue thru the traffic pbr would laugh his arse off at him...but pbr did get used to the petty theft of pick pockets, people grabbing pocket books/wallets and running to the point you hardly look up at all....also being jammed in the subway and not sure who the hell is grabbing your package male or female because your jammed in there so tight pbr was picked up off the ground several times...can remember some guy apologizing as pbr was in the middle of the E and hitting the people right near the door like a blocking sled to fit inside the doors slamming shut!! ahh pbr misses the big apple at times....but not the commute!!

[JT]

JT's seen a few assaults in the subway.... various crazies walking around (doods arguing with themselves etc).  The occasional "WTF are you looking at?"  Generally people in NYC are so desensitized to stuff, they miss things everyday.  Probably one of the reasons famous people like NYC.  

Last week, JT couldn't get his cell phone out quick enough to get a picture of a homeless guy wearing baseball cap with pink feather, Ewing jersey, purple sweats, and bowling shoes.

JT was like damn the LLPP would have loved that one.

[Sir Spiedie]

NYC does tend to get a bad rap on this.
See http:www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934323.html
Unless I missed it I did not see NYC on the chart.
AUPep and TGP--I did not see Alfred Station or Geneva on the map, either.
One problem is that tourists attract weirdos like magnets, and while most of them are harmless, they are exceedingly annoying.

[realistic]

I'll definately give you the desensatized....of the stars I have seen, the only one(s) that had a big deal around them was Al Pacino and Matthew McConahey.

My favorite homeless guy I have seen is one who was chugging a huge plastic bottle of vodka on 34th Street around noon-time.  It was quite a site.

[Sir Spiedie]

Sorry, bad link

http://www.infoplease.com/lpa/A0934323.html

[labart96]

You'd have to be on the train a long time to make it up to Geneva or Alfred from NYC.

[Frank Rossi]

Heading back to football for a minute...

Was just looking at Union's 2007 schedule, and it's an interesting one.  Yes, it's much like the last couple years, but I think it's an appropriate schedule for a team experiencing a "rebuilding year" like the Dutchmen likely will be.  Here's my commentary next to each game:

9/8/2007 Springfield -- Dutchmen will likely be out-matched against a Pride team that's coming off a great season.  This will be more a great test for Union's defense since Springfield is a true threat...but the Pride probably will need to throw the ball more than they did last season in order to cause a rout in this game.  For Union's offense, it's a chance to play with a "nothing to lose" attitude in their first game back with a new crux.  This should be a good gauge as to what the Dutchmen can do against the heavier teams on their schedule later in the season.

9/15/2007 @ Muhlenberg -- Here's another non-league game, but this one is a more nuts-and-bolts type of team -- probably the better of the two non-league tests for the Dutchmen at the top of its schedule.  Union's secondary will show whether it has the gusto that it seemed to find around the middle of last season until the SJF Playoff game.  For the offense, Muhlenberg has provided a much bigger threat defensively than Springfield for the Dutchmen over the past couple seasons.  Union has played well against the Mules in all conditions (day/night/home/away/rebuilding/returning) over the last five years, so this looks to be a real highlight for both teams' schedules.

9/22/2007 @ Rochester -- Well, we're gonna find out early what Union is made of, as the Yellowjackets, who were poised for a potential Liberty League championship last season all the way toward the end of the season, look ready to take a shot for the whole thing.  This game being played at Rochester obviously benefits the Yellowjackets -- and it's good that Union has a tough road game in Pennsylvania already under its belt at that point.  Again, Union's secondary will be tested.  It probably stands to reason, though, that Union's offense must score the most points so far in this young season to win this game.

9/29/2007 @ King's Point -- It's a majestic setting, and King's Point has had its chances against the Dutchmen in the last two years since joining the Liberty League.  Two years ago, the Mariners took the eventual 10-0 Dutchmen to overtime, missing a field goal from long distance before Union scored in their opportunity.  Last year, the Dutchmen struggled at home in trying to put the Mariners away, with Kings Point coming within a possession of knocking off the Dutchmen.  The story of this game will likely be two offenses both looking to settle themselves down -- probably both having had struggles so far.  This game may very well be an elimination game for the loser in terms of potential Liberty League Championship implications.

10/6/2007 WPI -- "...and the Engineers are going for the win."  Doug Davis's interception of WPI's two-point conversion opportunity at the end of WPI's Homecoming game sealed the deal, but the Engineers were within a whisper of completing an amazing comeback victory -- and don't think that they have forgotten the taste in their mouths after that game.  What is important here, in part, is location -- the Dutchmen complete a three-game road trip before returning to face WPI at home.  The Dutchmen could be somewhat leg-weary, but this is another game that has "elimination game" written all over it for the loser.

10/13/2007 Susquehanna -- Welcome to the league, Susquehanna.  The Crusaders had trouble on offense this past year, managing only 12.1 points per game (vs. 22.4 points defensively).  However, the team did upset 2005 Elite 8 contender Delaware Valley late in the season, causing playoff implications for DV.  It's a long trip for the Crusaders and may be Union's best opportunity to regain footing, should the Dutchmen have dropped a couple games to this point.  This game has "Homecoming" written all over it for Union -- College of New Jersey was in this slot a few years back and Union chose that game for Homecoming weekend, even though the teams had no real history against each other.

10/27/2007 @ St. Lawrence -- Following the bye week, Union has its final road game of the regular season, and it's no gimme.  St. Lawrence, which built a hefty resume mid-season only to falter a bit at the end of the year, will host the Dutchmen during what may be a cold time of year (of course, that assumption was pre-global-warming, etc.).  Regardless, St. Lawrence could very well have more to play for in this game than the Dutchmen, especially if the Saints can pull another early upset against the likes of RPI and/or Rochester this year.  Union's secondary will have been tested well by this point, and any adjustments will likely have taken hold -- making this a great game on paper, at least nine months before it's played.

11/3/2007 Hobart -- For three straight years, this game has had some sort of Liberty League Championship implications hanging over it...will it be four in a row?  My gut says yes, but only for one of the teams.  Hobart tends to front-load its Liberty League schedule in a way similar to Union -- if it can beat RPI, it should have no trouble maintaining a something-and-oh or something-and-one record coming into this game.  However, both teams are missing key parts, assuming Mizro doesn't come back for his 18th season of eligibility next year (couldn't resist).  This will be a close game, and currently, I'd say Hobart comes in as a slight favorite...with a good chance of an upset.

11/10/2007 Rensselaer -- If I hear about the turf last year at RPI one more time, I think I might puke...however, if I puke on RPI's turf during a Union game, you'd never be able to tell the difference.  Well, that home-team advantage this year belongs to Union...and strange things have happened in this game when it's been played at Union during what was supposed to be a "rebuilding year" for the Dutchmen (Freshman Ryan Perry with the victory, Late Heroics to Bryan Slekes, etc.).  I foresee an Arena Football-type scoring, assuming the weather holds out for the game, akin to what we saw in 2005.  This year, it may very well be "RPI beware," coming in as a probable favorite.  Of course, there may be a Liberty League bid within RPI's grasp, making this game even more exciting.

It's very early, and there's a lot of pre-season to be prepped.  However, this could be an interesting year for the Dutchmen.

[PBR...]

frank let me know if your coming down the muhlenberg game as its only about 40 mins from pbr's house and pbr might try and take in the game...of course thats if dvc is playing away that weekend....

[Frank Rossi]

frank let me know if your coming down the muhlenberg game as its only about 40 mins from pbr's house and pbr might try and take in the game...of course thats if dvc is playing away that weekend....

It's looking like Carm and I are doing the games again next season, so I likely will be there...Long story.  Station to be determined.