WBB: NESCAC

[feces monkey]

Luckily, this is really mostly a transitional/learning year anyway, as we have next year with Sarah, Matia, and Meg as seniors with Val as a junior and...

WAWB, who is this 'Meg' you speak of? I don't see anyone on the roster by that name. Surely the '06 Player of the Year is not going to pony up $22 large (or whatever the half-price rate is on the Androscoggin these days) for a half-year of hoops action. She's already burned her soccer allowance, right?

I'll assume that Murph has a transfer from Unity by that name coming in.

Enjoyed the game summary. Hope you had a good time. I hear Waltham is beautiful this time of year...

[papabear]

Well the lady polarbears won a hard fought game today in Middletown. The Bowdoin squad is a superior team but did not play extremely well and the home court almost gave the home town the upset. The game was close the whole way but Flaherty was unstopable for the polabears and even the usual home town officiating could not let this game slip away. Bowdoins coach (Pemper) is great but sometimes rests her stars to much at the ends of halfs. A late 5-0 first half run after reinserting Flaherty allowed the better team to survive on the road and stay at the top of the polls.

[yellstoomuch]

Bowdoin is the last team that should complain about home town refs, who saved their game against Wesleyan last year. The fact is that this year Wesleyan played great defense. Home town refs didn't cause Bowdoin's 30 second clock turnovers, and Wesleyan didn't get the call on their last shot that would have tied the game. Bowdoin played great defense at the end of the game.

[whoarewebobcats]

FM-- what I've heard is Meg isn't enrolled in school this semester and will finish her senior year at Bates next year since she still has basketball eligibility. So she wouldn't join the team until January, but she (obviously) will still have an impact once she rounds into shape. That's the rumor anyway.

Waltham is lovely, but as it turns out, so is Medford...  I actually really like Tufts, it was my second choice after Bates.

[atn alum]

I joked to our publisher that I should auction off my women's top 25 first-place vote this week, because I have NO IDEA who to pick from the 7 to 8 legit contenders (and yes, I admit to being a voter)...I've considered bumping up the likes of Howard Payne, Chicago and Calvin, and I have no idea what to do with where to put Maine Maritime.

So I open it up to the good folks of the message boards...

I do take my vote seriously, and plan to study up before I cast mine this week. However, if a fan out there has a legitimate argument  (as opposed to trash talk) as to why I should give Bowdoin a mulligan, feel free to share...

[feces monkey]

WAWB,

Fascinating stuff. Without a doubt the return of Coffin -- even if in a mercenary-like three month stint -- would be a massive boost to the Bobcats. I would guess that a NESCAC student-athlete delaying graduation simply for athletics goes against many of the tenets of the conference's philosophy, but if you've got the scratch, why not? (I wish I had some credits that needed to be filled...I'd be back in a heartbeat.)

Medford is a surprisingly nice place, especially considering how close it is to Somerville. The Jumbos were a finalist for my tuition bankroll, but also finished second.

ATNwriter,

Throwing your ballot out there for discussion is noble if one applauds the ideals of socialism. I, for one, find the creeping claws of socialism to be one of the fundamental ills clutching the country.

You were right to entrust your ballot to those on the NESCAC board, as we are all blessed with a larger world view. However, by nature, the forum dynamic opens up the discussion to the Great Unwashed -- those with a selfish purview. The response on the Top 25 discussion board is a prime example. Reading those missives was like watching hungry dogs fighting for a scrap of meat. Sad really.

If I were to give you advice (which I won't), I would say give your top vote to a team that needs it rather than the team that deserves it. The NESCAC will continue to churn out the next generation of America's leaders regardless of whether one of its teams matches the sensibilities of the College Sports Information Directors of America.

The numerous peripheral conferences -- UAA, CAC, MIAA, etc. -- are always searching to make their mark. They are in need of your help. The NESCAC's primacy is assured.

Good luck, and God speed.

[Pat Coleman]

monkey,

atnwriter posted his message on the Top 25 board too. Don't get too high on yourself.

WAWB, who is this 'Meg' you speak of? I don't see anyone on the roster by that name. Surely the '06 Player of the Year is not going to pony up $22 large (or whatever the half-price rate is on the Androscoggin these days) for a half-year of hoops action. She's already burned her soccer allowance, right?

I'll assume that Murph has a transfer from Unity by that name coming in.

I sure get sick of the sarcasm.

[atn alum]

Feces

I'm not sure the purpose of your remarks, other than to lower your karma ratings...it's a shame. Based on reading some of your past work, you clearly have the capability to provide a legitimate response. Such discussions on the Top 25 seem pretty common on the men's board. Commentary such as yours only serves to damage the credibility (and provide a yuck or two for yourself) of these boards and chase people such as myself away.

Feel free to enlighten us with credible observations, but otherwise I suggest you stop wasting the time of yourself and others with pithy sarcasm.

[feces monkey]

A pollster prostituting his ballot on a message board lecturing others on 'credibility.'

Now that's rich.

[atn alum]

Oh brother...

This is why I don't post on these boards too often.

I apologize for my digression in my previous post. And forgive me for trying to become better informed on this subject matter.

[whoarewebobcats]

If a person's user name is Feces Monkey, should you really expect a serious response?

I think the reason you didn't get much of a response, ATN, is two-fold. One, this board isn't terribly active (as compared the the men's NESCAC board, at least). Two, almost everyone I've seen on any of these boards is very much biased--there aren't many people that follow D3 basketball without having some vested interest somewhere. My response would have been "not Bowdoin", because I spent four years in Lewiston, and hate Bowdoin, particularly their women's program. And those kinds of responses are probably all you're going to get, I would think. I also don't think people that follow D3 ball stray far from their own league--how are we to have credible opinions of teams we've never seen play. So, in sum, I don't have a good response for you and I don't think many of this group's posters would. But I don't think that means the boards are useless, it's all for fun, so don't get too worked up over FM.

[Pat Coleman]

Atnwriter:

Unfortunately, **** monkey has an ax to grind with the poll and can't seem to get past it. It does seem he/she could be a valuable poster if it were possible for him/her to look past the chip on his/her shoulder.

[nescac hoops]

i had heard of the meg coffin rumor (coming back next year) a little while ago and hoped that is wasn't true. as a williams fan, obviously i don't want to face her. however, that wasn't the reason i hoped that she wasn't coming back. i don't really think the coffin family knows how to "let it go" when it comes to sports. you don't go to a nescac/d3 school to become a professional basketball player. meg coffin will not be drafted by a WNBA team - so go graduate with your class this spring and enjoy a "normal" college experience. yes, that's awful about her knee and she is missing out on a season, but really...let it go. she will still be a great player next year, but will probably never be 100% given the severity of tearing all 3 ligaments. maybe i would feel differently if i was in her position, but wasting a year of my life and the idea of not graduating with my incoming class/friends doesn't seem worth a half semester of basketball.

[The Observation Deck]

Who's to say playing a fourth year of basketball is not a normal experience, though? If it were me, I'd rather try to rehab and come back than spend my life wondering what might have been. If THAT'S the normal experience, count me out.

[whoarewebobcats]

I don't know Meg personally or anything, but everything that's ever been said/written etc. about her talks about how serious she is about her sports. Ultimately it's up to any person to do what they wish, and if this is what she wants to do I don't see any reason why anyone should judge her negatively about it. I think not having another crack at a NESCAC title and an NCAA tourney run would be much less "normal" for Meg than graduating with her class, I agree with TOD's comments that Meg would likely wonder what could have been. A huge part of her college experience has been sports, and a huge part of that has been basketball--why let it go unfinished?