NESCAC

[Brother Flounder]

Sorry about that.  As soon as I can give karma, will throw you some positive ones to balance it out.  All NESCAC-centric posters are picking up negative karma - often on a daily basis.  Clearly, someone has an axe to grind.

Don't know why... If you go thru most of the NESCAC posts they really aren't that offensive.....

[Corazon]

I know.  I have a theory, but will keep it to myself as I don't want to cause a big fight.

[Brother Flounder]

I know.  I have a theory, but will keep it to myself as I don't want to cause a big fight.

Yep, not worth fighting about......

[Corazon]

I only have a few more posts to go ... 

[Brother Flounder]

I only have a few more posts to go ... 

And you will be one of THE "Big Wigs!!"   

[Corazon]

Yes, I will be able to die happy ...

[Corazon]

Ok.  I promise to limit my frivilous posting

[MENESCACFAN]

It really seems silly.  Time line of conversation in NCAA;

"Hey I think we should shrink the NCAA tournament to save money"
followed by
"Hey we should cut 10% of games to save money"
then....
"Hey lets double the length of the season."

[Corazon]

I can't imagine the ADs are going to like it either as they need to juggle the field space and resources with the spring sports.

[Nutmeg]

I don't know if the season has to go all year but maybe training or practicing should be allowed on a more serious basis

[MENESCACFAN]

I see LP/MR is inactive again.  Did I miss another blow up?  Shame he had seems a lot more rational and less insulting of late.  Anyone taking bets on the next name he resurfaces under?

[PaulNewman]

I'm going to post my response to some of the rumblings and theories about negative karma on this thread since I am not supposed to visit the other one.  And for those of you fretting I'm sure your buddy will be back under a new platform and all re-energized and ready to go within a few days.  We're in a long lull period anyway so overall participation is down right now, although my own participation I must admit has been limited by the unpleasantness and vitriol launched in my direction by a particular poster.  I am also at the end of my run, so to speak.  So while I expect to continue following the D3 landscape for a while, I won't have the passion (which I understand cuts both positively and negatively) that gripped me over the past couple of years.

First things first.  I am responsible for many (but not all) of the negative karma points for an obvious poster and one other poster over the past month+.  I gave a few points to 2-3 other posters but not as many as the theory goes.  Not proud of my role at all.  Kind of took on a life of its own.   My personal journey with soccer goes back about 17 or so years.  Great, great ride, and I probably need some time to reflect and get it all in perspective.  It is hard to get one's hands around all that went into all those years, including all the elements and little mini-experiences and adversities overcome along the way. In that regard, maybe I can blame a bit of my behavior on "the heat of the moment."

That said, allow me to clarify my view about this karma thing from my perspective, which I believe is backed up by the chronology of posting events on this site. 

The reaction and the whole "NESCAC" fan theory aren't quite accurate, and my sense is that some of the comments have been rather myopic and insular.  For instance, did anyone notice that MY negative karma points went from 11 to 48, and mostly by 1 point a day?  Do any of you recall how the negative karma rage started?   Essentially ANY poster who disagreed with Mr. Right received negative karma and every single time thereafter if any disagreement continued.  He even confirmed the behavior and then shrugged it off saying karma wasn't a big deal at all (and yet he remained steadfast in doling it out).  Ask Falconer, D3Soccerwatcher, Midwest Soccer, etc, etc.  And, ironically, it was during that same period that a few of you seemed to bond with him and reinforce the guru complex, which no doubt at least roughly coincided with Tufts' great run to the championship.  The real irony, though, is that some of the new Mr. Right boosters were the exact same posters who had cheered with relief when LaPaz exited stage left with comments something like "good riddance" and exclamations about how badly he had behaved.  Further irony of course is that I helped facilitate his comeback with his new name and even implored him to contain himself a few times so that we didn't miss out on his participation and insights during the whole tournament.  I am pretty sure we joked at one point about picking up a yellow here and there with me imploring him not to get a "red card." 

There has been recent commiserating with MENESCACFAN.  I've never given that poster a single negative karma point.  And I would strongly guess all of that poster's negative points came from Mr. Right.  You may recall that Mr. Right was quite combative and insulting with MENESCACFAN and even accused the latter of being Mr. Not-Right.  A few of you may recall LaPaz's classy departure.

I'm not anti-NESCAC.  I know some and am familiar with many of players in the NESCAC.  I watched at least 2-3 NESCAC matches every weekend.  I've repeatedly said that NESCAC is a great and probably the "best" conference filled with great schools.  I will own that my view is this site already had been very NESCAC-heavy and for a stretch has become NESCAC Central, and some of the posting suggesting that NESCAC doesn't get its due and fair share of everything started rubbing me the wrong way.  I 'd bet I wasn't the only one who had that reaction.  And comments like suggesting Danny Brandt might be leaving Messiah because he couldn't handle the licking Tufts put on him really did almost push me over the edge.  But what really bothered me about what seemed like the little groupie lovefest that formed is how many noxious things at least a few of you overlooked in the process.  And I'm not talking about just the repeated derogatory digs comments about Christian schools.  There was the continued needling of some posters, and in my view the really offensive taunting of one of the all-time NESCAC greats, Spencer Noon.  There were very personal disclosures that (whether true or untrue) had no business being disclosed on this site.  There were comments about who is good and who is not, and who the worst recruits were ever for certain schools, using actual names.  I won't bother to try and remember all of the transgressions, but they went way beyond the content of his insults and jabs with me.  If he was occasionally confronted, he cried foul and insisted he was being picked on.  He apparently felt entitled to jab freely and often while those jabbed were supposed to keep their hands tied behind their backs.  Suffice it to say that my take is a poster insisted that no one could challenge his right to bully, boast, insult posters, insult players past and present by name, etc, etc, and that if anyone did challenge then that poster not only would get negative karma but also be publicly berated in a very personalized and ugly manner.  (And that's likely why some of you likely think his behavior had improved, as really some posters either tired of challenging him and/or were intimidated by the aggression and wildness of his little snit-fits.  The board in large part was simply conceded to him.)  So, yeah, when a few of you just ignored all that and kept cheering in apparently some NESCAC group-think, I was annoyed and occasionally angered.

This is a great site.  Nothing is perfect, but I know the people who run it are rock-solid people and they work extremely hard.  For the most part they let us posters do our thing.  But the site should never be about 1 or 2 posters, or a place where posters feel intimidated about posting for fear of being insulted or even mildly threatened.

[MENESCACFAN]

NCAC

I largely agree with your take.  He won't be missed and seemed to think knowledge gave him the right to insult and insinuate his opinions as fact.  What was apparent is he knew some people in the league so could call them and gain information, not sure that is a sign of intelligence in my eyes. 

The comments made about Serpone, foreign coaches taking American jobs, and disrespect to people who have been on the field and done it like Noon were embarrassing, and I share you view.

Now he is gone I hope this board will start to mirror the much more intelligent and less sensitive Basketball on this same thread.  If he does come back, hopefully he can start his own thread again which can be avoided.

[MENESCACFAN]

So I figured it may be fun to discuss our take on each team in the league during the dull off season.  Bottom to top, here are my observations on Hamilton who I watched three time last fall. 

2014 PERFORMANCE

I am surprised as I watched them twice early in the season.  An emphatic win at Bates, and a tough loss v Conn.  In both games they looked a playoff team to me.  Strong holding center mid in Frost, hard working and powerful forward in Kraynak and a quality defender in Reynolds.  They also seemed a pretty vibrant group full of confidence.  Despite what I think, somewhere down the line the wheels fell off and finishing the season without scoring in five games must have been a depressing note for the seniors to leave on.

OUTLOOK

They will be hit very hard by graduation.  Reynolds, Abbott, Kraynak, Frost and Balboa all graduate and seemed to me the core of their lineup.  Pressure will be on the younger players to step up, but I would predict they miss the playoffs again.

An interesting thing about Hamilton is the surest seniors were recruited to a different conference where Hamilton was a traditional power.  If thy struggle to pull in the same caliber of player as a now bottom end team, the next two seasons are where that is going to show on the field.

[Brother Flounder]

I'm going to post my response to some of the rumblings and theories about negative karma on this thread since I am not supposed to visit the other one.  And for those of you fretting I'm sure your buddy will be back under a new platform and all re-energized and ready to go within a few days.  We're in a long lull period anyway so overall participation is down right now, although my own participation I must admit has been limited by the unpleasantness and vitriol launched in my direction by a particular poster.  I am also at the end of my run, so to speak.  So while I expect to continue following the D3 landscape for a while, I won't have the passion (which I understand cuts both positively and negatively) that gripped me over the past couple of years.

First things first.  I am responsible for many (but not all) of the negative karma points for an obvious poster and one other poster over the past month+.  I gave a few points to 2-3 other posters but not as many as the theory goes.  Not proud of my role at all.  Kind of took on a life of its own.   My personal journey with soccer goes back about 17 or so years.  Great, great ride, and I probably need some time to reflect and get it all in perspective.  It is hard to get one's hands around all that went into all those years, including all the elements and little mini-experiences and adversities overcome along the way. In that regard, maybe I can blame a bit of my behavior on "the heat of the moment."

That said, allow me to clarify my view about this karma thing from my perspective, which I believe is backed up by the chronology of posting events on this site. 

The reaction and the whole "NESCAC" fan theory aren't quite accurate, and my sense is that some of the comments have been rather myopic and insular.  For instance, did anyone notice that MY negative karma points went from 11 to 48, and mostly by 1 point a day?  Do any of you recall how the negative karma rage started?   Essentially ANY poster who disagreed with Mr. Right received negative karma and every single time thereafter if any disagreement continued.  He even confirmed the behavior and then shrugged it off saying karma wasn't a big deal at all (and yet he remained steadfast in doling it out).  Ask Falconer, D3Soccerwatcher, Midwest Soccer, etc, etc.  And, ironically, it was during that same period that a few of you seemed to bond with him and reinforce the guru complex, which no doubt at least roughly coincided with Tufts' great run to the championship.  The real irony, though, is that some of the new Mr. Right boosters were the exact same posters who had cheered with relief when LaPaz exited stage left with comments something like "good riddance" and exclamations about how badly he had behaved.  Further irony of course is that I helped facilitate his comeback with his new name and even implored him to contain himself a few times so that we didn't miss out on his participation and insights during the whole tournament.  I am pretty sure we joked at one point about picking up a yellow here and there with me imploring him not to get a "red card." 

There has been recent commiserating with MENESCACFAN.  I've never given that poster a single negative karma point.  And I would strongly guess all of that poster's negative points came from Mr. Right.  You may recall that Mr. Right was quite combative and insulting with MENESCACFAN and even accused the latter of being Mr. Not-Right.  A few of you may recall LaPaz's classy departure.

I'm not anti-NESCAC.  I know some and am familiar with many of players in the NESCAC.  I watched at least 2-3 NESCAC matches every weekend.  I've repeatedly said that NESCAC is a great and probably the "best" conference filled with great schools.  I will own that my view is this site already had been very NESCAC-heavy and for a stretch has become NESCAC Central, and some of the posting suggesting that NESCAC doesn't get its due and fair share of everything started rubbing me the wrong way.  I 'd bet I wasn't the only one who had that reaction.  And comments like suggesting Danny Brandt might be leaving Messiah because he couldn't handle the licking Tufts put on him really did almost push me over the edge.  But what really bothered me about what seemed like the little groupie lovefest that formed is how many noxious things at least a few of you overlooked in the process.  And I'm not talking about just the repeated derogatory digs comments about Christian schools.  There was the continued needling of some posters, and in my view the really offensive taunting of one of the all-time NESCAC greats, Spencer Noon.  There were very personal disclosures that (whether true or untrue) had no business being disclosed on this site.  There were comments about who is good and who is not, and who the worst recruits were ever for certain schools, using actual names.  I won't bother to try and remember all of the transgressions, but they went way beyond the content of his insults and jabs with me.  If he was occasionally confronted, he cried foul and insisted he was being picked on.  He apparently felt entitled to jab freely and often while those jabbed were supposed to keep their hands tied behind their backs.  Suffice it to say that my take is a poster insisted that no one could challenge his right to bully, boast, insult posters, insult players past and present by name, etc, etc, and that if anyone did challenge then that poster not only would get negative karma but also be publicly berated in a very personalized and ugly manner.  (And that's likely why some of you likely think his behavior had improved, as really some posters either tired of challenging him and/or were intimidated by the aggression and wildness of his little snit-fits.  The board in large part was simply conceded to him.)  So, yeah, when a few of you just ignored all that and kept cheering in apparently some NESCAC group-think, I was annoyed and occasionally angered.

This is a great site.  Nothing is perfect, but I know the people who run it are rock-solid people and they work extremely hard.  For the most part they let us posters do our thing.  But the site should never be about 1 or 2 posters, or a place where posters feel intimidated about posting for fear of being insulted or even mildly threatened.

I may have been that one other poster. Go back and look at all of my 200+ posts. Really, how many, if any, were offensive? Really....And, other NESCAC posters continued to receive negative posts. The only real personal attacks I saw were from you and Mr. Right.  Others have also noticed this.  At least you own up to some of it.... I appreciate your candor.  I just noticed you seem to get more upset as the NESCAC, and especially Tufts, excelled. (and if it really makes you feel better...you can still give me daily negative karma points...lol)