2021 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

FW, no worries.  For the record, and notwithstanding the real possibility that a little research could unearth something from me suggesting otherwise, I appreciate posting from you, Falconer, and other Messiah faithful, and would love to see more.  I would be very curious to hear what it's been like for Messiah fans to see the rise of Tufts and digest all of the "Tufts-talk," or other modest shifts in the D3 soccer landscape over the past half-plus decade or so.  Of course Messiah hasn't really dropped any in my eyes as much as another super-power emerged, and after all Messiah did win the only non-NESCAC title since 2014 to the present, and remains very firmly in place as one of the top 2-3 programs in the country year in and year out.  And I do wish Messiah and Tufts had squared off several more times.  If Messiah had played Tufts the 3-4 times the Jumbos have played Calvin, I am confident the Falcons would have won at least 1-2 of those.  Now, if I could just learn my lesson, I would end this post right here...

Alas, my bias, often to my detriment here (and in real life), is to acknowledge elephants in the room.  My bias is to go for the unsaid that is in the ether and that many are likely thinking but not naming.  Maybe that's my training as a clinical psychologist who evolved into a forensic psychologist who does competency, insanity, and civil commitment evaluations regarding persons with serious mental illness, or maybe it's just my quirky personality, or just being a jerk.  I certainly could write pages self-analyzing why I'm still here and how I'm getting (inappropriately) my needs met.  And then there's the matter of to what extent I see elephants that aren't there.  Again, could write pages.  I often marvel at and occasionally get frustrated with the few regulars here who maintain sterling karma profiles.  Believe it or not I frequently hold back quite a bit.  I'm sure others do too.  And as much as I hate to admit it the karma thing does have an impact, but occasionally I "go for it" anyway.  I'd rather folks confront me directly, or say what part they objected to, because otherwise whatever a person is responding to that yields the karma hit can't be conceded, confirmed, or contested.  At any rate, I readily admit that over the years I've had more than my fair share of scrums, far more frequently in the early years, and often of a very petty variety...and once I'm triggered so to speak, I agree with something you said to me long ago about my style at those times occasionally being "off-putting."  From earlier days when contentious interactions were from pov more rampant from myself, Mr.Right, and others, and about which I think you are correct that new posters could have found the atmosphere intimidating and uninviting, I think most of us in that category have become more consistently constructive.  Maybe I'm way off, but imo 90% or more of my contributions are informative, constructive, playful/humorous, entertaining, and sometime perhaps boring or tedious.  I'd much rather post an overview of Keuka College or Wisconsin Lutheran than get into a "tit for tat" with someone that will go nowhere except somewhere unpleasant.  I don't feel like I hunt for confrontations, but I do read virtually everything posted, and occasionally I just can't help myself.  I think some of this would be positively impacted by more posters, including more posters who are supporters of some of the more talked about (and hyped) programs...and where others could chime in and say "hey buddy, I agreed with you here, but you were out of line here" or "yes, you're technically correct but everyone doesn't need to schooled and corrected every time you see an opportunity," or whatever.  Overall, I think the maturity of posters (myself excluded lol) here is pretty good.  I haven't checked out forums where Alabama and Auburn or UK and Duke/Louisville fans go at it, but I imagine this one in the big picture most of the time stays within reasonable boundaries.

So, anyway, now you maybe can see how I might have conflated your reference to me by name with your comments below that.

Carry on.  Enjoy the madness.  This is the exciting time of the year over the next couple of weeks until some of our teams begin heading for the exits with attendant marked declines in how prolific some of us are.

[Ron Boerger]

Anybody know why the UAA thread got locked?  I don't recall anything controversial or potentially out of line in that one.

Probably a mistake.

[Another Mom]

Another observation,  and then I will stop. That is -- no need for a confrontation. Lively discussion of opposing viewpoints, sure. But that can happen while also assuming the best of intentions, and respecting, all the parties in a discussion. Also, it takes two people to have a confrontation. If one doesn't respond in kind = no confrontation.  Life's too short, and these are a bunch of amateur players we are following!

[deiscanton]

Anybody know why the UAA thread got locked?  I don't recall anything controversial or potentially out of line in that one.

Probably a mistake.

The thread got unlocked this afternoon, but that will teach me not to shout on the board....

[Christan Shirk]

I have unlocked the UAA thread.  I have no idea why it was locked.  The locking of the thread wasn't even showing up in the Moderator Log, and yet when I unlocked it, that action did show up in the log.  I have got to think this was either accidental or a glitch. 

Maybe another moderator will correct me, but I don't think it had anything to do with any violation of the ToS.  First, the use of ALL CAPS was limited to one sentence, and, second, if that was considered a violation, it would have resulted in the removal of that post, not the locking of the entire thread.

I highly doubt this has anything to do with "walking on eggshells" and "offending someone".

[deiscanton]

I have unlocked the UAA thread.  I have no idea why it was locked.  The locking of the thread wasn't even showing up in the Moderator Log, and yet when I unlocked it, that action did show up in the log.  I have got to think this was either accidental or a glitch. 

Maybe another moderator will correct me, but I don't think it had anything to do with any violation of the ToS.  First, the use of ALL CAPS was limited to one sentence, and, second, if that was considered a violation, it would have resulted in the removal of that post, not the locking of the entire thread.

I highly doubt this has anything to do with "walking on eggshells" and "offending someone".

Thank you; however, I have altered the sentence now.  I am glad to see the thread back on line for discussion of tomorrow's matches.

To paraphrase an old comedian, Bud Abbott, for modern times: "Hey, it could have been a dumb algorithm that got screwy.  What's the difference?"

[d4_Pace]

I don't know about walking on eggshells but obviously people all have different experiences and feel differently but I think there has only been one terms violation in the 7 years I've been following this board and that was well deserved. So thats just really not a legitimate concern.

[deiscanton]

 Well, as far as Mr. Right being surprised that Merchant Marine got the #5 seed in the Skyline Conference tournament this year, the USMMA really came out today and has practically put their quarterfinal game vs Mount St Mary away before halftime.

In the 39th minute, Merchant Marine is leading 4-0 over Mount St Mary, and it looks like the USMMA has booked their trip to the Skyline Conference semfinals vs Manhattanville.

Send some hats to David Kelly of USMMA for his hat trick today.  He scored goals in the 4th, 16th, and 23rd minute-- the third goal was a penalty kick goal.  Fourth goal was scored in 38th minute by Derek Vanesse.   Merchant Marine up 4-0 at halftime.

Mount St Mary had beaten Merchant Marine, 2-1, just 10 days before.....

[PaulNewman]

OMG.  WPI with a PK to win in OT and #10 skies the shot 10 yards over the bar.

And what about those 17-1-1 Gorloks???

And then the same #10 wins it for WPI a minute later.

[PaulNewman]

UW-Superior sneaks by the host Crown Storm 18-0 in St. Bonifacius, MN.  The Storm sit at 1-17 on the season.

[Hopkins92]

St. Thomas ties Trinity... Watched a decent chunk and just not all that impressed with Trinity. I'll go back and watch more, but... Meh.

There are teams like Messiah, vintage Tufts (and a number of NESCAC teams), F&M and other Centennial teams, W&L and some in that region ...  and a few others just impose their will on games. I got no sense of that from Trinity.

[deiscanton]

OMG.  WPI with a PK to win in OT and #10 skies the shot 10 yards over the bar.

And what about those 17-1-1 Gorloks???

And then the same #10 wins it for WPI a minute later.

WPI got their victory last night at MIT when they needed it the most.  Anything less than 3 points yesterday and WPI would not have qualified for the NEWMAC tournament (Wheaton (MA) would have gotten the #5 seed instead.)  Now, WPI is the #5 seed in the NEWMAC tournament and will play a Tuesday night opening round knock-out #4/#5 match at Coast Guard, with the winner playing in a Thursday night semfinal at #1 seed MIT.   #3 seed Springfield plays at #2 seed Babson on Thursday afternoon in the other NEWMAC semifinal.

[Another Mom]

Did anyone watch the W&L game yesterday? My prediction is that unless something changes, they will lose their next game.

[jknezek]

Did anyone watch the W&L game yesterday? My prediction is that unless something changes, they will lose their next game.

I watched part of it. They did not look motivated. Hopefully that ugly scare will get them focused again. If it comes down to W&L and Lynchburg... well, it's tough to beat a good team 3x in one season and Lynchburg is playing much better than the Generals lately.

[PaulNewman]

Did anyone watch the W&L game yesterday? My prediction is that unless something changes, they will lose their next game.

I haven't watched them in the past 2-3 weeks, and all I know about them is what I know about the school, the coach, and that they've been very good for several years and are poised for a special year.  That said, W&L is in an interesting spot.  They've progressed into a favorite role instead of just a solid to strong contender role, and they now have the burden/challenge/benefit of being considered one of the top 3 teams in the country from virtually the beginning of the season to the present.  There's a ton of pressure but I think mostly a good pressure.  I don't think they'll lose their next game, but wouldn't be horrible if they did.  As you've maybe read in the NESCAC thread, there are some advantages to bowing out of your conference tourney early.