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Nescac 2011-2012

Re: Nescac 2011-2012

spike said:
Slightly off topic but I didn't want to hunt down the original thread.....

Williams College has won the Directors Cup for overall Division III athletics success for the 13th straight year and 15th out of the last 16 years. As a sidenote, Middlebury was second and Amherst fourth, while Bowdoin and Tufts also finished in the top 25. Not bad for a conference limited by stringent academic standards.

The main purpose of my post, however, is to restate a question raised earlier this year about the Williams Women's Hockey Team. At a school perennially ranked #1 or #2 academically by US News, and possessed of an atheletic department devoted to winning as evidenced by their Directors Cup success, why do they struggle to succeed in Womens Ice Hockey? Why does a school so passionate about athletic success fail so miserably to attract a hockey coach that can make them competitive? You cannot win 13 Directors Cups in a row without a total commitment to success, and they are obviously succeeding wildly in most other sports. Its not as if they are in Arizona trying to sell ice hockey to potential recruits. They are in the center of a state that is one of the strongholds of women's ice hockey? Can anyone explain this?
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First, they have to be able to get a coach to remain longer than a year or two before they can think about getting their hockey team to where it would be competitive. I think it takes some consistency in the coaching position to be able to make real progress (presuming the coach is good). If the team is continually "switching gears" so to speak with a new head coach every year, I think it would be near impossible to be competitive in that scenario.
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

Good for them...Since for years they used to be among the worst. [e.g. collaborating with the other nescac's [in violation of the Anti-Trust laws]...to fix each financial aid package so that in effect, every school would end up costing the student the same $$]. Real nice. ...not to mention the fact that these same schools artificially inflated tuition for years, not based on actual costs or need, but rather to maintain their "ranking" in a tuition ranking system...e.g. if Amherst raised their tuition from $29,000 to $31,500; Bowdoin would raise it's tuition to $31,250 [even if it had no pressing financial reason to do so]...in order to maintain some fictional ranking with Amherst [or Williams, etc.]...and continue to charge slightly more than Colby, Bates, etc.
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

CrossCheck said:
Good for them...Since for years they used to be among the worst. [e.g. collaborating with the other nescac's [in violation of the Anti-Trust laws]...to fix each financial aid package so that in effect, every school would end up costing the student the same $$]. Real nice. ...not to mention the fact that these same schools artificially inflated tuition for years, not based on actual costs or need, but rather to maintain their "ranking" in a tuition ranking system...e.g. if Amherst raised their tuition from $29,000 to $31,500; Bowdoin would raise it's tuition to $31,250 [even if it had no pressing financial reason to do so]...in order to maintain some fictional ranking with Amherst [or Williams, etc.]...and continue to charge slightly more than Colby, Bates, etc.
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In the real world they call that Inflation. :D

BTW....In the real world, one of the drivers behind the HYP FA package increases a few years back were the potential increased taxing of large endowment funds.
 
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Re: Nescac 2011-2012

Agree completely on your second point...it's hardly a co-inkydink that several of the schools mentioned in the article changed their loan/grant program at exactly the same time [still in collusion I guess...some habits die hard]. As to the inflation point....I ain't buying that one for a second.
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

:mad::confused::mad::confused:
I still don't get the the logic behind the new schedule! I looked even more closely than I did previously and it makes no sense to me. I can't see where it would save much (or any) money. It also removes the rink as a equalizer.

Take, for instance, any team that has to travel to Hamilton for an entire weekend. That is the smallest rink in the league and gives the home team an advantage. It also means there are several teams must travel for a weekend away one more time that the other schools.
:mad::confused::mad::confused:
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

Congratulations to Carson Duggan upon being named interim head coach for the Trinity women's hockey team. The Bantams will be looking to retool on offense (following graduation loss of Weiss and Komarek) and build on their outstanding goaltending tandem.
Best wishes to Coach McPhee in his Ivy endeavors!
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

NHDad said:
:mad::confused::mad::confused:
I still don't get the the logic behind the new schedule! I looked even more closely than I did previously and it makes no sense to me. I can't see where it would save much (or any) money. It also removes the rink as a equalizer.

Take, for instance, any team that has to travel to Hamilton for an entire weekend. That is the smallest rink in the league and gives the home team an advantage. It also means there are several teams must travel for a weekend away one more time that the other schools.
:mad::confused::mad::confused:
Click to expand...
It is billed as a two year experiment. It does seem a bit whacky. The only way to balance the number of home and away series with the odd number of teams in the NESCAC is to eliminate the home and home games with the former travel partners (and traditional rivals). No Midd-Williams, Colby-Bowdoin, Trinity-Wesleyan or Amherst-Hamilton (how would you like that series to open the schedule)? This year Conn is the team with four series home and four on the road.
Nice to see the Polar Bears adding Plattsburgh and Norwich to their non-conference schedule!
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

obserbear said:
It is billed as a two year experiment. It does seem a bit whacky. The only way to balance the number of home and away series with the odd number of teams in the NESCAC is to eliminate the home and home games with the former travel partners (and traditional rivals). No Midd-Williams, Colby-Bowdoin, Trinity-Wesleyan or Amherst-Hamilton (how would you like that series to open the schedule)? This year Conn is the team with four series home and four on the road.
Nice to see the Polar Bears adding Plattsburgh and Norwich to their non-conference schedule!
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It's absolutely baffling to me that Amherst opens Friday night AT Hamilton (7 pm), then returns home to HOST Hamilton on Saturday (4 pm). Truly bizarre.
 
dontyelldad said:
It's absolutely baffling to me that Amherst opens Friday night AT Hamilton (7 pm), then returns home to HOST Hamilton on Saturday (4 pm). Truly bizarre.
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Why is that bizarre? Home and home series.....lots of schools do it. Mercyhurst and RMU doing it this year. NHL teams do it too.
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

pakidnyc said:
Why is that bizarre? Home and home series.....lots of schools do it. Mercyhurst and RMU doing it this year. NHL teams do it too.
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It's a 3.5 hour drive (easily) from Hamilton to Amherst. Seems like an extreme distance for a home-and-home.
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

But with Piggy Pat's BBQ nearby to Hammy -- it is a must-drive in any season! Extreme drives command extreme eats...I'd drive there just for that, and nothing would give more pleasure than to beat a team at home (or away) and then make a reciprocal trip to either even the score or shellac them again...it's all about how bad you want it, is what I'm saying.

As your designated "travel partner" the Amh-Ham connection makes perfect sense (it's as close to Ham as any other NESCAC team gets) -- no one can draw a shorter line, partner-wise.
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

Phil D. Stands said:
But with Piggy Pat's BBQ nearby to Hammy -- it is a must-drive in any season! Extreme drives command extreme eats...I'd drive there just for that,
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Can't say I've been to Piggy Pat's ... but enjoyed a quick lunch and brew at Knuckleheads Brewhouse last time I was in the neighborhood.
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

Finally time to get the party started!!! There are those who will still be taking the field (Vendetti Field...GUB!!!) Saturday, but we do have four games on ice to consider Friday. Any predictions?
 
Re: Nescac 2011-2012

obserbear said:
Finally time to get the party started!!! There are those who will still be taking the field (Vendetti Field...GUB!!!) Saturday, but we do have four games on ice to consider Friday. Any predictions?
Click to expand...

Friday, November 18:

Middlebury at Colby
Trinity at Conn. College
Amherst at Hamilton
Wesleyan at Williams

Saturday, November 19:

Plattsburgh at Bowdoin
Middlebury at Colby
Trinity at Conn. College
Wesleyan at Williams
Hamilton at Amherst

(Not going to pick, but will be watching Wes vs. Williams.)
 
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