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Post by longsuffering on Jul 27, 2020 21:32:25 GMT -5
Western Carolina was an NCAA tournament game but it felt anti-climatic.
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Post by hchoops on Jul 27, 2020 22:15:52 GMT -5
Pride, I am not going to list all the NFL/AFL players we have had or all the Winning records vs strong competition, but if you think about that, there is no logical way that ‘83 team, as good as it was, could compare to our best. They just did not play the competition needed to prove your claim. Would they have beaten a Penn State or A Syracuse ? Very doubtful if they could not beat Western Carolina. Before there were divisions, we frequently played a pretty strong schedule and had winning teams. As a 1AA team, the 83 squad played only one very strong team and lost 47-7.
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Post by hc87 on Jul 27, 2020 22:54:08 GMT -5
The '83 and '87 teams were as good as (or better) the teams in the 60s and 70s when we were still 1-A/FBS/University division etc. imo...we were really 1-A in name only post Eddie Anderson-era coached HC teams.
Unfortunately, those BC teams in the early/mid 80s were some of their best teams when we were strong (at the 1-AA level).
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Post by hc6774 on Jul 28, 2020 6:31:20 GMT -5
And then was flown by helicopter from the Worcester airport to the Heisman ceremony. My young son was among the many who joined the caravan to the airport from the game. I've always believed the helicopter story and in my mind's eye I have this vague picture from the TV broadcast of a helicopter in the outfield of the baseball field - which of course makes no sense if there was tailgating of any kind on the field that day. So I went to see if there was video of the game anywhere and found this recap of the BC 1984 season - narrated by, I think, Jack Bicknell. Advance to the 29:00 minute mark of the video and there's an interview with Troy Stradford prior to the HC game, then some highlights of the game and you'll see how Flutie gets to Worcester airport and then to NYC. Perhaps the helicopter got him from LaGuardia to Manhattan and the New York Hilton for the ceremony? Landing a helicopter on campus is not that far fetched. On the morning of Commencement 1972 the Navy landed a Huey on the top of the hill. It brought Adm Stansfield Turner from his command at the Naval War College in Newport to commission the Navy & Air ROTC students in Hogan Ballroom. I was the air safety officer for the NROTC and tasked to have the Worcester Fire Department briefed and on station for the landing and take off. I stayed with the pilots during the commissioning ceremony. They were intrigued with the Spires of Fenwick. I told them that beyond and down the hill was Fitton Field and that a crowed would be gathering there for graduation. Departing with the admiral they flew between the spires but high enough to avoid the antenna wire that was rigged between them. They made a turn to port and headed back to Newport. There may have been a flight violation that day but I never heard of it.
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Post by timholycross on Jul 28, 2020 9:07:06 GMT -5
That era of football had disappeared, never to come back; by the time the 80s rolled around. For a lot of reasons.
So why continue to compare teams; prior to 1964 or thereabouts it was one platoon, a completely different game.
My lament is that Father Brooks didn't think the kind of team and people that were on it were worth preserving
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Post by longsuffering on Jul 28, 2020 9:29:11 GMT -5
Perhaps Fr. Brooks felt he was caught betwixt and between. HC had a heavyweight tradition in a featherweight body. With coeducation destined to cut the male student population in half, how could HC continue fighting so far out of it's weight class in football?
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Post by hcpride on Jul 28, 2020 9:52:40 GMT -5
/\ IMHO The I-AA move at the end of the 70's was inevitable given our size (and we could still land some excellent players, land a coach like Carter, and build teams every bit as good - if not better than the 70's teams) but it was really the 1984 decision to eliminate future schollies and go Colonial (then Patriot) that killed HC football IMHO.
Some of kids Carter recruited such as Lockbaum, McGovern, and Wiley sustained it for a short while but the sharp drop-off was inevitable.
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Post by hc87 on Jul 28, 2020 10:19:53 GMT -5
/\ IMHO The I-AA move at the end of the 70's was inevitable given our size (and we could still land some excellent players, land a coach like Carter, and build teams every bit as good - if not better than the 70's teams) but it was really the 1984 decision to eliminate future schollies and go Colonial (then Patriot) that killed HC football IMHO. Some of kids Carter recruited such as Lockbaum, McGovern, and Wiley sustained it for a short while but the sharp drop-off was inevitable. Without question....we basically spent roughly the next 25 years spinning our wheels football-wise once the last class of scholarship players graduated in 1992. Some decent teams here and there but a definite dropoff in overall talent from the 1981-1991 era. Different era now but the hope is that Chesney/school support/Luth etc. can bring about a similar restoration at the FCS/1-AA level that Carter/Duff did back then. The PL rules on red-shirting, rostah-size etc are still a governor on how successful (i.e. by 1980s standards: FCS Top 10 in the nation, beating the occasional FBS team) we can be today. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in a post-pandemic world.
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Post by timholycross on Jul 28, 2020 10:57:25 GMT -5
/\ IMHO The I-AA move at the end of the 70's was inevitable given our size (and we could still land some excellent players, land a coach like Carter, and build teams every bit as good - if not better than the 70's teams) but it was really the 1984 decision to eliminate future schollies and go Colonial (then Patriot) that killed HC football IMHO. Some of kids Carter recruited such as Lockbaum, McGovern, and Wiley sustained it for a short while but the sharp drop-off was inevitable. absolutely the point I was trying to make.
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Post by longsuffering on Jul 28, 2020 14:25:20 GMT -5
It would be positive if the pandemic gives PL leadership a gentle dope slap and causes them to re-evaluate just what they are trying to achieve by handcuffing athletic teams. My sense is the restrictions are designed to bring the PL closer to the academic elite, but at the same time some of the academic elite have finessed their financial aid and admission policies to give themselves an advantage while the PL has unilaterally disarmed.
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Post by longsuffering on Jul 28, 2020 14:26:35 GMT -5
/\ IMHO The I-AA move at the end of the 70's was inevitable given our size (and we could still land some excellent players, land a coach like Carter, and build teams every bit as good - if not better than the 70's teams) but it was really the 1984 decision to eliminate future schollies and go Colonial (then Patriot) that killed HC football IMHO. Some of kids Carter recruited such as Lockbaum, McGovern, and Wiley sustained it for a short while but the sharp drop-off was inevitable. absolutely the point I was trying to make. OK, got it now.
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Post by beaven302 on Jul 29, 2020 13:28:19 GMT -5
Doug Flutie has dropped to #94 on the list of NCAA career passing leaders 🧐 What makes me feel old about Doug Flutie is recalling him in the 1981 BC game and thinking that he had the face of a little boy and now seeing him on TV as a fiftysomething former football star.
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