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Post by hcpride on Jun 15, 2023 9:25:17 GMT -5
A dual threat can be an all purpose player ? I had thought that term was limited to returners- rushers- receivers Also puts QB Tommy Mellott in the “AP” category. At least it’s a consistent use of the term on the author’s part. Between those two and Dylan Laube that’s a lot of offensive talent in the “AP” slot.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 15, 2023 5:54:19 GMT -5
As far as the interception goes, the narrator of the film pins it squarely on Sluka (I didn’t/don’t see it that way).
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Post by hcpride on Jun 15, 2023 3:11:14 GMT -5
Charlotte Knights By Darren Black on June 14, 2023 4:47 pm Sean Burke 5 IP, 9.00 ERA, 3 BB, 3 K Sammy Peralta 3 2⁄3 IP, 12.27 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K Declan Cronin 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 2 K Lenyn Sosa (IL) Oscar Colás .222/.300/.222, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K Charlotte didn’t have a very good week and one of the few players that did was Declan Cronin. With how bad the White Sox bullpen was over the weekend, Charlotte arms always seem enticing. Cronin has been doing well with the Knights this season, with his command getting back to what it was in the first half of last season, a walk rate just a tick short of 12%. That isn’t very good, but he did go four innings (three appearances) last week with no walks. He will need to string together more weeks of low walks to really get in the bullpen pecking order. Cronin has never been a high-strikeout pitcher; his K-rate is 18.6% right now, so getting those walks down is meaningful. His best stat of 2023 though, is only giving up one homer as a Charlotte Knight through 27 2⁄3 innings. www.southsidesox.com/platform/amp/2023/6/14/23758658/chicago-white-sox-minor-league-player-of-the-week-june-5-11-caberea-weaver
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Post by hcpride on Jun 14, 2023 5:02:02 GMT -5
Not entirely related but it seems HC leadership now views a closer association with Worcester as a net positive relative to building the HC brand.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 14, 2023 4:40:48 GMT -5
What if those ACC "remnants" absorb the PL? Just trying to think freely...outside the box. I've honestly imagined a scenario where BC, Pitt, and Syracuse merge together with UConn and call up the top northeastern programs like Holy Cross, Villanova, and Delaware for a northeastern FBS conference. Throw in Army in there as well. Who knows what the future holds? But the fact that we can speculate about such things is a testament to the success under Coach Chesney I don’t doubt some CAA teams (including the two you noted) and at least two PL teams (HC and Fordham) are dissatisfied with the overall level of football in their respective leagues. At the same time there are a few northeast ACC schools that may be left behind if the stronger ones run for the exits. And, of course, we have 2 independent schools (UConn and UMass). Can’t see those multiple worlds coming together in an all-sports or football-only league. But it does highlight the fact that we should now be scheduling Delaware, UNH, URI, Richmond, Nova, W&M, etc. And the stronger CAA football programs should rearrange the league’s scheduling (perhaps a stronger/weaker divide) and free up more OOC options.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 13, 2023 5:18:55 GMT -5
/\ I think that (the first ‘bolded’ section) describes the mutual HC-BC relationship (including highly anticipated football games) up to about 40-ish years ago. I’m not sure sure I’d describe us (HC and BC) as ‘traditional’ rivals or describe us as ‘former’ rivals but that may be a distinction without much difference.
Although we’ve played UMass quite a bit in our history (and wanted to beat them each time) so they’ve been a frequent opponent, I don’t think of them as a traditional rival.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 13, 2023 4:59:26 GMT -5
“Play annually, but only against less attractive teams that would not draw well at Fitton”
I guess this would apply to Lehigh, Laffy, Bucknell, and Georgetown.
The nightmare scenario is a half-empty Polar Park for the EBW Classic. That’s got to be a consideration at some point.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 13, 2023 4:41:54 GMT -5
I say avoid scheduling UMass unless they're willing to do a home-and-home. Fair point that they're probably paying less than other FBS opponents, and also, what does beating them prove? It's an FBS win on paper, but I can't imagine the committee would put any real weight into it. I'd rather see FBS games against literally anyone else (Again, unless it's a home-and-home) UMass would be smart to schedule a home and home. Fitton holds 6,000 more than McGuirk and Worcester is closer to their large Eastern Mass. alumni base than Amherst. And they’re a traditional ‘rival’. 😊 ( If by ‘rival’ we mean a team we played a good amount of times…they’re 5th or so on the opponent list. ) This year they’re playing Merrimack.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 12, 2023 17:20:47 GMT -5
Would Worcesterites be more likely interested in HC-Colgate or HC-Merrimack? Or, maybe, both or neither? Let the market decide. Don't get the fascination with New England schools on our schedule. We are trying to win a national championship and we are in the PL. Our penance and commitment to the northeast is the PL, the rest of our schedule should be national FCS schools and two FBS games per year. With some good fortune we can be the Stanford, Northwestern, Duke, UVA, UNC. and ND of the FCS Thinking about old rivalries is fine for those of us on the back six( golf) of life, but not for the future of Holy Cross athletics. Go Crusaders✝️✝️✝️✝️ Especially since those "rivalries" (minus BC) are imagined.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 12, 2023 10:24:49 GMT -5
Never understood posters who refer to Syracuse or Harvard as traditional ‘rivals’ I think we played them in football pretty frequently in one decade or another. I guess the word ‘opponents’ fits the bill. We did have a serious rivalry with BC in football during the mid to later part of the last century. But I don’t see any of that (past opponents, former rival) as a reason to schedule football games.
Polar Park for an annual night game seems pretty worthwhile. Maybe one of those obscure PL opponents now and again as long as we can sell it out.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 12, 2023 9:10:56 GMT -5
/\ He’s now showing he’s very effective at this level and it’s probably just a case of ‘right place, right time’ going forward (in regards to the majors).
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Post by hcpride on Jun 11, 2023 16:20:53 GMT -5
I believe you are correct. Discipline issues were reportedly a major issue for the program, and that continued off the field, according to some close to the program. I'm sorry, but I can't help but take great umbrage with that writer's take of Boston College's first two opponents as "easy." No writer of a 3-9 program has the right to refer to ANY opponent as easy, let alone a team that's won 4 straight league titles and will come into this game as hungry as ever. Truth be told, folks in Newton shouldn't even be pencilling in NIU as a win, they're Week 1 opponent. Again, I've followed this program over the years and followed it closely last year. There are bad teams, and then there are discombobulated ones. BC fell into the latter category. Lowlights included giving up a kick return touchdown to that 2-9 Maine team, only to allow a kick return TD to FSU on the opening kickoff the following week. They fell behind FSU by 21 less than 6 minutes in. Also worth noting that they failed to even score a touchdown against UCONN, despite boasting the best WR in program history, Zay Flowers. BELIVE ME when I say BC is gettable, and perhaps more gettable than some on this board may even realize. That writer's take that ANYONE on BC's schedule should be considered "easy" rises to the level of cognitive dissonance. Did he not watch the Eagles last year? Many fans of that program talked a lot of trash about Rutgers and UConn, only to lose to both teams. Some still feel the same way about HC, and so I can't wait until September 9. As for the other posters regarding Merrimack, they are correct. Merrimack will be gunning for us in a similar fashion to how we're gunning for BC. They're a worthy opponent and deserve respect. That said, it's still early June and I'm allowing my mind to wonder. I'm sure the BC and Army games are in the back of these players' minds as they sweat through summer workouts. I don't know who the writer is but I can tell you that there are very few BC football supporters who even remotely pay attention to FCS football. To them, Holy Cross is an FCS team that should be a comfortable win, a tune-up for the remainder of the schedule. A small # of BC football fans have any clue that Holy Cross has won 4 straight conference titles, and if they did, they still would shrug it off as irrelevant to the fact that BC should smother a lowly Patriot League opponent. We're talking about metro Boston, a pro town where people that follow college football outside of their own team might know what's going on in The Top 25 and that's about it. We're not talking about Bozeman, MT or Brookings, SD where the average sports fan has FCS football on their radar. Gotta agree. And any BC fans/writers/students who even recall (for some reason) the last FCS PL team they played...it was a VERY easy win (51-0 v Colgate...and before that 62-14 Holy Cross). On another angle. Jeff Hafley will not take us lightly. He's on the (very) hot seat already. He loses to us and he is gone that night. He can't even afford a close game ...that means he'll lose a bunch in the ACC and be gone at the end of the season.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 11, 2023 6:50:58 GMT -5
Let’s focus on one game at a time. I know everyone is looking forward to the BC game. Especially me but Merrimack is coming to town with a very bad attitude and revenge on their minds. The boys understand one at a time. I will say this, every player on HC wants to beat BC in the worst way. They know how old guys like me feel about the rivalry. I agree. Merrimack and Fordham have become good rivalry games for us and Merrimack will fight us tooth and nail game one. Personally, I’m looking forward to the Veterans Day matchup v Army at West Point much more than the game v BC in Newton.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 10, 2023 17:56:22 GMT -5
“ BC has two easy home games to start their year before a tough test against Florida State, so they’ll need to take advantage of that opportunity to get the line right. ” Are we their game #2? Locker room material!😊 Most folks would describe their last win over us as ‘easy’ (62-14) so I’m not surprised the next match up would be thought of as ‘easy’. We’re a bit better and they’re a bit worse but that lopsided 2018 score was not as close as it appeared. They called off the dogs VERY early.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 10, 2023 8:03:57 GMT -5
So how do you calculate the AI without standardized tests? They are apparently using GPA But it is more a mystery than previously. Also, high schools are informally graded by academic rigor. I am still trying to figure out how EIGHT percent of the class of 2025 had composite SAT scores below 1000., and 5.8 percent had composite scores below 800. Just having something called an AI (with or without any objective test scores) for recruited athletes is a comfort to some . I'm not sure if you are curious at the test scores you cite in terms of them being low for a HC student or if you are curious that HC students reported those sorts of scores to a test score optional school. Or both.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 9, 2023 18:20:30 GMT -5
You know the answer to your question. The AI is not a unique Holy Cross quirk. It is an agreement with the Patriot League and until there is a league agreement it will remain. So how do you calculate the AI without standardized tests? Exactly what I was getting at. Maybe the wildly (and unevenly) inflated high school classroom grades? Almost funny.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 9, 2023 17:06:55 GMT -5
Very good crowd last evening at a beautiful venue - as young as the class of '23 to the class of '55 - 6-8pm actually broke up closer to 8:30 Some impressions: = BB Coach DP said the spirit of the team is 100 pct better than when he arrived - a big help was the exodus of that rising sr who has found another home he does not anticipate using the 13th schollie unless some big surprise arises over the summer = FB Coach Ches was not there but asst DiMichelle was - Dobbs and Sluka are the clear leaders of the team and 'we're looking great' Roster size for '23 is 90 plus the number of 5th yr players (in our case 90 plus 13 for 103 total) = Lax Coach Reppert said the '23 team still had great camaraderie despite the tough season - next year trying to ease up on some of the ooc games (maybe MAAC teams?) = FH Coach Jackson thinks next year's team will take a step up - some int'l recruits will help a lot and the spring season had 5 scrimmages when the team went 3-2 = Spoke with one of the assistants in the Athletic office and he said the atmosphere working there has taken a 180 degree turn since Kit arrived - very upbeat = NCAA no longer demands that recruits for any sport take the SAT's - so admissions for athletes the same as overall student body= ADKH spoke at the end and continued to emphasize the support (financial and otherwise) that he has and will continue to rely on from alums (among the missing coaches were from W Bball, Baseball, Swimming, Golf, Tennis) Beyond the fact that I always wondered about an SAT-based Academic Index at a test score optional school, have we finally pulled the plug on the ridiculous AI? (And now evaluate incoming athletes for admission based on grades, activities, "demonstrated interest", etc. as we do the overall student body?)
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Post by hcpride on Jun 8, 2023 17:01:52 GMT -5
Running team with good offensive line and old school coach finally caught up with them - recruits (including QBs) not loving it. At all. They were (up to 5 years ago) keeping good LI kids and landing other good players and quality transfers would show up for exposure. Not any more. (And admin and student body are completely disinterested in football…) IIRC, the Stony Brook teams that were really good about ten years ago got a little bit of a bump from former Hofstra players who transferred in. Definitely was a run-heavy squad, I think they ran the Power I. They beat Army one year and nearly beat UConn as well. Former Giants TE Will Tye was on those teams. Yes, Hofstra transfers were very helpful (2012 was the last season for Maysonet and the rest of those Hofstra guys…that year they easily beat West Point and scared Syracuse). 2017 (7-1 CAA) and 2018 (5-3 CAA) were their last good/pretty good teams. Time for a new coach and complete overhaul.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 8, 2023 8:58:38 GMT -5
FWIW, Stony Brook will be an absolute football trainwreck this year (worse than last year’s 2-9 trainwreck) and were it not for the fact so many kids transferred out I think you’d be on target. The QB situation is almost beyond description - I think they’ll play without one. On the bright side, SBU just got a nifty 500M donation (for academics) from a (very) rich guy so academics continues to drive things out there. What happened to this program, pride? They had a couple of seasons not too long ago where they were a fringe top 10 team. Running team with good offensive line and old school coach finally caught up with them - recruits (including QBs) not loving it. At all. They were (up to 5 years ago) keeping good LI kids and landing other good players and quality transfers would show up for exposure. Not any more. (And admin and student body are completely disinterested in football…)
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Post by hcpride on Jun 8, 2023 8:34:12 GMT -5
Geez! There are a few schools (Incarnate Word, Jackson State, Northern AZ, Stony Brook) that may not have had room for incoming high-school grads! FWIW, Stony Brook will be an absolute football trainwreck this year (worse than last year’s 2-9 trainwreck) and were it not for the fact so many kids transferred out I think you’d be on target. They brought in 16 or so transfers and 9 or so high schoolers this cycle. The transfers (except for a good punter) are pretty unimpressive. The QB situation is almost beyond description - I think they’ll play without one. On the bright side, SBU just got a nifty 500M donation (for academics) from a (very) rich guy so academics continues to drive things out there.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 7, 2023 19:29:59 GMT -5
Noticed that 4-star Kevin Pyne, apparently offered (?) by the biggest schools (Notre Dame, LSU, Clemson, etc), seems to have done very little on the football field at Boston College and is going to URI as a grad transfer. His brother is the former ND QB (now at Arizona State) and some Crossporters might know some sort of a back story as there is overlap with his extended (athletic) family and HC.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 7, 2023 12:59:08 GMT -5
Interesting that the only two PL teams getting transfers, HC and Fordham, were far and away the top teams in the PL last year.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 6, 2023 15:42:57 GMT -5
Well, if they weren’t in it for the money, wouldn’t they have just remained amateurs? 🤷🏻♂️ I think the PGA was arguing about taking Saudi money. As one wag pointed out earlier today: Matt Fuller @mepfuller Saudi Arabia: Hey PGA golfers! We have a bunch of money to offer you for our new league. PGA Tour: You’re ruining the game and sportswashing your reputation of human rights abuses. SA: OK but what if we offered *you* a lot of money? PGA: Today, we’d like to announce a merger w
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Post by hcpride on Jun 6, 2023 14:29:49 GMT -5
Soooooo, all those sanctimonious PGA fellas loudly criticizing LIV fellas for taking Saudi cash are now happily taking Saudi cash. I've seen phoney-balonies and virtue-signalers ad nauseum of late but this one is really something.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 6, 2023 13:54:38 GMT -5
Declan Cronin in a recent outing (June 3) and thought folks might want to see the AAA ball/strike challenge in action. "Each team gets three challenges and retains a correct challenge. Challenges can only be initiated by the pitcher, hitter or catcher and must be made immediately after an umpire's call." (There are some games each AAA series where all balls/strikes are make by the robo-ump...in that case the umpire simply verbalizes the robo-ump call.) Maybe we'll see some version (either challenge or full robo-ump or something along those lines) of that in the majors.
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