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Post by newfieguy74 on Apr 8, 2021 7:57:48 GMT -5
Since Fordham is not playing for a chance at a championship I wonder if their approach will be different (i.e, as a chance to play freshmen, deciding to rest dinged up players who might have otherwise played, maybe a little less fire in the belly). I don't know.
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Post by football44 on Apr 8, 2021 8:08:01 GMT -5
This is the Seniors last game playing at Fordham. The league already announced the two teams playing in the championship game so Fordham could have just shut it down. My guess is that the seniors want to end their careers with a BIG win over Bucknell. Just a guess.
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Bucknell
Apr 8, 2021 8:11:25 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by longsuffering on Apr 8, 2021 8:11:25 GMT -5
Any chance we could keep this thread just about the league championship game rather than yet another virus pissing match? The virus is why this is the first, and hopefully last Patriot League Championship game in history, and why it's being played in April. And unfortunately the virus has a chance to win this game so it's relevant.
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 8, 2021 8:17:31 GMT -5
This is the Seniors last game playing at Fordham. The league already announced the two teams playing in the championship game so Fordham could have just shut it down. My guess is that the seniors want to end their careers with a BIG win over Bucknell. Just a guess. Good point and it's a rare opportunity to coach up returning players after a game four months before camp begins, so many reasons to benefit by both teams.
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Post by timholycross on Apr 8, 2021 10:36:07 GMT -5
No way any school turns down a playing opportunity at this point. Any game could be your last.
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Bucknell
Apr 8, 2021 12:54:07 GMT -5
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 8, 2021 12:54:07 GMT -5
No. 25 Duquesne will host Sacred Heart in Sat. for the NEC crown. If FCS schedulers want to minimize travel for playoff games due to COVID concerns, we could potentially see the winner of this game in the first round of the playoffs.
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Bucknell
Apr 8, 2021 13:31:49 GMT -5
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 8, 2021 13:31:49 GMT -5
No. 25 Duquesne will host Sacred Heart in Sat. for the NEC crown. If FCS schedulers want to minimize travel for playoff games due to COVID concerns, we could potentially see the winner of this game in the first round of the playoffs. Winnable.
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Bucknell
Apr 8, 2021 13:37:38 GMT -5
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 8, 2021 13:37:38 GMT -5
It looks like the FCS playoffs will feature host sites which are predetermined and geographically located throughout the country. One host site is UMaine in Orono:
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 8, 2021 13:59:52 GMT -5
It looks like the FCS playoffs will feature host sites which are predetermined and geographically located throughout the country. One host site is UMaine in Orono: Odd choice for Orono with Bryant, CCSU, URI, Stony Brook, Yale, Sacred Heart all being easier to get to over Orono.
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Bucknell
Apr 8, 2021 14:05:40 GMT -5
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 8, 2021 14:05:40 GMT -5
^ When in doubt, decisions like this usually have a financial incentive attached to them which makes them more “attractive” than other logical sites.
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Post by Ignutz on Apr 8, 2021 14:11:34 GMT -5
It looks like the FCS playoffs will feature host sites which are predetermined and geographically located throughout the country. One host site is UMaine in Orono: Odd choice for Orono with Bryant, CCSU, URI, Stony Brook, Yale, Sacred Heart all being easier to get to over Orono. Hell, with no (or limited) fans allowed, how about Nickerson Field or Parsons Field?!?!
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Bucknell
Apr 8, 2021 14:14:58 GMT -5
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 8, 2021 14:14:58 GMT -5
Yale Bowl holds 65,000! 12% of that would be 7,800 fans!!
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Post by hchoops on Apr 8, 2021 14:25:16 GMT -5
Hope there is no late snow in Orono.
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Post by timholycross on Apr 8, 2021 14:27:43 GMT -5
Odd choice for Orono with Bryant, CCSU, URI, Stony Brook, Yale, Sacred Heart all being easier to get to over Orono. Hell, with no (or limited) fans allowed, how about Nickerson Field or Parsons Field?!?! Since they "returfed" them, neither is lined for football. Northeastern also has baseball going on - same venue. So, no.
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Post by football44 on Apr 8, 2021 14:40:04 GMT -5
Hero Sports shows HC winning the Patriot League and opening up against North Dakota State. OUCH!!
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Post by deep Purple on Apr 8, 2021 14:46:12 GMT -5
Yale Bowl holds 65,000! 12% of that would be 7,800 fans!! I don't think Connecticut has that ridiculous 12% rule. That's just Massachusetts.
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Post by hchoops on Apr 8, 2021 14:46:22 GMT -5
Hero Sports shows HC winning the Patriot League and opening up against North Dakota State. OUCH!! That would not fit very well with the Covid regional guidelines
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 8, 2021 14:53:20 GMT -5
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Post by hc2020 on Apr 8, 2021 16:17:27 GMT -5
Here is the latest info. re: the Fordham-Bucknell game. If Bucknell is not allowing visiting team spectators (but curiously does allow home team spectators), the PL should immediately announce that the PL Championship will be played at HC - Absurd:
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 8, 2021 16:52:40 GMT -5
There are four East Coast sites: Orono, Villanova, Delaware, and JMU. My guess is that only three will be used. There is also a site in Georgia.
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Bucknell
Apr 8, 2021 18:35:28 GMT -5
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 8, 2021 18:35:28 GMT -5
Orono is lovely this time of winter.
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Post by longsuffering on Apr 8, 2021 18:39:20 GMT -5
Here is the latest info. re: the Fordham-Bucknell game. If Bucknell is not allowing visiting team spectators (but curiously does allow home team spectators), the PL should immediately announce that the PL Championship will be played at HC - Absurd: Saturday is Fordham's Superbowl. They should be allowed an equal number of fans.
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Post by HC92 on Apr 8, 2021 19:02:18 GMT -5
They’re just adding fuel to the Rams’ fire by excluding the Rambackers. Fordham 31, Bucknell 13.
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Post by Crucis#1 on Apr 8, 2021 19:07:30 GMT -5
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Post by efg72 on Apr 8, 2021 20:47:22 GMT -5
In case of pay wall
Frenetic finish lands Holy Cross in Patriot League title game
Since opening as planned March 13 at Lehigh, the Holy Cross football team has had a frenzied spring season with two postponements and three cancellations, the latest coming this week when HC’s game scheduled for Saturday at Colgate was called off because of a positive COVID-19 test within the Raiders program’s Tier 1.
The Patriot League declared the Crusaders (2-0) as the North division champions and they will face Bucknell, which clinched the South last week, for the PL championship at 2 p.m. April 17. The site for the title game is to be determined.
During the week, there was talk — and hope — that Holy Cross and Bucknell would play for the PL crown this weekend, but instead, the Crusaders are idle for the second straight week while the Bison (2-0) will host Fordham as scheduled on Saturday.
Lehigh will play at Lafayette.
“This week is a little tough for our kids to be sitting at home watching a team (Bucknell) that if they win might host the championship game,” Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said Thursday. “That’s a little tough for our guys to stomach at this moment.”
Holy Cross, which last played March 27 and beat Fordham at Fitton Field, was scheduled to host Bucknell April 3, but that game was canceled in the league’s effort to prioritize divisional games and determine North and South champions
HC is in the North with Fordham and Colgate. Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh are in the South.
“We would have liked to have fair shot to get third game in,” Chesney said.
Holy Cross has done an excellent job adhering to COVID-19 procedures this spring. HC is the only PL team that hasn’t postponed or canceled a game due to COVID-19 protocols.
“Our guys have done an unbelievable job,” Chesney said, “knock on every piece of wood I can find. We’ve had one positive case for a full year now. Our guys are so committed and disciplined and have done everything right. They have made this school and this program very proud.”
The winner of the PL championship earns an automatic bid to the 16-team FCS playoffs, which begin April 24.
“This (pandemic) is something none of us can control,” Chesney said. “The one wish is you could bump up the (PL) championship and be playing that now and then we or Bucknell gets a week off (before the FCS playoffs). Then (the league) is putting forth its best team and its healthiest team. I wish there was some foresight from the league in that regard. There’s no guarantee this championship game will be played (on April 17). There was a guarantee it could be played this week.
“The league makes its decisions based on what they feel is best for their reasons, but as far as getting the healthiest and best team to the playoffs, I would have liked to see something done differently.”
The extra time off is helping the Crusaders get healthy — they had about 13 injured players last week.
“They are back,” Chesney said, “which is great. We’re excited to have that depth as we roll into championship week.”
As the Crusaders get ready to play for their second straight Patriot League championship with three weeks between games, Chesney said he is confident in his team physically, schematically, situationally and fundamentally.
“I’m not worried about those things,” he said. “Those are things we can handle when we’re on the field. I am worried about the ups and downs emotionally the players and coaches are going through with the stops and starts, and now change to this opponent, and to be playing and to not be playing, and to be hosting a championship game possibly this weekend to not be playing at all. That, to me, is the toughest to juggle because you’re already in a delicate moment in time, and then you add in all this emotional buildup and letdown day by day, and it takes its toll.”
Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentandg
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