LeMoyne moves to D.1 - joins NEC

Love the mascot—capitalizes on the pride upstate New Yorkers take in their famed local dolphins.

What was once a great D2 conference, The NE10, is dying a slow, methodical death.

Merrimack, Stonehill, Bryant, now LeMoyne.....all moved up. Springfield moved down. Assumption looks like the sole survivor.

Bentley???

I followed kept half an eye on LeMoyne hoops back when Crusader Mike Smiley was an assistant coach there

In effect, they replace SF Brooklyn, so still 9 in their conference for basketball.

No new developments regarding U New Haven, rumored to be strongly considering moving up.

...which would put the Chargers' football program in the Big South, the CAA, the Patriot League.....or they drop it for the second time.    I guess if the Big South can accommodate Bryant they can accommodate New Haven.   The chances of them joining the latter two football conferences imho are slim and none.

SHU and CCSU being a little picky, no? Can't they see the increased local interest with another program in the neighborhood?

Opponents find it difficult to play on their Smurf turf field at New Haven’s, Della Camera Stadium. Was their several years ago for a game against Bloomsburg. Awful on the eyes to watch a game. Glad I had on sun glasses 👓 . Hope that HC never plays on a Smurf Turf field

As a native, Chu knows that but something I had to learn when I moved there.

As I've posted in the past, being born and raised on Long Island, we had relatives who lived "upstate New York" in Hartsdale (look it up on a map). 

I made the mistake of referencing having moved to "upstate New York" to my new Syracuse co-workers who acted like I had just dropped in from Mars and pointedly informed me that I now lived and worked in "Central New York." Not to take that rebuttal lightly, I said, "so what's 'upstate,' Buffalo?" The exasperated locals explained Buffalo is "western New York." OK, what about Albany? "That's the capital region." Knowing the next would have an equally snappy response, I inquired about Binghamton knowing that couldn't be "upstate" since it was south of Syracuse. Of course, that would be "the southern tier." They begrudgingly accepted that Watertown might be "upstate New York," at which point I said, "I don't think so, I think it's a suburb of Canada." 

My new next door neighbor came to welcome us to the neighborhood and thrilled to see Connecticut plates on my car because she had relatives that lived in the Nutmeg state (I was moving in from Danbury, CT). Trying to build rapport, I informed her that while I had lived in Connecticut, I was a New Yorker, born and raised on Long Island. Her reaction was a greatly disappointed "ohhhh." Not all, but a certain percentage of central New Yorkers would be happy to see NYC and LI fall off into the ocean. 

As a sort of tribute that I had lived long enough (9 years/9 winters) in Syracuse to be accepted, I was offered a promotion to go back to Long Island but my boss said "you deserve it but I won't force you to take it." I said, "let's see . . . . a big promotion, company car, and an opportunity to go back home to Long Island where most of my family lives. Why wouldn't I want that?" He immediately said "Oh my G0d! I forgot that you are from there!" 

I've said for some time that the MAAC should've invited Le Moyne. They actually used to be DI in Baseball and Women's Lacrosse until not that long ago and both were MAAC affiliates. Would be a perfect geographic fit too.

Our Women's LAX team actually played and beat LeMoyne in the NCAAs in 2006.

Good pickup for the NEC, IMO. And a solid academic Jesuit Catholic school!