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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 26, 2024 8:02:31 GMT -5
Impact players make a difference at every level, but I'd argue that an impact player, whether a diamond in the rough or a 3 star coming out of HS, make a bigger difference in a league like the PL. Montes and Felton should have Fordham chugging along offensively, but it remains to be seen how their defense will fare. Still not convinced of Colgate's resurgence, although I've talked to folks who think Colgate will be this year's Laffy. Laffy lost a lot on defense. I feel like the league title is wide open, but I have to think we might be the most well rounded squad.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 23, 2024 19:54:01 GMT -5
Let's face it. We had an FBS QB for four years in Matt Sluka. Joe P. has similar mobility as Drew Bledsoe and Drew did partner with Bill Parcells to reach Superbowl XXXI. Joe could lead us into the playoffs and then anything can happen. And Rex Grossman went to the SB with the Bears...anything is certainly possible
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 23, 2024 8:33:50 GMT -5
Looking at the PL schedules the first weekend. A few FBS games. Lafayette has an interesting game at Buffalo. Curious to see how DeNobile and the Leopards come out. Fordham has Bowling Green, which could be a winnable game with Montes and Felton back in action for another year. Lehigh travels to Army, which although Lehigh has made some progress and growth the last two years probably won't go their way. Bucknell might be taking on water that weekend at Annapolis.
Georgetown hosting Davidson and Colgate also playing a CAA foe in Maine (that one is interesting because Maine continues their rebuild and Colgate trying to keep moving in the right direction).
I'd love to see us continue to schedule more quality opponents from the Northeast to fill-out our schedule. URI and UNH are great additions to this year's slate. Will be interesting to see if the "rising tide" theory created by HC the last few years really does improve the quality of PL football. Although early season games are hit or miss, it will be great to watch the PL vs FBS games that first week.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 10, 2024 10:18:41 GMT -5
I do not think of Harvard as a rival. Harvard's rivals are Yale and Princeton. Harvard is an exciting game, as is Yale, but they aren't rivals I always considered Harvard, an ancient in-state opponent as a rival, but I am not sure they view us as a rival. There is quite a bit of buzz when one or both teams have winning seasons, but I sort of see it as Yale is their main rival, Princeton and Brown are secondary rivals, and we are like the little pesky brother. As such, I'm not sure I'd want to consider them a rival. I think they are a marriage of convenience for both programs. They did drop us in the 30's when we were one of the best teams in the East. I'm sure Doc Anderson was happier to beat Georgia than to play and beat Harvard.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 9, 2024 13:15:15 GMT -5
I think Mr. Newman's post highlights why we are all a part of this message board. We may disagree on conferences or schedules, but ultimately everyone wants the best for HC and our student athletes. The Holy Cross experience is more than just a single class, a single athletic season, and results in one of the strongest degrees around. Looking forward to more good things to come from our program and more healthy debate in the coming year.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 9, 2024 13:11:30 GMT -5
Are we really going to be in the same subdivision as Mercyhurst? From a pure "feels" perspective, it feels like we belong with Harvard and Yale, AWP, Navy, the Dakotas and Montanas of the world, but Mercyhurst and RMU? At least we are not in the same conference as them. If they tried to get in the PL (which calm down guys it wouldn't happen with academic indexes and the like) I'd rather be an affiliate of the mvfc. Robert Morris has been D-1 since 1976. They have played in EIGHT NCAA Tournaments in Men's Basketball since joining. Holy Cross has only played in seven in that same time period. Just specifically talking about football. They've been in our hockey conference as well for quite some time now.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 5, 2024 9:03:26 GMT -5
132 women's players in the D1 portal. What are the chances we get more than 0 joining our illustrious ranks?
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 5, 2024 8:56:53 GMT -5
Are we really going to be in the same subdivision as Mercyhurst? From a pure "feels" perspective, it feels like we belong with Harvard and Yale, AWP, Navy, the Dakotas and Montanas of the world, but Mercyhurst and RMU? At least we are not in the same conference as them. If they tried to get in the PL (which calm down guys it wouldn't happen with academic indexes and the like) I'd rather be an affiliate of the mvfc.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 4, 2024 8:47:49 GMT -5
It appears Clemson et al in the ACC will be locked in for at least the academic year. I think any changes like 3 or 4 power conferences or some super league won't come about for at least 1-2 years. Any ripple down to the FCS (such as FBS teams looking to grab the best/highest profile FCS programs) could be an additional year. I think that gives us time to continue building in hoops and keep the winning tradition alive in FCS football. Prior to the creation of any FBS mega conference, it would probably be unwise for HC to move unless given a golden opportunity. After the conference is created, I think it is fair game depending on where things go (such as a level in between FCS and FBS consisting of top FCS teams and the Rice's of the FBS world) after the cataclysmic realignment.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 2, 2024 19:58:53 GMT -5
Local news said congestive heart failure. May he rest in peace. Great work with the city of Worcester.
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 2, 2024 19:57:00 GMT -5
They could stay down for seven long, post loss presser-less seasons. But look for terrific group photos post game full of smiles
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Post by cruskater31 on Apr 2, 2024 18:13:34 GMT -5
Some great playoff hockey from the past weekend. I wonder if the NCAA would agree to a 24 team field. You could either go first round games hosted by the highest bidder or do a "first four" with the last 8 teams playing at a neutral site and the winners going to play the no 1 seeds. One would emulate FCS the other, hopps.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 30, 2024 15:35:00 GMT -5
With the NCAA cut, do men's hockey site under report attendance so the NCAA takes less (like what we see with football playoffs)? Paging our friend WooRat
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 29, 2024 14:14:36 GMT -5
BC up 2-1 on Mich Tech. A lot more than 2500 at this location. Looks to be a near full house of Eagle fans
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 28, 2024 18:41:41 GMT -5
TV viewership isn't even a part of this debate. What does that have to do with anything? Even more take into consideration the fan experience. Would you rather play in a 2500 seat sold out arena in Missouri or a 14k seat arena with only 3k fans? I take option 1. I agree in theory, but in the case of the West regional with those teams, the demand would exceed the 14k total. I think the NCAA needs to re-evaluate their revenue demands. Just do a rotation like we saw for years in the East/Northeast with Albany, Worcester, Providence, and Springfield. Maybe Grand Forks, Denver, Omaha, Twin Cities could alternate.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 28, 2024 8:48:15 GMT -5
I think Jordan is primed for another awesome season. I also think he is going to serve as a great role model for our younger backs.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 28, 2024 8:47:21 GMT -5
The Ralph was a pretty good venue for HC a while back! Omaha potentially could be a good venue with more flights in and out from midwest cities.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 27, 2024 9:10:04 GMT -5
On another note...it is interesting that folks have been advocating the last two seasons for the WBB tournament to go to neutral sites for the round of 64 and 32, but coaches and others want the NCAA ice hockey tournament to leave neutral sites for home rinks. I think the spirit of NCAA tournaments is more aligned with neutral sites and remove home court/ice advantage. The only way I'd be content with home ice is if the higher seed hosted it in a nearby city but at a different rink. That being said, would it be strange to have an East Regional hosted by BU at Agganis Arena and then a West Regional hosted by BC at Conte? Theoretically the NCAA cash grab would still exist just as it does for FCS playoff games. It would be harder for schools to under report attendance if Conte was completely full and they claimed 2k attendance.
I think there needs to be a better revenue sharing agreement which would open up more bids and more competitive bids. The other issue with home ice is that some of the Western Schools: NoDak, Michigan, Denver, etc. as well as BU and BC, travel very well. It would be very challenging to get teams to agree to a visitor's allotment I am sure.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 27, 2024 9:04:39 GMT -5
Maryland Heights, the arena in question, is in Missouri outside of St. Louis. It would be like if the New England Sports Center in Marlborough hosted an NCAA Regional. If no one bids too bad for the West. Find a third venue out East. The New England Sports Center hosted the World Juniors games one year... '96 correct? I think they split games between there, Mullins, Matthews, and Conte or something like that
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 26, 2024 8:54:38 GMT -5
Back on track to WBB, I heard a podcaster online compare Clark to Johnny Manziel. While not a fair comparison due to his various off the field issues, it does throw a spotlight on the NIL money (which didn't exist back in Manziel's playing days---legally), complaining, and general attitude of entitlement. That being said she is a pure, gifted shooter. I would still take Paige over her as a teammate and overall all around player.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 26, 2024 8:52:25 GMT -5
I hope our PLT championship is as valid this year as last year. Forty miles apart, both venues were rabid for the home team but hopefully the best team won each time. UConn and Syracuse may have sold out the Albany Civic Center, but that's the exception to the rule right now. Maybe the NCAA could find cheaper mid sized neutral arenas for opening rounds going forward for the Women's tournament. I think that is a great solution. The NCAA men's hockey committee seemed to screw the pooch a bit this year. They went with a 2,500 seat arena (the Blues' practice facility) in Missouri for their midwest regional featuring: NoDak (capacity 11,600), Michigan (6,600), Michigan State (6,300), and Mich Tech (4,200). The capacity of the little rink is up to 3,000 with SRO tickets, but each school was only given a 400 seat allotment and now secondary market tickets are going north of $1000 for hockey rabid fans in North Dakota and Michigan.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 25, 2024 21:19:22 GMT -5
This might be a hockey guy talking here but the officiating in this WVU-Iowa game has been awful. Awfully biased towards Iowa if I might say as well.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 25, 2024 20:59:21 GMT -5
Talking to some Irish exchange students today and a few of them wanted to talked BPC today. They said one of restaurants near them somehow had the game on satellite or streaming. He said really only Irish hoops players and fans knew who she was last month but now everybody knows her name back home.
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 25, 2024 20:57:30 GMT -5
On an unrelated note. Great game for Bueckers! Wish she was the face of women's college hoops
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Post by cruskater31 on Mar 25, 2024 20:57:01 GMT -5
Big Mountaineer fan right now. Looks like they copied our playbook both on defending Clark and their shooting, unfortunately
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