With all due respect to the Pilgrims, to the traditional sentiments of harvest time, and to expressions of gratitude, both cosmic and local, Thanksgiving Day for some of us constitutes chiefly the center of the football season -- its culmination for high schools, and a good time for the college games that serve as the natural lead-in to the wonders of the bowl-game season. Have you ever noticed, after all, how much a turkey looks like a football?
Last year at this time (and the year before) I was expressing my own gratitude to the fates for bringing Coach Edsall to the helm of the football program of the University of Connecticut. This year, that might not seem apt, since Edsall is no longer there. Just after the end of last year's (glorious!) season, which brought the Huskies to the Fiesta Bowl, he left for what he called his "dream job," coaching the Maryland Terrapins. I don't begrudge him upward mobility, but the I have to say I thought the manner of the announcement unnecessarily harsh.
Also, alas, UConn isn't haven't the kind of outstanding season to which I was reacting last year.
Still, think good thoughts! Though the Huskies lost last weekend to the Louisville Cardinals, 34 to 20, QB Johnny McEntee threw for 253 yards and redshirt freshman Lyle McCombs (of Staten Island, New York) became only the second UConn freshman ever to pass the 1,000 yard mark rushing in a season.
So: good effort guys. And, by the way, Edsall isn't exactly going gangbusters at his new job. Wake Forest just administered a shellacking to them. Edsall's old team has a better record than his new team for the season. Good luck to Coach Paul Pasqualoni, and may he and this team prosper in years to come.
This coming Saturday, UConn plays the Rutgers Scarlett Knights. The Knights' roster includes their sophomore phenom Jawan Jamison and junior wide receiver Mohamed Sanu. Tough opposition, and it would be a worthy notch on the bedpost for UConn to pull out a W there.
The kickoff is set for noon at Rentschler Field, and the game may be covered by ESPN2. If it is, I'll be grateful.
Showing posts with label college football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college football. Show all posts
24 November 2011
09 December 2010
UConn in the Fiesta Bowl!
On the weekend before Thanksgiving, as I have mentioned here before, the University of Connecticut Huskies football team defeated their Big East rival Syracuse putting themselves in position for a bowl game bid.
But at the time I described their bowl eligibility as still a "long shot."
They've pulled it off, though! On Saturday of the long Thanksgiving weekend, they defeated Cincinnati. The week after that, they beat the South Florida Bulls in an exciting game that ended 19-16, after Dave Teggart's 52 yard field goal broke a tie.
As Casey Keefe wrote on the CBS Sports website, "It's unfathomable to think how far Connecticut football has come."
They are the champs of the Big East conference, and headed for the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona on New Year's Day 2011.
As some of you know, I live a stone's throw from the state line and spend a lot of time on the northern side of said line. So it seems only fair to ask: how did the U.Mass Minutemen do this season?
Well ... they sure aren't in a major bowl game! Nah-nah. The Minutemen are part of the Colonial conference. They ended the season this year with a 4-4 record within that conference, a 6-5 record overall.
But at the time I described their bowl eligibility as still a "long shot."
They've pulled it off, though! On Saturday of the long Thanksgiving weekend, they defeated Cincinnati. The week after that, they beat the South Florida Bulls in an exciting game that ended 19-16, after Dave Teggart's 52 yard field goal broke a tie.
As Casey Keefe wrote on the CBS Sports website, "It's unfathomable to think how far Connecticut football has come."
They are the champs of the Big East conference, and headed for the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona on New Year's Day 2011.
As some of you know, I live a stone's throw from the state line and spend a lot of time on the northern side of said line. So it seems only fair to ask: how did the U.Mass Minutemen do this season?
Well ... they sure aren't in a major bowl game! Nah-nah. The Minutemen are part of the Colonial conference. They ended the season this year with a 4-4 record within that conference, a 6-5 record overall.
25 November 2010
UConn Beat Syracuse
With all due respects to the Pilgrims, to the traditional sentiments of harvest time, and to expressions of gratitude, both cosmic and local, Thanksgiving Day for some of us constitutes chiefly the center of the football season -- its culmination for high schools, and the college games that serve as a natural lead-in to the wonders of the bowl-game season.
Allow me, then, to express my own gratitude to the fates for bringing Coach Edsall to the helm of the football program of the University of Connecticut.
The Huskies won in convincing fashion against the Orangemen of Syracuse last weekend: 23 to 6. In the Carrier Dome, yet. This makes three wins in a row and puts the Huskies in a tie for second place in the Big East (behind Pitt, even with West Virginia).
Huskies have two more conference games. One is at home, this weekend, Saturday, against Cincinnati. The week after that, they play an away game, vis the South Florida Bulls.
The Huskies are now eligible for a bowl game bid, but still somewhat long-shots to get one, given the shaky start they got this season. But we can hope.
Oddly, there was a fair amount of talk before the UConn-Syracuse game of what great friends the two coaches are. Well, I guess the use of that story line itself reflects the genial biases of this time of year.
Allow me, then, to express my own gratitude to the fates for bringing Coach Edsall to the helm of the football program of the University of Connecticut.
The Huskies won in convincing fashion against the Orangemen of Syracuse last weekend: 23 to 6. In the Carrier Dome, yet. This makes three wins in a row and puts the Huskies in a tie for second place in the Big East (behind Pitt, even with West Virginia).
Huskies have two more conference games. One is at home, this weekend, Saturday, against Cincinnati. The week after that, they play an away game, vis the South Florida Bulls.
The Huskies are now eligible for a bowl game bid, but still somewhat long-shots to get one, given the shaky start they got this season. But we can hope.
Oddly, there was a fair amount of talk before the UConn-Syracuse game of what great friends the two coaches are. Well, I guess the use of that story line itself reflects the genial biases of this time of year.
29 May 2010
Baseball and Football
The U.S. Supreme Court recently re-affirmed that antitrust laws apply to football. More particularly, they apply to relationships between the teams -- the National Football League is not to be treated as a single entity selling a single product.
Go here for the decision.
This is in contrast to baseball, and "Major League Baseball," and the disparity in the legal treatment of the two favorite sports of the US came about through an intriguing historical accident. Back in the 1920s, judges still cared (at least sporadically) about the separate spheres of the federal and state governments, and still interpreted the interstate commerce clause to mean something specific -- movement of people or goods across state lines.
So when the subject of enforcing federal antitrust laws in a baseball context first arose, the courts said the laws can't apply, because baseball teams aren't engaged in moving anybody or anthing anywhere. The stadium stays in one place! Customers coming to it may cross state lines, but that is their concern. This visiting team generally crossed state lines to get to the home team's park, but that is incidental. The actual game is intra-state. That was the justification for the immunity.
In the 1930s, the commerce clause came to mean anything it had to mean. So logically, the antitrust immunity for baseball could have been reconsidered. But it wasn't. It remained in place as a sort of relic of the old days.
In 1972,in the Curt Flood case, the Supreme Court admitted that this makes baseball an "established aberration," but said the immunity will stand until Congress changes it.
I'm okay with that. As I believe I've indicated in this blog before, I think the result is rational as to baseball, for reasons the SCOTUS opinion didn't so much as mention. When the Red Sox play the Yankees, they are both in the business of putting on a show -- the same show. More broadly, all of the teams in the two leagues of MLB are in the business of puttinbg on the season-long show that begins with spring training and ends with the World Series. They have the same overriding interest in maintaining public fascination with that show, and this retaining their viability for the television audience ands the advertisers who pay the big bucks. It is all a single enterprise.
Still, I'd like to see the NFL get the benefit of the same immunity. Their stadiums (stadia?) stay in place, too.
Go here for the decision.
This is in contrast to baseball, and "Major League Baseball," and the disparity in the legal treatment of the two favorite sports of the US came about through an intriguing historical accident. Back in the 1920s, judges still cared (at least sporadically) about the separate spheres of the federal and state governments, and still interpreted the interstate commerce clause to mean something specific -- movement of people or goods across state lines.
So when the subject of enforcing federal antitrust laws in a baseball context first arose, the courts said the laws can't apply, because baseball teams aren't engaged in moving anybody or anthing anywhere. The stadium stays in one place! Customers coming to it may cross state lines, but that is their concern. This visiting team generally crossed state lines to get to the home team's park, but that is incidental. The actual game is intra-state. That was the justification for the immunity.
In the 1930s, the commerce clause came to mean anything it had to mean. So logically, the antitrust immunity for baseball could have been reconsidered. But it wasn't. It remained in place as a sort of relic of the old days.
In 1972,in the Curt Flood case, the Supreme Court admitted that this makes baseball an "established aberration," but said the immunity will stand until Congress changes it.
I'm okay with that. As I believe I've indicated in this blog before, I think the result is rational as to baseball, for reasons the SCOTUS opinion didn't so much as mention. When the Red Sox play the Yankees, they are both in the business of putting on a show -- the same show. More broadly, all of the teams in the two leagues of MLB are in the business of puttinbg on the season-long show that begins with spring training and ends with the World Series. They have the same overriding interest in maintaining public fascination with that show, and this retaining their viability for the television audience ands the advertisers who pay the big bucks. It is all a single enterprise.
Still, I'd like to see the NFL get the benefit of the same immunity. Their stadiums (stadia?) stay in place, too.
12 December 2009
Dayton Flies Past the Red Foxes.
In college football news, the Dayton Flyers defeated the Marist Red Foxes 27 to 16 on November 21, in what was the season's final game for both teams. This gave the Flyers a share of the championship of the Pioneer Football League, or PFL.
I presume that the Dayton Flyers get their name from the Wright Brothers, who lived and worked in Dayton when they weren't at their testing ground in North Carolina.
Despite the outcome of the game, though, I have to say as a Marist alum that the year has been a good one for the Red Foxes, our boys on the Hudson. They were 7-4 overall, tying a record (this is only the second time in Varsity team history they got 7 wins in a season). They finished at 5-3 within the PFL. After a sloppy start they put together a six game winning streak in midseason.
Their offensive star, wide receiver James LaMacchia, became the first player in Marist history to exceed 1,000 yards receiving in a season. He broke through the 1,000 mark in the course of that final game against the Flyers, receiving a pass for a 77 yard TD play in the third quarter.
On to bigger and better things in years to come.
I presume that the Dayton Flyers get their name from the Wright Brothers, who lived and worked in Dayton when they weren't at their testing ground in North Carolina.
Despite the outcome of the game, though, I have to say as a Marist alum that the year has been a good one for the Red Foxes, our boys on the Hudson. They were 7-4 overall, tying a record (this is only the second time in Varsity team history they got 7 wins in a season). They finished at 5-3 within the PFL. After a sloppy start they put together a six game winning streak in midseason.
Their offensive star, wide receiver James LaMacchia, became the first player in Marist history to exceed 1,000 yards receiving in a season. He broke through the 1,000 mark in the course of that final game against the Flyers, receiving a pass for a 77 yard TD play in the third quarter.
On to bigger and better things in years to come.
26 November 2009
Thanksgiving Day
With all due respect to the Pilgrims, to the traditional sentiments of harvest time, and to expressions of gratitude, both cosmic and local, Thanksgiving Day is among its other functions the day that traditional rivalries play out on football fields -- the fields of both high schools and colleges.
I can't speak to today's games because I'm not writing this today. I wrote this last weekend for posting today. (Ain't I clever? Ain't technology wonderful?) But I will take this opportunity to express my regret at the end of the old Fermi-Enfield rivalry. This year's game between the two public schools of the town of Enfield, Conecticut will be the last in a string that goes back to 1972. Enfield will join the Pequot Conference as a full member next season, and the rules of that conference prohibit games outside said conference.
While I'm in this mood of nostalgia and regret, allow me to note (not that you have any choice) that there were several traditional Thanksgiving Day rivalries of recent decades in northcentral Connecticut that are no more, mostly because one of the other of the high schools involved has disappeared. New Britain would play Pulaski; Penney would play East Hartford; Middletown would play Woodrow Wilson High. But one of the schools in each of those pairings is no more.
Ah, but now I need to cheer myself up. What about that UConn/Notre Dame double-overtime game this past weekend? Was that amazing? Congrats to coach Edsall. This was the best possible recruiting poster for him as he builds a program fit for the national stage, doing what Calhoun managed to do for the same school's basketball program years ago.
Yeaaaah Huskies.
I can't speak to today's games because I'm not writing this today. I wrote this last weekend for posting today. (Ain't I clever? Ain't technology wonderful?) But I will take this opportunity to express my regret at the end of the old Fermi-Enfield rivalry. This year's game between the two public schools of the town of Enfield, Conecticut will be the last in a string that goes back to 1972. Enfield will join the Pequot Conference as a full member next season, and the rules of that conference prohibit games outside said conference.
While I'm in this mood of nostalgia and regret, allow me to note (not that you have any choice) that there were several traditional Thanksgiving Day rivalries of recent decades in northcentral Connecticut that are no more, mostly because one of the other of the high schools involved has disappeared. New Britain would play Pulaski; Penney would play East Hartford; Middletown would play Woodrow Wilson High. But one of the schools in each of those pairings is no more.
Ah, but now I need to cheer myself up. What about that UConn/Notre Dame double-overtime game this past weekend? Was that amazing? Congrats to coach Edsall. This was the best possible recruiting poster for him as he builds a program fit for the national stage, doing what Calhoun managed to do for the same school's basketball program years ago.
Yeaaaah Huskies.
23 November 2007
Some Perspective, Please
Louisiana-Monroe defeated Alabama last Saturday.
If you aren't a college football fan, this fact may seem utterly trivial to you. Even if you ARE a fan, but one located as I am in Connecticut, a state where college football is less of an obsession than it seems to be in Louisiana or Alabama, Monroe's victory might seem like something ... well ... not so monumental.
Alabama's coach, though, thinks it a calamity of world-historical dimensions.
At a press conference afterwards, Nick Saban tried to make the point that a surprising defeat can provide the necessary impetus and motivation for a turnaround. Or at least that's the point I think he was trying to make. Decide for yourself:
"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event. It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II and that was a catastrophic event."
Okay, coach. Lay off on the coffee, okay? Thousands of human beings died on September 11, 2001. It wasn't really much like a loss to Monroe.
We're not angry, buddy. We're worried about you. Come off the ledge. [It'll be sort of like a Dunkirk. You should pull back and regroup. Oops. Now you've got me doing it.]
If you aren't a college football fan, this fact may seem utterly trivial to you. Even if you ARE a fan, but one located as I am in Connecticut, a state where college football is less of an obsession than it seems to be in Louisiana or Alabama, Monroe's victory might seem like something ... well ... not so monumental.
Alabama's coach, though, thinks it a calamity of world-historical dimensions.
At a press conference afterwards, Nick Saban tried to make the point that a surprising defeat can provide the necessary impetus and motivation for a turnaround. Or at least that's the point I think he was trying to make. Decide for yourself:
"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event. It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II and that was a catastrophic event."
Okay, coach. Lay off on the coffee, okay? Thousands of human beings died on September 11, 2001. It wasn't really much like a loss to Monroe.
We're not angry, buddy. We're worried about you. Come off the ledge. [It'll be sort of like a Dunkirk. You should pull back and regroup. Oops. Now you've got me doing it.]
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