Hofstra 4 years after football

[Danielr11220]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/zone-years-hofstra-left-field-time-article-1.1533593


When the Pride is gone: Four years ago, Hofstra left the football field for the last time

Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz and the university’s board of trustees razed the Hofstra program, one that had produced its fair share of NFL players, without warning.

Comments (6) (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/zone-years-hofstra-left-field-time-article-1.1533593#commentpostform)BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG (http://www.nydailynews.com/authors?author=Kevin%20Armstrong)/ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2013, 3:41 PM
















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http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1533581.1385843007!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/hofstra-football.jpgKATHY WILLENS/AP

Former Hofstra football players Keith Ferrara (l.) and Luke Bonus look out over the football field they once played on that is now used by Hofstra’s lacrosse team and for high school football games after the school scuttled its football program.




No more football games were scheduled for the Hofstra Pride or the UMass Minutemen past Nov. 21, 2009. Their fates were already sealed as neither team was playoff bound after the Pride shot down the Minutemen, 52-38, in front of 2,549 fans at James M. Shuart Stadium, but it had all come together for Hofstra that day.
Quarterback Christopher Cory completed 76% of his passes, wideout Aaron Weaver collected 191 receiving yards and receiver Anthony Nelson performed a front flip into the end zone in order to punctuate a touchdown. Afterward, two seniors — Hofstra linebacker and captain Luke Bonus and UMass wideout Victor Cruz — met near the 45-yard- line. They kept their helmets on, unwilling to shed uniforms yet. They embraced; Bonus spoke first.
“What are you going to do next?” he said.
“I’m gonna give (The NFL) a shot,” Cruz said.
Bonus would try for the Canadian Football League, but first, his home field was taken out from under him. Eleven days later, on Dec. 2, Bonus was living in the lacrosse house across the street from the field when underclassmen were called to Margiotta Hall. Coaches sent out a mass text message — Urgent: team meeting @ 10 in the Pride Lounge — to all players at 9:15 a.m. Some shrugged it off. Nelson, in calculus class at the time, believed it was a prank. Coaches knew he was in class and no football activities were ever called while that was the case. Others thought it might have been a coaching change or special announcement. Players gathered inside the room, and they were joined by Jack Hayes, the athletic director. He stood before them and informed the team that the 72-year-old football program was finished. There was crying, silence, anger and ashen faces.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1533589.1385843016!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/zone1s-4-web.jpgSEAN M. FITZGERALD/SEAN M. FITZGERALD

Luke Bonus shows off his Hofstra football jersey, one of the many pieces of Pride memorabilia and awards displayed in his Medford, N.J., home after the school shut down its football program in 2009.


“Stuart Rabinowitz, the school president, can kiss my a--,” Bonus says. “Now your homecoming game is for soccer. Who in the hell is ever going to go to that?”
Four years on, Bonus carries the flag for the Pride in his parents’ basement in Medford, N.J., 110 miles south of Hofstra’s football offices, where items once hung. In the days after the program was ended, he ripped wooden picture frames off the walls of the coaches’ offices as opposing staffs came to recruit his former teammates. Rival coaches sat in meeting rooms and reviewed film of Pride players they were interested in. All the while, Bonus, a walk-on who ascended to All-American status, took multiple trips into the offices to maintain the tradition, hoarding flags, blankets, photographs and film. He walked out with memorabilia and gear under both arms. Teammates and coaches requested items for him to hold. “If it wasn’t nailed down, I was taking it,” Bonus says.


Rabinowitz, meanwhile, explained his decision in logical terms. He maintained that the $4.5 million invested annually in football could be better utilized for student scholarships and other academic priorities. The board of trustees had performed a two-year internal study and reached its decision after exploring alternatives. Jumping levels from the Football Championship Subdivision (once the Division I-AA) to Division I-A was dismissed as only delaying the inevitable. Football was the only program to receive the ax at the time. As Rabinowitz saw it, “The Southeastern Conference and the Big 10 weren’t calling us.”
It was a move that reflected the times. Northeastern, another university struggling with ideas about what to do with its football program and athletics economics, canceled its team that season. The issues that Northeastern faced were well-known, though. Rabinowitz and the university’s board of trustees razed the Hofstra program, one that had produced its fair share of NFL players, without warning. Members of the Northeastern team had been scheduled to visit Hofstra the week Hofstra canceled.
Players credited coach Dave Cohen for keeping things together. His contract was honored until he found another position, and he assisted interested coaching staffs in placing his Hofstra players. The NCAA waived the need for transfers to sit out the subsequent season because of the special circumstances. Nelson chose UMass over Fordham; wideout Aaron Weaver jumped to the Division I level, signing on with Syracuse. Cohen made his own move, joining the coaching staff at Western Michigan as defensive coordinator for two years and then coming back east to Rutgers, first as a linebackers coach and now as defensive coordinator. When Jevon Tyree, a former Rutgers player, alleged that Cohen bullied him during a study hall last spring, several of his former Hofstra players offered their support.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1533580.1385843006!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/hofstrafootball-jpg-web.jpgHofstra players (below l-r) Ronnie Cameron, Luke Bonus, Roland Massimino, Anthony Nelson (on one knee) Christian Dennis play a pickup game on Jersey Shore.


“People will interpret how they want to just to make themselves feel better,” Bonus said. “Coach wanted to toughen you up. I had my run-ins with him, but I was his righthand man and he was my righthand man. He wanted everyone marching together.”
The members of the Pride all proceeded down individual paths in the years afterward. Rabinowitz remained president, and Hayes is now the athletic director at Brown. Weaver made it all the way to Kansas City and the Chiefs in August for training camp, but was unable to stay on for the regular season. Defensive tackle Ronnie Cameron transferred to Old Dominion and played with the Philadelphia Eagles last season. Bonus played a season in Italy, and is now back in New Jersey, volunteering as the linebacker coach with Shawnee High. They talk about reunions, but getting them all together has proven to be difficult. Several were in attendance at a teammate’s wedding in October. Bonus’ fuse was still short when someone asked about Hofstra in a mocking fashion.
“You can joke with me about just about anything else,” Bonus says. “Hofstra is off limits.”
Few bought into the Hofstra tradition more completely than Bonus. When he needed a book to read in high school, he picked up former Pride receiver Wayne Chrebet’s “Every Down, Every Distance.” He drank at Chrebet’s bar by campus as a player, and watched Chrebet and other alumni like Jets lineman Willie Colon and Saints wideout Marques Colston represent the Pride in the NFL over the years. Bonus tracked teammates at other schools and in the pros in the years since, too, watching on home televisions and laptops so he could see multiple games at once.
“We talk about it all the time,” Colon says. “For me and Marques (Colston), this is our eighth year. When (Sunday) Night Football comes out, we have to shout out our high schools or something because Hofstra no longer exists. It’s tough. We don’t have the Saturday rival games. Some of these guys come in here, they talk about Alabama and Auburn, and we’ve got to kind of just to sit down and be like, ‘Oh.’ So it’s tough, but it’s out of our hands.”
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1533590.1385843017!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/zone1s-3-web.jpgSEAN M. FITZGERALD/SEAN M. FITZGERALD

Luke Bonus says you can joke about with him about everything but the shutting down of the Hofstra football program.


Nelson returned to Hofstra to finish off his degree after his football eligibility was up at UMass. He enrolled at law school at the University of Illinois last fall, but still finds it difficult to return to the football side of things at Hofstra. When he drives to campus, he tends to stay on the university side of Hempstead Turnpike, unwilling to look at the stadium he once starred at for the Pride as if there is an invisible fence now erected.
“You just get this burning feeling, a sense of anger,” he says.
Bonus brought his girlfriend by campus last month.
“I saw academic buildings that aren’t close to being done,” Bonus said, standing before the Hofstra degree that hangs on his basement wall next to his weight bench and football plaques. “The administrators wanted to tell you that Hofstra’s going to be this great academic institution. I can sit here and tell you it’s not. I hardly opened a book.”
Bonus got a few members of the band back together last August. He invited four teammates out to his parents’ house down the shore in Seaside Heights for two days. They partied in Atlantic City one night, and lined up for a two-on-two football game in the sand the following afternoon with Christian Dennis as the permanent quarterback. There were no pads or helmets worn; no front flips were performed. On the first play, Bonus laid out Dennis like it was back in practice. Forever finicky about his defenses, Bonus played Cover-2 and worked on communication with his partner. Onlookers standing on the boardwalk watched the last full-time members of the Pride playing on.
“The liquored-up beachgoers were probably saying, ‘Those guys are lunatics.’ That’s fine,” Bonus says. “There we were practicing covering each other on all routes.”
Seth Walder contributed to this story



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/zone-years-hofstra-left-field-time-article-1.1533593#ixzz2mX6dhflQ

[Lehigh Football Nation]

“The administrators wanted to tell you that Hofstra’s going to be this great academic institution. I can sit here and tell you it’s not. I hardly opened a book.”

This will make a few Patriot League administrators pat themselves on the back for not admitting Hofstra when they had the chance.

[ace93]

This will make a few Patriot League administrators pat themselves on the back for not admitting Hofstra when they had the chance.

That caught my eye too, as I am sure it did for many others. My thought was also that perhaps there you have another reason as to why the program was dropped.

[bluehenbillk]

I caught that sentence too, but it makes you wonder how schools like Villanova which loses a lot more annually than Hofstra ever did keep trucking on in FCS.

[FordhamFan]

God bless the Hofstra fold, it gave Fordham Carlton Koonce!

[Bogus Megapardus]

I still think that Little Stewie could have shaved a million or so off his own salary to help shore things up for the Flying Dutchmen.

[CFBfan]

This will make a few Patriot League administrators pat themselves on the back for not admitting Hofstra when they had the chance.

what he left out was his gpa.......

[ccd494]

This will make a few Patriot League administrators pat themselves on the back for not admitting Hofstra when they had the chance.


I have high school classmates who brag about getting through Ivy League schools without opening a book. Happens everywhere.

[clenz]

I got through UNI with very little...very little...studying. I graduated with over a gpa of 3. UNI isn't "easy" but it's not "challenging"either. I firmly believe had I tried I could have gotten to a 3.75

Sent from my S4 using Tapatalk

[Pards Rule]

Bogey!! Didja see Luke Bonus lives in Medford NJ!!!

Four years on, Bonus carries the flag for the Pride in his parents’ basement in Medford, N.J., 110 miles south of Hofstra’s football offices

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/zone-years-hofstra-left-field-time-article-1.1533593#ixzz2mXuoLC3Z

[lydiabixby]

I got through UNI with very little...very little...studying. I graduated with over a gpa of 3. UNI isn't "easy" but it's not "challenging"either. I firmly believe had I tried I could have gotten to a 3.75

Sent from my S4 using Tapatalk

An honest man.

[BisonBacker]

That's sad reading that. Northeastern as well. Seeing these schools shutdown their football programs was a shame.

[ace93]

Bogey!! Didja see Luke Bonus lives in Medford NJ!!!

Four years on, Bonus carries the flag for the Pride in his parents’ basement in Medford, N.J., 110 miles south of Hofstra’s football offices

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/zone-years-hofstra-left-field-time-article-1.1533593#ixzz2mXuoLC3Z

From that portion of the article I could not tell if he just kept things in their basement or if he lived there. After reading about him hardly cracking a book I concluded he lives there. :D

[Go...gate]

This will make a few Patriot League administrators pat themselves on the back for not admitting Hofstra when they had the chance.

I read Mr. Bonus' quote with some amazement. Never my impression of Hofstra at all, and I have a couple of friends who are graduates.

[bonarae]

Really sad indeed. The reduction in the number of football programs in the Northeast since the 1990's (unfortunate trend in Division I and II schools in the region) has forced the Ivies to play south and west, which should continue in the years to come...

[MplsBison]

Regardless how genuine the statement was, I'm sure he said it to needle the admin.

[Sader87]

Really sad indeed. The reduction in the number of football programs in the Northeast since the 1990's (unfortunate trend in Division I and II schools in the region) has forced the Ivies to play south and west, which should continue in the years to come...

How many Ivies played Hofstra or Northeastern??? Not many....BU either. There are still plenty of teams in the Northeast the Ivies could play if they wanted to.

[Go...gate]

I recall that Hofstra REALLY wanted in the PL for all sports and the conference said no on two occasions, the second as late as 1995-96. I continue to believe they would have been a good fit, notwithstanding the bitterness of one youngster.

[Go...gate]

Regardless how genuine the statement was, I'm sure he said it to needle the admin.

I don't believe it was all that genuine.

[dgtw]

Did he steal the flag he carries along with all the other stuff he ripped off?

[Twentysix]

I got through UNI with very little...very little...studying. I graduated with over a gpa of 3. UNI isn't "easy" but it's not "challenging"either. I firmly believe had I tried I could have gotten to a 3.75

Sent from my S4 using Tapatalk

What degree did you get?

Studying isn't really a part of the curriculum after 100s and 200s at NDSU.

You either read the book/several books and can write a coherrent essay/historiography or you can't.

I am writing my 21st of this semester tonight, and have 3 left (16 pages, 5 pages and 10 pages remaining) roughly 150 pages double spaced 12 pt font per semester in JR/SR at NDSU in an arts program.

My degree at least, is almost entirely writing/scientific work and articulating the results of your scientific work.

I guess my foreign language classes require studying, but that's about it.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/289743_10151440233142008_1809941853_o.jpg

Is 3 books short of my reading list from last semester, and it also included 9-12 journal articles a week between 2 classes (4-7 articles per class). That was 16 credits.

[bonarae]

How many Ivies played Hofstra or Northeastern??? Not many....BU either. There are still plenty of teams in the Northeast the Ivies could play if they wanted to.

But the Northeast teams available are D-II or D-III or teams we don't want to play anymore (e.g. UMass Amherst, UNH, etc.) xsmhx

We are forced to play teams like Butler, Cal Poly, San Diego etc just because there's not much competition around the region anymore. xsmhx

[Go Green]

How many Ivies played Hofstra or Northeastern??? Not many....BU either. There are still plenty of teams in the Northeast the Ivies could play if they wanted to.

You're right about Hofstra. But BU played several Ivies through the 1980s. Northeastern didn't play many Ivy teams, but they had a series with Harvard through the late 1990s to mid 2000s.

Obviously, the loss of these teams impacted the CAA teams a lot more than the Ivy. Here's hoping that the remaining CAA teams can continue to maintain a presence playing NE games.

[Fordham]

The whole "I never studied" thing really detracts from the article imo. I was hoping when reading this that it was going to be something that could fire up alums or at least question the overall decision. Instead you have a guy living in his parent's basement who admits to not studying while attending school there and an alumni game made up of 5 drunk guys on a beach. Not exactly the kind of thing that helps the AD walk into the President's office or a board meeting, throw down the article and say that he wants to revisit the horrendous decision made to shut down the program.

Would have much preferred some interviews with ex-alums, including NFL guys like Colsten or Chrebet, who have been very successful in their post-Hofstra careers as a way to show that these are the types of alums they won't be having now that they've killed the program.

[AmsterBison]

I read Mr. Bonus' quote with some amazement. Never my impression of Hofstra at all, and I have a couple of friends who are graduates.

Same here. I only know one Hofstra graduate and she knows her stuff.

Guess it might depend on the major and the person.

The article left out whether dropping football was the cure-all that they were hoping for (or "for which they were hoping" if you prefer.)

[henfan]

From that portion of the article I could not tell if he just kept things in their basement or if he lived there. After reading about him hardly cracking a book I concluded he lives there. :D

Seems a lot of 20-somethings are living in Mom's and Dad's basement these days, many with 4-year degrees.

[CFBfan]

The whole "I never studied" thing really detracts from the article imo. I was hoping when reading this that it was going to be something that could fire up alums or at least question the overall decision. Instead you have a guy living in his basement who admits to not studying while attending school there and an alumni game made up of 5 drunk guys on a beach. Not exactly the kind of thing that helps the AD walk into the President's office or a board meeting and say that he wants to revisit the horrendous decision made to shut down the program.

Would have much preferred some interviews with ex-alums, including NFL guys like Colsten or Chrebet, who have been very successful in their post-Hofstra careers as a way to show that these are the types of alums they won't be having now that they've killed the program.

and don't forget Giovanni Carmazzi !!

[Tubakat2014]

The whole "I never studied" thing really detracts from the article imo. I was hoping when reading this that it was going to be something that could fire up alums or at least question the overall decision. Instead you have a guy living in his basement who admits to not studying while attending school there and an alumni game made up of 5 drunk guys on a beach. Not exactly the kind of thing that helps the AD walk into the President's office or a board meeting and say that he wants to revisit the horrendous decision made to shut down the program.

Would have much preferred some interviews with ex-alums, including NFL guys like Colsten or Chrebet, who have been very successful in their post-Hofstra careers as a way to show that these are the types of alums they won't be having now that they've killed the program.

Exactly. If anything, the nail has been driven deeper into the coffin. It's not news that football players tend to be less inclined to do well in school, but it's not every day that you see a football player overtly flip the bird at the idea of academic success. Simply more ammo for the president to say, "Is this really how we want our school to be seen?"

Money may have been cited as the initial issue, but people in power will happily use other issues as a shield to defend unpopular decisions.

[UAalum72]

Really sad indeed. The reduction in the number of football programs in the Northeast since the 1990's (unfortunate trend in Division I and II schools in the region) has forced the Ivies to play south and west, which should continue in the years to come...BS. Which other programs ended in the last fifteen years beside Hofstra and Northeastern? They've been replaced by Albany and Stony Brook Surely you're not lamenting the loss of all the MAAC teams?

But the Northeast teams available are D-II or D-III or teams we don't want to play anymore (e.g. UMass Amherst, UNH, etc.) xsmhx
There's your problem - UMass, UConn and Buffalo went FBS, you no longer want to play CAA teams (UNH, Towson) because as full scholarship they were beating you too often, and even the NEC teams have scholarships...

We are forced to play teams like Butler, Cal Poly, San Diego etc just because there's not much competition around the region anymore. xsmhx
... so what you're really saying is there's too much competition in the region

[danefan]

BS. Which other programs ended in the last fifteen years beside Hofstra and Northeastern? They've been replaced by Albany and Stony Brook Surely you're not lamenting the loss of all the MAAC teams?
There's your problem - UMass, UConn and Buffalo went FBS, you no longer want to play CAA teams (UNH, Towson) because as full scholarship they were beating you too often, and even the NEC teams have scholarships...

... so what you're really saying is there's too much competition in the region

xlolxxnodxxlolxxnodxxlolxxnodxxlolxxnodxxlolxxnodx

[Catbooster]

It's odd to hear someone out East complaining about not having FCS schools to schedule.

Those of us out West laid claim to that complaint years ago - quit it!

Seriously - have you seen a national map of the FCS schools?

[Go Green]

... so what you're really saying is there's too much competition in the region

First off, I want to emphasize that I do NOT NOT NOT NOT belong to the group of people that I'm about to describe.

But there exist a sizable portion of Ivy fans that do not consider NEC schools to be "competition" worthy of the Ivy. They're happy to play Holy Cross, UNH, URI and a few others, because those are big "names" in the NE. But the Sacred Hearts, Byrants, Central Connecitcuts... these schools are viewed as beneath the Ivy. Most of these guys long for the day when we were playing (and mostly losing to) military academies, and beating Rutgers and UConn while they were still de facto D-II schools

I don't know if that's what the poster was getting at. But Dartmouth took a lot grief on the Ivy Board for dropping UNH and Colgate (and perhaps Holy Cross) and picking up Sacred Heart and Butler. Does it matter that those teams went to the playofs? Nope. We were viewed as dragging the league down with "weak" nonconference opponents.

Again, did I mention that I do not share this view?

[Pards Rule]

From that portion of the article I could not tell if he just kept things in their basement or if he lived there. After reading about him hardly cracking a book I concluded he lives there. :D

I pretty much assumed the same thing.

[Dane96]

But the Northeast teams available are D-II or D-III or teams we don't want to play anymore (e.g. UMass Amherst, UNH, etc.) xsmhx

We are forced to play teams like Butler, Cal Poly, San Diego etc just because there's not much competition around the region anymore. xsmhx

Ridiculous. You can play the CAA, NEC, Patriot League, PFL, etc. There are enough teams and leagues for Harvard to play.

Note: I wish I read UA72's post before I replied; BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!!!!

[Pards Rule]

First off, I want to emphasize that I do NOT NOT NOT NOT belong to the group of people that I'm about to describe.

But there exist a sizable portion of Ivy fans that do not consider NEC schools to be "competition" worthy of the Ivy. They're happy to play Holy Cross, UNH, URI and a few others, because those are big "names" in the NE. But the Sacred Hearts, Byrants, Central Connecitcuts... these schools are viewed as beneath the Ivy. Most of these guys long for the day when we were playing (and mostly losing to) military academies, and beating Rutgers and UConn while they were still de facto D-II schools

I don't know if that's what the poster was getting at. But Dartmouth took a lot grief on the Ivy Board for dropping UNH and Colgate (and perhaps Holy Cross) and picking up Sacred Heart and Butler. Does it matter that those teams went to the playofs? Nope. We were viewed as dragging the league down with "weak" nonconference opponents.

Again, did I mention that I do not share this view?

So noted? How does Lafayette fit into the Dartmouth standings? I think we did play you folks once? I would love a return trip to NH - now to Hanover. Stupid me thinking of the school on the VT border on the Connecticut River I thought town was Durham so I was looking at Jetblu flights EWR>BVT (Newark> Burlington VT)...Before I woke up! Hey came as close as White River Junction back in Sept 2004 after driving up thru Franconia Notch on my way to Burlington VT.

[Go Green]

So noted? How does Lafayette fit into the Dartmouth standings? I think we did play you folks once? I would love a return trip to NH - now to Hanover. Stupid me thinking of the school on the VT border on the Connecticut River I thought town was Durham so I was looking at Jetblu flights EWR>BVT (Newark> Burlington VT)...Before I woke up! Hey came as close as White River Junction back in Sept 2004 after driving up thru Franconia Notch on my way to Burlington VT.

I was really talking about the NE schools (as I suspect the other poster was as well).

But as for Lafayette--we certainly respect you and would be fine with an occassional game. We enjoyed some good competitive games with Bucknell recently, and I'm sure Lafayette would be fun as well. That being said, I don't see an annual series between Dartmouth and Lafayette becasue it woudln't make sense (the 15-year series with Colgate was a bad mistake). Ultimately, it will end up being the same issue that every Ivy faces with every Patriot (except Georgetown). If all the PL teams are going to be as good as the Duffner Holy Cross teams, then the Ivies have a problem.

[DFW HOYA]

But there exist a sizable portion of Ivy fans that do not consider NEC schools to be "competition" worthy of the Ivy. They're happy to play Holy Cross, UNH, URI and a few others, because those are big "names" in the NE. But the Sacred Hearts, Byrants, Central Connecitcuts... these schools are viewed as beneath the Ivy. Most of these guys long for the day when we were playing (and mostly losing to) military academies, and beating Rutgers and UConn while they were still de facto D-II schools.


There is a segment of the Patriot fan base that doesn't see NEC schools in their traveling set either, but that's the state of Eastern football right now. The BCS-ing of the sport has made it untenable for BC, Rutgers, UConn, the academies, et al. to play smaller programs as they once did without fear of ESPN retribution or bowl game impact.


Ultimately, it will end up being the same issue that every Ivy faces with every Patriot (except Georgetown). If all the PL teams are going to be as good as the Duffner Holy Cross teams, then the Ivies have a problem.

Problem solved: Have every Ivy school schedule Georgetown over the first eight weeks of the Ivy calendar (weeks 3 through 10) and the Ancient Eight has just cut its non-conference exposure by a third (only 16 non-conference games to fill vs. 24). It will still have room to play a HC or Colgate, but you've limited the loss exposure of multiple games against stronger PL teams.

[Franks Tanks]

I was really talking about the NE schools (as I suspect the other poster was as well).

But as for Lafayette--we certainly respect you and would be fine with an occassional game. We enjoyed some good competitive games with Bucknell recently, and I'm sure Lafayette would be fun as well. That being said, I don't see an annual series between Dartmouth and Lafayette becasue it woudln't make sense (the 15-year series with Colgate was a bad mistake). Ultimately, it will end up being the same issue that every Ivy faces with every Patriot (except Georgetown). If all the PL teams are going to be as good as the Duffner Holy Cross teams, then the Ivies have a problem.


Lafayette and Dartmouth last played in 1999. I believe is was the final remnant of the PL-Ivy League formal scheduling agreement that was once in place. Lafayette also played Brown that year, who along with Cornell and Dartmouth are very rare foes for the Leopards.

[Go Green]

Problem solved: Have every Ivy school schedule Georgetown over the first eight weeks of the Ivy calendar (weeks 3 through 10) and the Ancient Eight has just cut its non-conference exposure by a third (only 16 non-conference games to fill vs. 24). It will still have room to play a HC or Colgate, but you've limited the loss exposure of multiple games against stronger PL teams.

Georgetown is a big "name." The old Ivy fogies are fine with playing Georgetown even though some of the NEC teams woudl be better competition on the field.

I remember one time on the Ivy board a few years back that a Penn fan gave Columbia crap--a real, real hard time -- for scheduling a game agaisnt Marist the previous year. The dude was completely oblivous that Penn itself had scheduled Georgetown that year.... and that Marist beat Georgetown. xlolx

[Sader87]

Lafayette and Dartmouth last played in 1999. I believe is was the final remnant of the PL-Ivy League formal scheduling agreement that was once in place. Lafayette also played Brown that year, who along with Cornell and Dartmouth are very rare foes for the Leopards.

I was wondering about this. This occurred during my self-imposed HC football exile (1993-2004) and noticed we played a lot of non-NE Ivies at that time which we almost never did before then or in the last decade or so. Any idea why this was dropped? Was it travel?

[Bogus Megapardus]

Have every Ivy school schedule Georgetown over the first eight weeks of the Ivy calendar (weeks 3 through 10) and the Ancient Eight has just cut its non-conference exposure by a third (only 16 non-conference games to fill vs. 24). It will still have room to play a HC or Colgate, but you've limited the loss exposure of multiple games against stronger PL teams.

This remains perplexing (to me at least). It keeps coming up, though.

Georgetown wasn't around for it (the Hoyas were playing club or DIII or some such thing), but when we started the Patriot League (as a football-only conference) the idea was that Ivy and PL would schedule all of their open dates against one another. "Traditional" OOC games such as Dartmouth-UNH and Brown-URI would continue as before. That worked out for a while until the PL schools decided they wanted to take part in the FCS playoffs and until they decided to mix up their schedules a bit, and until Ivy wanted to increase its football exposure beyond the little LACs of the Patriot League world. The Patriot now is starting to phase in some scholarships; some Ivy elements (although notably not the Ivy commissioner) have suggested that there will be fewer Ivy-PL games as a result. Still, the bulk of the OOC competition for Ivy and Patriot are against one another.

Georgetown came to the Patriot League in 2001. It wouldn't have sniffed an Ivy foe but for the PL. Since then Georgetown has treated its PL league-mates rather coolly to say the least (if not downright contemptuously) - from the dingy bleachers to the putrid facilities to the FiOS debacle to the failure to acknowledge league membership on its web page, and more. It rallied against scholarships despite the best interests of the League (I acknowledge that Lafayette did as well). The institution treats Patriot League football exactly the way it publicly acknowledges that it treats Patriot League football: as a second-class citizen; a redheaded stepchild; an afterthought; a "third tier sport," or whichever idiom or cliche you'd like to apply. The rest of the PL is proud of the league its members created. Georgetown mumbles, "you'll do for now, I suppose"

So what makes Ivy suddenly decide to make Georgetown its collective, league-wide, imposed-upon-every-AD first choice for all open football dates? Is it the travel? The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Multi-Sport Field? Georgetown's sterling reputation as a gracious and accommodating host? Its long, glorious, steadfast tradition of sticking to football at the highest level despite challenges? Will there be a wink-and-a-nod assurance that Georgetown will continue to suck royally and be a sure win for an adoring Ivy home crowd? Or is Georgetown simply so special that each of the Eight couldn't possibly turn down an offer like that?

[Bogus Megapardus]

I was wondering about this. This occurred during my self-imposed HC football exile (1993-2004) and noticed we played a lot of non-NE Ivies at that time which we almost never did before then or in the last decade or so. Any idea why this was dropped? Was it travel?

I seem to recall reading that the Ivy-PL scheduling agreement was for 15 years and it became sort of a voluntary thing after that. Lafayette never seems to play Cornell, Dartmouth or Brown any longer. Yet Bucknell and Colgate always play Cornell; Colgate often seems to play Brown and Bucknell plays Dartmouth.

[Go Green]

So what makes Ivy suddenly decide to make Georgetown its collective, league-wide, imposed-upon-every-AD first choice for all open football dates?

For one thing, there are more Ivy alums and potential recruits in DC than there are in Hamilton or Easton. :)

[Franks Tanks]

I was wondering about this. This occurred during my self-imposed HC football exile (1993-2004) and noticed we played a lot of non-NE Ivies at that time which we almost never did before then or in the last decade or so. Any idea why this was dropped? Was it travel?

My guess is that the schools just wanted to free themselves from having so many OOC games pre-arranged. It was nice that Lafayette got to see Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth a few times but we had little history with those schools. We of course went back to a steady diet of Penn, Princeton and Columbia and added Harvard as a nearly annual game.

[Bogus Megapardus]

For one thing, there are more Ivy alums and potential recruits in DC than there are in Hamilton or Easton. :)

I recall Dartmouth's attempt a few years back to schedule a game with Georgetown, but Georgetown refused to make a return trip to Hanover. Are the Hoyas that special?

My fallback argument is that Yale hates Catholics. Always has. xangelx xprayx

[Pards Rule]

My guess is that the schools just wanted to free themselves from having so many OOC games pre-arranged. It was nice that Lafayette got to see Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth a few times but we had little history with those schools. We of course went back to a steady diet of Penn, Princeton and Columbia and added Harvard as a nearly annual game.

Yeah and Columbia which used to be frequent for the Pards is now memory. When was last Columbia game?

[Bogus Megapardus]

When was last Columbia game?

2010

[Pards Rule]

2010


I do trust that was one of the few wins that year?

[Go Green]

I recall Dartmouth's attempt a few years back to schedule a game with Georgetown, but Georgetown refused to make a return trip to Hanover. Are the Hoyas that special?


We will see. I only have the Dartmouth schedules through 2016. We are coming to DC to play Georgetown in 2015. Whether or not Georgetown comes to New Hampshire in 2017 (or later) remains to be seen.

[bonarae]

There's your problem - UMass, UConn and Buffalo went FBS, you no longer want to play CAA teams (UNH, Towson) because as full scholarship they were beating you too often, and even the NEC teams have scholarships...

xconfusedx I don't know what to say about this. But we need to schedule more NEC aside from the PL and the PFL.


But there exist a sizable portion of Ivy fans that do not consider NEC schools to be "competition" worthy of the Ivy. They're happy to play Holy Cross, UNH, URI and a few others, because those are big "names" in the NE. But the Sacred Hearts, Byrants, Central Connecitcuts... these schools are viewed as beneath the Ivy. Most of these guys long for the day when we were playing (and mostly losing to) military academies, and beating Rutgers and UConn while they were still de facto D-II schools

I don't know if that's what the poster was getting at. But Dartmouth took a lot grief on the Ivy Board for dropping UNH and Colgate (and perhaps Holy Cross) and picking up Sacred Heart and Butler. Does it matter that those teams went to the playofs? Nope. We were viewed as dragging the league down with "weak" nonconference opponents.

But I view the NEC as "good" opponents, but the Ivies are still reluctant to schedule most of them, save for Brown and Dartmouth... xchinscratchx IDK what is going on with the AD's and coaches now...


Ultimately, it will end up being the same issue that every Ivy faces with every Patriot (except Georgetown). If all the PL teams are going to be as good as the Duffner Holy Cross teams, then the Ivies have a problem.

Fordham's 2013 results vs. the PL (save for the blush against Lafayette) are another example of how fielding a team of mostly scholarship players do not have much difference as fielding an excellent team with non-scholarship players. But a scholarship team usually takes down a bottom-tier non-scholarship team...

[clenz]

What degree did you get?

Studying isn't really a part of the curriculum after 100s and 200s at NDSU.

You either read the book/several books and can write a coherrent essay/historiography or you can't.

I am writing my 21st of this semester tonight, and have 3 left (16 pages, 5 pages and 10 pages remaining) roughly 150 pages double spaced 12 pt font per semester in JR/SR at NDSU in an arts program.

My degree at least, is almost entirely writing/scientific work and articulating the results of your scientific work.

I guess my foreign language classes require studying, but that's about it.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/289743_10151440233142008_1809941853_o.jpg

Is 3 books short of my reading list from last semester, and it also included 9-12 journal articles a week between 2 classes (4-7 articles per class). That was 16 credits.The closest I could find to my program at NDSU it looks like most of the classes are in the 400s with some 300s.

I could write papers like nothing. I would write probably 5-6 research/scholarly per class per semester. My major didn't have a ton of "text book studying" but even the research I half assed. If I could take tests worth a damn I'd have had a 3.5 easy. The lowest grade I ever got on a paper was an 86% and average was probably a 93%. However, my professors liked to weight their class grades heavily on tests, and for some ****ing reason I couldn't take the knowledge into multiple choice answers I killed the essay portion of any test though. Neither my professors or I could figure out how the hell there was such a difference.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I do trust that was one of the few wins that year?

It was not.

In 2010 we defeated only Stony Brook and the Annoying Orange.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

It was not.

In 2010 we defeated only Stony Brook and the Annoying Orange.

You guys didn't beat NDSU? xconfusedx

[Bogus Megapardus]

You guys didn't beat NDSU? xconfusedx

Bucknell is now the Annoying Orange. It's too good of a nickname to waste on one individual from an otherwise fine institution on North Dakota.

Besides, I needed another good name for Bucknell other than "Doctors."

* * * * * * *

Colgate = Dentifrice; Bick Diddlers

Holy Cross = Infidels; Wanna bees

Bucknell = Doctors; Annoying Orange

Fordham = Flying Lombardis

Georgetown = FiOS Finaglers; Ptooies of the Potomac

Lehigh = Don't get me started . . . .

[Go Green]

But I view the NEC as "good" opponents, but the Ivies are still reluctant to schedule most of them, save for Brown and Dartmouth... xchinscratchx IDK what is going on with the AD's and coaches now...


Only Harvard and Princeton (both of whom have played plenty of PFL games) are NEC virgins. Everyone else has either played NEC schools in the past, have games on the books for upcoming seasons, or both.

Keep your eye on Penn. They were one of the last Ivy teams to really challenge themselves out of conference (although Yale seems to be turning it up a notch a bit in that regard). But they've canceled all their current series. They're a blank slate for a lot of OOC dates for 2014-16 (or at least they were in September). Who they get to fill those slots will be very interesting....

[Bogus Megapardus]

Who they get to fill those slots will be very interesting....

It's already settled. They're getting three straight weeks at home vs Georgetown. Hadn't you heard?

[Go Green]

It's already settled. They're getting three straight weeks at home vs Georgetown. Hadn't you heard?

Not even a game against Davidson? :)

[Bogus Megapardus]

Not even a game against Davidson? :)

Nope. Only Georgetown is special.

Penn could play Johns Hopkins or MIT if it wanted to. Hell, it could go play Oberlin or Colby. It's not like the games need to count for post season or anything. Maybe Ivy should just play UAA Division III schools.





http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Header/images/Header_flags_04_Mod_03.gif

[Gordon Shumway]

First off, I want to emphasize that I do NOT NOT NOT NOT belong to the group of people that I'm about to describe.

But there exist a sizable portion of Ivy fans that do not consider NEC schools to be "competition" worthy of the Ivy. They're happy to play Holy Cross, UNH, URI and a few others, because those are big "names" in the NE. But the Sacred Hearts, Byrants, Central Connecitcuts... these schools are viewed as beneath the Ivy. Most of these guys long for the day when we were playing (and mostly losing to) military academies, and beating Rutgers and UConn while they were still de facto D-II schools

I don't know if that's what the poster was getting at. But Dartmouth took a lot grief on the Ivy Board for dropping UNH and Colgate (and perhaps Holy Cross) and picking up Sacred Heart and Butler. Does it matter that those teams went to the playofs? Nope. We were viewed as dragging the league down with "weak" nonconference opponents.

Again, did I mention that I do not share this view?

Well, at least they will be playing the last 2 contracted games resuming next year after a 4 year hiatus. Never understood why Dartmouth wanted to end a series with an in-state rival just 90 miles away. Maybe this had something to do with it:

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g442/rupa7872/dartmouth_zpsf6ad8607.jpg

[Bogus Megapardus]

Well, at least they will be playing the last 2 contracted games resuming next year after a 4 year hiatus. Never understood why Dartmouth wanted to end a series with an in-state rival just 90 miles away.

No worries for the Keggers next season - we softened 'em up for ya real good. :p

[Go...gate]

I seem to recall reading that the Ivy-PL scheduling agreement was for 15 years and it became sort of a voluntary thing after that. Lafayette never seems to play Cornell, Dartmouth or Brown any longer. Yet Bucknell and Colgate always play Cornell; Colgate often seems to play Brown and Bucknell plays Dartmouth.

Not since 1996. We beat Brown to snap our 16-game losing streak and they never played us again, even though Brown is one of Colgate's oldest and most-played rivals. The schools were founded by the same Baptist branch...

[Bogus Megapardus]

Not since 1996. We beat Brown to snap our 16-game losing streak and they never played us again, even though Brown is one of Colgate's oldest and most-played rivals. The schools were founded by the same Baptist branch...

Wow, I thought you played them much more often. Who do you play regularly besides Cornell? Dartmouth and Princeton?

[Go Green]

Never understood why Dartmouth wanted to end a series with an in-state rival just 90 miles away. Maybe this had something to do with it:

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g442/rupa7872/dartmouth_zpsf6ad8607.jpg

We are ending the series for the same reasons Yale ended the UConn series and Penn is ending the Nova series. We got tired of losing every year.

That being said, when Dartmouth was good in the I-AA/FCS era, the Granite Bowl was competitive. I was on the 1990 and 1992 teams. In 1990, UNH was ranked #3 in the nation at the time of the game. They were the better team, but we stalemated them.

In 1992, we were ahead at the half and I really thought we were going to win. But it started raining really hard in the second half and Fielder couldn't throw the ball. UNH just ran over us after that. Had the sun remained shining, I'm sure we would have taken the game. Oh well.

It's a shame that the 1996 10-0 team didn't play UNH.

When we resumed the series on an annual basis, we sucked. UNH was good. You can see the results.

Next year should be interesting. Dartmouth will be expected to contend for the Ivy title. If we make it a game or *gasp* even win, I wouldn't be surprised to see the series continue. We're back on our feet now.

[UNH Fanboi]

The whole "I never studied" thing really detracts from the article imo. I was hoping when reading this that it was going to be something that could fire up alums or at least question the overall decision. Instead you have a guy living in his parent's basement who admits to not studying while attending school there and an alumni game made up of 5 drunk guys on a beach. Not exactly the kind of thing that helps the AD walk into the President's office or a board meeting, throw down the article and say that he wants to revisit the horrendous decision made to shut down the program.

Would have much preferred some interviews with ex-alums, including NFL guys like Colsten or Chrebet, who have been very successful in their post-Hofstra careers as a way to show that these are the types of alums they won't be having now that they've killed the program.

Exactly my reaction.

[Go...gate]

I actually discussed it in detail earlier in the thread. Back in the day, we played Cornell, Brown and Princeton pretty much every year and Yale most years, We started playing Dartmouth in the early 20th century and began playing Colunbia in the 20th.

[Pards Rule]

You guys didn't beat NDSU? xconfusedx

No we played them in 2011 - I went to Fargo too!

[Lafalumni29]

The whole "I never studied" thing really detracts from the article imo. I was hoping when reading this that it was going to be something that could fire up alums or at least question the overall decision. Instead you have a guy living in his parent's basement who admits to not studying while attending school there and an alumni game made up of 5 drunk guys on a beach. Not exactly the kind of thing that helps the AD walk into the President's office or a board meeting, throw down the article and say that he wants to revisit the horrendous decision made to shut down the program.

Would have much preferred some interviews with ex-alums, including NFL guys like Colsten or Chrebet, who have been very successful in their post-Hofstra careers as a way to show that these are the types of alums they won't be having now that they've killed the program.

To me, it added another reason for Rabinowitz's decision to shut it down. I don't know how much the NfL guys would have added. For example, Chrebet started playing at Hofstra a year before I got to LC and finished a year AFTER I got there. SIX years!! I know one other player who was also there 6 years. To boot, in my freshman year, we played Hofstra in a JV game. One of my buddies runs off the field with look of shock on his face. He then tells us one his HS football coaches is playing opposite him. I don't know how old he was but he was considerably older. In Hofstra's game program, they didn't list each player as "red shirt frosh", or senior. They listed years of eligibility! No wonder the PL said no to them. This reflects poorly on the CAA and Hofstra wasn't even all that successful there. Middle of the pack maybe. I'm not saying his occurs at all CAA schools. I can't imagine it does. but from the outside, it don't look good.

[Franks Tanks]

To me, it added another reason for Rabinowitz's decision to shut it down. I don't know how much the NfL guys would have added. For example, Chrebet started playing at Hofstra a year before I got to LC and finished a year AFTER I got there. SIX years!! I know one other player who was also there 6 years. To boot, in my freshman year, we played Hofstra in a JV game. One of my buddies runs off the field with look of shock on his face. He then tells us one his HS football coaches is playing opposite him. I don't know how old he was but he was considerably older. In Hofstra's game program, they didn't list each player as "red shirt frosh", or senior. They listed years of eligibility! No wonder the PL said no to them. This reflects poorly on the CAA and Hofstra wasn't even all that successful there. Middle of the pack maybe. I'm not saying his occurs at all CAA schools. I can't imagine it does. but from the outside, it don't look good.

Interesting. Hofstra always seemed to be the "island of misfit toys" to some degree. They always seemed to have a bunch of I-A transfers, and guys from nearby Nassau Community College. Hofstra is a quality school, but the team didn't appear to be very representative of the university. With that being said I know of several Hoftra players who were smart guys in the classroom, but generaly speaking the program behaved differently than PL programs or programs at schools like UNH, Richmond etc.

[Seawolf97]

But the Northeast teams available are D-II or D-III or teams we don't want to play anymore (e.g. UMass Amherst, UNH, etc.) xsmhx

We are forced to play teams like Butler, Cal Poly, San Diego etc just because there's not much competition around the region anymore. xsmhx

We played a series with Brown a few years ago but I don't see any Ivy schools on our schedule going forward. Yale is only a ferry ride away , Cornell is in New York as is Columbia . We did scrimmage Penn this past August but that's about it.