Around the Nation board

[K-Mack]

Got a lot of great feedback all of a sudden.

Here's an excerpt from one of last week's more interesting responses:

Keith, 
 Nice story on Skip Bandini and part time coaching in Div III.  Probably did not have room to include it or maybe Skip did not mention it but he was an outstanding player in the the NEFC at Massachusetts Maritime Academy a Capt and an All League All Conference offensive tackle. I know because I had to line up across from him everyday my freshman year at MMA as a defensive tackle. 

I learned alot playing across from Skip, who we youngies used to call the "Boston Maniac" (out of eashot), the only thing you could do to piss him off worse than occasionally beating him was to not go 100% and try and beat him each time.  He is the quintessential Div III player. 

Thanks to in no small part to Skip the group of us in that freshman class (graduating class of 1984) had 1 of the best (if not the best) 4 year records at MMA.  We ended that freshman year with a 6-3 record after playing the 1st 6 games with 23 freshman and 7 seniors including Skip.  The annual training cruise that year got delayed and all the other football players were on a cruise for the 1st 8 weeks of the season.  We lost only to Plymouth State in the opening game.

[K-Mack]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Nice Article
Date:    Tue, September 22, 2009 11:04 pm
To:      keith@d3football.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

That was a great article on some coaches in the NEFC , I played at UMass 
Dartmouth and coached with Bill Kavanaugh for a couple of years !!!!!! I
enjoy  reading your articles and your love for division 3 athletics is shared by
many  people
 
Kevin

[dlip]

K-Mack great write up on the courage bowl. What an inspirational story and valuable game. As much as all of us love this game of football and the D3 teams that play it, the Courage bowl really helps put life in perpective and create awareness about these amazing children. Great write up! Dave (dlippiel) Lippiello

[HSC85]

Kmack,

Thank you for bringing the Courage Bowl to our attention.  I really applaud both schools for trying to bring in life experiences that will last a lifetime for everyone involved.  Personally, I was able to have some of those experiences while playing at Hampden-Sydney with a man named Walter Simms.  He inspired the film "Shorty" and he has been affiliated with the HSC program for over 30 years.  It really keeps things in perspective when you are around people that have physical and mental challenges.  Thank you for bringing things to the Around the Nation this year that keep the games in perspective.

[Knightstalker]

How about this for toughest job...

Football coach at Swarthmore, New Jersey City, Blackburn, Principia and Colorado College...

These aren't tough jobs, they haven't lost a game in years.

Funny.

At least the coaches get to spend time with their families now!

Too much?

I don't know about the other schools but NJCU did the right by coach Jeter.  They kept him on as Compliance Officer and he is teaching a couple of classes.

[Pat Coleman]

Swarthmore coach Pete Alvanos was hired as head coach at Hamilton that offseason. Colorado College coach Bob Bodor is an assistant high school coach ... but in Hawaii so that might soften the blow.

[Warren Thompson]

I think I've seen the water feature at least one other place

Lebanon Valley has man-made pools with fountains behind one goal post.  A good kick can net you a splash down.

That would be the north goal post. For years I've been lobbying the powers-that-be to have the fountains erupt for each LVC score ... but to no avail. 

[HSC85]

Great analysis of the potential surprise teams this year. The great thing about D3 is every team gets the opportunity to prove themselves.

[K-Mack]

I think I've seen the water feature at least one other place

Lebanon Valley has man-made pools with fountains behind one goal post.  A good kick can net you a splash down.

That would be the north goal post. For years I've been lobbying the powers-that-be to have the fountains erupt for each LVC score ... but to no avail. 

Great idea, much cooler than any cannon you could shoot off with each score!

[K-Mack]

Per TGP, some good thoughts on rivalries I might have missed. I think someone else mentioned Stagg Hat, probably should've been on last week's list of specialty/trophy games.

Probably not the same level of interest as the Courage Bowl, Shoes, Cortaca, etc but Rochester competes against Hobart every year for the "Centennial Cup" which was established to commerate the 100-game annivesary between Hobart and Rochester.

The Lyco-Susquehanna "Stagg Hat" game sounded interesting and probably hasn't had the coverage of some of the more "high profile" rivalry / theme games

[K-Mack]

An e-mail on the Week 1 (second column of the year) ATN I forgot to share:

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: great article
Date:    Tue, September 15, 2009 8:30 pm
To:      keith@d3football.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Keith, great article about TCNJ Coach Ham and Buff States Coach. My
family has had numerous brothers, sister, sister-in-laws, nephews and nieces
all graduate from Trenton State college. (yes I still call it by its past
name). It is a great institution as I am sure Buff State is. What you should
know also is that Coach Ham is not just a Head football coach. He has always
had an open door policy for any TCNJ student weather you are playing sports
there or not. He has helped countless students find their way to success
both on the field and off. Just wanted to add my two cents.

Thanks for the great article!!

Mark

[OxyBob]

How about this for toughest job...

Football coach at Swarthmore, New Jersey City, Blackburn, Principia and Colorado College...

These aren't tough jobs, they haven't lost a game in years.

Funny.

At least the coaches get to spend time with their families now!

Too much?

Then of course there are the coaches who go a different direction...

Tom Coughlin Retires From Family To Spend More Time With Team

OxyBob

[Knightstalker]

I think I've seen the water feature at least one other place

Lebanon Valley has man-made pools with fountains behind one goal post.  A good kick can net you a splash down.

That would be the north goal post. For years I've been lobbying the powers-that-be to have the fountains erupt for each LVC score ... but to no avail. 

Great idea, much cooler than any cannon you could shoot off with each score!

If you add explosions it would be like depth charges going off.

[Warren Thompson]

I think I've seen the water feature at least one other place

Lebanon Valley has man-made pools with fountains behind one goal post.  A good kick can net you a splash down.

That would be the north goal post. For years I've been lobbying the powers-that-be to have the fountains erupt for each LVC score ... but to no avail. 

Great idea, much cooler than any cannon you could shoot off with each score!

If you add explosions it would be like depth charges going off.

The "depth charge" effect would seriously annoy the Australian black swans who have a shelter at this pond. They're already ornery enough and have been known to chase people and peck at the tires of passing vehicles. 

[Major Rev]

Loved the podcast about the 'best of the rest' this week!  Things seem to be shaking up some in the South Region.  October is going to be INTERESTING!  Hardin-Simmons and Centre will get their tests sho nuf!