We've had some ongoing tension and recent tension bubbling up in a few different ways (and threads), so instead of continuing a discussion and NESCAC and "East Coast bias" in the North region thread, seems to make sense to consolidate a little and then whoever is interested can chime in (or scoff) and whoever isn't can be spared.
As a disclaimer, I am (obviously by screen name) a New Englander, and, possible impressions to the contrary, I've probably contributed to focusing on the NESCAC as much as any poster this side of Mr.Right and maybe blooter. I'm interested in the NESCAC, I like the NESCAC schools generally, I am pretty familiar with the culture around the NESCAC, etc, etc, but, yes, I certainly do not have what I would call devotion to the NESCAC.
With that out of the way, we've had some discussion and visceral hullabaloo (in limited instances and we can blame yours truly entirely if you like) about whether NESCAC gets too much attention or gets slighted. Maybe, just maybe, BOTH are true? There certainly are pockets of support on this site for a few regions and schools (Messiah, Loras, Kenyon/OWU, Wheaton Ill, the UWs, NJAC and especially Camden and MSU, North Park, the GAC/MIAC crowd, etc all come to mind), but I hope we can agree that no "conference" gets more attention on this site than NESCAC judging, at a minimum, by the sheer volume of posts in the NESCAC thread and NESCAC-related posts (and focus) in some other threads. Now, periodically and recently, we've seen some questioning about the NESCAC not getting enough recognition, and lately this has been expressed in the context of whether individual NESCAC players are getting (historically and presently) the attention/recognition they deserve. FW just late last night published some data suggesting that perhaps there has not been East Coast bias regarding AA teams (and by extension I think we can safely carry that over to the NESCAC specifically while agreeing with Kickin that "East Coast" has a natural dominance based on sheer number of schools and stretches across multiple regions beyond just New England).
So, let's presume for the sake of delving deeper (analytically more so than emotionally) that NESCAC players indeed do not get sufficient recognition (and that East Coast bias at least in terms on the limited issue of player recognition does NOT apply...while keeping in mind that no one has necessarily conceded that point).
A few possible explanations have been given....1) The NESCAC is brutally competitive and therefore it is more difficult for individuals to accumulate impressive-looking stats; 2) The NESCAC, in part as a function of that competitiveness, tends to play a style that keeps scoring down with a bevy of stereotypical 0-0 2OT and 1-0 games; 3) The NESCAC plays fewer games and so there are overall fewer opportunities to build stats. I may have missed one or two similar points, but let's say we accept all of the above as entirely true, and move on to a slightly different question.
Does the NESCAC, in general, and without veering off into how great Messiah has been (meaning, let's leave Messiah out of this for purposes of the discussion for the moment) have the best players in D3 (in general as opposed to just individual cases)? I'll say up front that I don't know or presume to know the answer (in other words, I have no agenda here on that and am open to a conclusion that NESCAC does in fact, in aggregate, have the best players). I will throw out a few points/ideas that may be relevant.
The NESCAC schools do have some excellent players, including probably more than a fair share of USSDA players.
The NESCAC schools are pretty much uniformly attractive, at least for a large, specific segment of the college prospect pool. There are other conferences that are similar, with the UAA being even in my view in terms of uniformity BUT MUCH MORE SPREAD OUT GEOGRAPHICALLY, and there are conferences like Centennial, Liberty, NCAC, MIAC, etc that have schools on the level of the NESCACs but not as uniformly so. This, AND the geography, make the NESCAC singularly unique, and of course the NESCACs rightly/smartly play off of being the LITTLE IVY LEAGUE.
In part as a function of that last point, NESCAC at its heart harbors a deep ambivalence. Athletics, in addition to academics, have a proud history (Williams always win that overall Cup thing and usually a few other NESCACs finish highly in that Cup thing), BUT, NESCAC (and its fans too) also promote and protect the unique standing of NESCAC in American educational culture, and in that way can be a bit isolationist and "on their own island."
If NESCAC players were THAT good, would they be playing at Ivies or other prestigious D1 institutions?
More later, including how I had never even heard of schools I now love, like a Loras, until coming to this site and getting into D3 soccer.
My wife is making me sign off! What I'm trying to get at though is that if we accept the premise that NESCAC players do not get the attention they deserve, what are all the reasons beyond the ones noted in the first couple of paragraphs? And how might we correct for that, if true?
Just to put a wrap on the above...
I recall when I first got interested in Loras, which was because of this forum. I had never heard of one player. Heard about Cavers and started watching him, and I have zero doubt he would have been a top player in any D3 conference (Kayne reminds me of Cavers). And if memory serves Cavers got his fair share of accolades. I watched Whitworth live last year and was very impressed. I cannot name one player for their team this year without looking. I can probably name the whole starting lineups for most NESCAC teams off the top of my head.
I saw Jack Thompson live and have no doubt he would have been one of the top 2-3 players in the NESCAC. Now a couple of examples from the Midwest....Travis Vegter from Calvin and Colton Bloecher from OWU. I'm pretty sure both would have been 1st teamers in the NESCAC but I can't be 100 per cent sure without seeing them live a couple of times against top NESCAC teams. Not sure how Bloecher looked against Tufts but that game wasn't representative of OWU in general. Now I will say after watching Tufts live against Brandeis that Kayne, Majumder and Lynch and Lanahan from Brandeis would be among the most outstanding players in the NCAC.