Some of those hotels... Woof. A Courtyard by Marriott?

I mean, I'm always happy when that's an option when I'm on a road trip, but for a group of highly paid professional athletes?

Yikes.

What's funny is that every time I open this thread, I'm hoping for an update on this guy.

What a curious path. I guess his wife was able to find gainful employment in the Tampa region.

Quote from: BaboNation on April 17, 2026, 07:51:04 PM

Quote from: Kuiper on April 17, 2026, 12:42:36 AMFrench National Team moves home base from Babson to Bentley

https://thewellesleynews.com/23335/news-investigation/french-national-football-team-chooses-bentley-over-babson/

Not a big deal in the overall scheme of things, but it would have fun to have the top ranked team in the world training at a D3 school

"The men's French national football team, Les Bleus, will train at Bentley University in Waltham during the World Cup this summer, despite having previously committed to training at Babson College. According to French football reports, the change was sparked by prolonged financial negotiations and an impasse between Babson, the French Football Federation (FFF) and FIFA.

Les Bleus are the top-ranked team in the World Cup as of April 14.

On March 26, Bentley's athletic director, Vaughn Williams, announced that the French team will arrive on June 10 and train at Bentley for the duration of the World Cup. The university will serve as a training site that the team will return to, no matter how far they travel for their tournaments, which are scheduled to happen across the country."

Disappointing, but we'll probably never get the full story.  I too was looking forward to having a World Cup team train there as they have numerous times in the past, and not just for WC matches.  Babson has been very accommodating in the prior years.
I suspect and expect Babson will still get a team.

Something I didn't know until just now: Bentley is D2 in 22 of 23 programs. I knew men's hockey is D1.

Quote from: Ejay on April 17, 2026, 05:36:29 PMSee now, I loved it. I love student announcers, especially when they're homers.

Yeah, I've heard a LOT worse than that.

That sounds like bird genitals.

*runs out of room*

Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on March 05, 2026, 11:37:29 AM

Quote from: Hopkins92 on March 05, 2026, 10:14:47 AMI love anything that cuts out time wasting. Huge pet peeve for almost all fans.

(I'm old enough that when I first started playing, you could pass back to the goalie and they could just pick it up and hold it for however long they liked. I would split GK duties with another player all the way through high school, playing midfield/defense in the other half. I was a bit of an anomaly at the time, being able to play keeper sweeper before that was really a thing. I actually "quit" playing goalie when I moved to MD... Didn't tell anyone that was my "real" position and made the high school team as a field player. Our goalies were terrible and one of my teammates outed me to coach... Rest is "history".


Nowadays, you've got guys like Neuer who probably could play at the highest level as a field player, but he's not some outlier, generally speaking.)

Hahaha. Yup remember that as well. Had to look it up. Apparently changed in 1992 which does not seem so long ago. The pass back was the main feature in the West Ger v. Austria 1982 pool play called "The Disgrace of Gijón"  Craziest fixed game. Algeria really, really got screwed.  https://youtu.be/M0mHp3iyWGg?si=L5zf7JK-OS2tdzW5 

Again, showing my age, I actually remember reading/hearing about that game.

I'm actually kind of shocked it wasn't changed until 92. I guess because I kept playing into my 30s and adapted with the new rules... I don't really remember being able to pick up back passes playing in college. That said, I remember punting a TON, which is funny thinking about how Hop plays today.

That has been floated for YEARS and I'm pretty annoyed it wasn't in place for this round of the WC. The fact that they are having a trial season in Canada is very encouraging.

The VAR process that splits hairs should favor allowing more goals, not the opposite.

I love anything that cuts out time wasting. Huge pet peeve for almost all fans.

(I'm old enough that when I first started playing, you could pass back to the goalie and they could just pick it up and hold it for however long they liked. I would split GK duties with another player all the way through high school, playing midfield/defense in the other half. I was a bit of an anomaly at the time, being able to play keeper sweeper before that was really a thing. I actually "quit" playing goalie when I moved to MD... Didn't tell anyone that was my "real" position and made the high school team as a field player. Our goalies were terrible and one of my teammates outed me to coach... Rest is "history".


Nowadays, you've got guys like Neuer who probably could play at the highest level as a field player, but he's not some outlier, generally speaking.)

Point of clarification, because I'm too lazy to dig this up:

Does "release" pertain to the goalie holding the ball in their hands, or does it also pertain to when the ball is at their feet? If it's the latter, that seems problematic.

Also, it feels like tracking this should be something a 4th official could help backstop, but I don't think 4th officials are a mandated thing at the D3 level. (I guess someone could clarify that, too. :-))

Lastly, I wonder if there is a mandate that all D3 schools have a scoreboard that has a clock/timer. It has always been weird to me that in basketball there isn't a ten second clock, separate from the shot clock. But in any event, a ref can just look at the darn clock to see if they have hit 10 seconds. Having them do it manually (or whatever the term is) seems so antiquated and silly.

You are absolutely correct. I got caught up in taking the Disney version of the story at face value. Most of the country, even folks in hockey country, weren't following their exhibition season until it was closer to the Games. I distinctly remember the Russians smoking the US, which stuck with a lot of folks.

But, yes, the overall run-up had its blips, but was mostly successful.

But what stands out about IU is that they have been historically bad in a highly visible conference. I grew up in Ann Arbor. IU and Northwestern were, by far, the two most booked teams for homecoming games.

It's not just that they had a few down years and crawled back out of the muck. The last time this team won 9 games was in the 60s. Vanderbilt is the only other team in the ballpark, in terms of historically bad.

It's a great topic, but I don't think you're going to find a like-for-like in any sport. The closest thing I think of in the NFL is a hypothetical where the Jets somehow go from - whatever that is -- to winning a Super Bowl.

Leicester City doesn't really work and I don't feel like typing out why.

Miracle on Ice in 80 has a very close vibe, in that the US was getting absolutely wrecked in its exhibition games leading into the Olympics. And the US hadn't won gold for 20 years... And they hadn't been particularly competitive since that win on the international stage.

But looking at the D3 champions, as you've already done... You'd need something like a bottom dwelling NESCAC, NJAC, Centennial or UAA team to come out of nowhere to becomes a national contender/champion and we just haven't seen that. (Unless I'm missing something.)

When I look at teams like Bethany, E-town and San Diego... I don't have time to dig into their history, but I highly doubt they were rags-to-riches stories.

I hear Dallas might have an airport or two.

(And I know you've laid out the business case for Pitt and CLB... I just have a hard time with the NCAA putting outdoor Final Four games in obvious snow country.)

Quote from: Ron Boerger on December 10, 2025, 10:27:33 AM

Quote from: Hopkins92 on December 10, 2025, 10:26:02 AM

QuoteOnce the bus was at the fire station, the team loaded up to continue its journey to San Antonio, Texas.

That's a helluva bus ride. Google spit out 20.5 hours on the road.

They flew via Greensboro (GSO) and were on their way there. 

I figured as much... Local reporting can be a little spotty. ;-)

QuoteOnce the bus was at the fire station, the team loaded up to continue its journey to San Antonio, Texas.

That's a helluva bus ride. Google spit out 20.5 hours on the road.