RPI Cancels Fall Athletics Season

The hopes for a football season for the Hobart College Statesmen suffered a setback as this morning long-time Liberty League rival RPI announced their campus reopening plan would not include fall sports. This effectively drops the Hobart Football season to nine games with the Week 6 game on 10/10/20 in Troy, NY being cancelled.

Turn out the lights on this year's Hobart vs. RPI game 

Whether or not that game gets rescheduled with another opponent really isn't on the table at this point. The fear of negative PR associated with having fall / contact sports is picking up steam and for the first time this year, I am losing confidence that college presidents and ADs will look for solutions (even though I do know for a fact there are schools and programs that are still pushing ahead in other parts of the country) vs. just succumbing to what's mostly a fear-based cycle on this topic.

The obvious next question is whether or not Union College - who the Statesmen are slated to play in Week 5 or 10/3/20 - will follow suit? They are RPI's primary and geographic rival, and given their former ties to the NESCAC - which has already seen Bowdoin and Williams bail on fall sports (although interestingly enough Bates released a statement today that was more open to the possibility of some form of fall season or even a spring one happening) - they could easily be the next LL program to throw in the towel.

As an aside, Union is one of a handful of East Region schools that have not submitted reopening plans for students yet - they have released one to and for the return of their faculty and staff.

Hobart's Week 3 opponent, Rowan University, has announced plans to reopen in the fall also, but with their NJAC rival TCNJ announcing they won't be fielding fall sports, there could be a domino effect in that conference as well.

By comparison, the mostly PA-based MAC is looking for ways to make fall sports a reality vs. just giving up. 

Only time will tell on whether or not a D3FB season for the Statesmen happens or we see the first hiatus from football since the 1943-45 seasons which were cancelled due to World War II.

Hang in there Statesmen and go 'Bart!

Scardale's Mancini Selects Statesmen

Scarsdale10583.com recently reported on Scarsdale High's annual "Maroon & White" athletics awards ceremony having to go virtual given COVID-19 concerns. Included in the article was a list of SHS student athletes who plan to pursue sports in college.

One of those athletes on the list was SR DL/OG Dean Mancini, who plans to attend and play football at Hobart College. 

Based on his highlight reel, Mancini (6' 230 lbs.) is a tenacious pass rusher and sound tackler with quick feet (runs a 4.85 FYD). He's pretty strong too based on the fact he can bench over 300 lbs.

Please join me in welcoming Dean and the extended Mancini family to the Hobart one!

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Another McCoy is Coming to Hobart

Last week the Burlington Free Press (VT) named Burr & Burton Academy SR QB Joey McCoy their "Boys Athlete of the Year."

If that name rings a bell, it's probably because Joey is the younger brother of JR FS Jay McCoy. Joey helped his (and his dad's) team win the VT Division 1 state football title last year among other athletic awards as a hockey and baseball player.

You can read about Joey and his dad's state championship win and other athletic achievements here. His highlight reel shows Joey is a true offensive weapon - able to pass, run and score (a lot of points!) - and a pretty great defender to boot! 

You don't usually see a QB with a #34, and Joey will have wait to claim that number at Hobart

While all of this is impressive, the most important part of the article (to me, anyway), was seeing Joey has committed to play at Hobart with Jay. While Joey will have to wait until his big brother graduates to get his #34 jersey, he's a welcome addition to the Class of 2024, as a QB or just an all around athletic player.

Credit Coach Tom McCoy (and family) for winning the state title and, more importantly, creating an impressive pipeline of football talent from VT to Geneva. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Forde, Boswell & Hobart Get Some Top 25 Preseason Love from Lindy's

The D3FB preseason awards keep coming in for SR OLB Emmett Forde and the Hobart College Football team. This time it's from Lindy's Sports Magazine (aka Lindy's), who've picked the Statesmen as the #20 ranked team in Division III heading into the 2020 season.

Forde earned First Team honors on their All-D3 Defensive team, which is equivalent to the All-American team recognition he also received from Street & Smith.

Rising SO RB Rayshawn Boswell also made the Offensive All-D3 team as a return specialist (RET).

To be fair, Lindy's is the least qualified publication to make these rankings (they notably left out Wheaton, who was undefeated, including a head-to-head victory over eventual National Champions North Central College, until a fluke penalty and missed PAT saw them lose to Saint John's in the national quarterfinals. Long-time East Region powerhouse Wesley is also conspicuously absent, but they may not make it back to the field given financial struggles. Two SCIAC teams, not to mention Framingham State at 19 are among several other issues I have with this poll), but I do feel there are reasons that Hobart could be (but maybe not necessarily should be) considered a preseason Top 25 team.

The Statesmen return the vast majority of starters from the 2019 season's 9-2 squad, including key special teams performers. While Union is likely still the LL favorite, they lose some key defensive starters that makes the October 3rd rematch a virtual toss up. The biggest issue I have in placing Hobart in a preseason Top 25 is the question mark at the QB position. While I'm sure the coaches have a replacement in mind, with the lack of spring practice it's hard to say who will step into this role by September? The Statesmen will also need to fill a handful of key defensive roles, like DE, OLB and CB, given the graduations of Collin Hudgins, David McCarthy and Jayson Prince '19.

That said, I'd keep Hobart as "receiving votes" in my Top 25 ballot (if I had one). They certainly have the talent, but need to prove themselves - to the fans and more importantly, to each other - once the season gets underway. A good start would be a win over Alfred in 82 days from today.

That said there's away's to go before the season is officially under way. So far so good on the reopening front and we should know the HWS formal plan come July. The NCAA is leaning towards the season happening from all accounts, but there is some "fine print" that makes me concerned. We will have to see if this comes into play, or goes away, by August.

That's all I have for this edition. Thanks as always for reading (and to Gary Mathieson '74 for the photos) and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Shooting for August 11th to Report to Preseason Camp (Hopefully)

Word has been shared that Hobart College Statesmen Football HC Kevin DeWall '00 has notified players in an email that "As of now, we are preparing for the August 11 arrival date" to open the 2020 season.

This news is couched by the fact that things could change, pending input from the NCAA and college itself. HWS previously announced they plan to open for in person classes on August 24th, so it makes sense - barring any changes - that camp would open on time as well.

Instances of COVID-19 in Central NY remain very low, so hopefully that will continue and the fall athletic season - at least for the Statesmen (and Herons) - continues as scheduled.

Today, Week 1 opponent Alfred University announced they are also reopening on August 24th, so it stands that the season opener scheduled for Friday night, September 4th at 7 PM does as well.

I will provide updates as they come in, but this is welcome news.

(Update as of 6/11 - the NCAA has approved fall preseasons to start as early as 8/10 based on a press release from earlier today.)

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Forde Earns Preseason All American Honors from Street & Smith

You know football season is getting close when magazines like Street & Smith start to publish (way too early) Top 25 lists.

Keith McMillan of D3football.com once again was tapped to write the preseason preview article  and has (not surprisingly) picked defending national champions North Central College (NCC) as his preseason #1.

Delaware Valley University was the highest ranked East Region team and Liberty League rivals Union College came in at #14 on his poll.

A shot of the article / preseason poll can be seen below (via twitter @IWUHoopscom):

Part of the article included preseason All American teams for offense, defense and ST. Earning a spot on that list was SR OLB and Co-Captain Emmett Forde.

Congratulations to Emmett on the first of what will likely be several more preseason accolades!

HWS Hoping to Reopen For Fall Semester

And just like that, it's June 1st. 

The events of the past several days have given us as a nation some pause, to say the least. I know our family has had a lot of discussions about over the weekend. Seeing the Los Angeles neighborhood I lived in back in 1999-2006 literally on fire and being destroyed in riots was certainly disappointing, but I also understand why this is happening [an op-ed in today's LA Times by former UCLA and Lakers great Kareem Adbul-Jabbar is worth reading if you haven't seen it]. Unfortunately one of my long-time sayings (which I may have picked up from someone or somewhere else is), "the problem with the news is it's rarely ever good...."

Speaking of good news, however, this is a big month for CFB / D3FB fans as we should begin to hear about potential plans and next steps towards getting back to sports in the fall. Last Friday, the NCAA released some initial guidelines in anticipation of states reopening and athletic teams resuming activities, starting with voluntary workouts, as early as June 8.

D3 took things a step further allowing "the minimum number of contests required for sports sponsorship and championship selection in Division III [to be] reduced by 33% in all sports for the 2020-21 academic year." This does not mean that schedules will be cut, it just allows teams in states that could have more challenging requirements/issues to qualify for the postseason without having to play a complete schedule, in the event that's not possible.

Last Thursday morning, HWS President Joyce Jacobsen notified the Statesmen and Herons community that:

"We hope to resume faculty laboratory research as early as mid-June and to begin bringing some staff back to campus in July, with the remainder of faculty, staff and students arriving in August. We intend to follow a schedule for the fall that tightens the semester without decreasing intellectual contact between faculty and students. The goal is to limit travel to and from campus once students have returned, and to have most students back home by Thanksgiving in case there is a late-fall resurgence of COVID-19. We therefore expect Fall 2020 semester classes to begin as scheduled on Monday Aug. 24 and residential instruction to occur through Tuesday Nov. 24, after which Thanksgiving break will begin."

Things are looking better for the 2020 season.

This is similar, if not identical, to the approach (as I mentioned in my last post) that Syracuse University plans to take as well.

For the Hobart College Football family the obvious question this announcement begs is "does this mean preseason camp starts on time?" There are a number of hurdles to overcome to determine that, including the NYS government, NCAA and Liberty League. With less than 100 days until the 9/4/20 season opener at Alfred, the Statesmen would normally be planning on opening camp in mid-August (checking in around 8/12 or 13 with first practices starting around 8/14).

Obviously with a pandemic underway, we are looking at a "new normal" that will be predicated on CDC and related data. Fortunately Central New York has been barely impacted by the virus, and as luck or circumstance would have it, this year's football schedule is really regional in nature. The Statesmen will play 9 of their 10 games in NYS, basically within about an 180 mile radius of Geneva. The longest road trip will be down to Rowan in Week 3, which is about a 300 mile ride.

While the Profs campus isn't that far away from NYC (a little over 100 miles) - one of the worst areas of virus infections in the nation - only 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been identified in their community as of 5/26/20, so Rowan President Dr. Houshmand has confirmed they also plan to reopen in the fall. 

That said, Dr. Jacobsen did couch the above with the following:

"This plan remains just that – a plan – until we submit our full reopening document to the State of New York in mid-June. Once we have State approval, we will share full details on everything from academic and residential life to screening, testing, isolating and tracing protocols."

So while this message is a reason for optimism, we still need to wait and see how things unfold over the coming weeks. At the end of the day, the fact that cases of COVID seem to be stabilizing across most states, and that the fatality rate (as calculated by the CDC) is approximately .05% for individuals under 49 years old (meaning the rate for people in the 18-22 yo range is probably like .01% - and likely better for college athletes), we should be in good shape.

I remain confident that the 2020 season will kick off as planned, but time will tell.

Thanks to all you readers / fans / friends out there for taking the blog over 275,000 views.

Go 'Bart!