The Duality of Seasons – A (Managing) Editor’s Report on What to Expect Over the Next Few Weeks

Dear readers,

We have been blessed with one of the most exciting NESCAC football seasons in recent memory. Heading into the final weekend, each game has significant potential to determine the final standings in the league. Trinity could continue to push opponents out of the way like a bulldozer, and make all the drama simply a battle for second best.  Even the lower tier games mean something, as Bates puts their pride on the line to possibly finish with the same record as deposed king Amherst at 4-4. It should be an exciting weekend filled with thrills, chills and spills (like when I spill my hot chocolate on myself after Middlebury scores a touchdown.)

However, in the midst of this football excitement, we also have the beginning of winter sport practices, which here at NbN means that it’s basketball season. Longtime readers of this blog (which may pretty much only be my parents at this point) will know that there might literally be nothing I love more in the world than NESCAC basketball.  I used to bring my Harry Potter books to Middlebury games and read them between periods, as the timeout buzzer intimidated me.  As I grew up, however, I overcame my fears and began watching the whole game, falling more in love with basketball every minute. So you’ll forgive me if I’m a little excited to get into the basketball coverage: it’s the reason I got into the blogging game in the first place.

It’s not an easy proposition to begin covering basketball the same week that the football season wraps up.  We love #content and #pageviews as much as the next sports blog, but we also have #otherhomework and #friends. But we are your NESCAC informants first and foremost, and we will bring you all the football and basketball coverage you need, and then some.

The way we will handle this busy couple of weeks is as follows: we will release our regular football weekly schedule (Power Rankings, Stock Report, Weekend Preview, Game of the Week,) and a basketball preview each day.  Next

week we will wrap up football with postseason awards and reflections, and preseason basketball awards and previews.  This should take us up to the first weekend of basketball tournaments, which trails only Thanksgiving, Christmas and Kevin Bacon’s birthday on my list of favorite days of the year.

This busy time encompasses everything that is great about NESCAC sports, and even the passage of time as a whole.  The ending of football season signifies the end of fall, and therefore the beginning of our long NESCAC winter.  But winter also brings so many beautiful things into the world: skiing, Christmas, fires in woodstoves, and best of all, NESCAC basketball. Sports in New England are uniquely married to these seasonal cycles, and this is one of the reasons that I, and the other writers, and all of you readers, love them so much. So bear with us through this potentially chaotic transition, and we’ll reward you with another season of passionate coverage.

Thank you, and keep reading,

Peter Lindholm