Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question
WIS Productions celebrates the avoidance of pink slips in its latest edition of "Umile's Last Stand - _____ for 600"
"Umile's Last Stand - The Quest for 600 Continues"
Coach Umile's current career wins total: 586
Wins Remaining to the next round number: 14
*Games Remaining (Next Season - Min.): 36
Win Pct. Required to Hit Target: 38.9%
WIS Estimated Likelihood of Success: 67%
* - minimum games remaining assumes 34 regular season games, and at least 2 games in the MBPBEGAM "playoffs"
A tumultuous couple of weeks here at the WIS Estate has thankfully finally played out, and as the dust settles on an audacious postseason charge by UNH through the MBPBEGAM round of the so-called *playoffs* against the powerful North Andover HS Warriors, culminating in a historical (hysterical?) QF showdown with top-seeded UMass-Lowell, where Coach Bazin's Mighty Riverhawks weren't out of the woods on an upset until 5 minutes into the first period of decisive Game Three ... finally, some clarity, as the light dawns over the mythical Marblehead.
Yes, he's baaaaaack!!! The Quest continues, and the crawl to the next round number continues unabated.
And as a practical matter, the WIS research staff gets to keep their jobs for another 12 months. Thanks UNH!!
The Big Picture - the events of the last couple of weeks (and perhaps more notably the last 24 hours) may have paid lip service to goals of qualifying for the NCAA tourney next season ... but truthfully speaking, the only realistic goals right now are twofold - one, rack up 14 more wins to get Coach to the NRN, and two, finish up feathering Coach's 403(b) plan for the *shock* retirement announcement he made today. With his enabler-in-chief BS35+5 having lost his latest battle with intestinal fortitude, and foregoing the good of the program for one more year of walking through quicksand ... well, OK - maybe I'm jumping to conclusions here. The focus does now shift to see what our genius smahtest-guy-in-da-room AD has up his sleeve for his paisan HC. Another cupcake schedule, and we'll know BS35+5 was implicit as the enabler-in-chief to get his pal to the NRN. Only a return to scheduling normalcy (i.e. not half of Atlantic Hockey at home) would signal the AD was less than implicit in continuing his *plan* to its logical conclusion, and just might not be so pleased with the return of the HC.
Make no mistake ... the last two seasons' worth of schedules were set up to artificially inflate UNH's standing in D-1, and should easily have ensured .500 finishes, even if the 'Cats were always going to be doomed to the lower half of HE. The idea that neither team really came all that close did leave the door open for our all-knowing AD to step in and pull the plug, and start the "new era" a year early. But that didn't happen. So next season is on you, BS35+5. As is Coach Souza's ultimate success, which is being increasingly sandbagged - also by you.
NEXT CUPCAKE ON THE SHELF (PROJECTED): AIC (10/13/17); @ AIC (10/14/17)
CAN BS35+5 POSSIBLY MESS THIS UP ANY MORE THAN HE ALREADY HAS?
Does a bear do its business in the woods? Is the Pope Catholic? Was Walshy a cheatin' bast!d? Heck yes. In fact, the current situation is set up as almost a no-win proposition. Should UNH win 14 games next season? Heck yes, they absolutely should. 67% likelihood (see projection above) means a 2-in-3 chance of success at reaching the NRN. Cupcakes and marshmallows should appear in abundance on the 2017/2018 UNH Men's Hockey schedule, and the sugar content will be SO high that you'll think you got lost in a North End bakery. Unless of course BS35+5 really was hoping for Coach to fall on his own sword ... which seems unlikely, sure, but you don't get to be a genius AD with almost 40 years in the business without seeing things others might not see. But we'll get that answer soon enough.
But think about it. Your Hobey Baker offensive catalyst has played his last game for UNH. Your terrific-by-universal-acclaim captain and lead blueline performer, ditto. Apparently you think you have the horses on the blueline starting to trickle in next Fall, and that may be so. But that will be a time of the season where W's will be critical for the pursuit of the NRN. Again, there's going to be a need to accumulate about 10 wins before the calendar changes to 2018. And that's (improbably) proven elusive these last two seasons. "Hey, we won 15 games this season, WIS. Why so glum, chum?" OK, when did we win Game 14 - y'know, the one we're going to need to win next season to reach the NRN? "That would have been Game 3 of the silly round against Merrimack". Correct. So let's say UNH ends up in the same scenario next season, and they have to win their MBPBEGAM round outright. You going to bet the farm that the program - and the coach - who've historically struggled mightily in must-win scenarios, are gonna win that one? Or will we see the final, ultimate ... "Umiliation"?
Again, for the record ... I hope Coach rides off into the sunset with all that he can reasonably hope to achieve with his team in his final year at UNH. But even if he comes up short, WIS wants to point out that not making it to 600 is hardly a stain on Coach's standing as one of the all-time greats. Here's a list of greats who didn't quite make it to 600 either:
528 - Sir Alex Ferguson (coaching wins - all-time PL leader)
511 - Cy Young (pitching wins - all-time MLB leader)
486 - Ty Cobb (win shares - all-time MLB leader - for the stats geeks)
377 - Bobby Bowden (coaching wins - all-time NCAA D-1 leader)
328 - Don Shula (coaching wins - all-time NFL leader)
229 - Willie Pep (wins - all-time boxing leader)
200 - Richard Petty (race wins - all-time NASCAR leader)
WIS Productions celebrates the avoidance of pink slips in its latest edition of "Umile's Last Stand - _____ for 600"
"Umile's Last Stand - The Quest for 600 Continues"
Coach Umile's current career wins total: 586
Wins Remaining to the next round number: 14
*Games Remaining (Next Season - Min.): 36
Win Pct. Required to Hit Target: 38.9%
WIS Estimated Likelihood of Success: 67%
* - minimum games remaining assumes 34 regular season games, and at least 2 games in the MBPBEGAM "playoffs"
A tumultuous couple of weeks here at the WIS Estate has thankfully finally played out, and as the dust settles on an audacious postseason charge by UNH through the MBPBEGAM round of the so-called *playoffs* against the powerful North Andover HS Warriors, culminating in a historical (hysterical?) QF showdown with top-seeded UMass-Lowell, where Coach Bazin's Mighty Riverhawks weren't out of the woods on an upset until 5 minutes into the first period of decisive Game Three ... finally, some clarity, as the light dawns over the mythical Marblehead.
Yes, he's baaaaaack!!! The Quest continues, and the crawl to the next round number continues unabated.
And as a practical matter, the WIS research staff gets to keep their jobs for another 12 months. Thanks UNH!!
The Big Picture - the events of the last couple of weeks (and perhaps more notably the last 24 hours) may have paid lip service to goals of qualifying for the NCAA tourney next season ... but truthfully speaking, the only realistic goals right now are twofold - one, rack up 14 more wins to get Coach to the NRN, and two, finish up feathering Coach's 403(b) plan for the *shock* retirement announcement he made today. With his enabler-in-chief BS35+5 having lost his latest battle with intestinal fortitude, and foregoing the good of the program for one more year of walking through quicksand ... well, OK - maybe I'm jumping to conclusions here. The focus does now shift to see what our genius smahtest-guy-in-da-room AD has up his sleeve for his paisan HC. Another cupcake schedule, and we'll know BS35+5 was implicit as the enabler-in-chief to get his pal to the NRN. Only a return to scheduling normalcy (i.e. not half of Atlantic Hockey at home) would signal the AD was less than implicit in continuing his *plan* to its logical conclusion, and just might not be so pleased with the return of the HC.
Make no mistake ... the last two seasons' worth of schedules were set up to artificially inflate UNH's standing in D-1, and should easily have ensured .500 finishes, even if the 'Cats were always going to be doomed to the lower half of HE. The idea that neither team really came all that close did leave the door open for our all-knowing AD to step in and pull the plug, and start the "new era" a year early. But that didn't happen. So next season is on you, BS35+5. As is Coach Souza's ultimate success, which is being increasingly sandbagged - also by you.
NEXT CUPCAKE ON THE SHELF (PROJECTED): AIC (10/13/17); @ AIC (10/14/17)
CAN BS35+5 POSSIBLY MESS THIS UP ANY MORE THAN HE ALREADY HAS?
Does a bear do its business in the woods? Is the Pope Catholic? Was Walshy a cheatin' bast!d? Heck yes. In fact, the current situation is set up as almost a no-win proposition. Should UNH win 14 games next season? Heck yes, they absolutely should. 67% likelihood (see projection above) means a 2-in-3 chance of success at reaching the NRN. Cupcakes and marshmallows should appear in abundance on the 2017/2018 UNH Men's Hockey schedule, and the sugar content will be SO high that you'll think you got lost in a North End bakery. Unless of course BS35+5 really was hoping for Coach to fall on his own sword ... which seems unlikely, sure, but you don't get to be a genius AD with almost 40 years in the business without seeing things others might not see. But we'll get that answer soon enough.
But think about it. Your Hobey Baker offensive catalyst has played his last game for UNH. Your terrific-by-universal-acclaim captain and lead blueline performer, ditto. Apparently you think you have the horses on the blueline starting to trickle in next Fall, and that may be so. But that will be a time of the season where W's will be critical for the pursuit of the NRN. Again, there's going to be a need to accumulate about 10 wins before the calendar changes to 2018. And that's (improbably) proven elusive these last two seasons. "Hey, we won 15 games this season, WIS. Why so glum, chum?" OK, when did we win Game 14 - y'know, the one we're going to need to win next season to reach the NRN? "That would have been Game 3 of the silly round against Merrimack". Correct. So let's say UNH ends up in the same scenario next season, and they have to win their MBPBEGAM round outright. You going to bet the farm that the program - and the coach - who've historically struggled mightily in must-win scenarios, are gonna win that one? Or will we see the final, ultimate ... "Umiliation"?
Again, for the record ... I hope Coach rides off into the sunset with all that he can reasonably hope to achieve with his team in his final year at UNH. But even if he comes up short, WIS wants to point out that not making it to 600 is hardly a stain on Coach's standing as one of the all-time greats. Here's a list of greats who didn't quite make it to 600 either:
528 - Sir Alex Ferguson (coaching wins - all-time PL leader)
511 - Cy Young (pitching wins - all-time MLB leader)
486 - Ty Cobb (win shares - all-time MLB leader - for the stats geeks)
377 - Bobby Bowden (coaching wins - all-time NCAA D-1 leader)
328 - Don Shula (coaching wins - all-time NFL leader)
229 - Willie Pep (wins - all-time boxing leader)
200 - Richard Petty (race wins - all-time NASCAR leader)
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