Colonials Corner

The difficulty of repeating in the Northeast Conference is surprisingly difficult. Teams may make it through the regular season slate unscathed and atop the league, but come Tournament time, all bets are off. Witness RMU’s upset loss to Mount St. Mary’s two years ago. No team has repeat as NEC Champs since Rider in 1993-1994.

In a recent teleconference, Mike Rice described the difficulty of repeating as NEC Champion like this:

It’s hard to reload. This league wins with veterans. What did my team have the past two years? They had older veteran guys who’ve played in a lot of Division I basketball games and knew what it took to be successful: not to beat yourselves and play hard every possession, you could go on and on. I had veteran guys. It’s hard at the lower levels to reload. We can’t go out and pick a McDonald’s All-American. You go out and find out what happened to an LIU program who I picked 1st and 2nd with Mount, you’re not going to go out and fill that void immediately. That’s why I think it’s hard every year to repeat – not even repeat, but just be in the mention for the top 2 or 3 teams in the league.

With all that in mind, as well as the benefit of late knowledge – such as major hits to LIU and CCSU’s rosters – that the coaches did not have when they made their picks, I’ve mapped out below how the Northeast Conference will finish.

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Monday officially marks the start of basketball season. Yes, football is still going on, national championships are to be won and all that, but once that tip goes up in North Carolina and Ohio State, it’s officially hoops season.

For Robert Morris fans, the story is twofold. Is the basketball program now the premier program on campus? And will the Colonials continue to build their program off the success of the past two seasons?

An unbalanced yet deep roster, full of seniors and first year players. A brutal schedule rarely seen at this level. The deepest Northeast Conference in years. High expectations from the media and the fans because of recent success.

Neither answer is completely clear, but one thing is for certain: this is going to be a wild ride.

The preview here is also twofold. The first part is the team preview, including a projected starting lineup, projected record, and an overall outlook of the program. The second part is the NEC preview, right through the NEC Championship game, complete with short capsules on each team.

Feel free to add your thoughts in the comment section.

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Rice has 50 wins in two years as a college head coach at Robert Morris. AP Photo.

In the course of interviewing people, there are times when one line or a brief statement is all that’s necessary for a journalist to use. Most newspaper and magazine articles are structured this way, and while some interview subjects have a problem with how those little nuggets get used and what context they are placed in, it’s the standard bearer for most publications.

However, I’ve always enjoyed reading longer interviews, popularized by such publications as Rolling Stone, where the entire article is based on the conversation between the author and the subject. Really, the author is more of a moderator, just tossing out subjects and topics to as guides, pressing or asking for clarification when necessary.

So, since the majority of my work ends up being the truncated form, I decided to do something different with my first interview with Mike Rice in the 2009-2010 season.

After the jump is the transcript of the conversation we had prior to practice on Thursday as he prepared his team for their first public showing – the PrimeTime Hoops scrimmage.

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Four new coaches are going through their first camp as members of the Robert Morris University football team, joining the freshmen in trying to absorb as much as possible as quickly as possible.

Two returning coaches are going through their first camp with their new, expanded roles on the staff.

In all, six positions on the 11-man staff are filled with either new faces or old faces with expanded responsibilities. It’s one of the sidebars to the overall training camp story being written by the Colonials this season. Colonials Corner takes a look at the new and the old faces in camp, the credentials they carry with them, and the tasks being laid at their feet for the 2009 football season.

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Over the next three weeks, Colonials Corner will post a variety of observations, notes, news, and analysis from training camp as the football team gears up for its 16th season under Joe Walton. We will also post several feature stories highlighting various topics, players, and coaches under the spotlight for this season. This is the first of those features.

Ian Milanak, left, and Alex DiMichele, right, will be two of the leaders of a veteran defense for Robert Morris. Photo by Andrew Chiappazzi

Within minutes of beginning a post-practice chat on the team’s defensive leadership, Alex DiMichele and Adam Lawrence – fully capable of carrying a conversation about football on their own – roped fellow defensive stalwarts Michael Landers and Ian Milanak into the conversation. With DiMichele and Lawrence already showcasing an uncanny ability to understand exactly what the other was saying, Landers and Milanak jumped in and created an even more impressive display of cohesiveness.

Four minds, four personalities, one set of answers. In a sport that loves cohesion, especially on defense, it should come as no surprise that four of the leaders on a defense that returns ten starters are on the same page. The foursome is an example of the overall team construction that Robert Morris coaches are hoping will create a championship caliber team in Moon Township, something the school hasn’t seen since 2000.
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After much discussion, including a spirited conversation on how to compare players who played in different eras, we have ourselves a true All-Time Robert Morris Football Team.

The official Colonials Corner All-Time Team is an unofficial update to the official Robert Morris 10th Anniversary Team announced back in 2003. A couple things went into determining the roster: Statistical performance, years as a starter/major contributor, records, team performance during player’s stint at Robert Morris, and legacy. For some of the earlier players, legacy can carry quite a bit – Hank Fraley’s tenured performance in the NFL makes him that much better; Tim Hall and Sam Dorsett, who should never be doubted for any All-Time RMU Team, have the added impact of making their offensive linemen look that much better. For more recent players, they have the benefit of playing against tougher competition, meaning their statistical achievements make their candidacy more intriguing despite not having as much pro experience or a championship to their name.

The list was compiled by using the 10th Anniversary team, reader comments and discussion, and my own input. Feel free to discuss the formal list at length. I’ve included the reasoning for each player’s selection. I contemplated making this an official “two-deep” roster, but instead made it a starting roster with some honorable mentions at each position.

The lineup is a basic 25 man roster – 11 offense, 11 defense, 3 special teamers (kicker, punter, return specialist) – and comes with two backs, two receivers, one tight end, and a typical 4-3 defense.

Now, on to the Official Colonials Corner All-Time Robert Morris Football Team…

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Newspapers tend to do this every so often, and we started to do it right around the time the transition began to the new site. But, I came up with a rather tepid list, and the full focus wasn’t given to the piece. So, with the 2009 season coming up, we can reflect on 15 full years of Robert Morris football. That means it’s time for the Robert Morris All-Time Team.

Over the next week or so, we’ll keep this post pinned to the top of the page. I invite all of you to submit your recommendations for a 25-man starting lineup. That’s 11 offensive players, 11 defensive players, and three special teamers – kicker, punter, return specialist. We’ll assume that it’s a standard lineup (only two wide receivers, a tight end, a 4-3 defense, etc), but I’m willing to make this a two-deep depth chart if we get enough responses and discussion.

Feel free to take an on active roll in the comments. Defend your picks, critique others (be kind and constructive), submit just one or two players or submit an entire two-deep roster. Up to you. We’ll give you about a week, and next Tuesday, I’ll post the results and contribute my own version.

Have at it.

Shameless self-promotion time. Second episode of the year for Colonial Sportscenter airs live Thursday at 9:30 on RMU-TV. That is channel 98 for Comcast subscribers in the Moon, Sewickley, Coraopolis, Oakdale, Imperial, Carnegie, etc areas.

Brian Tirpak and Heather Suddoth are anchoring and highlights from the 21-0 victory against Rowan will be included.

Also, I’ll sit down with Colonials junior wideout Mario Hines to discuss the season and his return after a year at Akron.

Quick Hits:

• RMU is officially ranked 9th in The Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Poll.
• Coach Joe Walton’s television show on the CW Network Saturday nights at 11:30 will include a feature on senior DE Ray Gensler.
• Injury report for RMU this weekend against the Red Flash has RG Ed Hunt still doubtful with a bad ankle. Wideouts Alvin Hill and Michael Rogers are listed as probable with ankle injuries. Tight end Jarvis Powers is also listed as probable with an ankle injury, but he looked perfectly fine walking around campus earlier Wednesday.