In the modern era of sports, being a college coach carries with it the burden of constant media attention. Facing dozens of reporters at press conferences, head coaches have gotten more savvy—they say what they need to and leave the rest up for speculation. Here at The Back Page, we’re happy to decode some of these media sessions, showing the average fan what we think coaches’ answers “really” mean.

This week brings us the 2010 Ivy League football media day, where each Ancient Eight coach spent 10 minutes on Tuesday discussing the upcoming season. Here are some highlights from Harvard coach Tim Murphy’s session.

Ah, media day. Ripe with preseason polls, rule changes, and coaches’ insights, this 90-minute event was full of tantalizing sound bytes.  Let’s start with one of the biggest question marks for Harvard this year—the competition at quarterback between a pair of seniors, incumbent starter Collier Winters and LSU transfer Andrew Hatch.

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After a year of college, many are ready to go back home and lay around for a bit. Like many of his classmates, Louis Leblanc will be heading home. But as a professional hockey player, he'll be doing anything but lying around.

After being drafted 18th in the 2009 NHL draft by his hometown team, the Montreal Canadiens, Leblanc signed with the Habs in late July after just one year in Cambridge, a year in which he led the team in goals and overall points. 

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The 2010-11 Harvard men’s basketball schedule has yet to be released, but the Crimson’s winter itinerary is beginning to take shape based on the officially released schedules of some of Harvard’s opponents. The Crimson won’t be making a west-coast swing this season, but the non-conference schedule will take the squad to Georgia, Michigan, and Washington D.C.

Closer to home, the Ivy League schedulers sure know how to make things exciting, pitting Harvard against Princeton on the final Saturday of conference play. The Crimson and the Tigers are projected by most media outlets to finish atop the Ancient Eight standings, so this contest could hold postseason implications. Below is The Back Page’s schedule projection for the upcoming season:

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The Harvard men’s soccer team has been getting some major love this past week. Just a day after the Harvard Athletic Department announced that the Crimson’s contest against Princeton on Oct. 24 will be nationally televised on ESPNU, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll was released with Harvard holding down the No. 10 spot in the nation.

The Crimson, which won last year’s Ivy League championship, is the lone representative from the Ancient Eight in the top 25. Last season, Harvard flirted with a top-10 ranking, reaching as high as No. 6 in the polls, before disappointing setbacks against Wake Forrest, Cornell, and UConn dropped the Crimson lower. But Harvard recovered from its early disappointments, finishing 5-1-1 in conference play and earning itself a spot in the NCAA tournament, where the Crimson reached the Sweet 16. 

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With just three weeks left before classes begin, the pilgrimage back to Cambridge has begun. Preseason for varsity athletes begins next week, but this correspondent has already returned to Massachusetts after a summer abroad in South Africa. Having left vuvuzelas and rabid drunken soccer fans behind, it’s time to focus on the season ahead: and that means football.

The Ivy League held its annual football media day on Tuesday, and, once again, Harvard is tabbed to finish on top. It’s the Crimson’s fourth such honor in the last five seasons, but although the squad got the lion’s share of the first-place votes (10 out of 17), it only finished four points ahead of predicted runner-up Penn, the defending Ancient Eight champions.

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