Coach and the Mad Dog

[statefan]

There was an interesting segment on this morning's Vandenburgh show. Vandenburgh had his two Siena lawyers buddies, Sal Ferlazzo and James Girvin on. They were talking about Tuesday when Vandenburgh and the Mike & the Mad Dog show were live from UAlbany and Vandenburgh was talking up Chris Russo, what a great guy he is, etc. Vandenburgh then related that towards the end of the show, Will Brown had Brian DePasquale ask Russo if Russo would want to play tennis after the show, and Russo and Coach wound up playing tennis til 8:15 or so. They commented what a smart move it was by Will Brown. Vandenburgh then commented that its clear the athletic administrators at UAlbany don't like Will Brown and cited the one year extension as an example. Girvin called it basically severance pay. One of them then commented that Brown had done a smart thing reaching out to Russo because they'd likely put him on their radio show a couple of times this year and it will help Brown get a better job in the future.

 

Then they began discussing how UAlbany should win the league and how the pressure is on Brown to do so. They talked about Zoellner and how good he was against Siena last year, and at the end of the segment one of them (remember all loyal Siena grads and boosters) said the Albany should beat Siena by at least thirty this year and they all laughed in agreement.

[UA66]

In reference to the comment by the 2 Siena boosters about UA Athletic adminstration and Will Brown, it seems to me that this is more wishful thinking on their part than factual information. The only evidence that they gave is the one year extension of Brown's contract. That's pretty slim. If anything, it says to me that this administration which was burned before is being cautious. Clearly, Will Brown is a great recruiter and has brought in some outstanding athletes but he is only now on the brink of proving that his coaching abilities will yield the results that we all have anticipated. I believe that this is the year that it will all come together for him. Keep in mind that he had a lot to overcome with the mess that Beeton left. Also, Will is still one of the youngest D1 coaches in the country and is still learning and will make mistakes along the way. I believe that Dr. McElroy knows that.

[pool man]

Sad thing is everybody but McElroy knows Brown has done a good job. McElroy hired Beeten. How quickly he forgets. Is it Browns fault that Albany has been paying Beeten forever and that McElroy made a mistake with Beeten. Is it Browns fault that the program was left in shambles and resembled a div 3 program. You would think McElroy would support Brown since he screwed up the first hire.

 

Albany went from last to 4th. Hopefully the new president Kermit Hall understands where the program was. Apparently he does with the recent positive comments he has made. Regardless of what McElroy thinks Kermit Hall should ultimately decide to take care of Brown.

 

Brown has never had a healthy team. If he has one this year watch out. I sense alot of excitement surrounding the program. Everybody has seen the progress first hand. Let's hope the A.D. takes off the blinders and sees what everybody else sees.

 

I hope the Danes win it all!

[A Dane Fan]

Amen Pool Man!