bob87

It is much more likely that another Siena player or 2 will transfer out of Siena between now and the December game than it is that any Siena player will get a triple double in that game.

That's a good one I'll root for Siena to be Sucessful when Siena Tony shows some class!!

Look, I like to make fun of Siena as much as anyone, but I only root for our teams to make the NCAA's. I don't care if Siena never makes the NCAA's again. Frankly Siena games are more entertaining to me when they are down by 20 and their fans are turning on them and leaving the building.

05-06 RPI Bucknell - 42 VCU - 81 St. Joe's - 43 Stanford - 86 Where's that big Pepsi Arena (I mean TUC) advantage? 15144[/snapback] You're kidding me right?? Are you really going to compare hosting a Patriot League Team with a perrenial power from the Pac-10??? BTW, Siena will be hosting Hofstraa this year; a team that had an RPI of 30 and beat George Mason twice last year. Knowledge is a good thing. Keep reading the Siena board!! 15151[/snapback] Yeah, You are right there is no comparison. Bucknell beat Arkansas and Kansas in the last 2 NCAA tournaments. Stanford beat no one in the last 2 ncaa tournaments although they beat Virginia in the NIT. Great, Hofstra had an RPI of 30. Obviously a misleading number since they did not make the tournament. The 34 best at large teams are selected so if RPI was really a good gauge of a teams strength the top 34 RPI teams who did not get auto bids would be the 34 at large selections in the NCAA. Also good for you that you are playing Hofstra so that you don't have to play NJIT twice at home.

Again, so what. Bucknell is clearly a more respected opponent than Loudonville high plus it is a home game for us not a road game like Loundonville high.

Poolman , you put it better than I could. But even if Bucknell lost all thier starters, Bucknell would be a more respected oppenent than Loundonville High!!!

To answer your question on expectations. I expect we will have another exciting season and will contend for another NCAA berth. Obviously 1 thing that makes college sports great are that they are hard to predict. And sometimes teams that suck all season make the tournament with a hot streak like the 02 Saints BB team and other times teams that play well all season get a key injury at the wrong time and suffer like the 05 Danes W Volleyball team. But, that being said I like UA basketball teams chances to make the tournament because I know how hard the coaches and players worked last season to improve and I expect that to continue.

Sounds like bob87's made a schedule to get his Varsity Club's dues worth in one day - although he'll probably have done that before Homecoming anyway. 15096[/snapback] Sound like a plan. Always like more than 1 game on a Saturday and could always start at noon watching a game on the TV at the Pub. Also I am rooting for The Syracuse-Wyoming game on 9/30 to start at noon so I can see a Wyoming team I never seen play before seeing the Albany at Cornell game at 7 PM. I have given up my Cuse football tixs so that I will miss fewer of our football games, but still want to see Iowa and Wyoming this season at the cuse.

I wonder if Coach McCaffrey and the Siena administration will stick with this decision. I'm sure it will spread through the NYC area quickly and I wonder if it will affect further recruiting in that area? If a kid wants out of a program I think he should be let go - if you think someone tampered - report them to the NCAA and give the kid a conditional release ( a release that will allow him to leave but not allow him to sign with certain school or schools). I'm sure Kojo will ultimately get a release if he presses the issue if it is really not that important to him he'll stay and be a great player for the Saints. 15038[/snapback] That does seem to be standard operating procedure over there. They did the same thing last year with the kid that wanted to go to Miami before they ultimately let him transfer. I agree that it would seem to be the "lesser or the 2 evils" from their standpoint to just let him transfer as compared to making a player who wants to leave stay. Can we say disgruntled player. And I love all the talk out of the Siena camp that by leaving that means he is getting bad advice. Maybe the bad advice he received was to go to Siena in the first place. He had to know there was a good chance the coach who recruited him wasn't going to be there for 4 years. It has been quite some time since Siena has had the same coach for more than 4 or 5 years

Incorrect, I am not a Yankee Fan. I am a Met fan who has a Mr. Met pin on one of my many Albany hats and I have worn my UA shirts to many Met games. In addition I posted the following on Siena OOC schedule thread on June 4th. "Except The Yankees have what 26 World championships and Siena has how many. and if we are talking league championships the Yankees have 39 to Siena's 3. The only similarity Siena has with the Yankees is the arrogance of some of the fans. Given the number of championships the Yankees have won you could almost understand it in their case." When I say that Siena and the Yankees have nothing in common, I am talking about the historical success of the team. The Yankees have by far the most AL championships. In the time Siena is in the MAAC, Siena has by far the most MAAC Championships. I think NOT. They are behind at least 2 MAAC schools in NCAA appearances. And it is not like Siena dominated the league they were in before the MAAC. The league now known as America East. Personally, I love it that the Yankees have not won this century and I think as a Met and UA fan, I appreciate the success of my team more than a Siena or Yankee fan with that sense of entitlement does. But, I have to give the Yankees credit for the championships they have bought. Lastly I guess you missed my quote on the news after the AE championship game when I said something to the effect that UA's first basketball NCAA appearance felt like the Giants winning the superbowl and the Mets winning the World Series all rolled into one.

To be fair Siena/Yankees should have more success. They've been around longer for one (Siena to UA in D1) and lets face it Siena/Yankees have more advantages Yankees in payroll, Siena in arena/media/tradition. MTS This is where I disagree with you. I don't see Siena's half empty arena as all that much of a factor. To continue in a baseball analogy, I see the Knick for Siena like the old municipal stadium in Cleveland. Way to big in most instances. In Cleveland's case except when the Yankees come to town. In Siena's case except when Albany or a major BSC team like Syracuse comes to town. Like Cleveland, it is my opinion that Siena would be better served with an on campus arena that seats maybe 7 or 8 thousand. Also, while you have been D1 longer, Albany has a good tradition at D3 and has made great strides in D1 in a short time. As far as your media advantage, that has already started to change or did you not watch March madness. The coverage was everywhere. Point is Albany success this past March awoke the media that there is a another team deserving coverage. If Albany continues to win, the coverage is not going to go away. And like you mention the coverage of UA football, plus many of our other teams being worthy of coverage can only help Albany. Good day

Thanks for your post. I guess we will also see if 17 or 18 are also random numbers. As far as KnickSaint, Patch's post looks right on the money to me. What made you think that beating Albany was a lay-up. I guessed you missed how much UA grew over the last season, UA's returning players and recruits. Even when we stunk(won less than 10 games) and you were good we usually played you tough on your home court. I would expect even if Siena were to upset Albany that it would be a tough fought game. But, it is your Yankees-Siena, Mets-Albany comparisons that I disagree with most. No matter how you try to rationalize it .While it works on the level that UA is new to D1 and earned success quickly like the Mets, it doesn't work for a number of reasons. 1) Siena doesn't have a storied history like the Yankees like I pointed out in a previous post. UA history while not D1 is quite impressive as other posters can point out better than I. 2) Siena will not always have an edge in town like the Yankees do. Albany is a much bigger school and the state school. All it will take is a little more growth in alumni and student support and Siena will be passed by for good. Will it happen in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years , I don't know but it will happen. The strides UA made in the last few years (especially this year) has truly been amazing IMHO and I for one am very excited about the plans for the future especially the football stadium hopefully in the next 5 to 10 years.

And MTS especially cracks ne up. He said that losing kojo would make "Siena dropped from 22 wins to about 17 or 18. No way around it, this is a horrible loss to take." I am still not sure how they went from 15 wins last season to 22 in the offseason . But I suppose it could have been the addition of Duell or the fact that just about every other game next season is against NJIT. Then there was the post here comparing Siena to the Yankees and the Great Danes to the Mets. BTW , have the Mets even lost a game since MTS compared them to UA. I know they will lose soon but you can't complain about the lead they have now in the standings.

I think the TU has decided that they would rather spend money to name the Arena the River Rats play in than give better coverage to sports such as the River Rats, The Great Danes and the Valley Cats. I hope I am wrong, but I would be surprised if I am.

Also , don't forget any improvements to the RAAC can only help are chances of hosting the AE tournament in the future.

More info from the Alum association on the Valley Cat game honoring the Great Danes basketball team. http://www.albany.edu/main/newsatualbany/n...banyjune06.html Tri-City ValleyCats to Honor UAlbany Men's Basketball Team Time for peanuts, cracker jacks and you know ... baseball -- the UA Way! Come join UAlbany alumni at the Joe June 29 as the Tri-City ValleyCats honor the America East champion UAlbany men's basketball team. The entire championship team will be present before the game to sign autographs. Don't miss Coach Brown as he throws out the first pitch of the game against the Vermont Lake Monsters at 7 p.m. Tickets are $6.50 for Alumni Association members/$7 for nonmembers. Register online or call (518) 442-3080.

14973[/snapback] What are you talking about? I made at least three posts over there on how Albany is dragging down the appeal of our OOC schedule. :-) JG 14978[/snapback] Well I suppose Siena could always offer to buyout the Albany game so Siena could add yet another game with NJIT.

When I bought my season tix about a month ago, I asked how many are still available, and was told that a couple more hundred (something like 200-300) were still available. No idea how many they sold since I talked to them about a month ago……but I got mine! 14984[/snapback] Not sure how you could even know at this time how many are technically sold. I mean you have until June 30th to renew at last year's prices. I have not renewed mine yet, but Rob Knows I will be calling him sometime after June 15th for my basketball and football renewals. So would mine tixs even count as sold at this point or not until paid. Would hope the schedule is released before payment is due, so I can have Rob sell me whichever road games he can sell.

[ I see your point about the irony. I see Patch's points too except for the derogatory Siena comment. However, perhaps you can take the "compliments" at face value instead of trying to incite a negative connatation. Just a thought. The more you win the more compliments you will get, so you might as well get used to them. JG 14983[/snapback] As anyone who read the papers (I mean real papers not just the Siena Times Union) in March knows there were plenty of compliments for Albany both before and after the tournament. Actually compliments have come from virtually everywhere except Siena fans. Thus daneguy04 post is a good one. As recently as last week some of your posters were still negatively posting regarding contributions Albany players made in the season and the UCONN game on your board. As for the derogatory Siena comment by Patch, he's right. However, I think you guys bring that to yourselves by comparing yourselves to the Yankees and talking about all the advantages Siena has in the MAAC without actually dominating the MAAC the way the Yankees have dominated the AL. Or do you think MTS is the only one doing that.

Except The Yankees have what 26 World championships and Siena has how many. and if we are talking league championships the Yankees have 39 to Siena's 3. The only similarity Siena has with the Yankees is the arrogance of some of the fans. Given the number of championships the Yankees have won you could almost understand it in their case.

I have seen a few people tailgating there before. I try to tailgate at Building G (country Grove) before games.

I don't understand this dwelling on the results of an OT game in November. How can anyone still care about November after the conference tournament and the NCAA. Is there another team in the nation that made the tournament that worries about a loss to a crap team in November. I am sure every team that made the tournament lost to at least one team they should haven beaten. Sure it sucked to lose to loundonville, but March made that a moot point at least to me!

Jon You are correct, I should have said Siena has sucked as D1 for 30 years!!

This is a copy of the email received today. Tri-City ValleyCats to Honor UAlbany Men’s Basketball Team June 29 Coach Will Brown Set to Throw out First Pitch The 2006 America East Champs and NCAA Tournament UAlbany Men’s Basketball Team will be honored at the Thursday, June 29 Tri-City ValleyCats game against the Vermont Lake Monsters at 7. The entire championship team will be present at the game signing autographs as well as Coach Brown throwing out the honorary first pitch. Coming only six minutes shy of pulling off the greatest upset in NCAA Tournament history against #1 seeded UConn, the Great Danes instituted a great deal of pride in what was the start of a promising future for UAlbany Basketball. America East player of the year Jamar Wilson, all-conference forward Brent Wilson and guards Brian Lillis, Jon Iati, Jason Siggers and the rest of the stars who sparked the entire UA community will be at Joe Bruno Stadium for this event. Fans can expect plenty of entertainment this game. Besides the Great Danes and a possible UA mascot appearance, the Blues Brothers Entertainment Act will be all over the stadium during the game performing their hilarious routines mocking the classic movie. Tickets are available now by calling 518-629-CATS (2287), on our website at www.tcvalleycats.com, or stopping by the box office at Joe Bruno Stadium (located on HVCC’s campus). The tickets range between $5-$8.50 and all parking is FREE. Come out to “The Joe” and cheer on your Great Danes.

We did not say that Siena played a weak schedule, but, on the other hand, Penn, Hofstra, and UMass are NOT Florida, UCLA, or UConn. UAlbany fans are very aware that we lost to the likes of Sacred Heart and other teams. Some Siena fans look only at those losses to judge our season. UAlbany fans are merely saying that our basketball program has made major progress in the last few years. Our progress is phenomenal since we have been in Division I only 7 years. Regarding our match this season, please don't make the mistake of overhyping the result. Yes, you won the game and the bragging rights that went with it, but you won the game in overtime after a controversial end of regulation on your home court. Your victory was NOT a convincing show of power. For your team, which has been in Division I for about 25 years, to win this narrow victory over us with our much shorter tenure in the upper Division I does not exactly show overwhelming superiority. It's like a 25-year old beating a 7-year old in a fist fight and then bragging about it. 14799[/snapback] Actually according to Siena Media guide Siena went D1 in 1976 so it is 30 years