UA'08

2 minutes ago, UA1882 said:

We need to give the new coach a chance.  I look forward to seeing what they can do. Will Brown was a good coach that was here a long time. 

I truly look forward to the new staff to see what they can bring.  I also agree that this hire with forever tie Benson and the new coach together.  

Based on some of the post the new coach is screwed before he even comes in haha.

1 hour ago, Clickclack said:

 

Will be interesting to see where he lands. Best of luck as there will be no doubt new blood coming in.

37 minutes ago, blorp said:

None of those things have been "cancelled". You can still buy Mr Potato Head, you can still buy Dr Seuss books including those six that they recently decided to stop publishing because they contain racist and offensive stereotypes. Every library in the country has a copy of Huck Finn.

 

You're mad about manufactured controversies and it makes you look like Chicken Little

I’ll admit I used to have that mindset, but in the end you take a step back and say is this really going to effect me, most likely not! The term cancel culture is so beyond ridiculous. 

3 hours ago, Michigan_Dane said:

Cancel culture

 

Colonial Quad is next.  It’ll change to murderous imperial colonizer quad.

What happens when the number of people who hate this country outnumber those who love it?  I guess we’ll find out.  
 

I’ve applied for French citizenship so I have an escape hatch to an EU country... maybe there is a country where the citizens are still patriotic?

Can ask the Thompson’s brothers think about the name change of Indian Quad. Or better yet the current natives on our lax team 🤷‍♂️
 

24 minutes ago, DanesRGood said:

He said, “We’re going to leave the compensation package, generally, where it is,” Benson said. 

True, but as others said Benson shouldn’t be trusted either lol. He used the word generally which can easily mean incentives all over the place in the contract which Brown no longer had. It’s also not on the smart side to tell the media directly that they’re going to go on the cheaper side for a new coach as you want to get as much interest possible.

19 minutes ago, cwdickens said:

A good chance that you are correct, Benson is smoke screening the fact he has predetermined the outcome by saying what he is not actual doing....  the fact he is not using a national search service is interesting.... particularly when you want to get this right .... 

Or the budget is depleted as to why they aren’t and can’t pay a $400k a year for a coach.

12 hours ago, GreatDanes06 said:

Vermont has 3 title in the last decade...only one other program has 3. All those regular season titles mean nothing to me as an AE school unless you make the dance. When you can't get over the hump with "power house" squads, you need to move on. Many schools and professional teams do that.

It might not mean anything to you, but It means consistency. Regular seasons going 9-7 or 10-6 finishing in 4th place isn’t going to bring people into the stands or excitement year after year. 14/15 and 15/16 seasons were the most packed its ever been. It’s because they finished 15-1 and 13-3 respectively and not because they went to the tournament going 9-7 two previous years. 
 

They’ve wiped the year by year statistics on the athletics website, but they were no doubt were averaging 3600+ close to leading the conference in attendance in 14/15 and 15/16.

I was wrong about the 3600+. Closer to 3200. Pulled the attendance numbers from the ncaa website. This just goes to my point that regular season definitely does matter in bringing fans into the building.

14-15 3390

He no doubt caught a bad break with this Covid season. I would have liked to see him get another chance, but at what cost? Did he deserve the same pay? How long would you have extended him and if you did and his teams performed the same would it then be ok to part ways?

1 hour ago, Eli said:

It's ridiculous because they could have picked literally ANY other word but they picked one that half of the native English (read: 'Muricans) speakers I know can't even say properly.

  

This.

Iroquois would have been a good option. Hell, call it Smith, Johnson, JimBob...anything...but that choice? Dumb and ridiculous.

Mohawk Tower or Senaca Hall at Smith/Johnson Quad will go over real well lol.

Guess now is a good time for half of those ‘muricans to learn how to pronounce it properly 

7 minutes ago, reeder said:

Cam Healy is transferring

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL8F4-6ps-a/?igshid=j8wyf627f7xy

Posted to the transfers thread yesterday. Wish him the best. Hopefully he gets to play D1 somewhere else. To bring back up the topic of eligibility, it says he’s got 1 year left, but as the other UA said he’s technically got 2. Still puzzled on the eligibility 

32 minutes ago, cwdickens said:

I cannot believe someone does not know TK1 ...... likely not Instagram person .... that  said UA08 .... see you down the road

Lol. I do follow him and his handle is not TK1. So sorry did not know he was on the status of just a 3 character abbreviation. 
 

I do remember he had to sit out a few games with eligibility issues, but what was there something publicly said by Benson on that situation?

10 hours ago, JonUA97 said:

I've been dormant here for quite a while, I must say that I'm not thrilled about this at all but I know that WB will land on his feet.

This however is the last straw for me with MB.  I feel like he never made an effort with middle donors and that we were taken for granted as "loyal fans" but our pockets were not deep enough for him.  Sad thing is that many members of the Sec 600 crew are now in the position to be giving at a higher level and we are probably going to balk at it.  

His public lashing of SM over the TK1 Insta fiasco where he was "compelled to publicly repudiate" SM's statement about the NCAA Monopoly showed what he is about.  Matter could have easily been dealt with SM releasing an apology statement that says he was acting rashly and responding emotionally and discussed the matter with internal UA staff.  Instead MB grandstanded instead of standing my Marr.  FOH MB, low class move. 

So for me this was a dead issue a long time ago, but this gong show just solidified it for me and most of 600 crew, We will continue to support teams but it will be limited to one or two hoops games a year and Lax when my kids aren't playing at their respective schools.

TK1?

3 minutes ago, UA1882 said:

Yes.  He has 2 years left.  

So kellen Taylor and chuck champion who were both already grad transfers have another year? 

If this is the case D1 basketball is going to have an abundance of players and I don’t think there will be a problem with filling out a respectable roster by whoever the coach is.

12 minutes ago, dane85 said:

What were his injuries this year? He seemed to be a shell of the player he was when he joined the program (and we had huge expectations for him). He looked to be playing at about 50-60%. If he can get back to his capabilities, he could be a good role player at a nice program. I assumed he would depart. The guys that transferred in this past year may hopefully take a “wait and see” approach.

So does he have 2 years left? I asked earlier and was told every one is basically playing on a free year of eligibility this season?

9 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

Who cares, it's a feelings place, let everyone feel and get into their emotions! 

And it’s also a place to read what other people are feeling! 😂 
Never said anyone can’t post their feelings!

6 minutes ago, GreatDanes06 said:

Healy out...weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Please do share how this weeeeeeeeeeeee should be interpreted 
 

I don’t know if the lack of real season had anything to with it, but I found interesting he was not asked once about his future until this past weekend by whatever media there is.

Biggest need I want to see filled is a staff that knows how to recruit. Clearly the recruiting has been a mess for years. Defenders of the staff will point to facilities and a lack of resources, which may be part of it, but I don’t buy it is the reason this team has been mediocre at best.

1 hour ago, McFan said:

I struggle to think he would be gone if we won the AE Tourney. Anything short of that may have been predetermined but also may have been appropriate depending on your point of view.

I’d think the tone to the end of the book would be different for sure.

8 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

Benson upped that contracted through girded teeth, will was coming of back to back to back...lol. This change has been years in the making. 

It came off a 1st round quarterfinal loss to Hartford at home, but yes he probably had no other choice extend him. If he would have gotten to a couple more finals within those 5-6 years I think the story changes, but too bad one will ever know. 

A question I have is does Benson have full autonomy over all the athletic department decisions? 

5 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

I don't see how you can separate the two considering Will never really had a chance. Come hell or high water, Benson was moving on. Let's not pretend that isn't the case. 

I’m not disagreeing with that at all. I’m all for discussing separately the examples of how he’s done a $iena job and they should definitely be highlighted.
 

Brown re-upped for 5 years under Benson so I wouldn’t necessarily say he never stood a chance. Odds were against him, but it’s not that he didn’t have a chance.

12 minutes ago, MRSGDG said:

Regardless if someone had a coach/fan/donor relationship, there are people that have Benson/fan/donor relationships that have be scorched over the years. I think you keep missing that part. But again whatever I'm over trying justify facts. 

And if Benson had a change of heart and decided to resign him the narrative is completely changed. It would be perfectly fine for Brown to accept a new contract and we’d hear no complaints from you.
 

Benson being a terrible AD (whether true or not) should have been a completely different topic on its own unrelated to whether Brown was brought back or not.

1 minute ago, MRSGDG said:

 

 

Idk what that even means, but I’ll pass.

FYI I’ve also declared my interest for the job lol.

How much are top assistants making at high majors? If the budget is still there I don’t see how this is not an attractive job to any hungry head coach. I don’t care how much of a dump SEFCU is.

12 minutes ago, Dane Pound said:

A solid No to this. The 5th place finish this year was not a result of coaching or players. It was at the whim of the AE conference schedule makers.

The lousy part of this decision is that whatever issues I've had with recruiting in the past couple of seasons, they seemed to figure it out this year. Horton, Kelly, Champion and Doles were all good recruits. On paper, we would have had a lot of talent returning next year.

Funny the way the arguments have gone. It seems like the alumni/fans furthest from Albany are mostly "OK" with the coaching change. While the alumni/fans closest to Albany aren't OK with it. The hard part for Benson and the Admins is that it's the people closest to Albany that go to games, etc.

 

No doubt Brown was dealt a tough hand with a mess of a season. If there was no pandemic and he went out and brought them to another NCAA tournament and decided to take a job elsewhere would we hear all this trashing of Benson come out now? Apparently they live across the street from each other. Should be an interesting next couple of months.

I’m also absolutely tired of hearing we have talent on paper for next year over and over.

Those that want to now turn in their new UA under Armour gear they’ve purchased this year after today’s news I’ll gladly take it! 😂