Dane Pound

Playing those stinking Big East schools is really bringing our ranking down

Right now there are a lot of other places I'd rather see that money go. Until all our programs are well funded (i.e. football scholarships) I don't think UA will be starting any new ventures in hockey. I had a roomate on the Albany Club hockey team so I saw alot of those games when I was there. If you really want to see some hockey. They used to play $iena and some other local schools.

This is from Rivals so you can take it with a grain of salt. They're saying Albany has offered Mike Moberg a 6'9, 220 lb center from Minnesota. He has another offer from Niagara and is supposedly getting interest from Minnesota, Missouri and Oregon.

Welcome, I'm glad you found us. If you have any questions about how the board works feel free to email me at danefan1@localnet.com I look forward to seeing you post and hope you enjoy the board.

Here's the latest volleyball update email from Coach Sheffield: Hello Friends, Family, and Alumni of UAlbany Volleyball! UAlbany Volleyball had another great week as we closed out our non-conference schedule with a win at Syracuse and a home win against Iona. The Syracuse win represented another win against a regionally ranked team and a 3-0 sweep against teams from the Big East conference. This match was a battle from the beginning as Syracuse jumped out to a 27-18 lead in game one. The team continued to fight and made a great comeback to win game one 34-32. The 15-12 win in game 5 marked the first ever UAlbany win over Syracuse and only the fourth loss the home team has had in that gym in the last three years. Here's what senior setter, Jill Dombrowski, had to say about the match: "It was incredible going into Syracuse as the underdog and beating them on their home court for the first time in our program's history. Things are really turning around for this program. It's going to be amazing to see how far this team will go, not only this year, but I feel we'll be a powerhouse in years to come. Although Syracuse was a HUGE win and confidence booster for our team, our main focus is to win the conference. This was a stepping stone, and we're all still hungry to win a conference championship on our home court." On Friday night, we played our third home match of the season against Iona. The team played well all night and dominated the match in three. The match marked the first collegiate start for freshman Ashley Crenshaw, who had three kills and a couple of blocks. Setters Blair Buchanan and Jill Dombrowski did a terrific job running the offense. The .384 hitting percentage marked the fifth time (and third home match) that the team hit over .300. Outside hitters, sophomore Ashley DeNeal (18 kills, .359 hitting %), and sophomore Shelby Goldman (13 kills, .480 hitting %) were particularly effective. Junior Eileen Nicole Rodriguez continues her pursuit towards the NCAA record books. Her four aces last week leaves her 19 away. At her current pace, this should happen sometime in the next couple of weeks. To follow the countdown if you are unable to attend the matches, feel free to check the UAlbany web-site at www.albany.edu/sports or the newly formed UAlbany fan web-site at www.bigpurplefans.com. The week also saw Buchanan rack up her second conference setter of the week award. I'd like to thank everyone who has come out and supported us. Each home match has seen an increase in attendance and has made it a difficult place for opponents to come in and play. Hopefully that trend will continue as we start conference play this week. Tues. BINGHAMTON 7:00pm Fri. @ Hartford 7:00pm Sat. @ Northeastern 7:00 pm As always, we look forward to seeing you in the stands! Thanks for your support! GO DANES!!! Kelly Sheffield UAlbany Volleyball

I agree with you Ruler about Bazan, he is really starting to come around. I'm looking forward to seeing Mike Wall play for the next four years, he had another good game yesterday. There are nice comments about Albany football on the Lehigh board. Some classy fans over there. Despite starting 1-4 I think the schedule works out well. We start off conference play with 2 of the weaker NEC teams this year (Sacred Heart and St. Francis) with the team hungry for wins and a chance for a confidence boost. I'm not sure how easy it is to get games with Patriot League teams but I'd like to see more in the future. If we ever went into the season with an experienced QB I think we could be pretty competitive with midlevel PL teams. I should have known I was giving Stony Brook the kiss of death when I said how good they were before the season started. They lost to Robert Morris yesterday and have 2 league losses. A pretty big hole to dig out of. They look like a team that shouldn't have scheduled up with two conference road games to start their schedule and against two tough teams.

I wasn't in Albany during the Patroons heyday so I'm not sure what happend to make them so popular and then move. I do know they had the best season in CBA history which is likely to draw big crowds. I'm with the rest of you that this idea seems uninspired. Alot of money to renovate a place they're unlikely to fill with people and events that could just as well be held in other places. The local landscape is much different that the last time it was open. The whole thing seems to be fueled more by nostalga than pragmatism. I think enough of these very mobile semi-pro teams have come through town to leave people jaded. If you're a basketball fan you know Siena College and UAlbany aren't going anywhere but you never know where one of the CBA teams will be in five years. I can't see people giving up the local teams.

Lehigh likes Borda's improvement-The Morning Call.

It was on the AE site. It's nice of them to make stuff like that for us.

3 more last night against Iona. Magic number is now 20.

Cross Country and football are only about 1/3 of the way through their schedules so I left them off for now. The rest of the sports are just about done with their OOC schedudes and heading into conference play.

Lots of credit to Dane96 and the people at the TU for listening to their readers. Both of those are terrific stories and I think the first column on UA in quite a while. Great to have the volleyball story on the day of a game.

By all means, let everyone read it. BTW, UNH lost to Boston College last night in four games in volleyball. They've also lost to Temple, both teams Albany has beaten. I realize UNH has played a tough schedule but it looks more like NU is the team to beat this year (if Albany isn't).

Story in today's TU about James Thomas about to sign a contract with the Spurs. Spurs, Thomas nearing a deal-TU

It probably goes without saying but she is #1 in the country (again) in aces and Albany is 9th as a team. I almost spit out my morning coffee yesterday when I read about $iena getting its volleyball games televised on Time Warner. Not really a anti-Siena thing, just that it would be a great thing for Albany to get involved with.

I didn't intend it as a trick question but it certainly is tricky. I'm pretty sure you're right no other school has the 700/200 combination of coaches with all the wins coming at that school. That's a pretty nice distinction. In the question I said one other school because I'm pretty sure Fresno State is the only other school where the coaches obtained their 700th win and 200th win. I'm not sure about Sweeny but Tarakanian certainly had wins at other schools. The other schools you mentioned have had 700 win BB coaches and 200 win FB coaches pass through but didn't get their milestone wins there. You can certainly count them too. Alumni92- I hope to drag you out of retirement again next week.

Thanks for posting the letter Alum73. I should have probably done that this morning after mentioning it. I don't know that it will catch on with other coaches but it's a terrific idea. Kind of disappointing. The new "Pablo" rankings on the Kern site came out and while winning 9 of 10 Albany actually dropped 9 spots from last week to 105 from 96.

Doc Sauers is in the 700 win club for basketball and Bob Ford is in the 200 win club for football. According to my shoddy research there is only one other school that's had a basketball coach with over 700 wins and a football coach with over 200. Can you name the school?

Colin Disch went from rookie of the week last week to player of the week this week. Blair Buchannan was setter of the week in Volleyball and Kristen Holder was rookie of the week in Field Hockey. I also got an email yesterday from Volleyball Coach Kelly Sheffield. I'm not sure how often he does it but he sent out out an update on the team so far this season and what he expects over the next couple of week. Really a nice idea to show some insight from the coaches to the fans.

Just looking at the composite scoreboard and Field Hockey beat Providence yesterday. That makes UA 3-1 against Big East teams last week. Men's soccer over Syracuse, Volleyball over Boston College and FH over Providence. Only loss was women's soccer against Syracuse. Volleyball has a shot at another win when they play Syracuse this week.

I was discussing my lack of knowledge of the libero at last weeks $iena game so I decided to look it up. It pretty much seems that you can designate a server who you can sub into the backline to serve at any time but there has to be a rally in between libero substitutions. If you're having trouble sleeping I suggest you read the full NCAA rule. The Libero Player ARTICLE 5. One libero player may be designated for each game by indicating that player’s number on the lineup sheet for that game. If a libero is not listed on the lineup sheet for a game, the team may not use a libero in that game. The libero may be designated as the playing captain. a. Playing actions: 1. The libero is restricted to perform as a back-row player, and is not allowed to complete an attack hit from anywhere (including the playing court and free zone) if, at the moment of contact, the ball is entirely above the top of the net. (See Rule 13-5-1 and Signal 24.) 2. The libero may not block or attempt to block. (See Rule 13-6-1.) 3. In one rotation, the libero may replace the player in position No. 1 to serve. (See Rule 10-2-1.) 4. Ateammate may not complete an attack-hit when, at the moment of the attack-hit, the ball is entirely above the top of the net and the ball is coming from an overhand finger pass by a libero in the front zone or the opponent’s free zone. (See Signal 24, Official’s Mechanics, then indicate the libero.) The ball may be freely attacked if the libero makes the same action from behind the front zone. If airborne, the libero's position is judged according to the point of last contact with her team's court. b. Libero replacements: 1. The libero is allowed to replace any player in a back-row position. 2. Replacements involving the libero are not counted as substitutions, and are unlimited. There must be at least one rally between two libero replacements, unless the libero is replacing the player in posi-tion No. 1 and will serve the next rally. The libero can only be replaced by the player whom she replaced. An incorrect libero replacement is sanctioned with a team delay if the officials identify and correct the situation prior to the next service contact. If identified after service contact, a position fault results. 3. Replacements can only take place after the end of a rally or at the start of each game after the second referee has verified the starting lineup. The replacement must occur while the ball is out of play and before the authorization for service. A replacement made after the authorization for service but before service contact will not be rejected, but a verbal warning will beissued. Subsequent late replacements in the match will result in a team delay sanction. 4. A libero and the player replaced by the libero must enter or leave the court only by the sideline in front of their team bench between the attack line and the end line. Exception: In one rotation, the libero can replace the player in position No. 1 and serve the next rally even if she is already on the court in replacement of another player. In this situation, the libero does not have to exit the court before replacing the player in position No. 1. c. The libero must wear a uniform shirt or jersey that is immediately rec-ognized from all angles as being in clear contrast to and distinct from the other members of the team. The primary color of the libero’s jer-sey/ shirt must be different from any color that appears on more than 25 percent of the body of her teammate’s jerseys. In determining the body of the uniforms, the sleeves and collar should be ignored. The libero uniform must have a legal number. (See Rule 7-1-2.) The style and trim of the libero’s shirt or jersey may differ from her teammates’, but her shorts must be identical to her teammates’. d. If the libero is injured and cannot continue play, she must first be replaced by the player whom she replaced. Then, a new libero may be redesignated using the following criteria: 1. Redesignation does not need to occur immediately after the injury and replacement, but may occur at the discretion of the coach(es)/captain. 2. When redesignation does occur, any substitute may be redesignated as libero for the injured libero. The injured libero may not play in the remainder of that game. 3. The player redesignated as libero must wear a libero uniform as described in Rule 11-2-5-c and must remain the libero for the rest of the game. The redesignated libero’s uniform must have a unique number (not worn by any teammate), but not necessarily the same number with which the player started the match. e. The libero may be used as an exceptional substitution for another injured player if no other possible substitutes exist. When no longer playing as a libero, that player must wear the same uniform as her teammates, and the team continues play with no libero. f. The libero may not be used as a substitute for an expelled or disquali-fied teammate. If no legal substitute is available for an expelled or dis-qualified teammate, that team will be declared incomplete and will default the game or match, as appropriate. (See Rule 8-5-2-b.) g. If the libero is expelled or disqualified while playing, she must be replaced by the player whom she replaced. The team continues play with no libero player.

This is really like those days in the spring when several sports would have big wins on the same day. Awesome win for soccer. UMBC had been the highest rated (60s) in the conference. I can't imagine what the AE coaches were thinking ranking them ninth. Nice win over BC and Brown to get Albany's second tournament title this fall.

Great win! I had company today so I had to sneak away a few times to catch the game on the radio. Passing game is still uninspiring but who cares, a win is a win. Stony Brook beat Monmouth soundly today 27-0. Albany and CCSU (who beat Wagner) are the only two teams without a conference loss and it's only 2 or 3 games into conference play. Looks like the conference is going to be a real dogfight.

Hopefully I didn't leave anyone out.

Prior to the Syracuse win, men's soccer was ranked #115 by college soccer ratings.com. Considering BingU is ranked in some polls they have them at #90 with UMBC ranked the highest at 69.