reeder

UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT UNVEILS ONLINE TICKETING SYSTEM

Albany, N.Y. - Vice President and Director of Athletics Lee McElroy announced today that the University at Albany will now offer an online ticketing system through the department of athletics Web site (www.albany.edu/sports). UAlbany’s online ticketing will offer 24-hour access to account information, the ability to pay for individual game tickets online that can be picked up at will call on the day of the event, plus a feature for checking order status.

UAlbany individual football tickets and parking are now on sale through the online system. Football ticket prices are: $8.00, reserved; $6.00, adult general admission; $1.00, children general admission. A season football parking pass for the Recreation and Convocation Center lot is priced at $15.00.

Clearly, I don't think anyone should cheat, but I bet that most of the elite basketball programs in NYC cannot claim that 81% of their kids come from their school districts (especially the Catholic Schools)

I will be looking for revenge against Siena.

I know a lot of people feel that way, but I think it's tough to put so much into a non conference game early in the season.

I remember reading a quote from Brown and Iati saying that the Siena lost was devastating because the players read the bulletin boards and they felt like they let everyone down. It went on to say that it took them a long time to recover.

I know the game is important, but I wouldn't want a loss to shake their confidence.

I think this years team will be good, but it might take them a little time to pull things together. IMO the team took a long time to come together last year, I am sure that some of the challenge was related to players accepting new roles.

A few things to remember about last year:

1. They played well in Gainesville but Jamar injured his groin and then he struggled for a good part of the OOC schedule.

2. Lu struggled for most of the season - he didn't really get going until just before the tournament.

3. There were a lot of unsung heroes - Siggers against Stony Brook (keeping UA in the game in the first half, Binghamton, Stony Brook, UMBC and BU at the BPG, Iati against UCLA and against UMBC, Levi against Utah Valley State. If these guys didn't step up, last year would have been a bit more challenging.

4. There were also several games where you wondered if anyone would step up. The first game against Vermont when Jamar singlehandedly kept Albany in the game. The game at BU when Brent and Zo had foul trouble and Covington was manhandled in the low post, the game at San Diego State which may have been the worst game that they played all season.

The good news is that this year, the roles might be better defined up front but it will still take time to gel.

I think that it may take some time to work through the rotation but I think they are very talented. Losing Levi and Lu is tough as they provided a lot of leadership. The big questions, IMO, are 1. Can the coaching staff manage this much talent, keeping the kids happy with their roles and finding the right mix. 2. Who is going to provide the toughness that Lu provided late last year and that Levi provided off the bench?

From coachwillbrown.com:

07.17.06: It has been a busy month of July. I was out on the road recruiting July 6-15. I made stops in Indianapolis, Louisville, and Augusta. My staff hit NYC, NJ, West Virginia, Kansas City, Arkansas, and Texas. We are not allowed back on the road until July 22nd and we will be heading to Las Vegas, Orlando, Tulsa, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and NJ. It never ends!

 

We are focusing on the 2008 recruiting class. We will have five scholarships to give in that class. We have completed our recruiting for the 2007 class and we are very excited about the future of the program!

 

Our schedule will not be released until after September 1. The America East Conference is trying to improve our television package and is in negotiation right now. They will not release the conference schedule until they settle on a television deal. Our non conference schedule is set and it will be a very challenging non conference schedule. One that will get us ready for America East Conference play.

 

I agree in theory - my issue is the funding. Not sure where it's coming from - maybe it's already there and this is a non-issue.

I don't to resurrect the conversations from last year, but I believe that UA is making this way too complicated. They can add turf and some stands opposite the PE building and have a nice facility. It won't be great - but it will be as good as any in the AE (except Stony Brook).

As for this season, the one team that makes me real nervous is vermont. I can see their point guard being as good as the one who played with coppenrath.

I don't know that Vermont is athletic enough - I do think they will be one of the top teams in the conference, but in the first game last year (as I recall), I believe that Vermont changed their lineup and that may have thrown Albany. I think Jamar singlehandedly kept UA in the game until he had foul trouble. That may have also been the game right after Brent hurt his wrist and missed almost every shot.

In the second and third games, I think Albany was just more athletic and UVM couldn't match it.

Albany will be more athletic this year with the addition of Ross and development of Siggers. Anything can happen in a game, but I believe that Albany has more talent.

Re: the point guard, I do think he's good, but it's way too early to compare him to Sorrentine (IMO). I also think that he is moving to the 2 as they are bringing in a new PG.

And their coach is as good as brown, if not better.

Not sure how you can draw that conclusion.

I just hope there isn't too much pressure on Gifford to produce too early. He will need to continue to develop - I hope Yocum, Covington, Brent... will bang him hard in practice.

I would guess in the 115 to 120 range. I don't know that Albany should be ranked any higher but from the media perspective, there has been a lot of exposure and the reigning POY is back so I would not be surprised at a high ranking but given that BU was 122 last year, I would think 115 to 120 is reasonable.

Packers: Campbell back in action

JASON WILDE

608-252-6176

jwilde@madison.com

GREEN BAY - No one will ever accuse Ted Thompson of being a softie.

The guy lasted 10 years in the NFL as an undrafted linebacker and special teams player, missing just one of 147 games due to injury. And as the Green Bay Packers' general manager, he has to make tough decisions all the time - from firing a coach to cutting a player - and can't get all touchy-feely about it.

So when you hear what Thompson has to say about Kurt Campbell, a 2005 seventh-round pick who missed all of last season with a knee injury, you know the kid must be something special.

"It's good to see him out there," Thompson said during a break in the Packers' organized team activity practices, which have marked Campbell's first on-field work since tearing the ACL in his right knee during an Aug. 1 training-camp practice. "He's just a bright young man that wants to be a player, and has worked diligently in rehab to get himself ready to go.

"He's a nice guy. He's one of those people from a character standpoint you want on your team."

So much so that the Packers drafted him, even though he was coming from a small school (Albany) and played the "rover" position (a linebacker-safety hybrid) after playing cornerback his first two college seasons. So much so that they kept him, even after his injury, while many other players injured in training camps throughout the league receive an injury settlement and are never heard from again.

"We liked what we saw," said Thompson, even though the Packers only had a handful of practices before Campbell went down. "There was a reason we picked him in the draft. Even though he was coming from a small school and played corner a lot of the time, he was a instinctive player. Some players, when you see where they're at (following an injury), there's reason not to keep them. It didn't make sense for us to do that (with Campbell)."

Still, Campbell, who'll turn 24 July 30 (two days into training camp), has his work cut out for him to make the Packers roster.

The team added linebackers A.J. Hawk (first round) and Abdul Hodge (third round) in the draft, signed veterans Ben Taylor (Cleveland) and Tracy White (Jacksonville) in free agency and still have holdovers Nick Barnett and Roy Manning. Plus, 2005 fourth-round pick Brady Poppinga is coming back from a torn ACL in his left knee suffered Dec. 11 and figures to open the season on the physically unable to perform list.

Campbell, though, isn't fazed. As he sat in the far back area of the locker room - filled with roster longshots and nicknamed "The Green Mile" - he massaged the "Blessed" tattoo on his right biceps and showed the kind of attitude Thompson must like so much.

"You've heard it a million times, but I'm going to go out there and work my (butt) off and God willing, it'll happen. If it's not supposed to happen, there's a lot of things I can do in life. But this is what I want to do," said Campbell, whose degree is in information science and policy and whose technological wizardry is well-known in the Packers' locker room.

"It's more competition, but the Packers have to do what's good for the Packers. I wouldn't expect them to say, 'We've got to wait for Kurt.' I just have to step my game up and prove that I'm worth it."

Partial Qualifier

A "partial qualifier" is eligible to practice with the team at its home facility and receive an athletics scholarship during his or her first year at a Division I school and then has three (3) seasons of competition remaining.

 

A partial qualifier may earn a fourth year of competition, provided that at the beginning of the fifth academic year following the student-athlete's initial, full-time collegiate enrollment, the student-athlete has received a baccalaureate degree.

In order to be considered a "partial qualifier", you have not met the requirements for a qualifier but you're required to:

 

Graduate from high school;

 

Present a grade-point average (based on a maximum of 4.000) and a combined score on the SAT verbal and math sections or a sum score on the ACT based on the following partial qualifier index scale.

Not sure how he could receive a scholarship this coming year as I think they are all used

I hope it's at night - I would fly in that afternoon for the game. I missed last years game because it was in the afternoon and conflicted with my sons basketball game.

Maybe it's just me but I'm not sure that I think this is a real good idea:

As good as Jamar is, this needs to be about the team. You can argue that coachwillbrown is going to help in recruiting, but Jamar's site can be seen as promoting Jamar to get to the next level. I certainly think that should be done, but IMO, it should be done in the context of the team. How does that happen? The obvious answer is that the University needs to fix their website. Other schools have video, player blogs... If UA could do that, this type of site might not be needed. If they cannot do that, then they should sponsor Jamar's site. His e-mail address should not be on the site - especially when the site talks about how much he has flown under the radar.

Jamar is the best player to ever play for UA, but let's get the athletic department to say that. Isn't that what Northeastern did with JJB - sponsor a promotional site.

Again, if UA had a better website, this could all be accomplished there.

The more I type, the more this bothers me...

All Star tournament

Just saw that Levi and Lu played in an all star tournament in late April - any feedback?

IMO, Lillis has the potential to be all conference. If he continues to go to the basket aggressively and make a couple of outside shots he would help tremendously. I think he has the most unrealized talent and might realize it next year

These are Jamar's stats as a freshman and this past year (not sure how to make this look better):

2003 2006

ppg 18.9 17.7

apg 3.33 3.91

rpg 3.8 4.9

spg .78 1.34

fg% 48.8 45.4

ft% 81.5 85

3pt made 33 49

3pt pct 36% 36%

A/T .92 1.07

Not sure that this matters much but I had some time to kill. Anyway, it tells me:

1. Jamar wasn't needed as much to score this year, so he was able to improve the other aspects of his game - steals and rebounds.

2. He has developed a lot more confidence in his perimter game. Same shooting percentage from 3 yet he made 50% more shots.

3. He should have been first team all conference as a freshman

I just saw this in an article about Binghamton renovating some of their facilities:

This November, construction is planned to begin on two new soccer fields, and restoration work will begin on several others. The endeavor is to be funded by a $5 million grant secured by Senator Thomas Libous for Binghamton University.

 

I think HVCC got State funding of their baseball stadium (Joe Bruno?), Stony Brook got state funding for their football stadium (Senator Lavalle?).

You would think that Albany being the state capital would be able to get some funding for athletic facilities. I don't know if the RACC was funded with state dollars, but the new turf fields needed a private donor.

Is there something wrong with this picture?

I recall an interview with Lu after he lost his starting spot in December. He commented that he wanted to do what was best for the team and had to keep working through his slump because one of his personal goals was to continue playing after Albany.

He really stepped it up in the tournament and I think that he'll get his chance. Just needs to improve the consistency of his perimeter shot.

I have tempered my enthusiasm for Gifford a bit. I think he will become a very good player in the AE, but I look at the stats and they remind me an awful lot of Joe Dyson. Clearly, Gifford is on a better HS team than Dyson had. I forget who all recruited Dyson but all of the sites said that he could have gone higher as well.

There was a quote from Brown in one of the papers recently that said (paraphrase)" people haven't realized how good Gifford can be". Sounds a little like Brown understands that there is some work to be done.

All of this said, I have never seen the kid play but I think at 6'10" he will certainly help this team. I think that Filien will get some good work in with him in fall workouts and I do think he'll be able to provide some quality minutes as the season progresses.

This wasn't the first time that this was in print. There was an article in the winter that said he is on target to graduate in May and quotes his mother as saying he might leave to play in Europe.

I think the difference now is that he had tremendous national exposure vs. ODU, UVM and UConn. If he does graduate in May, maybe he can get a ballroom dancing class and focus on basketball next year. Not sure if the NBA will be an option, but he can play himself into a higher level of European ball worst case.

The Times Union site has some pics for sale. Go to the UA sports section - there are pictures of the AE tournment as well as the NCAA tournament experience.

My guess is:

1. Getting $ to pay Brown's new salary (assuming deal gets done)?

2. Fund a few football scholarships?

Let's temper the expectations for Gifford. I am sure he will evolve into a very good player, but he didn't average 10 and 7 in HS so to expect that next year is a bit much - IMO. I think it will take the entire non conference schedule to determine how to handle the 5.

I expect a battle with Iati, Siggers and Knight for the third guard position (with Jamar and Brian).