DaneFan2k3

Right. But it's not a hard-and-fast date for each school. Also, there is no application deadline. I think that was the question, when would he have to declare. Hughes isn't technically injured, so a medical redshirt is probably out of the question anyhow. But even if he was, he would meet both criteria and could wait all year to apply (til the end of the season anyhow).

There is no hard and fast date to apply for a redshirt, though. For instance, if you went down early in the year, didn't apply for the 'shirt, but were eligible (thinking you could come back later in the year), it ends up that you can't come back medically later (when you thought you could), then you can still apply toward the end of the year. Here is the language: Medical Hardship: A student-athlete may begranted an additional year of competition bythe conference for reason of "hardship."Hardship is defined as incapacity resultingfrom an injury or illness that has occurredunder all of the following conditions: 1. The incapacitating injury or illness occursin one of the four seasons of intercollegiate competition at any two-year or four-year collegiate institutions; and 2. The injury or illness occurs prior to thecompletion of the first half of the playingseason that concludes with the NCAAchampionship in that sport; and 3. The injury or illness occurs when thestudent-athlete has not participated in more than two contests or dates ofcompetition or 20 percent (whichever isgreater) of the institution's completedcontests or dates of competition. So only the injury has to occur before the halfway point of the season; the application can come at any time, allowing the player to attempt to rehabilitate before applying.

I think it's percentage of the games your team plays, which would make the date flexible depending on the team (i.e. preseason tournaments if you advanced you'd have less time to declare).

It must be about the same pose as the photo they showed after 9-11, I think in that shot he was also going up for a layup.

Am I wrong, or is that the photo of Mulderry, who died on 9-11?

You also have to remember though that football is generally scheduled 2-5 years in advance. So maybe at that time they thought we could be closer to full scholarship than we actually are ... or those teams were nearly as good at that time as they are now. Someone want to look up how they were, collectively, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years ago?

I'm writing a book about how to judge attendance. It's due out in 2004.

Plus you neglect the fact that as private schools they have opportunities that UAlbany doesn't. RPI has a gigantic endowment from that multi-million dollar gift a few years back, so the money is there to "play" with, so to speak. UAlbany would have to put everything out to bid, and state contracts are almost always higher than private endeavors when put out to bid. (Assuming you even have the money to bid something like that out).

Ok but get serious for a second, if you really counted 200 (which I doubt you did, and you're just making fun of me, but let's go with it) ... then obviously 275 is stretching it ... 37.5% to be exact. FIGHT THE POWER

My mistake, I meant to say Rashee Durant (as I detailed in my earlier post, he is playing intramurals). My bad!

I think that students were getting off shuttle buses for the last game (Army) as well, but I think the general public is going to be loathe to walk from those lots to the RACC in the dead of an Albany winter. Especially visiting team fans. I think the parking issue is at least as big as the bathroom issue in terms of any conference tournament. There is a decided lack of parking overall on campus, but parking deck costs have risen to levels where the per sqare foot cost just isn't recoupable over the life of the deck ... even though building up (not out) makes the most sense on a campus confined on all sides by roadways ...

Patch - what I meant to say about Clarke is that at least one other Division I school thought that he was on that level and took him on - so it wasn't just Albany making a recruiting mistake. But who knows the situation, it could just be that his head wasn't in it, maybe he didn't have the grades after all, maybe he wanted to play more. But since he at least made a somewhat lateral move from Albany to CCSU, I don't think you can totally classify him as a "flameout". Whereas the other players we have mentioned all immediately stepped down at least one level, and in the case of Kiki Picard, about four levels.

I think its generally a well-known fact that at all sporting events you can't use the published number. So cut the insults, or at least try to make them a little more cutting or witty. It's the same for college and professional sports, the announced never matches the people in the seats. Take a look around at one of the intersession games and attempt to count the people. Then compare. And don't lie about it to try to prove me wrong. Actually, do it at a women's game, you'll be able to count every single person.

Someone is using fuzzy math again ... if the students are gone, and they filled the endzones at the home opener ... 1,200 to 1,500 would be a miraculous crowd for this game ... as in actuality (again my opinion) there weren't 2,500, but instead 1,800 at the opener ...

I agree that if it does happen, it's going to have to be in an off year for the MAAC Tournament. There simply wouldn't be a reason to do it in the same year, as it would crowd the hotels and jack up the prices, not to mention take attention away from one or the other (probably in the MAAC's favor). I could see America East doing something with Albany and Binghamton, where one gets the women while the other gets the men, and then flip flop the following year. Or throwing Albany a bone with the women's tournament to see if the RACC can measure up first, and if it does, they could be in for the men as well. I think that it's more than just the arena itself that would pose concerns. Remember, they've all been on campus before. I don't know much about other schools' facilities, but I'm sure they have more than a couple hundred parking spaces within 300 yards of the arena. For the home opener vs. Army, I got there "late" (quarter of) and had to park on the curb (not in an actual spot). All other late-comers had to park in Dutch or Indian and walk over in the 2 degree cold. That's not something they are going to look upon with great appreciation I'm sure. Someone on this board has $20 million to pony up for a four-tier parking deck in the lot, which would connect on the third floor to the RACC Arena balcony, thus making the building face the parking lot and allow entry ... right??

Looks like wishful thinking to me, in that if you look at other cities with multiple Division I teams, it appears that it's usually whichever is the "home" team at the arena that gets preference. Exceptions would be when both teams play in the same conference, such as Niagara, Canisius and the MAAC tri-hosting in Buffalo. But I wouldn't expect UB and St. Bonaventure to have priority at HSBC Arena in that instance, since they have no ties to the other three entities.

Brand didn't seem to have the temperment to be a solid interior presence at this level. I don't think you can say Haggarty and Cetnar weren't Division I talents, especially considering that Cetnar is playing professionally (albeit in England). It's interesting to note that a lot of the kids mentioned flamed out at the Division I level. That just goes to show they were recruiting mistakes. One exception could be Clarke, who did end up at CCSU but moved down a level, presumably to play more.

Oh, he explains it. Very rationally I might add. Down near the bottom of the page. NEP version.

Last year UAlbany had this policy for season ticket holders, where if you knew in advance that you couldn't attend a game, you could arrange to send those tickets in and receive tickets to any other game that year (home). I'm not saying it's the same thing at all, but it's a great policy to help put people in the seats (because presumably you're not taking seats you're not going to use).

Although the idea of hosting at the RACC is a good one from the standpoint of just having it in town, as we have discussed on the board, the RACC probably can't host something of that magnitude without looking foolish. I think the America East knows that. Also, who is to say that they really want to get it out of Boston, where the conference offices are located? It's almost more central in a way, considering it's home to two schools, Maine and UNH are closer to Beantown than Albany ... Hartford is probably equidistant ... That is 5 of 9 ... UMBC is probably flying either way, so they don't care ... leaving just the three NY schools and Vermont with the drive (and really only Binghamton going out of their way).

Michael Clarke, the "prized" recruit denied admission under Beeten right before he imploded, ended up going prep for one year and then signing with Central Connecticut State: http://www.northeastconference.org/release...ignees0203.html But alas, now the laddie has transferred to DII or DIII (not sure) Clarion in Pennsylvania (very end): http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03318/239647.stm Well, we know where Rashee Durant ended up after getting "home sick" in his first couple days at UAlbany: http://www.hsc.edu/athletics/basketball/20...roster0102.html "Meanwhile, sophomores Rashee Durant and Brian Gunn each saw significant time running the point for the Tigers in 2002. Durant played in 25 games, made three starts and averaged 4.6 points and 2.4 boards-per-game to go along with 47 assists." However, he was not on the 2002-03 roster I found ... So where did he go after that? Intramurals. Yikes. http://www.hsc.edu/studentlife/intramural/.../a_rosters.html Although he was only a walk-on, Jemel Williams is back home in Rochester at Monroe Community College. Kind of a sad story really, he was originally offered by Niagara and by all accounts was a legitimate player. Went to Albany to walk-on and eventually earn the schollie, but got left out in the cold and left early in the year. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/sports...9_general.shtml

I think the Gazette realizes that like you said in the original post, you are waking up and reading the TU stuff online. You're not paying them anything for their work, you're getting it for free. TU gets absolutely nothing out of you. And that's why you get up and read it online. So although the Gazette is not a marquee paper, there will be people (inevitably) that will pay for the Gazette online subscription and NOT have it delivered or buy it at the store. That way, they can wake up and read the paper whenever they want, not have to go out to get it and not have to wait for the paperboy to bring it. Also, when the Gazette first rolled out their site I remember taking the "free tour" and reading about how it was done - it's integrated with their publishing system, so they probably only have to click a few buttons and the paper is put online. Whereas the TU has to employ someone(s) to update their site for them on a regular or semi-regular basis, design web graphics, etc. etc. I think the TU obviously has a greater financial back than the Gazette being that it is owned by Hearst Corporation (one of the largest). They can provide a free website and take the financial loss that comes along with it, because they then charge more for advertising and classified ads (because both get space online and they sell that point to you). But an operation like the Gazette having a free website would not generate them any revenue whatsoever. I guarantee the TU website is a money-loser, and a small paper like Gazette or Record can't afford to drop anymore than they already have.

I'm going to get crapped on for saying it, but as much as I like the Gazette and like the Gazette sports people ... Schenectady is a DIII town, and although the coverage is nice, it's really on the TU to provide UAlbany with coverage equal to what they give Siena right now. Basically what I'm saying is that I don't think many people read the Gazette outside Schenectady county, and I don't think those people up there are making many drives down to the UA games. The TU still does a poor job covering UAlbany, while giving Siena all the pub it can get. They even have a special Siena section of their website, while UA is relegated to sharing time with the DIII schools. But I'm just throwing it out there. Gazette is great for giving us that coverage, applause to them. It just sucks that TU can't follow suit. (Or won't)

That problem exists on all campuses, however most schools have a higher season ticket base. Have to really work the elementary schools and middle schools hard, as kids generally will cheer. However, I wanted to smack about 20 kids who were continually running around the upper level at the home opener, so watch what you ask for I guess.

Look, I gave credit where it was due - 1,875 people out to the season opener with Jamar is a great accomplishment. Kudos to everyone who helped put on the show. I felt the fans could have been more vocal, but them being there is a step in the right direction. And look, I like to play devil's advocate and spark debate. That makes for more posts. But you also have to mix in some realism with the optimism. 1,800 fans was a good estimate, and here's why: 1.) Capacity at the RACC is 5,000 (give or take). The place was NOT half full. You could clearly see it just by looking around. Numerous rows were totally empty on the ends of each of the sides, and that neglects the empty seats even in the sections where people were sitting. 2.) I disagree with oldtimer that 1,800 is a low estimate. If the place was only a quarter full, then that would be 1,250 (using 5,000 as the true capacity). If half full is 2,500 ... I split the difference between the two ... and you have 1,875. So I will revise my statement and say that there were about 1,875 warm bodies in the seats. The place was between one-quarter and one-half full judging by looking around. 3.) If you really want to get "technical", figure that the end sections are about 1/3 the size of the side sections. So you have about eight "sections" (two ends, then six side sections, three on each side). So 5,000 divided by 8 is about 625 seats per section. So you have 625 on each end; 1,875 on each side. Think about this. 4.) If you had asked everyone to get together to take one big crowd photo (just imagine, for illustrative purposes) ... you would have filled approximately one whole side of the RACC. I really believe that. And that is about 1,875 seats. If you believe 2,500 were there, you're essentially saying that if everyone sat side-by-side, no empty seats, that you would fill an entire side section plus an entire end section. I don't think anyone who was at the game could reasonably agree with that statement. 5.) As to the comment, "why should we believe your numbers and not the schools?" ... uh, have you been to the games where they announce 1,000 and you know that there were really about 400-500 people there? I've been to games where I can look around and count the number of people without my eyes getting blurry and without having to worry about double counting. I get like 200, then 800 is announced. We've all been there before. Never trust the numbers. Don't call it pessimistic, call it realistic.