DaneFan2k3

I didn't realize this was Iraq and that the Minister of Information was going to screen everything I said to make sure it was all positive about UAlbany ... The bottom line is that what I wrote was correct in that: a.) there were not actually 2,500 people there; b.) having both bleachers out made it look more empty (whereas closing one and filling the endzone with concessions would cram more people into half the space and make it look more full in the seats, if not overall); c.) all the fans sat on their hands for a majority of the game; d.) Approximately 300-500 students were there for the Quad battle results/competition; d-2.) Removing those students from my warm body count estimation of 1,800 would bring it down to 1,500 or even 1,300 actual fans; e.) As I wrote, I really will be convinced if it happens when there is not a battle of the Quads.

Please rephrase question 6 as: "6. Which UA players that are currently on scholarship should not have ever gotten a division 1 scholarship? I think Pipikis"

PA system was better because speakers were added from an outside source, it wasn't coming through the main sound system. They were on the upper balcony, chained there and pointing down. The old speaker system could be heard crackling at the end of the game. I talked with someone who said it's not a full-time thing, only for the big games and on rental. If you thought there was really 2,512 there, you're smoking and pass it my way. But I give credit where it is due - there were about 1,800 people actually there, give or take (probably take). Baseline bleachers - imagine if they took our idea about folding up the far end bleachers and putting concessions and merchandise there as well as the season-ticket entrance? That would have taken all the kids sitting in the far end section and moved them around, making the arena seem more full. Atmosphere was good, but fans still wine and cheese - sitting on hands most of the game. Only got loud a few times, no discernable chants for the most part. Still needs a lot of work. I will be convinced when the students aren't there from Res Life trying to win the dorm quad competitions...

I always get yelled at by people on the board for griping, so make some suggestions of ways to market the team that you feel would be effective for the kids on campus. Personally, I don't think even if you formed a congo line of the hottest girls on campus and went dorm to dorm you could get 1,000 kids to come out. But that's just me. Maybe if you gave out free beers ... Cue Dane96 with the "D2k is a pessimistic a-hole" comment.

What was the word following him playing the other night, that he's re-injured? I had not heard that, but the timing of this post makes it seem like he could sit longer ...

But even if you can, do they want him to? If he wasn't good enough the first time around ... etc. etc.

I think both Danes (Pound and 96) can rule out Gribulis ... considering he was at UAlbany and left for HVCC ... as soon as you posted that, I knew I recognized the name, but I couldn't figure out where ... searched the Internet and found the following: http://www.albany.edu/sports/mens/baseball...l/2002stats.htm http://www.statsoverload.com/football/coll...ster_posi.shtml So a.) that tells me something wasn't right with him to begin with and b.) I don't know what the rules are about transferring down a level and back up again, let alone to the same school As for Jones, I really don't think he'll make it in the NFL ... think about all the great backs that weren't able to cut it. Remember Ken Simonton, from Ohio State? He JUST got activated by the Bills, I saw it in transactions the other day and looked it up to see if it was the same Simonton. He lit NFL Europe on fire last year, and he doesn't make the active roster til this week? Jones might get into a camp, and maybe then see Europe or Canada, but I don't think he can make a team - especially not until he proves himself at another level.

Brew was a true walk-on ... they did releases on Scipione though, I remember seeing them. I think you can be a presidential scholar and not count against your team's limit if you are not recruited until you apply and get accepted on your own?

Unfortunately, I think Gary is just too small to get any sniff from the NFL. They like their backs big, for the most part. NFL Scouts came around for Phillis a couple of years ago, but then he got the back (?) problems and was never heard from again. NFL also scouted that WR from Sacred Heart who had played at I-A and transferred down. If Gary chooses to go on to play professionally, even if he can't get into Canada he could be a good Arena player. There are just a LOT of good football players out there, and it takes a good agent to really get noticed a lot of the time (everyone around the country has "numbers", so it's getting the in-person that counts).

It's possible that he got some type of grief leave from school, which would force him to get his academics together next semester and he probably wouldn't play for a while, if at all. But at least he wouldn't be forced to unenroll.

Sorry, but Iati is going to the bench. Wilson "struggled" his way to ROY honors playing point guard last year ... and he didn't have anyone supporting him (basically). Antione was hot and cold, and Levi was playing inside. Jordan can flat out score, and he's a hometown product - got to give him some love. MACC Basketball is a decent brand, at least as good as America East, and he had about 19 per game if memory serves. Iati will play big minutes. I really feel like you could almost start Iati, Wilson, Jordan, Levine, Zoellner - plenty of shots going up for the big man to rebound.

How about not winning, and not showing any improvement at all? Even though Warner recruited most of the current players, the jury has to be out on Patterson's recruits ... because you have to remember, Learn hasn't done a thing until this year. Players take time to develop. Also, there IS something to be said for actually COACHING and making players better. I'm not saying Patterson molded those players into what you see now, but you have to give her at least some credit.

Including the Rookie of the Year and the leading NCAA service ace-r ... (tha'ts not a word, but I'm leaving it).

Well obviously they don't have a public relations department in Kansas City, because "Albany State" hasn't been used ... in a long, long time. I didn't know Antione went to school in Georgia ...

A couple of A-East schools have played big name schools so far, and that is probably skewing the RPI for America East right now.

Unfortunately for the Pep Band, that side is for season-ticket holders, so putting the band there isn't going to work. They would sit on the ends, as they have for other games (we did have a band for a brief period a couple years ago, and it sucked).

This means that literally everyone needs to get out to see this game in person. HAVE to have a good-looking crowd in the background to make the program look legit to the public at large, who might not otherwise come to the games. Nothing short of thousands of fans is appropriate for a TV game.

Two articles, right on point with this topic: http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketbal...l/story/6862691 http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/stor...andy&id=1666763

Actually I never though about moving the RACC Fitness Center, but it's a brilliant idea. Now, from a standpoint of doability, I have no idea if it is indeed workable. But there are spaces where you could put the Fitness Center. First of which would be to convert some of the (largely unused) raquetball courts in the RACC into a fitness center. Can you knock down some of those walls, thus creating one long fitness center room? I don't know, but it's worth someone looking into. Perhaps they are foundation walls ... but maybe not. Also, you could create a two-story fitness center by putting down a floor there (the racquetball courts span the lower and middle levels of the RACC). Now you have double the current space of the Fitness Center, and it's still in the RACC (albeit on the Arena and Middle level, instead of Lobby level). You could then use the Fitness Center area either for office space, bathroom extention space, or as the "New" Hall of Fame Room. It could serve a multitude of purposes. If you did that, you could use the sidedoor entrance to the RACC (the door that always seems to be locked when its cold and you're trying to get inside) under the stairs (when walking from the parking lot). I play racquetball, and that door leads right to the courts (where the "new" Fitness Center would now be). I just took Pounds' suggestion about moving it and kept it in the RACC, because there isn't space in the PE Building (you can't take away one of the basketball courts, and where else would you put it in there?)

Either Ford has the nuts, or he's not making the schedule full-time ... maybe someone else has their HAND$ in it, if you know what I mean? Assuming 3 of those 4 are on the road, they could be guarantee game$

I dont' think you can put concessions on the floor near the locker rooms, you'll have fans lining up for food and forming a line right across the entrances that the teams use to get to and from the locker room. Also, this encourages people to walk on the floor behind the benches and near the exit hallway area, which is supposed to be a "restricted" area during gametimes. You'll then need security to "part the masses" when the players need to leave the floor at halftime and be there the entire time during pregame (as they come in and out). I think if you were going to really "blow out" the lobby and connect it to the PE building, you wouldn't put the bathrooms in there. Then your main entrance is into ... a bathroom holding area. Yuck. You'd sell concessions from there possibly, alleviating some of the strain on the thin lobby. Or, that opens up the possibility of walking over to the PE Gym bathrooms, which are equally small but would effectively double the bathroom size for the total "new" building. As for the outside parking area entrance it's a good idea in theory. But in practice, again, I think you're running into space limitations. Although the lobby is small, it's bigger than the area on the floor in either far corner. So while people are taking tickets and such, patrons will be waiting out in the cold (assuming that there is a line of fans long enough to get out the door, and we are assuming this is all happening when we get 1,000-2,000 fans, so that is a good assumption). Otherwise, even if everyone can get in while they wait to get their ticket ripped, there is a large group of people convened in one corner of the RACC (cramped). Also, then you have a bottleneck with security and ticket takers in that small area, which also happens to be a fire exit. It's not accessible to the handicapped, so it can't be your main entrance legally unless you build a ramp, and it would be very steep (and maybe not possible). And you can't set up a boxoffice there, so any will call situations or walk-up purchases will still be forced to walk around (unless you do it "ghetto style" and have just a table as your "boxoffice"). Also, if you have people coming in on the bottom, they may never venture up to the top - where you have your concessions, and, eventually, the GreatDanesGear Store (in my mind). You would want them all coming in and passing that stuff as they go down, to serve as a mental reminder that it was there. That is actually one possibility for something that COULD go into the corners of the RACC - Great Danes Gear. That would be on the floor, right in plain view, but I doubt that the lines would be as long as for bathrooms and food. Here is an alternate suggestion, since you claim I just complain: Why not pull out the other end bleacher (nearest the locker rooms) and push the far end bleacher in to the wall? That would give you a ton of space on the end of the court to do a whole bunch of things: sell tickets, allow people to enter from the parking lot with minimal hassle, sell concessions and merchandise. It wouldn't be possible to do all those things at the other end of the court (although it is open) because the locker rooms are at that end.

As to the ticket situation that people mentioned earlier - I spoke with someone on the phone about the issue, and they were allocated those sections by Siena and the Pepsi. Their fans don't want to sit in the end sections, so we got both endzone sections for UA. The entire section behind Albany's students was UA supporters, that is where I sat. Just unfortunate that the rest had to go on the other end.

Dane96, don't take everything so personally. I accurately predicted what some people would post - that the Pepsi is nicer, and thus more people would come to the games. I guarantee some people were going to post that in response to my saying we wouldn't draw well there. So I'm not putting words in YOUR mouth, but I DO know that some people would post that, and I headed off that argument by saying it's not a good one. People just won't travel excessive distances to go to a game, no matter how nice the arena. And sadly, in Smallbany, 1-2 miles is "excessive", especially for the students who won't walk 500 yards. They also won't pay "excessive" prices for tickets when they can get 25 games (men's and women's) for $75 now (and hardly anyone does). Part of the problem with the concessions is that the RACC lobby is so small. Basically, the thing is a band box - you can't sell on the floor, because it distracts the fans and blocks either one of the team entrances. Can't sell on the far side on the floor because it blocks the fire exits. One possibility is opening up the PE Building lobby for concession sales, and then people can mill about after buying their food and go back to the RACC lobby to talk and eat. However, that is just bad bad from every other standpoint I can think of. You want your food to be close by. Also, another problem with the concessions is that Chartwells is the University's food service provider. So they do the concessions as well. Their food sucks. Ask the students. Their service is just about as bad. Ever been to a cold UA football game? Don't try to get coffee or hot chocolate til the second half, 'cause they don't show up until the start of the game. There is no question that the bathroom facilities at the RACC are totally inadequate for a building its size. The RACC lobby men's room is a decent size, and I've never seen the women's bathroom inside, but it wouldn't accomodate 5,000 people. The bathroom on the RACC floor is a closet (four stalls?). Absolutely no question something would have to be done, however I doubt any new bathrooms could be installed. Short of putting port-a-johns outside near the parking lot and having people go out to use them, I don't know what you could do (which also brings up the problem of re-admission).

Double agreed. It's not even that dark in there.

Attention board members: When will you get a clue? No reason AT all to be playing at the Pepsi. If you can't get 4,000 to 5,000 people to jam into the RACC, at $5 a pop or $75 for the season, then WHERE are you going to get people to go to games at Pepsi Arena????? We need to smarten up here. It's just not a viable option. Don't post about how people would come because it's a nicer arena. $17 per game is a far cry from what Albany charges now. It's not worth playing down there. PS- the RACC is about 500 yards away from the dorms now and the students don't come. So good idea, move the games about a mile and a half down the road where you have to pay to park. That'll do the trick.