olddog71

The Times-Union printed a story in today's edition about today's game and Zoellner's role on the team in the last few games. Here is the link: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp...date=12/17/2005 I think Singelais gives a pretty accurate picture of where Zoellner has been and where he is now. The story had very scant details on today's game.

Just to underscore your comment here, I would like to refer you and others to a thread found on another sports forum. After the school in question had just defeated us by a narrow score in overtime (I wonder who that was?) and their fans proceeded to chew us up viciously, it was interesting how they became almost cannibalistic and turned on each other. In the particular thread to which I am alluding, a set of their younger fans began attacking the behavior of their older colleagues. Some of the older fans fought back tenaciously. I could not believe what my eyes were reading, and I would not have brought this topic up if you had not mentioned something in a general way.

Thanks for your input on this problem, alum73. It still beats me why I, and some others, am unable to view the page properly sometimes. I think the problem is caused by a combination of some of the equipment I am running and the way in which the webpage is set up. I have had absolutely no problems with any of the other several dozen pages I have visited. Thanks again.

Dane Pound, First of all, belated Happy Birthday! Second, once again, thanks for monitoring this board and providing excellent information with classy leadership. Dane fans are some of the best-informed fans in the America East, and we can come here and share our info and opinions without anyone descending to low-level posts. I hope you had a great celebration. You deserve it. Third, I thank you for providing the Harvard articles. I do not recall any other opposing team at any other time providing so much cogent information as the coverage found in the two articles you posted. The information on both them and us seems accurate, and it appears that Harvard respects us considerably, at least on paper. Thanks again for the services you provide. And let's hope your celebration continues tomorrow afternoon!

Regarding the problem with viewing the website page in question, I have already communicated with Brian DePasquale with the problem. He is working on it. Oddly enough, I have three computers tied in to a network. I am experiencing problems with viewing the page properly on a 2000 desktop and a 2002 laptop. The only machine with which I have no problems is a 1996 desktop. This situation causes me to wonder whether the Athletic Department is working in a Division I era with Division III-type equipment.

GODANESGO, I am sorry that you now have problems viewing the same site with which I was experiencing problems. Someone here suggested that I contact tech support. I did so the next day and received very nice responses. Matt in the tech department made some suggestions, all of which sounded logical. Matt really worked hard for me, but none of the suggestions worked. Matt also indicated to me that one other person had experienced problems with the same page. The only suggestion which I did not do was to contact Brian DePasquale in the athletic department. For a long time, I had believed that only I was having a problem and that lay somewhere in the equipment I am using. I will do now try to contact Brian for a solution. Thanks for bringing the problem to our attention.

UAalum72, Thanks for your suggestion. I had not thought of the possibility you suggested. Since everything else seems to be functioning for me and since no one else has complained about the page, I thought the problem is on my end. Perhaps I had done something wrong in a Windows setting for the page that would not readjust. Thanks again for the tip.

I am still having troubles viewing the main athletic page on the university web page. Here is the link: http://www.albany.edu/sports/ I see only a mostly blank site with a chance to select a university sport; however, when I press a preferred sport, I get nothing. Since none of the rest of you seem to be having a problem, I think it is a Windows problem for me. Does any of you have a possible cause (and, therefore, solution) to my woe? I have tried changing the view options from the top bar in XP, but experimenting with the other choices does nothing. When I type in the following link, everything appears as it should. http://www.albany.edu/sports/mens/basketball/ Does anyone have a clue? It is probably a very simple solution that I am just not seeing. I can manage my life without seeing that page, but I am just curious. Thanks.

Despite some of the critiques we have been hearing from some of the posters on the AE website recently, our Kirsten Zoellner won weekly honors for his play on Saturday. Here's the link: http://www.americaeast.com/mbasketball/2006/121205.htm To Kirsten: Herzliche Glückwünsche (Congratulations) And let's drink to his honor - a good "stiff" drink will do us all some good.

My wife and I were married in the summer time, so there was no conflict. She was actually pretty cool about the reception, too. I go to have two basketball hoops dressed up in purple and gold crepe. I also prevailed in the salad ingredients. We had golden yellow carrots and red (purple) cabbage. I insisted on it. I lost every other wedding decision.

Yep! Please forgive me!

I always like a compromise. If you belong to the Varsity Club, you can always ask the wedding couple to host the reception in the Hall of Fame Room. Just be sure you schedule that reception during half time.

B9j2j6s, It's too bad that UAlbany does not have much a teacher education program. Not so long ago it used to be one of the best in the state.

GODANESGO, Thanks for being the bearer of bad news for me. Something must be wrong on my end. Thanks, really, for giving me your input.

Anybody having any trouble with the university athletic website? My view shows a very incomplete home page for the site? I have no other unusual problems with other websites.

It's too bad UAlbany players are leaving the team now, especially when the team could use all the support it can get. The article in the Times-Union today did not specify the reasons why Johnson and Graham left, so I am not going to speculate much. I do want to make one comment to Courtney, if you read this board. I am one alumnus, for one, who really appreciates the support you gave to the team in past years when it was really down. You saved us from even bigger disasters. You played hard and spirited, and your effective defense helped the team tremendously. Thanks for giving all your time and effort to the team over these last few years. I knew that when we were improving a lot in the last couple years, competition for minutes on the floor would become much more acute, and there was the distinct possibility that players would bolt from the team. So this development is no surprise. It hurts, though, when the moment actually comes. Good luck, Kiel and Courtney, in whatever you choose to do.

Siena Tony, I'm not going to get into a debate between you and Patch about the specifics of your current disagreement. I just want to address a concern of mine that I find you and several of your school's fans have expressed since Saturday's game. You and your fans fail to recognize something very clearly provable: you did not handily defeat us in Saturday's game. You truly fail to realize that the game was all tied up after 40 minutes of play. If I were you, I would be a lot more humble than the strutting stance that you are demonstrating. You brag incessantly about how you jumped out to a huge lead in the first half. You have every right to do so, but then you and some of your cohorts have the responsibility to weigh that half against our effort in the second half. It wasn't UAlbany fans, the UAlbany coach, or the refs who poured in the points to totally eliminate your 18-point lead. It was UAlbany players. Give us - and our program - a lot more credit. Some of your posters did see our effort. I commend them here for seeing the situation a lot more objectively than you. Thanks for your comments to console us and wish us well in the rest of the season. If I took your words at face value, then I would be wrong. But then you turn around and take your 8-point victory in OT and smash our effort and our program. Pardon me, therefore, if I take your compliments as less than genuine. I took the time last night to look back at all the comments made on this board in the few days immediately after last year's game. Besides a little bravado, I thought our fans handled our 21-point victory over you last year a lot more maturely than many of your fans have dealt with your mere 8-point OT win. You and your fans act like you had just won the third round of the NCAA tournament. One of your fans stated that Siena was the only game that UAlbany got up for. Well, what was the game we played earlier in the week against UCLA? I think our guys quite clearly demonstrated they were quite "up" with a mere 8-point loss against a top-ranked team that was not decided until the last minute of the game. Who was the fan who compared the appearance of our team members with "Neanderthals?" I don't ever recall any similar comment that UAlbany fans have made about the appearance of Siena team members. You ought to watch it, Tony. As the moderator of the forum in which that comment was made, you could be held liable for letting that comment through which could be interpreted in other, not so nice ways. I'll give that poster the benefit of the doubt now. Respect is a two-way street, Tony. You need to see our performance against you on Saturday a little more objectively. You should not be two-faced in your comments about our program here and on your board, and you need to moderate a little better the over-the-top comments made by some of your posters.

Amen! And especially if it's a close game. We need to win one of those real soon!

One thing I've learned in life is that the more someone claims he is right, the more he actually doubts he is right. Shakespeare said it much more succinctly, "I think thou dost protest too much." It is interesting that SienaTony then advises Albany fans to "get over it." Fine advice coming from him. Ever since Albany blasted Siena off the court in the 2004 game - and that result was never in doubt in the last five minutes of the game, he has done everything else but forget about that shameful result. He, along with other Siena fans, continually found others to blame for their defeat except for the players on the floor. First, they blamed the journalists until two newspapers in the area had to change their Siena beat reporters, then they blamed their coach until they got rid of him. They just cannot get over the fact that they are no longer the only game in town when it comes to men's college basketball. They have been spoiled by their their dominance, and that period of dominance has ended. UAlbany may not win every game in the Siena series, but most UAlbany fans maturely accept that. Many Siena fans, with some notable exceptions, have now resumed their stance of unmitigated arrogance. It is shameful to read several posts on their board where they are going to run us off the court and win every future game by 30. Where do some of them get this arrogance? It sure beats me. Several of them forget that after 40 minutes of play, the game was all knotted up. They are unwilling to realize that UAlbany probably had the right to go to the line and win the game right in regulation. How could a team that is supposedly as great as theirs squander an 18-point lead in the second half and lose to a team of "Neanderthals?"

I liked this article a lot. Of course, I am not happy about the way the team's fortunes have gone this season, but I like the fact that people connected with the team have taken responsibility for the team's poor performance relative to the pre-season expectations. There is too little willingness to take responsibilty in the whole world, not just on the basketball court. The focus of this article is on Jamar's poor leadership and on his poor decisions in close games. Jamar takes responsibility. I think you can also infer from the article that Coach Brown also takes some responsibility for the lineup he has had in the game at several points. And he is willing to adjust his lineup to reflect the need for change. Taking responsibility in situations where things are not going right is the first step toward making real progress. The second step is to implement the necessary changes. Sometimes the first step is more difficult than the other change. I wish the Dane team well with the changes that will be occurring. Hopefully, the recognition that success will not be automatic when the team steps onto the floor will bear fruit really soon. This situation may make the team ultimately more successful at the end of the season.

Thanks for the extra history, Statefan. I did not realize that Siena was already giving out athletic scholarships then. All I know was that is was a wonderful win - a gift that kept on giving for several years afterward.

"Counsel" You've been in the office too long.

We are in 101. DP, what do you think about your seats this year? Have any special feelings?

Dane Pound, With your permission, I would like to "reprint" the story of the Albany-Siena game from 1974 on the eve of this year's installment. The article appeared on page C-10 of the Times Union on Sunday, February 10, 1974. “A built-up flood of emotion from a highly-partisan Albany crowd was as big a factor as any in State’s nail-biting victory over visiting Siena Saturday. “Roughly three-quarters of the Standing Room Only crowd were Great Dane rooters, and they packed University Gym early and then decorated it with huge, mostly profane posters. “Many of State’s fans saw the game as a chance for their smaller underdog Danes to knock off a bigger, more publicized team. “For Rudy Vido (State ‘75), beating Siena was a strong feeling that had been burning inside. ‘It’s like the difference between good weather and a snowstorm,’ he said. “Siena’s fans’ reactions before the game ranged from a modest, ‘Siena will win,’ to an analysis of why the Great Danes would be in trouble tonight. “The tension between Dane fans [and] Siena counterparts rose steadily as the second half of the JV game wore down on. “Although outnumbered, Siena’s supporters were up to the task, screaming word-for-word with the Albany crowd, including its most vocal group, the Albany State Potter Club. “By game-time, everyone of the nearly 3,000 spectators were psyched and ready. “When Siena dominated the first half, the gym belonged to Indian fans, and they took full advantage of it, hurling chants and taunts at the Albany majority. “Halftime brought relief for the subdued Albany fans, when some of their members paraded their posters around the court. “Regrouping as the Albany team did, the State fans came alive in the second half. “By the time the minutes dwindled down to a precious few, the Great Dane partisans, whom Doc Sauers said were worth a good 10 points to his team, reached full stride. “The sides of the gym became seas of clapping hands with clenched fists of victory jutting in and out. “The Albany fans[‘] favorite tactic, stomping feet and rhythmic [clapping] took on the characteristics of a fast approaching train, spurred on by their team’s rally. “And though the Siena fans battled to the buzzer with their team, State got in the last word both on and off the court. “The second after the game was decided, the Dane rooters got in the last chant of the evening, ‘Check that score!” Less than a week later, I attended a basketball game in the Hudson Valley where I teach. The refs doing that game were talking animatedly about the Albany-Siena game. Especially emphasized was the observation that the refs working the Albany game could not hear each other’s whistles, so loud were the State fans.

Whoa, there! First of all, congratulations on becoming a full-fledged Dane fan. Anyone who still follows UAlbany sports when not on campus to take advantage of easy, cheap access to the games should be uplifted. Second, I think you may be a little harsh on Dane fans who have some sympathies for Siena. In past years, anyone in the Capital District who wanted to view D I games in person had to travel a distance to do so. Why not take advantage of what is close by? In doing so habitually, it is easy to reason why some Dane fans began to view Siena in a more positive light. I also think, like some posters have already said better than I, that some pull for Siena because it makes the Danes look better. It's nice to say after a Dane victory over Siena who has just beat some high-ranking team(s) that we could competer against the ranked team(s) as well. Don't discount the experience that some of us have enjoyed from the previous rivalry and what we actually witnessed. The number of fans in the Pepsi Arena may have be larger today, but it does not compare to the rivalries we were apart of in the past. I will give you three examples that come readily to mind which occurred 30 or more years ago. (1) A hard-fought game in University Gym (not the larger RACC) which was called 72-56 in Albany's favor with 1:26 left on the clock because a large fight broke out in the stands. (2) A one-point game won by Albany, again in University Gym, in the last few seconds in front of a crowd that was so partisanly Albany and so loud that the refs could not hear each other's whistles. I heard about the refs' difficulties from other refs who were talking about the game several days later more than 90 miles away. (3) A decisive 62-49 victory by Albany over Siena the year Siena decided to go D I from D III when Albany would remain D III for much longer. It was so wonderful to beat them I can still taste it. As you can read, many old-time fans can still see certain images firmly entrenched in their imaginations decades later. For us, the rivalry was very much intense. As I stated earlier, my wife and I have to drive a long distance to each Albany "home" game, and we have done so for well over three decades. That being said, I do not think it is impossible to be somewhat ambivalent toward our rivals. It is still possible to be a very loyal UAlbany fan and not have ill feelings toward Siena. Just imagine if you were a Saints fan today. I would feel a little intimidated by the rapid rise of a second competitor to your own program after having had no competition for 30 years.