olddog71

UAlbany is receiving nice publicity on the America East home page for tonight's game against Syracuse. http://www.americaeast.com/ Best of luck tonight, Danes!

Check out the thread on the Siena board about the scrimmage held against Seton Hall last weekend. http://www.arborwood.com/awforums/show-top...6&ut=1130855413 Posters on both the Siena board and the other board both claim that their teams each vastly outplayed the other. I find it at least amusing that fans on each side claim that its team won the scrimmage in a convincing manner. Although the scrimmage may have been played in a variety of formats, I cannot believe that people viewing the same game could have arrived at such radically different conclusions.

The discussion of who is the real Albany has overshadowed the good news that Coach Patterson has obviously recruited a solid player who should be able to help us for a long time into the future. I hope our new player genuinely likes the program and the school. She is certainly coming to our school at a time when we really need to stock up again on good players. I wish her all the best at the University at Albany!

In theory yes, but if you're a top soccer player, and every school is throwing top dollar at you, then where are you going to go to school? . . . Did she go to Binghamton, UB, UAlbany, Stony Brook, Siena, or even Syracuse? No, she went to Florida because they are a good soccer school. She chose them over North Carolina and Notre Dame, also great soccer schools. . . . The point is, UAlbany's best players have traditionally been players who would be second-stringers at the top schools, or may not even make the teams (when speaking of the Final Four calibur schools). Once you factor in the fact that the top 50 schools basically pick-and-choose their ladies, you've removed probably the top 800 or 1,000 players. And out of the remains come some dog teams, like UAlbany. [ I understand your points, but I think you are misunderstanding my point. I know I did not make myself clear. I have been comparing UAlbany's record with similar D I schools, and we just do not do well. I think some of the other posters have given me more accurate reasons why we cannot perform well at our level of D I. We just simply have a long-lasting pathetic record at that level of competition. I have not specifically looked up each school's record, but I am willing to wager that Binghamton and Stony Brook, among other competitors in our league and other similar leagues, have done much more poorly. I cannot think of any reason why they should have done much better. As another poster opined, he was hoping that the previous coach would make some headway with our women's team, but as far as the record is concerned, there was little progress. I am still wondering why our team has consistently done poorly compared with similar teams. Thanks to all of the other posters for giving me a partial explanation. I certainly hope the team does better in the future, most of all, for the women who participate on the team.

I think you hit the nail on the head. The news services want to avoid confusion with the school in the South. I'm willing to bet, however, that the Georgia school got annoyed a few years ago with being confused with that Nawthen school back when we were D III.

DaneFan2k3, I don't mean to quibble with your argumentation, but isn't every school subject to the same restrictions? Since scores are only numerical representations of relative strengths, why does the UAlbany's women's soccer team seem to do so poorly, relative to other schools in Division I, and specifically in our league? I'm quite sure that the women who play for UAlbany have skills and work hard at what they do, so I am not belittling their accomplishments, but why is the record so consistently poor?

Does anyone have any insights on why the women's soccer team has had such horrible records? It seems like this sport is the only one in which UAlbany has not been successful during its time in Division I. If I recall, all past coaches in the Division I era have had challenging seasons. I cannot say anything about pre-D I days. Anyone out there have a clue?

Several of you posters have hinted at an important question: How has Brown been able to recruit such good players? UAlbany certainly did not light up the Division I skies with great performances before he took over. We still have not even achieved a .500 season in Division I. Brown has consistently been able to recruit players with solid skills, players of high moral quality, and players who can also perform in the classroom. What do we have to offer players of such high caliber? How does Brown do it?

Yes, I too would like to see some incentive for the family four pack restored. Maybe if enough people show interest in the incentive, we can get it back. I cannot complain too much, though. The program is heading quickly in the right direction, and the price increase is just a downside.

Indian91, Ditto the last few comments. I have noted the caution you display in your posts on the Siena forum. Some of your posters are still very unrealistic. I suppose some of it goes back to your strong tradition. Some of it is just wishful thinking. I, however, will always be impressed with the positive attitude of many of your posters after we won The Game last year. UAlbany needed to win one against you just to make you respect us, and many of your posters were very gracious toward us after our victory. That's mutual respect. You will be back - maybe not this year, but not too long in the future. Best of luck.

Anyone in the know have any ideas whether UAlbany is planning to change the way in which the basketball teams are introduced? Although I think the laser light show that Siena uses to introduce their team members at the Pepsi is a little pretentious (especially with the record they had last season), it still is a pretty good concept. Since season ticket prices are increasing and more fans are expected for our home games this season and since the university spent a lot of money last year to upgrade facilities, specifically the PA system, is it unreasonable to assume that we can expect to see improvements in the way our teams are introduced?

What a great get for UAlbany! My only regret is that the powers-that-be over on the Siena board will not appreciate the quality of the players we continue to receive. That thought is more than balanced by the prospect of a few more years of dominating Capital District collegiate basketball.

Pool man, Thanks for the reminder of the actual records. But last year was just an anomaly - 11-0. That's great! (Now if you only had the facts.)

Patch, Once again, great research. It looks like UAlbany has really stepped up the recruiting this fall. Have we ever had so many verbal commitments in the fall recruiting season? Brown seems to be recruiting like there is no tomorrow. Hopefully, he will be doing the job for us again in the fall of 2006. Sign a new contract with him now!

Sorry, I used the word "televised" in my earlier post on this thread when I should have used something like "broadcast." I apologize if I confused anyone. Next thing you know, I will have you carrying the audio over on HDTV.

Great game today against Binghamton. It was wonderful to regain the upper hand in the league with this match. I understand that Albany would win the league championship if we were to tie Bingo with even win-loss records. Very convincing victory. This match was the first televised match I have heard this season. Good job, WCDB! You came through loud and clear even though I am not located in the Capital District.

Impressive win against Binghamton in volleyball this afternoon! This victory seals a successful weekend for UAlbany sports. (It was kind of dry there for a while.)

Dane 96, Tony is indeed comical. He trashes our past, our current status, and our future recruits When he gets beat by current facts to the contrary, all of a sudden he then berates our objections and wants to be friends. Fortunately, some of the Siena fans are not quite as partisan as he.

Saints 73 Here are some other facts that balance your side: 1) Last season, the last time records were available for actual comparison based on actual records, the America East consistently outranked the MAAC in strength. 2) UAlbany also has a very distinguished men's basketball record. One need only look at Doc Sauers's 41-year history. Only one losing season. And I don't personally care on which level the achievements were made. 3) UAlbany's program has experiencing a very strong trend toward improvement in the last several years. Two years ago we won only five games. Once that season, we had only four men on the court. Last year, we won eight games more than the previous season. We lost 7-8 games last year by seven points or less. 4) One word: Siena by 21!

Here are some facts: 1. The Sporting News ranked the MAAC Conference the 16th best in the nation. The America Least was in the 20's. 2. Siena has been to numerous post season tournaments and has beaten a school from every major conference in the country through the years. 3. Smallbany has never had a winning record at the D-1 level and has never beaten a team with a winning record. 4. One word....Wagner I could go on and on, but I don't want to hurt too many feelings. 9974[/snapback]

One of the Siena posters mentioned that the AE has many "bottom feeders." He failed to mention that Loyola's program just two seasons ago almost won the very dubious honor of setting a record for most losses in collegiate men's basketball games.

This weekend is turning out quite well for Great Dane teams. Just a recap of what everyone else here has already seen. Volleyball wins one on the road at Maine in straight (looks like hard-fought) sets. Football wins one on the road. Field Hockey takes a game on the road against a nationally-ranked team. Men's soccer ties highly-regarded Binghamton, again on the road. Let's just hope the Lady Danes exact sweet revenge tomorrow afternoon at home (Will home court be a jinx?) against Binghamton. GO DANES!!!

Yes, I too have been reading that thread on the Siena site. I particularly find amusing some of the strategies that these guys think the Siena team should employ to beat the Danes. A lot of them think that merely chucking three's up will win the game for them. They give UAlbany little credit for long-range shots. Some of them phantasize about how Siena will be able to deny Zoellner the ball. They admit that their team has little height, but they will somehow get the job done and prevent Zoellner from getting the ball or going to the hoop. The members of the Siena forum simply do not realize how many weapons UAlbany has this year. We have someone who can reliably score from just about any position on the halfcourt. I am somewhat apprehensive about the game, especially with a new coach and game plan for Siena. You have to play it to get the "W," but I am looking forward to a really exciting game and a wonderful season the likes of which we have not experienced since the heyday of Division III.

Siena gets more respect now in the Capital District media simply because of tradition and Siena's history. When Siena won major games in the 1950's and then got to the Big Dance since rejoining Division I in the 1970's, they earned the right for bragging rights in the Capital District. Believe me, I am no great Siena fan, but the facts are the facts. Today people do not always retain loyalties so firecely and they also have forgotten tradition, so I think that trend works in UAlbany's favor. When we begin to win this year, fans will come to the RACC. I believe we can average 3,500 fans per game in January and February. The trick will be to retain the new fans after this season. (P.S. My wife just loves the parking pass privilege that was instituted at the RACC last year. It is so-o-o much easier to find a nice spot to put the car than at the Pepsi.)

Let our record in the coming season speak for itself.