Dane4ever

And make sure to read the TU article about this honor, 1 of only 5 male athletes nationally . . . OH WAIT, there has been no story. There was quite a long story about an LCC player injured in a pick-up game and, it turns out, it's a pretty routine injury that certainly needs months to heal, but is not career-ending, life-threatening, etc. (I'm not picking on the player, and I hope for his good recovery). The TU sports dept has the news judgment of a . . . well, 2nd rate sports section. But to be fair, does anyone know if the Record or Gazette has published this news?

I don't anyone else mentioned this, but if someone did, forgive the redundancy . . .but today's TU said that Miles and Ty will play pro lacrosse in Rochester this Summer, and then in the Fall Miles will return to UA as an assistant coach. That might be a good incentive to keep Lyle here!

About 7 million people watched that edition of CBS Evening News, according to MediaBistro. It would have been fine with me if CBS used any preposition they wanted -- on, in, above, below, around, whatever -- as long as 7 million viewers go to see the Thompsons and hear about "University" and "Albany." Those are the key words, "University" and "Albany," as in "UAlbany" and "UA UA UA UA . . . UA UA UA UA."

Wow. Just think about this:

BB -- UA men and women, both champions

Indoor T/F -- UA men and women, both champions

Outdoor T/F -- UA men and women, both champions

M/W Lacrosse -- UA men champions, women runner-up

M/W sports with 8 possible championships -- UA wins 7.

Wow.

executive-in-residence for the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management., , , I think he was there for this reason, this department and exec-in-residence speech, and not really to indicate that UMass is going to be one of the big bullies . . .er, the Big 5 BCS types . . . affected by all this. Lots of questions about what all this will mean for all those D-1 conferences not included . . . and, I guess, for us, too, in some ways. (I don't know what those "ways" would be, I'm just assuming...)

Thanks very much for these insights. I learned quite a lot! I hope this is not a bad omen, for the offense, anyway -- that the defense was "handcuffed" today because it has been stifling the offense!!

Any guesses on how many times we will actually run the ball in a game? I'd like to see the stats on the number of passes -- it seemed like a lot, but then that may mean (1) the running game may be somewhat settled, comfortable for the coaches with Omar, and/or (2) the real competition is at QB, especially in the passing game. Fiacchi certainly has gotten the message about getting rid of the ball more quickly -- and his passes seemed very sharp. The defense . . . hmmm.

And will be able to hang onto to Cremo once the multi-bid conf teams start making serious bids, if they do?

Thank you for this -- well-reasoned, supported by facts, the "who cares about them" theme is justified (even when it comes to the TU), and I agree with it all. I like the "fun" aspect of it, and the head-to-head rivalries in certain sports (don't we win most of those year-in, year-out?) -- and I notice that in Sunday's TU, even with the -- shall we say-- "disappointing" season Albany men's lacrosse is in right now (but it's far from being over), we still got the bigger play, even though Siena also won.

Try this for a larger size for reading:

"And I will be asking you to work with me as part of my team." It's a small thing, but it also shows he is comfortable to use (and not embarrassed about using) images relating to athletics.

I find it interesting that it President Jones' letter today to the UA community (faculty, students, admin, others), sent via email, he says what you expect the President to say, but he uses two sports analogies . . . he refers to the faculty's expertise and its "bench strength," and later he says, "And I will be asking you to work with me as part of my team." It's a small thing, but it also shows he is comfortable to use (and not embarrassed about using) images relating to athletics.

Has Santillo gone elsewhere? I don't recall seeing anything from him for a while . . . or maybe I've just missed it. If so, our loss!

Mea culpa. I stand before you a humbled Great Dane fan . . . I agree with everything that all of you said. I think I had just a fleeting thought about this, and wrote it down too quickly -- the thought had struck me when I realized only two UMBC players were sitting on the bench . . . and I do remember watching the UMBC coach and he didn't seem to be peeved about it (after all, he was the one who suspended the players) -- the handshakes after were normal. I think there are probably other ways that a team would go beyond bounds -- like mocking the losers or showboating (which UA was NOT doing). It helped, too, to show folks in the stand (and maybe some coaches there too) that most of these guys coming off the bench will be playing for us next year, and they are promising.

And finally, I am a huge fan of Coach Abe in everything that she does (I wonder how many other coaches take to the microphone after the game to address the crowd?). When I was nearing retirement from the UA faculty a few years ago (and as one of probably the 10% of faculty who actually strongly support the Ath Dept), in Coach Abe's 2nd year, I was chair of a subcommittee compiling information about the Athletic Department required NCAA review (every 10 years maybe?), and a colleague and I interviewed her at some length. My colleague and I walked away saying, "Geez, if each of us had a D-1 level BB daughter, we would want her playing for Coach Abe, and not just for on-court reasons." I sometimes even wonder if maybe Coach Abe could take the men for a practice or two and teach something about intensity and non-stop energy and defense.

I'm not a softie, but did we really need to keep putting up 3s with such a lead over an obviously depleted team . . . I mean, really, two players on the UMBC bench? What goes around . . .

Maybe this has been posted already, so apologies if it has . . . but it does fit loosely under "coaching announcements:" K. C. Keeler is the new head coach at Sam Houston State. The publicity about it emphasizes his overall record, at both FCS and D-3. I don't know if he recruited much out of Texas (hasn't most of his coaching been north of the Mason-Dixon Line?), but on the other hand, given the sheer amount of high schools and FCS players in Texas, he would have to be pretty lame not to recruit successfully to an established winning SHS program. Now, in a couple of years, we can hope that UA plays/beats SHS in the playoffs . . . could be feasible -- Stony Brook played SHS a couple of years ago when SB beat us in the last second . . .

From CB on Twitter.."They thought no shake was after the game. It was supposed to be no shake after the anthem. Honest mistake. No hard feelings." ...

Maybe CB is just being diplomatic . . . as soon as it was over, it looked like UMBC guys were sort of milling around and not intending to leave right away, but the coach motioned to them to head toward the lockerroom . . . CB and that coach then talked a couple of minutes at mid-court, but it didn't look like there was any animosity involved -- when parting, CB even patted the coach on the back . . . I think the coach wanted to "disengage," as was noted, because of the emotions throughout the game and especially at the very end. I noticed that the player who fouled Puk was obviously upset and walked off the court and almost half way to the big doors at the end of the building -- one ref was watching him but, rightly so, didn't T him up . . . Tough loss for them.

College Insider poll is published now -- Albany is 9th.

I'm getting into the habit of reading Bob Weiner and Andrew Santillo, and just sort of glancing at Wilkin because it's obvious he hates being on the UA beat -- he probably sees it as a demotion. There's no enthusiasm, no creativity, no enterprise reporting; there is lifelessness and lame wit. Compare Weiner's NJIT story with the TU story. But it's also a bigger issue problem with the sports department and news judgment -- no better evidence today than the fact that a women's game of this caliber and meaning with 2 of the best women's teams in the state (how is Syracuse this year?) playing, and no game advance from the beat reporter? Nothing about "here's a special game for the Capital Region..." .

I stand corrected: Keeler won the FCS in 2001, lost in the finals in 2007 and 2010. At Rowan, he was in the D-3 championship game 5 times, and went 0-5, losing by an average margin of 42-18. Good call, uofalbany.

"He led Delaware to multiple national championship games" -- not at Delaware -- this happened when he was at D-3 Rowan U. of New Jersey -- he lost all of them, mostly to Mount Union in routs. I taught at Rowan before coming to Albany in 1984, before the Keeler era, admittedly. I think he brings too many questions, as others on the board have pointed out. Coach in mid-late 30s or 40s with outstanding record at well-regarded FCS or FBS teams, as OC, Assoc Head, something like that. PROVEN strong ability to recruit and retain will be an essential component.

P.S. My published text shows a smiley face icon for my point "b." Definitely not a "smile-worthy" observation.

"I am watching the replay now...and while Fiacchi did not have his best outing and our kicker was awful, this is all on McCarthy's horrific play calling. Utterly the worst play calling I have seen in a long time. And hen he did have some success, what did he do? He went back to the vanilla."

Agree absolutely, but "Fiacchi did not have his best outing" is a kindly understatement . . . he was predictable and ineffective, taking too much time to make decisions, forcing throws when (a) he had 10-12-15 yards open in front of him but was determined to pass no matterwhat and ( the throws had to go far beyond the receiver because of URI tight coverage (a surprise to many, I think). No spark. The team OBVIOUSLY responded with some energy and success with Meek, and when Osburn could get some steady work (252 yards last week, ignored quite often this week except "here and there," except with Meek as the other running threat) . . . in the 3rd and 4th quarters, when Fiacchi was overthrowing, waiting too long, etc., and it was again another 4th down, I saw some of the linemen kicking the dirt (or whatever it is) and shaking their heads. Not encouraging. But the engine revved up with Meek. (As good a running threat that he is, I assume he's not the stronger passer.)

The Ford quote in the TU this morning says ALOT . . . of course, Coach Ford being Coach Ford, he's going to say that he will carry the responsibility . . . but before that he flat out says that he, the HC, wanted to go for the score at the end (I think that was achievable) but the OC wanted to play for the OT and they were "not on the same page" . . . why couldn't the HC give a "direct order" of sorts: "Stop this nonsense now -- go for the score!"

All that said, I loved the whole atmosphere, energy of the crowd, a berm full mostly of students, and walking back to the car hearing someone behind

me in a group saying something like, "That was like going to a real college football game."

I'll be there Saturday night. Never give up.

A little off topic except that it concerns who's on the roster for first 2 games . . . I might have missed a post along the way, but why isn't Dillon Romaine on the roster?

My question, too -- who submits the stats to NCAA? Individual school or conference (and if so, how to verify)? Maybe the NCAA has an algorithim that would take use all the stats for each NCAA game, go through some program, come up with the listings?

Omar Osbourne -- CAA Offensive Player of the Week!!

2nd week in, and already an honor!