McFan

I think it would build long term allegiance (especially if we just keep winning) to reach out to High Schools and youth programs. I see a few a year but given the amount of schools and youth leagues you could have multiples there every game. Tickets would need to be discounted but on most games there are plenty of empty seats so it would still be an added bonus. Our CYO program goes to the TUC. They get to go on the court for the player intros for high fives and are highlighted no the overhead screen many times throughout the game. Kids love it. The BBall leaves something to be desired by kids like "the show" aspect.

We did the P&G and when the players went into the crowd my son got some one on one time w/ Dallas. He's a fan for life. Some of it really is simple.

 

Short game thread. Where is everybody?

 

Ton of guys stepped up. I do find it odd that there is a lot of talk of us controlling the tempo. I would say our D controlled the tempo but our O was aggressive. We did score 14 more than our average. Attacked the press on a number of occasions once they got out of the corner. We rarely were up against the shot clock. Those foul shots weren't by accident. We took it to them. I was shocked at how many Singletary had.

 

Siena's offense is frightening. Just didn't look good at all.

I told you, when they look bad they are horrid. That was ugly on Saturday, clueless team.

 

I thought Peters gave us a huge life with his size and presence, and Dallas had a career game. How do we get this Dallas every time out?

 

I think we could see a lot of that Dallas (rebounding, effort) but the shooting may continue to be inconsistent. I hope not as he is a favorite of mine.

I always used to think it should be in the TUC every year, but as time has gone by, I've changed my mind. I now think it should be alternated. I am a season ticket holder, so I'll always have a great seat in SEFCU, and Siena never sells out, so I can always go when the game is there. If will be a tough ticket to get every other year, but maybe that will help us with ticket sales for SEFCU. There are plenty of restaurants on Western to feed all the hungry patrons. I'm hungry for equity. We deserve to be treated as every other opponent is treated. If that isn't amenable to Siena, well, that'll be their loss every other year.

How about being treated better than every other opponent. Give us the TUC (their home court) every other year. I fear that it will lose its luster if 50% of the fans can't show up every other year. I'm in the camp that if built up properly we should see 11-12K. If our trajectory continues upward and they somehow get back on track this could be a very big event every year. Shutting out 6-7K people every other year concerns me.

Short game thread. Where is everybody?

Ton of guys stepped up. I do find it odd that there is a lot of talk of us controlling the tempo. I would say our D controlled the tempo but our O was aggressive. We did score 14 more than our average. Attacked the press on a number of occasions once they got out of the corner. We rarely were up against the shot clock. Those foul shots weren't by accident. We took it to them. I was shocked at how many Singletary had.

Siena's offense is frightening. Just didn't look good at all.

I'm in the minority here but a couple of points:

• I think it is a community event. There was a ton of restaurant business that night. People who aren't UA or Siena fans show up to this game. If you are local you see people before, during, and after the game that are excited about it. There is a buzz.
• Fix the tickets but play so plenty of people, i.e. 10K can see the game.
• Be careful what you wish for. We still get less than 3K per game and we couldn't sell our allotment of 750 through the university. I know many UA fans bought from the TU but not selling even the 750 we were allotted does not help our bargaining position. I know some of you do it out of principle and I'm fine w/ that. This isn't a shot at those that do.
• I'd like to see the coaches and players get into ahead of time. Hype this thing. I saw the Army/Navy coaches interviewed prior to their game and they're not afraid to talk it up. I know this isn't Army/Navy but you get the point (or I hope you do).
• Once a year. Hype this thing.

I'm curious as to what calls went UA's way. When the refs were exiting they had to walk by the Colgate fans and one guy was just killing them. Very angry and quite honestly classless. The only thing I could think of was one 15 yarder which I think was a celebration penalty in the 4th quarter.

6:30 after the football game.

Thanks 73.

What time is the P&G?

What would either institution gain? The campuses are 10 miles apart. Funding from the state is problematic. And, Albany Law would be burdened with layers and layers of UA red tape.

Uptown and Law are 4 miles apart, not that that was the important point.

Another impressive display today. I'm sure that there are a lot of teams that were rooting against UA today. Not a team you want to face in the tourney.

Outdoor Track Hosts 30th Spring Classic

Heat Sheets │ Meet Program │ Meet Schedule

ALBANY, N.Y. – Following a two-year stretch where they didn’t host a home meet, the University at Albany outdoor track program will host its second home meet of the year on Saturday, the 30th UAlbany Spring Classic. Unlike the Dogfight and the Dual Meet held on campus two weeks ago, this weekend marks the Danes’ big spring invitational. Teams from the Northeast, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Canada will descend upon UAlbany’s brand new track to compete this weekend.

“We’re excited to be able to host a meet like this, a big invitational,” said Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Roberto Vives. “We want to have home meets to be excited about.”

In addition to the international athletes in attendance, the field also features a number of UAlbany alumni, who will compete against the current standard-bearers of the program they went through themselves.

“It’s great to have the alums back, because they are the ones that set the bar,” said Vives. “Our current athletes can see the shoulders of those they stand on, to see how this program was built. They know who the alums are, and they know what they did. They are the ones that set the tradition of excellence.”

Next week, the Danes will send a handful of athletes to compete in the Penn Relays, one of the biggest events on the outdoor calendar. But the Relays are more of a specialized event, and considerations have to be made to accommodate such a meet on the schedule, when there is still work to be done for championship season.

“Next week is mostly about relays,” said Vives. “But this week, we have our athletes competing, for the most part, in their best events. We want them to hit qualifying marks, especially those going to Penn who won’t have the chance to do so next week. Additionally, we’re trying out some athletes in events where they might be able to contribute later in the season, but in order to do so they need a mark to compete when we need them. It’s all about preparing for conference championships.”

The last time the Spring Classic was held in the 2008 season, and returns this year after a five-year hiatus. The turnout for the meet, despite the long break, has the coaching staff encouraged.

“I think the meet is a success already,” said Vives. “We didn’t know how many teams would show up, and to have the international squads in attendance is really special. We hope this meet can be the beginning of something, and we’d like to see it develop. It’s our biggest home meet of the year, and we’d like it to be even bigger.”

Field events kick off Saturday, April 19 at 11:00 a.m., followed by track events at 12:00 p.m.

“It’s time to find out how fast that new track really is,” said Vives.

Roberto J. Vives

Director of Men's and Women's

Track & Field/Cross Country

University at Albany

518-209-1973 - cell

518-442-2596 - fax

“The Unbelievable, Incredible And Impossible Can Be Done”

33 Times AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

3 times IC4A Champions

They played an impressive 2nd half and if they could have won a few draws they could have won this game. In my view they were rye better team other than that. Something like 23-4 on draws.

Anyone still upset about the play in game? Lol. If you are a 16 why wouldn't you want the whole country watch your team!

Only for selfish reasons. Can't get there now.

The 4 Aussies were the topic of Boomers CBS sports minute this morning on TheFan.

He was noticeably calmer. I noticed that too. Well done indeed.

Nice win. I still disagree w/ the "grind it out". And by that I mean I don't think that's what we did. We scored 71 w only 2 three pointers. Our TOs for the most part were not when pushing the pace or attacking the basket . Sam had 7 of the 14 (along w 13 RBs), and his weren't when pushing the ball. When we score, we win.

I think coach has said it so much that others believe it even though the stats may not agree. Maybe he's outsmarted them all.

On to Orlando.

Up by 4, I'll take it.

PIG games suck. Can't go on Tuesday and now can't even make plans for Thursday. Thanks NCAA for the money grab.

ESPNU is great for the fans you already have, live basketball to grow interest. Let's hope they get a good crowd but they'll be minus 4 due to the start time.

Please explain a 4PM weekday start? I'm sure it's TV related. Who is watching TV at 4PM on a Monday? Would have loved to take my kids and build the fan base but doubtful I can pull this off.

Love the pace, except for the timeouts (called and media).

Well I did love the pace.

Guess who is procrastinating from snowplowing.

UA's men's bb team is average in a low level conference. The Universities leaders have picked football and women's basketball to be our showcase teams. I would not be surprised to see the women move to a "better" conference.

 

It's quotes like this that drive me nuts. HOW ARE THE WOMEN MOVING TO A BETTER CONFERENCE WITHOUT THE REST OF THE SCHOOL?

 

And as a general rule, and following up on Dane Pound's general post expressing bewilderment, do you guys really think mid-low majors ALWAYS hit well with recruits. Further, most people whining now were praising the coaching job of our staff last year after losing what many thought were the most prolific scorers on the team.

 

It's like a group home for bi-polar on this board lately.

 

Again, I'm not all too happy with the season but let's not let facts get in the way: THIS TEAM HAS BEEN MISSING KEY PLAYERS OR HURT SINCE THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE SEASON. IT ALSO HAD TO REPLACE 6 PLAYERS BY A COACH WHO WAS BASICALLY A LAME DUCK. I can tell you this: When i was being recruited in H.S. if a coach was sitting on 1 year contract...there was no way I would have went that school.

 

We have what is considered to be a very solid four year class coming in that will try to mesh with some nice young pieces we have now. Bet your collective asses on this: When that class is sophs/jrs. with this years crops of frosh, if they aren't winning...Brown will likely be out.

 

That's not emotional, it's subjective but without letting W/L constitute my view of the team, solely. If by then you can't win...then something is seriously wrong.

 

This is all well and good. I'll even go so far as to say I'm probably the most bi-polar poster here. When you look at the reasons with a narrow view they all make sense. When you take a look at the bigger picture it becomes infinitely harder to ignore, 4 winning seasons in going on 13 years granted the first 2 or 3 are probably a write-off, no one was winning here. The complete domination of this program by UVM, SBU and BU before they left has been demoralizing. The recruiting strategy has been flawed for a long time...juco galore. Listen, next year there is no PG and no C on this team who won't be new to the roster. I can already see how this will probably go, you can't win 'ish without a PG.

 

I don't even say he needs to be top 3 every year in conference...I don't. I understand there are dips and there are down cycles but 4 winning seasons? We haven't won the regular season or even been close since Jamar left. He is under .500 in the AE. Think about that...in the AE he is under .500 both overall and since Jamar left.

 

Truth is there is a lot to be concerned about here long term. Attendance hasn't gone up one iota. Brown has an uncanny knack for winning the big game in the AE tourney, when he gets there, he is money! For that he is to be applauded...you can't take away from him. As I said previously, the highs are highs but the lows and struggling to stay .500 are far to frequent.

I get the lame duck recruiting issue, but explain how BU and UVM do it. One on their third coach and the other was basically on life support. For BU to be competitive w/ us is shocking. Agree?

Tied for 5th in a BAD league; no way around it--this team just sucks. But unlike many of you, I refuse to blame coach. There are many factors beside W&L's to evaluate when looking @ a "college" coach. But my intent is not to get into that argument again/now, but to say as the saying goes, you can not fire the entire team, so blame the coach. It has kind of been an unwritten rule on this blog to NOT criticize players/kids/students. But without naming names some {maybe even many} players on this team have NOT played up to potential; and others have only played well inconsistently. It is easy to blame the coach and/or recruiting, but again there may be numerous other factors why a player does not reach his potential (maybe he is having girl friend problems, maybe he hated his mother growing up--who knows? {great scene in the "the Natural" of a shrink counseling the team in the locker room "losing is a disease"}. Getting off track obviously, but my point the players play the game--not the coaches. Last year, I got blasted when I said I thought a certain player was not as good as a lot of people thought. My point is maybe some of us on this blog should reevaluate our player assessments. After all we are the "experts"?

 

OT but last point. I would venture to guess that over the last 8or10 years, we have a better out of conference record than vermont {but do not really care to take the time to investigate, because I really do not care that much about vt}. In fact, (I could be wrong) but again would venture to guess counting jamar years and going forward we have the best overall ooc record of any AE team.

In this case the coach is the GM however so he gets even more of the blame than at the higher level.

Simple question:

 

Did you expect the rotation to be as injured (and it is clear we lost key guys) as it was AND to have a rotation completely look different than when we had early in the season.

 

In short, if you were presented with our mid-year to current rotation prior to the season...WHAT RECORD AND WHAT PLACE WOULD YOU HAVE PREDICTED THE TEAM TO FINISH?

These are good questions that I'm not sure I can answer. Some half way responses:

I expected us to handle BU, UMBC and UMass Lowell.

I'm surprised we beat SBU.

I expect a D1 team to have something more on the bench. No backup PG and no backup C.

Sam is clearly not the same. Hooley may be injured but his numbers have not suffered that much, if at all. I didn't expect much out of Devlin. Puk, DJ, and GJ are fine (as far as I know), as are the bench guys, with the exception of Devlin. So are we really that unexpectedly injured? I think it is more of underperformance or lack of talented players.