danefan

"UALBANY FOOTBALL PREPARES FOR SEASON OPENER WITH FINAL SCRIMMAGE Albany, N.Y. – The University at Albany football team conducted its final intrasquad scrimmage of the preseason on Thursday, Aug. 24 on the Western Avenue practice fields. Head coach Bob Ford is preparing a squad that was picked with Central Connecticut State as the favorites to win this year's Northeast Conference championship. "We learned today that we still have a ways to go on offense," offered Ford, who ran a brisk two-hour afternoon workout. "I was very impressed with our defense, especially when you consider we rested four starters. We were able to look at several combinations on the offensive line and our tailbacks ran the ball well. I am still looking for consistent production from our wide receivers." Highlights from the scrimmage include quarterback Daniel Bocanegra's 30-yard touchdown pass to flanker Mike Wall and reserve cornerback C.J. Ross' 52-yard fumble return for another score. Placekicker Jason Fralicker booted a 43-yard goal on the opening offensive series.(emphasis added) The Great Danes, who have 17 starters returning from a team that won five of its last six games one year ago, begin their season against Patriot League member Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa. on Saturday, Sept. 2." We haven't had a kicker that could hit a 40+ yarder in some time. I like it!

I think there will be some naming opportunities, but with the public funding making up a large portion of the money I have to imagine there will be some restrictions thereon. Dane96 will be able to tell us wthether or not this is true. How about GE stadium?????????? Maybe one of the largest company's in the world can give back to a community that it has benefited greatly from. What's a few million bucks to GE...a rounding error.

Last I heard there was an environmental impact study being done on the proposed site (RACC parking lot). Something about the water table. They aren't gonna to release anything until they get the results.

http://www.albany.edu/sports/mens/football...6.htm#foot_0818 Good to see these two back with the program.

Good point...and to tie that into the Giants issue, how come the Giants have't ponied up any money for this stadium? They could be playing a preseason game here and packing a 15,000 seat stadium. Look at St. John Fisher's new field. http://www.ballardsports.com/wall%20photos...all%20Photo.jpg Granted it only seats about 5,000, but it was greatly funded by the Bills and puts University Field to shame. I feal like UA missed the boat with the Giants because once the new Giant's Stadium is built in Rutherford, why would the Giants come back to UA? They will have their own state of the art practice facility.

You may have a point about the lack of coverage for our football camp. I have another concern about the lack of coverage. I just went back through the archives of the Times-Union and have found no coverage about Zoellner's signing with a team in Greece. Am I wrong that there was no article about this? If so, what gives? I'm sure sports editors read this site for clues about what may be going on with UAlbany basketball and other sports, but there is no excuse for ignoring the posting of the news that was found on the official UAlbany athletic site about Zoellner's new job. Perhaps this apparent lack of coverage belongs on the basketball-winter sports thread, but I thought it has a link to the concern mentioned in this topic. 15621[/snapback] Great point. But interestingly there was an article in today's TU about Siena's Antoine Jordan signing in Italy http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...wsdate=8/9/2006

I agree with that point. On the other hand, I don't think UA athletics will be hindered by the Giants not being here either, IMHO.

Well, there is a little team called the New York Giants practicing on campus as well. 15615[/snapback] I know the Giants are here, but I stick to my previously mentioned belief that the Giants are an overall detriment to UAlbany athletics. There are some residuary benefits of having them on campus, but mostly those benefits are felt by the local community, not the university itself. The Giants don't donate to the athletic program like the Jets do at Hofstra or the Bills at St. John Fisher. They take our practice fields, which admittadly wouldn't be as nice if they weren't here. They disrupt the athletic department as a whole by displacing about 90% of the offices, including completely uprooting the basketball offices. They also take over the training facilities, forcing our sports into the old training room that is no bigger than a closet. In my opinion, that is no way for a DI school to have summer sessions. I know most people will disagree with me on this one, but I'm bored at work and needed something to talk about...since no one has posted anything in 5 days.

I know this is a topic that is continuously rehashed, but what do we have to do get some coverage of UAlbany football? Camp has now been in session for 2, going on 3 days, and still not a word about it in the Times Union. Furthermore, what is the headline on the UA sports webpage? Mike and the Mad Dog broadcasting from campus. Great exposure, woohooo. Am I overreacting or is there cause for concern here?

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_...08/ai_n16483273 Last update from Packer's camp indicates that Kurt has been practicing and getting some time. He got in a little scuffle yesterday with a running back during a blitz drill. We wish him all the luck.

I worked out with him at UA the summer before his freshman year. He had a cannon for an arm and he was a real nice kid. No doubt he would have been in contention at UA.

The first homegame is usually the best tailgate (still generally warm). Hopefully we can fill the parking lot before the game. Plus this year its against Fordham which could be a win against an opponent from a "superior" league. Should be good for the program. Hopefully the local press will take notice before the thursday prior to the game. Maybe someone should tell Mark Singleas what the schedule is this year so he can prepare ahead of time.

if they had a new stadium, I would be. I went to the Hofstra game last year, just to see what it was like. The stands were packed but that place does everything to destroy the atmosphere. You're a mile away from the field behind TW3's amateur TV cameras, sitting on old crappy paint-chipped bleachers. Needless to say I haven't bothered going to a game since. Although the thought of watching Albany take on fellow college football powerhouse Central Connecticutt State University in a game that could mean getting into the playoffs, oh wait, there are no playoffs. It's electrifying. Call me an apathetic student, or whatever, the fact is if you don't present something worth watching then no one is going to show up, especially students. I'll be excited, and I'm sure many students will be as well, when theres an actual football stadium on campus with the team playing in a meaningful football conferance that has playoff implications. I love the 1-AA playoff system, and I'd just like to see Albany get a chance to be a part of that. 15446[/snapback] Organize some students and write letters to president hall. maybe then something will get done or at least made public so students can see the direction of the program and want to get in at ground level.

I knew the AEast meeting was last week - are you saying those A-10/CAA ADs and Presidents were there too? Hard to see how there would be water table problems when the proposed stadium site is higher than the soccer field, unless it's digging the footings for the grandstand. 15370[/snapback] The way it was phrased was that the AD's and Presidents from the potential schools were there. But it was not clarified to that extent.

Here's what I got out of this weekend: 1. Stadium is in progress, but the proposed site may have water-table problems. So they need to do an environmental study and when they get the results from that they are going to the state to ask for $30mm to build the stadium. 2. There was a sign up in the lockerroom with the proposed America East football conference indicating the following teams: UA Stony Brook Hofstra New Hampshire Maine UMass Rhode Island Don Ostrom (Ass't AD) said that they wanted AE football to be a reality in 2007, but it looks like the CAA is putting up some road blocks and that 2008 is more realistic. It is not all talk though, as the AD's and Presidents of those schools met last week in Saratoga to discuss the football conference.

see you there.

Anyone here playing in the alumni golf outing next weekend?

thanks for the image, I was just wondering if they've come out with any 3D images or sketches of the football stadium itself. This picture does help alot though. 15231[/snapback] The alumni football golf outing is July 14th and 15th and I'm sure the stadium's progress, or lack thereof, will be a hot topic, as well as the scholarship situation.

Well, I see at least 2 and possibly 3 conferences in that list that this league would be stronger than right off the bat. 14937[/snapback] but AE football would still need an "in" in the good ole' boy network of the selection committee. something i don't see.

Reminder UA football Alums, the golf outing is July 14th and 15th. You must register by June 15th. Contact Coach Ryan Roeder (rroeder@uamail.albany.edu) for more info.

awesome. top 10 smack in the face post of the year.

I to would like to see a Albany - Dayton game, but a regular season game, not some cheap playoff substitute.

So I read this as saying that even if we, or anyone else with a good enough schedule, end up 10-1 or 11-0 we are not eligible for an at-large bid? It specifically says "in lieu of participating the Divison I-AA playoffs..." That sucks if you ask me. Who cares of about this bowl game, we should care about making the playoffs.

I'm not so sure that is the case. But the purpose of lossing the IAA classification is intended to elevate IAA in the public eye. It does beg the question of where non-scholarship IAA teams fall into. The nice thing is that we don't have to worry about that anymore.

In an effort to inform this board with some football news from the Anygivensaturday.com board. There is an NCAA vote on April 27th to get rid of the IA and IAA labels. If it passes, which it is fully expected to, there will only be Division I football in the NCAA. DI will be broken down into two groups - Division I-Bowl Championship Group (BCG) and Division I- Playoff Championship Group (PCG). UA will, obviously, be a Division I-PCG program. What is nice is that the winner of the DI-PCG championship game, formerly the IAA National Champion, will be known as the Division I Playoff Champion.