Football Golf Outing

[Ruler]

Absolutly a great turnout. Between the reception Friday night and the golf outing on Saturday I would say they had about 100 ex players show up. Guys I haven't seen sincer I got out. John Sawchuck, Tom Jacobs, Dave Soldini, Ross Setlow, Rick Herman, Roddy, Brad Acker (Penn State transfer in 87...has a ring from the 85 Orange Bowl when they beat Miami) alot of guys from the 85 championship era. What was best was the huge turrnout of the younger guys. Classes from 96 thru last season were there including Geir Gudmendson...he is BIG! He is a really nice kid.

 

The lockeroom is spectacular. Two plasma TV screens and many many pictures of ex players on the wall. It is a DIA lockeroom. The weight room is still a DIA facility.

 

McElroy got up and spoke Friday night and said scholarship money has been earmarked for football in the form of $3,000,000. Stadium looks to be where it has been all along. Should be done by 2010. They swear up and down it will be built, nothing new there. Possible renovations but that was not addressed. As long as we have fully funded players then I am happy ....for now!

 

They (Fordie, Simpson etc are quietly thrilled with the 05 prospects. I did not realize how young the team last season was. This Brett Hall kid from Lackawana has great great potential. The kid from Cali is definatly in the running...gonna be a war for the starting QB position. The TE from UCONN ios very big at 250lbs can block his ass off but is not a great reciever which sounds like an OT in the making. Ryan Roeder, a super kid was telling me they had no business getting this RB Marcus Allen from Valley Forge Military. Maybe will be as good as Jones...MAYBE!....BTW Holy Cross would not schedule Albany this year.

 

Anyways If I can think of some new news i will post it.

 

P.S. There is a website for former Albany players to log onto and get in touch with other players and coaches

 

www.UAlbanyFootballNetwork.com

[Dane96]

Check your email please!

[reeder]

Good Post.

 

I was in Vegas last month at a conference playing Texas Hold-em after some of the sessions. Anyway, I was wearing an Albany Polo shirt - as it turns out two of the players (there are 10) at the table had gone to UA. One asked if I knew Tom Jacobs - I said that he was a very good football player in the early 80's when I was at UA but that I hadn't seen him in about 20 years (I think he works with him now.

 

The bad news is that I was killing the table and they got me distracted - I lost a boatload of cash in the next few hands.

 

Also, I was in the Delta crown room at one of the NYC area airports a few months back . Not sure how we got on the topic, but we ended up talking about D3 football. I told him that I went to Albany in the early 80's and played for Ford - he is friends with a guy Ed Ragule that played then. I remembered the name, wouldn't recognize the face - but he was a senior when I was a freshman and we both played the same position.

 

Not necessarily relevant to your post but Jacobs (and Dave Soldini) both played when I did. In hindsight, I wasn't nearly as good as they were - I spent a couple of years playing in the Friday afternoon JV games.

[reeder]

Nostalgia aside,

1. I thought Hall was injured and would not be ready to play this year

2. Is the $3 million an endowment? or is it an annual amount for a football budget? Doing rough calculations scholarships alone would be in the $1.5 to $1.8 million range.

3. Did Geir talk about the Bills and how that was going?

4. They will need to make a plan for the next few years as the NEC contract ends in the next couple of years and there isn't a 1AA conference available for affiliation right now.

[Ruler]

Reeder

 

We probably know one another. I was "Jake'" and "Sawman's" backup in 83 and 84.

They eventually started playing me in 84 (after my JV experience on Friday afternoons....I believed we played Siena's varsity then and spanked them that year.)along with Mike Moriarity, Ross Setlow, and Charlie Guddemi on the left side. Moriarity, myself, and Setlow began rotating at about mid season 84. Zaloom was crazy about keeping guys fresh. Meanwhile Jake and Sawman played non stop on the right side. Once Jake got shaken up for a quater against Norwich and I moved to RG and I played alongside Sawchuck. I would like to say there was not a drop off, but I did notice Ford ran the ball more to the left then normal....LOL!

 

Sawchuck was supposed to return in 85 and did not, otherwise he and I would have played a season together on the right side. Instead they moved Charlie Guddemmi and myself to the right side and Moriarity, Setlow, and Tom Higgins rotated on the left. Higgins would give everyone along the line a rest except for Pat McCullough who was our Center thru and thru!

[Ruler]

BTW I forgot to answer about Hall. From what I understand he is "the man" No one spoke about his injury.

[alum73]

They will need to make a plan for the next few years as the NEC contract ends in the next couple of years and there isn't a 1AA conference available for affiliation right now.

McElroy mentioned that we were in talks with Maine, U Mass, Rhode Island, etc. about leagues, but with not having a boss (President), we could not really pursue it very far. Now that Hal is on board, work in that area will resume.