Notes from the luncheon

[UAalum72]

The new logo is a reworking of the two-tone ‘A’, the straight ‘ALBANY’ replaced by a curved ‘UALBANY’. I’d guess this will be on the side of the football helmets next year.

 

The lacrosse bleachers are supposed to hold 750, so there have to be more sections than are up so far.

 

Spring football practice starts April 12. Sciarra has gone on to law school. Uli Delgado had much better attitude and work habits this winter than last. Nick Bazan is in grad school and will move back to quarterback. There are four freshman QBs.

 

We still owe Syracuse a basketball game, but neither school is in a hurry for it.

 

Mueller thinks the baseball team could finish as high as third. Of course, all the spring sports coaches are optimistic.

 

Reps from Sasaki Associates were there, but didn’t speak to the crowd about the master plan.

[GreatDanes06]

is this new logo replacing the new Great Danes logo introduced like 1-2 years ago with the picture of the full Great Dane...i'm just confused about this logo thing...someone explain??

[UAalum72]

It's now on the UA web site

[statefan]

I had a few thoughts on the luncheon today. I hope those that can be viewed as critical will be thought of as constructive as well.

 

1. The logo. It was not explained whether this will replace the cartoonish dog logo , or be in addition. While I think the new logo is OK. I hope no significant expense was incurred in its design; it's really the logo of several years ago, with the "UAlbany" in a banner shape , instead of straight across the horizontal line of the "A". As I have indicated before, I did not like the cartoonish dog and was horrified when I heard how much money was spent in its creation. I can only imagine that after spending to create the on-line apparal store and to build the shop in the RACC, when the merchandise continued not to sell, someone realized that I was not the only one who thought the logo looked silly.

 

I have to give Dr. McElroy some credit for realizing the mistake,even though it was created on his watch, and correcting it. I don't mean to corrolate the logo with the Coach hiring, but he really did the exact same thing when he realized the error in hiring Coach Beeten.

 

2. The luncheon format. I like it, but it doesn't seem to work for a lot of people. Aside from University employees and a few corporate sponsers, I'd venture to say there were 10 - 15 alumni or fans there. I thought the "pizza-chicken wing" party they threw for season ticketholders to "meet" Coach Brown after his formal hiring two years ago was a good format. I think it would be a good idea to throw a little party some evening for basketball season ticketholders after the season, to acknowledge the support and seek season ticketholders' input on how to improve attendance and what improvements can be made to the season ticketholders' experience.

 

3. The was no Q&A time. Although the e mail notices said there would be, there was no opportunity to ask questions, even though the event broke up around 1:05 and the e mail had said it would run to 1:30. I was hoping to get answers on the scheduling of the 2004 Siena game, the progress in negotiating a new contract with Siena, the basketball scheduling referred to by Wyland on the news last night and some info on the facilities planning. I am wondering if the reason much of the media and the facilites team showed up about three-quarters of the way through the program means there was a press briefing after the fans had left.

 

4. The Coaches. I thought it was interesting that a couple of the coaches seemed quite nervous to give their little minute or two presentations, even though they knew virtually everybody in the room. Doc Sauers was clearly the most at ease in the setting. Coach Marr discussed the support he and other younger coaches receive from the more established coaches, naming Coaches Ford, Sauers and Simpson, which was a nice touch. The women's lax Coach Short cited their victory yesterday over Quinnippiac, recalling that last year, they lost to the same team by 7 or 8 goals as a measuring stick. I enjoyed my brief conversations with severalc oaches ; it provides an opportunity I wouldn't otherwise get. There seems to be a general feeling of comraderie among the coaches and a great deal of mutual support.

[alumni '92']

statefan, good constructive commentary ... appreciated ... work schedule does not allow me to make weekday luncheons ... fan of the #2 proposal ... can't believe that there was no Q&A time ... that would seem to be the appeal for many ... of interest, facts on the siena series, the rehab progress of jamar, facilities, etc. ... the new logo appears to be a conservative/safe selection ...

[Oldtimer]

I hope they continue the luncheons and increase them to include all the sports. I(we) enjoyed seeing all of the coaches and were really surprised by the youth and the the success of the coaching staff. The enthusiasm of the young athletes at the luncheons is very enjoyable. The lack of participation of Sasaki Assoc. was disappointing!! The logo change is minimal--includes a "U" Albany and is probably not meant to replace the Great Danes logo. We hope to attend one or more m/w lacrosse games, baseball & softball games this spring. Hope other fans and students will do the same.

[DaneFan2k3]

I talked with someone who was in attendance and was able to deduce the following bits and pieces:

 

1.) I think you're wrong about the bleachers, the person I talked to said what is going up now is, in fact, "it" ... and that's not close to 500 seats or 750 by my estimation. Maybe 500 I guess, but if the previous held 1,000, certainly looks smaller than half of what that was. It's going to be small, a temporary solution while the facilities plan is done by Sasaki. Again, just what I was told.

 

2.) The logo isn't a replacement of the dog, but instead of the UA. My friend told me he heard several people ask the same question, and the response was that the university wanted to be known as UAlbany, hence the "UA" logo that had been prevalent on clothing wasn't working for them. So I was able to figure out from talking with him (just reasoning this out here) that the new UAlbany A logo replaces that UA logo, but the dog is staying ... after all, they are still the Great Danes, so there needs to be a dog.

 

3.) As UAAlum mentioned, the new A logo probably will go on the football helmet next year. My friend in attendance said that they had sweatshirts and hats with that typeface on it, the curving UAlbany, and the worker who was selling the goods told him that the new font was going to go on all the jerseys so that all the sports would look the same. Aside from baseball, I haven't seen many of the uniforms outside football and basketball. I guess I have seen men's lacrosse too. So this appears to be more in line with the basketball jersey typeface (men's) and then they would move forward from there? I guess I didn't notice it was a problem.

[UAalum72]

Well, I was told 750. What's going up on the lax field now doesn't even look like 200; just have to wait until they're finished, then I'll go over and start counting.

 

As for the mutual support of the coaches, they probably realize that major success (esp. NCAA tournaments) in ANY sport gets publicity that reinforces all the sports of the entire program.

 

A four or five o'clock ######tail/happy hour for these shindigs would be more convenient for the working public, but they may want to give enough time for the TV crews to get back for the evening news.

 

Moderator: isn't censorship a little tight when you can't use the word for a rooster's hind feathers for your after-work drink? Can South Carolina be called the Game######s here?

 

I guess not.

Edited March 25, 2004 by UAalum72