Realistic Expectations

[danefan]

The french guy may have a point. Without a stadium, maybe we should give up football. In spite of what Ford says, that they would play on I90 if they had to, I DO NOT WANT TO WATCH THEM PLAY ON I90. I have been watching them in that no excuse for a field since their first club game and in spite of what Ford says that place has cost him recruits and kept fan interest from growing and donations from pouring in.

 

You think we'd have only one September home game in the past THREE years if we had a respected stadium?

I'll be there freezing for those late November(13th,20th) meaningless games but few othwer will. But with a real stadium more early games in September to entice the casual fans in, maybe the late freezing November games would be more important and better attended like in the not to distant past.

 

I know I am ranting, but watching UA football for 40 years at university field is demoralizing and if we aren't willing to fight the naysayer french teachers and move froward NOW on a stadium, maybe they are right and we should spend our money elswhere.

 

The old sh*t or get off the pot mentality. I have to admit, I've had similar feelings of late, but then I remember how much good the football program has done for the student athletes who have played in these last 40 years, even if it was on quite possibly the most embarrasing facility in the country.

[Dane96]

I have thought the same...but there is an RFP out there...and I would be shocked if it were cancelled. Plus...it would pretty much just end any chance of "flagship" status; UB and SBU can say to the State...let BU and Albany be what they are....but we are comprehensive in all aspects.

[Clickclack]

I might be in the minority, but I wouldn't be against contracting some lesser sports in order to refocus our Athletic Dept. more on the core sports. Things like Football, basketball, Lacrosse, Track.

 

Undoubtedly sports like field hockey or baseball are important to the players and coaches and I'm sure add value to the student athlete experience to the kids playing them. But let's face it, how many people are watching field hockey?

 

As to the French Professors point, how many people are majoring in French or Russian? To bad he didn't mention in his op-ed pieces that students can continue taking French and Russian classes. This pieces is nothing short of...protect what's mine.

[danefan]

I might be in the minority, but I wouldn't be against contracting some lesser sports in order to refocus our Athletic Dept. more on the core sports. Things like Football, basketball, Lacrosse, Track.

 

Undoubtedly sports like field hockey or baseball are important to the players and coaches and I'm sure add value to the student athlete experience to the kids playing them. But let's face it, how many people are watching field hockey?

 

As to the French Professors point, how many people are majoring in French or Russian? To bad he didn't mention in his op-ed pieces that students can continue taking French and Russian classes. This pieces is nothing short of...protect what's mine.

 

 

You are not in the minority with your thoughts about the non-revenue sports. If it were up to me I'd carry the bare minimum for Division I (14 for FCS football and 16 for FBS football I believe) and Title IX purposes. That would probably mean axing the men's baseball team. College baseball in the Northeast is a lose-lose IMO. It has been replaced by Lacrosse of the important men's sport in the Spring.

 

Duquesne just did this very thing and actually reallocated the expenditures to other sports (mostly football).

[UA'08]

I expect to see a really good TU story, maybe even 10-12 paragraphs, on Friday, November 12, for the first game.

 

This is what I expected:

 

http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Level-the-playing-field-cut-UAlbany-sports-792637.php

 

what talent did he stockpile? every recruit he had was terrible and couldnt cut it at the d1 level except for ambrose harris and raffa. all the others are no where to be found at the d-1 level. stockpiled talent my a@@.

[Dane96]

Raffa- great penetrator...likely would have been an al AE G

Harris- talent...no motivation; saw that at two schools.

Josh Martin- would have been an all AE PG

Al Turley- would have been likely a first team AE C

 

Coupled with Ambrose....

 

that's talent.

 

Go back to eating freeze dried foods.

[UA'08]

Oh yea? You knew that martin and turley would have been all ae players from 25 or so games? Did i not already mention ambrose harris and raffa as talented players above?

 

Go back to doing your chest and biceps workouts. I dont think youve peacocked enough on this board yet.

[Clickclack]

When he said stock pile players, I thought of McRae, Harris, Ambrose, Raffa, Johnson (to a lesser extent).

 

- Harris was very talented but somehow managed to have ZERO impact on wins and losses

- McRae, I though he was a very talented/athletic player but he to had a lot of issues especially in his junior year. To his credit for the most part he overcame the immaturity but at that point it was almost to late.

- Raffa, no one is gonna say he was not talented, but a bit of a knucklehead.

- Johnson, same story

- Ambrose is talented

- Martin/Turley, they had a good amount of potential but flamed out for one reason or another.

 

That's seven kids right there that simply didn't transition well to D1 life/hoops/school.

 

IMO, it's fair to blame Brown for the failures above, I mean even now he himself admits to going away from the way he constructed his teams early on. Maybe some of those kids were a bad fit with the style of play, coach, school etc. I'm glad he took some responsibility for it because the truth of the matter is the buck DOES stop with him.

 

I'm excited for this season, time for excuses is over. The program must show forward progress again, I think it will.

[Dane96]

'08

 

So...let me get this straight; two guys who would have started next to Ambrose you deem as quality. And you still dont believe there was talent. What do you think, we get 5 star players at every position...two deep?

 

That said, if you didnt see the potential...or didnt listen to AE coaches, pundits, fans and announcers guys about Turley and Martin...then you really aren't paying attention.

 

And if I remember correctly, you bashed Coach for losing Turley and Martin. Why would you care if they weren't talents.

 

hmmmm....

[UA'08]

'08

 

So...let me get this straight; two guys who would have started next to Ambrose you deem as quality. And you still dont believe there was talent. What do you think, we get 5 star players at every position...two deep?

 

That said, if you didnt see the potential...or didnt listen to AE coaches, pundits, fans and announcers guys about Turley and Martin...then you really aren't paying attention.

 

And if I remember correctly, you bashed Coach for losing Turley and Martin. Why would you care if they weren't talents.

 

hmmmm....

 

I can't say how Turley or Martin would have been because it was too small of a sample to tell. i cared that they left because that meant more players leaving the program and they could have become all ae players, not would have. Ambrose made the all rookie team his freshman year right away and had more talent than the both of them. he just did not fit the player that coach wanted. you cant argue that he he doesnt have the talent because if he was put into a system built for him he could have flourished. he belongs in a system that runs the floor not in a half court set offense. rafa was the teams biggest loss although others may say he was a cancer. he was the only player that transferred out to another d1 school in the time ive been following albany.

[bob87]

I might be in the minority, but I wouldn't be against contracting some lesser sports in order to refocus our Athletic Dept. more on the core sports. Things like Football, basketball, Lacrosse, Track.

 

Undoubtedly sports like field hockey or baseball are important to the players and coaches and I'm sure add value to the student athlete experience to the kids playing them. But let's face it, how many people are watching field hockey?

 

As to the French Professors point, how many people are majoring in French or Russian? To bad he didn't mention in his op-ed pieces that students can continue taking French and Russian classes. This pieces is nothing short of...protect what's mine.

 

 

You are not in the minority with your thoughts about the non-revenue sports. If it were up to me I'd carry the bare minimum for Division I (14 for FCS football and 16 for FBS football I believe) and Title IX purposes. That would probably mean axing the men's baseball team. College baseball in the Northeast is a lose-lose IMO. It has been replaced by Lacrosse of the important men's sport in the Spring.

 

Duquesne just did this very thing and actually reallocated the expenditures to other sports (mostly football).

 

 

I am probably in the minority, but baseball is my favorite sport. Even college. I may be dreaming, but I look forward to the day when I can go to a major league park and see a UAlbany alum play in the same way Hartford has had Bagwell and SB has had Nathan.

Speaking of Nathan, today's news on one of the blogs I check almost every day.

 

http://www.thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/11/03/renovation-of-stony-brook-baseballs-joe-nathan-field-underway/#more-30942

[bob87]

When he said stock pile players, I thought of McRae, Harris, Ambrose, Raffa, Johnson (to a lesser extent).

 

- Harris was very talented but somehow managed to have ZERO impact on wins and losses

- McRae, I though he was a very talented/athletic player but he to had a lot of issues especially in his junior year. To his credit for the most part he overcame the immaturity but at that point it was almost to late.

- Raffa, no one is gonna say he was not talented, but a bit of a knucklehead.

- Johnson, same story

- Ambrose is talented

- Martin/Turley, they had a good amount of potential but flamed out for one reason or another.

 

That's seven kids right there that simply didn't transition well to D1 life/hoops/school.

 

IMO, it's fair to blame Brown for the failures above, I mean even now he himself admits to going away from the way he constructed his teams early on. Maybe some of those kids were a bad fit with the style of play, coach, school etc. I'm glad he took some responsibility for it because the truth of the matter is the buck DOES stop with him.

 

I'm excited for this season, time for excuses is over. The program must show forward progress again, I think it will.

 

 

I think the program will show progress again and I don't think having other sports is holding the basketball team back.

But obviously the lack of a suitable football stadium is hurting the team and hurting in growing the fan base.

[Clickclack]

It needs to show progress back from the mess that was last season.

[Dane Pound]

rafa was the teams biggest loss although others may say he was a cancer. he was the only player that transferred out to another d1 school in the time ive been following albany.

 

Raffa doesn't have a scholarship at Coastal Carolina the last I heard. He's walking on there. Todd Martin transferred from Albany to Troy State I think. Looking at Cleveland State's roster, Lance James, a walk-on when he was at Albany is the back-up PG there this year. He was a member of that 2011 class also.

[Clickclack]

rafa was the teams biggest loss although others may say he was a cancer. he was the only player that transferred out to another d1 school in the time ive been following albany.

 

Raffa doesn't have a scholarship at Coastal Carolina the last I heard. He's walking on there. Todd Martin transferred from Albany to Troy State I think. Looking at Cleveland State's roster, Lance James, a walk-on when he was at Albany is the back-up PG there this year. He was a member of that 2011 class also.

 

It speaks volumes regarding Raffa that the kid couldn't get a scholarship anywhere, I don't think it has anything to do with his talent level either.