FB: Empire 8

[Pat Coleman]

Teams joining the Centennial from the MAC, yes. Until the NCAA reclassifies them in the South I haven't moved them.

[PBR...]

tgp...its the big corporate syndicate(Pat) playing head games w/ ya...LOL

pbr agrees parity seems to abound in the east...lots of very good teams and 1 team each year seems to really step up....pbr would still like to see more of the E8, LL, MAC play each other to settle it on the field for some great early season matchups i.e. home and home series but based on the way things are set now it wont happen unfortunately....c'est la vie

[labart96]

tgp...its the big corporate syndicate(Pat) playing head games w/ ya...LOL

pbr agrees parity seems to abound in the east...lots of very good teams and 1 team each year seems to really step up....pbr would still like to see more of the E8, LL, MAC play each other to settle it on the field for some great early season matchups i.e. home and home series but based on the way things are set now it wont happen unfortunately....c'est la vie

TGP agrees, but it's unlikely now the E8, LL, etc have AQs.  Although TGP thinks having the AQ has brought a lot of benefit to the member schools, the flip side is of this arrangement is that it gives little incentive to play outside of the conferences (unless of course you finish 2nd and the only hope you have at the NCAAs is quality wins both in and outside of the conference). 

[PBR...]

pbr only see's the way around this is if the ncaa were to do like hoops and give weightings to scheduling and playing tough opponents that would encourage teams like RPI vs. ROWAN and DVC vs. 'BART etc....pbr would really like to see these kinds of matchups for out of conference schedules and reward teams for playing them. that is where pbr gives div I-A credit in teams schedule ooc home-home games. and they move them around to play all different teams that you would never see matchup naturally.

[Jonny Utah]

Alfred - a good team that beat the teams it should and lost to the teams that were better than them.  What helps the E8 in the vs. LL argument was that AU was 2-0 vs. LL teams.

Fact is, AU was 2-1 against the LL in 2006.
AU 17, St. Lawrence 14
Hobart 21, AU 14
AU 40, UR 34 (OT)

FACT............Bears eat beets...............Bears.........Beets............

[superman57]

Despite being an E8 fan I would have to say that I do think the LL is just as tough, the thing with the E8 is that the bottom 4 are really bad, sorry BC08....the LL has history, the E8 has well Ithaca, but if Fisher can do half of what they did last year then they will only be so lucky, last year was just a magical run

[AUKaz00]

So Alfred snuck by St. Lawrence and Rochester....Yeah?  Big Deal! 

LewDogg,
  While your statement is accurate, I think we all can agree that the final score of a game doesn't tell the whole story.  So, I'd like to shine a little light on the AU wins against St. Larry and UofR not as an excuse for how close the games were played, but by how impressed I was that the Saxons actually won those games.
  At the Larries was our second game of the year which means it took place 7 days after the heart and soul of the AU squad, Julio Fuentes, was carted off the field with the prospect of paralysis a near certainty.  That would weigh heavy on any team and to go on the road and fight to a win against a good team said something about the makeup of the 2006 Saxons. 
  The UofR game came a week after AU was dismantled by Fisher and had their dream of reaching the NCAAs shattered.  They slept-walked their way through the first half of their ECAC bowl and rightfully found themselves down by 15 in fourth quarter.  They wouldn't have been able to pick themselves against a NCAA tourney team the way they did against the Yellowjackets, but the way they tied the game on a 2 point conversion with seconds to go and dominated OT was something to behold.
  As for the Hobart game, I would think that even TGP would say that the Saxons played them as tight as Rowan did in the first round of the playoffs and the level of celebration by the Hobart players on that last incompletion confirms how hard fought and important that game was.
  In no way am I saying that Alfred deserved an NCAA bid last year, but I think that the 2006 Saxons were as tough competition as most of the teams that were in the East playoffs last year.  And that's what these boards are for; never to settle issues like these, but for each of us to pontificate about how we think it was.

[lewdogg11]

So Alfred snuck by St. Lawrence and Rochester....Yeah?  Big Deal! 

LewDogg,
  While your statement is accurate, I think we all can agree that the final score of a game doesn't tell the whole story.  So, I'd like to shine a little light on the AU wins against St. Larry and UofR not as an excuse for how close the games were played, but by how impressed I was that the Saxons actually won those games.
  At the Larries was our second game of the year which means it took place 7 days after the heart and soul of the AU squad, Julio Fuentes, was carted off the field with the prospect of paralysis a near certainty.  That would weigh heavy on any team and to go on the road and fight to a win against a good team said something about the makeup of the 2006 Saxons. 
  The UofR game came a week after AU was dismantled by Fisher and had their dream of reaching the NCAAs shattered.  They slept-walked their way through the first half of their ECAC bowl and rightfully found themselves down by 15 in fourth quarter.  They wouldn't have been able to pick themselves against a NCAA tourney team the way they did against the Yellowjackets, but the way they tied the game on a 2 point conversion with seconds to go and dominated OT was something to behold.
  As for the Hobart game, I would think that even TGP would say that the Saxons played them as tight as Rowan did in the first round of the playoffs and the level of celebration by the Hobart players on that last incompletion confirms how hard fought and important that game was.
  In no way am I saying that Alfred deserved an NCAA bid last year, but I think that the 2006 Saxons were as tough competition as most of the teams that were in the East playoffs last year.  And that's what these boards are for; never to settle issues like these, but for each of us to pontificate about how we think it was.

Dude, i'm not taking anything away from Alfred, but they beat LL teams that had decent years, but are accustomed to to losing.  Those teams don't yet know how to ein close games consistently.  They both had decent years and beat some good teams, but they can't do it on a consistent basis.  And both losing close games to Alfred means nothing more than they are not quite there yet.  There was no disrespect meant, only that it means squash in the argument of which league is better.  If Alfred beat Hobart, it might be a different story.  So don't take it so harshly.  It was just a statement to prove the hamster wheel effect.  SJF was the one team that put the exclamation point on everything.

[sjfcards]

Alfred - a good team that beat the teams it should and lost to the teams that were better than them.  What helps the E8 in the vs. LL argument was that AU was 2-0 vs. LL teams.

Fact is, AU was 2-1 against the LL in 2006.
AU 17, St. Lawrence 14
Hobart 21, AU 14
AU 40, UR 34 (OT)

So Alfred snuck by St. Lawrence and Rochester....Yeah?  Big Deal!  If anything I would say that with that statement, one of the E8's mid-upper echelon teams is barely better than the LL's mid-lower echelon teams, and a touchdown worse than the LL's uper-echelon teams. 

That argument doesn't hold much water.

Again, the hamster wheel spins and spins.  RPI lost to St. Lawrence and UR 42-38 and 30-23 respectively, but beat Cortland 26-7, who beat Ithaca 23-20, who lost to Alfred 28-17, who lost to Hobart 21-14, who beat RPI 24-17, but lost to Union 31-14, who lost to RPI 24-19.

It's a rhetorical never ending debate.

I think the best argument for last year is that SJF was the best team in the East, followed by probably Rowan, followed by probably Springfield and Wilkes, then a tight billing for DVC, RPI, Union, Alfred, and Hobart and MAYBE Cortland. 

Each year now, the BEST team seems to be coming from a different conference.  I think all the conferences are pretty equal.  The MAC and NJAC may be a little deeper than the E8 and LL, but that is debatable.  I think if you took the top 3 or 4 teams in each of those leagues, it would be relatively even.

I saw both Rowan and Springfield play twice last year (Rowan vs Cortland and Fisher...Springfield vs Fisher Twice) and I have to say they were the second best team in the region last year. They were just better than Rowan, flat out.

As far as the LL vs the E8 last year I would have to say that the E8 was a better conference. Fisher did what it did in the NCAA's only because they could get by a really good SC team. I am sure SC would have beaten Rowan the week after the 2nd Fisher game. Add AU and IC to that mix and that is really tough conference.

The toughest conference changes from year to year, the LL and the E8 are both strong conferences, but in 2 years who knows...maybe the NJAC will rise back to that level.

[AUPepBand]

Pep just returned at 8:30 a.m. this morning from a whirlwind road trip moving Pep Jr. to Charlotte, NC where he will be accepting a teaching position for the fall and, in the meantime, take abuse from Little League parents from behind the plate and/or find other work before returning to work at summer camp in Connecticut.

Pep departed from Tinkertown at 1:30 a.m. Sunday in his ($150) 1992 Geo Prizm, getting 37 mpg on the 11-hour trip to Charlotte, arriving at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. After a three-hour layover in Charlotte where Pep settled son in one-bedroom apartment currently occupied by Pep Jr.'s friend and his girlfriend (Pep Jr. takes on role of "Dupree" sleeping on sofa) and seeing Pep Jr.'s friend take abuse from LL coaches and parents, Pep departed from Charlotte at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

It seemed like Pep was still behind the wheel during a dinner stop at Big Al's Pub (Buffalo Bills Fan HQ) and Grubberia in Cornelius, NC where all the TVs were tuned to NASCAR racing (..."It appears that an unidentified 1992 Geo Prizm has entered the race and, as a matter of fact has just now taken the lead...I have no record of the entry and, in fact, it has a NY license plate...it appears the Prizm has blown its catalytic converter and, quite frankly, looks like a piece of crap. Nevertheless, this race is suddenly become very interesting, indeed...")

Dinner was concluded in time for Pep to arrive in Salem, VA before dark where he took a look at Salem Stadium with its brand new field turf having already been installed. Pep thought he could hear the AU Pep Band playing the Saxon fight song in the stadium, but could not confirm as the stadium is surrounded by high chain link fence.

With the benefit of a couple of pull-over naps, Pep returned to Tinkertown at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning, having logged more than 1400 miles in a 31 hour period. Road trip, anyone?

[FisherAlum05]

Does anybody know where the QB Boltus from Hartwick is going?? I heard he was gonna transfer...that would be a nice pickup for any D3 team.  That kid is a good QB!

[JQV]

Does anybody know where the QB Boltus from Hartwick is going?? I heard he was gonna transfer...that would be a nice pickup for any D3 team.  That kid is a good QB!

If he goes to another NCAA school he will have to sit a year.  I bet he just sucks it up at 'Wick.

[JQV]

(..."It appears that an unidentified 1992 Geo Prizm has entered the race and, as a matter of fact has just now taken the lead...I have no record of the entry and, in fact, it has a NY license plate...it appears the Prizm has blown its catalytic converter and, quite frankly, looks like a piece of crap. Nevertheless, this race is suddenly become very interesting, indeed...")

Pep in the pits after making his run at Little E and the Rainbow Warrior:

[realistic]

Does anybody know where the QB Boltus from Hartwick is going?? I heard he was gonna transfer...that would be a nice pickup for any D3 team.  That kid is a good QB!

If he goes to another NCAA school he will have to sit a year.  I bet he just sucks it up at 'Wick.

if he goes D-III to D-III he doesn't have to sit, does he?  I am not sure on this but I thought it was a scholarship rule...and if a kid goes D-I / II to D-III he doesn't have to sit.

[Pat Coleman]

If he goes to another NCAA school he will have to sit a year.  I bet he just sucks it up at 'Wick.

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