FB: Empire 8

[AUPepBand]

Since there's been nothing on here during the month of May 2008 and it already is Sunday, May 4, Pep issues this Update from Mayberry:

AU Pep Bandwagon surpasses 292,000 miles and with a replacement engine, anticipates many more...now to pimp it up.

[AUPepBand]

Bandwagon mileage today....292,527. Certainly there's someone out there in the E8PP World who has something to say. 

[theoriginalupstate]

You know its a slow offseason when Pep is giving daily mileage updates...

[boobyhasgameyo]

You know its a slow offseason when Pep is giving daily mileage updates...

I know, but God bless him for it because if it weren't for his posts this board would have been idle since April 30th....

I'm thinking about starting rumors just to get this board going.

[boobyhasgameyo]

Breaking News!!!


Cortland has agreed in principle to become the newest member of the Empire 8 beginning in the 2009 season.  Cortland's athletic director Mike Lopica states "This was a great opportunity for us, and one we could not pass up."  John Verblonski, chairman of the E8, is happy with the decision saying that Cortland topped the list that included other candidates such as Wilkes University, Kings College, SUNY Brockport, and Widener College. 

[AUPepBand]

Seriously, which of the SUNY schools do you think will actually bolt the NJAC and join the E8? Pep is of the mind that Cortland is the LEAST likely to make the move. Can't imagine the Red Dragons would want their NCAA Tourney chances resting on Cortaca every year when they more likely can get an AQ in the NJAC, although that hasn't happened yet, has it? Pep is talking in circles here; Pep needs some more E8 posters on here to help clarify this muddy issue.

SUNY Brockport?
SUNY Buffalo?
SUNY Cortland?
SUNY Morrisville?

Any of them care to come into the E8 now that the door is open?

[JQV]

I think Cortland would absolutely like to be in the E8.  Shorter trips would ease the strain on their athletic budget and playing in state more would help their recruiting (since they basically get players from NY only). 

Officially having a playoff berth ride on Cortaca every year wouldn't really change anything from their point-of-view anyway.  Generally, Cortaca has been a must win for admittance to the playoffs for both teams every year except when IC got the E8 auto.

They seem to be the logical choice but I wouldn't be shocked if Brockport didn't try to run through the door first.

[Ralph Turner]

Seriously, which of the SUNY schools do you think will actually bolt the NJAC and join the E8? Pep is of the mind that Cortland is the LEAST likely to make the move. Can't imagine the Red Dragons would want their NCAA Tourney chances resting on Cortaca every year when they more likely can get an AQ in the NJAC, although that hasn't happened yet, has it? Pep is talking in circles here; Pep needs some more E8 posters on here to help clarify this muddy issue.

SUNY Brockport?
SUNY Buffalo?
SUNY Cortland?
SUNY Morrisville?

Any of them care to come into the E8 now that the door is open?

IMHO, all of them...

It is a transportation budget issue.  The NJAC replaces those four with the ACFC members.  The NJAC gets the games that they need.  This happens in the 2010 season, unless they can get it done really quickly by 2009.

Net effect?  Three more schools leave Pool B and bring about 0.35 bids to Pool C.
Depending on what the North Atlantic Conference can do about their alignment to earn a Pool A bid, Pool B will be down to the UAA-4, the UMAC-5, Chapman and Macalester.  That is one bid.

[not so rowdy bomber]

NSRB would like to report that over the weekend he had the priviledge? ...  honor?  no...  luck?  ... no, not that either...  distinguished experience of partaking in  DUN DUN DUN!  .... drinking Genny Light from a keg, on PROSPECT DAY/ FOUNTAIN DAY!!!!

A day for which students of the South Hill celebrate their year at Ithaca... a day in which the beer flows ...and the pee goes... downhill.

...of all days, NSRB was a little shocked to find not 1, but 2 kegs at the South Hill residence not of Ithaca brews, PBR, or Beast... but GENNY LIGHT!

turns out the owner of the beverages was from Rochester... not a Fisher infiltrator. so, in the spirit of things NSRB took up a glass... or 2 ... or several... and washed the pretzle and A&W baco-double cheese burger flavors down with beautiful, room-temp Genny Light... ahhhh the goodness...

[lewdogg11]

NSRB would like to report that over the weekend he had the priviledge? ...  honor?  no...  luck?  ... no, not that either...  distinguished experience of partaking in  DUN DUN DUN!  .... drinking Genny Light from a keg, on PROSPECT DAY/ FOUNTAIN DAY!!!!

A day for which students of the South Hill celebrate their year at Ithaca... a day in which the beer flows ...and the pee goes... downhill.

...of all days, NSRB was a little shocked to find not 1, but 2 kegs at the South Hill residence not of Ithaca brews, PBR, or Beast... but GENNY LIGHT!

turns out the owner of the beverages was from Rochester... not a Fisher infiltrator. so, in the spirit of things NSRB took up a glass... or 2 ... or several... and washed the pretzle and A&W baco-double cheese burger flavors down with beautiful, room-temp Genny Light... ahhhh the goodness...

Down here in NC, LD11 recently found a place in which the owners are from Buffalo, and they make this amazing concoction called 'Beef on Weck'.  Some of you may have heard of it.  A good friend of mine here from Buffalo had raved about them from home, so I imagine it is popular up there.  It was absolutely amazing....

On top of this, they served, in a bottle....Genny Cream Ale!!!  I hadn't drank one of those in a solid 10 years.  I must say, it tasted much better than I remembered, and in a bottle, anything ice cold on a warm day tastes pretty good...

[JQV]

IMHO, all of them...

Ralph, I agree that all four would love to be in the E8 but I don't agree that the E8 will take them all.  That makes the league wayyyyyyy to big and IC and SJF won't want to lose their schedule flexibility. 

The league will take one, maybe two.

[Caz Bombers]

IMHO, all of them...

Ralph, I agree that all four would love to be in the E8 but I don't agree that the E8 will take them all.  That makes the league wayyyyyyy to big and IC and SJF won't want to lose their schedule flexibility. 

The league will take one, maybe two.

I disagree.  Only makes the league 10 teams, that's not that big.  (Besides if I'm not mistaken Ralph's home conference the ASC has approximately 528 schools in it, so ten schmen.)  Also, why go through the hassle of non-conference scheduling if you can make a schedule that's set every year.  Personally I have no problem with 9 games against local long time rivals and 1 game a year against whoever.  Each year a coach could make the decision to use that OOC game on a decent team like anybody from LL, MAC, NJAC; go nuts like Fisher did playing MUC or even bring in a NEFC or NAC cupcake to whale on to warm up and develop the bench.

[fisheralum91]

gotta disagree caz,
with fisher adding salsb. and mount U, the level of competition has gone way up.
Obviously it would be great to keep the travel time between the colleges at a min, but in order to see how you stack up against the big boys- play has to go outside of the conference.

[AUPepBand]

NSRB would like to report that over the weekend he had the priviledge? ...  honor?  no...  luck?  ... no, not that either...  distinguished experience of partaking in  DUN DUN DUN!  .... drinking Genny Light from a keg, on PROSPECT DAY/ FOUNTAIN DAY!!!!

A day for which students of the South Hill celebrate their year at Ithaca... a day in which the beer flows ...and the pee goes... downhill.

...of all days, NSRB was a little shocked to find not 1, but 2 kegs at the South Hill residence not of Ithaca brews, PBR, or Beast... but GENNY LIGHT!

turns out the owner of the beverages was from Rochester... not a Fisher infiltrator. so, in the spirit of things NSRB took up a glass... or 2 ... or several... and washed the pretzle and A&W baco-double cheese burger flavors down with beautiful, room-temp Genny Light... ahhhh the goodness...

Down here in NC, LD11 recently found a place in which the owners are from Buffalo, and they make this amazing concoction called 'Beef on Weck'.  Some of you may have heard of it.  A good friend of mine here from Buffalo had raved about them from home, so I imagine it is popular up there.  It was absolutely amazing....

On top of this, they served, in a bottle....Genny Cream Ale!!!  I hadn't drank one of those in a solid 10 years.  I must say, it tasted much better than I remembered, and in a bottle, anything ice cold on a warm day tastes pretty good...

Pep doesn't remember whether Beef on 'Weck (as in Kimmelweck - - see below) was on the menu at Big Al's Pub and Grubberia in Cornelius, NC, but the owners are from Friendship, NY (here in Allegany County) and annually host the AU Habitat for Humanity group en route back from a Florida Spring Break Collegiate Challenge. Their pizza and wings are a decent re-introduction to the Western New York culture after a week in the Sunny South.

A kummelweck, or sometimes kimmelweck or even kümmelweck, is a salty roll that is popular in Western New York. It is similar to a Kaiser roll, but topped with pretzel salt and caraway seeds. Kummelweck is commonly shortened to "weck," and often served in the Buffalo metropolitan area with roast beef and horseradish to form a sandwich known colloquially as "beef on weck." Along with buffalo wings and the so-called garbage plate, beef on weck is one of the three most distinct dishes of the region.

Incidentally, Pep's church held a Beef on 'Weck Dinner as a fund-raiser to help send 10 church members to Ndola, Zambia, Africa, to assist in building a dormitory at an orphanage there. The group is expected to return this week.

And oh, by the way....Pep took the bandwagon to Binghamton to assist Pep's daughter with a move into a new apartment. Said daughter treated Pep to lunch at the Spiedie & Rib Pit in Vestal. Pep had his first spiedie and may just serve spiedies at his other daughter's AU graduation party May 17.

[Caz Bombers]

gotta disagree caz,
with fisher adding salsb. and mount U, the level of competition has gone way up.
Obviously it would be great to keep the travel time between the colleges at a min, but in order to see how you stack up against the big boys- play has to go outside of the conference.

I guess that's the 64 thousand dollar question.  If the NCAA is going to continue to not really count what you do in non-region games, is that more or less of an incentive to play a team from far away.  If you lose, it's a freebie, I guess.  A lot of really top drawer D3 teams play more conference games than we do anyway.  The E8 has been getting unprecedented respect lately and adding a program like Cortland to that would be even bigger.  If Brockport gets back to where they were earlier in the decade that would make it even rougher....but maybe too rough?  Would the flipside problem be a league that cannibalizes itself out of Pool C bids?