FB: Empire 8

[Bombers798891]

Alfred is going to be scary good for the next three years...

Alfred is the Arizona Cardinals of the E8. Every year "might" be the year...it's doubtful.

Congrats to the Bombers on a nice monkeystomp of Cortland.

That's hard on Alfred...

8-3
9-2
8-3
8-3
7-3

That's a solid team. They've beaten SJF twice recently and Ithaca as well

Bombers, thank you for that dose of reality.
  Tags, I don't know anything or care about the Arizona Cardinals.  You cannot deny that Alfred has been hovering on the brink of success as mentioned by bombers.  Alfred is a hard place to recruit athetes as you should recognize.  Hendrix was pre season All American but has had an injury all season.  Your sour grapes from today should not overshadow the facts.  Emotion precedes maturity.  Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Hey Aristotle, I have no dog in this fight. After Robby graduated I really don't care what Fisher does.

Now back to the point... having 3 losses on your record year after year isn't getting you anywhere. Enjoy "hovering on the brink of success."

Best of luck in your future endeavors as well.

Tags,

IC is coming off three-straight three loss seasons and hasn't won an NCAA playoff game since 2003. So really, what have they done different from Alfred the last five years? Get beaten by 24 against MUC? Give up 600 yards to Union? Two-one and outs in the NCAA's giving up 97 points in the process isn't exactly the stuff of legend

SJF has made a couple of nice playoff runs, but they're going to take an ECAC bid this year just like the Saxons. They've finished behind Alfred in the conference standings two of the last four seasons. So Alfred haven't made their NCAA run yet. Why would this be their peak? There's no reason to believe this team will sink back down to mediocrity. They've got a freshman QB who looks pretty solid. There's no reason to think they'll struggle in the near future. Since when is winning 8-9 games a year something to be critical of? I'd certainly be "enjoying" Saxon football if I was an Alfred fan. They're always competitive, always good for an upset or two. Maybe they're not quite at the SJF/IC level, but I have no doubt they can get there

It seems to me like of all the E8 teams that get regular love on here, Alfred's fans have probably "enjoyed" the season the most. IC fans--myself included--have been critical of Welch's coaching ability in big games and bemoaning another obliteration by Fisher. SJF fans haven't seemed real happy from Day 1 with a lot of things. But Alfred's guys seem to be perpetually upbeat and positive about their team, even in a loss.

[Tags]

I'm not critical of Alfred, nobody said they don't field solid teams. I agree they have a good program that is competitive and is dangerous on any given saturday.

When they put up that 1 loss year or even another 2 loss year to snag an NCAA bid, then they will have arrived.

My point is that 3 losses each year isn't enough to put you in that category. I'm not sure why you think I'm knocking AU around, I'm just stating the facts.

In regards to what the difference is with IC, not much, except IC had a 2 loss year last year and a very solid game vs. MUC. And then they follow it up with a great year this year and only 1 loss.
That's the difference, and it's a pretty big one IMO.

[Bombers798891]

I'm not critical of Alfred, nobody said they don't field solid teams. I agree they have a good program that is competitive and is dangerous on any given saturday.

When they put up that 1 loss year or even another 2 loss year to snag an NCAA bid, then they will have arrived.

My point is that 3 losses each year isn't enough to put you in that category. I'm not sure why you think I'm knocking AU around, I'm just stating the facts.

In regards to what the difference is with IC, not much, except IC had a 2 loss year last year and a very solid game vs. MUC. And then they follow it up with a great year this year and only 1 loss.
That's the difference, and it's a pretty big one IMO.

That's fair I suppose. I guess it just seemed that some of your comments like "good luck in your future endeavors" and "enjoy hovering on the brink of sucess" came across as sarcastic.

[SJFF82]

The 31pt loss by IC to SJF was a total aberration...

Congrats IC for a great season good luck in the NCAA's...

Sorry to the SJF seniors that you had to waste your senior season due to a coach who thought he was smarter than he actually was...


Parks needs to go...

Upstate...seriously, give it a rest already.  Coache's fault or not, your attitude makes a bad situation worse.  We all feel bad for the seniors because we were there once too.

They played hard all year.  They fought back so many times this season in games they had been out of for one reason or another.  I listened to the whole game today, and I could 'hear' the determination from the players...if that makes sense.

Good job AU in bouncing back from the tough loss last week.  Good luck to IC...i guess

[gobombers15]

Upstate, I think MY blood pressure went up just reading YOUR posts. Calm down, friend. Good programs miss the playoffs once in awhile. The play-calling could have been better, but the Fisher defense didn't exactly put the clamps on teams like it has in recent years.

Fisher will be good next year. So will Alfred. Ithaca has a number of contributors returning, too, and will be hosting Fisher and Alfred. Hartwick's system may keep them in the mix, too. It will be a fun season, as it always is.

[Bombers798891]

Upstate, I think MY blood pressure went up just reading YOUR posts. Calm down, friend. Good programs miss the playoffs once in awhile. The play-calling could have been better, but the Fisher defense didn't exactly put the clamps on teams like it has in recent years.

Fisher will be good next year. So will Alfred. Ithaca has a number of contributors returning, too, and will be hosting Fisher and Alfred. Hartwick's system may keep them in the mix, too. It will be a fun season, as it always is.

Amen to that. And at the end if the day, I just don't think this SJF team was all that great. They showed it in spurts, but they rarely dominated even the bad teams on their schedule.

Good call on the defense too. This team allowed 23.9 PPG, up from 14.9 last season and 13.7 the year before.

[Bombers798891]

Anyone know when Pat and the guys will have that last projection up??? I'm so giddy over the possibility of a home IC game in the playoffs I can't stand it!

[SJFF82]

Good job to those who picked AU in the poll after the game was over....

[Frank Rossi]

Anyone know when Pat and the guys will have that last projection up??? I'm so giddy over the possibility of a home IC game in the playoffs I can't stand it!

This isn't even a question.  Worst-case scenario is Ithaca as the #2 seed -- Best-case scenario is probably the same.

[Bombers798891]

Anyone know when Pat and the guys will have that last projection up??? I'm so giddy over the possibility of a home IC game in the playoffs I can't stand it!

This isn't even a question.  Worst-case scenario is Ithaca as the #2 seed -- Best-case scenario is probably the same.

It's all fun and games till they import half-a-dozen teams from the North

[Saxon73]

Anyone know when Pat and the guys will have that last projection up??? I'm so giddy over the possibility of a home IC game in the playoffs I can't stand it!

This isn't even a question.  Worst-case scenario is Ithaca as the #2 seed -- Best-case scenario is probably the same.

OK Frank, not to be obnoxious but I don't follow all these types of posts.  Who is Number 1?

[E8]

Congratulations to Ithaca on representing the E8 in the NCAAs.

Alfred came to play today, and were not emotionally hung over after the Ithaca loss.    I was fairly shocked that with two weeks to prepare for this game, the Fisher O looked confused and out of sync for a majority of this game.  Wouldn't you know it, it came down to the play that Fisher was PERECT in all year.  The PAT.  Before the block, they were 36-36. How ironic is it that the only 'miss' of the year is the one that costs them their season.  But should Fisher have even been in that position??

With all that being said, the heart that Tim Marion showed today was unmatched.  He put that entire team on his shoulders in the 2nd half and willed them to the position they were in at the end.   Marion did not want to go down without a fight, and for those of you that were not there, we could not do it justice on the radio.  It was one of the best performances that I have ever seen on the football field by any player at any position.    His play ignited the rest of the team and there was no doubt about it.   He epitomizes the meaning of 'leaving it all out on the field'.   In arguably the last football game he will ever play, it was an effort for the ages.  

Jimmy Smith was SORELY missed against Utica and again today.   Hard to replace a guy like that and sad that a senior has to go out that way.  

Was this a failure of a season?  No.  Was it a GIGANTIC dissapointment?  Without question.   A lot of work will have to be done before next September against MUC... A lot.  

[SJFF82]

Anyone know when Pat and the guys will have that last projection up??? I'm so giddy over the possibility of a home IC game in the playoffs I can't stand it!

This isn't even a question.  Worst-case scenario is Ithaca as the #2 seed -- Best-case scenario is probably the same.

It's all fun and games till they import half-a-dozen teams from the North

With all the losses in the East from teams who were pretending to be NCAA play-off teams....I think you are right!

[Bombers798891]

Congratulations to Ithaca on representing the E8 in the NCAAs.

Alfred came to play today, and were not emotionally hung over after the Ithaca loss.    I was fairly shocked that with two weeks to prepare for this game, the Fisher O looked confused and out of sync for a majority of this game.  Wouldn't you know it, it came down to the play that Fisher was PERECT in all year.  The PAT.  Before the block, they were 36-36. How ironic is it that the only 'miss' of the year is the one that costs them their season.  But should Fisher have even been in that position??

With all that being said, the heart that Tim Marion showed today was unmatched.  He put that entire team on his shoulders in the 2nd half and willed them to the position they were in at the end.   Marion did not want to go down without a fight, and for those of you that were not there, we could not do it justice on the radio.  It was one of the best performances that I have ever seen on the football field by any player at any position.    His play ignited the rest of the team and there was no doubt about it.   He epitomizes the meaning of 'leaving it all out on the field'.   In arguably the last football game he will ever play, it was an effort for the ages.  

Jimmy Smith was SORELY missed against Utica and again today.   Hard to replace a guy like that and sad that a senior has to go out that way.  

Was this a failure of a season?  No.  Was it a GIGANTIC dissapointment?  Without question.   A lot of work will have to be done before next September against MUC... A lot.  

Wow, an SJF fan not insanely angry clamoring for coaches to be fired? Nice.

[Yanks 99]

Wow...crazy day today...crazy.

My two cents...'Wick should get in as the #2 team in the E8...