FB: Empire 8

[JQV]

Ithaca has no reason to hang their heads, they remain an extremely strong example of what NE D3 football should be.

Since Max injected my opinion, I thought I would elaborate.

I agree with U89.  No one is hanging heads.  Just recognizing that IC should expect to be among the top teams in the East every year and ocassionally make a run.  Instead of expecting to be the top team in the East every year.

More schools playing football has added parity.

For me, at least, college football is more about rivalries than overall success anyway.  It's different than the NFL.  I judge a college football season by four opponents: Cortland, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida State (ironically, the last opponent is my other alma mater and, in the interest of full disclosure, I actually tried the 'Noles on while I was there but, they didn't fit, and my wife's family brought me back to the fold).

[theoriginalupstate]

Q,

Just curious on how you, and the other IC faithful, see the SJF game compared to the Cortaca game?

Is it just a conference rivalry?

Does it have the chance to equal it if SJF keeps up their success as a program and vs IC?

[maxpower]

One major difference is I'm not sure anyone besides people on this board know that SJF and IC even play each other. As a student at IC, you are trained to hate Cortland from the beginning.

And hell, if SJF continues to own IC in head-to-head, that won't help the rivalry much either...

[JQV]

Q,

Just curious on how you, and the other IC faithful, see the SJF game compared to the Cortaca game?

Is it just a conference rivalry?

Does it have the chance to equal it if SJF keeps up their success as a program and vs IC?

For me, at least, it is just an important game with post-season implications.  I don't really have any emotional investment in beating Fisher. 

I cannot think of any reason to care about Fisher outside of playoff implications.  They don't really have any other parts of the rivalry plus, it is still so new.

I think it could become a rivalry if they continue their success but it won't ever equal Cortaca.  It just can't.  Cortaca has too much history and too much non-football stuff related to it.

I haven't been to an IC Football game in about three years but, when life settles down, I will probably start going to one game per year.  In that scenario, I can't imagine I'd choose any game other than Cortland unless my schedule prevented that.

[BoSox0322]

Q,

Just curious on how you, and the other IC faithful, see the SJF game compared to the Cortaca game?

Is it just a conference rivalry?

Does it have the chance to equal it if SJF keeps up their success as a program and vs IC?

Theres a very simple answer to that one... No

[union89]

Q,

Just curious on how you, and the other IC faithful, see the SJF game compared to the Cortaca game?

Is it just a conference rivalry?

Does it have the chance to equal it if SJF keeps up their success as a program and vs IC?

For me, at least, it is just an important game with post-season implications.  I don't really have any emotional investment in beating Fisher. 

I cannot think of any reason to care about Fisher outside of playoff implications.  They don't really have any other parts of the rivalry plus, it is still so new.

I think it could become a rivalry if they continue their success but it won't ever equal Cortaca.  It just can't.  Cortaca has too much history and too much non-football stuff related to it.

I haven't been to an IC Football game in about three years but, when life settles down, I will probably start going to one game per year.  In that scenario, I can't imagine I'd choose any game other than Cortland unless my schedule prevented that.

For Union fans, this years Union/Ithaca game was huge.  Seems to me this game may have more interest and/or nostalgia than IC/Fisher.

[fisheralum91]

cortaca is USC- UCLA
students are trained to dislike each other.
rich in tradition and games that have been epic.
not to mention a blast to be at--as a casual observer.
IC and SJF will be conference rivals- but i never see much more.

[JQV]

For Union fans, this years Union/Ithaca game was huge.  Seems to me this game may have more interest and/or nostalgia than IC/Fisher.

It's funny you mention that.  I was thinking that if IC and Union keep up their annual series, this game has a better shot at getting back to a rivalry, given the history, than IC-Fisher.

[maxpower]

For Union fans, this years Union/Ithaca game was huge.  Seems to me this game may have more interest and/or nostalgia than IC/Fisher.

It's funny you mention that.  I was thinking that if IC and Union keep up their annual series, this game has a better shot at getting back to a rivalry, given the history, than IC-Fisher.

But again, how many people outside this room (and booga booga man, and Mike Warwick) know about any "history" between Union and IC? Can you have a rivalry if the players don't know it's going on?

[JQV]

But again, how many people outside this room (and booga booga man, and Mike Warwick) know about any "history" between Union and IC? Can you have a rivalry if the players don't know it's going on?

I think more people know the IC-Union history than you think.  They were the kings of Eastern football for about 8-10 years.  Heck, over 1/3rd of the Big L's book is dedicated solely to hating Union.

[maxpower]

But new recruits....? Do you think anyone on next year's team will know about the Struzzi game, much less Union?

[maxpower]

My point being that new recruits WILL know about Cortland... hell i knew about Cortaca before I applied to Ithaca...

[union89]

But again, how many people outside this room (and booga booga man, and Mike Warwick) know about any "history" between Union and IC? Can you have a rivalry if the players don't know it's going on?

I think more people know the IC-Union history than you think.  They were the kings of Eastern football for about 8-10 years.  Heck, over 1/3rd of the Big L's book is dedicated solely to hating Union.

What book are you talking about....

Told this story before but, back in '85, I was being lightly recruited by a couple 1AA and more heavily by some DII and DIII schools.  Coach Butterfield came to visit Worcester Academy....myself and our TE who was 6'6" & 250lbs were invited to the meeting after Coach Butterfield saw us on film....the TE was a complete stiff, but was huge.  We walked in to the meeting with the coach, he totally ignored me and was fixated on the 'Stiff'....at the end of 30 minutes, Coach Butterfield turned to me and said I looked good on film, but was much too small to play at Ithaca.

U89 spent his next 4 years in Schenectady.....hating Ithaca.

[Bombers798891]

Q,

Just curious on how you, and the other IC faithful, see the SJF game compared to the Cortaca game?

Is it just a conference rivalry?

Does it have the chance to equal it if SJF keeps up their success as a program and vs IC?

For me, at least, it is just an important game with post-season implications.  I don't really have any emotional investment in beating Fisher. 

I cannot think of any reason to care about Fisher outside of playoff implications.  They don't really have any other parts of the rivalry plus, it is still so new.

I think it could become a rivalry if they continue their success but it won't ever equal Cortaca.  It just can't.  Cortaca has too much history and too much non-football stuff related to it.

I haven't been to an IC Football game in about three years but, when life settles down, I will probably start going to one game per year.  In that scenario, I can't imagine I'd choose any game other than Cortland unless my schedule prevented that.

I think that to those of us on the message boards--and elsewhere--who know and understand the history of the two teams, nothing will top Cortaca.

But you know, in general, I think it's overrated. It's played up as this big event, but I'd bet half the people at that game couldn't name either starting quarterback. A lot of students throw on a "Cortland Sucks" t-shirt, get wasted and pretend to care about the football team for three hours. As anyone who's been an IC student can attest, for a lot of students, it's an excuse to get drunk.

Personally, I hate it. Maybe it's because my disability makes standing for three hours and navigating large crowds impossible, but it really bugs me that these drunken fools who probably wouldn't even know the records of the two teams jam the stadium and make it less enjoyable for those of us who actually give a crap all season about the team.

I haven't been to a Cortaca game since 2003, and I don't see why that will change this season.

As for Fisher developing a rivalry, honestly, as pretentious as this may sound, to me, because they weren't around during Ithaca's dynasty years, I just don't look at them the same way. Even a Buffalo State or a Union, who aren't always on the schedule (or never before in Union's case) means more simply because of some of the classic playoff battles and the history. I think if we were to start meeting Fisher in the NCAA's, that might change a little bit because really, the playoffs take it to a whole new level. To me, that's how the Buffalo State game got so big in the 90's. The playoff games of '92 and '94 really brought out the best in that rivalry, in part because there were possible National Championship ramifications.

[theoriginalupstate]

My point being that new recruits WILL know about Cortland... hell i knew about Cortaca before I applied to Ithaca...

How's that recruiting tool working for you in the Rochester area 


kidding, well kind of