FB: Empire 8

[theoriginalupstate]

What about Ryan Soule... he was outstanding.  I would put him in as an honorable mention at least in a heartbeat

He was a great WR, but he's kind of a product of the system and Pincelli's success...

If you put any capable WR there they put up the same kind of production...

[SJFF82]

any Fisher posters going to the game? 

Pep..or anyone else that knows...what kind of renovations did they do to Merrill?  Is it still Merrill?  Do I still need to bring my rappelling gear to get to my seat?

Man... I cannot wait...I have always loved going to watch Fisher play at AU!

Last trip there though was in 2004....that was awesome...'we' clinched our first trip to NCAA'S...what a feeling that was.  Can only hope I leave there feeling 'good' on Saterday!

I will be there. This is my first trip to AU for a football game, but I have been there a few times for soccer games while I was playing at Fisher. I can't wait to see the renovations.

I always tell my wife that I might try to meet up with a few folks from the boards when I go to a game, but I always chicken out at the last minute, due to my hermit like tendencies. Maybe this weekend will be the  weekend. Hope to see some of you there. I cant wait for SatERday!

Cards...if ya see me say "Hi"...I will have my 7 year old son in tow, and I usually wear my maroon colored Courage Bowl visor...Go Cards!

[theoriginalupstate]

I thought Soule graduated the year before the Empire 8 became official.  Graduated the same year as Pinchelli right?  If I am off a year on this, both of these guys would be in the honorable mention piece (minimum) in a heartbeat.  Soule was a beast...175+ career catches, 3,300+ receiving yards, and almost 40 TD's...he definitely belongs.

Soule and Pincelli were Seniors my Junior year so I think they both would count...

[AUKaz00]

82 met Pep and Kazoo, I think, when Pep and Kazoo made a trip to Growney for a play-off game a few years back...was it the Rowan regional final, i think?

Finally caught up on all the postings while I was down at Games 4 & 5 the past two days.  Indeed it was for the regional final.  Good times.

As for my random thoughts and observations on everything else that's been posted:

Manzer never had a KO return TD.  I went through all this box scores last year looking for one, but couldn't find one.  I'm pretty certain he had at least one called back though...

Beyond the crazy yardage splits at RPI last week, all the scoring occurred with the wind as well.  Not sure that means anything more than the winning kick apparently hitting the upright which Moretti told me earlier this week - Alfred still lost.

And I too am exited about the teams lining up this saterday!

On Saxon Warriors!

[BoSox0322]

I'm late to this...but here is my $.02 for the greatest E8 players...

1) Boltus - hand down the best player I have personally ever seen at the D3 level.  Does that seem biased?  Maybe...but I remember seeing him play for the first time at Wick his freshman season against Ithaca (2nd game ever at Wick I believe).  Ithaca won by a lot (59-41, I believe, or something like that)...but Boltus was easily the best player on the field.  He made a throw in the 3rd quarter where he rolled to the right towards the IC sideline looked across the field and threw a bullet to one of his receivers on the left side of the field...about 50 yards downfield running just inside the numbers on the left hash.  I turned to a friend right there and said "he is going to break every one of (Dan) Pinchelli's passing records here."  Pinchelli's (a great, great player in his own right) all time passing record was just under 10,000 yards.  13,000+ yards later, and 134 TD passes later, Boltus proved me right.

2) Garcon - if he had more time in the E8, he would probably be ahead of Boltus.  Clearly a man among boys, that didn't belong on the D3 stage.  Throw in the "Hail Katherine" pass against Fisher, along with the rest of his stats, and he could probably be moved to the top of this list.  Plus...did anyone see that one handed catch against the Redskins on Sunday night?  Nasty...and is currently one of two E8 alumni that are playing professional football (Boltus is the other), and the only one in the NFL.

3) Brady - absolute beast.  To me, no question the best defensive E8 player...ever.  Constantly fought double and triple teams, and was always around the ball.  Throwing in the short yardage TD's when you knew he was getting the ball just adds to how good he was.  Still shocked that someone missed the boat with this guy at the D1 level.

4) Robinson - best RB in the E8 by far.  Fast, strong, with moves, and could carry the ball 30 times a game and would look just as strong on carry #30 as carry #1.  Total workhorse that took Fisher from being a great region team, to a great national team.  Forget just the E8...he is one of the top 3 RB's I have ever seen play at the D3 level (the others are McGovern and Gilmore from RPI...how did they ever lose in the mid-late 90's by the way???).

There are plenty of honorable mentions that people have already named (Sharpe, Manzer, Stepnik, Fox, etc.).  I had a hard time picking out one IC player for the list.  They have always seemed have a bunch of great players at every position...so that makes it hard to focus on one guy.  I never thought Ceasay was an all-time player.  He had all the physical tools...but had a lot of drops, and often disappeared for long stretches.  I don't think I would even rank him as the top WR that IC has had in the past 15 years (Buddenhagen, Esposito, etc.).

What about Ryan Soule... he was outstanding.  I would put him in as an honorable mention at least in a heartbeat

I thought Soule graduated the year before the Empire 8 became official.  Graduated the same year as Pinchelli right?  If I am off a year on this and they played in the first year that the E8 became official for football then both of these guys would be in the honorable mention piece (minimum) in a heartbeat.  Soule was a beast...175+ career catches, 3,300+ receiving yards, and almost 40 TD's...he definitely belongs.

i cant remember

[BoSox0322]

What about Ryan Soule... he was outstanding.  I would put him in as an honorable mention at least in a heartbeat

He was a great WR, but he's kind of a product of the system and Pincelli's success...

If you put any capable WR there they put up the same kind of production...

I disagree ... he was different.  I agree the system produces big numbers for a good receiver but he was a game changer... made ridiculous catches and runs in big games... and he could fly. i think he had either 7 or 8 kickoffs for TD's which was a ncaa record and i think still is... and a punt return.  He got a work out for the Bills also... I dont know how much that says but he did... it wasnt an open type tryout he was asked to come... played in the Aztec Bowl also...I think he played in some arena league after school also
No question that the system allowed him more opportunities but still...  any "capable" receiver is not doing those things

[theoriginalupstate]

What about Ryan Soule... he was outstanding.  I would put him in as an honorable mention at least in a heartbeat

He was a great WR, but he's kind of a product of the system and Pincelli's success...

If you put any capable WR there they put up the same kind of production...

I disagree ... he was different.  I agree the system produces big numbers for a good receiver but he was a game changer... made ridiculous catches and runs in big games... and he could fly. i think he had either 7 or 8 kickoffs for TD's which was a ncaa record and i think still is... and a punt return.  He got a work out for the Bills also... I dont know how much that says but he did... it wasnt an open type tryout he was asked to come... played in the Aztec Bowl also...I think he played in some arena league after school also
No question that the system allowed him more opportunities but still...  any "capable" receiver is not doing those things

If it's not the system why does Phelan have extremely similar career numbers in one less year?

And yes it's 7 KO return TD's for Soule.

[sjfcards]

any Fisher posters going to the game? 

Pep..or anyone else that knows...what kind of renovations did they do to Merrill?  Is it still Merrill?  Do I still need to bring my rappelling gear to get to my seat?

Man... I cannot wait...I have always loved going to watch Fisher play at AU!

Last trip there though was in 2004....that was awesome...'we' clinched our first trip to NCAA'S...what a feeling that was.  Can only hope I leave there feeling 'good' on Saterday!

I will be there. This is my first trip to AU for a football game, but I have been there a few times for soccer games while I was playing at Fisher. I can't wait to see the renovations.

I always tell my wife that I might try to meet up with a few folks from the boards when I go to a game, but I always chicken out at the last minute, due to my hermit like tendencies. Maybe this weekend will be the  weekend. Hope to see some of you there. I cant wait for SatERday!

Cards...if ya see me say "Hi"...I will have my 7 year old son in tow, and I usually wear my maroon colored Courage Bowl visor...Go Cards!

I will keep an eye out for you. I wear my Maroon Fisher jacket to games if I can, and I will have my best friend in tow. Should be a great weekend, and hopefully I can meet up with a few folks from the board. 

[BoSox0322]

What about Ryan Soule... he was outstanding.  I would put him in as an honorable mention at least in a heartbeat

He was a great WR, but he's kind of a product of the system and Pincelli's success...

If you put any capable WR there they put up the same kind of production...

I disagree ... he was different.  I agree the system produces big numbers for a good receiver but he was a game changer... made ridiculous catches and runs in big games... and he could fly. i think he had either 7 or 8 kickoffs for TD's which was a ncaa record and i think still is... and a punt return.  He got a work out for the Bills also... I dont know how much that says but he did... it wasnt an open type tryout he was asked to come... played in the Aztec Bowl also...I think he played in some arena league after school also
No question that the system allowed him more opportunities but still...  any "capable" receiver is not doing those things

If it's not the system why does Phelan have extremely similar career numbers in one less year?

And yes it's 7 KO return TD's for Soule.

Soule didnt really develop into the player he ended up being until Junior year IMO and he played behind and with a lot of good players... Phelan was Boltus's really only target the whole time he was there.  They are very different types ofplayers... Phelan good route runner and possesion guy... soule was all of that with a ton of speed and play breaking ability... taking short plays to the house... kickoffs...punts...screens and what not...Phelan was great but Soule was a better football player.

[fisheralum91]

Cards you should really try to hook up with ppl from the boards, I did 4 years ago and have made great friends!!

[theoriginalupstate]

Cards you should really try to hook up with ppl from the boards, I did 4 years ago and have made great friends!!

I never would have thought you and cards were switch hitters...

[fisheralum91]

what the hell did that mean upstate?
just because cards and you have some social phobia dont knock me!

[theoriginalupstate]

If you would have said "meet up" instead of "hook up" everything would have been kosher...

[fisheralum91]

what the hell does that mean?
hook up a vernacular for sex?

[lewdogg11]

Yeah, it sounded weird.  For sure.  But that's how you guys roll in E8, hooking up with each other and what not.