FB: Empire 8

[theoriginalupstate]

Looking towards next year, some good talent comes back...

Schmidt, Francis, Kramer, Borum, Zemaitis, Leavall, Moore, Sawyer, Balcerzak, Vosburgh...

Big issues are Bailey's replacement, his backup this year was a SR so looking at their roster the guy that intrigues me the most is Connor King a 6'4", 240lb freshman...

Also the O-line graduates 9 out of 10 guys on the two deep...

Fisher desperately needs to figure out Secky and the option on defense though...

Secky is 3-0 vs SJF in his career as a starter and the only success SJF had vs him was when Secky was taken out of the game in 2009...

Salisubury and Springfield in the conference next year doesn't bode well for a team that has only played it well vs the two teams once since 2008...

[Ethelred the Unready]

Well guys, I think that that Gone With the Wind-esque exchange caps off the most melodramatic day the E8PP has seen in some time.

I laughed, I cried; it became a part of me.  



I mean, when Bombers798891 is telling you to be more positive.... the world has been turned upside down.

Besides....IT'S HOOP-TIME, BABY!!!!

One thing the Fisher loss did for sure was make the tranistion to basketball season a whole lot easier. I see that Kramer is also listed on the Fisher basketball page. I can't wait to see him play. What a great get for Fisher.

I saw him play once r twice in HS and think he'll be a nice fit.

[BoSox0322]

thanks cards.
dont take a karma hit for me tho
im an old alum
i have big shoulders.
those on here that know me know that i bleed cardnial red, sometimes to a fault.
happens.
ill be out there again next year and scream just as hard.

my god this is getting weird... taking karma hits for each other?  wtf

[fisheralum91]

Cmon sox
Cards was nice enough to stick up for an old guy and his karma was taking a beating because of it.
thats all

[AUKaz00]

I think Pep's got a twin over at the University of Chicago.  From the Pool B board:

If Chicago makes the playoffs, the Maroons might have a quick exit.  Chicago lost to Elmhurst 31-20.  The game was not that close.  Elmhurst led 31-7.  Chicago scored twice in the last five minutes to make it close.  Elmhurst lost to North Central 47-13.  And a Chicago-North Central first round matchup is likely - NCC a #1 seed, UC a #8.

But on the bright side, a week of good press as Chicago's football history is resurrected.

For the first time, the Maroons will be competing for a spot in the Stagg Bowl, named after their first football coach (from 1892-1932) Amos Alonzo Stagg.

Many reminders of the first ever Heisman Trophy winner, Jay Berwanger

Then there are the NFL connections.  The Maroons are the true Monsters of the Midway.  People may find this hard to believe, but at one time professional football was not that popular.  To try to get some of the appeal of college football to rub off on the Chicago Bears, George Halas took the orange and blue colors of the University of Illinois and the wishbone C logo and nickname of the University of Chicago.

Also, "We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation" from "Bear Down, Chicago Bears".  I recommend the Chicago Symphony Orchestra version.  Also the a capella version by Bryan Griffin of the Lyric Opera is pretty cool.  Well the T-formation came from Clark Shaughnessy who was Chicago's coach when they dropped football in 1939.  The Bears used it to defeat the Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game.

The Maroons also have a connection to the now Arizona Cardinals.  They began life as a south side Chicago football team and joined the NFL as the Chicago Cardinals.  They got their nickname as the result of some used jerseys they purchased from UofC:

In 1901, the team gained longstanding identification when O'Brien, finding a bargain, bought used jerseys from the nearby University of Chicago. The jerseys were faded maroon in color, prompting O'Brien to declare, "That's not maroon, it's Cardinal red!" The club's permanent nickname had been born!

Uof C was also the inspiration for the best college football fight song - the University of Michigan's "
The Victors". From the Michigan Daily:

The Michigan fight song, "The Victors!," celebrates 100 years of leading the Wolverines into battle on the field this season.

It was on a train ride back to Ann Arbor after the 1898 football conference championship that then-student Louis Elbel jotted down the words that would eventually adorn the outside of the Big House.

"Having the fight song written by a student embodies the school spirit even more," said John Schmidt, a former marcher who now works as the band's physician.

Elbel, inspired after watching the one-point victory over what was then the heaviest team in the conference - the Chicago Maroons - thought the Wolverines needed a fight song that matched their power.

Stagg and Chicago so annoyed Michigan that the Wolverines quit the Big Ten from 1907-1916.  Stagg ran Chicago (some say not just the athletic department) and the Big Ten.  You can check out "Stagg's University: The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago" by Robin Lester.

Some mention may be made of Chicago's national championships in 1905 and 1913.  And their seven Big Ten Championships.  And their 4-0 record against Notre Dame.

[AUPepBand]

Nice find, Kaz00...gotta love it! Pep had no idea there was a connection to the University of Chicago and the naming of the old Chicago Cardinals. Of course, a Saxon played for the Chicago Cardinals...one Lester Goble, a speedster who actually ran back a kickoff 92 yards for a TD while wearing one of those "faded maroon" Cardinal uniforms.

Pep loves it when random posts make a full circle back to "the pioneer college of Western New York."

On Saxon Warriors!

[BoSox0322]

Cmon sox
Cards was nice enough to stick up for an old guy and his karma was taking a beating because of it.
thats all

i know ... but who cares if his karma is taking a beating...

[fisheralum91]

Understood sox- in the grand scheme I sure the hell dont

[Yanks 99]

Yanks,
In all honesty, there is no doubt UC beats wick and if they get in a shooting match they could challenge any of the teams left on the schedule.
They need to put a whole game together.
Finishing has been a problem with them, but with that offense-anything is possible.

They have a good offense...no question.  But like you said, they have to put a full game together, and they haven't done that yet...or ever...against a real quality team.  I have no doubt that they will absolutely challenge all of the remaining teams on their schedule.  Where I have doubt is that they will actually produce a few wins.

As a Wick fan...I have faith that we could beat Utica.  One high intensity, emotional game where they put up a challenge against a better team (SJF) doesn't change my opinion of UC that much.  I heard all last year from some of my friends associated with IC that UC was going to walk all over Wick because they (UC) played such a close game against IC.  That didn't turn out so well for UC...

Understood yanks, but unless your secondary has grown 6 inches and gained speed...I see UC throttling Wick.

Ha...come on now...we got plenty of time to do that.  5 weeks sounds about right...

Hey 91...looks like I got lucky and was dead on about Utica...either that, or the Wick secondary did in fact gain some speed and grew at least 6 inches!!!

[fisheralum91]

Yanks
I stand corrected yet again this week.
That game is a complete enigma to me.
Didnt see that coming!

[Yanks 99]

Yanks
I stand corrected yet again this week.
That game is a complete enigma to me.
Didnt see that coming!

It's all good...I just think for whatever reason...rivalry, match-ups, etc...Wick does well against Utica. 

Like I stated all year, I think Utica is moving in the right direction, and quickly.  But you have to beat good teams, and teams within your own conference before really going out there and telling everyone how good you are, or how close you are to making the playoffs or arriving as a "power".  I mean, take Norwich out of the equation, and Utica is 1-23 in the E8 over the past 5 seasons with one more game to play this year against the E8 Champs (Alfred).

It just felt like last year all over again...UC blasts a couple inferior opponents early, plays some good teams tough, announces their arrival on the E8 scene and even compares themselves to IC and SJF, and then proceeds to lose every single conference game and finish in last place again.

I will wait anxiously for the same type of talk when UC puts up 80 and 60 on Becker and Castleton State again early next season...

[Doid23]

+K for all the entertainment this weekend! I can see both sides of the discussion, I LOVE the passion from Fisher, but, yeh, I thought I would be reading about a Fisher fan running onto the field and tackling a Springfield back as he was running for a touchdown.

Hell, my team is on it's way to finishing 2-7, so I wouldn't mind some of that kind of passion from our fans.

[AUKaz00]

Yanks
I stand corrected yet again this week.
That game is a complete enigma to me.
Didnt see that coming!

Are you ready for another potential enigma again as Alfred travels to Chucky G. Stadium on saterday?  

As I've stated ad nauseum before on these boards, I felt like this year's Saxons were going 7-3.  However, I did not expect that 7-3 could be enough for a return to the playoffs.  And after all those years going to an ECAC bowl and hearing fans from other teams saying how they would prefer to lose in the first round of the playoffs than win an ECAC game, even if Alfred loses their next two games they will still have surpassed my expectations on the year (though I'd be admittedly disappointed with how the season ended).

[AUPepBand]

Hey 'zoo....we got an East Region Fan Poll coming out today?

[AUKaz00]

Hey 'zoo....we got an East Region Fan Poll coming out today?

7/10ths of one so far.  I'll post it after lunch.