FB: Empire 8

[Bombers798891]

No E8 chatter?
Sheesh- am I the only one whose golf game is frustrating so much that I want Fall to get here so we can get our football fix?

I'm looking forward to it, of course. But it's a pretty dry time of year. I can't even really even bring myself to do any preseason predictions because I feel like there's just so much we don't know.

[AUPepBand]

No E8 chatter?
Sheesh- am I the only one whose golf game is frustrating so much that I want Fall to get here so we can get our football fix?

I'm looking forward to it, of course. But it's a pretty dry time of year. I can't even really even bring myself to do any preseason predictions because I feel like there's just so much we don't know.

The Empire 8 championship is Fisher's to lose....after the Cardinals, it's a dog fight and there's no telling who ends up where.

Pep did take in the Eddie Meath game recently at Eastridge High School in order to take a look at AU QB recruit Mike McMullen from LeRoy. Pep liked what he saw for the most part, although the West squad fell to the East squad once again. Pep will be happy to see the Saxons back in town.

Across the street, it will be interesting to see how Alfred State develops as a program under new Head Coach Jardon Dodson, who lives across the street from Kaz00 here in Mayberry.

On that note, Pep was in North Carolina last weekend for a Morrisville College Journalism Program Gathering. Little time for touring, but noted that a statue of Andy and Opie stands in Pullen Park in Raleigh. Perhaps Pep will pay a visit one of these days.....love whistling the Andy Griffith Show theme song!

On Saxon Warriors!!

[Bombers798891]

The Empire 8 championship is Fisher's to lose....

And we're all looking forward to seeing how they manage to do so this year

[sjfcards]

The Empire 8 championship is Fisher's to lose....

And we're all looking forward to seeing how they manage to do so this year

Tell me about it. I winced hard when I read that sentence. Judging from past experience when people feel that way, you can pretty much book on Fisher holding their breath with two losses on selection Sunday.

To me this Fisher team all comes down to the play at QB. If Naton or Catan are good, Fisher should be tough to beat with that combination of running backs and wide receivers. The D is typically good so I am counting on that as well. I am cautiously optimistic, but waiting to see if they can really get past that one or two head scratching losses each year.

FA91...this is typically the time of year I start losing patience around when Fisher will update their website with the current roster so I can spend countless hours on youtube and google trying to figure out who the missing link is. I should probably wait until players are actually on campus.

[Bombers798891]

Tell me about it. I winced hard when I read that sentence. Judging from past experience when people feel that way, you can pretty much book on Fisher holding their breath with two losses on selection Sunday.

Well, Fisher's had one Pool A bid in the entire history of the E8, and that came in 2004, a year after Ithaca went to the national quarterfinals (and nearly the semis). The Bombers were probably the favorite that year. So, although I was kind of trolling you guys, that statement is probably accurate. Fisher's never gone in as the preseason conference favorite and won it. (Though I'm not sure Ithaca has either)

[fisheralum91]

Cards- I m with you-
Looking for any scrap of information that I can get for the upcoming season!

[Bombers798891]

So maybe this will help tide over a dry spell: What's the most impressive victories you've seen your team rack up in the E8 autobid era? Doesn't have to be a conference opponent, and you can define "impressive" however you want: Beating a quality opponent, putting an all-around butt-kicking on some poor, hapless team, gutsy comebacks.

For Ithaca, I can think of a few games:

Fisher '05: Ithaca trailed 35-21 with 12:01 to go and Fisher had the ball. Ithaca had seemingly no shot to win that game at that point.

Springfield '06: Shutting down the unstoppable Chris Sharpe was great, and any time you can listen to fans of a triple option team whine about having to play on grass is fun.

Cortland '08: Taking a undefeated Cortland to the woodshed, in their own building, with a backup QB and RB starting. One of Mike Welch's signature wins of this era.

Fisher '13: Ithaca threw pretty much everything they had at Fisher, and it was just enough

[sjfcards]

So maybe this will help tide over a dry spell: What's the most impressive victories you've seen your team rack up in the E8 autobid era? Doesn't have to be a conference opponent, and you can define "impressive" however you want: Beating a quality opponent, putting an all-around butt-kicking on some poor, hapless team, gutsy comebacks.

For Ithaca, I can think of a few games:

Fisher '05: Ithaca trailed 35-21 with 12:01 to go and Fisher had the ball. Ithaca had seemingly no shot to win that game at that point.

Springfield '06: Shutting down the unstoppable Chris Sharpe was great, and any time you can listen to fans of a triple option team whine about having to play on grass is fun.

Cortland '08: Taking a undefeated Cortland to the woodshed, in their own building, with a backup QB and RB starting. One of Mike Welch's signature wins of this era.

Fisher '13: Ithaca threw pretty much everything they had at Fisher, and it was just enough

For me there is two that really stand out.

2006 vs. Ithaca - Down 10-0 at halftime Fisher scored 34 unanswered points. At the time Fisher only had the one controversial win over IC, so that was still a big hurdle for them to get over.

2006 vs Rowan - Rowan was down a bit that year, but it was still Rowan in the elite 8. The most impressive thing about that win was it was never close. Fisher just rolled that day.

I thought about adding the 2006 win against Springfield in the playoffs since they went from giving up 55 a few weeks earlier to 21 that day, but didn't want to have 3 games from one team.

Other contenders were:

2013 vs John Carroll

the 2011 playoffs (prior to St. Thomas)

and 2004 vs. Muhlenberg

[D3viewer]

Perusing Brockport's schedule..I can't help but notice the terrible design once again. The same type they trotted out last year and then replaced with a cleaner looking one. All of the original E8 teams seem to use an identical template, featuring each opponents insignia.in easy to read style. The other SUNY teams seem to go with a different, less colorful design..but straightforward nonetheless. Brockport insists on having 4 different colors for some reason. Home games are in green, away games are either white or gray ( not sure the reason). Then they throw in the black "Eagle Empire Game" in the same column as the opponent thus adding to the clutter.
Finally..they are of course the only team to "schedule in" the NCAA post season tournament. All 5 rounds. To me..it's cheesy..and I don't see anyone else doing it. So E9..take notice..Brockport has already penciled themselves in the NCAA's.
Overreacting ? ..trivial ? maybe..but it's July and I couldn't help but notice and am bored.
Check it out yourself   http://www.gobrockport.com/schedule.aspx?path=football

[Bombers798891]

Perusing Brockport's schedule..I can't help but notice the terrible design once again. The same type they trotted out last year and then replaced with a cleaner looking one. All of the original E8 teams seem to use an identical template, featuring each opponents insignia.in easy to read style. The other SUNY teams seem to go with a different, less colorful design..but straightforward nonetheless. Brockport insists on having 4 different colors for some reason. Home games are in green, away games are either white or gray ( not sure the reason). Then they throw in the black "Eagle Empire Game" in the same column as the opponent thus adding to the clutter.
Finally..they are of course the only team to "schedule in" the NCAA post season tournament. All 5 rounds. To me..it's cheesy..and I don't see anyone else doing it. So E9..take notice..Brockport has already penciled themselves in the NCAA's.
Overreacting ? ..trivial ? maybe..but it's July and I couldn't help but notice and am bored.
Check it out yourself   http://www.gobrockport.com/schedule.aspx?path=football

Yeah, that's an absolutely dreadful design. Personally, I'd nix all the colors. Why do you need separate colors for home and away anyway when you have a H/A column? You could just bold the home games, or put an "at" in front of the road games, and keep all the backgrounds white. Also, giving Eagle Empire games their own line makes it seem like the schedule's been divided up into three or four sections.

The NCAA Championships thing is harmless in and of itself, but when you give it a black line—adding another section—and make it another different color, it just contributes to the issues.

A schedule page should strive for more, not less. Something like this would be ideal, IMO:

Home games listed in bold. Eagle Empire Games marked with a *

at Oberlin
Hartwick*
....

[AUPepBand]

So maybe this will help tide over a dry spell: What's the most impressive victories you've seen your team rack up in the E8 autobid era? Doesn't have to be a conference opponent, and you can define "impressive" however you want: Beating a quality opponent, putting an all-around butt-kicking on some poor, hapless team, gutsy comebacks.

For Ithaca, I can think of a few games:

Fisher '05: Ithaca trailed 35-21 with 12:01 to go and Fisher had the ball. Ithaca had seemingly no shot to win that game at that point.

Springfield '06: Shutting down the unstoppable Chris Sharpe was great, and any time you can listen to fans of a triple option team whine about having to play on grass is fun.

Cortland '08: Taking a undefeated Cortland to the woodshed, in their own building, with a backup QB and RB starting. One of Mike Welch's signature wins of this era.

Fisher '13: Ithaca threw pretty much everything they had at Fisher, and it was just enough

Well, perhaps to add some reading material for the two or three of you who are frequenting these boards less frequently than Pep can ever remember. Here's Pep's attempt at spotlighting Alfred's most impressive post-E8 AQ era:

Fisher '05: Coach Murray's game plan was executed almost perfectly at Growney and Da Beast Brenton Brady flexed his muscles and power-bombed a previously unstoppable Fisher QB, holding the Cardinals' potent offensive attack that averaged 35+ points per game to a single touchdown. The AU offense had just enough to control the clock with Julio Fuentes dancing through the tough Fisher defense on relentless draw plays. The Saxons' 13-7 win was probably the most memorable for Fisher reject Paul Keeley, the Saxon QB. Fisher was denied an NCAA pool C bid, and the Saxons, despite the upset and a solid 8-1 regional record, were uninvited.

Ithaca '10: Saxons punched their NCAA ticket with Austin Dwyer making swiss cheese of an otherwise stout Ithaca defense, running for 273 yards on 29 carries in a 31-17 win. Tom Secky went 12-of-20 for 179 yards with two TDs and an INT. Saxon defense held Ithaca to just 34 yards rushing, but Bombers798891 will point out the Bombers O-line was inept that season. Anytime AU beats Ithaca on the gridiron, it's impressive. A Bomber win would have given them the AQ, despite their 34-10 loss to Fisher because Fisher lost that same day to Springfield, 55-49.

Buffalo State '12: Exactly one week after the Bengals had knocked off two-time defending national champ WI-Whitewater on a last-second TD, 7-6, the Saxons visited Coyer Field and brought the sky-high Bengals back to earth. Chuck Beckwith, filling in for Tyler DeRosa, who suffered a first half broken leg, was unstoppable as an upback in AU's Wildcat run by Dwyer. Beckwith ran for 162 yards and three TDs on his first three carries before the Bengals figured out how to tackle the explosive brute. AU 40, Buffalo State 17.

There are more, but there are three that come to mind.

On Saxon Warriors!

[AUPepBand]

So, just a thought here....what's in a name? Pep finds it somewhat amusing that the state universities competing in the Empire 8 Football Conference are all part of SUNY but each has adopted something different in its name. Rather than each being "Blank State" they are:
Buffalo State
SUNY Cortland
College at Brockport
Morrisville State College

Across the street here in Mayberry, the two-year agricultural and technical college turned four-year college has gone through a myriad of name changes and folks still don't know the difference between Alfred University and Alfred State. Both have at times in print been referred to as Alfred State University, adding to the confusion.

The one-time School of Agriculture at Alfred University, after becoming part of SUNY as the Agricultural and Technical Institute at Alfred in 1948, is now simply referred to as Alfred State.

On Saxon Warriors!

[D3MAFAN]

So, just a thought here....what's in a name? Pep finds it somewhat amusing that the state universities competing in the Empire 8 Football Conference are all part of SUNY but each has adopted something different in its name. Rather than each being "Blank State" they are:
Buffalo State
SUNY Cortland
College at Brockport
Morrisville State College

Across the street here in Mayberry, the two-year agricultural and technical college turned four-year college has gone through a myriad of name changes and folks still don't know the difference between Alfred University and Alfred State. Both have at times in print been referred to as Alfred State University, adding to the confusion.

The one-time School of Agriculture at Alfred University, after becoming part of SUNY as the Agricultural and Technical Institute at Alfred in 1948, is now simply referred to as Alfred State.

On Saxon Warriors!

What a conundrum!

[sjfcards]

Anyone know when teams can/did start to practice?

I have a trip to Rochester coming up for work, and wouldn't mind swinging by Growney for a quick look. 

[Pat Coleman]

Anyone know when teams can/did start to practice?

I have a trip to Rochester coming up for work, and wouldn't mind swinging by Growney for a quick look.

It depends on when the first game is and also when classes start. Schools I've talked to for Kickoff are coming into camp anywhere from this Sunday through Friday (or later if you have a week 1 open date).