FB: Empire 8

[ExTartanPlayer]

This all got me thinking. Perhaps all the fluff of a website dedicated to the little guys, D3 national and regional (by the fans) rankings updated weekly and national exposure has elevated some fans' expectations of their football teams. Perhaps it's the influence of having a professional football team hanging around campus. But this idea of calling for the removal of an entire coaching staff of a small college, non-scholarship D3 football program goes against the very fiber of D3 football, where they play "for the love of the game." But what's truly absurd is that the program has been phenomenally successful, as Bombers so clearly documented.

Bingo, again.  I've said this a few times before - I cannot understand why a Division III football staff would ever be fired solely for W's and L's.

Because I want to give him some credit: booby's prior comments are more than fair, though.  This stuff...

"The coaching staff manages games ultra-conservatively, almost to a fault.  Can anyone remember the last time they did something like fake a field goal?  I remember the last time it happened to them - this past weekend.  They can become frustratingly predictable with their play calling and schemes.  A decade ago they seemed to be able to make effective mid-game adjustments (see 2006 game versus Ithaca as an example) but that is long gone.  Now we'll just stick to the same thing all game long even if we're getting our butts kicked."

...makes for decent discussion, and kind of seems to be the point of the forums.  Chatting about game management, strategy, how Team X might match up with Team Y, if Staff A is quick to make adjustments when something is working...that's all cool, that's kind of why we're here.  He's not talking about firing the staff, he's just suggesting that perhaps the staff is making decisions that are sub-optimal and occasionally lose them a game that they should have won.  I think Bombers' post suggests that most of the games they have lost come against strong opposition, but it's still a decent discussion.

It's not like there are lots of people in here calling for a staff change, so Pep may have argued against straw man that doesn't really represent the majority opinion of SJF fans.  But I still think the point is insightful - the idea that nationwide D3 coverage (thanks to Pat & his merry men here at D3sports.com) probably has given Division III football more of a big-time feel and, as such, may lead to some fans treating it like D1 football.  I mean, look at the arguments around playoff time every year about who gets into Pool C vs. who should get into Pool C.  Heck, I think it's cool that there's even a national playoff at all, especially one with access to anyone who wins their league title.  Why is it such a big deal who gets those last few bonus playoff spots in Division III football?

(Humorously enough, most of the players honestly don't know how Pool C selection works.  Heck, many coaches don't know how Pool C selection works.  Only the fans of D3football.com actually get lathered up about this stuff)

[jknezek]

(Humorously enough, most of the players honestly don't know how Pool C selection works.  Heck, many coaches don't know how Pool C selection works.  Only the fans of D3football.com actually get lathered up about this stuff)

When I went to the Birmingham Southern game weekend before last I happened to sit next to a young man who was providing an alternative angle tape for the coaches. Poor guy got injured early in fall practice and was out for the year. We chatted the whole game and it was quite clear he had no idea how the playoffs worked. Was curious and happy to be educated, but really didn't care. He just wanted to win A) the rivalry game against Huntingdon and B) the SAA. He wanted the ring! The playoffs, for most of these DIII players, are just some amorphous bonus idea off in the distant future...

[Bombers798891]

fore - I cannot understand why a Division III football staff would ever be fired solely for W's and L's.

Because I want to give him some credit: booby's prior comments are more than fair, though. Chatting about game management, strategy, how Team X might match up with Team Y, if Staff A is quick to make adjustments when something is working...that's all cool, that's kind of why we're here.  He's not talking about firing the staff, he's just suggesting that perhaps the staff is making decisions that are sub-optimal and occasionally lose them a game that they should have won.  I think Bombers' post suggests that most of the games they have lost come against strong opposition, but it's still a decent discussion.

This I agree with. I think you're right that Booby really wasn't doing/saying anything out of line with what we all do here on a weekly basis, so perhaps I was too hard on the Fisher guys.

[fisheralum91]

All Fisher guys are not alike 

[Bombers798891]

All Fisher guys are not alike 

I understand that, but re-reading it, I probably did lump a lot of you guys into one group which wasn't fair. Apologies.

[boobyhasgameyo]

No worries on my end.  I was deliberately trying to present some reasoning without it trying to come off as a knee jerk reaction or elitist, so I'm glad that came through.  I'm personally not calling for heads to roll, I just wish they would do some of those things I mentioned differently.  Have wished it for years.   

Anyways, on to the Courage Bowl this weekend.  Maybe our QB woke up this morning with an elevation in his accuracy rating, video game style!  If I had to rate it (to D3 scale)...1% being some depressed Emo kid in black jeans just sort of making a melancholy filled effort to kick the ball towards a wide receiver...99% being Jason Boltus dropping dimes out there - he's probably hovering around a 52. 

     

[Bombers798891]

No worries on my end.  I was deliberately trying to present some reasoning without it trying to come off as a knee jerk reaction or elitist, so I'm glad that came through.  I'm personally not calling for heads to roll, I just wish they would do some of those things I mentioned differently.  Have wished it for years.   

Anyways, on to the Courage Bowl this weekend.  Maybe our QB woke up this morning with an elevation in his accuracy rating, video game style!  If I had to rate it (to D3 scale)...1% being some depressed Emo kid in black jeans just sort of making a melancholy filled effort to kick the ball towards a wide receiver...99% being Jason Boltus Josh Felicetti dropping dimes out there - he's probably hovering around a 52. 

Fixed that for you. Boltus had a cannon, but couldn't touch Felicetti for accuracy

[boobyhasgameyo]

I was actually going to put Felicetti (or Bailey if I were using another Fisher guy) for accuracy but went with the more E8 household name

[Bartman]

All Fisher guys are not alike 

I understand that, but re-reading it, I probably did lump a lot of you guys into one group which wasn't fair. Apologies.

"Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up."
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

The love in the E8 is extraordinary

[AUPepBand]

Pep read this morning of the death of Yogi Berra at the age of 90. Yogi was every American's uncle who had something ludicrous to say at the Thanksgiving table. And while he may have become better known for his "Yogi-isms," he was an accomplished athlete who as a catcher handled the pitchers for Yankees clubs that won 10 World Series including five in a row from 1949-1953.


"He hit from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious."


And just like his cartoon character look-alike Yogi Bear, he was "smarter than the average Berra." Some of the Yogi-isms:

"We made too many wrong mistakes."

"It ain't over 'til it's over."

"It's deja vu all over again."

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

"The future ain't what it used to be."

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

There are more....go ahead and add to my list if you wish.

On Saxon Warriors!

[saxontad]

"Baseball is 90% mental.  The other half is physical."   


God Bless Yogi.

On Saxon Warriors!!!

[Upstate]

Looks like Fisher is switching up QBs and going with Catan...

[Bartman]

" Little League baseball is a very  good thing , it keeps the Parents off the streets"

" Even Napolean had his Watergate" 

We will miss you Yogi

[jknezek]

This describes social media long before it ever happened:

"It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much."

Thanks Yogi. You will be missed.

[sjfcards]

I have had this feeling all week that Fisher is somehow going to win out, end 8-2 and win the AQ...someone make the case for and against it?

Here is mine:

For: maybe the two best teams on their schedule are behind them, and they should have as much talent as anyone they play here on out. I know Ithaca and Buff State (and others) are out there, but 8-2 is not an uncommon season for Fisher. Maybe they just lost the two games early. It is not I conceivable Cortland loses to one of the other teams and we get into that annual 3 way tie discussion.

Against: Fisher is really not that good...