FB: Empire 8

[Bombers798891]

Football is stupid and dumb and I hate it.

Sorry, I don't really. I'm just a Falcons fan

As someone who doesn't like the Patriots, last night was painful. Any defensive coordinator at the NFL level should be able to watch enough tape to realize that you can't play prevent defense against Tom Brady. Especially when your original game plan worked so well. But for the last 2 drives in regulation, and the drive in overtime, we aren't going to press the receivers and play them tight, we aren't going to stunt, we aren't going to be creative and do the things that landed Brady on his butt 16 times. We're just going to keep it all in front of us and give up 20 yard chunks by letting Tom Brady sit in the pocket and tear us apart.

Sometimes I wonder...

This wasn't on the defense. The offense flat out blew the game. I once heard a wise saying that rich athletes shouldn't try to get rich, they simply need to avoid going broke.

The Falcons get the ball at the NE 41 up 28-9. They then moved the ball to the NE 32. Matt Bryant had hit a 59-yarder this season. The Falcons did not need to score a touchdown. They didn't even really need a 1st down. They were handed the potential for points, and they needed to avoid going backwards. They went backwards.

Up 28-12 with 10 minutes to go. Points are irrelevant, clock and field position matter. The Falcons turn it over on their own 25 two minutes later.

Up 28-20 at the NE 22 with 5 minutes to go. Like the first drive, they needed nothing more than to avoid going backwards. They went (way) backwards.

The Falcons defense, which wasn't exactly great, was on the field for twice as much as NE's. They were gassed. The league's best offense, led by the MVP, needed to do a bare minimum in the last 16 minutes and managed to do less than that.

[jknezek]

Very true. The Atlanta offense was pretty hapless from about 24 minutes to go until the end.

[D3viewer]

According to a new graphic on Brockport's Facebook page Brockport hosts Ithaca on week 2 (9/9/17). They also played host to Ithaca last season.
Brockport also adds St Lawrence (in place of Alfred St) for their season finale on Nov 11.
Odd...they usually play Buff St for the I 90 trophy on the last week. With Ithaca moving to the Liberty league I guess the schedule structure will be fluid/changed. Their schedule has gotten harder for sure over the last 2 seasons. Rookie of the year QB Joe Germinerio and the boys will have their work cut out for them , considering they lose Dan Andrews and their 2 deep threats at WR. They do however only lose one starter on defense. I just don't know if that is good or bad. They must have sympathized with the Falcons last night considering how their ECAC game went down vs W and J.

[AUPepBand]

Looking forward to attending the Saxons' Football Awards Banquet on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Starts at 2 p.m. and Pep is hoping to get out of there before midnight!! 

[Saxon73]

Hey Pep,

I see the QB from the Scout Team won a Purple and Gold Award.  A transfer from Univ at Buffalo - can pass and run -  another Tyler Johnson ??

[AUPepBand]

Hey Pep,

I see the QB from the Scout Team won a Purple and Gold Award.  A transfer from Univ at Buffalo - can pass and run -  another Tyler Johnson ??

He's a great kid. See him in the library often. Didn't play football at UB. But back-up Bryce Morrison (Randolph) is ahead of him on the depth chart. Morrison came into his freshman pre-season with mono so never really got untracked. Unless they bring in a standout frosh or transfer, he's the best bet to try to fill those Tyler Johnson shoes.

But seriously, will there ever be another Tyler Johnson at AU like we witnessed in 2016?

During lulls, Pep still goes back to the archives and views some of the incredible games from 2016. Storybook season. Ended up with eight home games. Coach Rankl wants Pep to write a book about "The Perfect Season" but hey, still got to finish the "Yunie" book!

On Saxon Warriors!

[Bombers798891]

But seriously, will there ever be another Tyler Johnson at AU like we witnessed in 2016?

This is a guy who produced 577 of Alfred's 571 total yards. (No, that is not a typo) with six touchdowns and one turnover against the 4th ranked team in the country, Mount freaking Union.

No, there will not be a player like that again for Alfred (at least that we'll witness)

[Bartman]

But seriously, will there ever be another Tyler Johnson at AU like we witnessed in 2016?

This is a guy who produced 577 of Alfred's 571 total yards. (No, that is not a typo) with six touchdowns and one turnover against the 4th ranked team in the country, Mount freaking Union.

No, there will not be a player like that again for Alfred (at least that we'll witness)

It was a total pleasure to see Tyler Johnson's performance against Mount Union(+k to both Pep and Bombers on recognition), it was the best offensive performance I have seen by a D3 player in a single game, hell, at any level. Alfred had a VERY special season with much of the credit to TJ. He will be missed in Mayberry, no doubt.

[ITH radio]

It's official - Bart vs. SJF on 9/9/17

Also sounds like a round robin type of scheduling being worked on by both leagues to help scheduling longer term....

[Upstate]

It's official - Bart vs. SJF on 9/9/17

Also sounds like a round robin type of scheduling being worked on by both leagues to help scheduling longer term....

Love this idea, would like to see some more LL teams on the schedule for Fisher/E8 teams.

[AUPepBand]

It's official - Bart vs. SJF on 9/9/17

Also sounds like a round robin type of scheduling being worked on by both leagues to help scheduling longer term....

Love this idea, would like to see some more LL teams on the schedule for Fisher/E8 teams.

Alfred's got RPI, Rochester and Ithaca, all from the LL, for its non-conference tilts in 2017.

[Upstate]

It's official - Bart vs. SJF on 9/9/17

Also sounds like a round robin type of scheduling being worked on by both leagues to help scheduling longer term....

Love this idea, would like to see some more LL teams on the schedule for Fisher/E8 teams.

Alfred's got RPI, Rochester and Ithaca, all from the LL, for its non-conference tilts in 2017.

I would love to get UofR back on the schedule, don't think UofR is having any of it though...

[AUPepBand]

Looks like Buffalo State is leaving the Empire 8 (football only) for the Liberty League (football only) in 2018? The move will result in both conferences having seven teams thus each would retain the NCAA Championships AQ.

Interesting!

[D3viewer]

New York State has just passed their new budget, which includes the 3 year phase in of free tuition for all New State residents who attend any SUNY school if your family income does not exceed $125, 000. That's quite a big leeway. IN Western NY alone about 75 % of families would meet that requiremenet for the free tuition. So it is a perk not just for low income people, but for the middle class as well. This opens the door for free tuition at SUNY schools for many potential student athletes. There are a few caveats of course, must take 30 credits per year, That's a bit steep for some athetes who a lot of times just stick to 12 credits per semester, not 15. Also, you have to stay in NY post grad as many years as you "took" the free tuition.
And to be clear...it is free tuition, not room and board or any other costs such as books. But still this quite a nice addition for SUNY schools in terms of recruiting (at least against the private schools).
At Brockport tuition for a year is about $6,500. So it comes out to about a scholarship of that amount. We'll have to see if this portends to any real recruiting adavantage or not.

[Bombers798891]

New York State has just passed their new budget, which includes the 3 year phase in of free tuition for all New State residents who attend any SUNY school if your family income does not exceed $125, 000. That's quite a big leeway. IN Western NY alone about 75 % of families would meet that requiremenet for the free tuition. So it is a perk not just for low income people, but for the middle class as well. This opens the door for free tuition at SUNY schools for many potential student athletes. There are a few caveats of course, must take 30 credits per year, That's a bit steep for some athetes who a lot of times just stick to 12 credits per semester, not 15. Also, you have to stay in NY post grad as many years as you "took" the free tuition.
And to be clear...it is free tuition, not room and board or any other costs such as books. But still this quite a nice addition for SUNY schools in terms of recruiting (at least against the private schools).
At Brockport tuition for a year is about $6,500. So it comes out to about a scholarship of that amount. We'll have to see if this portends to any real recruiting adavantage or not.

Also, the money only comes after taking into account the other grants a student gets, which they still have to pay back. Ultimately, I don't think it matters that much. The cost of attendance at Ithaca last year was $58,280. Brockport was $20,346. Multiply that by four, and you get:

Ithaca: $233,120
Brockport: $81,384

Look, I'm not naive or arrogant enough to handwave away that knocking off another $28,000 from the Brockport bill is going to impact some athletes. But I feel this gap is already so wide. There's diminishing returns to this. Especially when you factor in that, yeah, you'll be saving money upfront, but your employment prospects will be incredibly limited for a few years, so you might wind up just losing that money in lower wages and a higher cost of living because you're in New York. My wife is from Pennsylvania, and it blows her mind how expensive it is to live up here comparatively.