FB: Empire 8

[superman57]

I guess there's a few different ways to "respect" a team

1) The first, most basic way, is "Hey, this team plays clean, plays hard and their coaches/staff program really do things the right way." I have that kind of respect for every team IC plays. In fact, I recently sent a e-mail to SJF's Althetic Director  praising him for having an incredibly handicapped accessable stadium. When he responded and told me if I ever needed anything, to let him know, I sent an e-mail to the president praising the AD. As I told them both, the SJF athletic department, in a lot of ways, puts IC's to shame

2) The second is completely football related. It's, "Man, this team is good, and if we don't bring our A game, we're going to get whipped". And yes, that's been a recent development with regard to Fisher. But I think it's natural. There are only so many teams you can have that for. Look at it this way. Against Norwich, IC didn't play their sharpest game. They turned the ball over five times. They missed an extra point, and had a field goal blocked. They played this game on the road. And they still won by 35 points. I've got nothing against Norwich's program as a whole. But from a strictly football standpoint, I don't look at them as being a challenge. Even when Ithaca played poorly, they still beat them easily, just like they had the previous four years. So it's hard for me to look at the Norwich football program and admit that they're a challenge because they haven't showed that. 

SJF used to be that way, but they are no longer. In fact, my level of respect for that football team is one of "Well, we may play our A game and still lose. But if we don't bring the A game, we'll be blown off the field." That's what has happened recently. But no, I haven't always felt that way about SJF. But that doesn't mean I sat there mocking them.

Re: Point No. 1 -- I've dealt with coaches and sports information staff from both schools, and both have been nothing but terrific for me, helping me out, giving me anything I needed to write a story or get a fact, etc.

I've never had the oppurtunity to meet Bob Ward, but I have met Norm Keifer and President Don Bain, and the love that they have for Fisher is second to none, when I was at fisher the motto was simple but good, treat others the way you would like to be treated.... and while it sounds silly, fisher really strives to do that... My only negative memory of being at Butterworth besides the pick 6 would of bin getting heckeld and threatened by old men as I walked out... and I was rather turned off by the chant of over rated at the end of that game...

[theoriginalupstate]

and I was rather turned off by the chant of over rated at the end of that game...

Ha, last time I heard an "OVER-RATED" chant was the Hail Katherine game vs Brockport.  That chant ended pretty quickly though....

[fisheralum91]

dew- im gonna be at the sfj uc game on sat with a bunch of the doctors if ya want to stop by.

and to the newbie fisher fan that seems to have riled many up----go back to where ya came from----your poison isnt needed here

[Bombers798891]

Alrighty, let's try a new topic to get something going here:

There's a four way-log jam at the top of the E8. Who's coming out on top? Will it be won outright or will we go to a convoluted tiebreak? My scenarios---in personal order of likelyhood.

1) Alfred splits their two game gauntlet by beating IC and losing to SJF. The Wick runs the table, gets in over SJF thanks to the H2H. Ithaca is left trying to salvage a Pool C bid by upsetting Cortland--who may be 9-0 and ranked 5th by Cortaca. IC squeaks in with a win, Fisher barely misses out. If IC loses, dare I say, only one team from the E8 makes it?

2) Ithaca, Wick and Fisher all run the table. Ithaca gets the AQ based on SOS. Wick gets in at 8-1. Fisher's a longshot, but may sneak in.

3) Alfred pulls off the stunner, drops both Fisher and IC, Wick gets in thanks to the H2H. Ithaca is left with the upset Cortland to try and sneak in to the playoff, but probably misses out due to an identical record with Alfred and a H2H loss.

Thoughts?

[maxpower]

Pep would have to comment that IC has never been complacent with ECACs. In fact, Pep recalls (and correct me, IC fans if Pep is wrong here) that in a recent season that turned out less than had been expected, the team VOTED NOT to participate in ECAC while failing to make NCAAs.

Pep has a deep respect for the Ithaca program because it was built by one classy Jim Butterfield, who, in his early years, had some tough times as IC played the West Chesters, Bridgeports, CW Posts, American Int'l, but who set the bar pretty high for the rest of Upstate NY small college football.

Butterfield's program peaked at an opportune time with the establishment of the NCAA Division III National Championship playoffs. Had the D3 party started in the early '50s, the bulldog-faced Alex Yunevich no doubt would have had his boys at Alfred vying for the last dance as he had back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 1955-56.

In Alex's last year at Alfred, in 1976, Pep remembers the game at South Hill Field that Lois described in Wasn't That Fun as "boring." You see, Alex put all his athletes on the defensive side of the ball with the philosophical approach of "If we can keep our opponent from scoring, we have a better shot of winning." In that game at Ithaca, the Saxons took advantage of an IC miscue and scored a field goal in the first quarter. That lead held up until the final minute, when the Bombers mustered covered just enough real estate to get their kicker lined up for a game-tying field goal. Final: Alfred 3, Ithaca 3.

A week or so later, AU went to Canton to take on what was then a national powerhouse St. Lawrence team and, on a cold day with high winds across Weeks Field, the Saxons once again got an early field goal to take a 3-0 lead. With the Larries in Saxon territory for most of the fourth quarter, AU somehow kept the Larries out of the end zone and, with backs to the wall, took an intentional safety to get better field position. Final: Alfred 3, SLU 2.

At Alfred, while the Saxons are 6-for-6 in ECAC championships, the goal is always the NCAAs, achieved in 1981 when AU went 10-0.

And now you know....the....rest....of the story....

+K!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bombers798891]

Pep would have to comment that IC has never been complacent with ECACs. In fact, Pep recalls (and correct me, IC fans if Pep is wrong here) that in a recent season that turned out less than had been expected, the team VOTED NOT to participate in ECAC while failing to make NCAAs.

Pep has a deep respect for the Ithaca program because it was built by one classy Jim Butterfield, who, in his early years, had some tough times as IC played the West Chesters, Bridgeports, CW Posts, American Int'l, but who set the bar pretty high for the rest of Upstate NY small college football.

Butterfield's program peaked at an opportune time with the establishment of the NCAA Division III National Championship playoffs. Had the D3 party started in the early '50s, the bulldog-faced Alex Yunevich no doubt would have had his boys at Alfred vying for the last dance as he had back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 1955-56.

In Alex's last year at Alfred, in 1976, Pep remembers the game at South Hill Field that Lois described in Wasn't That Fun as "boring." You see, Alex put all his athletes on the defensive side of the ball with the philosophical approach of "If we can keep our opponent from scoring, we have a better shot of winning." In that game at Ithaca, the Saxons took advantage of an IC miscue and scored a field goal in the first quarter. That lead held up until the final minute, when the Bombers mustered covered just enough real estate to get their kicker lined up for a game-tying field goal. Final: Alfred 3, Ithaca 3.

A week or so later, AU went to Canton to take on what was then a national powerhouse St. Lawrence team and, on a cold day with high winds across Weeks Field, the Saxons once again got an early field goal to take a 3-0 lead. With the Larries in Saxon territory for most of the fourth quarter, AU somehow kept the Larries out of the end zone and, with backs to the wall, took an intentional safety to get better field position. Final: Alfred 3, SLU 2.

At Alfred, while the Saxons are 6-for-6 in ECAC championships, the goal is always the NCAAs, achieved in 1981 when AU went 10-0.

Pep--

You read that book? What were your thoughts? I couldn't stand the writing style, but some of the games she discussed were interesting, as were the plays written in the back

[Bombers798891]

Pep would have to comment that IC has never been complacent with ECACs. In fact, Pep recalls (and correct me, IC fans if Pep is wrong here) that in a recent season that turned out less than had been expected, the team VOTED NOT to participate in ECAC while failing to make NCAAs.

Pep has a deep respect for the Ithaca program because it was built by one classy Jim Butterfield, who, in his early years, had some tough times as IC played the West Chesters, Bridgeports, CW Posts, American Int'l, but who set the bar pretty high for the rest of Upstate NY small college football.

Butterfield's program peaked at an opportune time with the establishment of the NCAA Division III National Championship playoffs. Had the D3 party started in the early '50s, the bulldog-faced Alex Yunevich no doubt would have had his boys at Alfred vying for the last dance as he had back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 1955-56.

In Alex's last year at Alfred, in 1976, Pep remembers the game at South Hill Field that Lois described in Wasn't That Fun as "boring." You see, Alex put all his athletes on the defensive side of the ball with the philosophical approach of "If we can keep our opponent from scoring, we have a better shot of winning." In that game at Ithaca, the Saxons took advantage of an IC miscue and scored a field goal in the first quarter. That lead held up until the final minute, when the Bombers mustered covered just enough real estate to get their kicker lined up for a game-tying field goal. Final: Alfred 3, Ithaca 3.

A week or so later, AU went to Canton to take on what was then a national powerhouse St. Lawrence team and, on a cold day with high winds across Weeks Field, the Saxons once again got an early field goal to take a 3-0 lead. With the Larries in Saxon territory for most of the fourth quarter, AU somehow kept the Larries out of the end zone and, with backs to the wall, took an intentional safety to get better field position. Final: Alfred 3, SLU 2.

At Alfred, while the Saxons are 6-for-6 in ECAC championships, the goal is always the NCAAs, achieved in 1981 when AU went 10-0.

And now you know....the....rest....of the story....

What's hilarious about this was, when I thought you were the newbie Fisher fan, I was going to post some sarcastic response. But, since you're a pretty smart poster, I have to laugh. I used to have to listen to that all the time before Sportscall went over the air up at ICB...classic

[SotoC803]

Commenting on the log-jam we got i think you hit pretty much on the head there. Fisher's poor play against Springfield this past weekend definetely got some people thinking about how good this team really..(not saying that there bad, I feel there the third best in the E8 which is good enough to be like 6th in the East). Alfred definitely has some talent. Every game Freshman QB Tom Secky only makes him better whether they win or lose I think i have to have Alfred as favorites in their game against Fisher especially with them playing at home. As for Ithaca, I'm as lost as everyone else. Logic says, "Ithaca wins out and takes the E8 but like i said ALfred is a solid team that may surprise.

I personally think Hartwick gets E8 bid, Ithaca upsets Cortland and gets Pool C, and Alfred also gets Pool C thanks to fisher and ithaca wins.

Fisher will not make playoffs thanks to their 3 losses and i believe 4th to alfred. Look for them to be back in it next year.

[SotoC803]

Also before this season is over i believe we will see Hartwick in the Top 25 for the first time in the school's history.

WR Jack Phelan is only 9 TD's away from tying the NCAA record for most TD's in a season and with Utica, Norwich, and SPringfield left on the schedule, with him average about 3-4 TD's a game i think he's got it.

[SJF Fan]

I personally think Hartwick gets E8 bid, Ithaca upsets Cortland and gets Pool C, and Alfred also gets Pool C thanks to fisher and ithaca wins.

Fisher will not make playoffs thanks to their 3 losses and i believe 4th to alfred. Look for them to be back in it next year.

The worst thing that could happen to the East is a win by IC vs. Cortland. If that happens, the East will get a top see implanted into its regional bracket like it did last season.

Alfred seems to be a program always one win away from its NCAA bid - what are they lacking to get them over the top?

Agree with you on this - a 3 loss team, outside of AQ cannot make it to the NCAAs

[John McGraw]

Commenting on the log-jam we got i think you hit pretty much on the head there. Fisher's poor play against Springfield this past weekend definetely got some people thinking about how good this team really..(not saying that there bad, I feel there the third best in the E8 which is good enough to be like 6th in the East). Alfred definitely has some talent. Every game Freshman QB Tom Secky only makes him better whether they win or lose I think i have to have Alfred as favorites in their game against Fisher especially with them playing at home. As for Ithaca, I'm as lost as everyone else. Logic says, "Ithaca wins out and takes the E8 but like i said ALfred is a solid team that may surprise.

I personally think Hartwick gets E8 bid, Ithaca upsets Cortland and gets Pool C, and Alfred also gets Pool C thanks to fisher and ithaca wins.

Fisher will not make playoffs thanks to their 3 losses and i believe 4th to alfred. Look for them to be back in it next year.

http://www.hartwick.edu/x23655.xml#

Don't forget to read the Terms Of Service    On a side note, I would hope that you're pulling for your varsity squad to get to the playoffs.

[SotoC803]

wow...lol...seems you found me pretty quickly...as for the one thing Alfred is missing i think i would call it luck...With 4 very good teams in the conference someone's gotta take the fall every year, last year it was Alfred, this year i think it's fisher

[SotoC803]

Also whether or not we get the AQ i still think with 1 loss we have a very strong chance of a pool C bid as a back-up

[Frank Rossi]

Folks, as of yesterday, here is a list of Northeast/Northwest schools that have filed for ECAC consideration.  If you do not see your school on this list, a subtle reminder to the SIDs/ADs/Football Coaches of the respective schools might be in order since the deadline for submission is the close of business on Thursday, November 6 (8 days from today):

St. John Fisher -- Empire 8 -- Northeast
Plymouth State University -- NEFC -- Northeast

Note:  SJF should have filed as a "Northwest" team.  I'm not going to touch that one any more than that

[Frank Rossi]

I personally think Hartwick gets E8 bid, Ithaca upsets Cortland and gets Pool C, and Alfred also gets Pool C thanks to fisher and ithaca wins.

Fisher will not make playoffs thanks to their 3 losses and i believe 4th to alfred. Look for them to be back in it next year.

The worst thing that could happen to the East is a win by IC vs. Cortland. If that happens, the East will get a top see implanted into its regional bracket like it did last season.

Alfred seems to be a program always one win away from its NCAA bid - what are they lacking to get them over the top?

Agree with you on this - a 3 loss team, outside of AQ cannot make it to the NCAAs

However, in the eyes of the Committee, SJF is not a 3-loss team.  It's a 1-loss team presently.  Their SoS will not help matters, though, since Buffalo State and Rochester are their only regional OOC competition factoring into their numbers.