FB: Empire 8

[AUPepBand]

JU,
In my days as a Dragon, every away game was an overnight trip, one time 2 nights (Wash and Jeff).  I know we went to Jersey a lot as an independent, and also in our first year in the NJAC....which meant 5+ hour rides at best.  We also overnighted Brockport 1.5-2 hours I believe it was.  We were also going to overnight 2 Cortaca games but that was due to the insanity on and around the campus.  Those were the only road games where we did not stay over.

Yea we were a little different

Day trips:
-Aflred
-Hobart
-Cortland
-Mansfield
-Brockport

Overnight
-Springfield
-AIC
-St. Lawrence
-Buff St.
-W&J
-Mercyhurst

My first year when we played Alfred it was an overnight trip from Utica. We stayed in a motel in Hornell.

Would that have been the former Coachlight Motel, now an EconoLodge?

[PBR...]

Where did you guys stay overnight when traveling to Jersey City?  One of the nice motels on Tonnelle Ave with the hourly stay rates?

yup and they are a green motel too....they only change the sheets once a week...

[Knightstalker]

Where did you guys stay overnight when traveling to Jersey City?  One of the nice motels on Tonnelle Ave with the hourly stay rates?

yup and they are a green motel too....they only change the sheets once a week...

But only if they really need it.

[Bombers798891]

There is no doubt in my mind that without the loss to SJFC, Ithaca would not have come this far.   That loss changed their season in a good way, and set things into perspective for them.  They are a talented and very physical football team and a physical style will allow them to go deep into this tournament.   IC vs. MUC in the East Final without a doubt, in my opinion.   If they use Weverbergh, their TE, as much as possible it is going to open up a lot of holes in the MUC defense.   MUC defense bends, but they don't break.  You can move the football on them, there are holes, but they hunker down in the Red Zone and it's almost as if 15 guys are on the defense.   Red Zone is where you need to use Wev.  He needs to have 10+ catches in that game for Ithaca to have a chance.

But I'm getting ahead of myself as they need to take care of business in weeks prior to that ultimate matchup.

Ithaca is representing the E8 and I for one am rooting for a REAL east team in the east bracket!  Go Bombers!

EXCELLENT point. +K. That SJF game was a big wakeup call. They looked so dead that 4th quarter.

I also wonder if SJF's subsequent struggles helped Ithaca, almost like they were able to chalk that up to a bad day. Last year, it almost seemed like the torch had been passed and SJF was the dominant program in the E8 after the beatdown at Butterfield. The loss in Pittsford this season might have cemented that. I won't go so far as to say it's firmly for Ithaca now, but it's almost like the team saw its reputation going down a notch and said "screw this, we're not going out like that."

I also know when the '88 team came back for homecoming, they went into the meeting and said: "You may hate listening to the old guys talk, but we're here, so deal with it. 8-2 never used to be good enough for us. It's not good enough for you."

Whatever the reason, this team is on a whole new level right now. Word is, they're tied with Wesley for the Lambert Cup, awarded to the top team in the East region. That's an award they haven't won since 1991. Great stuff!

[XREDDRAGON77]

The Lambert Trophy....something Cortland was in 1st place for.  I see it going to IC unless Cortland can take care of business over the next 2 weeks.

[fishfan]

Memo to E8; So Fisher attacked the middle of the field twice out of 90 plays. Whoa! I do not think that Fisher RB's/ TE's caught 10 balls over the middle all year. Not that they caught 10 balls I don't think 10 plays were called. Tim Marion is a route runner who is at his best over the middle because of this skill to break tackles, until Alfred Tim was not a focus of the Fisher passing game this year. My comment about pass eff was WHO CARES! And no, Hamel was not given a chance, Fisher jerked around with the kickers all year, gave Robbie Brown chances but Hamel got zip. Since my term for a foward pass behind the line of scrimmage was not what you saw on Sport Center, I have a question for you of your credibility. By rule, the offense needs what to have how many players in the backfield, and why ?

[theoriginalupstate]

huh...must of missed something.

Can you perhaps rephrase that last question because I got totally lost during the last two lines of your post...

[Bombers798891]

Memo to E8; So Fisher attacked the middle of the field twice out of 90 plays. Whoa! I do not think that Fisher RB's/ TE's caught 10 balls over the middle all year. Not that they caught 10 balls I don't think 10 plays were called. Tim Marion is a route runner who is at his best over the middle because of this skill to break tackles, until Alfred Tim was not a focus of the Fisher passing game this year. My comment about pass eff was WHO CARES! And no, Hamel was not given a chance, Fisher jerked around with the kickers all year, gave Robbie Brown chances but Hamel got zip. Since my term for a foward pass behind the line of scrimmage was not what you saw on Sport Center, I have a question for you of your credibility. By rule, the offense needs what to have how many players in the backfield, and why ?

Memo to fishfan: Your knowledge of the rulebook nonwithstanding, you've done nothing but reiterate the same trite stuff for the past few weeks. We get it. The playcalling stunk, the coaching staff is clueless, the seniors deserved better and got robbed of a great final season. Does that about sum it up? Enough. You've said nothing new or interesting. Getting into idiotic debates over shovel passes and the like just serves to lower discourse and anger people, which seems to be your goal. The rest of us are on here to talk about our favorite teams and more generally, enjoy the games. You bring nothing but unrelenting hostility and criticism.

[fishfan]

This will give the answer away. How many players need to be in the backfield to run a legal play?

Memo to Bombers # whatever; Thats why these boards are here, we agree to disagree
When somebody make a post and it is countered they get jumped on, then they do not defend there orginal post. 

[pg04]

This will give the answer away. How many players need to be in the backfield to run a legal play?

Memo to Bombers # whatever; Thats why these boards are here, we agree to disagree
When somebody make a post and it is countered they get jumped on, then they do not defend there orginal post. 

The numbers in Bombers Alias have a pretty significant historical meaning. 

Let's correct all the mistakes in the post itself:

"That's why these boards are here, we agree to disagree.
When somebody makes a post and it is countered they get jumped on, then they do not defend there their orginal original post.  "

[Bombers798891]

This will give the answer away. How many players need to be in the backfield to run a legal play?

Memo to Bombers # whatever; Thats why these boards are here, we agree to disagree
When somebody make a post and it is countered they get jumped on, then they do not defend there orginal post. 

Agreeing to disagree is fine, but the whole point of that phrase is that once that stage is reached, both sides stop talking about the issue. You just keep going on and on about it. No-one's going to convince you otherwise. One guy (Upstate) even largely agrees with you. You've made your point, you won't be swayed, so move on. There's one more game left this season. Why not enjoy it rather than be critical of everything?

[dewcrew88]

JU,
In my days as a Dragon, every away game was an overnight trip, one time 2 nights (Wash and Jeff).  I know we went to Jersey a lot as an independent, and also in our first year in the NJAC....which meant 5+ hour rides at best.  We also overnighted Brockport 1.5-2 hours I believe it was.  We were also going to overnight 2 Cortaca games but that was due to the insanity on and around the campus.  Those were the only road games where we did not stay over.

Yea we were a little different

Day trips:
-Aflred
-Hobart
-Cortland
-Mansfield
-Brockport

Overnight
-Springfield
-AIC
-St. Lawrence
-Buff St.
-W&J
-Mercyhurst

My first year when we played Alfred it was an overnight trip from Utica. We stayed in a motel in Hornell.

Would that have been the former Coachlight Motel, now an EconoLodge?

I believe it might have been... it was a little ways away from the campus, IIRC.

[dewcrew88]

This will give the answer away. How many players need to be in the backfield to run a legal play?

Memo to Bombers # whatever; Thats why these boards are here, we agree to disagree
When somebody make a post and it is countered they get jumped on, then they do not defend there orginal post. 

The numbers in Bombers Alias have a pretty significant historical meaning. 

Let's correct all the mistakes in the post itself:

"That's why these boards are here; we agree to disagree.
When somebody makes a post and it is countered, they get jumped on, then they do not defend there their orginal original post.  "

if you're going to edit posts, PG, edit the whole thing
[/copy editor]

[Jonny Utah]

Centerville, Mass. -- The Bomber football team sits atop the final regular-season Lambert/Meadowlands Cup poll. The Lambert Cup has been awarded since 1972 to the top Division III team in Eastern football. Ithaca has won eight awards -- more than any other school (1974, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1988 and 1991). The final poll will be conducted in January.

1. ITHACA (9-1), 81 points
Wesley (8-1), 81
3. Cortland (9-1), 64
4. Muhlenberg (9-1), 61
5. Washington & Jefferson (9-1), 56
6. Trinity [Conn.] (8-0), 43
7. Salisbury (8-2), 40
8. Hobart (8-1), 29
9. Montclair State (8-2), 23
10. Rensselaer (7-2), 7

[Jonny Utah]

From the Ithaca SID (partial report)

Ithaca vs. Curry

THE GAME: The Bombers host the Curry Colonels in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, Nov. 22. Kickoff is set for noon at Ithaca's Butterfield Stadium. The winner of this Saturday's game will play the winner of a first-round game between Cortland and Plymouth State (being played Saturday in Cortland) in a second-round game on Saturday, Nov. 29.

THE COACHES: In his 14th season as Ithaca's head coach, Mike Welch (Ithaca '73) has posted a 121-42 (.742) record, including a postseason record of 9-6. He entered the season 15th among active coaches in winning percentage. A running back who earned two letters while playing for coach Jim Butterfield, Welch succeeded his former coach after spending 10 years as an assistant at his alma mater. He is 6-4 in NCAA playoff competition and has never faced Curry.
        Skip Bandini (Massachusetts Maritime '81) is in his third season, where he has compiled a 32-3 (.914) record. He's 1-2 in the NCAA playoffs, with all three games coming against Empire 8 teams. His staff includes two Ithaca graduates. Defensive coordinator Todd Nestor '96 lettered three times as a safety; he was a member of three NCAA playoff teams (including the 1991 Stagg Bowl champions). Receivers coach Bill Struzzi '08 lettered three times as a linebacker and defensive back.

THE SERIES: The two teams have never met. Curry will be meeting an Empire 8 opponent in the opening round of the NCAA playoffs for the third year in a row; the Colonels lost to Springfield in 2006 and lost at St. John Fisher last fall in a second-round game after beating Hartwick 42-21 to earn the NEFC's first NCAA playoff win in nine tries. Ithaca has played five games against NEFC members (with four meetings coming in the postseason); Ithaca has met Plymouth State – a potential second-round opponent – twice, losing 13-12 in a 1987 ECAC playoff game and beating the Panthers 22-7 in the 1994 NCAA East Region final. The Bombers have posted ECAC postseason wins over Worcester State (27-21 in 1996)and Massachusetts-Dartmouth (36-19 in 2004). Ithaca beat Fitchburg State 82-0 in 1984.

ITHACA NCAA PLAYOFFS NOTES: Ithaca played two NCAA playoff teams during the regular season, beating MAC champion Lycoming and NJAC winner Cortland. Ithaca is the only team to beat two conference champions in non-conference games this year; the only other team with two wins over 2008 conference winners is King's (who beat ODAC champ Randolph-Macon and Lycoming from their own conference), another of Ithaca's non-conference victims.
        The Bombers have won 16 of their 19 NCAA playoff games at home (that figure includes a 1974 game played at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field). Ithaca has not hosted an NCAA playoff game since 1994; that year the Bombers beat Buffalo State 10-7 in double overtime in a regional semifinal and lost 20-16 to Washington & Jefferson in the national semifinal round.
        Two other head coaches from the NCAA playoff field have ties to Ithaca: Washington & Jefferson's Mike Sirianni (a Mount Union graduate) was a graduate assistant at Ithaca in 1994, helping the Bombers reach the NCAA semifinals; and Muhlenberg's Mike Donnelly is a 1975 Ithaca graduate and former assistant on the Ithaca staff, helping his alma mater to the 1980 Stagg Bowl.

CURRY CONNECTION: Senior Mike Nicolo, a four-year defensive back for the Colonels who has not played a shoulder injury, is the son of John Nicolo, a 1980 Ithaca graduate who's one of the school's most successful athletes. He won national championships with as a football running back (1979) and baseball shortstop (1980). The 1980 College World Series MVP, he was inducted into Ithaca's Hall of Fame in 1986.

ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are making their 17th NCAA playoff appearance; Saturday will be their 40th NCAA playoff game. The Bombers are 27-12, winning national titles in 1979, 1988 and 1991. The 1974, 1975, 1980 and 1985 teams also played in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, with the 1986 and 1994 teams also reaching the NCAA semifinals. The only schools to play in more NCAA tournaments  are Mount Union (20), St. John's [Minn.] and Washington & Jefferson (19 each). The Bombers have played in more NCAA playoff games than any school except Mount Union (54-9 in 58 games), St. John's (34-16 in 50 games) and Rowan (30-13 in 43 games).