If we join the CAA Football League, we'll be beating 3/4 of the teams in the league by our second year. -- FORDHAM RAMS FOOTBALL FORUM

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Subject: If we join the CAA Football League, we'll be beating 3/4 of the teams in the league by our second year.

Author:
Rambacker
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Date Posted: 18:32:59 03/28/05 Mon
In reply to: EweWho 's message, "No, like Villanova kicked our ass, and that was three years ago. This season we had difficulty beating the weak teams in our own league, nevermind the A10/CAA." on 17:09:47 03/28/05 Mon

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Oh, really? It took us nearly a decade before we were beating 3/4 of the teams in the Patriot League. It's not like those teams are going to stop recruiting and trying to improve while we play catch-up with them. And as much as I love Fordham, I don't see a lot of clear cut advantages for recruits to commit to us over those other schools. If the PL is good enough for Lehigh, it should be good enough for us. (NT) EweWho 19:05:53 03/28/05 Mon

No contest. The CAA Football League with full schollies is the way to go for Fordham. We'll have a huge recruiting advantage with our academics, NY location, media coverage, etc. I repeat, if we join CAA Football, we will be beating 3/4 of the teams in that league by our second season. Let's do it. It's the people's choice! (NT) -- Rambacker, 21:45:09 03/28/05 Mon

"No contest?" Strong words that can never be substantiated. 1) We're not academically superior to Nova, W&M or Richmond. 2) Many kids prefer playing in rural areas like Maine or Mass. 3) We didn't get any press even after we won a game in the Playoffs. 4) Our facilities pale in comparison to the schools mentioned. We've been above average for a relatively short period of time, yet fans talk like we're above PL competition. As for the "people's choice," their choices are often times wrong. I hope you're right, but speaking in absolutes is ridiculous. (NT) -- EweWho, 23:12:50 03/28/05 Mon

Not true on the "no press" statement after we won that playoff game. In NY and Boston we did get a fair amount of press, but of course it wasn't an overwhelming amount such as a bowl game. (NT) -- DamnRam, 08:16:02 03/29/05 Tue

You missed the point, Sparky. The Globe and Herald gave the game 2 articles each. That's the minimum attention they should give to a great local playoff game and upset when nothing else is going on. NYC coverage was similar. Point was we didn't reap any long term rewards after that success (i.e,, increased coverage of the Villanova game or the following season), that would improve our appeal and recruiting. Posters complain about our lack of coverage all the time, and I don't think the CAA is going to change that -- certainly not immediately. (NT) -- EweWho, 10:46:21 03/29/05 Tue

Our recruiting would go through the roof in terms of talent if we join the CAA Football Conference. We would be one of the elite teams in that league in 2-3 years. And it's an exciting brand of football. If Fr. McShane wants to energize our students and alums about athletics, he should make the move. The facilities will come with our future success in the CAA. (NT) -- Rambacker, 09:07:11 03/29/05 Tue

Re: Our recruiting would go through the roof in terms of talent if we join the CAA Football Conference. We would be one of the elite teams in that league in 2-3 years. And it's an exciting brand of football. If Fr. McShane wants to energize our students and alums about athletics, he should make the move. The facilities will come with our future success in the CAA. -- LUHawker, 23:10:44 03/29/05 Tue

The PL has some pretty good football. But the CAA/A-10's more exciting. If you check this board's archives, you'll find some very convincing arguments for Fordham to move to full scholarship 1-AA football. The key to improving our recruiting is being able to offer full scholarships. Better players want to play in a better conference at a higher level. That would be the CAA vs. PL. It's a simple equation. Also, there are many FU alums/students that relate more to playing Nova, Richmond, William & Mary than PL schools. The demographic profile of our fans is different than that of PL schools. (NT) -- Rambacker, 12:27:53 03/30/05 Wed

I'm not discounting the appeal of scholarships or more competitive football, but 1) that costs money and 2) Recall the difficulty we had taking a good Div. III team to 1-AA despite the perceived appeal of that change. As for the demo's of our students and alumni, I find it hard to believe that a school located in NY, with most of its students and alums haling from the Tri-State area, Pa and New England would relate more (demo's have little to do with this) to the schools you cited in Virginia. Maybe Nova, but I expect us to be at odds with them as we are with Lehigh, et al. (NT) -- EweWho, 13:53:10 03/30/05 Wed

If you look at the budgets for 1-AA football programs in the East, we have the same football budget as Villanova, a successful full scholarship 1-AA/A-10 program that will be joining the CAA along with the other A-10 football schools in the next year or two. Money is not an issue - we already have a 1-AA full scholarship level budget. And moving from Div. 3 to the PL was a major step - moving from the PL to the CAA would be smooth as silk. We'd be a very good CAA team in 2-3 years. Let's do it and get our fans REALLY interested in football. (NT) -- Rambacker, 17:40:30 03/30/05 Wed

Dear Rambacker & other FU fans who want to move to CAA. Despite my belief that Fordham is better off in the PL I say Godspeed. Apparently fans of FU would undoubtedly rather go to games against Maine, URI, UNH et al than have to watch bad football in the PL. Since you claim that FU has a full-scholarship budget, why isn't FU the big dog in the PL? How on earth will you get it done in the CAA, since you won't really be spending anymore $. I wish you all well, but keep in mind that if you could only win the PL one year, how many times do you think you will win the CAA? (NT) -- LUHawker, 09:26:28 03/31/05 Thu

Being able to offer full traditional athletic scholarships is the key to consistent success in football at Fordham. Aren't Lehigh's, Colgate's and Fordham's football budgets all about the same? Our interest is in playing all CAA schools, and the ones you mention are only part of the future CAA - the others are Richmond, William and Mary, Villanova, Delaware, James Madison, Northeastern, etc. It's going to be the best 1-AA conference in the country. (NT) -- Rambacker, 12:36:22 03/31/05 Thu

Of course you'd play all the CAA schools, hence the use of et al in my previous post (NT) -- LUHawker, 13:18:05 03/31/05 Thu

I'm referring to your selective choice of which schools to list. A league reaching from Virginia to Maine will provide a nice media coverage footprint and many more options for our alums to attend games, receptions(raise more $) and watch games on TV. (NT) -- Rambacker, 14:16:58 03/31/05 Thu

If we're going to give 63 scholarships, why not give 85, go I-A and plan to play in the new West Side Stadium. Otherwise, I think we should stay where we are. How much attention does I-AA football get anyway? (NT) -- JoltinJoe, 13:23:04 03/31/05 Thu

Following that logic, the obvious next question is if 1-AA football doesn't get much attention, then why are we playing it at all? (NT) -- Rambacker, 14:12:55 03/31/05 Thu

We play football because we have one of the great football traditions, we can play at a competitive level without breaking the bank, and football is a great way to get alumni, their families, and students together on campus to support their school on glorious autumn days. (NT) -- JoltinJoe, 17:02:47 03/31/05 Thu

Re: Sounds like after today, you may get to see some of those nice afternoons from the new West Side Stadium. But if you are going to do that, Fordham would have to make the move to 1-A. I'm still hoping you will stay with the PL. I saw Fordham's first PL game against Colgate in '89 and I'm looking forward to many more Fordham-Colgate FB matchups. (NT) -- Go...'gate, 18:17:34 03/31/05 Thu

To ever make the move to 1-A football, Fordham would first have to go full scholarship 1-AA in the CAA to make that transition. Going from the Patriot League to 1-A in football would be the equivalent of moving from Div. 3 to 1-AA, which we already have done and it was painful. (NT) -- Rambacker, 22:08:18 03/31/05 Thu

OK, let's continue following that logic. Since we have one of college football's finest traditions and are already playing with a 1-AA full scholarship level budget, don't we want to be the best we can possiblybe at the 1-AA football level and join America's top 1-AA football conference, the CAA? I think the answer is yes. (NT) -- Rambacker, 22:03:55 03/31/05 Thu
OK, let's continue following that logic. Since we have one of college football's finest traditions and are already playing with a 1-AA full scholarship level budget, don't we want to be the best we can possibly be at the 1-AA level by joining America's top 1-AA football conference, the CAA? I think the answer is yes. (NT) -- Rambacker, 22:04:57 03/31/05 Thu

It is nice to dream, but the reality is FU is in no position to make another jump, especially to a league that would cost more to participate. We joined the PL for 3 reasons: We were outgrowing Div. III, we shared the values of the PL and it was a managible expense. We just don't have the money or the falicilties to excel in the CAA, let alone 1-AA and Fr. McShane grows weary of saying this. Lets win some PL chapionships first, then we can see if such a move is good. Most alum may dream of more, but like the PL and what it represents. (NT) -- RamRay, 09:41:36 04/01/05 Fri

I must disagree. My take is that most alums would love to join the CAA, and we already have a football budget that is at the Villanova level. There is no dreaming here - this is reality. Most alums believe the CAA with full rides is where we should be. And we will get an invite to the CAA in the next 1-2 years. (NT) -- Rambacker, 10:08:57 04/01/05 Fri
A few points on your 3 reasons why we went to the PL. We may have been outgrowing DIII, but by NCAA rule we had to move to D-1AA. The expense is certainly manageable, just as it would be in a scholarship D-IAA conference. As for sharing the same values, apparently those shared values were not enough to keep us in the PL for all of our other sports. The only logical reason to not go scholarship in 1AA is Title IX, but then again, there is nothing logical about Title IX anyway. (NT) -- ace93, 18:45:25 04/01/05 Fri