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Post by JustMomma on Jun 23, 2008 20:11:21 GMT -5
My, my, my.... excuses and this is already our first game. Hopefully one of our last. The concrete and dasher boards issue was resolved with the coach and Bigdog last night. Dasher boards slide back over and cover that concrete. The whopping 2ft difference in the goal posts should be no problem for ANY kicker. They shouldn't be kicking the ball 2 feet lower anyways. I'm sure our owners are not going to run right out and build whole new goal posts for two exhibition games. As for the lack of players making the trip, that percentage comes from the mouth of one of your coaches. Players wanting an extra paycheck made the game and played. Players who didn't didn't get paid. Simple as that. If you want to pregnant dog about someone's math, direct that towards your coach who gave Bigdog the "guesstimate". The illegal defense arguement needs to be directed to your illustrious refs of your "Buffalo crew". Why does a league with no teams in NY have a Buffalo crew? I doubt there was an illegal defense. Furthermore... if we aren't too keen on this game, or the fact it was even played to begin with, it speaks VOLUMES on the character of the guys in charge of the league... willing to sell you out for a few extra bucks in their pockets. Its obvious you still havnt learned the AIFA rules if you think the 2 foot difference on the goal posts dont matter. Kicking is a big part of this leagues game and a lot of Uno's just barely clear the cross bar. That 2 feet is huge especially with your low ceiling and huge scoreboard. As for the refs calling the illegal defense, it is the responsibility of the umpire and he was a CIFL ref. The two AIFA refs where Line Judge and Back Judge, very different responsibilities. Yep, the Raiders are in for a huge surprise next year when they go on the road. Not knowing the rules will kill you. Don, give them time. Some of our teams still don;t know all of the rules (mostly game day stuff, but still.....) I had to correct some misinformation when Carolina came to town two weeks ago and they didn;t like it one bit! lol I still have other teams calling me weekly asking for rules and regs since I have basically memorized the Ops Manual. Of course, I've had months to do so, not a week or two.  ;D |
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Post by Standard Deviation on Jun 23, 2008 20:49:04 GMT -5
As usual Kelli, the voice of reason. Their staff was pretty cool but they have a pretty narrow mind when it comes to change. I got to the arena in Rochester at 11 AM and met a few of their people and I started telling them some of the things they should know and Im here to tell you, they were not informed on them at all. Just minor things like feeding the officials and having soap, shampoo and towels is something they just dont do and I told them its in the ops manual. Well, no one has seen fit to give them an ops manual yet. Im sure they will adjust with the off field things they have good people working for them. But the end zones and goal posts have to be fixed without question. I dont know if their scoreboard retracts but it puts a serious cramp on the kicking game. I guess kicking wasnt important in the CIFL but they will get murdered in this league if they dont take it serious. over all else...... |
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Post by Bigdog on Jun 23, 2008 21:02:27 GMT -5
The scoreboard does suck, but believe me your kicker has nothing on our kicker in a real arena.
Like I said before i do not know if we could beat your real team but we will be willing to come to Erie after your playoffs and play you guys, Bob never turns down a challenge. It will give us some time to adjust to the new rules and a chance for your guys to play, let's strap it on and do this right!
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Post by scooter on Jun 23, 2008 21:10:15 GMT -5
All this for an exhibition game, I can't wait till we play for real!!!!
All of this was just a dog and pony show for the Raiders Mgt. and AIFA to showcase themselves and talk their talk.
But on the reality side of this, the only people who knew what this game was really about was the fans of the respective teams and the players.
I had the opportunity to chat with Bulldog, Bigdog and several other members of the 8th Man Club from the bench throughout the game. And all of us knew the reality of this game, and that this was an EXHIBITION and that's all!!!!
Rochester will be a great addition to the league and bring up the level of competition of the AIFA NEXT SEASON!
But their fans came out and rooted for their team, and I commend them for that. Remember this team was supposed to being playing their playoff games right now, not an exhibition game against team from another league. I applaud all of them that did come out. And they came out for one thing, to root for their team, the Raiders. Not their owners or organization, but for the players that put themselves out there week after week.
That gets lost in so much of this, it's supposed to be about the players and the fans.
I acknowledged this on another thread and I'd like to say it here. Several fans stood by the bench and shook hands and thanked every RiverRat player that they could for coming up and playing for them on their bye week and for many of them their first indoor football game. They knew what the game was really about and they appreciated the effort no matter the result.
OK, Now back to the insanity...........................
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Post by raiderrebel05 on Jun 23, 2008 21:13:30 GMT -5
You people want to be provided with shampoo and towels? What do you think this is, a Holiday Inn???  Seriously, as far as the Ops manual, sounds like not much has changed since the Syracuse days. I was a witness to that mess. Bob won't tolerate that. I think we have seen that if Bob ain't happy, bad things happen. That scoreboard does not retract, it can be raised but once raised it stays raised, and to be honest, the only league it was a problem with was the AF2. I don't recall any scoreboard hits this season or during the championship game last year. Adam "MR. AUTOMATIC" Lanctot has CERTAINLY had no problem with it or the higher and narrower bars. Not trying to take away from your league... I've seen one "uno" in my days live. Wasn't impressed. Thought it was a pointless (wrong choice of a word, I know) rule. The general public don't want gimmicks like rebound nets or Canadian style points... they want something as close to the outdoor game as possible. IF we stay, we got a hell of a rivalry brewing. Sadly, I do think your league owners will find a way to screw it up. If not for us, than definitely for jading the fans and owners of this league by having exhibitions like this played at the end of the season. BTW: I do like the smileys here.  |
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Post by JustMomma on Jun 23, 2008 21:15:15 GMT -5
As usual Kelli, the voice of reason. Their staff was pretty cool but they have a pretty narrow mind when it comes to change. I got to the arena in Rochester at 11 AM and met a few of their people and I started telling them some of the things they should know and Im here to tell you, they were not informed on them at all. Just minor things like feeding the officials and having soap, shampoo and towels is something they just dont do and I told them its in the ops manual. Well, no one has seen fit to give them an ops manual yet. Im sure they will adjust with the off field things they have good people working for them. But the end zones and goal posts have to be fixed without question. I dont know if their scoreboard retracts but it puts a serious cramp on the kicking game. I guess kicking wasnt important in the CIFL but they will get murdered in this league if they dont take it serious. over all else...... Hee hee, ask SCRob about towels, meals, soap, etc. He was concerned about me coming to Florence. He even told Coach Diggs he made SURE everything was covered before I got to town cause I'm so fanatical about things being done CORRECTLY. |
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Post by JustMomma on Jun 23, 2008 21:19:03 GMT -5
You people want to be provided with shampoo and towels? What do you think this is, a Holiday Inn??? Seriously, as far as the Ops manual, sounds like not much has changed since the Syracuse days. I was a witness to that mess. Bob won't tolerate that. I think we have seen that if Bob ain't happy, bad things happen. BTW: I do like the smileys here. Nope, more like Burger King! I want it MY way!  I'm betting Bob will meet his match, cause if Momma ain't happy, nooooobody's happy. Please let your front office staff know if they need any help with anything, they can call our office any time if they can't get anyone at the league. |
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Post by Bigdog on Jun 23, 2008 21:21:27 GMT -5
All this for an exhibition game, I can't wait till we play for real!!!! All of this was just a dog and pony show for the Raiders Mgt. and AIFA to showcase themselves and talk their talk. But on the reality side of this, the only people who knew what this game was really about was the fans of the respective teams and the players. I had the opportunity to chat with Bulldog, Bigdog and several other members of the 8th Man Club from the bench throughout the game. And all of us knew the reality of this game, and that this was an EXHIBITION and that's all!!!! Rochester will be a great addition to the league and bring up the level of competition of the AIFA NEXT SEASON! But their fans came out and rooted for their team, and I commend them for that. Remember this team was supposed to being playing their playoff games right now, not an exhibition game against team from another league. I applaud all of them that did come out. And they came out for one thing, to root for their team, the Raiders. Not their owners or organization, but for the players that put themselves out there week after week. That gets lost in so much of this, it's supposed to be about the players and the fans. I acknowledged this on another thread and I'd like to say it here. Several fans stood by the bench and shook hands and thanked every RiverRat player that they could for coming up and playing for them on their bye week and for many of them their first indoor football game. They knew what the game was really about and they appreciated the effort no matter the result. OK, Now back to the insanity........................... Those people were myself, Bulldog, free stater and roc raider fanatic. Those guys deserved it. The starters came down on their week off and the rest of the guys played hard and some actually saw the field for the first time. We wanted to let them know we are not really bad people here, just sometimes we have big mouths We had a great time talking with some of the players and coaches and staff, all real nice guys. I looked forward to watching reynolds play after seeing his highlight film, and I looked forward to #12, but he was not there. I got to tell reynolds good luck and I look forward to seeinghim play and he asked me if I was nuts, and I told him, no I just enjoy good football. The drum was not nearly as loud as usual, so be prepared next time! |
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Post by exit322 on Jun 23, 2008 21:24:30 GMT -5
Seriously, as far as the Ops manual, sounds like not much has changed since the Syracuse days. I was a witness to that mess. Bob won't tolerate that. I think we have seen that if Bob ain't happy, bad things happen. Bob won't tolerate what? Not having timely statistics? Not providing game film to other teams? Not playing by the rules of the league he's a member of? Not sure where you're going here... |
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Post by Bigdog on Jun 23, 2008 21:57:57 GMT -5
That is the problem Josh, you have to understand none of those issues were a problem until this year when he left Dave and his brother in charge of it. Last year the tape was Fed EX by Monday at 11am, stats were in the night of the game(Ducej11 did them). Never once did we not play by the rules, in fact everyone else failed to follow simple rules like paying your franchise fee and security deposit. Now you have a owner with 2 teams in the championship game who never paid a dime to the league this year and is behind on workers comp. That says it all right there, grandma's inheritance is gone and so is Mike Johnson after next week. So three champs, three gone. Jeff and Eric were sick of Bob but I think they will even admit he was right about a lot of things. That being said, I wish we were still there and could make it right as a unit instead of watching everything else going on.
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Post by skullbrodarth on Jun 24, 2008 10:12:33 GMT -5
Hey on not rocraiderfanatic on here. i am using my skull brother name. eheh. cant wait till sat.
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Post by freestater on Jun 24, 2008 14:34:32 GMT -5
Those people were myself, Bulldog, free stater and roc raider fanatic. Those guys deserved it. The starters came down on their week off and the rest of the guys played hard and some actually saw the field for the first time. We wanted to let them know we are not really bad people here, just sometimes we have big mouths We had a great time talking with some of the players and coaches and staff, all real nice guys. I looked forward to watching reynolds play after seeing his highlight film, and I looked forward to #12, but he was not there. I got to tell reynolds good luck and I look forward to seeinghim play and he asked me if I was nuts, and I told him, no I just enjoy good football. The drum was not nearly as loud as usual, so be prepared next time! The players abso-freakin-lutely deserved our thanks. They gave up their bye week to come play a meaningless game, just so we could have some football. I hope all the players got to hear from those we spoke to, how much we appreciated their coming. Next time, I'll be back to my loud-mouthed, smack-talking self. I just couldn't do it this time. :smileyraiders: |
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Post by exit322 on Jun 24, 2008 14:51:24 GMT -5
That is the problem Josh, you have to understand none of those issues were a problem until this year when he left Dave and his brother in charge of it. Last year the tape was Fed EX by Monday at 11am, stats were in the night of the game(Ducej11 did them). Never once did we not play by the rules, in fact everyone else failed to follow simple rules like paying your franchise fee and security deposit. Now you have a owner with 2 teams in the championship game who never paid a dime to the league this year and is behind on workers comp. That says it all right there, grandma's inheritance is gone and so is Mike Johnson after next week. So three champs, three gone. Jeff and Eric were sick of Bob but I think they will even admit he was right about a lot of things. That being said, I wish we were still there and could make it right as a unit instead of watching everything else going on. So you're using the "no one else did it so we're not going to, either" excuse...because that makes it right. Tape was a problem in 2006 and 2007, too, and stats were a problem everywhere in the CIFL last year...these aren't new issues. The CIFL is not in good shape, and if you look, I've said this many times. Losing Rochester will have no bearing on the league's survival. It all will depend solely on what they can do to fix their problems. Same with the AIFA. The league's owners can't keep going to Utah or Baltimore or Florida or wherever else to keep bailing out a bunch of schmucks they brought in. That energy needs to be spent on marketing and PR at the league level, for that actually makes the league better. The current path, in both leagues, is simply the act of putting a band aid on a shotgun wound. |
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Post by Bigdog on Jun 24, 2008 15:01:56 GMT -5
I know that our game film was in every game n time last year and I know for a fact that justin sent the stats in after every home game as I was there. 2007 I cannot speak of because Doug McCarthy was in charge of it and he had fan bashing on the CIFL forum to do  Now as far as the CIFL, there problems are not that big. Jeff and eric are just too nice sometimes and need someone to go in with an iron fist and fix it. Not next year, NOW. Start by telling each team they have until July 31st to put up the security deposit and fees for next year or they are out. Those that do not pay, goodbye. So what if you end up with 8 teams, it will be 8 solid teams that have the money paid, 7 more than this year and 7 more paying the security deposit. I would rather have 8 teams and be solid than have 14 teams and most of them cannot afford a gumball! Josh, you and I could fix the league, when will they let us? |
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Post by Bigdog on Jun 24, 2008 15:03:08 GMT -5
By the way say what you want but we had 1302 fans at an exhibition game, granted it was free but Saginaw had 1100 fans for a conference championship! Who knows how many of those were freebies, I would guess 500?
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