URI

[Marchawg]

Ok, so I'm new to Div I-AA. I'll admit. I've spent my entire life watching Div 1-A ball, even went to Penn State (although I've always been a huge Florida Gators fan). I still love Div I-A games, but the lack of a playoff system really makes me cringe.

I started getting into Div I-AA when I saw the playoffs last year. Lots of great, exciting games. Plus the ultimate payoff, a real champion!

Enough of the backstory: I am going to be attending URI starting in the winter, and I'd like to get into their football program, but they seem to be completely miserable (along with their hideous uniforms). My question is.. was URI ever any good? More than that, does it look like they have improved any over the last few seasons? Quite obviously, they're still bottom of the barrel, but I can live with that if they are improving.

I watched part of the game against UMass a couple weeks ago and it was tough to watch.

So to shorten it all up: Is it worth getting into URI football, or should I just look for a different I-AA team to root for?

[dbackjon]

Rhody's playoff history:

1981
First Round Idaho State L 0-51


1984
Quarterfinal Richmond W 23-17
Semi-final Montana State L 20-32


1985
First Round Akron W 35-27
Quarterfinal Furman L 15-59

[UMass922]

So to shorten it all up: Is it worth getting into URI football, or should I just look for a different I-AA team to root for?

If you go to URI, root for URI. If/when URI does have a good season, you'll feel great to have been with them all along, rather than becoming a mere bandwagon/fairweather fan.

[mcveyrl]

If you go to URI, root for URI. If/when URI does have a good season, you'll feel great to have been with them all along, rather than becoming a mere bandwagon/fairweather fan.


I agree. The 2004 NC year was so great because I sat through several sub-500 years as a student a few years earlier (and some sub-sub-500 years!!xlolx )

[Umass74]

Marchawg:

URI does not give the maximum 63 scholarships and they have been playing with half a stadium for a number of years.

That makes it very hard to win in the A10, which is one of the toughest I-AA leagues. It is very difficult for the Rams to compete with big buck outfits like Delaware.

The Rams put most of their available scholarships on offense and usually in the top 2 or three nationally in rushing.

If you like football then you will enjoy watching the Rams and will see some excellent teams. With the new renovations to Meade things could be looking up in the future. You could be a "fan" go to all the games and root for your team. Win or loose.

If winning means everything then just root for the Patriots and forgetaboutit. :twocents:

It's more fun to be a fan. Go to all the games. Even if it rains. Even if the Rams are 3-7. If Rhody plays the Little Sisters of the Poor and gives up 400 yards passing, get on this board and bitch that the Sisters OL was holding all game and the refs weren't callin it.

[dbackjon]

And the more passionate fans at the games, making noise, the more pressure the admin feels to fully fund the program.

[UMass922]

I agree. The 2004 NC year was so great because I sat through several sub-500 years as a student a few years earlier (and some sub-sub-500 years!!xlolx )

Yeah, the highs are even sweeter when you've endured the lows. In 1997, my freshman year, I watched UMass go 2-9 and get outscored by over 200 points. The next year I watched us win the National Championship.

[JMU2004]

Yep...I watched JMU for 4 mediocre seasons, even a 2-9 squad. Its so much sweeter when you were there "before they were good"

[Marchawg]

Don't get me wrong, I am not a fairweather fan. (I'm a Browns fan in the NFL, if that tells you anything) My decision to go to URI is based on financial reasons only, I don't really care about the football team of my school.

Like I said before, I went to Penn State first, and I absolutely HATE their team. Always have. I just went their because I am from PA and it was cheap.

My main concern is getting with a team that has a culture of losing like, say, the Arizona Cardinals.

I get enough grief with the Browns losing every year, and the Gators have only won one National Championship. (As a side note, I was there for it!)

So I have no loyalty to the state of RI, because I'm not from here. And I have no loyalty to the team because I don't even go there yet.

You have to admit, when you're starting to get into a sport, it's easier to follow it when your team is at least decent/promising.

From what you guys have said, though, about their rushing, I will probably just try to follow URI. I love a good rushing attack.

[Marchawg]

Marchawg:

URI does not give the maximum 63 scholarships and they have been playing with half a stadium for a number of years.

That makes it very hard to win in the A10, which is one of the toughest I-AA leagues. It is very difficult for the Rams to compete with big buck outfits like Delaware.
What is the reason for that? Do they use scholarships for other sports or something? I've only lived in RI for a few years, but I've never heard of URI being good in any sports really.

As a side note, I HATE Delaware. I've seen them a few times and they just remind me of Michigan too much with those unis. Ugh. Sorry to any Delaware fans out there xlolx

[Husky Alum]

Marchawg -

Northeastern has had a tradition of doing nothing on the football field for many many years.

We were awful my first 4 years at NU and my senior year we had a chance to go .500 and it was a HUGE deal - we're like URI in that we have an awful field and little tradition.

When we got good and made it to the NCAA's in 2002 I was an alum, but there was NOTHING better than seeing us win the A-10 title after years of futility. The Champagne flowed freely in the stands that day, and although it was 25 degrees, it didn't seem to matter because we finally won.

Keep the faith, learn the history of Rhody football (Erhardt was an AMAZING Quarterback in the 1980s when URI put up some INSANE passing numbers), and bring your friends to a game. There's not much else to do in Kingston - and you can see some VERY good I-AA football.

Then, when you come up to Boston to play Northeastern, stop by my tailgate and have a beverage or two - that's the BEST thing about I-AA football - we share a common bond, and there's always an extra beer in the cooler and some food on the grill for a fan of a I-AA team.

I've met some great fans from GSU, Youngstown, UNH, NDSU, Delaware, W&M, Maine, and Hofstra from this and other boards. They're good people, great fans, and VERY hospitable.

Welcome to the Board!

[Longhorn]

Welcome to 1AA ball and the boards. I too find 1AA FB much more interesting and enjoyable that the BCS guys (ugh...just too much $$ and too little focus on what it means to be a student athlete). Checkout caazone.com as well as AGS for CAA related sports threads (the A10 FB league tranfers to the CAA next season).

My advice is to root for URI...they have a coach who is trying to build a good program...(I believe he won a NC at Georgia Southern before coming to URI)...but understand that he is trying to make progress in perhaps the toughest 1AA league in the country.

[Umass74]

What is the reason for that? Do they use scholarships for other sports or something? I've only lived in RI for a few years, but I've never heard of URI being good in any sports really.

As a side note, I HATE Delaware. I've seen them a few times and they just remind me of Michigan too much with those unis. Ugh. Sorry to any Delaware fans out there

Back 8-10 years when UMass was a basketball power (we beat the #1 team in nation three years in a row) the whole A10 basketball league was good. UMass, Xavier, St. Joe and Temple were going to the sweet 16 (not all at the same time). Rhody has a number of years with excellent BB teams.

Unfortunately , like UMass BB success at Rhody went to their heads and both schools built BB palaces. The last six years you could shoot deer in Mullins (the UMass court) and not hit anybody. The Rams BB court went WAY over budget so Rhody could not afford to replace the visiting stands that they tore down to build it.

So the poor Rhody football team was stuck with a facility that looked like a Junior High stadium. Last year they raised $2 million and got the visiting side fixed.

Title IX and poor support from the legislature account for lack of $$ for the athletic dept. When you go there, make it a point to harass the legislature to support the state school. Be a constructive pain in the ass. :D

[Marchawg]

Then, when you come up to Boston to play Northeastern, stop by my tailgate and have a beverage or two - that's the BEST thing about I-AA football - we share a common bond, and there's always an extra beer in the cooler and some food on the grill for a fan of a I-AA team.
Sounds good, especially since I live almost exactly in the middle of Boston and Kingston. Thanks for the welcome!:D

I'll root for URI, but I think I am going to keep an eye on Georgia Southern as well, I LOVE their uniforms. Yeah, I am a designer, so I pick by unis! Sue me!

[*****]

Cheer for your Rams! Cheer for the A-10 and when all the teams switch to the Colonial next year, cheer for the Colonial! You'll see all kinds of good football and the Rams will knock off some of them along the way. Heck, you just beat a ranked Maine team last week at URI!

Day Date Games Location Outcome/ Time
Thu 8/31/2006 Rhode Island at Connecticut, Connecticut 52-7
Sat 9/9/2006 Merrimack at Rhode Island, Rhode Island 42-7
Sat 9/23/2006 Delaware at Rhode Island, Delaware 24-17
Sat 9/30/2006 Brown at Rhode Island, Rhode Island 28-21
Sat 10/7/2006 Rhode Island at James Madison, James Madison 35-23
Sat 10/14/2006 Richmond at Rhode Island, Richmond 31-6
Sat 10/21/2006 Rhode Island at Massachusetts, Massachusetts 41-16
Sat 10/28/2006 Maine at Rhode Island, Rhode Island 3-0
Sat 11/4/2006 Rhode Island at Hofstra 1:00 PM
Sat 11/11/2006 New Hampshire at Rhode Island 12:00 PM
Sat 11/18/2006 Rhode Island at Northeastern 12:00 PM

Be sure to go to the UNH game, last home one this year and they have a great QB/WR combo. :nod:

[mainejeff]

URI should either drop football or re-do that sorry excuse for a field.

[texcap]

As a URI alum (MS 95) I have always cheered for URI. Despite marginal seasons when I attened (1992-1994), it was always fun togo to Meade and watch the games. I also enjoyed going to away games at UConn, Brown, and UMass. Yes, there were never very many fans in the stands at Meade, but there were not a lot of jerks to contend with. The crowds were small but it was still a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. It sure beats battling 70,000+ drunk people who never attended the college, and are at best "Walmart fans," piling into a stadium and watching semi-professionals who happen tobe wearing the same colors play another group of semi-professionals. IA has good football, but they have sold their souls to the devl and the atmosphere of college football has left their stadiums. At URI and many other IAA and lower programs college football is alive and well.

[MR. CHICKEN]

URI should either drop football or re-do that sorry excuse for a field.

RHODEY....DROPS DUH FOOTBALL......ALOT...........:rotateh:....AWK!

[Ruler 79]

Don't knock their stadium until you see the horse s_ _t stadium/facility/field UA plays on. When UA gets invited into the CAA North or the new AE Football league which Rhode island will be a member(I know, I know...I am kidding. Trying to get a rise out of folks) They should have a brand new stadium to play in!!!! hopefully RI will follow!