Fort Drum Waste of Time

[ThruWayWest]

Anyone else think that this Fort Drum experiment needs to end? I don't think it helps us at all. Do any other teams do anything like this?

 

[TheCusian]

Anyone else think that this Fort Drum experiment needs to end? I don't think it helps us at all. Do any other teams do anything like this?

All of the coaches and players rave about it. They get good press. It's meaningful to the guys and military families at Ft. drum. And recruiting families like it.

Other than that, you mean ?

 

[OrangeAggieArmy]

What are you, Taliban?!

That'll be the reaction of many. I'm a proud vet and spent most of my time with the 10th MTN and I can tell you I don't think the team should go up there. Why spend all this money on facilities and then be away from them for a week? The weight rooms at Ft Drum pale in comparison to what the team has back on campus. Same with nutrition, training facilities, etc.

Texas doesn't head an hour north to Ft Hood. UNC doesn't go to Ft Bragg. It's just not a good use of time. If they want to bring a brigade or battalion commander down to talk to the team, that's fine, but they don't have to do what they're doing.

 

[GoSU96]

What are you, Taliban?!

That'll be the reaction of many. I'm a proud vet and spent most of my time with the 10th MTN and I can tell you I don't think the team should go up there. Why spend all this money on facilities and then be away from them for a week? The weight rooms at Ft Drum pale in comparison to what the team has back on campus. Same with nutrition, training facilities, etc.

Texas doesn't head an hour north to Ft Hood. UNC doesn't go to Ft Bragg. It's just not a good use of time. If they want to bring a brigade or battalion commander down to talk to the team, that's fine, but they don't have to do what they're doing.

Don't NFL teams go away for a couple of weeks in preseason to "lesser" facilities?

 

[Millhouse]

Don't NFL teams go away for a couple of weeks in preseason to "lesser" facilities?

NFL teams have a lot more practice time

time is so precious to a college team

 

[RF2044]

Don't NFL teams go away for a couple of weeks in preseason to "lesser" facilities?

No kidding. People go out of their way to look for correlations to problems that don't exist.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I have no issue with the fort drum thing I know its a big hit on both sides but to be honest I wouldnt mind if they placed it hold for next year. This team/program needs every practice minute it can get its hands on. Its one thing to do it when your Auburn, Fla State, Michigan State ...etc but when your coming off a 3-9 season other things need to take priority.

 

[SUFan44]

Kids bond just as much (if not more) over playing video games and scoping out new chicks on campus as they do at a military base.

Facilities are 10x better at Syracuse for a D1 football program than they are at a military base. What happens if there's a torrential downpour up there for three days during their designated time? Are they going to have mud sliding competitions? If they were at SU, they could be practicing all day in their brand new multi-million dollar indoor practice facility.

Completely agree. Waste of time and a risk not worth taking. For all of the positives about the culture, etc., you can't prove to me how it has helped win any football games. And that's the bottom line at the end of the day.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I suspect that it is of zero consequence (positive or negative) from a football perspective. I think it has some public relations value, although it does nothing for me.

 

[PhatOrange]

Anyone else think that this Fort Drum experiment needs to end? I don't think it helps us at all. Do any other teams do anything like this?

I do NOT think it should end. I think it's awesome and can't think of a better team building and bonding experience.

I have no doubt they get WAY more out of this than they would if they were home and heading out to the bars at night after practice.

The NCAA allots so many minutes of practice time. Syracuse practices every minute they are allotted by the NCAA while they are up in Drum so why on earth would anyone think the experience needs to end? :crazy:

Yes other teams do stuff like this.

 

[OrangeAggieArmy]

Don't NFL teams go away for a couple of weeks in preseason to "lesser" facilities?

Army posts, especially for light infantry, are very spartan. There's a huge step down going from P5 facilities to a light infantry post as compared to going from an NFL facility to whatever college campus an NFL team inhabits during training camp.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

What are you, Taliban?!

That'll be the reaction of many. I'm a proud vet and spent most of my time with the 10th MTN and I can tell you I don't think the team should go up there. Why spend all this money on facilities and then be away from them for a week? The weight rooms at Ft Drum pale in comparison to what the team has back on campus. Same with nutrition, training facilities, etc.

One week of "team building exercises" at Ft Drum, vs one additional week of partying at South Campus.

The team spends almost 50 weeks a year at Manley. 5 more days won't make or break the program.

 

[PhatOrange]

I have no issue with the fort drum thing I know its a big hit on both sides but to be honest I wouldnt mind if they placed it hold for next year. This team/program needs every practice minute it can get its hands on. Its one thing to do it when your Auburn, Fla State, Michigan State ...etc but when your coming off a 3-9 season other things need to take priority.

you don't really think they practice less than allotted while they're up there do you?

it might be argued the team building experience up there is the single biggest reason why the team never quits, sticks with each other and fights to the bitter end.

the way the season went he could've lost the locker room and he didn't.

 

[OrangeAggieArmy]

He never lost the locker room, only the games.

 

[Millhouse]

I do NOT think it should end. I think it's awesome and can't think of a better team building and bonding experience.

I have no doubt they get WAY more out of this than they would if they were home and heading out to the bars at night after practice.

The NCAA allots so many minutes of practice time. Syracuse practices every minute they are allotted by the NCAA while they are up in Drum so why on earth would anyone think the experience needs to end? :crazy:

Yes other teams do stuff like this.

i assume that practices are less efficient there. if it isn't, makes you wonder why schools spend so much on practice facilities

 

[RF2044]

Kids bond just as much (if not more) over playing video games and scoping out new chicks on campus as they do at a military base.

Facilities are 10x better at Syracuse for a D1 football program than they are at a military base. What happens if there's a torrential downpour up there for three days during their designated time? Are they going to have mud sliding competitions? If they were at SU, they could be practicing all day in their brand new multi-million dollar indoor practice facility.

Completely agree. Waste of time and a risk not worth taking. For all of the positives about the culture, etc., you can't prove to me how it has helped win any football games. And that's the bottom line at the end of the day.

I just don't understand this line of thinking. There are a million times more distractions on campus, even when the team is doing two-a-days.

Lots of organizations benefit from off-site team building activities like this. The players have talked about how it has helped build leadership, character, and comraderie.

I don't know that we can actually tangibly measure these 'net gains' that going there accomplishes, but if the players and coaches find value in it, that's good enough for me. I hope that they continue to do it.

 

[dasher]

I just don't understand this line of thinking. There are a million times more distractions on campus, even when the team is doing two-a-days.

Lots of organizations benefit from off-site team building activities like this. The players have talked about how it has helped build leadership, character, and comraderie. Good enough for me. I hope that they continue to do it.

I wish jb had taken fab melo up to Fort Drum. This thread solves a problem that doesn't exist. Nothing is lost going there. Not much is gained. What is the big deal? We have bigger issues.

 

[SUFan44]

I just don't understand this line of thinking. There are a million times more distractions on campus, even when the team is doing two-a-days.

Lots of organizations benefit from off-site team building activities like this. The players have talked about how it has helped build leadership, character, and comraderie. Good enough for me. I hope that they continue to do it.

Risk does not equal reward, in my opinion. Practice time is precious. Facilities are important to improvement, especially for a 5-day period in training camp when you are allowed to practice as much as you want, more or less.

 

[RF2044]

Risk does not equal reward, in my opinion. Practice time is precious. Facilities are important to improvement, especially for a 5-day period in training camp when you are allowed to practice as much as you want, more or less.

What "risk?" You're overstating it.

We made a bowl the previous two years, going to Fort Drum. Was it have a positive impact on those seasons? Honestly, I don't know that there's a correlation between going to Fort Drum and making a bowl, but the significance--and any consequences real or imagined--is being overblown.

 

[dollarbill44]

One week of reduced weight room time is not going to make a difference. In fact, it is probably helpful for a lot of guys to have a "back-off" week during training camp. Continuing to push hard in the weight room while ramping up practices is a recipe for overtraining and injury. The time for the really serious lifting is during the off-season. During the season, the focus should be to maintain as much of the off-season strength gains as possible.

I think it's funny that the Ft. Drum trip that was widely lauded during years where we made a bowl game, is suddenly seen as a reason for poor performance in a bad year. Other than the weight room, how much different is the team prep during this week? The NCAA limits the length and type of practices, so the only real difference is what occurs in the downtime (spending time with troops and their families vs hanging out in apartments playing video games or in the malls/bars).

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Risk does not equal reward, in my opinion. Practice time is precious. Facilities are important to improvement, especially for a 5-day period in training camp when you are allowed to practice as much as you want, more or less.

There are NCAA restrictions on the number of hours you're allowed to practice each week.

SU practices the exact same amount of time whether they're at Manley or Ft Drum.

 

[sufandu]

i assume that practices are less efficient there. if it isn't, makes you wonder why schools spend so much on practice facilities

We don't have to wonder. They spend money to say they have them.

 

[GoSU96]

NFL teams have a lot more practice time

time is so precious to a college team

They get the same amount of practice in. And they have more team activities and team building activities than if they are on campus.

If they were doing this they'd be playing video games or watching Netflix in their apartments with their closest friends on the team.

 

[GoSU96]

i assume that practices are less efficient there. if it isn't, makes you wonder why schools spend so much on practice facilities

It's one thing to do it for five days, it would be another all year.

 

[Crusty]

If they would burn those freakin uniforms while they were up there it would be even better!