How loaded is loaded?

Tom Leonard's cellphone photo of the TU side of the field.

Belated EagleBank Bowl Thoughts
EBB was without a doubt the most memorable TUFB experience in my 18 or so years following the program. My wife and I arrived in DC the night before the game. Hotel was in an excellent downtown location, although under renovation. Spent the night bopping in and out of restaurants and bars.

Numbers of folks dressed in in TU garb and cherry and white climbed as the evening went on. Woke up on gameday with a slight case of the Irish flu, but nonetheless happily pushed on to the Metro station en route to the Armory, where I stepped into a zone of TU pre-game energy of historic proportions. The band, video footage, combination of familiar and new faces, and overall level of downright giddiness for TUFB was delightful. I spoke with TU faculty and administrators, alumni and students, folks with family ties to TU, and some who had no affiliation with TU whatsoever--which I found particularly pleasing. A couple guys behind me in line were from James Madison U. They travelled to DC simply to behold an easily accessible bowl game, and touted that JMU had FBS aspirations. The indoor tailgate was an exceptional experience. Zero regrets. I even got a photo (soon to be framed, with no spousal objection) with the UCLA cheerleaders (ok, technically dance team or pep team or something, but it worked for me).

As gametime neared, I strategically applied the lasted techno heating elements into shoes and pockets; checked that tickets were in hand, and hastily gulped down the final Absolute and Cranberry (scotch was unavailable) of the afternoon while working towards the exit. The throngs of fans channeling into RFK was a beauty to behold.

There were a lot of TUFB fans at RFK. A lot. I was especially pleased to see so many unfamiliar, aged faces. These weren't students or die hards, these were Temple folks who have perhaps exhibited sporadic interest here and there but hadn't previously been uniformily motivated. Folks around me were looking in their program for names and asking about "that #22" and posing questions about next year's QB, and such. Novice aside, they displayed the same excitement about TUFB as the rest of us. In a word, refreshing. Prior to the game, I was concerned that perhaps 6 or 7K faithful would show. AG referenced 16K. Not sure where got that figure, but he should know. 16K passes the test, at least my test. We have the coach and the talent, but I questioned the alumni. There is hope.

No reason to comment on the game. Nothing new to share. The experience, however, was novel. And worthy of comment.
Tom Leonard
long-time Temple football fan
"Hootsalotisme" on OwlsDaily.com

If you type in "how loaded is loaded" into a google search engine these days, the first result will be this very thoughtful and well-researched post by MH55 on Owlscoop.com.
Before this post goes into oblivion caused by Rivals.com's limited serving capacity, we thought we would store it here.

MH55 got the idea, I presume, from the night of the bowl party.
Three or four of the boosters who had a chance to speak to Golden that night said that Golden used the words "we're loaded" for next year and followed that up with big cat-eating-the-canary grin.
A knowledgeable Temple football fan knew that before Golden said so, but it's nice to get some affirmation from the top guy.
MH55 did one better, loading up on names and positions.
It was one of two great posts on Temple football this offseason that deserve to be preserved for posterity.
The other was written by Tom Leonard, Hootsalotisme, on the OwlsDaily.com board about the EagleBank Bowl experience.

Here's MH55's in its entirely (quotes around MH55's words):
"I still haven’t heard Al Golden actually say “We’re Loaded” but it sure looks that way when you consider experience, size and talent. Its still hard to believe the caliber of talent AG has amassed when one considers how desperate we were when he took the job and he's operating in a battlezone of BCS Schools. Here's the roster w games played in (XX)

Defensive Line:
Eli Joseph (36)
Kamara (35)
Robinson (25)
Blueford (24)
Wilkerson (24)
Morkeith Brown (21)
Custis (10)
Frenk (1)
Nwasike
Wise

Red Shirts

Levi Brown
Shahid Paulhill
Kamal Johnson
Geoffrey Prather
Tyreek Spain

Recruits
Caray wrestling, honors star, ARob heir
Daniels-keeping talent local
Hush-Sopranos 1st team all state
Newman-PaPreps Predicts Pro
Weaver-will play on TV in summer all star game


Linebackers
P Joseph (27)
Martin (25)
Whitehead (13)
Namude (12)
Q White (10)
M Green (12)
St Johnson

Red Shirts
Caponegro
Onukwuesi
Beatty
Van Norton
Zach Kane (U Mia X)

Recruits
Adewole-Chose Best MAC Offer
Benson-All SEPA LB
N Smith-NJ Friend says a future star

Defensive Backs
Jarrett (37)
Liverpool (37)
Griffin (23)
Gildea (12)
Kroboth (11)
Mo Jones (12)
Falcone (12)
K Johnson (8)
J Williams (2)

Red Shirts
Terrell (2)
Deonte Parker
Byron Parker
M Gould

Recruits
Burns _ Only had 2 BCS Offers
Goods _ Track Star
Robey _ Speed merchant begins the Norristown pipeline


Quarterbacks

Charlton (28)
Stewart (20)
Gerardi (1)

Red Shirts
Coyer
Bryan Morris

Recruits
Reilly-Baseball, Brains and Big Plays

Running Backs

Pierce (12)
Brown (11)

Red Shirts
A Smith (6)

Recruits
Myron Ross-Could be a stud

TE
Balasavage (20)
Rodriguez (13)
Pekarski (1)

Red Shirts
Booth
A Jackson
Parthemore
L Turner
Brookhart
Recruits

T Johnson-Probably lucky to be at Temple Since he didnt Receive any BCS Offers possibly because he committed to Temple or maybe he's just a mediocre player that we shouldn't even mention

Wide Receivers
D Green (37)
Crudup (33)
Campbell (31)
Nixon (25)
Jones (25)
Hutchinson (18)
Bynum (14)
Carraway (9)
Hammond (1)
Baker

Red Shirt
Anthony Parker Boyd (North Car X)
Ryan Alderman
R Streater JuCo

Recruits
Belt-our Andre Rison?
Coble-No to Tobacco Road
Miller-Superb Athlete
Shine-Cali Find
Silvera-BE Capable Temple Ready

Offensive Line
Morris (32)
Madison (28)
Dennis (27)
Tribue (25)
Sean Boyle (25)
Palumbo (22)
Caputo (19)
Brown (17)
Pat Boyle (17)
Schonnbruner (9)
Whittingham (4)
Yuan (1)

Red Shirts
Martin Wallace (Northeastern X) 6’6 295
Scott Roorda 6’3 318
Cody Bohler 6’7 305
Evan Regas 6’4 313
Sean Pearson 6’5 312
Daryl Pringle 6’6 315

Recruits
Centapiempo 6’7 315 Just started FB for Kicks
Grant 6’6 340-Fork Union Crusher
Metz 6’5 310-1st local OL/ BCS Talent to choose TU
Walton 6’4 320-One Bad Ass Chef"

It should be noted that the above words from the first quote to the last quote were all MH55's. He was speaking sacastically about TE recruit Tyler Johnson, a rebuff to a small minority of Temple fans who think anybody who doesn't have a boatload of BCS offers isn't any good.
EBB experience continues at the Linc:
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