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Originally posted by CALUPA69 View Post
Most likely, but don't rule out a move by the PSAC if any of GU, MC, or SHU decide to move elsewhere. Probably not but the SR1 situation is very fluid and PSAC has a lot to offer competition wise.
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Originally posted by Scrub View Post
There have been rumors of SHU looking to rejoin its WVIAC brethren and hop to the MEC. I'm not sure how serious that consideration is. But once again, aside from being able to claim they've "cracked the PA market," I'm not really sure what SHU would really add to the MEC.
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Originally posted by Scrub View PostLooks like AB has been selected to take the place of Urbana in the MEC. JDon, welcome back!
The MEC made no secret about wanting to expand its footprint and/or grab an Ohio school to pair with NDC. They openly courted Ashland . . . just like every other D2 conference in the area, but Ashland chose the G-MAC. So, AB was reportedly second choice. It doesn't expand the footprint in any way. But it makes a lot of sense in terms of geography and travel.
I agree that Alderson Broaddus administration was a bad player at the end of the WVIAC. There was nepotism at the school and that hurt on the UVA-Wise vote. Quite frankly, I got embarrassed more and more by the Creehan brothers and their antics over the years. The UVA-Wise vote by Rick Creehan at the time was due to the fact that big brother wanted to recruit the Richmond/Norfolk area for football....an area where UVA-Wise recruited heavily as well. I thought it was a dumb move on our administration's part. It was self-serving and an embarrassment. The financial mismanagement that occurred later on was ridiculous. I am glad both are gone from AB. If people want to re-hash that....feel free. You won't get any argument from me.
I will say AB has better people in charge now. Dr James Barry has made some sound financial moves for the school including consolidating debt into one federal loan at a low interest rate. But he has made other sound measures. The athletic director for AB was a very successful coach in the WVIAC while at AB and a very successful athlete at AB. This is her dream job and she will handle it with integrity. She has a lot of work to do as I felt Denny Creehan did very little as an AD. She has an associate AD in JD Long who also was a successful AD and a successful coach at AB. Both Bodkins and Long are respected by the conference leadership and both are AB grads and former athletes and head coaches that have a passion for their school. JD was in 2016 named the G-MAC faculty mentor of the year in the conference as voted upon by conference leadership. Long should have never been replaced as AD with Denny Creehan. That was a nepotism move. Long was responsible for hiring several successful championship coaches in Bodkins, Zimmerman and McGinnis. He also turned the baseball program around with a couple of quality hires. Bodkins and Long were both former coaches of the year in the old WVIAC. Long was a coach of the year in both volleyball and softball. I will just say this: I think MEC leadership is much more comfortable in working with them than they were the Creehans. The votes show. Reid Amos last night on the statewide sportsline gave a very nice compliment to the new administration of AB saying "they have made great strides compared where they were a few years ago". It is out there so I am not making that up. I believe he is right. The vote of the board of directors also seems to dictate this as media reports it was a unanimous decision.
With that said, AB has to be a good member and competitive member in the MEC. AB spent a ton of money in the G-MAC on travel, food and lodging. Take for instance basketball, the road trips required the team leave on a Wednesday and return late Saturday night. That required four nights of lodging and meals. This is just one sport. That occurred in most sports. They had to make decisions that took money away from scholarships and made the program less competitive in a lot of sports. This does help to start funneling money to the student-athletes and less to Holiday Inn. It is AB's job to be a competitive member.....not just a member. It wasn't like AB didn't have a competitive athletic department in the 2000s. In baseball, they were in the WVIAC championship game in 2008 and 2012. Women's soccer won the WVIAC in 2011 and went to the NCAA. During the last five years of the WVIAC, volleyball finished in the top four of the standings in the last five years of the league's existence. Men's basketball in the 2000s won several WVIAC tournaments and regular season titles and went to nine NCAA tourneys. It is time that AB be competitive again and devote more dollars to scholarships. I believe we can be a good conference member. I do think it will take around year 3 for that to happen.
I think Reid Amos has a strong passion for his job. There is no question about that. I think he has tried hard to keep the conference at the quality level they were at despite some losses in membership. You can't blame him for trying to keep NDC by inviting Ashland and Walsh. It was a smart move. But it is hard to beat the mileage chart that the G-MAC has.
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Originally posted by Scrub View Post
There have been rumors of SHU looking to rejoin its WVIAC brethren and hop to the MEC. I'm not sure how serious that consideration is. But once again, aside from being able to claim they've "cracked the PA market," I'm not really sure what SHU would really add to the MEC.
BELIEVE me...I am NOT advocating for Seton Hill to be permitted to join the MEC. They had their chance when the MEC was formed and chose not to join. They are the PSAC's problem now and should stay their problem.
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Originally posted by boatcapt View PostThe ONLY thing that SHU would do for the MEC, and I certainly am NOT advocating for them to be answer their requests to move back, would be to allow them to split into a two division format. MEC North consisting of NDC, SHU, Wheeling, WLU, Fairmont and Frostburg and MEC South WVW, AB, Glenville, WVS, UC, Concord and UNCP (for football...D&E for other sports).
BELIEVE me...I am NOT advocating for Seton Hill to be permitted to join the MEC. They had their chance when the MEC was formed and chose not to join. They are the PSAC's problem now and should stay their problem.
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Originally posted by CALUPA69 View Post
Truly curious if you are confident that NDC will stay in the MEC. If so, what are the main benefits given the obvious disadvantage of crazy geographic misalignment. Thanks.
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Originally posted by Scrub View Post
There have been rumors of SHU looking to rejoin its WVIAC brethren and hop to the MEC. I'm not sure how serious that consideration is. But once again, aside from being able to claim they've "cracked the PA market," I'm not really sure what SHU would really add to the MEC.
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Originally posted by Stea1th View Post
The obvious benefit of the MEC is that we get to drive long distances and put on away game recruiting shows in a state that has a population of 1.6M people.Last edited by CALUPA69; 06-18-2020, 11:29 AM.
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Originally posted by UFOILERFAN View PostIt's been almost 2 weeks since AB announced their move to the MEC. The move that was allowed to happen immediately by the G-MAC. Seems like NDC would have jumped right on that G-MAC membership offer.
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