Tweet
Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread
I have talked to a lot of different people the last several days. A lot of things would have to happen to get ABU in the MEC. There are schools that support us going in. I talked to some good sources at Glenville. Urbana wants out of the MEC. The cost of travel and missed class time traveling to WV is killing them. They don't get another D2 conference....they are looking at moving to another level...NAIA/D3. They aren't dropping sports or folding. Their admin has told the MEC schools at winter meetings in March that the cost of travel and lack of schools close to them is making them look at all options. Shepherd obviously has the PSAC offer on the table. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for them. I work with several Shepherd grads that played football at SU. The head coach at South Hagerstown is a Shepherd alum who was a good football player there. He has mostly SU grads on his staff ie Clancy the former QB, etc. The current Shepherd head football coach's siblings go to South High and his son played football for 4 years there before attending SU this year. According to these people, it looks initially like they are going to go. The MEC has asked to make a case for them to stay. Frostburg is a school within 2 hours of SU. But Shippensburg is an hour and a serious rival. Shepherd is also closer or as close to UPJ, IUP, Cal, Millersville, Kutztown, Seton Hill and West Chester as they are their nearest MEC school (Fairmont) and Bloomsburg and Lock Haven are just slightly longer trips than that. All of the PSAC schools I listed are 3 hour trips or less for Shepherd. Plus the fact that the PSAC gets a lot more football playoff bids has to be enticing to the Rams.
AB is finding the G-MAC tough due to: (a) travel costs and (b) missed class time. A lot of these trips are overnight.We don't have the budget that a lot of these privates do say like a Hillsdale. It is what it is.
Differences of Travel between the two conferences:
Mountain East
WV Wesleyan 34 minutes 22 miles
Fairmont St 53 minutes 31 miles
Glenville St 1 hour 23 min 71 miles
Frostburg St 1 hour 51 min 101 miles
Wheeling Jesuit 2 hours 3 min 116 miles
West Liberty 2 hours 13 min 113 miles
Charleston 2 hours 20 min 140 miles
WV State 2 hours 23 min 145 miles
Concord 3 hours 19 min 185 miles
Notre Dame 3 hours 55 min 234 miles
Urbana 4 hours 36 min 258 miles
G-MAC
D&E 42 minutes 27 miles
Ohio Valley 1 hr 53 min 104 miles
Malone 3 hr 28 min 214 miles
Walsh 3 hr 35 min 219 miles
Ohio Dominican 3 hr 45 min 211 miles
Ursuline 3 hr 55 min 233 miles
Lake Erie 4 hr 14 min 231 miles
Cedarville 4 hr 24 min 250 miles
Tiffin 5 hr 26 min 306 miles
Findlay 5 hr 27 min 327 miles
Hillsdale 6 hr 28 min 409 miles
KWC 7 hr 48 min 487 miles
Trevecca 8 hr 17 min 525 miles
*It also appears that Ohio Valley will be given the Salem treatment. It is only a matter of time so that would take one more school off the radar that is close to us.
*Frostburg State to D2 is not a shoe-in. The state of Maryland is under serious budget crunch. MD requires schools to fund athletic scholarships. Bowie is a bit of an exception due to their HBC status. Most MD schools are D3 or D1. Frostburg has great facilities. Some of their sports are very good. Both of their basketball programs are flat horrible!!! They haven't had a winning season in ten years....and that is playing in a pretty bad D3 league. Football and baseball are good. But taking on schollies is a different animal. Their enrollment is somewhat flawed as they have a pretty big branch campus in downtown Hagerstown that partners with the MD University system. It gets a lot of undergrad and grad students there.
*Lastly....and this is not personal nor does it come from any person affiliated with AB. I hear from good sources that work at GSC, UC and WV State and they say that a lot of people in the MEC don't want to deal with Denny Creehan. I don't know the guy personally. I have talked to him twice in my life. I have no issue with the guy. I am just saying what the people I have talked to say. There is angst over how he and his brother conducted themselves with the WVIAC expansion. There was talk that some other people don't like dealing with him on a professional level when it comes to administrative tasks and issues. I was told that as long as he is in charge of athletics that our chances are much slimmer getting into the MEC.
Personally, I kind of feel dirty if I have to play some of those MEC schools. I like the G-MAC. But I have also talked extensively with one AB head coach who said the missed class time is a real issue. I could go on, but I know where he stands on this conference stuff.
I have talked to a lot of different people the last several days. A lot of things would have to happen to get ABU in the MEC. There are schools that support us going in. I talked to some good sources at Glenville. Urbana wants out of the MEC. The cost of travel and missed class time traveling to WV is killing them. They don't get another D2 conference....they are looking at moving to another level...NAIA/D3. They aren't dropping sports or folding. Their admin has told the MEC schools at winter meetings in March that the cost of travel and lack of schools close to them is making them look at all options. Shepherd obviously has the PSAC offer on the table. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for them. I work with several Shepherd grads that played football at SU. The head coach at South Hagerstown is a Shepherd alum who was a good football player there. He has mostly SU grads on his staff ie Clancy the former QB, etc. The current Shepherd head football coach's siblings go to South High and his son played football for 4 years there before attending SU this year. According to these people, it looks initially like they are going to go. The MEC has asked to make a case for them to stay. Frostburg is a school within 2 hours of SU. But Shippensburg is an hour and a serious rival. Shepherd is also closer or as close to UPJ, IUP, Cal, Millersville, Kutztown, Seton Hill and West Chester as they are their nearest MEC school (Fairmont) and Bloomsburg and Lock Haven are just slightly longer trips than that. All of the PSAC schools I listed are 3 hour trips or less for Shepherd. Plus the fact that the PSAC gets a lot more football playoff bids has to be enticing to the Rams.
AB is finding the G-MAC tough due to: (a) travel costs and (b) missed class time. A lot of these trips are overnight.We don't have the budget that a lot of these privates do say like a Hillsdale. It is what it is.
Differences of Travel between the two conferences:
Mountain East
WV Wesleyan 34 minutes 22 miles
Fairmont St 53 minutes 31 miles
Glenville St 1 hour 23 min 71 miles
Frostburg St 1 hour 51 min 101 miles
Wheeling Jesuit 2 hours 3 min 116 miles
West Liberty 2 hours 13 min 113 miles
Charleston 2 hours 20 min 140 miles
WV State 2 hours 23 min 145 miles
Concord 3 hours 19 min 185 miles
Notre Dame 3 hours 55 min 234 miles
Urbana 4 hours 36 min 258 miles
G-MAC
D&E 42 minutes 27 miles
Ohio Valley 1 hr 53 min 104 miles
Malone 3 hr 28 min 214 miles
Walsh 3 hr 35 min 219 miles
Ohio Dominican 3 hr 45 min 211 miles
Ursuline 3 hr 55 min 233 miles
Lake Erie 4 hr 14 min 231 miles
Cedarville 4 hr 24 min 250 miles
Tiffin 5 hr 26 min 306 miles
Findlay 5 hr 27 min 327 miles
Hillsdale 6 hr 28 min 409 miles
KWC 7 hr 48 min 487 miles
Trevecca 8 hr 17 min 525 miles
*It also appears that Ohio Valley will be given the Salem treatment. It is only a matter of time so that would take one more school off the radar that is close to us.
*Frostburg State to D2 is not a shoe-in. The state of Maryland is under serious budget crunch. MD requires schools to fund athletic scholarships. Bowie is a bit of an exception due to their HBC status. Most MD schools are D3 or D1. Frostburg has great facilities. Some of their sports are very good. Both of their basketball programs are flat horrible!!! They haven't had a winning season in ten years....and that is playing in a pretty bad D3 league. Football and baseball are good. But taking on schollies is a different animal. Their enrollment is somewhat flawed as they have a pretty big branch campus in downtown Hagerstown that partners with the MD University system. It gets a lot of undergrad and grad students there.
*Lastly....and this is not personal nor does it come from any person affiliated with AB. I hear from good sources that work at GSC, UC and WV State and they say that a lot of people in the MEC don't want to deal with Denny Creehan. I don't know the guy personally. I have talked to him twice in my life. I have no issue with the guy. I am just saying what the people I have talked to say. There is angst over how he and his brother conducted themselves with the WVIAC expansion. There was talk that some other people don't like dealing with him on a professional level when it comes to administrative tasks and issues. I was told that as long as he is in charge of athletics that our chances are much slimmer getting into the MEC.
Personally, I kind of feel dirty if I have to play some of those MEC schools. I like the G-MAC. But I have also talked extensively with one AB head coach who said the missed class time is a real issue. I could go on, but I know where he stands on this conference stuff.
Comment