FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Ralph Turner]

absolutely not accussing just trying to figure out how they are able to do it every year; it's absolutely fascinating to me.
don't think it's good for d3. schools at any other level are not able to accomplish this. maybe it's time for a d4
because other d3 programs just simply are miles apart and either are not willing nor able to compete for many, many reasons.

The "Future of D-III" message board was created to update and chronicle the events surrounding the D-III Self Study plan whether or not to have a D-IV.

The discussions really got interesting about Feb 2006.

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=3880.300

[jknezek]

jknezek - you've explained how mt. union STAYS good, but there was a time that they weren't that good and the pitch was, i would imagine, much different...wesley was there around 8-10 years ago

Different teams rise and fall all the time. Rowan in the 90s, Bridgewater in the early 00s, Wesley, UWW. There are all kinds of teams that reach out close to the top for a period of time and generally fall back. There are a bunch of ways it can be done, but it usually includes some combination of the following:

1) a top notch coach, including recruiting capabilities
2) the school's commitment to upgrading the program including facilities and possibly athlete eligibility
3) a stellar pair of recruiting classes, which is usually dependent on 1 and 2

The ability to stay at the top, is something completely different. These teams come and go, usually on 3 or 4 year cycles. That is a couple big recruits and a good overall set of classes. Rowan, Bridgewater, Augustana, W&J, its a pretty simple pattern. Eventually the rest of the conference or schools in the area find the secret and spread the next set of recruits or update their own facilities, dragging the top team back to the pack. So far UWW, Wesley and UMHB just to name a few  have defied the pattern for a while, however only one has put together multiple championships. UMU put it all together and kept it all together long enough for that recruiting spiel to become a weapon in and of itself. That to me is what is truly amazing.

[wesleydad]

I can't speak about UWW or Mount, but i agree with the previous posts about how they do it.  After reading JK's post about Mount I was looking to sign up.  I can speak about Wesley.  From what I can see is that they are willing to give kids a chance when other schools won't.  My son is not the best standardized test taker so his SAT scores were not very high, not high enough to get into D1 or D2.  He was recruited by both Temple and Kutztown and they loved his ability to play, but they wouldn't take a chance on him as a student.  He met Coach Drass and told me I had to meet him.  When I met Coach Drass we talked very little about him as a player except for the fact that Coach said he could play for his team.  I wanted to know how he would get in and Coach assured me that if he wanted to come he would get in.  He wanted Jason to come to Wesley and after my wife and Jason visited the school, Jason decided he wanted to go to Wesley.  We knew little about the team or history, but Jason just wanted a chance to go to school and play football and Wesley was willing to give it to him.  He was held to the same academic standards as any other student and graduated which we knew he would if given the chance.  I am sure Wesley does the same thing for other kids who are just looking for a chance.  I know there are some kids at Wesley who could play elsewhere but no one is willing to take a chance on them.  In my opinion that is how Wesley has become a top notch program.

[repete]

wesleydad,
I know we've disagreed on a number of things, but his is truly good to hear. thanks.

[wesleydad]

wesleydad,
I know we've disagreed on a number of things, but his is truly good to hear. thanks.

repete, I have no issues with disagreement, those of us, including you generally have them with others who only want to read the nice things.  I can only speak the truth on this one.  Friday evening in Alliance, myself and the Mount guys were joined by Chad, who was affiliated with the football program while Jason was there and in now the President of the Alumni association I believe.  We talked at length about why I still travel all over to watch Wesley and other teams play.  Most know that I was not happy with how Jason's senior year went on the team and I could have walked away very disgusted and badmouthed Wesley whenever I could.  I don't because I am well aware of the fact that others make decisions that effect our plans and it was only football.  Jason got what he went to Wesley for, a solid education and the opportunity to be a member of the group of guys that put Wesley on the national map in football and that can never be taken away from him or the others.  I wear my Wesley jersey when ever I travel to watch a game and will always support the school and talk positivly about it to anyone who will listen.  Friday morning around 3 am I will get in my car and drive to Salem to hang with the great Stone Station people.  I will pull in approximately 9, get out of the car, judge the weather situation, put on what I need to stay warm/dry and then put the Wesley jersey over all else.  That is me in the front page article on tailgating with the stone station crew wearing my Wesley jersey very proudly.

[repete]

That's a great d3 story. I hope your boy is doing well.

I'm still on the fence about Friday. I understand that moving the game from Saturday is a good thing overall, but in my case, it's a bit tougher to get there. Had either Wesley or UST won, I would have definitely found a way. Stone Station is amazing and Salem does such a great job. I made my first trip to the Stagg in 1976, driving straight through from Minnesota to Alabama with my 6-foot-6 buddy in a VW. He cut a few Lutheran seminary classes to attend and we talk about it to this day.

[DGPugh]

What time yall gonna start serving the best food north of central Bama ?
The boy and I will arive some time about 11:30am, Lord willing
looking forward to seeing everyone...again

Wesleydad- i remember your son... he was a beast with the ball in his hands.

keep the faith

[Olinemom]

That's a great d3 story. I hope your boy is doing well.

I'm still on the fence about Friday. I understand that moving the game from Saturday is a good thing overall, but in my case, it's a bit tougher to get there. Had either Wesley or UST won, I would have definitely found a way. Stone Station is amazing and Salem does such a great job. I made my first trip to the Stagg in 1976, driving straight through from Minnesota to Alabama with my 6-foot-6 buddy in a VW. He cut a few Lutheran seminary classes to attend and we talk about it to this day.

Please come!!!!

[Olinemom]

What time yall gonna start serving the best food north of central Bama ?
The boy and I will arive some time about 11:30am, Lord willing
looking forward to seeing everyone...again

Wesleydad- i remember your son... he was a beast with the ball in his hands.

keep the faith

around 4 I think.

[Olinemom]

Already in Salem at my Stagg Bowl home away from home-- the Quality Inn.  Awaiting arrival of 2 teams and many d3football posters.  Brownies are waiting to be chomped!!!  Safe travels all!!

[Shoreman]

Might this move be reason for W&L to look into joining the SAA?

[Olinemom]

SAA? SSA? Splain

[jknezek]

Might this move be reason for W&L to look into joining the SAA?

This comes up periodically but I can't see it happening. The ODAC is a dream conference for W&L. It covers all our sports but wrestling and men's swimming, and the only sport we don't play is women's softball (although no inside information, I would expect that program to be added in the next 10 years). W&L is centrally located in the ODAC, competes with small liberal arts schools that, while not academically on the same level, have the same size and general mission statement.

There is limited travel and W&L consistently wins the President's Cups (overall ODAC sports championships) so its not like W&L doesn't compete with the other programs. I can't see any reason why W&L would add flights and travel time to its teams at this point. The students are best served by being on campus studying while providing challenging athletic competition. The ODAC fulfills both these goals. At some point in the future, the ODAC schools may diverge a bit more from W&L, adding Shenandoah certainly doesn't bring them closer, but for now, I can't see any upside to W&L leaving the ODAC.

[hasanova]

SAA? SSA? Splain

Olinemom, let me get you up to speed.  The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) has split and a new conference was formed.  The first eight members of the newly formed Southern Athletic Association (SAA) are:  Berry (new to DIII), Birmingham-Southern, Centre, Hendrix, Millsaps, Oglethorpe, Rhodes and Sewanee (University of the South).  Currently, the SAA only has five football playing members, but Berry and Hendrix have announced plans to add the sport.  Oglethorpe seems to be standing pat for the moment.  Meanwhile, the University Athletic Association (UAA) has also seen some changes.  The UAA has eight members (including Brandeis, Emory, NYU and Rochester), but only four teams have football (Carnegie-Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Chicago and Washington University).  This leaves these four teams in the cold as far as a football AQ is concerned, so ... they're individually joining two conferences as affiliate members for football only.  Wash U. and Chicago are going to the Southern Athletic Association, while CWR and CMU are opting for the more geographically compact Presidents Athletic Conference.

When W&L gets brought into the conversation, it's because of their academic and athletic affiliation over the years with schools such as Centre, Emory, Rhodes and Sewanee.

Hope this helps!

[tigerfanalso]

Is the Championship game being televised ?