FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[K-Mack]

Hey Kid,

What's the latest on BC's fourth-string QB?

You can't take all this R-MC/H-SC chatter, can you?

Just imagine if they were both good at the same time. Heaven, my friends, heaven.

The offseason is the perfect time to talk H-SC/R-MC. Not much to discuss between August and December for the Tigers and Jackets.

Kidding, of course.  I sure hope it's another interesting ODAC season in 2007.  It was fun until the last week!

Oh, that's it, you and pakownr ... it's bookstore and clock-stopping and pre-1999 jokes non-stop this year!

That's kewl, K-mack, bring it!!!  We are big boys, we can take it as well as we dish it out!

Now if I were you, I would lay off Llamadude and Skoalman.  Unless you want to go hungry at the next Stagg Bowl.  Don't mess with the chefs of Stone Station!!!

Just kidding, they would probably feed ya anyway.  They even feed W & L peeps, although charcoal-broiled caviar does nothing for me personally.

Believe it or not, I ate at the Stagg Bowl before Stone Station showed up. Not as well, mind you, but I survived.

[K-Mack]

[

There was more where that came from. I rarely get to tussle, because the message board Averetts don't often schedule the road trip to Alliance.

Kmack,

Hope none of the few Averett faithful has offended you. Personally, I am looking forward to the Alliance trip even though it will take me 12 hours one way. (includes all the potty and Cracker Barrels I can find). Then at the end of the season we get to travel 12 hours to Maryville, TN. (one way)
Not to mention Ferrum, which as someone referred to it earlier as being at the end of the earth and then taking a left. Last time we went there, I drove for 6 hours and got nowhere.

And by the way for any newcomers, Danville Va (Averett) is not the site seeing capital of the world. Hell, we don't even have a real stadium yet. [/quote]

No,
Not at all, that's meant only figuratively as a play on my signature line below. Not an actual slice at Averett, although I could see it being a little confusing or bothersome.

Hopefully, of course, you guys will represent better on the trip to Alliance, and if not, at least enjoy the experience.

As far as Danville not being too fancy-pants, well neither is Alliance, nor are many of the stops I've made along the road for D3 football. Strangely though, the beauty is in the lack of beauty. I mean, it's nice living in the suburbs of an overgrown metropolis, where brand-new subdivisions spring up almost daily and parks and malls are a hop, skip and a jump.

But every city or town I go to for these games, be it Mount Vernon, Iowa (Cornell) or Greenville, Pa. (Thiel) or whereever, I remember that's home to someone, and it's beautiful to them. And getting to see that old-town charm, basically that slice of Americana, is refreshing.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Ohio are full of charming little stops along the way. Other states too, I'm sure (Texas, Wisconsin) ... those just stand out.

[Jacketlawyer]

Two words for you.

City.

Stadium.

I actually played a semi-pro game there in '99, it wasn't half bad. Did the renovations to the ballpark in '04 kill the football field there?

I bet that would work as a stopgap until stadiums could be built. If not, maybe the Falwell estate would sell some land, or let them use Liberty's field. I bet the E.C. Glass stadium compares to some D3s too.

Hmmmmmmm.  Point taken.

No, the baseball renovations did not kill the stadium.  Looks just like it did back in the '70s when I went for the first time.

I guess what I meant to say earlier, but failed to articulate was that I don't know where on the RC and LC campuses a stadium could be built.

[allsky7]

Do we know that Randolph wouldn't add football? Certainly a way to increase male enrollment.

Former women's schools that added football in the past decade: Greensboro, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Endicott

     I agree Pat. I wouldn't be that surprised if Randolph added football. They also might do it sooner than you think to beat LC to the punch. What a great way to shake the stigma of being an all girls school too. Bottom line...it's about money and the health of the institution. While start up cost for football are high, adding 75-100 paying customers has to be a strong consideration. 8)

Allsky, where would ya put the field/facilities needed for football programs at Randolph and LC?  Both schools are in the middle of Lynchburg and pretty much "land-locked."  LC has Shellenberger Field, but that's the field hockey/lacrosse/soccer (futbol) field.  Randolph has the Wildcat Athletic Field at the rear of the school, but that field has the same purpose as Shellenberger.

     Good point. They may have to do what Averett did. They have a nice sports complex a few miles from the main campus. LC does have some fields near campus off of Lakeside Dr. Not sure how much room is there but is it pretty close to campus. RC may have a tougher time. They really are blocked by the James River and the city around them.

[allsky7]

Do we know that Randolph wouldn't add football? Certainly a way to increase male enrollment.

Former women's schools that added football in the past decade: Greensboro, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Endicott

     I agree Pat. I wouldn't be that surprised if Randolph added football. They also might do it sooner than you think to beat LC to the punch. What a great way to shake the stigma of being an all girls school too. Bottom line...it's about money and the health of the institution. While start up cost for football are high, adding 75-100 paying customers has to be a strong consideration. 8)

Allsky, where would ya put the field/facilities needed for football programs at Randolph and LC?  Both schools are in the middle of Lynchburg and pretty much "land-locked."  LC has Shellenberger Field, but that's the field hockey/lacrosse/soccer (futbol) field.  Randolph has the Wildcat Athletic Field at the rear of the school, but that field has the same purpose as Shellenberger.

      If they can find somewhere to practice, maybe they could work something out at City Stadium. Glass and Heritage use CS for their home games but I think it may be available on Saturdays.

[allsky7]

The records from those years were...

1-0 (1900)
3-2-1 (1903)
5-3 (1968)
6-3 (1971)
5-4 (1973)
6-3 (1980)

Since 2000, we've had seven (in seven years)...

10-2 (2000)
12-1 (2001)
11-1 (2002)
12-2 (2003)
8-3 (2004)
11-2 (2005)
8-2 (2006)

As well as gone in the post-season where no ODAC team has gone before. . . 8)

Had beers with an ex-Bridgewater football player friend of mine last night, and we took up the issue of Bridgewater football.  It was a good discussion.

     Another thing that some may not realize is that in days of old (pre ODAC /D3) that teams like R-MC, H-SC, E&H, & BC could give aid based on need. One guess as to who gave the most? As I understand it, BC gave little if any.

[Pat Coleman]

Can't you still give need-based aid?

[hasanova]

Can't you still give need-based aid?

Exactly.  In fact, every school in the ODAC gives need-based aid.  If I understand D3 rules in layman's terms, you just can't give someone aid based solely on athletic ability.  Aid has to be for "need" and/or "scholarship."  Isn't this the essence of D3 recruiting for student-athletes? 

[Pat Coleman]

Right. Need-based aid and merit-based (academic) aid are perfectly acceptable.

[theaprof]

Is it September yet?

[K-Mack]

      If they can find somewhere to practice, maybe they could work something out at City Stadium. Glass and Heritage use CS for their home games but I think it may be available on Saturdays.

Didn't know E.C. played there. For all of the great E.C. Glass stories I've heard, covering Lee-Davis and a later a bunch of teams in the Northwest Region, I've actually never been to a game there. Assumed they had a stadium on school grounds.

[Jacketlawyer]

      If they can find somewhere to practice, maybe they could work something out at City Stadium. Glass and Heritage use CS for their home games but I think it may be available on Saturdays.

Didn't know E.C. played there. For all of the great E.C. Glass stories I've heard, covering Lee-Davis and a later a bunch of teams in the Northwest Region, I've actually never been to a game there. Assumed they had a stadium on school grounds.

K-Mack, both E.C. Glass and Heritage play there and split the time accordingly.

Had to change my handle guys.  The real Jacketlawyer gave R-M a substantial gift yesterday.  Would like to be able to do it myself someday, but I'm not quite at that income level.

Yet.

[allsky7]

Can't you still give need-based aid?

Exactly.  In fact, every school in the ODAC gives need-based aid.  If I understand D3 rules in layman's terms, you just can't give someone aid based solely on athletic ability.  Aid has to be for "need" and/or "scholarship."  Isn't this the essence of D3 recruiting for student-athletes? 

        Just talked to THE MAN on this. In the pre D3/ODAC days,  H-S and R-M had money to give to football players that was at the descretion of the head coach. Some of it was need based, some was not. Some of it was used to fill gaps that other aid did not cover.

[Pat Coleman]

Yes, that would HAVE to be pre-D3, since it's athletic aid.

[allsky7]

Yes, that would HAVE to be pre-D3, since it's athletic aid.

     My point was to support Kid in his post about where Bridgewater was vs where they are today.  The playing field will probably never be totally level but maybe back in the day, the schools like H-S and R-M had a bit of an advantage. I can't guarantee the exact numbers here but at some point in the 1960's R-M had about 48k in aid to give, H-S around 24k. Not sure where other future ODAC teams came in but I understand BC gave little, if any. That was a lot of cabbage back then and of course a huge advantage.
     Things like tuition, entrance requirements, etc will always affect how level the field is. Maybe todays ODAC (or D3 for that matter) has about as level a playing field as you can expect. Or at least more so than in days of old.   8)