FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jknezek]

Here's an interesting thought. W&L is hosting the DIII field hockey championships this weekend. I had no idea. It is possible they committed to using the football stadium for that purpose and couldn't apply to host a first round game. It is also possible that with the construction going on, generally in the vicinity of the field hockey, football, soccer field area, W&L felt they couldn't host both. Generally I'd say it wouldn't be a problem, but that is a big construction area.

Pat -- is there a way to know if a team applied to host? I'd be very curious.

I was told that they would be given the same exception to host a later game as the one UW-Oshkosh used because it was hosting the national cross country championships this weekend. I don't believe the facility was an issue.

Yeah. I looked over W&L's stuff for the event and it all talks about the turf field, so clearly not planning on using the football stadium. Looks like I'm back to my original thought... W&L got shafted.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Jk

Why spend the money and risk injury to play a post season game that basically means nothing ?
I'm certain you have thoughts or you would not bring the idea to the table.

I've posted about this topic a few times on the East board in the thread about the ECAC's, but understand that not everyone reads every sub-thread.  I'm going to copy and paste something that I wrote there earlier this year when a similar sentiment was raised regarding those games, edited slightly to correct a few typos.

I played for a Carnegie Mellon team that had been to the 2006 playoffs, returned a lot of key guys (two 1,000 yard rushers, four OL + TE, and six or seven defensive starters) and after starting 2-0 in 2007, we lost a string of close games.  We rallied to win our next couple games and became aware of the prospect of playing in an ECAC game with a week or two remaining in the season.  We ended up hosting Gettysburg and winning 21-20 with a fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning TD pass with 1:53 to go.  It remains one of my favorite memories from any level of football, and I have plenty of good ones.

To a man, the guys on our team were happy to have that game.  No "let's just be done" guys.  No "we should have been in the playoffs again" guys.  It was a chance to punctuate what felt like a special season, bonding together after a tough losing streak, and it's always one of the fun memories that we'll have from playing college football.  So I get very emotional when I see "didn't mean anything" thrown around to describe ECAC games.  It meant plenty to the guys playing in the game, especially the seniors; most of us stood around on the field for a good hour after the game was over, taking pictures, enjoying the memory.

The talk on these boards often mentions disinterested ECAC bowl participants who are bored by the whole thing, having just missed the playoffs.  And that's definitely a real thing that happens.  But it feels like we only ever hear that side of the story on these boards.

Most of us guys playing Division III football are playing because we love to play. 

If that game "means nothing" because it doesn't affect the national (or even conference) championship, by that standard a whole bunch of Division III games "mean nothing" every year.  Ask the guys who play in the game if it "means nothing" to them.  You should have seen our sideline go nuts after the go-ahead touchdown pass in that ECAC game (I have it on DVD, but unfortunately it's not online anywhere).  The guys (coaches included) were jumping up and down like we'd just won the national title.

For most of Division III, even making the playoffs is a pipe dream, never mind advancing a round or two.  Little postseason bowl games like this would be a way to build your program, play some good competition, get your seniors an extra game.  A program like Guilford, fresh off the best season in school history, could absolutely benefit from playing a bowl game against, say, a team like Centre or Berry.  Something we've occasionally discussed on these boards elsewhere - a big reason that the best teams stay the best teams (besides coaching and talent) is that their guys get a couple extra weeks of practice and games every year.  The Mount Union kids, by the time they're seniors, have practiced and played four full seasons' worth in three years.  Those "almost" teams like Guilford could definitely benefit from an extra week and preparation for another game against a quality opponent.

[jknezek]

Just as a point of pride for all of us, I got a very nice response first thing this a.m. from ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston in response to my email yesterday afternoon regarding a post season challenge. It was not a form email of any kind and clearly addressed my specific email. One more thing to love about DIII and the ODAC. I guarantee you writing to the SEC Commissioner is not going to get that kind of response and I certainly appreciate Mr. Bankston taking time to address me and the idea.

[Pat Coleman]

Here's an interesting thought. W&L is hosting the DIII field hockey championships this weekend. I had no idea. It is possible they committed to using the football stadium for that purpose and couldn't apply to host a first round game. It is also possible that with the construction going on, generally in the vicinity of the field hockey, football, soccer field area, W&L felt they couldn't host both. Generally I'd say it wouldn't be a problem, but that is a big construction area.

Pat -- is there a way to know if a team applied to host? I'd be very curious.

I was told that they would be given the same exception to host a later game as the one UW-Oshkosh used because it was hosting the national cross country championships this weekend. I don't believe the facility was an issue.

Yeah. I looked over W&L's stuff for the event and it all talks about the turf field, so clearly not planning on using the football stadium. Looks like I'm back to my original thought... W&L got shafted.

Well, just keep in mind that even if they're not using the stadium, they're still using the same personnel.

[jknezek]

Here's an interesting thought. W&L is hosting the DIII field hockey championships this weekend. I had no idea. It is possible they committed to using the football stadium for that purpose and couldn't apply to host a first round game. It is also possible that with the construction going on, generally in the vicinity of the field hockey, football, soccer field area, W&L felt they couldn't host both. Generally I'd say it wouldn't be a problem, but that is a big construction area.

Pat -- is there a way to know if a team applied to host? I'd be very curious.

I was told that they would be given the same exception to host a later game as the one UW-Oshkosh used because it was hosting the national cross country championships this weekend. I don't believe the facility was an issue.

Yeah. I looked over W&L's stuff for the event and it all talks about the turf field, so clearly not planning on using the football stadium. Looks like I'm back to my original thought... W&L got shafted.

Well, just keep in mind that even if they're not using the stadium, they're still using the same personnel.

I guess. I'm still thinking they probably applied to host. Be surprised if they didn't now that I know they aren't using the football stadium. School is well used to running multiple events at the same time.

[tigerFanAlso2]

Jk & ExTartan: all good points but I just don't see the subject through the same glasses. as a player I was banged up at the end of the season, tired and was ready to move on but maybe i was the exception. be interesting to hear responses from coaches and ads if this becomes a real possibility.   

[ExTartanPlayer]

Jk & ExTartan: all good points but I just don't see the subject through the same glasses. as a player I was banged up at the end of the season, tired and was ready to move on but maybe i was the exception. be interesting to hear responses from coaches and ads if this becomes a real possibility.   

Hey, that's cool, I'm sure some others would feel this way.    This would vary widely from team to team, as well; some places might relish the thought of a postseason game, others might say the same as you - "I'm tired, I'm beat up, it's cold, finals are coming soon, can't we just be done for the year?"

And admittedly this might even have varied amongst the upperclassmen vs. the underclassmen on the team.  The freshmen probably thought "Great, another week of running scout team and getting my butt kicked when I could be going to dinner and studying."  I'm sure that the excitement was more pronounced among the starters, especially the seniors.

As I approached the end of my career, I admit that I did start getting excited by the thought of "I won't have to go to practice any more.  No more getting yelled at by coaches, no more walking home in the cold at 7:30 PM after practice and a shower, etc."  As much as I loved football, and worked hard at it, I always disliked going to practice.  It was what we had to do to get ready to play, so I accepted it and worked hard, but I never enjoyed practices very much. 

But then, once it was actually the last week of practice before our last regular-season game, and we heard that an ECAC game was a possibility if we won that week, I told myself that if we made a bowl game, I definitely could handle just one more week of practice (because then I would really know that it was THE LAST WEEK of football practice that I'd ever have).  There was something neat about that finality of the week of the ECAC game - this is the last Tuesday practice ever, the last Wednesday practice ever, and so on.

[jknezek]

Well -- if there was a chance to play a challenge series with the SAA I think you can kill it now. Adding Trinity and Austin back in will probably be a "no-go" travel moment for the ODAC. The SAA was going to drop back to 7 teams after next season. The fact that they added these Texas schools back in is a good indication of how brutal scheduling can be.

The ODAC is in trouble once Catholic leaves. Maybe I should have asked Commissioner Bankston about that instead...

[ExTartanPlayer]

Well -- if there was a chance to play a challenge series with the SAA I think you can kill it now. Adding Trinity and Austin back in will probably be a "no-go" travel moment for the ODAC. The SAA was going to drop back to 7 teams after next season. The fact that they added these Texas schools back in is a good indication of how brutal scheduling can be.

Wow.  Big news there.

The SCAC orphans couldn't realistically stay in the four-team conference forever (having experienced this as a part of the UAA).  Wonder what TLU will do now.  Would they retreat back into the ASC?  And what of poor Southwestern, who started a program and was suddenly left without a league?

[jknezek]

Well -- if there was a chance to play a challenge series with the SAA I think you can kill it now. Adding Trinity and Austin back in will probably be a "no-go" travel moment for the ODAC. The SAA was going to drop back to 7 teams after next season. The fact that they added these Texas schools back in is a good indication of how brutal scheduling can be.

Wow.  Big news there.

The SCAC orphans couldn't realistically stay in the four-team conference forever (having experienced this as a part of the UAA).  Wonder what TLU will do now.  Would they retreat back into the ASC?  And what of poor Southwestern, who started a program and was suddenly left without a league?

See my quote on the SCAC boards. It's their only hope. Down on your bellies you dogs and beg!

[hscathletics]

You can send all the emails you want to Brad Bankston but chances are it's something the coaches would have to vote on to send it to the athletic directors for them to vote on, or just a topic sent directly for the ADs to vote on. Nothing as significant as this happens without athletic director approval.

[hscathletics]

Here's an interesting thought. W&L is hosting the DIII field hockey championships this weekend. I had no idea. It is possible they committed to using the football stadium for that purpose and couldn't apply to host a first round game. It is also possible that with the construction going on, generally in the vicinity of the field hockey, football, soccer field area, W&L felt they couldn't host both. Generally I'd say it wouldn't be a problem, but that is a big construction area.

Pat -- is there a way to know if a team applied to host? I'd be very curious.

I was told that they would be given the same exception to host a later game as the one UW-Oshkosh used because it was hosting the national cross country championships this weekend. I don't believe the facility was an issue.

Yeah. I looked over W&L's stuff for the event and it all talks about the turf field, so clearly not planning on using the football stadium. Looks like I'm back to my original thought... W&L got shafted.

Well, just keep in mind that even if they're not using the stadium, they're still using the same personnel.

This. There is no half-baking an NCAA Championship no matter what the sport is. As good as the personnel are at W&L, they haven't figured out how to clone themselves yet, and hiring external help to properly run both wouldn't be cheap either.

[jknezek]

You can send all the emails you want to Brad Bankston but chances are it's something the coaches would have to vote on to send it to the athletic directors for them to vote on, or just a topic sent directly for the ADs to vote on. Nothing as significant as this happens without athletic director approval.

Oh I'm sure it doesn't. I understand the real power in the conference is the membership and the commissioner is the guiding force. But it was nice that he took time to send me a response. I have no idea if the ADs/Coaches think this is a good idea. As a fan, correctly the bottom stakeholder in DIII, I just thought I would voice support for what the MAC/CC did and wonder if it was a possibility for the ODAC.

I certainly don't expect my email will jump start a discussion on the issue, it probably was already planned as a curiosity in the very least, but it really was all I can do and didn't take much time or effort to do it. I really didn't expect anything, so the response was really appreciated.

[jknezek]

Here's an interesting thought. W&L is hosting the DIII field hockey championships this weekend. I had no idea. It is possible they committed to using the football stadium for that purpose and couldn't apply to host a first round game. It is also possible that with the construction going on, generally in the vicinity of the field hockey, football, soccer field area, W&L felt they couldn't host both. Generally I'd say it wouldn't be a problem, but that is a big construction area.

Pat -- is there a way to know if a team applied to host? I'd be very curious.

I was told that they would be given the same exception to host a later game as the one UW-Oshkosh used because it was hosting the national cross country championships this weekend. I don't believe the facility was an issue.

Yeah. I looked over W&L's stuff for the event and it all talks about the turf field, so clearly not planning on using the football stadium. Looks like I'm back to my original thought... W&L got shafted.

Well, just keep in mind that even if they're not using the stadium, they're still using the same personnel.

This. There is no half-baking an NCAA Championship no matter what the sport is. As good as the personnel are at W&L, they haven't figured out how to clone themselves yet, and hiring external help to properly run both wouldn't be cheap either.

So maybe they didn't apply to host... I guess it doesn't matter except to satisfy my curiosity. Which I assume is fairly low on the list of things for W&L's athletics department to do. 

[hscathletics]

Here's an interesting thought. W&L is hosting the DIII field hockey championships this weekend. I had no idea. It is possible they committed to using the football stadium for that purpose and couldn't apply to host a first round game. It is also possible that with the construction going on, generally in the vicinity of the field hockey, football, soccer field area, W&L felt they couldn't host both. Generally I'd say it wouldn't be a problem, but that is a big construction area.

Pat -- is there a way to know if a team applied to host? I'd be very curious.

I was told that they would be given the same exception to host a later game as the one UW-Oshkosh used because it was hosting the national cross country championships this weekend. I don't believe the facility was an issue.

Yeah. I looked over W&L's stuff for the event and it all talks about the turf field, so clearly not planning on using the football stadium. Looks like I'm back to my original thought... W&L got shafted.

Well, just keep in mind that even if they're not using the stadium, they're still using the same personnel.

I guess. I'm still thinking they probably applied to host. Be surprised if they didn't now that I know they aren't using the football stadium. School is well used to running multiple events at the same time.

Running multiple regular season or even ODAC tournament events at the same time doesn't even come close to comparing to what it takes to run one NCAA Tournament first round event. I don't even want to begin to imagine what is involved when it's an NCAA Championship event. Preparations for that start a year in advance, a year! I can assure you with 100% certainty that W&L's staff is stretched nearly to the limit to ensure they are running a top notch operation for the field hockey championship.