FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[thescottharris]

Scotth, Ok it will be more difficult to do things in the spring. But does it require someone with an advanced degree to run a scoreboard?  If not, one could assume that there might be a few people on every campus that might enjoy making some beer money.  If it does require an advanced degree there should be a few around campus too.  As for the webcast, if people have pulled donations over the quality of a webcast just imagine how many people would be pissed off if HSC had a chance to play and they did not.

Well I worked there for 8.5 years with one of my duties to be hiring and training people to work the games, I know a lot more about the difficulties of hiring people to work the games than you ever will.

Finding people that wanted to work the games was a lot more difficult than you make it out to be, especially when the school will only let you pay minimum wage for student employees in their first year in the job. I was having to beg people to work near the end of my time there, and often times I ended up having to do several jobs at once, which is far less than ideal because all the jobs suffer in quality when that happens, because there was literally no one that wanted to or could work the game. And when the team is bad, it makes it even more difficult because no one wants to be there. I didn't even want to be there when basketball and football were getting run off the court and field, I couldn't even stand to watch a webcast for an away game. And people don't generally want to work football games to begin with - they'd rather tailgate, it's why it's almost impossible to find a student that wants to work every game. And now you have to add on football being bad on top of that?

There were numerous things that drove me to leave, constantly having difficulty staffing games was without a doubt one of those reasons.

[HSCTiger fan]

Scotth, Ok it will be more difficult to do things in the spring. But does it require someone with an advanced degree to run a scoreboard?  If not, one could assume that there might be a few people on every campus that might enjoy making some beer money.  If it does require an advanced degree there should be a few around campus too.  As for the webcast, if people have pulled donations over the quality of a webcast just imagine how many people would be pissed off if HSC had a chance to play and they did not.

Well I worked there for 8.5 years with one of my duties to be hiring and training people to work the games, I know a lot more about the difficulties of hiring people to work the games than you ever will.

Finding people that wanted to work the games was a lot more difficult than you make it out to be, especially when the school will only let you pay minimum wage for student employees in their first year in the job. I was having to beg people to work near the end of my time there, and often times I ended up having to do several jobs at once, which is far less than ideal because all the jobs suffer in quality when that happens, because there was literally no one that wanted to or could work the game. And when the team is bad, it makes it even more difficult because no one wants to be there. I didn't even want to be there when basketball and football were getting run off the court and field, I couldn't even stand to watch a webcast for an away game. And people don't generally want to work football games to begin with - they'd rather tailgate, it's why it's almost impossible to find a student that wants to work every game. And now you have to add on football being bad on top of that?

There were numerous things that drove me to leave, constantly having difficulty staffing games was without a doubt one of those reasons.

Regardless, it looks very likely football in the spring might be a reality. If HSC students don’t want to help then hire some Longwood students or people from the community.  I cannot understand why hiring a kid in the spring would be any more difficult than fall. I’ve heard the ODAC may play as few as 5 games and maybe as many as 8 games. That’s either 2, 3, or 4 Saturday’s.  So the pain and suffering of the athletic support staff won’t last long.

As far as the team not being very good, teams don’t get better by not playing.

[Pat Coleman]

maybe as many as 8 games.

I can't imagine anyone is going to burn a year of eligibility on a spring football season that doesn't have a playoff at the end.

[HSCTiger fan]

maybe as many as 8 games.

I can't imagine anyone is going to burn a year of eligibility on a spring football season that doesn't have a playoff at the end.

Pat, I had heard as few as 5 and as many as 8.  I'd also heard to retain eligibility players/teams would have to keep it at 5 games or fewer. I assume by your remark that's true.

Who would have thought wanting the athletic departments to do what they are expected to do (Play the games) would be so controversial?  I noticed my smites climbing on a daily basis! 

[thescottharris]

Scotth, Ok it will be more difficult to do things in the spring. But does it require someone with an advanced degree to run a scoreboard?  If not, one could assume that there might be a few people on every campus that might enjoy making some beer money.  If it does require an advanced degree there should be a few around campus too.  As for the webcast, if people have pulled donations over the quality of a webcast just imagine how many people would be pissed off if HSC had a chance to play and they did not.

Well I worked there for 8.5 years with one of my duties to be hiring and training people to work the games, I know a lot more about the difficulties of hiring people to work the games than you ever will.

Finding people that wanted to work the games was a lot more difficult than you make it out to be, especially when the school will only let you pay minimum wage for student employees in their first year in the job. I was having to beg people to work near the end of my time there, and often times I ended up having to do several jobs at once, which is far less than ideal because all the jobs suffer in quality when that happens, because there was literally no one that wanted to or could work the game. And when the team is bad, it makes it even more difficult because no one wants to be there. I didn't even want to be there when basketball and football were getting run off the court and field, I couldn't even stand to watch a webcast for an away game. And people don't generally want to work football games to begin with - they'd rather tailgate, it's why it's almost impossible to find a student that wants to work every game. And now you have to add on football being bad on top of that?

There were numerous things that drove me to leave, constantly having difficulty staffing games was without a doubt one of those reasons.

If HSC students don't want to help then hire some Longwood students or people from the community.  I cannot understand why hiring a kid in the spring would be any more difficult than fall. I've heard the ODAC may play as few as 5 games and maybe as many as 8 games. That's either 2, 3, or 4 Saturday's.  So the pain and suffering of the athletic support staff won't last long.

As far as the team not being very good, teams don't get better by not playing.

"If HSC students don't want to help then hire some Longwood students or people from the community."
I don't know what your professional life has required you to do, but that's not how budgets work. When you have money in your budget for student employment, you can't just move the money around to do whatever you want to do with it, it has to be spent on student employment.

But you are aware that there is more than one fall sport than football, correct?

Most schools are now going to have double or near double the amount of sports playing at once in the spring, and that's with me counting cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track as one sport for each gender since it doesn't seem feasible to have all three of them running concurrently. It's already quite chaotic in February just when the winter and spring sports are overlapping for one month. Now it seems the potential exists for every single sport to be overlapping at some point during the spring semester unless they drastically slash the # of games each sport can play so there can be some balance instead of a free for all.

For example, W&L has nine spring sports. If everyone is playing at the same time, that's going to put them at 19 sports. W&L has five athletic trainers and three SIDs to cover 19 in-season sports.

Lynchburg will now have 19 in the spring. They have six athletic trainers and two SIDs, and one of those two is only a graduate assistant so he can't be expected to work an obscene number of hours. Luckily they'll have me to call on for outside assistance, but I can only work 2 or 3 games or so each week if I have any desire to have a life outside of work, assuming I have a full-time job by that point since I was officially laid off this week.

Roanoke will have 19 playing in the spring now. They have four athletic trainers (and tow interns, not sure if they are able to be left alone at a practice or a game) and merely one SID now, oh and that SID is also the head golf coach.

Virginia Wesleyan will have 18 playing in the spring with only three athletic trainers and two SIDs, and one of those SIDs is only part-time because he's the head tennis coach (both men and women).

[HSCTiger fan]

Scotth, I get it's difficult. I've acknowledged that difficulty with most of my posts on this subject.  It would also be difficult to have put in all the work of an athlete (not just football) and then not get to play. Is a spring schedule ideal - No. The schools exist because of their students. If the students want to play the schools should do what they can to make sure the games happen. I heard that HSC Football held on to virtually every incoming freshman. That's a huge deal!  I have not spoken to any of these guys I would expect that having a chance to play was a big part of their commitment to attend in the fall so they could play in the spring.

[y_jack_lok]

Sports Illustrated article from yesterday on the varied thinking among D1 conferences about moving ahead with football.

https://www.si.com/college/2020/08/14/ncaa-football-covid-medical-experts-big-ten-pac-12?fbclid=IwAR3Z4wE5g9HYP1wXT7BBzv7KY_qjIGutPjj_MJw1ONjKjhShRP0_2YepSfs

[thescottharris]

Well University of Lynchburg has three alert levels for COVID, and they are already one active case away (with 16 tests pending) from being alert level 2 after only one week into classes.

Alert level 2 means all dining options shift to takeout/delivery, all classes move to hybrid or online, and all extracurriculars are suspended.

Alert level 3, which is 3% of the on-campus population in quarantine, would be suspension of all non-essential operations and the campus community sent home, including students.

[Pat Coleman]

We dug into the collective memory banks of alumni and former coaches from Catholic and Randolph-Macon to put together an oral history of the highest-scoring tie in D-III football history, on the 25th anniversary of the 50-50 game between CUA and R-MC:

https://www.d3football.com/notables/2020/09/25-years-later-catholic-randolph-macon-50-50-tie

[The Mole]

GREAT story, read and vignettes from past players and coaches. Well done, guys.

We dug into the collective memory banks of alumni and former coaches from Catholic and Randolph-Macon to put together an oral history of the highest-scoring tie in D-III football history, on the 25th anniversary of the 50-50 game between CUA and R-MC:

https://www.d3football.com/notables/2020/09/25-years-later-catholic-randolph-macon-50-50-tie

[jaybird44]

Hello all!

Usually I post items about WashU games that I have or will broadcast, or about general observations from other games and events.  However, this post regards a topic that is quite a bit different--with the athletic shoe being on the broadcaster's foot.

I am going to attempt to cover 100 miles in a solo charity ultramarathon through an event that I have organized.  "Rett Gets Rocked Virtual Ultra Weekend" will be conducted in the subdivision where I live in St. Charles, MO, to raise awareness and research funds for Rett syndrome.  I get started at 9 a.m. Central on Saturday, October 3 and end at 5 p.m. Sunday, October 4.  Proceeds from the event will be split between Rettsyndrome.org (the only national organization spearheading research and providing resources for affected patients and their families) and the Rett Spectrum Clinic--a collaboration between the WashU School of Medicine and St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Rett syndrome is a rare, non-inherited neurological disorder that is caused by a gene mutation in the brain.  Rett strikes typically when a child is 6-18 months old, and it takes away the child's ability to move and communicate.  Most of them end up in wheelchairs with active minds, but mired in the physical rubble that Rett creates.  And, the neurological damage prevents verbal communication and arm and hand movement for sign language.

In essence, Rett does to a child what Lucy in the "Peanuts" comic strip does to Charlie Brown when he tries to kick the football that she is holding.  The only difference is that Charlie Brown can get back up to try again.  Those who are afflicted with Rett syndrome don't get another chance to enjoy a vibrant life.

If you would like to make a donation to the cause, here is the link to my Rett Racers donation page:  https://rettracer.everydayhero.com/us/rett-gets-rocked-2020

Thanks for your time and consideration, and let's hope that we get back to playing and broadcasting sports much sooner than later!

Jay Murry
Play-By-Play Announcer, Washington University in St. Louis
Event Director, Rett Gets Rocked Virtual Ultra Weekend

[hasanova]

I'm sorry to report that it appears Coach Rusiewicz is out at Guilford.  In the interim, the team is in the hands of Assistant Brad Davis, Guilford '08.  I do not know the circumstances and hope to report more later.  Good luck, Chris!

[jknezek]

I'm sorry to report that it appears Coach Rusiewicz is out at Guilford.  In the interim, the team is in the hands of Assistant Brad Davis, Guilford '08.  I do not know the circumstances and hope to report more later.  Good luck, Chris!

That's interesting but I guess things have been trending the wrong way for quite a while. He had a good run when he built the team back up from the 2010 debacle. I wonder if things would have been different if the 2015 game in Lexington had gone just slightly the other way. A little recruiting momentum and excitement into 2016 might have made a world of difference?

Instead it seems like when that 2015 Senior class graduated he just didn't have anything to fill the gaps the next year and then never really was able to recreate the recruiting he had from the first 3 years his tenure.

[scottiedoug]

Emory and Henry Board of Directors is considering moving to D2 and the SAC.  Makes no sense to me.

[jknezek]

Emory and Henry Board of Directors is considering moving to D2 and the SAC.  Makes no sense to me.

E&H has always depended heavily on sports for enrollment. There are only a few D2 schools in VA, especially football schools. Perhaps they think they can capitalize on that discrepancy. I rarely think D2 makes sense for anyone, unless there are no D3 conferences nearby, but I'm not an expert and I haven't stayed in a Holiday Inn Express since before COVID....