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Post by aggierattler on Dec 31, 2014 14:38:36 GMT -5
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Post by aggierattler on Dec 31, 2014 14:43:27 GMT -5
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Post by DOOMS on Dec 31, 2014 14:51:07 GMT -5
I know d-2 is not an option, I've just never heard nor read a logical reason why.
I remember when Winston went back to d-2 and a vocal (yet small) portion of the alumni base were up in arms. Don't hear a peep from them now...
I'd be all for staying in d-1 and moving to a conference that has some designs on national competitiveness provided we were funding at a very high level. Are we even funding near the top of the MEAC?
Doing things the same way gets us the same results. We clearly need to change in order to be where I believe Martin wants us to be. I'm just wondering if he recognizes the amount of money it would cost to get us there and that we could never get there from this poorly run, poorly funded, and completely uncompetitive conference.
As far as sending the number 2 (or lower) team from the conference, I'd be all for it if ESPN and the SWAC would go for it. I'd be much more for it if we funded the program to be among the top 25 highest funded programs in the division.
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Post by The Professor on Dec 31, 2014 15:12:29 GMT -5
Just spoke with a buddy of mine connected inside of HBCU sports world
Some details ....
The participating school get 100k
Other schools in the MEAC get 15K each.
Rest goes to MEAC for conference things , " run championships for other sports "
ESPN would cover all travel
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Post by The Professor on Dec 31, 2014 15:15:42 GMT -5
Depends on the game. The larger schools would boost attendance, but we've already seen what happens if we play Chowan. We'd sell out away games at almost every conference opponent's stadium. That'd be funny. We'd have 10 home games a year. In basketball it'd take a few minutes to become a power. But we could easily just hire the best team's coach away. If I was the CIAA I would swoop in on the MEAC like a mug and recruit. But they're not much better run than the MEAC when it comes to that. Instead of begging UNCP and Chowan to join they should've been working on the former CIAA MEAC schools that fit their footprint and presenting a model to them that would show how they'd profit and have a greater reach. But I digress. It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out in the end. I think the travel savings alone ..... Man. Honestly i think should be considered. We aren't getting the traction we want at Division I. And since we are just looking at other options , i believe this should be considered
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Post by DOOMS on Dec 31, 2014 15:15:58 GMT -5
Me too Prof, and I have for years. But the administration doesn't and I don't think they'd even want to consider it. And that's what counts in the end.
15 grand seems paltry, until you think of the alternative. The alternative is nothing. So yeah, 15 grand for not winning the conference is a pretty good reward.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2014 16:08:21 GMT -5
Just spoke with a buddy of mine connected inside of HBCU sports world Some details .... The participating school get 100k Other schools in the MEAC get 15K each. Rest goes to MEAC for conference things , " run championships for other sports " ESPN would cover all travel Those specs are worse than the Legacy Bowl mess that almost passed. We can make more money from a home playoff game, with the right bid and getting over 12,000 people paying for tickets, even with the NCAA taking their cut.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2014 16:11:44 GMT -5
Depends on the game. The larger schools would boost attendance, but we've already seen what happens if we play Chowan. We'd sell out away games at almost every conference opponent's stadium. That'd be funny. We'd have 10 home games a year. In basketball it'd take a few minutes to become a power. But we could easily just hire the best team's coach away. If I was the CIAA I would swoop in on the MEAC like a mug and recruit. But they're not much better run than the MEAC when it comes to that. Instead of begging UNCP and Chowan to join they should've been working on the former CIAA MEAC schools that fit their footprint and presenting a model to them that would show how they'd profit and have a greater reach. But I digress. It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out in the end. I think the travel savings alone ..... Man. Honestly i think should be considered. We aren't getting the traction we want at Division I. And since we are just looking at other options , i believe this should be considered Harold is putting way too much money now into the Athletic Department now for us to go division-2. Our budgets are near the top of the OVC, MEAC, Big South and would be towards the average in the CAA and SoCon. But meh... A&T will be alright.
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Post by DOOMS on Dec 31, 2014 16:20:01 GMT -5
I'ma need to see that in print westcoast. While I think Martin is putting more money into athletics than his predecessors, I'm not so sure the money is near the top of the OVC or even the Big South. Assuming arguendo it is, how much of that is eaten up by top-heavy coaching salaries and travel expenses?
But I ain't buying that one until I see it in print.
It also begs the question, what could we do with that money in d-2 (other than win multiple national championships in several sports).
As far as making money off of the playoffs, we'd have to actually EARN a home playoff game first, and then bid for it, and then hope like hell we do sell that amount of tix on the weekend immediately after Thanksgiving. That's a lot of ifs.
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saabman
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Post by saabman on Dec 31, 2014 16:27:15 GMT -5
No one said that the enrollment was not growing. We are talking about athletic funding not student enrollment . But when you use student fees to fund athletics, both items go hand in hand. True but how long can one hand feed the other ?
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Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Dec 31, 2014 16:48:18 GMT -5
Looking at the goals of the school, I think Martin sees athletics(particularly football) as the FRONT PORCH of A&T not just entertainment for alumni. Three of our main goals are:
1. Remain a Research Intensive University classified school 2. Increase Graduate School enrollment (thereby overall enrollment) 3. Diversify our student base to a 70/30 black student population by 2020 (primarily by doing #2). Right now we are an 88/12 ratio.
All three are designed to keep A&T a viable and thriving institution going forward. Both UNCC and ECU are now 20% black. When we were in school that number was less than 5%. That's the problem. It's tougher to get and retain college-ready students in the current environment and with 5,000 black students on each of those campuses, that's comfortable culturally so we lose any advantage we thought we had with the culturally aware student or parent. Martin wants the athletics program to be a part of the overall university strategy not just an after thought.
I'm not sure whether the MEAC/SWAC championship game hurts those goals but on the surface it doesn't seem to help bolster them.
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Post by Aggie One on Dec 31, 2014 17:02:45 GMT -5
Just spoke with a buddy of mine connected inside of HBCU sports world Some details .... The participating school get 100k Other schools in the MEAC get 15K each. Rest goes to MEAC for conference things , " run championships for other sports " ESPN would cover all travel Those specs are worse than the Legacy Bowl mess that almost passed. We can make more money from a home playoff game, with the right bid and getting over 12,000 people paying for tickets, even with the NCAA taking their cut. I agree. This is beginning to appear to me that this game is being sold as some kind of absolute economic necessity and windfall for the schools while actually the bottom line is more so for the benefit of the MEAC office. Am I on the right track or am I misreading this based on those figures?
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Post by numberonebrave on Dec 31, 2014 18:57:22 GMT -5
Benefit the MEAC office and if ESPN expenses do not cover the band then the participating school will net ??
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Post by Trueaggie on Dec 31, 2014 20:04:32 GMT -5
Forget the MEAC office; main priority should be getting the schools $. Never felt that great about the work the MEAC commission has done for the conference.
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Post by The Professor on Dec 31, 2014 20:06:50 GMT -5
Aggie One, that sums it up to me. This is about the MEAC office making money. IDK why people don't see it or understand
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