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Post by AggieGroove on Mar 26, 2015 14:32:21 GMT -5
I am not in favor of the Celebration Bowl and because of these facts: 1. When we started receiving automatic bids to March Madness in the 1970s/1980s, we were the laughing stock of college basketball as a conference. No team won anything until Coppin State won, then Hampton won, and recently A&T and Hampton won play in games. No longer is the MEAC viewed as the weakest and we have made siginificant strides. Not as much as I would like but there has been some success there. 2. The ability to compete at FCS level is not magical but requires good coaching, game day adjustments, financial commitments and adminsitraton support. I agree with everyone there is not $ to be made by going to the playoffs but the ability to compete at the highest classification is worth it. Our young student athletes should be given that chance. 3. Lastly, as an Aggie who is now entering my life sunset years, I have witnessed many obstacles removed for our HBCUs from an academic and athletic standpoint, We deserve to keep moving by challenging for superiority on the football field and that means FCS playoffs. I live in SWAC country and I don't understand their mindset when it comes SCG, SWAC Champiosnip, etc. I feel I'm back in the 1970s when I'm around those folks…seems like they only want to compete amongst themselves. I will not attend (maybe watch if A&T is playing) the Celebration Bowl as this event is a major step backwards. But I will again reaffrim my unyielding support to Aggie Athletics and the AAF this year, next year and forever as I live on this earth. I'm out! Now go celebrate with the rest of the SWAC and MEAC schools…..
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Post by DOOMS on Mar 26, 2015 15:56:58 GMT -5
Point of contention: FCS ain't the highest classification.
Teams in the highest classification compete in....
wait for it....
Bowl games.
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Post by aggierattler on Mar 26, 2015 16:22:01 GMT -5
Point of contention: FCS ain't the highest classification. Teams in the highest classification compete in.... wait for it.... Bowl games. CURRENT DIVISION II BOWL GAMESThe Mineral Water BowlFrom 1947 to 1951, the Mineral Water Bowl was a high school bowl game to showcase the Excelsior Springs High School team; however, this ended when the Missouri High School Athletic Association disallowed non-sanctioned post-season games, and the bowl was put on hold. In 1954, the game was revived as a small-college game. As of 1957, it was one of 11 NCAA sanctioned bowl games. The bowl game continued until 1975, when declining interest lead to the game being discontinued for a second time. In 1992 the bowl was again revived, this time as a National Junior College Athletic Association bowl game. After 1999, the bowl was reclassified as an NCAA bowl game once again, this time for Division II. Representatives from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Mid–America Intercollegiate Athletics Association are chosen yearly for the game. The top-placing team in each conference not receiving a bid to the NCAA Division II National Football Championship playoffs receives an invitation to compete. In 2009 the MIAA announced plans to also compete in the Kanza Bowl in Topeka, Kansas against teams from the Lone Star Conference. The highest ranking non-playoff team can choose to play in either game. The only other bowls in Division II are the Pioneer Bowl in North Carolina. and the Live United Texarkana Bowl in Arkansas. The Pioneer BowlThe Pioneer Bowl is a bowl game between football teams from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 2007 and is one of two bowl games (Heritage Bowl is the other HBCU bowl) between historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). It is one of only three NCAA Division II sanctioned bowl games. Tuskegee University has made the most appearances at the Pioneer Bowl, with a total of 10. Tuskegee has also won the most Pioneer Bowls, with seven wins. The Live Texarkana BowlThe Live United Texarkana Bowl is a college football bowl game played annually in Texarkana, Arkansas between teams from NCAA Division II. It is one of only three NCAA Division II sanctioned bowl games. Profits from the game are donated to the United Way of Greater Texarkana.
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Post by DOOMS on Mar 26, 2015 16:54:20 GMT -5
Don't really get your point, although I'm sure there is one.
My point was that the highest classification is FBS (the B stands for bowl), and we don't play in it anyways.
But all that's so far outside of the actual issue it makes no difference.
Attendance-wise, I'll be honest. I most likely won't go to the game whether Ayantee is in it or not. Logistically doesn't work for me with a wife and three kids to pay for. But I'll watch it regardless of what teams are in it. And that's what ESPN is banking on. Folk tuning in to see some football.
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Post by Aggie One on Mar 26, 2015 17:43:01 GMT -5
I will try to get all those questions answered for everyone from Earl on Monday at our next AAF chapter meeting.
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saabman
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Post by saabman on Mar 26, 2015 20:22:33 GMT -5
I will try to get all those questions answered for everyone from Earl on Monday at our next AAF chapter meeting. Please do because I feel that there is something that we are missing in this debate over the game. There has to be more to this then just the MEAC an SWAC deciding to play this bowl game. I just don't believe that this just appeared out of the blue, this have to have been in the working for some time!
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Post by Aggie Monster on Mar 27, 2015 7:24:32 GMT -5
I think we've missed or forgotten about one of the most important things. How do our current players and future recruits feel about this? No one has even mentioned that.
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Post by DOOMS on Mar 27, 2015 7:39:12 GMT -5
Probably depends on the player. That being typed I assume most came here to play football and get a degree. Anything else is icing on the cake.
saabman, I've known this was going to happen since I heard that it was set in stone back in Septemeber. And I'm not some connected dude that gets info that nobody else is privy to. Perhaps the additional length of time I've known has allowed me to come to terms with it a lot more gracefully. But yes, it's been in the works for a while.
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Post by 4XLAGGIE on Mar 27, 2015 7:59:51 GMT -5
I will try to get all those questions answered for everyone from Earl on Monday at our next AAF chapter meeting. Please do because I feel that there is something that we are missing in this debate over the game. There has to be more to this then just the MEAC an SWAC deciding to play this bowl game. I just don't believe that this just appeared out of the blue, this have to have been in the working for some time! Saabman, believe it or not, it's been on the table at least since 2009-10.
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Post by marchingband1969 on Mar 27, 2015 8:57:49 GMT -5
I left for a few days to visit a sick friend out of town and I see I didn't miss much...we're still debating if the Celebration Bowl is a good or bad thing. I honestly don't believe those that decided weeks ago that the Celebration (Legacy, Segregation, fill in the blank) Bowl was a bad thing will ever change their mind. And I don't think that having all the details of the contract will make a difference either. It's like the "birthers" with President Obama...no amount of evidence is going to convince some folks he's not a foreigner. So this debate about the bowl game will rage on. I just hope that those folks that believe the Celebration Bowl is a positive will fully support it.
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DECKS
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Post by DECKS on Mar 27, 2015 10:11:39 GMT -5
Regardless of how I feel about the bowl game I think it's time for A&T to leave this conference. There's too much financial instability amongst member schools and quite frankly I'm concerned about the long term existence of the MEAC. Our Preeminence 2020 calls for us to be at 13k students and 30% non-African American population by 2020. That's an extremely agressive goal but one that I understand and support. Like it or not, the country has become more diverse and we better change with the times if we are going to survive. This generation of African American kids are no longer selecting HBCU's so we have to expand our recruiting nets to other races and cultures. With that said I think we have to be careful not to associate ourselves with a venture that could appear as we are re-segregating A&T from mainstream fcs college football. I think we can be competitive at the fcs level, however it may take 15-20 years but we have to start somewhere. It will take a steady increase in our athletic budget and the ability to recruit athletes outside our norm. Remaining in the MEAC and associating ourselves with the Celebration Bowl does nothing to help further our future plans. Sorry if I stepped on any toes. Lastly, the SWAC may be the only conference that sucks worse than the MEAC! I have no interest in watching another penalty filled game on a national stage.
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Post by thefriscotxaggie on Mar 27, 2015 10:30:14 GMT -5
Decks agree with you totaly other than one statement we are competitive at the FCS level its not like we are getting are heads handed to us when we play teams outside the MEAC even winning several Elon / App....
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oleschoolaggie
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Mar 27, 2015 10:38:24 GMT -5
Regardless of how I feel about the bowl game I think it's time for A&T to leave this conference. There's too much financial instability amongst member schools and quite frankly I'm concerned about the long term existence of the MEAC. Our Preeminence 2020 calls for us to be at 13k students and 30% non-African American population by 2020. That's an extremely agressive goal but one that I understand and support. Like it or not, the country has become more diverse and we better change with the times if we are going to survive. This generation of African American kids are no longer selecting HBCU's so we have to expand our recruiting nets to other races and cultures. With that said I think we have to be careful not to associate ourselve with a venture that could appear as re-segregating ourselves from mainstream fcs college football. I think we can be competitive at the fcs level, however it may take 15-20 years but we have to start somewhere. It will take a steady increase in our athletic budget and the ability to recruit athletes outside our norm. Remaining in the MEAC and associating ourselves with the Celebration Bowl does nothing to help further our future plans. Sorry if I stepped on any toes. Lastly, the SWAC may be the only conference that sucks worse than the MEAC! I have no interest in watching another penalty filled game on a national stage. i totally 100% agree! a lot of folks don't see the bigger picture, they just think this is about playing a football game. they think about wins and losses instead of the bigger picture. but there's a lot more to this than just a football game. its about your "brand". its about what you represent now and in the long term future. i see a much bigger picture for a&t's future than reverting back to the old "hbcu only" mindset of the past. to our credit, a&t now has a much more "diverse" enrollment. heck, white kids' tuition money spends just as good as black kids' money. and quite frankly, diversifying our enrollment "without sacrificing our identity as an hbcu" will enable our coaches to recruit better skilled white players who otherwise would not attend an hbcu. it'll help to balance the playing field cuz by and large, hbcu's don't get the best skilled white players to enroll at our schools...
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Post by thefriscotxaggie on Mar 27, 2015 10:58:30 GMT -5
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Gator
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Post by Gator on Mar 27, 2015 13:11:36 GMT -5
Decks,
I'm not sure about your assumption of kids not selecting HBCUs. Because of educational cost, more local students are giving HBCUs consideration. I do agree with all of assertions.
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