Bad Classic Promoters are Everywhere

[Aggie One]

Eagles' schedule unexpectedly one game lighter

By MIKE POTTER : The Herald-Sun
[e-mail]
Sep 12, 2007 : 11:35 pm ET

N.C. Central and the University of West Alabama never have faced each other on the football, and that won't change this season, after all.

West Alabama announced Wednesday that the Tigers' game with the Eagles, which had been scheduled to be played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 6, has been cancelled.

UWA athletics director E.J. Brophy said the cancellation was the result of a breach in the game contract by the Varsity Sports Marketing Group, the game's promoter. The contest had been billed as the Southern States Classic.

"We are disappointed that our football program and our fans will not have the opportunity to travel to Alabama," NCCU director of athletics Bill Hayes said. "We have developed a wonderful relationship with the administration of UWA, and we were looking forward to the matchup on the gridiron. All possible efforts were exhausted by NCCU and UWA before having to come to this decision. This is quite unfortunate."

The cancellation results in an open date for both teams that day, since the athletics directors determined that the cost of a guarantee for visiting team's travel to either home stadium would be prohibitive. Hayes said he had no plans to pursue scheduling another football game, leaving NCCU with a 10-game schedule.

"We want all of the UWA and NCCU fans to know that our great universities really wanted to play this football game, and we did everything possible to salvage it," Brophy said in a statement released by West Alabama. "But we were unable to resolve the contract difficulties with the game's promoter."

NCCU, in its first season in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), is 2-1 with all games so far against Division II opposition.

West Alabama, a member of the Division II Gulf South Conference, is 1-1 with a loss to FCS member Samford and a win over Concordia-Selma. Teams from the Gulf South Conference knocked NCCU out of the Division II playoffs each of the past two seasons at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium -- North Alabama in 2005 and Delta State in 2006.

[Aggie Monster]

That's a disgrace to have a game on the schedule and then have to cancel it. Never heard anything like that one before.

[JayBee]

Neither have I. Central didn't have the money to travel down there, so they had to bite the bullet.

[dj98]

(UWA athletics director E.J. Brophy said the cancellation was the result of a breach in the game contract by the Varsity Sports Marketing Group,)

At least someone had the NUTS to say no!!!!!!!!!

[numberonebrave]

Didn't the promoter of the Alcorn and A&T game in Chicago cancel it? Thus, forcing it to move to Mississippi. A game which A&T is not likely to get back.