Clickclack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) This is still confusing. Can someone explain why the CAA is better than the AE? Both conferences have highly regarded institutions. The "experts" seem to think the CAA has better atheletic competition and that appears to be true but the differences are not that great. Competing in a conference with mid Atlantic and Southern teams will bring more exposure to UA and that is a positive. If the member institutions of the AE committed to spending more resources on its atheletic teams wouldn't that be something worth considering before a move is made? Institutional commitment from all the schools...financially and otherwise. Money talks and BS walks...Towson with the lowest MBB budget (1.5mil) in the CAA would be 4th highest in the AE. Bill and Mary second to last in the CAA would be 2nd best in the AE. There is a higher level of commitment in the CAA to athletic and money is just one of the indicators. This is an arms race...and the reason I think leagues like the MAAC with low budgets and terrible facilities are going to sooner or later have a terrible time trying to compete... My biggest fear about the AE is the number of teams who do not appear to care about athletics (mostly MBB/flagship sport)...Look at Maine, UNH, UMBC...what are they doing? Coaches salaries are very low, continued losing is tolerated without any repercussions..SBU will be gone it's only a matter of time...the only legit program based on history (MBB) will be UVM... So which would you rather have...Drexel, Northeastern, Hosftra, Delaware, Towson (leaving off JMU/they will be gone) or UVM, Bingo, UNH, Hartford, Maine, UMBC? God help the AE if UVM decides to bolt....I continue to believe they are a desirable candidate for a league like the Patriot should they chose to expend a bit further. Again, if the institutional support is there...financial and otherwise...this is an open and shut case...people that say the current CAA is not much better then the AE are crazy! The AE is a ruderless ship with no plan...time after time they have passed up the opportunity to solidify the core/football, merger with CAA etc. There is zero reason to think that will ever change... Edited May 23, 2013 by Clickclack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatDane87 Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 well said Click! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainejeff Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) Time to slip off the little pink panties, and slip on the big boy's briefs? If we took the coward's approach, we wouldn't have even stepped into the D1 arena. Let's not be cowards now. If we want to continue our rise, we need to seize the opportunities presented. If the CAA is interested, which they'd be foolish not to be, then we should not hesitate. There are very few stepping stones, and this is one of a very few that exist for our university. I'd go even further to say there are ZERO other stepping stones available to us. And there won't be for a very long time if we pass this up. Is the University (not just the athletic dept, but the entire university) ready to step up? It is REALLY a "stepping stone".........or just a trap set by the brilliant Tom Yeager? Your "stepping stone" was already in hand with CAA Football membership. Now you are 'moving up" to play the Elons, UNCWs, Towsons, and Drexels of the world????? I really don't get this one at all. Albany had the upper hand........now you are saddled to a North/South league that is 1 or 2 moves (JMU, Delaware, W&M) away from disaster.........with a $1 million buyout to boot. This stuff really reminds me of people in everyday life chasing pies in the sky........only to have one hit them in the face. I could have totally understood Albany's decision if football was the dangling carrot.......or VCU, ODU and GMU were still in the league. But this one I really don't get. Good luck. Edited May 23, 2013 by mainejeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clickclack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Time to slip off the little pink panties, and slip on the big boy's briefs? If we took the coward's approach, we wouldn't have even stepped into the D1 arena. Let's not be cowards now. If we want to continue our rise, we need to seize the opportunities presented. If the CAA is interested, which they'd be foolish not to be, then we should not hesitate. There are very few stepping stones, and this is one of a very few that exist for our university. I'd go even further to say there are ZERO other stepping stones available to us. And there won't be for a very long time if we pass this up. Is the University (not just the athletic dept, but the entire university) ready to step up? It is REALLY a "stepping stone".........or just a trap set by the brilliant Tom Yeager? Your "stepping stone" was already in hand with CAA Football membership. Now you are 'moving up" to play the Elons, UNCWs, Towsons, and Drexels of the world????? I really don't get this one at all. Albany had the upper hand........now you are saddled to a North/South league that is 1 or 2 moves (JMU, Delaware, W&M) away from disaster.........with a $1 million buyout to boot. This stuff really reminds me of people in everyday live chasing pies in the sky........only to have one hit them in the face. I could have totally understand Albany's decision if football was the dangling carrot.......or VCU, ODU and GMU were still in the league. But this one I really don't get. Good luck. Jeff, The alternative is what? You love to poo-poo this idea...when the music stops and SBU is gone...then what? You never answer that question... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainejeff Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Institutional commitment from all the schools...financially and otherwise. Money talks and BS walks...Towson with the lowest MBB budget (1.5mil) in the CAA would be 4th highest in the AE. Bill and Mary second to last in the CAA would be 2nd best in the AE. There is a higher level of commitment in the CAA to athletic and money is just one of the indicators. So how much have Delaware, Hofstra, Drexel, Towson and Northeastern spent during their time in the CAA in men's hoops only to go 0-55 in theri quest for an NCAA bid??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainejeff Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Time to slip off the little pink panties, and slip on the big boy's briefs? If we took the coward's approach, we wouldn't have even stepped into the D1 arena. Let's not be cowards now. If we want to continue our rise, we need to seize the opportunities presented. If the CAA is interested, which they'd be foolish not to be, then we should not hesitate. There are very few stepping stones, and this is one of a very few that exist for our university. I'd go even further to say there are ZERO other stepping stones available to us. And there won't be for a very long time if we pass this up. Is the University (not just the athletic dept, but the entire university) ready to step up? It is REALLY a "stepping stone".........or just a trap set by the brilliant Tom Yeager? Your "stepping stone" was already in hand with CAA Football membership. Now you are 'moving up" to play the Elons, UNCWs, Towsons, and Drexels of the world????? I really don't get this one at all. Albany had the upper hand........now you are saddled to a North/South league that is 1 or 2 moves (JMU, Delaware, W&M) away from disaster.........with a $1 million buyout to boot. This stuff really reminds me of people in everyday live chasing pies in the sky........only to have one hit them in the face. I could have totally understand Albany's decision if football was the dangling carrot.......or VCU, ODU and GMU were still in the league. But this one I really don't get. Good luck. Jeff, The alternative is what? You love to poo-poo this idea...when the music stops and SBU is gone...then what? You never answer that question... And when JMU and Delaware are gone.......then what? You never answer that question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainejeff Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 By the way........you need to stop worrying about Stony Brook and worry about yourselves. You've got some MAJOR fundraising to do.......to the tune of $5 million+. And even that doesn't guarantee you success (see all former AE programs since they joined the CAA). Hopefully, your Southern experiment pays off for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clickclack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) Time to slip off the little pink panties, and slip on the big boy's briefs? If we took the coward's approach, we wouldn't have even stepped into the D1 arena. Let's not be cowards now. If we want to continue our rise, we need to seize the opportunities presented. If the CAA is interested, which they'd be foolish not to be, then we should not hesitate. There are very few stepping stones, and this is one of a very few that exist for our university. I'd go even further to say there are ZERO other stepping stones available to us. And there won't be for a very long time if we pass this up. Is the University (not just the athletic dept, but the entire university) ready to step up? It is REALLY a "stepping stone".........or just a trap set by the brilliant Tom Yeager? Your "stepping stone" was already in hand with CAA Football membership. Now you are 'moving up" to play the Elons, UNCWs, Towsons, and Drexels of the world????? I really don't get this one at all. Albany had the upper hand........now you are saddled to a North/South league that is 1 or 2 moves (JMU, Delaware, W&M) away from disaster.........with a $1 million buyout to boot. This stuff really reminds me of people in everyday live chasing pies in the sky........only to have one hit them in the face. I could have totally understand Albany's decision if football was the dangling carrot.......or VCU, ODU and GMU were still in the league. But this one I really don't get. Good luck. Jeff, The alternative is what? You love to poo-poo this idea...when the music stops and SBU is gone...then what? You never answer that question... And when JMU and Delaware are gone.......then what? You never answer that question. Still a league with Northeastern, Drexel, Hofstra...better then anything left in the AE...or are you gonna dispute that? Now that I've answered your question...answer mine...What will our reality be with SBU gone? BTW, all North based... Edited May 23, 2013 by Clickclack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) This is all very interesting..and it does seem as if this is all a lot more than just rumors. Without repeating previous comments..or necessarily offering my opinion..I do think some points on geography might be worthwhile to add. While CAA is often described as a mid-Atlantic/southern conference..I'm not sure that's really the case..or at least not as much as is regularly claimed. Taking a look solely at geography..and not culture..there are only 3 of now 10 schools that I would probably describe as southern (south of VA)..UNC-Wilmington, Elon and Charleston. If Albany were to join..that would make 4 of 11 in Philly and north..Albany, Hofstra, Northeastern and Drexel. If Albany joined and a 12th school was added..a North-South Division split wouldn't be drastically different than what we see now. For example: North: Albany Delaware Drexel Hofstra Northeastern Towson South: Charleston Elon James Madison UNC-Wilmington William and Mary Other In that scenario..for basketball..we could play northern division teams twice and southern division teams once..for 16 games. In the northern division..Towson would be the furthest away at about 5 hours. An add of Stony Brook..or UNH..for example..could bump Towson into the south and make Delaware our furthest division opponent at 4+ hours. Edited May 23, 2013 by Phoenix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainejeff Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Time to slip off the little pink panties, and slip on the big boy's briefs? If we took the coward's approach, we wouldn't have even stepped into the D1 arena. Let's not be cowards now. If we want to continue our rise, we need to seize the opportunities presented. If the CAA is interested, which they'd be foolish not to be, then we should not hesitate. There are very few stepping stones, and this is one of a very few that exist for our university. I'd go even further to say there are ZERO other stepping stones available to us. And there won't be for a very long time if we pass this up. Is the University (not just the athletic dept, but the entire university) ready to step up? It is REALLY a "stepping stone".........or just a trap set by the brilliant Tom Yeager? Your "stepping stone" was already in hand with CAA Football membership. Now you are 'moving up" to play the Elons, UNCWs, Towsons, and Drexels of the world????? I really don't get this one at all. Albany had the upper hand........now you are saddled to a North/South league that is 1 or 2 moves (JMU, Delaware, W&M) away from disaster.........with a $1 million buyout to boot. This stuff really reminds me of people in everyday live chasing pies in the sky........only to have one hit them in the face. I could have totally understand Albany's decision if football was the dangling carrot.......or VCU, ODU and GMU were still in the league. But this one I really don't get. Good luck. Jeff, The alternative is what? You love to poo-poo this idea...when the music stops and SBU is gone...then what? You never answer that question... And when JMU and Delaware are gone.......then what? You never answer that question. Still a league with Northeastern, Drexel, Hofstra...better then anything left in the AE...or are you gonna dispute that? Now that I've answered your question...answer mine...What will our reality be with SBU gone? BTW, all North based... Yeah.....I will dispute that. How many bids does Northeastern, Drexel and Hofstra have since they joined the CAA? Their overall athletic programs stink! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAalum72 Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 For what he's worth, Wyland said on his radio show this a.m. that an email went out to the University's staff today saying the move wasn't happening. He said probably due to money and esp. the cost of travel. Who knows for how long this decision applies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madDOG Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 AndrewSantillo CAA commissioner Tom Yeager will hold teleconference at 315 pm today to answer questions on conference membership Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clickclack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 One-Bid Wonders @onebidwonders1m In the world of anything that can happen will happen it now looks like Albany will be staying in the America East... One-Bid Wonders @onebidwonders1m I don't even know what to believe at this point, because I've heard polar opposite reports from sources that have never been wrong before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UA'08 Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 One-Bid Wonders @onebidwonders1m In the world of anything that can happen will happen it now looks like Albany will be staying in the America East... One-Bid Wonders @onebidwonders1m I don't even know what to believe at this point, because I've heard polar opposite reports from sources that have never been wrong before. That's a good way to lose credibility. Almost as bad as that espn104.5 blog post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clickclack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Pendulum swings wildly the other way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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