Perhaps so. But to my mind, when a program greatly upgrades its schedule (Bard went from 7 NCAA games last season to 16 this season), and shows the ability to play with many of those teams, despite roster-wide injury problems, it is moving forward.
When I went to school at Bard, the coach actually refused to let me broadcast the home game against Becker because he thought it would embarrass the program. This year, at Becker, we lost by a point.
In previous years, Bard has struggled to make the HVMAC tournament- this year, they're playing competitively enough to have a legitimate shot at winning it.
Last year at this time, I was hoping we'd find ourselves a better conference with an automatic NCAA bid. This year, Coach Wood has the imminent move to the NEAC to sell to recruits. The move to the NEAC will also make it possible to have a full slate of NCAA games on the schedule next year. Such a move was unfathomable just a short time ago.
If some people don't see this as progress, so be it. I am well aware that the ultimate judge is wins and losses, and as I think I made clear in my previous post, it has been disappointing to see so many losses (particularly difficult are the close losses- 5 of the 11 are by 7 points or less).
But that frustration, to my mind, is no reason to ignore the progress the program has made, or the potential such progress has made for the future. And I feel badly for anyone who is so intent on running down a program trying to do the right things that he can't see those building blocks.
