BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

Started by Ralph Turner, January 09, 2006, 11:38:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

fundamentalswin

Wow wow wow When does Massilion make their decision on that one?

Some other inside information... Larry Groves contract was not renewed after the season either

Dr. Acula

Quote from: fundamentalswin on May 31, 2009, 11:41:18 PM
Wow wow wow When does Massilion make their decision on that one?

Some other inside information... Larry Groves contract was not renewed after the season either

According to the article in the Inde the AD wants to move fairly quickly so the new HC can be in place for summer ball to watch his kids play.  There were only 5 applications and the paper said they could start interviews as early as Tuesday.  The problem was that there are no open jobs at Massillon, so they didn't get a ton of interest. 

Interesting side note:  One of the other applicants is former MUC pitcher Kevin Baker who's been an assistant at Wooster HS for a number of years.  I played with him at MUC.  He always had arm troubles that limited his playing time, but he definitely is a "baseball guy".  He knew the game as well as anyone I played with (probably better than anyone actually) and I was happy when I heard he was coaching at Wooster because I knew he would be a good coach. 

As for Grove...that could be good or bad.  Either they hire another pitching coach or....well, they don't.  And that's BAD. 

inthecrease

there was talk that grove was going to retire before this year too. came back this year but he always seemed to be a pitching coach by name only. it will be real interesting to see where the program goes from here. It might just be hesse and a lot of student assistants. oh boy could that be fun.

I was talking to a former mt union player that said he might put in for the capital job. i could easily see him return to 23rd street field in a different shade of purple and sweep his former coach.

Isnt it interesting how a lot of former players look to other schools to continue coaching insead of staying on with the raiders . . .

fundamentalswin

That coach wouldn't be Rick Oyster would it?

Acula, did Spike Ridgely put his name in the hat for the Massilion job as well?  I know his dad is the AD there and that was a huge rumor floating around before I left Alliance for the year

Dr. Acula

Quote from: fundamentalswin on June 01, 2009, 03:42:05 PM
That coach wouldn't be Rick Oyster would it?

Acula, did Spike Ridgely put his name in the hat for the Massilion job as well?  I know his dad is the AD there and that was a huge rumor floating around before I left Alliance for the year

I played w/ Oyster as well, but I don't know what he's up to.  Last I heard he was living in Hilliard, so who knows.  I'm curious to see who applies for the Cap job.  Any chance you would tell us who the former player is, inthecrease?  Maybe PM us if you don't want to throw it out here, but I think us other Raiders would be interested.

Spike didn't apply.  The 5 were Gilhousen, former MUC guy Kevin Baker, Andy Hargrove (Mike Hargrove's kid), one of the assistants at Massillon (not the guy that was the interim HC) and an asst from a school I had never heard of.  I'll post the link in a second...


Dr. Acula

Here's the link for the article.  I was surprised Spike didn't take a shot at it too.  That would have been great...one assistant is gone and the other two are fighting over the same HS job! 

Massillon Independent

p.s. Sorry if the thread has been hijacked by this stuff, but let's be serious...there isn't much else to talk about.

Dr. Acula

Dan Remenowsky (Ott) is with the White Sox Class A team in Kannapolis and looks like he's doing well.  He's made 18 relief appearances, 3-2 w/ 7 saves and a 2.33 ERA and a very impressive 36 K's in 19.1 innings. 

Stats


JK

Quote from: inthecrease on June 01, 2009, 03:28:31 PM
I was talking to a former mt union player that said he might put in for the capital job. i could easily see him return to 23rd street field in a different shade of purple and sweep his former coach.

I've seen nothing yet out of Cap to indicate Weyrich resigned/ was fired.  Don't know as many folks as I used to around there, especially with the baseball program, but I would think it would get reported somewhere?? ???

Is this good info you have?

I know Weyrich is an ordained minister and had (HAS?) a construction company that he owns.  His wife is a professor at Columbus State CC, and he has two girls who are starting to enter that age where they have lots of "activities" that you get in trouble if you miss.  So, he has lots of other stuff going on, but he's a Capital grad and when he was hired a few years ago, he said it was his "dream job, coming back to my hometown and alma mater."  I can't imagine that he would leave unless 1) he was forced out (unlikely- given the new administration), or 2) the rumor of Capital "de-emphasizing" athletics is true and he was frustrated by it (and the lack of admin support he would receive over the next few years)... this was ALLEGEDLY the "unspoken" reason Jim Collins went looking to move on from the football program 2 years ago.

Dr. Acula

Quote from: JK on June 02, 2009, 12:25:37 AM
Quote from: inthecrease on June 01, 2009, 03:28:31 PM
I was talking to a former mt union player that said he might put in for the capital job. i could easily see him return to 23rd street field in a different shade of purple and sweep his former coach.

I've seen nothing yet out of Cap to indicate Weyrich resigned/ was fired.  Don't know as many folks as I used to around there, especially with the baseball program, but I would think it would get reported somewhere?? ???

Is this good info you have?

I know Weyrich is an ordained minister and had (HAS?) a construction company that he owns.  His wife is a professor at Columbus State CC, and he has two girls who are starting to enter that age where they have lots of "activities" that you get in trouble if you miss.  So, he has lots of other stuff going on, but he's a Capital grad and when he was hired a few years ago, he said it was his "dream job, coming back to my hometown and alma mater."  I can't imagine that he would leave unless 1) he was forced out (unlikely- given the new administration), or 2) the rumor of Capital "de-emphasizing" athletics is true and he was frustrated by it (and the lack of admin support he would receive over the next few years)... this was ALLEGEDLY the "unspoken" reason Jim Collins went looking to move on from the football program 2 years ago.

It's funny you ask JK because I tried to find anything substantive about Weyrich leaving and was unable to do so.  If he did indeed leave I would have to think it was his choice.  Cap seems to be patient and we're not far removed from him taking them to their first OAC tourney final ever and winning COY.

Also, this is the first I've heard of the rumored possible de-emphasizing of athletics.  Would that simply entail shifting some funds previously earmarked for sports toward academic pursuits?  Or is it more of a "cultural thing" than a fiscal thing?  I guess I've just never seen anyone do anything like that in the OAC so I'm curious what it would mean.

inthecrease

I think cap has started to de-emphasize the athletics program because that is the one thing that is holding him up about applying. He thinks the position isn't a full time job anymore.

fundamentalswin

I have two independent sources in Central Ohio that have told me the Capital job is open

JK

I have no idea what it means.  It's not something that they "advertise."  It's just whispers in the wind right now, heresay and innuendo backed up by people who believe it with examples that they think fit.

You know I played FB at Cap for former AD Roger Welsh and in my fifth year I was a student assistant coach for Jim Collins in his first year there.  So I have some people I talk to.  No one has ever used the phrase "de-emphasize athletics" except for hscoach on the football board immediately after Collins left.  But I had heard things floating around Capital circles in that time frame along the same lines.

It all happened when President Ted Fredrickson retired in 2006.  Ted was president from 2001-2006.  He oversaw a lot of the growth of Capital, athletic facilites and budgets in particular.  He and his wife were regulars at almost every Cap sporting event.  In late May of 06, the faculty threatened him with a no confidence vote because of a 5.3 million operating budget deficit that he pledged the year before to reduce to below $2 million.  He retired shortly thereafter, presumably because of the situation, though no one ever said as much.  There were rumors at the time that a lot of the faculty were upset about the amount of money going to the sports programs, especially those in the Conservatory of Music.  After Ted's retirement, Dr. Denvy Bowman was named interim president and then the 15th president of Capital in 2007.

Shortly after Bowman became president, it was announced, in no particular order, that SID Len Reich was leaving (for MUC), that Roger Welsh was retiring as AD, and that Jim Collins was named the HC at Saginaw Valley (MI) State (a D2 school).  There were also some other changes made throughout the Athletic Department and around the same time each varsity sport had an alumni led "association" created for it to pander for donations to "support travel and other expenses incurred by the team."

Taken seperately and at face value, there seems nothing dramatic here.  MUC, desipte Alliance being a smaller market than Columbus, is a step up for an SID given the football program's national exposure and the fact that the Alliance paper is dedicated to MUC rather than having to compete fro space with The Ohio State University.  Roger had been at Cap for nearly 30 years, and his grandkids were starting activities he wanted to be a part of.  Jim had about as much success as you can have in football in the OAC, given the fact that Mount wins the league title every year.  He was still only in his 40's but had been at Cap for 10 years and aspired to bigger things and needed to make the jump before his kids got to Jr. High (his oldest started last year).

None of it was really surprising, but then a friend told me that Jim didn't really want to leave until after his kids graduated HS but "the new president essentially forced his hand when Jim told him about SVSU."  Supposedly Roger retired thinking that Dixie Jeffers (the women's BB coach) would be named the new AD, but was informed after he submitted his retirement that would not be the case because the new president wanted "to go in a new direction."  Never heard any ulterior motive for Len leaving, but lumped in at the same time as the others, it seems suspicious as well.

hscoach, being a Mount FB broadcaster, has access to the SID's and information has a way of flowing around the pressbox.  Don't know where he heard the term "de-emphasize," but right after Jim left we had a discussion about it on the FB board.

So, never anything official, though every department, including athletics, took a cut when Bowman took over.  DOn't know if the athletic budget cut was proportional or not.  Just, I think, more of a change in mind-set.  Bowman isn't a regular at games, events aren't publicized like before (though that could be attributale to the fact that Len was/ is a GREAT SID- you are seeing that at MUC), and there isn't a lot of support (lots of empty seats as Capital hosted, for the first time ever, a first round men's BB game this year).

So if Greg is leaving, it might be attributable to the general malaise toward sports that is emanating from the president's office at Capital.

Dr. Acula

Wow, GREAT post JK.  +k

I agree with you.  Taken individually each of those departures could be explained away, but in the context of the larger picture it keeps getting harder to call it coincidence.  Plus, as you said earlier, Weyrich is an alum and this was his dream job.  I guess the more we talk about it on here the more I'm concerned that Cap's program may suffer. 

There was an article not long ago about Dr. Bowman in one of the business publications down here praising him for his fiscal sense.  To a normal person I'm sure it was kind of boring, but as someone who follows the OAC I thought it was very interesting because of some of the undertones to what he was saying.  If I recall, there was a very "my way or the highway" vibe.  I'm going to try to find the article and I'll post the link if I do.  I think you would be interested in it if you haven't read it already.  The thing I was most surprised by was Capital operating at a deficit of that magnitude.


Dr. Acula

Here's an article from Business First about Cap's new President.  The article I was thinking of was in Columbus CEO within the last 6 months, but I can't seem to find it.  I just remember reading it during a conference call to stay awake.

Cap Article


JK

Interesting read.  If you find the other, PM me or something.

I am not a Bowman fan, for the record.  You are right on the "my way" vibe.  I get it too from everything I read that he's written and other stuff I hear.  He definitely has an "air" about him.  I don't know if it is fair of me, since I don't really know him.  It just seems that way to me.

I just get upset when a new president with no athletic background comes in and immediately looks at the athletic department as a way to cut costs becuase they don't think sports are that important or "are consistent with the academic nature of the university" (or other code phrases they use to say the same thing).  I think sports are an INTEGRAL part of the college experience. 

And, the lessons you learn in sports are hard to teach elsewhere.  You just develop an innate sense of how your actions impact others, how you fit into a bigger picture.  There are also the physical things you learn, like a greater sense of what your body is trying to tell you, hand-eye coordination, etc.  And then there is the competitive nature that you develop.  You and I and everyone who played sports can tell in an instant almost who has a background playing sports and who doesn't.  It doesn't even have to be a varsity sport in college or even high school.  It can be church league softball or weekend golf or bowling league...whatever.

Trust me.  Once you see kids trying to accomplish something physical you can tell almost immediately.  In my 10 years as an Army Officer I commanded a Basic Training Unit and was an ROTC instructor.  SO I trained both brand new Enlisted Soldiers and brand new Officers.  I knew those who had some athletic background and those who were in the band or art club or whatever. 

I hate to say it that way because there is NOTHING wrong with that.  I appreciate a good art exhibit and have seen my fair share of Broadway musicals, etc.  I respect the hell out of people who can sing and draw because I can't. 

In recruiting for ROTC we wanted what we called SAL's- Scholar, Athlete, Leader.  Active in sports/ other athletic pursuits, good grades/ test scores, and active in the community and other organizations.  Well rounded kids.  That's the goal, and you could tell those who lack the Athletic part.  A lot of them struggle with Physical FItness and teamwork and in a lot of cases, confidence in front of others.  Sometimes they overcompensate in other ways.  Like the "I'm smarter than you" vibe I get from Dr. Bowman.  I dunno... random ramblings late in the evening.

I really do fear that Bowman is going to damage the Athletic department.  No offense to our NCAC friends, but my worst fear is that Bowman pushes us into that realm... and don't get too defensive, NCAC guys... you know what I mean, Oberlins of the world.

I think OAC schools, especially MUC and ONU should be looked at as models for D3 schools rather than outliers.  Both have integrated powerhouse athletic programs seamlessly into their school's mission and experience.  MUC with football and ONU overall (look at the all-sports standings the last few years).  The OAC as a whole, those institutions seem to think of sports and academics as virtual equals, whereas some of the NCAC and UAA schools have the sports lag far behind.  Cap could easily slip into that realm, and it scares the crap out of me.  There are a lot of benefits to a good sports program... recruiting, increased visibility, $$$.  MUC has seen it, but for many years, a lot of Cap faculty and administrators have fought it.

We'll see how it goes.  I might just be completely nuts...who knows.