So, trading Salisbury and Frostburg for Cortland and Morrisville strikes me, competitively, as nearly a wash. Brockport probably fills out the middle of the conference.

So will the E8 and NJAC sit there cannibalizing each other while the LL continues to be a one-team league?

I see it less as cannibalizing as a natural re-alignment into common sense. The geographic swap makes excellent sense, and I think the competition levels are close to a wash. Overall, this is a really good thing for the E8 and a pretty good thing for the NJAC. It does leave the NJAC significantly more exposed should the CAC ever get enough members, but that is a problem for the future.

Quote from: jknezek on February 27, 2014, 03:49:20 pm

Quote from: TheEHC52 on February 27, 2014, 03:24:24 pm

It appears Mr. Dorton isn't as pro-Emory as social media would lead one to believe:

http://ehcwhitetopper.wordpress.com/dortons-letter/

What a mess.

That's a fairly revealing letter, wouldn't you say?

Well it's a comprehensive complaint from one side of the story. Personally it made me cringe both from the behavior that E&H was accused of as well as the tone the parent used. Others pointed out the sense of entitlement in the tone and I completely agree. On the other hand, the hard sell tactics described, the promises, the behavior of alumni and staff, are all things we simply dread making its way into D3...

Quote from: jknezek on February 27, 2014, 11:55:24 am

Quote from: badgerwarhawk on February 27, 2014, 11:20:41 am

The impression that I've gotten is that the main issues concerning college athletes who support unionizing  are medical and due process for the revoking of their scholarships rather than pay.  That's not to say pay wouldn't eventually come into play but right now that isn't the issue.

If pay was the main publicized issue then it would garner less public support. Clever marketing keeps it focused on "health" and "justice" regardless of what may actually be the main underlying reason. And no, that doesn't mean I don't support them. I think a union is not the answer, but I do agree that Div 1 athletics is a minor league system and should be treated that way. Either the professional sports have to adopt baseball's model, which allows for professionals out of h.s. OR amateur athletics, or the NCAA has to admit that what it is doing is running a minor league system where the players are under-compensated. Since I have no hope the NFL or the NBA is going follow MLS, the NHL, or MLB, then it falls on the NCAA to do the right thing.

Scholarships should be abolished and the players should be paid a salary. Out of that salary they can pay for tuition and room and board. Personally I think the salary should be capped by year for all schools, and bonuses should be the same across the board. So a FY gets X, with Y*games played as a bonus. A sophomore gets something over X, with the same bonus structure, a senior gets the most. All awards from Freshman of the Year in a conference up to the Heisman should get a standardized bonus as well. So not only is there a "salary cap" per se, but it is a hard structure for all players in D1. Finally, any money a player can make outside of school is their own business, similar to the Olympic model.

I'd have to think about it more to address problems (differences in tuition and cost of living at various schools is the biggy off the top of my head), but I think it could be done this way.

I agree with both of those statements. Abolishing scholarships and paying all athletes may just  be the place start. However, colleges and universities are not the minor leagues. And what if the kid doesn't want  to go to school? Would they be required to take a minimum number of courses to play?  Also, by  paying them a salary, athletes would  they also then be required to pay for their own shoes, shirts, shorts, etc. that the team requires them to own (just like employees of businesses that require a uniform) AND pay taxes, insurance, etc.? Lots to think about.....

As for the statement in bold, I no longer care. If the student chooses to enroll and attend in hopes of getting a degree it should be a bonus. Lets face it, very few of these guys actually go pro, so I'm assuming a lot of them would enroll. But if a few treat it just as a workplace, that's ok with me too.  As for paying for uniforms, that's a minor concern. Professional players in the minor leagues wear team provided uniforms. If you want something more or different, that's between you and the team. Pay taxes? Sure, if it's a job. Insurance should be provided by the employer like most full-time work places (no politics here, just referring to most pro sports businesses, even minor leagues, the players are provided an insurance option).

The key is to stop treating Div I athletics differently from any other professional sports league. Once you do that, you'll realize that the problems have mostly been hammered out in other places. The big ones revolve around pay schedules and the issue of whether the teams are "affiliated" with universities, or actually part of the university. Given how most athletic departments in major D1 are university affiliates these days, even that shouldn't be too big of an issue. We have an unpaid minor league system now, in the name of universities are special. Take that away and you'll end up with a paid minor league system with the fanbase primarily coming from the university.

The impression that I've gotten is that the main issues concerning college athletes who support unionizing  are medical and due process for the revoking of their scholarships rather than pay.  That's not to say pay wouldn't eventually come into play but right now that isn't the issue.

If pay was the main publicized issue then it would garner less public support. Clever marketing keeps it focused on "health" and "justice" regardless of what may actually be the main underlying reason. And no, that doesn't mean I don't support them. I think a union is not the answer, but I do agree that Div 1 athletics is a minor league system and should be treated that way. Either the professional sports have to adopt baseball's model, which allows for professionals out of h.s. OR amateur athletics, or the NCAA has to admit that what it is doing is running a minor league system where the players are under-compensated. Since I have no hope the NFL or the NBA is going follow MLS, the NHL, or MLB, then it falls on the NCAA to do the right thing.

Scholarships should be abolished and the players should be paid a salary. Out of that salary they can pay for tuition and room and board. Personally I think the salary should be capped by year for all schools, and bonuses should be the same across the board. So a FY gets X, with Y*games played as a bonus. A sophomore gets something over X, with the same bonus structure, a senior gets the most. All awards from Freshman of the Year in a conference up to the Heisman should get a standardized bonus as well. So not only is there a "salary cap" per se, but it is a hard structure for all players in D1. Finally, any money a player can make outside of school is their own business, similar to the Olympic model.

I'd have to think about it more to address problems (differences in tuition and cost of living at various schools is the biggy off the top of my head), but I think it could be done this way.

E&H student newspaper on a big story:
http://ehcwhitetopper.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/ehcunderncaainvestigation/

Yeesh. One kid on record could be spilt milk, or the tip of an iceberg. Have to see if the NCAA turns anything else up. Given the state of the NCAA enforcement division, I'm not counting on them finding anything, and hopefully nothing actually went on. If it did, all I can say is E&H did not get value for their money...

It all depends on your point of view. If it's money, then it's a promotion. If its a chance to coach at big-time college football, it's a promotion. If it's a realistic chance to make a long-term mark on a program, or keeping your family in one spot for a long period of time, it's probably not a promotion. While you have almost no chance of moving from a D3 to a D1 head coaching position, he will now get the chance to climb the ladder and have that rare as hen's teeth shot going this route. But usually it involves a lot of hopping around, every couple years, long hours, miserable pressure, and good odds of getting canned because a whole team under performed, whether it was your position or not.

Really it just depends on what your long term goals are. I wish him a lot of luck, it's a very hard path to climb at that level.

It does make me wonder what is the longest losing streak amongst the ODAC teams? For W&L it would be 18 straight losses to E&H between a 21-14 loss at E&H 09/17/83 and a 22-9 win in Lexington 11/09/2002.

Here are some Austin-area "signings" (the paper here reports them despite my best efforts to get them to stop, so I've given up):

Blayne Parisher, WR, Burnet HS:  Howard Payne
Jace LaCaille, LB, Georgetown HS:  Mary Hardin-Baylor
Colton Schwartz, DL, Lago Vista HS:  Mary-Hardin Baylor
Stacy Anderson, OL, Round Rock Stony Point:  Howard Payne

http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/varsity-news/2014/feb/05/local-football-players-use-their-signatures-signin/

It's nice recognition. While the terminology is incorrect, it's nice to see the players and schools being given some play in the papers. I have less of a problem with D3 "signings" than I do with the term "commitments" as it is thrown around for D1 fanbases prior to signing a NLI.