Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ask the AD Summary

Dave Horger and AD Greg Christopher are back with their latest installment of "Ask the AD"

The lead topic, of course, was hockey and the ice arena. The Board meeting is coming up on June 26 and reports on both the hockey and the arena are apparently due then. While Christopher says that no "lightning bolt" should be expected, he did drop a couple of high-quality hints. He mentioned that a fundraising campaign could be expected, and discussed the possibility of a hockey endowment that would (my words) protect the program into the future.

There was discussion about the 12/12 set up at the Q for MAC Basketball which "did not work" according to the AD.

There was also significant discussion about the lack of starting times for MAC football. Essentially, the answer here is "get used to it." BCS fans don't know their game times until 10 days before or so (often) and with more TV at the MAC, we can expect the same.

Temple? (I know you were wondering). Apparently, we are in some contractual window where the Owls could continue football only, bring everything into the MAC, or say adios totally.

And while these discussions will apparently happen and there is relatively new leadership at the MAC and Temple, he went on to detail why it probably won't happen. First, Temple is already in the A-10, a far superior basketball conference, and 13 teams would be nearly impossible to schedule for basketball.

Beyond that it is a great idea.

Is Temple a good thing? (13 tough for hoops)

In case you were wondering, if a team wanted to leave the MAC, they would incur a stiff penalty, maybe in the 7 figures.

It doesn't sound like too much is going on expansion-wise for the MAC. The WKU thing was vetoed by the MAC, and any school would have to be committed to I-A football, of which there are not too many, particularly in this economy.

He also said that the Athletic Department is looking into developing a formal process for retiring numbers, which would be in strong contrast to the, well, LACK of a formal process up until now.

There was other stuff about Anderson Arena and Stellar Field. Listen and check it out.

This is a good segment. I think Christopher is candid and open, and it is great to hear Dave Horger again.

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