Conference Change? Please

The 2016 Patriot League tourney was very exciting

I agree, with the conferences not be interested, which is sad. The Patriot League conference tournament games were empty and only 3 of the 9 games were on television. Atlantic ten is showing every game. 

For the love of God, will we ever run out of these masochists who can't stop flagellating the decomposed body of that dead horse? It is beyond tiresome. No change in conference affiliation is going to occur.

In an ideal world there would be a new conference - that nice 8 or 9 team conference of D1, northeastern, mostly catholic, mid major or higher schools. Money/TV/NCAA prevent what’s right from being what’s real in ways that are too boring and convoluted for the average citizen and basketball fan to invest the time to understand.

I am so tired of watching us play these remote PL teams in empty gyms on student break most of the season, except Boston U, which is actually turning out to be a nice local rivalry regardless of attendance.

In a ideal world, I’d love to see HC and Boston pack up, along with Fordham, and find 5 new buddies to play in the sand with.

The PL is holding HC back especially in basketball. I have been watching the other league tournaments this week and you can see the fans and the great athletes
who play in those leagues. Let's face it, the PL stinks. It's too bad that a great school like HC who had a great basketball tradition is in the PL.

Whatever reasons there are why HC basketball needs to be in the PL, can’t get out, and why teams in other conferences wouldn’t be attracted to HC joining them, it doesn’t change the fact that it is a bush league D1 basketball league. Of all the issues related to HC sports to continue to complain about via word of mouth, letters to administration, hold back donation over, and to sometimes politely “hijack” threads on messages board about, this is the one. Stupid ass conference, boring teams, apathetic crowds, mostly lousy venues in out of the way locations, and other than one or two decent teams a year, totally mediocre basketball. All facts.

If you want to be in a better higher profile league, it is far more likely that you will see a much larger geographic footprint with less northeast based members than the Patriot.

Bucknell has an excellent basketball arena, was mentioned on ESPN's PTI prior to the championship game this week, referenced as a "really good program" by two national sports commentators/writers, and more widely has built a reputation in the last 10 or so years as a more-than-respectable, legitimate D1 program. Do not use the PL as an excuse for what HC is unwilling or unable to do. Malcom Miller, recruited to HC while it was firmly entrenched in the Patriot League is a STARTING NBA PLAYER. Did the PL prevent us from bringing him in? Is the PL tearing up his NBA Players Association membership and contracts? Torey Thomas was playing professionally overseas, as I believe Keith Simmons and Tim Clifford were for some time. Professional basketball players! Patriot League!

Is the PL panned by Joe Q Sportsfan? IMHO, yes. Does it encourage"lame" things that I think would actually cost us some recruits (academic patches)? Perhaps. Does its emphasis on academics, almost at the expense of athletics, cost us some recruits? Maybe, maybe not.

It's not my favorite league to be in, but I have always subscribed to the theory that if you come out with criticisms against something, you better be bulletproof in return. HC's recent rotating roster of coaches post Ralph Willard, scheduling decisions, facilities funding, media deals (outside of PL obligations), AD moves, play on the court, behavior off the court... all of these factors can go one way or the other and is in our control. Until we consistently take the reins and be successful with the factors that are squarely IN OUR CONTROL, we should not and cannot blame anybody or anything else.

If we were consistently winning 25 games a year and racking up PL titles, and the PL was clearly costing us revenue, television rights, recruits, coaches, booster donations, NCAA seeding respect, etc. then you'd have an argument. You are a 400 LB fat bastard at a track meet complaining that the track surface isn't good enough to allow you to win, as the other athletes who are better trained, coached, and prepared outperform you. It's not the track's fault.

It's killing Bucknell too...

Some good points here.  I agree about the relationship of the three bullets that you lead off with.

This other quote, "In other words, not everyone 'blames' the PL for HC's recent mediocrity, they just don't like the PL as a basketball conference." may pertain to you.  However, the vast majority of PL bashers on this board use it as an excuse for everything from our players not winning to global warming to their headaches.  It's a catch-all and it isn't the right place for the blame.

Your line about HC offering scholarships when everyone else was not is akin to the person complaining that it's the track's fault when they don't win, it's just the inverse.  HC loved when it had scholarships and nobody else did, so it could compete with two hands while everyone else had a hand tied behind their back.  It's enjoyable for the team to win, but HC could not reasonably expect that advantage to last forever, nor could the PL expect to be viable (let alone respectable) if that imbalance was maintained.

I don't understand why HC and Bucknell don't leave? Both have won six championships in this league. I don't understand, in my opinion no conference change would be a downgrade for both of these teams. I think that both HC and Bucknell have way better fan bases than any of these other teams in the PL. Not to mention, HC sports will be more popular, against better opponents. Nobody cares about watching them play Lafayette, Loyola, American, Army and Navy could care less about basketball. BU only cares about hockey. Colgate is Colgate.