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Post by rgs318 on Jan 20, 2022 10:08:00 GMT -5
Well, it did add two non-PA colleges and one that was closer for HC competition.
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mainejeff
Climbing Mt. St. James
UMaine Sports Forum: https://umainesports.freeforums.net
Posts: 75
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Post by mainejeff on Jan 20, 2022 10:30:18 GMT -5
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2022 10:31:42 GMT -5
Adding BU did slightly mitigate the fact HC remains a geographic outlier in the PL. It helps to soften the problem but one could argue the BU addition was more than offset by very long road trips to Loyola.
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 20, 2022 10:38:47 GMT -5
But, are not Jesuit opponents worth the trip?
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 20, 2022 10:54:27 GMT -5
On the topic of expansion, does anyone recall why the PL added Loyola & BU? In retrospect, was this a good decision? When the power conferences all started expanding beyond 12 teams for football media market reasons, one result is that they all increased the number of regular season conference games in Men's and Women's Basketball. As a result, there were less non-conference games available. Therefore, you started to see a domino effect of mid-and-low-major conferences following suit when it came to expansion. While I personally don't think Loyola and BU add much to the league as far as engaged fan bases and MBB tradition, they definitely helped even things out geographically. And both strengthened a lot of the minor sports, with the elephant in the room being Loyola lacrosse. My fiancee is a Loyola grad so that's also fun being in the same conference.
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2022 11:24:08 GMT -5
Congratulations on your engagement. One of the many things that bother me about the PL is the fact it does so little, imho, to engage our alumni. Most of the schools are far removed from the areas with a high number of HC alums and frankly, I don't think any of the league schools move the needle in terms of interest.
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2022 11:25:59 GMT -5
Congratulations on your engagement. One of the many things that bother me about the PL is the fact it does so little, imho, to engage our alumni. Most of the schools are far removed from the areas with a high number of HC alums and frankly, I don't think any of the league schools move the needle in terms of interest. Fordham is an exception to what I just said. I was thinking more from a basketball angle.
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Post by matunuck on Jan 20, 2022 11:33:16 GMT -5
As is AU, Navy, and assoc mem GU -- lots of alums in DC area -- the AI is a bigger problem (athletically speaking) for the PL than geography
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 20, 2022 11:45:19 GMT -5
I am confident that both schools were added to accommodate Holy Cross since we have so much juice within the league.
1. BU, so that we could create the "Turnpike Trophy" which has been a smashing success with the fans of both schools sitting on the edge of their seats each game. 2.Loyola because it is a Jesuit school and affords our players an opportunity to hit the beltway at least once more each season.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 20, 2022 11:52:23 GMT -5
Congratulations on your engagement. One of the many things that bother me about the PL is the fact it does so little, imho, to engage our alumni. Most of the schools are far removed from the areas with a high number of HC alums and frankly, I don't think any of the league schools move the needle in terms of interest. With the exception of being in the same league as Fordham in football, I agree that the teams in the PL doesn't do a whole lot to move the needle as far as interest goes. Exceptions being the decade-or-so long "rivalry" we had with Bucknell in basketball and the football games versus Colgate when both teams are good. Back in the Willard days, home basketball games against the likes of Siena, Fairfield, Hofstra and St. Joe's always seemed to have more "juice" compared to those against any PL opponent other than the Bison. In football, Harvard, UNH and Dartmouth are always as big a game as any in the league. As was UMASS when they were still in our division. When it comes to convenience as far as fans traveling to away games, the biggest downside is the fact that we don't have any conference rivals in New England, unless you count this ferkakta Turnpike Trophy with BU. Tough to have a "rival" that only cares about one sport (hockey) and that's the one sport you don't play each other in. Colgate would be the most natural in-conference rivalry but it seems that it's very rare that we're ever BOTH good at football or basketball at the same time. And until recently, Colgate had one of the worst basketball followings in all of DI, while we were primarily a basketball school. Plus Hamilton is in the middle of nowhere. I'm someone who absolutely loves being a road warrior for Holy Cross sporting events, and I haven't been to a game of any kind up there since November 2008. I will say this -- for NY-area alum like myself, the Patriot League isn't bad if you like traveling to away games and have a vehicle. I go to the basketball and hockey games at West Point every year (planning to go to hockey tomorrow night if they allow fans...have yet to look it up) and it's a pleasant 50 minute weeknight trip from the Bronx by car. I also try to make it a point to get to whichever of the two Lehigh Valley schools we play in football. Very underrated trip from NYC -- heck, some lunatics even commute from out there on a daily basis. And of course, I get the Fordham football game every other fall.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 20, 2022 11:55:09 GMT -5
I am confident that both schools were added to accommodate Holy Cross since we have so much juice within the league. 1. BU, so that we could create the "Turnpike Trophy" which has been a smashing success with the fans of both schools sitting on the edge of their seats each game.2.Loyola because it is a Jesuit school and affords our players an opportunity to hit the beltway at least once more each season. Hey, at least we've already had one Men's Basketball sell-out against the Terriers! Last HC MBB sell-out was against BU in January 2017. This was Winter Homecoming as well as the banner-raising event for the prior year's PL Tournament Championship. And we returned just about all of that team minus Eric Green and Cullen Hamilton.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 20, 2022 12:20:36 GMT -5
Congratulations on your engagement. One of the many things that bother me about the PL is the fact it does so little, imho, to engage our alumni. Most of the schools are far removed from the areas with a high number of HC alums and frankly, I don't think any of the league schools move the needle in terms of interest. With the exception of being in the same league as Fordham in football, I agree that the teams in the PL doesn't do a whole lot to move the needle as far as interest goes. Exceptions being the decade-or-so long "rivalry" we had with Bucknell in basketball and the football games versus Colgate when both teams are good. Back in the Willard days, home basketball games against the likes of Siena, Fairfield, Hofstra and St. Joe's always seemed to have more "juice" compared to those against any PL opponent other than the Bison. In football, Harvard, UNH and Dartmouth are always as big a game as any in the league. As was UMASS when they were still in our division. When it comes to convenience as far as fans traveling to away games, the biggest downside is the fact that we don't have any conference rivals in New England, unless you count this ferkakta Turnpike Trophy with BU. Tough to have a "rival" that only cares about one sport (hockey) and that's the one sport you don't play each other in. Colgate would be the most natural in-conference rivalry but it seems that it's very rare that we're ever BOTH good at football or basketball at the same time. And until recently, Colgate had one of the worst basketball followings in all of DI, while we were primarily a basketball school. Plus Hamilton is in the middle of nowhere. I'm someone who absolutely loves being a road warrior for Holy Cross sporting events, and I haven't been to a game of any kind up there since November 2008. I will say this -- for NY-area alum like myself, the Patriot League isn't bad if you like traveling to away games and have a vehicle. I go to the basketball and hockey games at West Point every year (planning to go to hockey tomorrow night if they allow fans...have yet to look it up) and it's a pleasant 50 minute weeknight trip from the Bronx by car. I also try to make it a point to get to whichever of the two Lehigh Valley schools we play in football. Very underrated trip from NYC -- heck, some lunatics even commute from out there on a daily basis. And of course, I get the Fordham football game every other fall. Or more often when HC uses their home game to play at Yankee Stadium.🙂
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 20, 2022 12:34:49 GMT -5
On the topic of expansion, does anyone recall why the PL added Loyola & BU? In retrospect, was this a good decision? In retrospect.....maybe not. Who made a push for non-football playing members? While BU is a great academic school in a vibrant cultural location....their sports program is very thin. They don't have football or baseball and the fan community only cares about hockey. I don't know enough about Loyola other than their location. BU doesn't have Volleyball or Golf either. But they have a ton of club sports. A different approach from HC which uses the availability of participation in D-1 sports as part of the overall admissions strategy.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 20, 2022 12:37:58 GMT -5
But, are not Jesuit opponents worth the trip? Baltimore is worth the trip.🤔😂 That has to be the major city along the Eastern Seaboard that gets the least amount of love.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 20, 2022 13:10:53 GMT -5
But, are not Jesuit opponents worth the trip? Baltimore is worth the trip.🤔😂 That has to be the major city along the Eastern Seaboard that gets the least amount of love. Philly
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Post by bfoley82 on Jan 20, 2022 13:55:33 GMT -5
In retrospect.....maybe not. Who made a push for non-football playing members? While BU is a great academic school in a vibrant cultural location....their sports program is very thin. They don't have football or baseball and the fan community only cares about hockey. I don't know enough about Loyola other than their location. BU doesn't have Volleyball or Golf either. But they have a ton of club sports. A different approach from HC which uses the availability of participation in D-1 sports as part of the overall admissions strategy. BU has Women's Golf goterriers.com/sports/womens-golf
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Post by bfoley82 on Jan 20, 2022 13:59:07 GMT -5
On the topic of expansion, does anyone recall why the PL added Loyola & BU? In retrospect, was this a good decision? In retrospect.....maybe not. Who made a push for non-football playing members? While BU is a great academic school in a vibrant cultural location....their sports program is very thin. They don't have football or baseball and the fan community only cares about hockey. I don't know enough about Loyola other than their location. BU has the same amount of Patriot League Tournament titles (they won it in 2020) as Holy Cross in the last 14 years. Loyola won a national championship in Men's Lacrosse in 2012 and has made the NCAA Tournament in six seasons since joining the Patriot League. HC on the other hand has NEVER played in the tournament. You could make that the Holy Cross sports program success is thin.
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 20, 2022 14:07:58 GMT -5
Well, HC has enough of a sports reputation got attract trolls.
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Post by trimster on Jan 20, 2022 15:03:27 GMT -5
This discussion is pointless. No one the pL would ever consider wants to join, none of the pL schools want to leave, and other conferences aren't beating down the doors for any pL schools. Being in the Patriot League is like being in a witness protection program for college athletics.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 20, 2022 16:54:06 GMT -5
Well, HC has enough of a sports reputation got attract trolls. bfoley may just have a lot of free time to venture onto competitive boards. Maybe he wagered enough $$ on the HC-Merrimack football game that he's set for life and is enjoying early retirement.
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Post by JRGNYR on Jan 21, 2022 16:45:28 GMT -5
On the topic of expansion, does anyone recall why the PL added Loyola & BU? In retrospect, was this a good decision? When the power conferences all started expanding beyond 12 teams for football media market reasons, one result is that they all increased the number of regular season conference games in Men's and Women's Basketball. As a result, there were less non-conference games available. Therefore, you started to see a domino effect of mid-and-low-major conferences following suit when it came to expansion. While I personally don't think Loyola and BU add much to the league as far as engaged fan bases and MBB tradition, they definitely helped even things out geographically. And both strengthened a lot of the minor sports, with the elephant in the room being Loyola lacrosse. My fiancee is a Loyola grad so that's also fun being in the same conference. Bingo on the bold.
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Post by efg72 on Jan 21, 2022 17:06:00 GMT -5
Let’s get through this hoops season and find out if we have the same driver of the bus. Today they are asking the community to get on this bus, without a destination in mind, no idea about the toll it is taking on theHC community, or the future of the sport at this level. To top it off the driver of the bus has never driven a vehicle in his past.
If certain things fall into place and changes are made well then I think it is time to revisit the conference and have a conversation
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 21, 2022 18:23:22 GMT -5
Let’s get through this hoops season and find out if we have the same driver of the bus. Today they are asking the community to get on this bus, without a destination in mind, no idea about the toll it is taking on theHC community, or the future of the sport at this level. To top it off the driver of the bus has never driven a vehicle in his past. If certain things fall into place and changes are made well then I think it is time to revisit the conference and have a conversation Lesson: Don't hire a coach who has a Learner's Permit only unless you have an AD who has the skills and commitment to teach him how to drive.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jan 21, 2022 19:45:50 GMT -5
It's not an AD's job to teach a coach how to coach.
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Post by bfoley82 on Jan 22, 2022 2:41:41 GMT -5
It's not an AD's job to teach a coach how to coach. Or a 41 year old....
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