Terrier Fan

Sure. Get the school with the smallest enrollment in Div.1 into the league so that BU can beat up on them.

bosiydid

Commish explains...she's right on the mark.

http://blog.timesunion.com/collegesp...he-rule/13932/

__________________

UVM Hoop Cat

Of course she is, never in question.

She does a great job explaining as well- direct, clear and concise. That is how governance works.

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

Dane96

Well...this is Amy's strength: Compliance.

That shit...was spoken like a lawyer/compliance officer and was well thought out. Expected nothing less.

Now the BU fans I have come to enjoy over the years...can you please direct your anger at your administration. The rule is 7+ years old.

oldvmter

terrier fan,
i assume you're not referring to men's basketball.

NU Hoop Fan

Did she really tell anyone anything they didn't already know?

__________________
Today is the first day of the next 86 years!

bosiydid

No but it certainly sounds a bit more authoritative coming from her...

__________________

UNHFan

I would have loved to see her talk about her plan for the Aeast going forward!

farfromtheshow

I don't really understand the tone that anyone on any side is taking on this at this point: Of course BU knew the rules: I haven't seen anyone from within the BU administration say that BU didn't know the rule or that what the league did was illegal... but maybe I missed something. BU knew damn well what was going on and that this was a possibility.

On the flip side, anyone from BU (fan or administrative member) who tries to spin it that anything that the America East did was illegal, or was not allowed in the bylaws, or that BU didn't know it was a possibility and was "blind-sided" is dead wrong as well.

I also think anyone who gets mad at the BU administration for this move really... doesn't have a clue: BU felt it was the right move to make for a host of reasons (the big one being they didn't have faith in the AE staying together over the long run and did not want to be left when the check came... and, because the SCHOOL higher ups wanted to move to the PL because of academics). And since BU felt it was the RIGHT MOVE, the only way a senior class wouldn't have been screwed over would be if Boston University didn't leave in spite of their beliefs that the Patriot League was the right move to make for the school... and in the end, they wouldn't be leaving because they were being held hostage by the other league members... a very bad reason to stay.

With that said, the ONLY real argument should be, I suppose, ethically were the actions of what the rest of the league presidents did scummy or not. I'm not going to comment on that. They had every right to do it within the by-laws, at the same time, no other school that has left the AE since 1989 has ever been banned from AE tournament play. It is what it is, kids who had nothing to do with the decision got hurt. I don't think anyone can fault BU for leaving: their only options were either stay, or leave when they did - they couldn't have had a handshake and a wink "hush-hush" deal with the PL and then scrammed after the season, the PL didn't want to risk being left at the alter if another offer came along for BU. The PL also wouldn't let BU join in 2 years... it was take it or leave it.

With that said, once again, the league members were completely within their rights. I think what the Commish said was pretty much a non-story other than the fact that she spoke publicly: this was all stuff that everyone knew...

My 2 cents.

Urban Barrister

I was with you up until this:

How on Earth were the rest of the Presidents possibly scummy (ethically or otherwise) for enforcing a rule that was on the books?!

As the Commissioner so eloquently said:

There's nothing scummy there at all.

Not to beat a dead horse, but the only arguably scummy behavior here was on the part of BU's administration.

Arguably, it was scummy of them to give the league a year's notice, rather than the two years prescribed in the league's by-laws. While it's true that the by-laws allows for the possibility that a school could leave without giving two years' notice, the reason for prescribing two years in the first place was to define the ideal amount of time required to minimize the harm a decision by one school to leave might cause the remaining schools.

Arguably, it was also scummy for BU to leave early because doing so was going to cost its seniors the chance to play in the league's post-season tourneys.

Dane96

Honestly...I am usually on with you...but you are in left-field all alone on this. They tried to make the member schools look bad...period.

The schools are now saying...it is you who should look bad to your student-athletes.

It was a cheap move by Lynch with regard to the publicity...and this--AE athletics--is a multi-million dollar business. As a business man, I am totally pissed off that Lynch tried to spin this.

It was completely classless.

Your point about 1989 is moot-- the members, including BU, decided to slap some laws down in 2005. So anything before Northeastern's move is an argument with zero legs.

lsbal84

Honestly I am just glad that the commish made a public comment about this. Also whether you agree with the stand the AE Presidents took or not , what I do like about it is they showed some strength. The conference always seemed weak in the past and the decision they enforced was not a weak one by any stretch.

farfromtheshow

I did a poor job of wording my last point to make it understandable. I was not saying that the actions WERE "scummy." What I was trying to do was say that all of the before-mentioned points were FACTS (the bylaw was in place, BU knew about them, the league was within their rights, but at the same time, Boston University's reasons for leaving the AE were also very understandable, etc). My point was, that I guess the only arguing that can be made is to weather or not the action by the league presidents was the "Right thing to do" so to speak, because that is open to interpretation/opinion... My point was the only arguments that can be made at this point are based on opinions, not facts, that is all...

But to correct one fact, Boston University could not have given the league 2 years notice if they were going to leave: Last year (2 years from 2013-2014) there was no offer from the Patriot League on the table, so 2 years notice for a 2013 move was not an option. This year, the Patriot League presented a take-it-or-leave-it option of joining for the 2013-2014 academic year. They did not give BU the option of joining in 2 years. It was Now or never, 2013 or never. BU's choice was either stay in the AE to not take the potential post season ban (and thus the seniors don't get hurt), which would really be tantamount to staying because they were being held hostage. Or it was leave and face the potential ban...

That was my only point.

Dane96

And that is a business risk that businessmen face every day.

They took the risk...and tried to make those left holding the bag out to be the bad ones.

Take the risk and shut up. Take the risk and spin doctor it...I have zero sympathy.

farfromtheshow

I'm not sure why you're jumping on me on this one, I'm not saying the league was wrong, I'm not saying BU the institution or athletic program is a victim. I think I've been pretty neutral on this other than stating what my understanding is of the facts.

If you read my piece on O'Brien, I could easily have worded it to make the league look like the bad guys, but I stayed middle of the road on "who was to blame" basically saying that both side acted in a way that was within their best interests, basically... and that's how I feel at this point.

I think EVERYONE shares the blame on this one int he AE. Seriously, if you go far back, there are so many programs that, had they done things a little differently, maybe the AE isn't in this situation right now and BU doesn't leave: If BU doesn't kill Hockey East, the league is likely much stronger and more stable; if Hartford doesn't block CCSU from joining, the league is likely more stable; is Binghamton doesn't do everything the way they did to completely ruin the conference strength and bring a ton of bad publicity to the AE, the league is likely more stable; if Maine CARES about their athletics as a whole in general, perhaps the league is more stable; if most of the other teams in the league had the ambition to grow their athletic programs like Stony Brook, the league is likely much stronger and more stable; if the league as a whole had more foresight when Northeastern left and offered Quinnipiac, instead of holding out and thinking either the CAA teams would come back or URI would join the conference, the league is likely more stable...

My point is that BU left, I understand a ton of the animosity from the fans of remaining schools and administration of remaining schools because they feel like BU left them high and dry, and then tried to spin it to throw the remaining schools under the bus on the way out. On the flip side, however, almost every school in the league played some part in making the AE weaker to the point that BU felt the need to leave. AND, lets be honest here, right now, likely, if any other AE school was offered by the Patriot League, they would follow BU out the door... I'm not jumping on the AE, I'm just being realistic.