JCF

This article is an embarrassment to all in the A10 and the administration that governs the conference!

The title of article is "CAA and Atlantic 10 On Equal Ground"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031401878.html

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Esquared

RhodeIslandRed

Fire Linda Bruno!

Blue Dog

This seems to be a media theme this week, first DeCourcey and now this guy.

Winning some games will do more to fix this perception than firing Bruno will, but I have to admit she doesn't do anything to inspire confidence. In fact every time I hear her speak I feel like I've just wasted a few more minutes of my life.

In the end, it's still about wins in March, and we have a whole lot more of them than the CAA and MVC do. That is a trend that must continue.

WH

Read the article this morning.

My first reaction was: Where’s the Post story saying the MVC is now on par with the ACC because both conferences got four bids. (In fact, the Post and other pubs have been quick to point out the vast difference in seeds to show the ACC is still a much better conference).

My second reaction was: typical. Sports writers always seem to pay more attention to the A-10 when it’s not doing well than when it is doing well. Seems like every preseason going back a decade now that our league is considered “down” until it proves that it is up. By that point, the year is mostly over and the publicity does not accrue. Graduation losses are assumed and we are once again considered down before the next season starts.

I think I can remember just one year, 97 or 98, when we got a lot of preseason hype – but then we blew it and failed to match expectations.

My final reaction was a bit different. Maybe this article, along with several others, will spur the league to action. There are lots of things we can improve.

One of those things if facilities. Seems that most of the Colonial programs have done a good job upgrading facilities. I havent looked at all the arenas in the CAA, but I sense that we don’t have much of an edge, if any. We got half the schools playing in nice buildings and the other half scrimping along (Joes, LaSalle, GW, Fordham, to some extent Duquesne and Bonaventure.)

I know Duquesne is doing some work on its arena, but it seems like Joe’s, Fordham and LaSalle have foresaken any near term improvements. I think this is very shortsighted. Maybe those schools don’t need and cant afford 10,000 seat arenas, but Hofstra has a very nice 5K building built a few years ago that looks nice on TV.

The A-10 still has an edge over leagues like the Colonials in many ways. There really is no reason why we can’t be the 7th best conference in the nation on an annual basis. But there has to be pressure on every school to see what it can do to achieve that status year in and year out.

Lari Ketner

Don't worry, guys, the UMass revival is coming.

JoDete93

Fordham will soon (next month or two I am told) announce a major capital campaign that will include a state of the art science center, an new expanded law facility and a new athletic center. Cannot provide details b/c I honestly don't have them, then again I am not sure if I could provide them even if I did.

That said, we all know that these buildings don't get put up in a year or two, the capital campaign alone probably lasts that long. I am not sure what a realistic timeframe is, but I get the feeling that it will end up being closer to 10 years before we see a convocations center than it will be to 4 to 5 years.

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tiocfaidh ár lá!

Mik

A new arena is on LaSalle's facility expansion campaign now underway. However, a new science center is first on that list and building for the science center is supposed to start next year. After that I am hopeful a new arena is on the horizon.

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LaSalle University - The only A-10 team with a National Championship

AH

Amen! Two years ago the A-10 was considered to be having a "down year". Why else would SJU be able to go undefeated?

It seems like the national media decides if the A-10 is down based on how Temple and UMass are projected. If Temple and UMass aren't in the preseason Top 25 it's considered a down year for the A-10.

Free Quebec

My first reaction is that Linda Bruno should be SCREAMING at this reporter for quoting the stupid, meaningless, and misleading overall RPI figure in claiming that the CAA has been finished ahead of the A-10 two straight years, when the truth is, the A10 has actually finshed AHEAD of the Colonial in each of the last two years.

GW gets ripped non-stop for it's strength of schedule, but the CAA played a horrid schedule and the ENTIRE league didn't beat a single BCS team ranked in the top 90. Even more than the MVC, all they did is build good records against weak teams, lose to their good opponents, then get to conference play where the bottom half of the league stinks (giving many easy wins to the upper teams) and buidling their RPIs by splitting home and homes.

BSetMeUp

Great for all of you. Unfortunately Stephen Joel puts our athletic facilities at around 15th on his priority list. Apparently he wants a top-10 team consistently before he'll invest in something so trivial...

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"Git-R-Done"

-Bumber sticker on East Owner's rusted out Chevy Nova

gony4983

I was pissed about this. So I wrote Steinberg an email saying he should write an article today called "ACC and MVC on Equal Ground". This is what he wrote back...

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There have certainly been many articles, including several in our paper, pointing out that the MVC and ACC were in the same tournament position this year, which is truly shocking. I went in another direction, pointing out that the CAA and A10, which were on completely different levels a few years ago, have received the same number of tourney bids two years in a row. Which is also, if not shocking, at least mildly surprising.

Is the RPI flawed? Sure. Is the fact that the CAA now has a better RPI than the A10, after trailing the A10 by a huge margin for a decade, pretty interesting? I think so.

Did I judge the leagues solely on RPI? Gosh, I don't think so. The CAA's 11-8 record against the A10 over the past two years is pretty interesting. So is the fact that the CAA's third-place team this season, Hofstra, won AT the A10's third place team, Lasalle. Home teams win 75 percent of the time in college basketball. So this is, again, interesting.

Now, do I think the CAA is better? No. Do I think the A10 will probably get more tournament bids than the CAA next year? Yes. Do I think GW will beat UNCW tomorrow? Yes. But were recent developments worthy of a modest newspaper story on the eve of an NCAA tournament game between the two best teams from these leagues? Heck yeah.



Dan Steinberg
Sports Department
The Washington Post
(202) 334-6532 (w)
(202) 334-7685 (f)
(202) 253-6494 (c)
steinbergd@washpost.com



-----Adam Mandelson <adam.mandelson@gmail.com> wrote: -----

To: steinbergd@washpost.com
From: Adam Mandelson <adam.mandelson@gmail.com>
Date: 03/15/2006 10:35AM
Subject: Message via washingtonpost.com


Adam Mandelson sent the following message:

C'mon, the A-10 and the CAA? Just because the committee disrespects the A-10, the RPI is deeply flawed, and Linda Bruno doesn't know how to run a conference means the CAA is on equal terms?

But while judging conferences solely on RPI (again, flawed) and NCAA bids (up to a committee that does a worse job each year), I assume your article tomorrow will be called "MVC and ACC on Equal Ground".

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Aww GDub...

bobber

Don't read the Washington Post, so I'll have to ask innocently: was there an "MVC and ACC on Equal Ground" article in the paper today?

OK, I know the anwser. Mr. Steinberg wants to keep his job. He won't pick on anybody like the ACC.