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This a good thing? What say ye? Chryst has made some strides for the Mac from what it was but we could possibly do better IMO.

do you like losing the Boise State home games? The midweek games?

Well... I never did... so Rick Chryst leaving is good... time for some new fresh blood!

But he owes us one. And he is leaving.

Yeah, Chryst screwed some things up but he also did a lot for the MAC, imo. Some new blood is needed so it's a win-win situation.

This is too bad. I always liked Rick Chryst as a person, and I think he always did bring some character and class to the conference.

With that said, I do think it is a good opportunity for the conference to bring someone on board who is going to do more to foster a conference environment in which we can earn more than one bid to both the men's and women's tournaments, and bring about some long-term stability in conference membership (I'm referring here largely to Temple's involvement). Chryst did a fantastic job of increasing the national visibility of the conference, but I think these are two big issues that will need to be addressed in the coming years.

I would also hope that schools that do not fit the academic or competitive mission of the conference might be shown the door (EMU...). But maybe that is just wishful thinking.

It's a bad thing in my opinion. Rick is a great person first and foremost. And, you can't argue with his accomplishments during his tenure in the MAC. Good luck Commissioner in whatever you decied to do next.

Rollo83 wrote:It's a bad thing in my opinion. Rick is a great person first and foremost. And, you can't argue with his accomplishments during his tenure in the MAC. Good luck Commissioner in whatever you decied to do next.

Ooh, I forgot to add that last part. I really, really do wish him well in the future. He'll do some good somewhere, for sure.

Bleeding Orange wrote: I would also hope that schools that do not fit the academic or competitive mission of the conference might be shown the door (EMU...). But maybe that is just wishful thinking.

Better watch what you wish for.

How many conference championships has BG won in the last five years and then compare that to the conference championships EMU has won.

Based upon your comment, BG would be shown the door.

You can say what you want, But he has done great things for the MAC. Look at the number of Bowl Tie ins the MAC has. BG has had some teams that would have went bowling had we had this many tie ins. I hate losing to Boise, but we are on TV, and the mid-week games, somebody is going to play them It might as well be BG & the MAC to get the $$$$$$. The MAC is better now then when he got here.

Who is up for Beer Pong in the Basement?

"Un-Falcon-Believable"

IronFalcon77 wrote:You can say what you want, But he has done great things for the MAC.

The MAC is more than football though....

I like the MAC tourney being at the Gund/Q/whatever... beyond that though, MAC hoops has gone down.... Down.... DOWN since the Antonio Gates/KSU days....

No disrespect to Mr. Chryst and the job he has done but with the yearly increases in the number of bowl games they had to give them to someone. Some of the BCS conferences already had 8 or 9 bids, the Big Ten had 7 and can rarely fill them. The accomplishment will be when the economic downturn inevitably reduces the number of bowl games can the MAC sustain the amount they have now. On another aside with the recent extension with ESPN it seems Mr. Chryst has left his mark on the MAC for some time to come, for good or bad.

Ehh...good and bad. Met him briefly before the Mardi Gras parade in Mobile '04. Nice guy. However, I don't feel bad that he's leaving. He's done a fair amount for the conference, but I don't think it's any stretch to say that there is more work to be done. I do think this could be a great opportunity for the MAC to get someone in who can really grow the conference. Best of luck to him in whatever he decides is next.

ZiggyZoomba wrote:

IronFalcon77 wrote:You can say what you want, But he has done great things for the MAC.

The MAC is more than football though....

I like the MAC tourney being at the Gund/Q/whatever... beyond that though, MAC hoops has gone down.... Down.... DOWN since the Antonio Gates/KSU days....

I do think Chryst has done a lot of good as far as getting MAC football into the public eye. However, we have become the whores of ESPN and would play a game at 2:00AM on a Tuesday to get on ESPN News, I think. Of course we probably have to take the good with the bad in that regard.

I do agree though that the quality of MAC basketball has gone WAY down in the last 5 years or so, and that's a real shame. I don't know if you can blame the commissioner or not, but it really seems as though the MAC has taken resources away from basketball in order to attempt to get better exposure in football. The real kick in the nuts is that the conference has gotten far worse at football in the last 5 years as well.

transfer2BGSU wrote:

Bleeding Orange wrote: I would also hope that schools that do not fit the academic or competitive mission of the conference might be shown the door (EMU...). But maybe that is just wishful thinking.

Better watch what you wish for.

How many conference championships has BG won in the last five years and then compare that to the conference championships EMU has won.

Based upon your comment, BG would be shown the door.

Nobody cares about women's tennis or men's cross country. EMU sucks at every sport that has visibility, and they've been bad for a long time. And within the shadow of UM, they'll probably always be bad. Plus, academically they are one of the worst schools in DIA. If they left the conference tomorrow, IMO it'd be addition by subtraction.

hammb wrote:However, we have become the whores of ESPN and would play a game at 2:00AM on a Tuesday to get on ESPN News, I think.

At least most people get ESPN News, compared with the channels they stick us on now.