How would a "Super League" Affect BGSU

[jg4242]

Sorry Flip, gotta disagree with you on this one. An NCAA Division 1 National Championship is FAR more relevant than a mythical "small college" national championship voted on by the press. Ask an NFL player about BG, and you might hear about halloween-colored jerseys and Urban Meyer. Ask an NHL player about BG and you'll hear about Dan Bylsma, Kevin Bieksa, Rob Blake, national titles, and Olympic medalists. Hockey is where we have relevance to the sport at large. Not so with football.

[Falcon Fanatic]

WCHA athletic directors are meeting today:
http://www.sent-trib.com/bgsu-sports/wc ... y-07-14-11

[Flipper]

How is an imaginary poll of pro athletes relevant to this discussion? I'll bet if you ask 15 people in Vancouver where Kevin Bieksa went to college and you'll be extremely lucky if anyone tells you the right answer. If you guys really want to make this a football vs hockey fight you will surely lose. BG football has made a far greater imprint nationally than the hockey team...it's not even close.

The point I am tryng to make is you need to move off the "National Title" bit when discussing hockey. It's ANCIENT history...in that sense it's as relevant to the discussion as the 1959 football title. Apart from a small knot of hockey fans that's getting smaller here year-by-year, nobody cares about it.

[Falcon Fanatic]

How is an imaginary poll of pro athletes relevant to this discussion? I'll bet if you ask 15 people in Vancouver where Kevin Bieksa went to college and you'll be extremely lucky if anyone tells you the right answer. If you guys really want to make this a football vs hockey fight you will surely lose. BG football has made a far greater imprint nationally than the hockey team...it's not even close.

The point I am tryng to make is you need to move off the "National Title" bit when discussing hockey. It's ANCIENT history...in that sense it's as relevant to the discussion as the 1959 football title. Apart from a small knot of hockey fans that's getting smaller here year-by-year, nobody cares about it.

Seriously? Are you TRYING to drive me nuts? Well, it ALMOST worked! I had a B!G, LOUD response typed, but then decided to back off a little and walk away, take a breath, etc. Came back and decided to take the high road (very tough for me when emotions are so high regarding Falcon Hockey)!

As I said before, I do not know where we will end up, but I do know that we will be playing in some league, somewhere. And Falcon Hockey will be playing for a very, very long time. This program is not going away and I know that BG will be competing for national championships in the future. PERIOD.

[Falcon Fanatic]

And to add to the speculation/rumors, just got this from someone:

http://www.bcinterruption.com/section/ice-hockey
Click on the link for the full article. I quoted the part about BG:

If none of the ECAC or Atlantic Hockey expansion candidates are appealing, I'm starting to come around to the idea of adding Bowling Green and pairing with Notre Dame as a 12th program. BGSU seems like the most attractive expansion candidate of the WCHA-CCHA-Alabama-Huntsville remnants, especially when you consider:

1. Bowling Green wouldn't have to increase the number of scholarships offered with a move to HEA
2. Bowling Green pairs nicely as a traveling partner to Notre Dame in much the same way that Miami (Ohio) was an attractive option before the RedHawks moved to the NCHC.
3. The traditional HEA powers -- BC, BU, New Hampshire and Maine -- along with Notre Dame wouldn't have to worry about BGSU stealing an NCAA Tournament at-large in the foreseeable future
4. The Jerry York connection

Bowling Green also gives Hockey East a bit more reach and sweetens any potential new HEA TV deal. Paired with Notre Dame, HEA would then have a presence in both Indiana and Ohio. BGSU's proximity to Michigan and the midwest could also conceivably improve recruiting efforts for the 10 current Hockey East programs.

In many ways, expanding to 12 with Bowling Green seems more appealing than if the twelfth team was Miami (Ohio). I think the NCHC will quickly find out that creating a conference of six "super" programs might not be all that it's cracked up to be when some of those programs fail to make the NCAA Tournament year in and year out. Notre Dame adds a hockey power to HEA, but BGSU gives the conference a little more balance between the hockey heavyweights (5 programs) and the rest of the league (7).

[Flipper]

I'm not saying hockey won't be successful...I'm not saying that at all. I'm simply trying to point out that we need to look ahead on all fronts. Constantly bringing up the "National Title" doesn't help the cause of Falcon hockey...it simply reinforces the notion that it's yesterday's news. Trying to pit hockey vs football is a losing bet...people barely care about football here, but the number of fans attending football games is huge compared to hockey. It's a fight the hockey team can't win.

The University, the AD and the hockey team need to focus on the now...what do we have to do not be left on the island of misfit toys...what can the hockey team do to find a conference alignment that works. If we aren't going to see Notre dame or OSU or Michigan any more..OK...that sucks, but it's reality. Let's not just throw up our hands and say I guess UAH, Canisus and whoever will be OK replacements...they won't be. Not if you want to be a player on a national scale. That' my biggest concern...all the noise about the past...football vs hockey and everything else will be just enough of a distraction to see the program get locked into second class status forever...if you're lucky.

[Drago]

I just think at some point if we aren't included in a conference of signifigance, then down grade the program to Atlantic Hockey and be satisfied with that or just drop it completely. The Bring Back the Glory Campaign hasn't even raised close to what they were hoping. If we are included in the WCHA or the CCHA manages to survive then fine, keep everything status quo. Many people think Bergeron will turn everything around because he talks a lot about his plan and process. Bottom line is he's got two years to recruit off being the new coach, after that, he better be producing wins. The worst part is that this uncertainty is killing recruiting momentum that the team has

[transfer2BGSU]

The Bring Back the Glory Campaign hasn't even raised close to what they were hoping.

Just the other day I was wondering what happened to all of that money that was supposedly going to be flowing in once we got rid of Paluch.

There were a couple of former players that kept spouting off on these boards about how much money was going to come in once the university dumped Scott. Well....it never materialized.

[BGHockeyisRtradition]

BGHockeyisRtradition wrote:
For those saying get rid of Hockey...I would like to question where you went to school.


I went to BGSU, two degrees, live in BG, never attended a hockey in my life. There is no requirement to be a hockey fan to attend BGSU.

Really Warthog 2 degrees thats great, I am proud of you. My point is that if your a Falcon you should support the teams that have history and tradition at our university.

BGHockeyisRtradition wrote:
BGSU Hockey is the one sport at our school with any sort of tradition and history.


You're kidding right? Hockey - 7 league, 5 CCHA tournament champions; Football - 13 league/division champs; Men's Basketball - 9 league/division champs; Women's BB - 12 league/division champs, 10 tournament champs, Baseball - 9 league champs.

Hockey: 1 legitimate outright National Championship(enough for me but I will keep going/What other sport has this one at BG), 2 Frozen Fours, 9 NCAA Tournament appearances, 5 CCHA Conference Tournament Champs, 7 Conference Regular Season Champs, playing and beating teams like UofM and MSU on a regular basis(obviously not so much in our recent history though, I agree there). 2 Hoby Baker award winners, I forget how many total Olympians, and around 35 players going on to the NHL (around that number). Sorry but I dont see any other sport adding up to that record at BG.

BGHockeyisRtradition wrote:
Honestly, if we want to get rid of something...why do we have a gymnastics team? what is that doing for us?


Ever hear of Title IX? We have women's gymanstics, women's swimming, women's tennis and women's track and field (but no corresponding mens team) for this one reason.

Good job on the citation my friend BG has taught you well. Add Women's Hockey, there I solved the problem for you. What a meaningless point how would Title IX be a factor in this case? Especially since we would still maintain compliance. Go waste someone elses time and respond to their post.

I will close with something that should really make you upset...

Go BG Hockey!

Forever a Falcon

[jpfalcon09]

Many ex-players are upset that past donations to the hockey program ended up going to the general fund, so their reluctance to donate this time around is understandable. The program was neglected far too long for a fundraiser to help things anyways, everyone looks at the past 10 years of hockey here and its no secret things have been lean. Many colleges are now seeing hockey can be a legit revenue sport and are jumping at the opportunity, while smaller schools who either ignored their programs or can't afford to keep up will be left hanging around wondering what the hell to do next. Now is the time for BG to be proactive and not reactive.

[MacGuy]

7/15/2011 1:20:00 PM
MOORHEAD, Minn. - Minnesota State University Moorhead officials today announced that they have set a goal of raising $37 million for an endowment to fund the addition of NCAA Division I hockey at the University.

President Edna Szymanski confirmed that 40 percent of the goal has been committed and she is optimistic that the target will be reached.

Once the goal is in sight, Szymanski said she hopes to present the plan to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees. The board must approve the plan in order for the university to proceed.

“I have always thought this opportunity is clearly worthy of exploration,” President Szymanski said. “We came to the endowment model as a way we believe we could make it work. The most important point in our decision was that there would be no risk to taxpayer or tuition dollars.”

The endowment also would ensure that the hockey was sustainable over the long run and would make the team more attractive to college hockey leagues, Szymanski said.

Jan Mahoney, the university's vice president of finance and administration, said two feasibility studies show that Division I hockey would create over $12 to14 million dollars in economic impact to the Fargo-Moorhead community.

Athletic Director Doug peters indicated that concurrently with raising funds for the endowment model, MSUM will continue developing relationships with various conferences and their members to position the Dragons for conference affiliation.

The WCHA, CCHA and the NCHC released statements saying the future membership additions of each league has not been determined.

Mahoney and Szymanski said they welcome the opportunity to speak with potential investors. To set up a meeting with them, contact Maxine Pianka at 218-477-4321 or [email protected].

[Warthog]

Really Warthog 2 degrees thats great, I am proud of you. My point is that if your a Falcon you should support the teams that have history and tradition at our university.

Do I have to stand if I go to a women's basketball game? You don't need to tell me what or how to support Falcon athletics.

Add Women's Hockey, there I solved the problem for you. What a meaningless point how would Title IX be a factor in this case? Especially since we would still maintain compliance. Go waste someone elses time and respond to their post.

Do you understand that Title IX basically says you have to offer a comparable number of athletic scholarships for men and women? That was my point of listing all the women's sports we have, but no equal men's team. That aside, I didn't realize you meant to replace women's gymnastics with women's hockey. I'll just say that gymnastics is slightly less costly to the university and that is why there is no women's hockey team.

I will close with something that should really make you upset...

Go BG Hockey!

Why do you think that would upset me? You think I don't want the hockey team to succeed? Certainly I do. But, I also am trying to take an objective look at where the program is, what is happening in college hockey and figure out what might be best for the University as a whole, not just your beloved hockey program.

[BGHockeyisRtradition]

Do I have to stand if I go to a women's basketball game? You don't need to tell me what or how to support Falcon athletics.

Warthog, you will have to stand at all BG games, including gymnastics. At Hockey games you will need to stand and jump up and down; at the end of the game you will have to sing the alma mater with the team. Warthog I could care less what you do, I have no idea who you are; if you are a BG fan I am probably standing in the same section as you.

BGHockeyisRtradition wrote:
Add Women's Hockey, there I solved the problem for you. What a meaningless point how would Title IX be a factor in this case? Especially since we would still maintain compliance. Go waste someone elses time and respond to their post.


Do you understand that Title IX basically says you have to offer a comparable number of athletic scholarships for men and women? That was my point of listing all the women's sports we have, but no equal men's team. That aside, I didn't realize you meant to replace women's gymnastics with women's hockey. I'll just say that gymnastics is slightly less costly to the university and that is why there is no women's hockey team.

We seem to be in compliance irregardless. Please stop bringing up TitleIX. I am happy you are aware of TitleIX, please just don't start citing the constitution in your next response(well you might want to actually, it might help all of us, lol)

BGHockeyisRtradition wrote:
I will close with something that should really make you upset...

Go BG Hockey!


Why do you think that would upset me? You think I don't want the hockey team to succeed? Certainly I do. But, I also am trying to take an objective look at where the program is, what is happening in college hockey and figure out what might be best for the University as a whole, not just your beloved hockey program.

Well my friend, gotta be honest with you. You say that your objective, but really your comments seemed more one sided and attacking. I never said I was objective in this case. Even if there are 3 supporters like me out there at least half or more of the team should be funded. I may not like that we have a basketball team, but if it was in trouble I would support it, same with any of our other sports(sorry gymnastics, I said that earlier out of anger), I love BG, and I feel that BG has a better shot at winning a hockey national championship than any of our other sports(if we go East or National conf we have a shot still, maybe not in the CCHA as it sits right now), so yeah GO BG in Hockey, Soccer, Tennis, Cross Country, all of the sports, and especially Academics!

Go Falcons!!

[gmartin]

Can we please stop all the bickering and be Falcon Fans and just get along. Does it really help taking one jab after another to members of this site. I am far from perfect and guilty at making some comments at other members, but between this thread, Birdman in the football thread and Dustin in the basketball thread there is way too much fingering pointing and complaining. I enjoy coming to this site and I do not want our leader Grant to shut the site down again. Can we just all please get along. Forward Falcon.....

[Drago]

There is an article on uscho discussing the CCHA. Fred Pletch basically is waiting until things settle down, which tells me the conference has no plans of continuing past 12-13. Time to cut our losses and focus on improving the other sports...Let's make a change at AD and find someone with a plan to make us competitive in the MAC in more than just Womens Bball and baseball. Finishing in last place all the time leads to unhappy fans, get someone with an interest in improving BGSU athletics not just trying to use BG as a stepping stone.



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