Greg Christopher leaving for Xavier

[transfer2BGSU]

Why would we keep Orr??? He could always move up to the AD position.....

I had to review who posted this comment. I was wrong. It sounded so much like something Globetrotter would say.

[BGSUFanatic7]

Interesting twist. Keeping Orr was made into a, "We just fired teachers, we can't buyout a coach and then hire a new one."

And now here we are. About to hire a position that is way bigger than Men's Basketball coach.

[orangeandbrown]

But we're not going to pay a guy not to be AD...

[Globetrotter]

Why would we keep Orr??? He could always move up to the AD position.....

I had to review who posted this comment. I was wrong. It sounded so much like something Globetrotter would say.

You are the only one who makes negative personal attacks on this board anymore. Grow up bro. You are supossed to be representing the University and are doing a horrible job of it. You ruin this board for me.

[Globetrotter]

This is a step down right? I mean Xavier athletically isn't the same as a MAC position right?

[HoopsFan]

Man, what's wrong with you guys? We get to say goodbye to Greg Fundraiser, the new AD can hire a new coach next year, and Orr still has ABOUT 120 DAYS left to be a horrible coach. The good thing is, since he's still coach, we don't have to worry about the signees decommitting (sp?) and there's a really good chance that Orr will be on a short leash, as in, if he loses 10 in a row like this year, he can be dismissed.

Looks like a win-win result to me

HoopsFan

Besides, our arrogant coach can now have a little fun. He has nothing to lose. Oh yeah, the AD's contract was really up in August, so perhaps he DIDN'T get an extension with the new prez.

[Rollo83]

How about this scenario...Christopher wants to fire Orr but BG President tells him he can't do that in current environment with budget and faculty.

Christopher sees handwriting on the wall and feels he's not the one calling the shots for the athletic department now. He puts some feelers out and takes the first D1 job he's offered.

It's possible...

[factman]

.......or Dr Mazey didn't want him hiring another coach!

[threestooges]

How 'bout this scenario? BGSU doesn't have money to pay two men's basketball coaches at the same time. That doesn't change no matter who the AD is.

Additional scenario: What if Xavier is not a step down? I love BGSU as much as the next irrationally crazy message-board visitor, but let's take a look at possible reasons he (Mr. Christopher) might want the XU job...

* I don't know what financial shape XU is in, but clearly money is tight at BGSU. Perhaps he will have the opportunity to operate without his hands (and his checkbook) tied behind his back at XU.

* XU has been historically strong in men's basketball, and they do not have other 'major' sports like football and hockey taking a piece of the financial pie. Basketball is clearly king at XU, and it might be easier to keep all of the other coaches happy at a place like that.

* Maybe, just maybe, he and his family like the idea of living in a larger city. I love Bowling Green, but some people prefer cities to small towns. He's got a wife and three kids, so perhaps there were some family-related decisions at play here.

*And, at the risk of mentioning religion on the men's basketball board perhaps he and his family like the idea of being affiliated with a Catholic school. I don't know anything about the man's religious beliefs, but this is certainly a possibility.

As I said in another thread, I don't have any concrete way of backing this up (other than revealing the name of the person who told me, which I will not do), but I know for a fact that Dr. Mazey and Mr. Christopher had agreed on a contract extension which I believe would have been 4 years in length. Maybe someone who covers the team for a newspaper, TV station or blog can check into this. Or, you can all just assume I'm making it up. I'm fine with it either way.

[factman]

OK....OK......you sold me. Good for him........BETTER for us!

[BGFalconfromCincy]

This is a step down right? I mean Xavier athletically isn't the same as a MAC position right?

You are right, Xavier isn't the same as a MAC position athletically, its better. Its a step up if they were staying in the A10 and its for sure a step up now that they are joining the new Big East. We always talk around these parts about the MAC being a one bid hoops league, A10 got 5 bids this year, even with one of its top teams (Xavier) having a down year. New Big East, even without Georgetown, Syracuse, or Pitt, will still be a multiple bid league, bring in very good money on its TV deal for being a non-football league. Even with the split new Big East > MAC, and its not even close.

Plus he gets to move to Cincinnati, no downside in that

[HoopsFan]

Some people laughed when Larranaga went to George Mason (for a salary increase) and look where he is now.

I'm pretty sure Greg Christopher got a raise, and probably has to do less fundraising than at BG with less sports teams to worry about. Jack Carle already pointed out that BG's budget was sorry. Greg wins. BG wins in that we are ready for a change...be it for better, or worse, or we just break even.

I didn't exactly dislike GC until he suggested that we were directionally moving up in Men's basketball, but at least he was diplomatic about it. After all, what would we have said if he pointed out that basketball was a LOSER and we didn't have enough money to fire the coach with 2 years on his contract?

So, good luck to Greg, who's moving to a bigger market, bigger exposure, and bigger income Do we speculate on who would be a good AD hire? That ought to keep azz busy for at least 2 weeks.....

HoopsFan

[Falconfreak90]

How about this scenario...Christopher wants to fire Orr but BG President tells him he can't do that in current environment with budget and faculty.

Christopher sees handwriting on the wall and feels he's not the one calling the shots for the athletic department now. He puts some feelers out and takes the first D1 job he's offered.

It's possible...

This makes a lot of sense to me...exciting to see who we will bring in.

[hammb]

The bottom line for me is that I don't think Christopher was committed to putting winning programs on the field/court/ice. He let us wallow in the misery of Gregg Brandon until he publicly humiliated himself and the fans. He let us wallow in the misery of Orr for the past several years, even intimated that we were heading the right direction when clearly we had flatlined. He let us wallow in the misery of Paluch. He took away funding/scholarships from baseball, etc.

I think he was a business guy trying to run an athletic department. He did a damn good job finding some massive donations. Between Sebo, the Stroh, and the Frack donation those have to be 3 of the largest athletic donations in BGSU history. 2 directly resulted in greatly improved facilities for our athletes...the third will hopefully be used to make the men's hoops team a priority with the new AD.

When it came to coaches and their salaries, however, I think he was incredibly short-sighted. I don't think he felt as though improving the quality of play would greatly increase the revenue. As such he hired bargain basement coaches, and then never showed a willingness to buy them out when it was clear they were wrong for the program. The result is that we've lost a LOT of potential life-long fans that have never seen a consistent winner in football, basketball, OR hockey while they were at BG.

This athletic department needs somebody to come in and commit to winning. They need to realize that the department may need to take financial hits initially, but if they can build a tradition of winning revenue will grow and so will student support. As student support grows revenue should grow even quicker as you build a base of alumni who actually care about, and support, BGSU athletics.

Winning cures so much...we need an AD that is willing to do what it takes to build winners in all of our revenue sports. We often lament how our students/fanbase care more about OSU than they do BG...I can tell you a major reason why we appear so "small time" by comparison is that we flat out haven't committed to winning. OSU does what it takes to put winners out in every sport. That should be the goal of any athletic department.

[Tech83]

....... since we've now got the conference's top student athlete workout center and top basketball arena.

Since I haven't watched a game at the Stroh, I can't comment if its the best arena in the MAC. From touring the facility, it is very impressive.

However, I can comment on the Sebo. I think the Student Athlete Center at Miami is head and shoulders above the Sebo. The Sebo gym is cramped in comparison to the two story weight room at Miami. The attached student study areas also puts it head and shoulders above the Sebo. Personally (and professionally speaking), I think the Sebo tries to be too many things. Conference Center, Bleachers, pseudo-luxury boxes, fitness center. I find it a disappointment.