Did anyone get the impression from his interview that he is desperate to maintian membership and felt the ship could be sinking?
There was too much discussion of increasing penalties to members (I assume he means possible future exit fees) and also of all the assurances he has gotten from members about how happy they are in the MAC.
Sounded desperate.
Desperate for a 3rd bowl or else...
Desperate to maintain current tv commitments...
Desperate to demonstrate losing Marshall football (and to a much MUCH lesser extent UCF)(the team every conference is drooling over, right?) does not effect the conference...
What he wanted to come off as optomism in the future struck me exactly the opposite.
:(
owen Wrote:Did anyone get the impression from his interview that he is desperate to maintian membership and felt the ship could be sinking?
No.
Well, I detected some understandable frustration about the "3rd bowl" situation, but with regards to membership you'd have to expect him to maintain a "happy face" despite the departure of Marshall and UCF.....what else can he reasonably do?
I give him a lot of credit for the way he has conducted himself, especially in light of some of Marcum's negative comments (about the MACC, etc.). Chryst seems to take the "high road" at all times.
yes owen, I sense it as well.
:rofl:
HerdKixButt Wrote:yes owen, I sense it as well.
If Herdkixbutt could sense the depsperation I MUST be onto something!
That guy KNOWS desperate!
I think he sounded more concerned than desperate.
I couldn't disagree more with those of you who see "desperation" and "concern" in Chryst's comments.
This guy has always been straightforward and never paints a rosier picture than is warranted.
I'm armed with numerous optimistic quotes from the interview but will restrict myself to just a couple here.
With regard to new Division 1A standards, Chryst says, "I know one thing, whatever standard is left, ALL of the MAC schools will make it."
He goes on to say, "The MAC is in the best possible position it ever has been in and I am very excited about it."
There are many other very positive specific comments in the interview.
Now, as for reading between the lines, here are a couple of impressions I have.
1-a great deal of attention is being given to "internal" issues. At one point, Chryst says, "we have been working hard on how we are going to recommit to each other and fully reexamine ourselves from top to bottom". I interpret this to mean that serious attention is being given to improving the MAC as a whole, looking at each member. Each member is respected and the MAC wants to pull together to strengthen everyone. Frankly, I find this commendable and a breath of fresh air in comparison to the backbiting you see in some other conferences.
2-a cooperative approach is being taken towards other conferences, working to strengthen MAC ties. This is especially true of the MAC and the Big Ten. I suspect there are projects in the works here. Hopefully, some of these projects can be realized.
Overall, I feel Chryst is commited to "doing things right" when it comes to advancing the MAC. I'm sure, for example, that he is very proud of and will make use of the MAC's leading the nation among all Div. 1A conferences in the number of teams that graduated over 70% of its student-athletes.
He couldn't have seemed LESS desperate. If he was desperate, he would have bit on numerous chances to take the victim's approach and rip on the BCS/Big 10, etc. On the contrary, he says the MAC has to do what it has to do, strengthen itself from within and let everything else take care of itself. One thing the dude is not is a whiner.
A few quotes from the commish. Nothing but blue skies ahead!
1. "lay footwork towards our future in terms of having a common vision as a conference and develop accountability and identity within the league"
meaning: We all need to get on board here because I'm sure the grass looks greener outside the MAC & if you want to leave we'll penalize the crap out of you.
2. "during this time of volatile college athletics with so many schools changing affiliations and other situations happening within the coaching and player ranks, the twelve MAC schools for 2005 going forward have been working hard on how are we going to recommit to each other and how to re-brand and fully reexamine ourselves from top to bottom"
meaning: I've got a lot of work to do just to get the schools we have left to get on board with the whole committed to the MAC concept. God, I know our top teams are the targets of other conferences!
3. "Nick, having a 3rd bowl for the MAC is our top priority."
meaning: If we can't get a new bowl certified by the NCAA before the start of the next season the MAC's ****** is grass!
4. "We are not going backwards by any means, we are moving forwards and the future is extremely bright for us."
meaning: Is anybody buying this line of BS I'm feeding them? Please love me!
5. "We'll be fine without MArshall."
meaning: God I hope Toledo fans can forget the past and the hosing I've been giving the ROckets since I became commissioner.
Okay. I fabricated the last quote.