(05-31-2019 10:12 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(05-31-2019 07:59 AM)WesternSkillet Wrote:  Amazing what people are coming up with to gain +3 reputation points.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using CSNbbs mobile app

You got something better for an unemployed old man to do on a Thursday morning in the off-season?

True. Technology has really given old guys a lot more free time.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/05/us/bus-st...index.html

(05-30-2019 08:42 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  I know June is the most common month to announce big changes, being the end of the official school year, but I was not expecting this. OK, I was expecting it some day, but not this year. As a donor, admittedly a quite minor one, I received this email:




Fellow Owls,

We write you today to inform you that the Rice University Board of Trustees has voted to discontinue our participation in NCAA Division 1 athletics.

Much has changed in college sports since Rice began at the highest level in 1912, and much of that change has occurred in the last three decades. During this time the expectations of world-class facilities and support has increased to an unsustainable level. In addition, our scholars are now subjected to travel levels unthinkable in the era of compact conferences.

Our athletic program will assume Division I Independent status as of June 30, 2020 and begin the process of re-classifying into Division III after voluntarily withdrawing from Conference USA next year.

Although no decision had officially been reached yet, we have options in Division 3 to align with like-minded peer academic institutions that were unavailable to us before. The University Athletic Association, the only NCAA conference to have all of its member schools affiliated with the Association of American Universities, has graciously offered to welcome us.

As always, Rice University will do everything possible to support our student-athletes. Those choosing to remain will have their scholarships honored throughout this transition. Any who choose to transfer will have the full support of our administration. Our students and their success continues to be a top priority.

Rice University will always celebrate its years of competition and high level success in NCAA Division 1 sports. We count on your continued support of our student-athletes as we begin the next chapter for our university and students.

An official announcement will be released Monday, June 3rd, with a press conference to be held later that day.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Tudor III, Chair, Board of Trustees
David W. Leebron, President
Joe Karlgaard, Director of Athletics

Damn, I always wished we could have had a rivalry with y’all. Guess that may not happen anymore.

(05-30-2019 11:51 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(05-30-2019 11:14 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(05-30-2019 03:18 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(05-30-2019 02:48 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(05-30-2019 01:11 PM)MidWestMidMajor Wrote:  I've gotten some good chuckles out of these "April Fools" posts.
It is the slow season, after all.

This one was well written and believable. With the expansion of the Big East/American, Rice has been effectively demoted to the Sun Belt. There are only 3 other schools in the conference that were FBS in 1995. Most have moved up more recently than that. 6 members haven't even been playing football at any level continuously for the last 25 years.

Of course they just got a donation for a new 80,000 sf practice facility.

I especially liked the reference to an invitation by the University Athletic Association. Their current membership:

Brandeis, Waltham MA
Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh PA
Case Western Reserve, Cleveland OH
Emory, Atlanta GA
NYU, New York NY
Chicago, Chicago IL
Rochester, Rochester NY
Washington U., St Louis MO

I believe Rice could compete with these academic heavyweights. The travel would suck, though.

Swimming might be tough. Emory women have won 21 straight UAA titles and 10 straight Division III titles. Think they have been top 5 nationally all but 2 or 3 years since the early 90s. Rice doesn't have a men's team.

Emory women may be good swimmers, but Agnes Scott women don't have trouble getting dates! I think Emory gets its women swimmers from the DDR!

Emory has some pretty cute girls on the swim team.

(05-30-2019 01:58 PM)cubucks Wrote:  I know many on here hate these posts, this was a good one!

I laughed long time.

The best thread on Page 1 of the Realignment Board is this one. All the tears it caused was pure gold!

(06-01-2019 10:02 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(05-30-2019 01:58 PM)cubucks Wrote:  I know many on here hate these posts, this was a good one!

I laughed long time.

The best thread on Page 1 of the Realignment Board is this one. All the tears it caused was pure gold!

There are many kinds of trolls and they have a wide variety of impact.

There are the idiot trolls who break down sincere conversation with persistent inane and irrelevant remarks.

There are the rude trolls who merely want to destroy board decorum.

There are vicious trolls who want to attack particular people or ideas.

There are humorous trolls who like the energizer bunny come in banging a drum and wearing pink to remind people about reality and to bust up group think.

There are scholarly trolls who attack using humor, truth, fiction, or parody in order to provoke thought. These have a quality that approaches that of a Twain or Will Rogers, or in a more modern sense, a Gallagher. They both entertain, dispel, and educate.

The job of moderation is not to get rid of all trolls or all trolling, just the rude, distracting, and pernicious ones.

Yep, some of these threads have been gold. We'll put them to a vote tomorrow.

This was one of the best fake news articles. All of it was believable except for the line "In addition, our scholars are now subjected to travel levels unthinkable in the era of compact conferences".

This is a totally plausible but unlikely scenario.

Well done.

(05-30-2019 03:18 PM)ken d Wrote:  I especially liked the reference to an invitation by the University Athletic Association. Their current membership:

Brandeis, Waltham MA
Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh PA
Case Western Reserve, Cleveland OH
Emory, Atlanta GA
NYU, New York NY
Chicago, Chicago IL
Rochester, Rochester NY
Washington U., St Louis MO

I believe Rice could compete with these academic heavyweights. The travel would suck, though.

The UAA is defunct in football. All its schools play in other conferences.

(05-30-2019 02:48 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  No, I love it. You know, after we tried with the Mountain West and the Big XII, and didn't get in, we picked up our ball, packed our bags, and went home.

Better that than asking in the AAC

Brilliant writing. And actually believable.

Good for us at least that it did shock some people...