The Rhode Island game is off. Note the statement regarding CAA football members playing independent schedules ... "Rhode Island will not exercise this option." Includes comments from URI AD.

https://gorhody.com/news/2020/7/17/gener...pring.aspx

Only thing left now is MAC games, but highly doubtful imo.

Why do we need our members searching other websites to inform us that the first home is cancelled? This information should be coming from our AD's office.

The following is a reprint of post #40 from the "Two Months to Opener" thread:

Okay, if this is truly the case, then what the hell is wrong with NIU Media Relations? Why isn't something updated on the Huskie website. Better yet, why isn't there just a short story with some spin from Frazier or Hammock? "We understand Rhode Island's decision, but we are still moving ahead and monitoring circumstances relative to the remainder of our schedule. Should upcoming schedules provide an opening that fits, NIU will still welcome the Rams to Huskie Stadium sometime in the future."

So an FCS operation is making an announcement regarding our home schedule? That should not happen at any true FBS (Division I) institution.

You have to cut our AD’s office some slack. They are simply too busy keeping track of all the things they are keeping secret from all the season ticket holders and non-mega donors. Plus, they are too busy coddling the mega donors. To do all this is a lot of work and the short staff is just too busy to keep the common fan, season ticket holder, and donor informed. Maybe we should start sending our donations to the University of Rhode Island!

This is just social media moving faster than athletic media departments. None of the P5’s who have games scheduled with CAA teams have updated their sites or have news on their homepage. Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest. I imagine they’ll all announce it soon.

(07-19-2020 12:41 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  This is just social media moving faster than athletic media departments. None of the P5’s who have games scheduled with CAA teams have updated their sites or have news on their homepage. Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest. I imagine they’ll all announce it soon.

Good point. The URI story was dated Friday and this is the weekend, so add that into the announcement timing. Immediately after the CAA announcement I had the time to surf and found the URI post. There are benefits to being almost, possibly, sorta semi-retired.

As to NIU, considering that an expert is someone who has made three correct guesses in a row, I'll opine ...

--- The A.dept. likes to keep anything in-house and make all decisions without any outside input and, when it does let anything out, notify big donors first. Recall it took us two years to learn the cheerleaders had been cut and relegated to club status supported by fundraising. This "territorial" attitude began after then-AD Cary Groth left and has been tightened up more and more ever since.

--- Budget cuts = reduced staff time, maybe staff cuts we haven't been told about (combined with almost zilch discussion/info coming out of NIU other than vague, generic news). Also consider it's still vacation season.

--- Any big donors consider knowing first as standard equipment for their support, aka, "being in the know."

On a larger scale, does anyone know anything about what is going on at NIU, our hallowed PUBLIC university?

(07-19-2020 12:41 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  This is just social media moving faster than athletic media departments. None of the P5’s who have games scheduled with CAA teams have updated their sites or have news on their homepage. Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest. I imagine they’ll all announce it soon.

Exactly.

The things people get their undies in a bunch over. Especially in times like these.

On this, may be a bit early to get on the a.dept. for not making a "lightning" announcement. URI probably just tacked its decision on right after what the CAA announced, right in front of the weekend.

Imo, don't think people are getting their undies in a bunch. I think it reflects a larger, lingering frustration with the a.dept. for just not saying much of anything on some things, as if "it's none of your business," to fans it needs to buy tickets and make donations. I repeated the cheerleader situation as an example. This kind of reaction has appeared on several other threads when something is posted before the official website.

This modus operandi is well-known to long-time fans and needs no documentation ... unless you want to see one of the longest threads in Dog Pound history. Individually, I don't. 'Nuff said by me.

Thanks for the link but did I miss a BYU cancellation? I feel silly to ask. Our game is still on their website.

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Last I heard the game was moved back to Huskie Stadium. I have not heard it being cancelled yet.

(07-19-2020 03:34 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  On this, may be a bit early to get on the a.dept. for not making a "lightning" announcement. URI probably just tacked its decision on right after what the CAA announced, right in front of the weekend.

Imo, don't think people are getting their undies in a bunch. I think it reflects a larger, lingering frustration with the a.dept. for just not saying much of anything on some things, as if "it's none of your business," to fans it needs to buy tickets and make donations. I repeated the cheerleader situation as an example. This kind of reaction has appeared on several other threads when something is posted before the official website.

This modus operandi is well-known to long-time fans and needs no documentation ... unless you want to see one of the longest threads in Dog Pound history. Individually, I don't. 'Nuff said by me.

Gameday staff was notified over the weekend.

Still doesn't excuse the department for not being able to send out a press release or something. I can't believe this was a shock to the department. I would have hoped they were prepared for this and could have pushed out some info over the weekend.

(07-20-2020 08:39 AM)Teamduh Wrote:  Thanks for the link but did I miss a BYU cancellation? I feel silly to ask. Our game is still on their website.

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Speculations: a) BYU is a football independent, so no conference-wide decision needs to be made. b) the game is in mid-season, so if any football is played, it might still be on. c) BYU can wait to see who if anyone plays, including NIU, and cobble together a schedule. Understandable, if both the Pac12 and Big10 follow through on conference-only play, which means there will be "seasons" played out there. Lot of huge IFs.

NOTE TO ALL: since BYU is now a topic, I changed the thread name to open it up rather than creating a separate thread. Apologies if needed.

FYI: URI game now listed on official website schedule as cancelled.

(07-19-2020 12:54 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  

(07-19-2020 12:41 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  This is just social media moving faster than athletic media departments. None of the P5’s who have games scheduled with CAA teams have updated their sites or have news on their homepage. Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest. I imagine they’ll all announce it soon.

Good point. The URI story was dated Friday and this is the weekend, so add that into the announcement timing. Immediately after the CAA announcement I had the time to surf and found the URI post. There are benefits to being almost, possibly, sorta semi-retired.

As to NIU, considering that an expert is someone who has made three correct guesses in a row, I'll opine ...

--- The A.dept. likes to keep anything in-house and make all decisions without any outside input and, when it does let anything out, notify big donors first. Recall it took us two years to learn the cheerleaders had been cut and relegated to club status supported by fundraising. This "territorial" attitude began after then-AD Cary Groth left and has been tightened up more and more ever since.

--- Budget cuts = reduced staff time, maybe staff cuts we haven't been told about (combined with almost zilch discussion/info coming out of NIU other than vague, generic news). Also consider it's still vacation season.

--- Any big donors consider knowing first as standard equipment for their support, aka, "being in the know."

On a larger scale, does anyone know anything about what is going on at NIU, our hallowed PUBLIC university?

True. And, as you indicated, it's not just this issue but a history of non-information going back many years. This is why fans need to search outside sources for tidbits of information. Whether it's arrogance, the decision to keep information secret, an attitude of the fans need not know, lack of respect for fans/season ticket holders/donors, or just lack of resources (staff) dedicated to inform the fans, it always seems to be something. And, again, this is not a recent phenomenon. How about the time last February when the basketball date and time were changed, and people were not informed (except for the website and social media)? Older fans were infuriated that they showed up an hour late for the game. Many older fans are not on social media, and some don't even have computers. And, there are many older fans. Yet, when it comes time to renew season tickets/donations, the fans are numero uno - and then not until renewal time next year. There is no excuse for fans of a team having to search other sports and team websites to get information on their team.

I am just waiting to hear on ESPN or read in the Northern Star that MM's contract was extended 3 years last April. Standard mode of operation for our athletic department.

(07-20-2020 03:23 PM)NIU75 Wrote:  I am just waiting to hear on ESPN or read in the Northern Star that MM's contract was extended 3 years last April. Standard mode of operation for our athletic department.

It will just happen. You won't hear about it at all.

(07-20-2020 11:59 AM)pvk75 Wrote:  

(07-20-2020 08:39 AM)Teamduh Wrote:  Thanks for the link but did I miss a BYU cancellation? I feel silly to ask. Our game is still on their website.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Speculations: a) BYU is a football independent, so no conference-wide decision needs to be made. b) the game is in mid-season, so if any football is played, it might still be on. c) BYU can wait to see who if anyone plays, including NIU, and cobble together a schedule. Understandable, if both the Pac12 and Big10 follow through on conference-only play, which means there will be "seasons" played out there. Lot of huge IFs.

We feel like we're in a spot with uncertainty, think about the Independent teams as they could have their seasons gutted.

As of right now, I think it's just the B1G and the Pac-12 (and CAA) that have canceled (or discussed) canceling their OOC schedule.

Games lost:

Notre Dame: 3 games (Wisconsin, Stanford, USC)
BYU: 5 games (Utah, Michigan State, Arizona State, Minnesota, Stanford) - that's their 1st 4 games and their finale
Army: 0 games
Liberty: 1 game (North Carolina A&T)
New Mexico State: 1 games (UCLA)
Connecticut: 3 games (Illinois, Indiana, Maine)
Massachusetts: 1 games (Albany)

Let's be honest, no one cares about any of these teams except for Notre Dame and (to a lesser extent) BYU and Army. Notre Dame is down 3 gams and BYU a whopping 5. If other conferences follow suit, these teams could be really scrambling. Heck, BYU could possibly be willing to ignore the payout to come to DeKalb just to keep the game on the schedule. Hell, I'd be willing to shift the game to Provo to get money back.

I think the BYU home-and-home was an each-pay-our-own swap. If so, I'd rather we get whatever income for the game we can (tickets, concessions, etc.) and have them pay the travel expenses. Or, despite the swap, make a new deal to get a paycheck and go there.

Aside from that, and despite saving $400k not paying URI, I'd rather see Northern pick up some kind of a paycheck for a road game somewhere ... if the 2020 season is played (forced to cite that in all posts, it seems).

(07-19-2020 12:00 PM)NIU75 Wrote:  Why do we need our members searching other websites to inform us that the first home is cancelled? This information should be coming from our AD's office.

Perhaps the MAC will also announce a spring schedule which means RI game on

For those who need it...OFFICIAL RI CANCELLATION ANNOUNCEMENT:

https://niuhuskies.com/news/2020/7/21/ni...elled.aspx