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Reading this morning's paper, I see where ODU basketball will now take commercial flights. There are too many teams on the other side of the country, to stay in this conference. Yes, the commercial flights will cut cost, but also provide more people around the team. I know without football sales and basketball sales, the deficit is getting larger. I am still waiting for a PR statement, where all coaches, staff, AD and President are taking cuts to help out. If the way the team played against VCU, and it doesn't get better, ODAF and ticket sales will be down again next year. The 5M that Harry said a high donor gave, is only a small drop in the budget, shortfall.

(12-19-2020 09:17 AM)bluelight Wrote:  Reading this morning's paper, I see where ODU basketball will now take commercial flights. There are too many teams on the other side of the country, to stay in this conference. Yes, the commercial flights will cut cost, but also provide more people around the team. I know without football sales and basketball sales, the deficit is getting larger. I am still waiting for a PR statement, where all coaches, staff, AD and President are taking cuts to help out. If the way the team played against VCU, and it doesn't get better, ODAF and ticket sales will be down again next year. The 5M that Harry said a high donor gave, is only a small drop in the budget, shortfall.

Could this news release be a cry to a certain wealthy booster to lend his airplane? Who turned cold on the program after canceling the football season

I don’t understand the insistence on the staff taking pay cuts. My understanding is there was a donation made specifically to prevent that from happening. But even without that, it should be up to the school to decide where the cuts should come from to balance the budget. If they can do it without cutting salaries the all the better. Nobody likes pay cuts. I certainly don’t and I wouldn’t wish it for anybody else.

(12-19-2020 10:36 AM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  I don’t understand the insistence on the staff taking pay cuts. My understanding is there was a donation made specifically to prevent that from happening. But even without that, it should be up to the school to decide where the cuts should come from to balance the budget. If they can do it without cutting salaries the all the better. Nobody likes pay cuts. I certainly don’t and I wouldn’t wish it for anybody else.

The donation was peanuts, to the shortfall. Remember as each season goes by, we are losing more money. With no fall sports and the high salaries of Wood, JJ and the President, they have the ability to set an example.

(12-19-2020 12:00 PM)bluelight Wrote:  

(12-19-2020 10:36 AM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  I don’t understand the insistence on the staff taking pay cuts. My understanding is there was a donation made specifically to prevent that from happening. But even without that, it should be up to the school to decide where the cuts should come from to balance the budget. If they can do it without cutting salaries the all the better. Nobody likes pay cuts. I certainly don’t and I wouldn’t wish it for anybody else.

The donation was peanuts, to the shortfall. Remember as each season goes by, we are losing more money. With no fall sports and the high salaries of Wood, JJ and the President, they have the ability to set an example.

If the donation was peanuts, how much of an impact do you think salary cuts for a few are going to make? Are you singling out those three for cuts or are you asking for cuts across the board? Why not Rahne? And are you asking for mandatory cuts or voluntary cuts? I don't have any problem with any of them deciding on their own to take voluntary cuts, but don't expect it. They have already said publicly that they were able to avoid salary cuts with the donation, so don't expect to see mandatory cuts. They have made other cuts to the budget that were made public, such as cutting sports and not playing football. I don't have knowledge of what other financial cuts or adjustments that have been made, maybe you know more than me. But if more cuts are needed then maybe salary cuts can come back to the table.

(12-19-2020 12:00 PM)bluelight Wrote:  

(12-19-2020 10:36 AM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  I don’t understand the insistence on the staff taking pay cuts. My understanding is there was a donation made specifically to prevent that from happening. But even without that, it should be up to the school to decide where the cuts should come from to balance the budget. If they can do it without cutting salaries the all the better. Nobody likes pay cuts. I certainly don’t and I wouldn’t wish it for anybody else.

The donation was peanuts, to the shortfall. Remember as each season goes by, we are losing more money. With no fall sports and the high salaries of Wood, JJ and the President, they have the ability to set an example.

Do we know exactly what the shortfall is?

I was reading the cost of charter flights has doubled since last year. Thought that might hurt the ODU's MBB and WBB teams as far as travel.

Brodericks salary doesn’t come out of athletics money. JJ is actually under paid for a quality D1 coach (though not based upon his success). The only one over paid is Selig. Cutting salaries would be a symbolic move at best. I hadn’t heard Ballard was mad about the cancelation. That’s new info to me.

(12-19-2020 04:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  Brodericks salary doesn’t come out of athletics money. JJ is actually under paid for a quality D1 coach (though not based upon his success). The only one over paid is Selig. Cutting salaries would be a symbolic move at best. I hadn’t heard Ballard was mad about the cancelation. That’s new info to me.

It was hypothetical opinion/ sarcasm. SB isn’t the only booster with a plane. There are 3 other I know who have a plane.

(12-19-2020 04:52 PM)AimHigher Wrote:  

(12-19-2020 04:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  Brodericks salary doesn’t come out of athletics money. JJ is actually under paid for a quality D1 coach (though not based upon his success). The only one over paid is Selig. Cutting salaries would be a symbolic move at best. I hadn’t heard Ballard was mad about the cancelation. That’s new info to me.

It was hypothetical opinion/ sarcasm. SB isn’t the only booster with a plane. There are 3 other I know who have a plane.

It would be an extra benefit.

While a donor could lend the services of his/her jet to a coaching staff, they cannot extend the same benefits to a team

(12-19-2020 04:52 PM)AimHigher Wrote:  

(12-19-2020 04:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  Brodericks salary doesn’t come out of athletics money. JJ is actually under paid for a quality D1 coach (though not based upon his success). The only one over paid is Selig. Cutting salaries would be a symbolic move at best. I hadn’t heard Ballard was mad about the cancelation. That’s new info to me.

It was hypothetical opinion/ sarcasm. SB isn’t the only booster with a plane. There are 3 other I know who have a plane.

The basketball traveling party wouldn't fit on Ballard's plane.

Anyways, flying commercial isn't a new thing entirely and would have happened in CAA travel too.

Last year, after we played Northeastern I ran into the team at Logan airport waiting for a United flight to Dulles that was at the gate next to my flight back to Newark.

(12-20-2020 01:10 PM)devyanks90 Wrote:  

(12-19-2020 04:52 PM)AimHigher Wrote:  

(12-19-2020 04:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  Brodericks salary doesn’t come out of athletics money. JJ is actually under paid for a quality D1 coach (though not based upon his success). The only one over paid is Selig. Cutting salaries would be a symbolic move at best. I hadn’t heard Ballard was mad about the cancelation. That’s new info to me.

It was hypothetical opinion/ sarcasm. SB isn’t the only booster with a plane. There are 3 other I know who have a plane.

The basketball traveling party wouldn't fit on Ballard's plane.

Anyways, flying commercial isn't a new thing entirely and would have happened in CAA travel too.

Last year, after we played Northeastern I ran into the team at Logan airport waiting for a United flight to Dulles that was at the gate next to my flight back to Newark.

Also, the way the schedule is set up this season, the need to quickly get home or to the next destination is lessened. Each two-game trip is now two flights instead of three. And it doesn't tie up a chartered plane for 4 days.

We need a more compact geographic conference. How hard is that????

(12-21-2020 08:13 AM)jaybird44 Wrote:  We need a more compact geographic conference. How hard is that????

Considering the only one that exists (containing FBS football) is the ACC...

If football would go independent, there would be a slew of options, some better than others.

(12-21-2020 09:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 08:13 AM)jaybird44 Wrote:  We need a more compact geographic conference. How hard is that????

Considering the only one that exists (containing FBS football) is the ACC...

If football would go independent, there would be a slew of options, some better than others.

The ACC isn't even compact though (Boston/ Syracuse to Miami). I think the conference your looking for is the Mac.

(12-21-2020 12:16 PM)benny_t Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 09:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 08:13 AM)jaybird44 Wrote:  We need a more compact geographic conference. How hard is that????

Considering the only one that exists (containing FBS football) is the ACC...

If football would go independent, there would be a slew of options, some better than others.

The ACC isn't even compact though (Boston/ Syracuse to Miami). I think the conference your looking for is the Mac.

If we were in the ACC we would have 6 schools within a 5 hour drive. It is about as good as you are going to get. Even the CAA had Hofstra, Northeastern, and Georgia State. The MAC, just like CUSA, would have 0.

(12-21-2020 09:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 08:13 AM)jaybird44 Wrote:  We need a more compact geographic conference. How hard is that????

Considering the only one that exists (containing FBS football) is the ACC...

If football would go independent, there would be a slew of options, some better than others.

Name some of those options. The closest to acceptable would seem to be the CAA, and as noted, even IT has some outliers. Additionally, I think the chance of returning there is remote. I cannot think of another conference that might be predisposed to taking us w/o football, and with football they would all be FCS.

The negative impacts of scheduling, rivalries, and recruiting notwithstanding, football would not fiscally survive as an independent. Without revenue sharing and media contracts it would go bankrupt very quickly. The most recent figures for UMass show football to be hemorrhaging money, with revenues of $3.1 million and expenses over $10 million. We could not sustain that for any length of time at all.

The logistics of creating a new conference would be huge; current conference buyouts, NCAA approval, auto bids, media contracts, FB payouts, NCAAT revenue sharing etc, would all have to be addressed, and more; and that is without the petty politics and demands of other schools (if there were even enough interested) that would invariably creep in to negotiations.

Maybe a better solution would be a hard split of CUSA into East and West, (the Fla schools will always be problematic) with no in-season scheduling, and a single FB championship game, and a more centralized BB tourney. There might even be some interest from SBC schools and CUSA schools in some sort of conference swap in order to better achieve balance and numerical compatibility.
Who knows.

Even JMU and Marshall don't want the MAC and they are much closer.

(12-21-2020 02:41 PM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 09:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 08:13 AM)jaybird44 Wrote:  We need a more compact geographic conference. How hard is that????

Considering the only one that exists (containing FBS football) is the ACC...

If football would go independent, there would be a slew of options, some better than others.

Name some of those options. The closest to acceptable would seem to be the CAA, and as noted, even IT has some outliers. Additionally, I think the chance of returning there is remote. I cannot think of another conference that might be predisposed to taking us w/o football, and with football they would all be FCS.

The negative impacts of scheduling, rivalries, and recruiting notwithstanding, football would not fiscally survive as an independent. Without revenue sharing and media contracts it would go bankrupt very quickly. The most recent figures for UMass show football to be hemorrhaging money, with revenues of $3.1 million and expenses over $10 million. We could not sustain that for any length of time at all.

The logistics of creating a new conference would be huge; current conference buyouts, NCAA approval, auto bids, media contracts, FB payouts, NCAAT revenue sharing etc, would all have to be addressed, and more; and that is without the petty politics and demands of other schools (if there were even enough interested) that would invariably creep in to negotiations.

Maybe a better solution would be a hard split of CUSA into East and West, (the Fla schools will always be problematic) with no in-season scheduling, and a single FB championship game, and a more centralized BB tourney. There might even be some interest from SBC schools and CUSA schools in some sort of conference swap in order to better achieve balance and numerical compatibility.
Who knows.

A10, CAA, Big South, MEAC, Southern... again, not all great options, but we are in a one-bid league anyway so really does it matter? We are such an outlier, a hard split of CUSA does nothing for us. Would probably work out for WKU, MTSU, and UAB.

If football can't survive as an independent we need to reevaluate because this conference is bringing down the entire department.

(12-21-2020 03:14 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 02:41 PM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 09:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2020 08:13 AM)jaybird44 Wrote:  We need a more compact geographic conference. How hard is that????

Considering the only one that exists (containing FBS football) is the ACC...

If football would go independent, there would be a slew of options, some better than others.

Name some of those options. The closest to acceptable would seem to be the CAA, and as noted, even IT has some outliers. Additionally, I think the chance of returning there is remote. I cannot think of another conference that might be predisposed to taking us w/o football, and with football they would all be FCS.

The negative impacts of scheduling, rivalries, and recruiting notwithstanding, football would not fiscally survive as an independent. Without revenue sharing and media contracts it would go bankrupt very quickly. The most recent figures for UMass show football to be hemorrhaging money, with revenues of $3.1 million and expenses over $10 million. We could not sustain that for any length of time at all.

The logistics of creating a new conference would be huge; current conference buyouts, NCAA approval, auto bids, media contracts, FB payouts, NCAAT revenue sharing etc, would all have to be addressed, and more; and that is without the petty politics and demands of other schools (if there were even enough interested) that would invariably creep in to negotiations.

Maybe a better solution would be a hard split of CUSA into East and West, (the Fla schools will always be problematic) with no in-season scheduling, and a single FB championship game, and a more centralized BB tourney. There might even be some interest from SBC schools and CUSA schools in some sort of conference swap in order to better achieve balance and numerical compatibility.
Who knows.

A10, CAA, Big South, MEAC, Southern... again, not all great options, but we are in a one-bid league anyway so really does it matter? We are such an outlier, a hard split of CUSA does nothing for us. Would probably work out for WKU, MTSU, and UAB.

If football can't survive as an independent we need to reevaluate because this conference is bringing down the entire department.

Save for the A10 and CAA, those "options" are not acceptable, IMHO.
The A10 is unrealistic at this time and CAA is only slightly less so.
An option is only an option if it is that. Just because we announce "we are ready to join up!" doesn't mean that we will be invited.