Exactly. There won't be any fans at the new Alumni Hall if we keep losing. The apathy in Stag Nation right now is noticeable.
Unfortunately, There were only 6 to 9 Stag fans at the Boardwalk Arena. Its hard to win games like that. Especially when our Our MAAC opponents were more vociferous. It mattered.
I personally don't have any affection for this guy, he has no ethics whatsoever.
That said, the MAAC conference just lost its cloak of invisibility. Pitino is going to draw attention to the conference. In this respect I think it is a good move for Iona. Fairfield may benefit from the added exposure the conference is going to draw. We have better facilities and an ethical coach. We have something we can sell.
So not the decision I would have made but I believe this is going to work out well for Iona. If all you care about is winning, Pitino's the guy.
Yeah that's true, and yes I'm sure he will win starting right away. Keep in mind though that if you throw out this past year for the Gaels when Cluess wasn't around to run the show, the team won 4 straight league titles, certainly something that will be hard to duplicate no matter who is in charge. So sure attention is certain to come their way and that in turn will draw such to the conference, but unless Pitino actually wins an NCAA Tournament game or two (certainly possible I would think), maybe this whole thing will not be looked back on so fondly by Iona fans in a few years, especially if the "ethics" problem rears it's ugly head again either from past mistakes or maybe even future ones which the man obviously has trouble staying away from.
He’ll get players-high profile ones too-they’ll get exposure due to him. I want no part of it. GTF out of the MAAC or get rid of them.
Hey I got an idea. How about the remaining 10 conference schools leave all at once and form a new league (and BTW with a new Commissioner). Obviously this idea is said in jest and must be taken with a grain of salt. But if it wasn't apparent before it certainly is now. Iona is an outlier that is out of control with regards to the apparent mission of the MAAC, and this move surely calls attention to that very fact.
He’ll get players-high profile ones too-they’ll get exposure due to him. I want no part of it. GTF out of the MAAC or get rid of them.
Hey I got an idea. How about the remaining 10 conference schools leave all at once and form a new league (and BTW with a new Commissioner). Obviously this idea is said in jest and must be taken with a grain of salt. But if it wasn't apparent before it certainly is now. Iona is an outlier that is out of control with regards to the apparent mission of the MAAC, and this move surely calls attention to that very fact.
Nash, I actually started to write a post earlier that said the same thing about the 10 school con. Said in jest, but not outrageous. The problem is FU winds up with the same basic slate of schools.
The Presidents need to line up with a response. But lets face it, nobody has the guts. Witness Ensor till 2022.
We haven’t made the tourney since 1997. Iona/Siena has been the class of this league over the past 25 years. We long (bitch) for a tourney team year in and year out. We had the chance to make a splash hire and while I have no idea how the Jay Young era will turn out, we went with someone who may be a great person/coach, but is a career assistant. Iona has one down year and they go out and hire Rick Pitino.
Iona continues to keep the MAAC from obscurity and our reaction is that we have to get away. I will never get the perception from folks here that we have any kind of relevance in college basketball. I wish Fairfield would take a swing at relevance. We are going to keep losing in any conference we play in with this mentality. Keep taking the easy potshots at Iona and Pitino. They’ll stay relevant and keep winning while we continue to wade in obscurity. But we can still sit in our ivory tower and pretend we have this academic superiority when all we require is minimum NCAA Clearinghouse just like any other men’s basketball program in our conference. We’re a joke.
Well if we're a joke I guess that means that almost all the other conference members are in the same boat based on the past decade or more of basketball results. So like you I'd like to see Fairfield take a swing at relevance, but certainly ethics has to play some part of it I think. As a fan of the Stags obviously it's frustrating to try to compete against a program such as Iona, but at the end of the day we all have to look in the mirror and decide if we are satisfied with how our school conducts its business. Because at the end of the day it should be apparent, especially given the catastrophic events currently enveloping the country, that winning or losing on the court or any other athletic venue is really secondary to other things, and to cheat to win brings a shallow satisfaction at best as far as I'm concerned.
Last Edit: Mar 15, 2020 15:01:21 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Exactly. There won't be any fans at the new Alumni Hall if we keep losing. The apathy in Stag Nation right now is noticeable.
Unfortunately, There were only 6 to 9 Stag fans at the Boardwalk Arena. Its hard to win games like that. Especially when our Our MAAC opponents were more vociferous. It mattered.
If you count Calvin Whipple's grandparents, I counted 11.
He’ll get players-high profile ones too-they’ll get exposure due to him. I want no part of it. GTF out of the MAAC or get rid of them.
Hey I got an idea. How about the remaining 10 conference schools leave all at once and form a new league (and BTW with a new Commissioner). Obviously this idea is said in jest and must be taken with a grain of salt. But if it wasn't apparent before it certainly is now. Iona is an outlier that is out of control with regards to the apparent mission of the MAAC, and this move surely calls attention to that very fact.
I have always wanted to see this done. 3 teams from this league league and join 3 or 4 teams from another league. Its not that simple. There is a 3 year wait for new leagues to have a right to an NCAA bid. This waiting period can be waived but likely would not be. Also there are contracts with the conference that require notice. So I wish it could happen but it won't.
As I mentioned some months ago, someone like a Pete Gillen could head a committee to pursue this new conference idea. It’s too easy for the administrations of potential member schools to settle for status quo..there’s too much focus on the present day issues to act on a vision. As relative newbies, our President and Athletic Director could put some clout behind the effort and get away with it. It only takes one to start the ball rolling.
Iona director of athletics Matthew Glovaski said when asked about the NCAA potentially punishing Pitino. "Because we've had such a thorough interview process... Rick's values aligned with the goals and values for the college."
Jay Bilas sounds off on Rick Pitino hiring at Iona
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said he was surprised that Iona tapped Rick Pitino as its next head coach. Appearing on Sunday morning’s SportsCenter with host Hannah Storm, Bilas pointed out that Pitino would bring “an unprecedented level of attention” to the Iona basketball program.
Pitino was infamously fired with cause by Louisville in 2017 after the FBI revealed the details of its investigation into corruption in college basketball. And while said investigation portrayed the schools affected as victims bamboozled by shoe companies paying top recruits to attend basketball programs they sponsored, Louisville’s section seemed to indicate that coaches had knowledge of the dealings. Bilas said any ensuing NCAA action on Louisville could wind up impacting Iona’s coaching hire.
“Well, I was a little bit surprised because I wasn’t paying attention to what Iona was going to do after Tim Cluess resigned given all that’s going on in our world right now,” Bilas said. “But it does make really good sense for Iona. The only issue, Hannah, is Iona wouldn’t have had a shot at anyone like Rick Pitino absent the reputational damage that’s been suffered here.
“The question is what is the NCAA going to do with Louisville and an infractions case and how is that going to extend to Rick Pitino and perhaps Iona in the future? Will it be some sort of sanction on Pitino? You don’t know that," Bilas said. "And so that’s a little bit in the backdrop. But Iona’s going to win at a high level and have an unprecedented level of attention on their basketball program going forward.”
Iona director of athletics Matthew Glovaski said when asked about the NCAA potentially punishing Pitino. "Because we've had such a thorough interview process... Rick's values aligned with the goals and values for the college."
I’m sure Ricks stated goals are fine. His history, I hope, isn’t aligned with Iona’s values.
Iona director of athletics Matthew Glovaski said when asked about the NCAA potentially punishing Pitino. "Because we've had such a thorough interview process... Rick's values aligned with the goals and values for the college."
I’m sure Ricks stated goals are fine. His history, I hope, isn’t aligned with Iona’s values.
Heard But Probably Not True
In a stunning move to try and keep pace with Iona's recent decision to hire Rick Pitino, Fairfield University President Mark Medec has announced the Stags plan to terminate Jay Young and replace him with Bobby Knight. Knight known for his fiery personality and winning ways, is the perfect fit to bring attention to a Fairfield program which has long suffered from a low profile. According to Stags Athletic director Paul Slickman "We've had such a thorough interview process with Knight, ... No questions Bobby's values aligned with the goals and values for Fairfield University." Following Fairfield's move, Siena is in discussions about replacing Carmen Massiello with Bob Huggins......
That’s because some schools bring more fans than does Fairfield to Fairfield home games. Whose fault is that? Fairfield Basketball has had no buzz for many years now.
some schools bring more fans than does Fairfield to Fairfield home games.
Absolutely not true. More non Stag fans do go to the WBA but not more than Fairfield fans and not in Alumni Hall on campus. The WBA in downtown Bridgeport has had no buzz for many years now.
Now how would you know that when you don’t go to games?
Hopefully, this hire will be the push Fairfield needs to get out of the MAAC. The University simply has little in common with most of the schools and I see no reason to stay. If Fordham won't go, (and they won't) grab Marist (an 8th football team) and head to the Patriot League. Better TV contract, better market exposure, better alumni outreach, exponentially higher academic profile, and a renewal of old rivalries. This is NOT the Patriot League Fordham left the MAAC for. and instead of the MAAC having solid academic institutions like Fordham, Holy Cross, and Army, you have Monmouth, Niagara, Rider, and Canisius, none of whom are in the Forbes Top 400. Add St Peter's, and you have 3 MAAC schools NOT in the Forbes Top 600. Iona bringing in Pitino, who had 29 regular season wins and 6 Tournnament wins, including a National Championship VACATED, due to his lack of oversight in regards to a scandal involving prostitutes and recruits, should be the final straw. We'll leave his other scandals out as that one should be more than enough.
If Fairfield was accepted into the Patriot League, they would be the “Niagara” or “St Peters” of that league, that is, the academic snobs in that league would look down at Fairfield just like the academic snobs on this board looo down on the aforementioned schools. And other MAAC schools. Faorfield’s academic profile is significantly below that of some Patriot League schools. This is basketball folks, not debate or chess. Focus on being a good basketball program Be proud of your school, but stop degrading others Those schools have equally important missions, and may not have some of the advantages that Fairfield has at this point. That does not mean that they are any less credible, any less virtuous, or any less important to the communities they serve.