As Colonial Athletic Association honchos and members prepare for conference meetings next week, I went fishing for the athletic directors at Towson, Delaware and Hofstra to get their perspectives on what the suddenly-depleted league needs to do.

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CAA looking for a few good football teams The Union Leader The University of New Hampshire football team faces Old Dominion and Georgia State as Colonial Athletic Association rivals for the first time this fall. In fact, the Wildcats face ODU and Georgia State for the first — and last — time as CAA rivals …

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Bob McKillop: Davidson unlikely to leave Southern for CAA SportingNews.com The Colonial Athletic Association is at a critical point in its history. The league has seen cornerstone programs VCU and Old Dominion, plus Georgia State, depart in the last few weeks. It’s expected to be seeking out replacements in the coming days.

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Towson’s Waddell lobbies for CAA basketball tourney Baltimore Business Journal Towson Athletic Director Mike Waddell said he will submit plans to the Colonial Athletic Association to host the conference’s men’s, and possibly women’s, college basketball tournament at First Mariner Arena. The CAA is a 12-school conference …

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The Virginian-Pilot

Thursday’s college roundup: ODU seeks home for four non-C-USA sports Daily Press Old Dominion and Colonial Athletic Association officials on Friday are scheduled to discuss the future homes of four Monarchs programs that cannot compete in Conference USA, because C-USA does not sponsor those sports: wrestling, field hockey, … ODU will be a contender in C-USAThe Virginian-Pilot all 5 news articles »

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I’m not blaming Tom O’Connor, but it’s his fault.

Yesterday O’Connor became the latest CAA athletics director to make a public statement regarding his school’s position on realignment. This is at least the fourth of such missives, whether constructed as a public statement or a letter to alumni and fans.

Each has been grammatically correct, yet progressively patronizing. O’Connor’s love letter to Mason Nation ran a full 702 words–702 words!–and featured a shout-out to every possible group connected to Mason’s interests, short of the actual, dead George Mason himself.

It was the last straw.

Look, I realize there is pressure to say something. Thanks to social media, university administrators–the people having the real conversations and making the actual decisions–have been the only people not talking about realignment. Oh, there were the invective denials that anything was going on between the Atlantic 10 and VCU/Mason. We expected those but we knew better.

The lack of any comment on what everybody knows has been occurring looks shady, even though it isn’t remotely shady. If everybody is talking about it, but you are not, then surely you are hiding something. The catch-22 for the administrators: of course they are hiding something. I would hope that the administrators of My Team are like ducks–calm on the surface but paddling like hell underneath. That’s precisely how I want them to act.

So I’m actually okay with a bunch of no comments, or a simple acknowledgement. My problem is the torrent of hollow words. Say something, or say nothing.

That leads us to today’s activity. We’re going to play a game.

Name That Athletics Director!

Which AD made the following statements (answers below):

1. “…are leading an internal team that has been engaged in a thorough evaluation of the evolving conference realignments and the implications for our student-athletes and the university.”
2. “…is committed to its core values of creating the best possible experience for its student-athletes and will continue to compete at the highest level of Division I Athletics.”
3. “…committee engaged in a thorough process, which was thoughtful, well reasoned and based on athletics, economics and academics.”
4. “…extremely proud of its comprehensive commitment to all of its student-athletes, athletic programs and fans…”
5. “…we approach this process carefully and methodically and are working to appropriately assess all options before arriving at a decision…”
6. “…throughout its nearly three decades of existence, the league has managed change in membership and has consistently emerged stronger for it.  With due diligence, I am confident it will do so again…”
7. “…conference now finds itself in the position of adding new member institutions that share the values and commitments of the current members…”
8. “…work diligently with our fellow members to continue to strengthen the conference, and in particular to work to ensure that the CAA is one of the best basketball centric leagues in the country…”
9. “…effort will be to work in conjunction with conference leaders to secure new member schools that will enhance the quality of basketball in the CAA…”
10. “…remains committed to the Colonial Athletic Association…”
11. “…we continue to support the CAA and the values for which it stands…”

***

You know what I want more of? The openness of Towson’s Mike Waddell.You ask a question; you get an answer. Sometimes, you don’t even have to ask. Waddell’s frankness is refreshing, and a sign of someone unafraid to lead. Some twitter snippets:

• Exciting opportunity for current and future CAA cities to move our CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament to a better location & hospitality center
• CAA will remain a vibrant league & will IMPROVE through expansion > Plan has been in the works since October w/ campuses leading the charge
• Athletics is always looking for new ways to interact DIRECTLY with fans. If you have any suggestions please let us know
• Would be great to have a rotation of cities for CAA Tournament touching multi mkts. MVC has great major city support in StLou
• This scene from #Tombstone kind of reminds me of the CAA… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1KrEUKZMCo&feature=related Sometimes you need some new blood to freshen the place up

***

Side note: my word count? 702.

 

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As Old Dominion begins planning for the move to Conference USA, Garmins might become standard issue during the transition, as the Monarchs figure how to get where they’re going in their new league.

Click here to read the full article from From the tarpit – Dave Fairbank – dailypress.com

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Hampton again seeking CAA affiliation? Richmond Times Dispatch Might the Colonial Athletic Association respond to the loss of a member located in Hampton Roads by considering another university from the same area? Hampton University has belonged to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference since 1995.

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PantherTalk

Could VMI be a compatible consideration for the CAA? Richmond Times Dispatch The Richmond-based Colonial Athletic Association is seeking new members after losing Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion and Georgia State since early April. VMI Athletic Director Donny White said on Monday that being in a league with the University of … Rest is unrest: Why conference realignment’s storm never endsCBSSports.com (blog) If No CAA Tourney for Georgia State Basketball, Then What?PantherTalk CAA loses Old Dominion to C-USABusting Brackets The Virginian-Pilot all 8 news articles »

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Magnanimous gent that he is, George Mason athletic director Tom O’Connor is in favor of Old Dominion and Georgia State competing for CAA championships on their way out the door and for a change in the conference bylaws that prohibit such things.

That was one of the nuggets from ESPN college hoops
Bigfoot Andy Katz, who also reported that CAA commish Tom Yeager had informed Southern Conference counterpart John Iamarino that he would be trolling the neighborhood.

Expansion and membership are Job One in the coming weeks, as the CAA seeks to replace VCU, Old Dominion and Georgia State. The conference is practically obligated to look both north and south, and for both football and basketball.

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