Quote:

---

First I want to say that I am enjoying posting on the Loyola site for the first time in a long while.

Lou, I don't think we will know if I am overrating the CAA effect on Towson until the next two recruiting classes. It is hard to say how all of the CAA programs will benefit, if at all from not only Mason's run but also the Hofstra and ODU runs in the NIT along with UNCW's superb 25 minutes vs GW in the NCAA's. There really is no prescident for this. I had always considered the CAA and MAAC to be equals but the quality of play really is a step or two above in the CAA.

A big advantage Towson has over Loyola if they start to draw some local fan interest is that Towson is much easier to get to and find parking. I know some have mentioned that the astroturf field is used for parking...how has that worked? If people still need to drive up and down Cold Spring, Millbrook for parking that has to be a real disincentive to attending a Loyola game.

The other big hurdle for Loyola to clear is the two semesters of Intermediate Foreign Language requirement. Not only does this hurt recruiting but it may very well cause academic problems once the student enroll.

---

Interesting point on the languages. I brought this up to someone at Loyola years ago and was told it was no big deal anymore because most high schools and even some middle schools now require foreign language, so most kids are coming in with some experience. But it certainly did me in at Loyola.

Obviously we have to wait and see how it plays out. I by no means mean to disrespect the CAA, which I do believe is a far superior conference. I just mean to disrespect Towson. I don’t believe in their coach, and I don’t believe in their program. Put it this way... a Loyola fan who knows Towson has every reason to be afraid that they are going to go big time as a Towson fan does about Loyola. I will believe it when I see it.

You are correct that parking is a problem. I would like to think it will be addressed if/when the stadium is ever built (another reason to be for the stadium), but I don’t think they have said what they would do with the land. I believe a parking deck is forbidden under the neighborhood covenant, but I think they could build an underground garage on the site and put a building over it.

As for the CAA, it is interesting. As you said I was a big advocate of us moving when the expansion began, for many of the reasons you mentioned. The (at the time) HTS deal, the importance of recruiting in DC, and the overall quality of opponents. A couple of years later, and seeing how the CAA has grown, I am not sure I am sorry we missed out. I wonder how Georgia State is enjoying loading its non-rev field hockey team or whatever on Delta twice a year to go to Boston and then go to Long Island, or whatever. I realize the CAA brings in more $$$ on hoops, but they better. Because the way the conference has expanded it causes the AD to have a lot higher expenses on non-hoops. I wonder if at the end of the day financially it is worth it.

And by the way remember when the CAA sold the Georgia State move on the basis of Atlanta’s media market? I wonder how much money they are bringing in on that, considering Ga. State has been unable to find a radio station to broadcast its game, let alone a tv network to pick up the CAA package.

PS: Scott hope you hang around. We miss you, you know, even if you just want to give us crap about how great the Hens are.

Jesus loves me. I don't give a f--- what the rest of you think.