Valley Emergency Meeting in STL

[pfcmsh]

What Are Elgin's Performance Standards

I don't know what you expect of Elgin.

He has gotten us a better TV deal. We have deals with ESPN (not just ESPN 3). We are the only Mid Major league with a deal with ESPN. We also have two smaller TV deals with Fox Sports, CBS Sports, and our Championship game is nationally televised on one of the original 3 Networks.

He was able to get State Farm to sponsor the men's tournament again. That is a huge corporate partner. He also has secured a deal with Casey's for additional sponsorship another huge deal.

There are three reasons the Valley is where it is today.

1. Creighton got too good of a deal to not go. Creighton weighed its options heavily, and really was torn about leaving the Valley, but the Big East is a great conference.

2. Bradley, MoState, and SIU - Have not lived up to past performances. Bad decisions and bad decisions and even more bad decisions turned these three good programs into programs in a perpetual rebuilding cycle. There is no reason that one of those three programs couldn't challenge WSU year in and year out.

3. The Koch Brothers - The Valley was not built to have one of the 10 highest paid coaches in their league. It was a square peg in a round hole, just didn't fit the model. There was nothing that anyone could do, the Shockers who historically were a Valley team became something more. For reference, Marshall will be the highest paid coach in the AAC when they move up.

This isn't Elgin's fault.

You raise great points that I didn't even think about. Thank you for those.

Bradley has slipped to the lowest competitiveness level than I can ever remember under Coach Ford. Of course, that hurts the league. We are not alone, as you mentioned Indiana State and Missouri State falling from good performing teams too.

Myself, I do like the ESPN3 streams. I sure like how Dave Snell and Chad Klein broadcast our games on radio and I try to synch the video and audio. If ESPN3 didnt exist, I could not see as many games, if the other broadcasts were limited to the greater Peoria area.

Bradley needs to get much much better to attract better players and help the Valley regain prominence as a basket power like it once was. If we do that, we have more control over our destiny. If we are the only ones that do that, then we can follow Wichita State to greener pastures.

I have asked the question in the forum, "What are Mr. Elgin's performance objectives?" It is true that he can't control how well teams play. I wonder what he is measured on?

[algotrader]

Bradley has slipped to the lowest competitiveness level than I can ever remember under Coach Ford. Of course, that hurts the league.

Agree, it really makes me sad. It has now been 11 years since our Sweet 16 run. We're well past "not long ago". Hopefully the next 3-4 years bring us some success.

If not, do you think Bradley Alum would take up a private collection to dangle some huge money for a truly top tier coach? I'd throw down a grand or two into some sort of Coach slush fund. Can we even do that?

[tornado]

yes, that's perfectly allowable-
fans and boosters can't pay for recruits, but they CAN pay for coaches...

the salary of both Gregg Marshall and UNI's Ben Jacobson are partly funded from private and individual sources.

http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2015/10/08/how-gregg-marshall-gets-paid.html

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/education/higher-education/kirk-ferentz-top-iowa-earner-among-many-whose-pay-exceeds-base-salary-20161101

[Art Haines is God]

hey - I really can't dispute the job Elgin is doing, but are you sure of this?



lots of Bradley and MVC fans are unhappy with the ESPN and ESPN3 coverage and would love to go back to the local coverage

seems I have read of other leagues with ESPN deals- even the lower Big West (Jim Les' league) has an ESPN deal

http://www.bigwest.org/assets/sports/mbball/9.10.15%20ESPN%20Release.pdf

The Horizon League says they've had a deal with ESPN since 1988

http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/horizon-league-espn-announce-2013-14-mens-basketball-tv-schedule

They also have other deals

http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/horizon-league-announces-television-partnership-with-american-sports-network

The MAC Conference has a deal with ESPN that lasts 13 years and covers football as well as basketball

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/mac-gets-new-13-year-television-deal/

They also have deals with CBS and other major networks
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/coll...et_to_its.html

No other mid major has a deal that guarantees games on ESPN and ESPN 2. The MAC has a guarantee but just for football.

Our ESPN 3 games are our local broadcast, as they are the same broadcast as our KY3 games (local NBC). If your not using your local broadcast for ESPN 3 that's your own fault. Also, since the inception of ESPN 3, I have been able to watch every road game the Bears play. Never was able to that prior to the service, I don't know why you would want to go back to your old local package which for us was about 75% of the road conference games.

I just personally think a lot of venom goes toward Elgin who really has been solid.

[Da Coach]

I agree. He gets criticized for not being "proactive" enough, but nobody who accuses him of that ever says what they think he should be doing. I have heard he actually is doing things all the time to be proactive, but it stays behind the scenes and we never hear about it. The MVC is never going to merge with or become a football league, so fans have to realize just how severely that limits the options. Basicaly, it means that prior to now when the MVC is forced to add a member, the Summit League and the Hortizon League were the only 2 other conferences where options might have existed, and every one of those options were a step down from just remaining pat, IMO.