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A chat with the commish
With the festivities in Albany two days away, we e-mailed some questions to MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor, who promptly responded.
Our Q&A with the commish is below.
FCP: We’ll start off with an easy one, since this particular easy one also happens to be relevant: A number of men’s coaches – with Fran McCaffery leading the chorus – have been saying all year this is the best from top to bottom that the league has ever been. Do you agree?
RE: Certainly one of the best. 1995-96 also comes to mind. The league is very comeptitive, currently the rpi is 13th as a league. Highest I recall the MAAC reaching in the past was 11th, but you're talking decimal points on these numbers. 13 is very repectable and reflects the league depth of strenght.
Is it good or bad for the league that the Marist women lost two conference games in the regular season?
Competitiveness is important to any league's long term success, so to the degree losses by any team reflect the development of a number of strong programs in the MAAC than its a good thing for the league.
It seems like every time I turn on a spring training game, there are half as many people in the stands as there were for games last year, since fans have really cut down on traveling to sporting events because of the economy. Are you concerned that the recession will negatively impact attendance at the tournament?
The state of the economy is a major concern for us as athletic administrators, educators and citizens. That said, I think the league is ok this year on ticket sales for the championships. Currently, we are ahead in all sessions and gross dollars amount from 2008 which was an very strong year for the league. Partily this is because the league made some adjustments to its allocations, developed some premium seating sections and increased single session prices in midcourt sections all of which has increased rvenue flow and maintained all sessions prices at 2008 price levels. The fact that so many teams have played well is also driving some sales. We'll need the revenue, as sponsorships for the broadcast package are down significantly and need to be offset by other revenue sources. The league is also providing some family discount options and group rates to keep the event affordable for all our fans. We also cut Friday telecasts from the tourney to reduce operating costs, these games will be avilable as a pay per view webstreaming option on the www.maacsports.com web page.
The MAAC has reached out to representatives of various venues to gauge interest in hosting the tournament from 2012-14. How many of those representatives will be attending the tournament this week? What kind of things will they be looking for if they’re in attendance?
Still finalizing, but expect at least four sites, plus the Albany hosts. We will make a presentation on this year's tournament, bid specs, decision timeline for 2012-14 and give them a tour of the arena setup.
Which team, player or coach most surprised you during the regular season?
I think Tom is showing the league that Canisius is on the upswing, the multiple injuries to Fairfield were a bad development but Ed's ability to coach his team and be competitive has been impressive.
What did you make of the all-MAAC teams announced yesterday? Any predictions for the awards that will be announced Thursday?
Some pretty good players missed the cut, show depth of the league that even with 3 teams players are not selected that have played strong all year. No predicitions.
Last one: You must be able to at least OCCCASIONALLY leave the Times Union Center during these tournaments. Is there a restaurant or watering hole in Albany that you recommend fans visit while they’re in town?
Its not often during tourney we leave the building, tend to eat a lot of chicken tenders and nachos. We do eat as a staff at some of the family restuarnts on Wolf Road, Olive Garden, PF Chiangs. Downtown, I suggest Lombardos on Madison or 74 State Street.
Our Q&A with the commish is below.
FCP: We’ll start off with an easy one, since this particular easy one also happens to be relevant: A number of men’s coaches – with Fran McCaffery leading the chorus – have been saying all year this is the best from top to bottom that the league has ever been. Do you agree?
RE: Certainly one of the best. 1995-96 also comes to mind. The league is very comeptitive, currently the rpi is 13th as a league. Highest I recall the MAAC reaching in the past was 11th, but you're talking decimal points on these numbers. 13 is very repectable and reflects the league depth of strenght.
Is it good or bad for the league that the Marist women lost two conference games in the regular season?
Competitiveness is important to any league's long term success, so to the degree losses by any team reflect the development of a number of strong programs in the MAAC than its a good thing for the league.
It seems like every time I turn on a spring training game, there are half as many people in the stands as there were for games last year, since fans have really cut down on traveling to sporting events because of the economy. Are you concerned that the recession will negatively impact attendance at the tournament?
The state of the economy is a major concern for us as athletic administrators, educators and citizens. That said, I think the league is ok this year on ticket sales for the championships. Currently, we are ahead in all sessions and gross dollars amount from 2008 which was an very strong year for the league. Partily this is because the league made some adjustments to its allocations, developed some premium seating sections and increased single session prices in midcourt sections all of which has increased rvenue flow and maintained all sessions prices at 2008 price levels. The fact that so many teams have played well is also driving some sales. We'll need the revenue, as sponsorships for the broadcast package are down significantly and need to be offset by other revenue sources. The league is also providing some family discount options and group rates to keep the event affordable for all our fans. We also cut Friday telecasts from the tourney to reduce operating costs, these games will be avilable as a pay per view webstreaming option on the www.maacsports.com web page.
The MAAC has reached out to representatives of various venues to gauge interest in hosting the tournament from 2012-14. How many of those representatives will be attending the tournament this week? What kind of things will they be looking for if they’re in attendance?
Still finalizing, but expect at least four sites, plus the Albany hosts. We will make a presentation on this year's tournament, bid specs, decision timeline for 2012-14 and give them a tour of the arena setup.
Which team, player or coach most surprised you during the regular season?
I think Tom is showing the league that Canisius is on the upswing, the multiple injuries to Fairfield were a bad development but Ed's ability to coach his team and be competitive has been impressive.
What did you make of the all-MAAC teams announced yesterday? Any predictions for the awards that will be announced Thursday?
Some pretty good players missed the cut, show depth of the league that even with 3 teams players are not selected that have played strong all year. No predicitions.
Last one: You must be able to at least OCCCASIONALLY leave the Times Union Center during these tournaments. Is there a restaurant or watering hole in Albany that you recommend fans visit while they’re in town?
Its not often during tourney we leave the building, tend to eat a lot of chicken tenders and nachos. We do eat as a staff at some of the family restuarnts on Wolf Road, Olive Garden, PF Chiangs. Downtown, I suggest Lombardos on Madison or 74 State Street.
posted by Ben Doody at
5:05 PM
15 Comments:
We need to ask the Commish if Demspey should fix his record.
I do agree that it was unusual circumstances that made him the head coach, but I think he should count that year as well. With that year, it shows how much he has progressed as a head coach. I mean look at his record, since that season. You are correct. He is doing himself a great disservice.
I feel like I'm in a freaking Twilight Zone episode. How about this: we Rider fans agree that the interim year should be including in his record (and if Don Harnum is reading this, it should), if you agree to shut the hell up about it. Man, get a life.
Maybe the commish should have been asked why McCaffery wasn't suspended for his temper-tantrum on Friday, which included throwing water at an official. Way to teach the kids, Fran. Of course, given his inability to control his wife, maybe teaching isn't his strong suit.
Fran's a maniac, and so is the wife, but at least his career record is accurate.
It's funny, I have spent the last three years disapproving of Tommy Boy's bench coaching abilities. His mind-blowing need to call timeouts after our made baskets during a rally or calling a timeout with a TV timeout coming up dive me up a wall. But you Siena idiots actually have me rooting for him.
Come join the MAAC Board
http://maachoops.proboards60.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1850
I'd like to see Ensor's cheat sheet that he'll provide the NCAA committee on behalf of the MAAC teams up for selection and seeding in a few weeks from now. What unique qualifications can his research team come up with that we haven't already seen?
Why the do people care so much about a past season's record. the only thing that matter is that Rider is 12 and 6 in the MAAC and the 3 seed in the tounry.
tmd39-
did you ever consider that calling timeouts after made baskets is a way to boost the confidence of the kids.
as opposed to what most coaches do...call time outs when the kids are playing like crap, then they walk to the bench with their heads down sometimes argueing with each other...which is followed by the coaches screaming at them.
Anonymous - All you have to do is look at the tape of the Loyola game at home this year. They play like crap in the 1st half, then play worse in the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half. They are down 14 when they start a comeback. Gadson drives to the hoop and cuts the lead to 4. The place is going nuts (ESPNU game on a Friday night) and momentum has changed. Except Tommy Boy calls timeout and kills the momentum. Then he switches out of the full-court pressure to a passive half-court zone out of the timeout, and it never gets closer. I've seen him do it for every year he's been head coach (and that includes the 8-20 year). He's a great recruiter, but he's half the game coach that Donnie or KB were.
tough to press with a short bench.
they may have tighten up the game but they were clearly outplayed by loyola and the the free throw desparity was comical for a home league game (36-15, I think).
That's not the point. There was 5 minutes left and the lead was 4. Why kill the momentum with a timeout?
i see your point, but without knowing the exact game situation it's tough for me to discuss. there may have been foul or fatigue issues etc. he may have needed to get RT or someone else back into the game.
Don't take my word for it. Watch the games this weekend. You'll see.
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