NCHC commissioner

[burd]

Re: NCHC commissioner

If he had any kind of influence at all, he wouldn't have permitted the conference's brightest light, UND, to get jobbed by bad refs year after year at the FF.

[manurespreader]

Re: NCHC commissioner

You can count me as one who thinks Bruce could do a better job.

[aparch]

Re: NCHC commissioner

... Plus the NCHC has a tv deal which is already bigger than the WCHA had.

A sixteen game package on CSTV CBS College Sports. Is that even available widely on all national TV providers?

What's the revenue split on these games? Is WMU going to be paid the same if 1/2 the games aired are against North Dakota?

At least with the WCHA, they allowed their teams to negotiate their own TV deals. The CCHA was basically BTN-Lite for Michigan/Michigan State versus whoever they were playing.

FSN-North/Wisconsin isn't enough to negotiate a WCHA package with. Having Comcast-Sportsnet isn't viable thanks to NBC Sports Network's deal with Notre Dame (Big East?)

[Dirty]

Re: NCHC commissioner

At least with the WCHA, they allowed their teams to negotiate their own TV deals. The CCHA was basically BTN-Lite for Michigan/Michigan State versus whoever they were playing.

So let me see if I have your viewpoint correct. We'll use UND as an example since that's what I know the most about.

WCHA Currently: All home games televised on Fox College Sports. No WCHA contract to have road games televised. Games against Minnesota televised on Fox Sports North. Some games against Wisconsin televised on Fox Sports Rocky Wisconsin. Some games against Denver televised on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.

NCHC in the future: All home games televised on Fox College Sports. NCHC contract with CBS College Sports to have some road games televised. No games against Minnesota televised on Fox Sports North because no longer in the same league. No games against Wisconsin televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin because no longer in the same league. Some games against Denver televised on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.

Now let's look at what the WCHA teams will have in the future:
No home or road games televised on a national network because the WCHA doesn't have a contract with any network. No games against Minnesota televised on Fox Sports North because no longer in the same league. No games against Wisconsin televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin because no longer in the same league. No games against Denver televised on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain because no longer in the same league.

How is UND worse off in the NCHC when it comes to televised games again?

[huskyfan]

Re: NCHC commissioner

a wrestling coach!

[dggoddard]

Re: NCHC commissioner

New commissioner gets 4 1/2 contract @ $150,000 per year plus bonuses.

The NCHC had 82 candidates before Scherr was selected.

Scherr wrestled at the University of Nebraska & has an MBA from Northwestern.

16 game per season league TV contract with CBS Sports Network

24 game league schedule.

Xcel Center in St Paul is leading candidate for conference tourney

Road trips to Bemidji, Anchorage & Houghton will be replaced with trips to New Hampshire, Madison & Boston.

http://www.gazette.com/sports/scherr...ce-former.html

[manurespreader]

Re: NCHC commissioner

New commissioner gets 4 1/2 contract @ $150,000 per year plus bonuses.

The NCHC had 82 candidates before Scherr was selected.

Scherr wrestled at the University of Nebraska & has an MBA from Northwestern.

16 game per season league TV contract with CBS Sports Network

24 game league schedule.

Xcel Center in St Paul is leading candidate for conference tourney

Road trips to Bemidji, Anchorage & Houghton will be replaced with trips to New Hampshire, Madison & Boston.

http://www.gazette.com/sports/scherr...ce-former.html

No doubt you will be better off financially at least at first, but Scheer was not the first choice or even the third, and that salary is pretty paltry if you ask me, I think xcel will be ok, but not as good as the final five, so your revenue from there will be only slightly elevated.I would bet that the Big ten has tourneys there as well and I wonder how many tickets the public will buy.
You will get better road trips of course but you only came to Houghton every 2 or three years anyway, and I doubt that there will be much in the way of incremental ticket sales at home. You already go to Boston, so are you making three trips now? Certainly the cbs deal is better than no deal, as dirty so lucidly pointed out. However having said all that, in the long term I don't see this being the big boon you're AD thinks it is. Could be, but I think after 4 or 5 years and with more losses than now days,and increased expenses, the net revenue stream will be about the same.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: NCHC commissioner

No doubt you will be better off financially at least at first, but Scheer was not the first choice or even the third, and that salary is pretty paltry if you ask me, I think xcel will be ok, but not as good as the final five, so your revenue from there will be only slightly elevated.I would bet that the Big ten has tourneys there as well and I wonder how many tickets the public will buy.
You will get better road trips of course but you only came to Houghton every 2 or three years anyway, and I doubt that there will be much in the way of incremental ticket sales at home. You already go to Boston, so are you making three trips now? Certainly the cbs deal is better than no deal, as dirty so lucidly pointed out. However having said all that, in the long term I don't see this being the big boon you're AD thinks it is. Could be, but I think after 4 or 5 years and with more losses than now days,and increased expenses, the net revenue stream will be about the same.

I basically agree with all of this, but the biggest point that I think those who were in favor of this conference (I was not) would make is your last line. The NCHC allows the schools that are in it to keep making about what they were making before. The new WCHA would have (they argue) resulted in a decline in revenue stream. I never felt that it was about keeping up with the Joneses (Big 10), but rather keeping up with where they already were. The NCHC should allow that...the new WCHA would have been a big question mark.

For fans that have followed the game for a long time, it sucks that all this change will alter a landscape that we all loved and cherished. However, there is not a **** thing that we can do about it at this point. I understand the bitter feelings, and I have some of my own. At the end of the day though, the schools that left had reasons for leaving, and some people (not you ms) look extremely butthurt over the situation by doing nothing more than trying to mock anything and everything that the NCHC does. We'll all find out if this was a good move by the schools that left eventually, but it would be in the best interest of college hockey if it was wildly successful (same with the Big 10, same with the new WCHA, same with any potential new conference).

[Osorojo]

Re: NCHC commissioner

"Jim" is an Indian name, at least it was to Mark Twain. Shouldn't the NCAA be looking into this?

[manurespreader]

Re: NCHC commissioner

I basically agree with all of this, but the biggest point that I think those who were in favor of this conference (I was not) would make is your last line. The NCHC allows the schools that are in it to keep making about what they were making before. The new WCHA would have (they argue) resulted in a decline in revenue stream. I never felt that it was about keeping up with the Joneses (Big 10), but rather keeping up with where they already were. The NCHC should allow that...the new WCHA would have been a big question mark.

it would be in the best interest of college hockey if it was wildly successful (same with the Big 10, same with the new WCHA, same with any potential new conference).

I agree FS that this is how it is, however I disagree on some points. An argument can be made that the WCHA would have been better off and with bigger income streams, if it had been left intact and picked up Miami and ND. I also think that with these new teams, the league would have gotten more aggressive on the tv stuff as the balance of power within the voting blocks would have shifted to the big money teams.I also think that college hockey might have been better off without these changes as then Huntsville might have had a better chance of getting into the ccha.
I also think a significant reason this happened is fear and personalities. Some teams feared a loss of revenue enough to blow up everything to try and preserve it, and they didn't like some of the other things that they were forced to do. I don't think that fear was warranted, but either way this is what we have now, And allowing personalities to influence your decision making is asking for trouble.

For us that are left behind, there are very hard feelings that are going to last a while. Will we get over it, sure, but it's going to cost us a ton of money, especially in the short term and it didn't need to happen. Down the line, we like our new league partners, they play good hockey, and are committed to continuing, we don't think recruiting will be hurt one bit, and we will eventually build up a solid playoffs, but like I said imho it was unnecessary and on balance the minuses outweigh the plusses.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: NCHC commissioner

I agree FS that this is how it is, however I disagree on some points. An argument can be made that the WCHA would have been better off and with bigger income streams, if it had been left intact and picked up Miami and ND. I also think that with these new teams, the league would have gotten more aggressive on the tv stuff as the balance of power within the voting blocks would have shifted to the big money teams.I also think that college hockey might have been better off without these changes as then Huntsville might have had a better chance of getting into the ccha.
I also think a significant reason this happened is fear and personalities. Some teams feared a loss of revenue enough to blow up everything to try and preserve it, and they didn't like some of the other things that they were forced to do. I don't think that fear was warranted, but either way this is what we have now, And allowing personalities to influence your decision making is asking for trouble.

For us that are left behind, there are very hard feelings that are going to last a while. Will we get over it, sure, but it's going to cost us a ton of money, especially in the short term and it didn't need to happen. Down the line, we like our new league partners, they play good hockey, and are committed to continuing, we don't think recruiting will be hurt one bit, and we will eventually build up a solid playoffs, but like I said imho it was unnecessary and on balance the minuses outweigh the plusses.

Again, that was my perception of the argument for moving to the NCHC, not necessarily how I think.

Would the WCHA w/Miami and ND been better for the schools that ultimately formed the NCHC? That's a question we can never really answer. It may have, it may not have. Plus, this may not have even been a possibility, and there are perhaps only a few people who might truly know the answer. Ultimately, the NCHC schools selfishly acted in what they perceived to be their best interest.

As for the money argument, I believe that the NCHC schools that were a part of the WCHA will do better financially in the NCHC than had they stayed in the WCHA. My reasoning for that thought has to do with North Dakota's ability to pack people into the tournament venue, and the fact that there will be fewer hands in the money jar at the end of the day. The revenue generated from the tournament would have been roughly equal with a new WCHA or the NCHC. With 8 teams (instead of 10 or 12) dividing the roughly equivalent pie, the schools will get more money. Other than that, I believe that the TV deal probably won't even be noticeable (in terms of immediate revenue) by the schools, and the extra non-conference games will allow for schools to make up for losing out on the Alaska exemption.

I'm not sold that Huntsville would have been picked up (or had a better chance to get into) by the CCHA. I'm not sure how the voting went before when they were denied membership, but I want to say that it was the smaller schools that voted against it (again, this is only a loose recollection of what happened. I'm sure people more closely involved could shed more light on the situation).

Again, I understand the hard feelings, but those people that attack anything and everything the NCHC does are ridiculous.

[huskyfan]

Re: NCHC commissioner

For fans that have followed the game for a long time, it sucks that all this change will alter a landscape that we all loved and cherished. However, there is not a **** thing that we can do about it at this point. I understand the bitter feelings, and I have some of my own. At the end of the day though, the schools that left had reasons for leaving, and some people (not you ms) look extremely butthurt over the situation by doing nothing more than trying to mock anything and everything that the NCHC does. We'll all find out if this was a good move by the schools that left eventually, but it would be in the best interest of college hockey if it was wildly successful (same with the Big 10, same with the new WCHA, same with any potential new conference).

guilty as charged.

I still feel this was a bad move for college hockey. Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving for the Big Ten was a blow for the WCHA. duh. but a couple of panicked programs made some stupid decisions, based on greed, personal comfort (ie, flying to Anchorage or Houghton) and personal relationships. it was handled badly from the first and still today handled badly. there is alot to be said for an established league vs trying to start one from scratch. wouldn't it have made more sense to have open discussions about realigning the leagues? making a home for Huntsville? continuing to shepherd the smaller and more vulnerable programs (Bowling Green)? removing Bruce (if this was an issue) (personally I think the "unhappiness" with him is a smoke screen)? making geographical decisions to make travel easier for all? perhaps the founders of the WCHA and CCHA could have sat down and hashed this out? the vision (fostered so nicely by Minnesota) of growing college hockey? it's a little too rich that the arrogance of the NCHC - assuming Notre Dame would join, making the run at Joel Maturi, the Dakota AD being the de facto CEO (how's that Bud Selig working out for baseball?), etc etc. and in the end the "big" "national" "elite" schools will end up with a league of winners and perpetual losers, with no traditions, few old rivalries. Eastern Hockey and the Big Ten will rule the roost. coaches and players will come and go and no one will be able to fathom why Western was asked to join and why Florida has a hockey team. it will be a loss for all of Western hockey.

I'm proud of Michigan Tech and the high road we've taken. and I will continue to mock the NaCHos. the flailing of the "elites" is always good fun.

[bronconick]

Re: NCHC commissioner

The only way Huntsville would have gotten an invite to a neutered CCHA (WMU, NMU, LSSU, FSU, UAF, BG) is if one of the six dropped hockey and they grabbed them to get back to six. In reality, that's CHA II, where programs are going to slowly fail and drop out.

[huskyfan]

Re: NCHC commissioner

and how happy will a guy used to making 600K - 800K a year be with his 150? and what incentives? if he can arrange direct flights to Oxford and K-zoo?

[Dirty]

Re: NCHC commissioner

I'm proud of Michigan Tech and the high road we've taken. and I will continue to mock the NaCHos. the flailing of the "elites" is always good fun.

Even after Tech has folded? That's mighty spiteful.