[Stevev]

JCrew4,
First off welcome to the board. I have been reading your posts and even with the all the harrassement you have been receiving I think that you brought up some good points and I agree with you about your opinion of the Big South. The harrassment is part of being here since everyone has the right to speak up and there are quite a few very knowledgeable fans on here and many are very close to the LU sports programs but for me it is a learning experience. I have learned so much by reading this board and occassionally posting. I may not agree with everyone but at least I know where others stand on certain issues and there is nowhere else to get this amount of information on LU sports.

With the amount of resources that we have meaning the quality of our athletic facilities, the amount of money we are throwing around our sports programs, our vision for the future with our rescent expansion projects scheduled for football and basketball, fine coaches that we have been bringing in, our growing enrollement, etc I am surprised that we have not been contacted by higher profile conferences such as the Colonial, A10, Southern, or MAC and instead have to settle for a conference rated as low as the Big South. With our resources we should be on par athletically with colleges such as James Madison, William and Mary, Delaware, Richmond, VCU, Villanova, ODU, GMU, and others but because of where we are we are considered a step below them and there is no reason it has to be that way just because we are a Christian college. And yes, being in this conference does have an adverse effect on recruiting based on what I am hearing. Now you know where I stand on this Big South thing and look forward to your future posts.

[Liberty4Life]

With our resources we should be on par athletically with colleges such as ... Villanova,

Villanova? The #3 ranked men's basketball college in the nation? Do you want to try that again?

Furthermore, of the schools you mentioned, with the exception of JMU, they are all within a healthy distance of a decent-sized city (WM = 45 minutes away from Va. Beach, ODU is in Norfolk, Richmond & VCU is in Richmond, Villanova is in Philly, George Mason is right by Washington, Delaware is an hour or so away from Philly...

Those are great markets. Conferences like having schools in great markets... as opposed to schools in a two-horse town like Lynchburg.

[scuzdriver]

I guess you have never driven out west. There are several big time D1 programs in the middle of nowhere. Have you heard of the Big 12? Look at where some of these schools are located. I'm not buying the argument that location holds us back. Sorry.

[soccer7]

yea Harrisonburg is a real bumpin place and I just didnt want to leave Blacksburg when I was there.

[Stevev]

Some of the Villanova success particularly in basketball has to do with all of the money the Catholic demomination is throwing at it. A lot of the Big East colleges are Catholic and they do have tons of money.
As far as location is concerned, I don't think that with where LU is located would be much a roadblock to us not being more successful based on what Scuzdriver brought up. Lynchburg is a fine college town and there is plenty of things to do and places to go. You don't need to be near a major metropolis to be successful. The bottom line is that we are a private college of about 12K and we have lots of money, and great facilities. We should be competing on a much larger stage than the Big South.

[bigsmooth]

LFL, you obviously have never been to boone, nc. App is doing just fine and that town is in the middle of nowhere, so location is not a hinderance. and stevev..you have been on this board a long time and you know why we are in the big south, but yet you come back to your old arguements of leaving the big south because a newbie comes to the board with the same opinion. dont you think that if the CAA or SoCon called that jeff barber would listen?? right now the Big South gives us the best chance in the playoffs and we will ride that till a bigger conference calls or we jump to FBS. hoepfully we make the playoffs next year and make some waves in the tournament, or maybe a continued string of success will garner a bid next year if we do not win the conference championship.

[Liberty4Life]

I guess you have never driven out west. There are several big time D1 programs in the middle of nowhere. Have you heard of the Big 12? Look at where some of these schools are located. I'm not buying the argument that location holds us back. Sorry.

Ummmm....

Iowa -- 30 miles from Des Moines (pop. 500,000+)
Kansas State -- hour from Topeka, two hours from Kansas City.
Colorado -- 30 mins from Denver
Kansas -- 40 mins from Kansas City
Missouri -- 2 hrs to Kansas City, 2 hrs to Columbus
Nebraska -- located in the state's 2nd largest city, an hour away from Omaha
Baylor -- 90 minutes from Dallas
OK State -- about an hour from OK City & Tulsa
Texas A&M -- 2 hours to Houston
Texas Tech -- is a hike to anywhere... but the city still has 225,000 people.
Oklahoma -- 30 minutes to Oklahoma City
Texas -- is in Austin, 90 minutes away from San Antonio...

So you're right, the middle of nowhere.

As for VTech, I seem to remember that originally, the ACC wanted Miami, BC, and Syracuse (all three of them because of football prowess and location), and it wasn't until the Virginia governor starting complaining that Virginia Tech was invited instead of Syracuse.

As Harrisonburg is still only two hours from DC. I mean, you could go to a 7 p.m. Nationals game and still be back by curfew...

[Liberty4Life]

LFL, you obviously have never been to boone, nc. App is doing just fine and that town is in the middle of nowhere, so location is not a hinderance.

Boone, NC is only two hours from Charlotte.

Lynchburg, VA is four hours from a major city.

[SuperJon]

LFL, you obviously have never been to boone, nc. App is doing just fine and that town is in the middle of nowhere, so location is not a hinderance.

Boone, NC is only two hours from Charlotte.

Lynchburg, VA is four hours from a major city.

Lynchburg, VA has capabilities of flying directly into the city.

Boone, NC requires you to fly and bus at least an hour.


Lynchburg, VA is two hours from a major city.

Boone, NC is two hours from a major city.

[jcmanson]

I guess you have never driven out west. There are several big time D1 programs in the middle of nowhere. Have you heard of the Big 12? Look at where some of these schools are located. I'm not buying the argument that location holds us back. Sorry.

Ummmm....

Iowa -- 30 miles from Des Moines (pop. 500,000+)
Kansas State -- hour from Topeka, two hours from Kansas City.
Colorado -- 30 mins from Denver
Kansas -- 40 mins from Kansas City
Missouri -- 2 hrs to Kansas City, 2 hrs to Columbus
Nebraska -- located in the state's 2nd largest city, an hour away from Omaha
Baylor -- 90 minutes from Dallas
OK State -- about an hour from OK City & Tulsa
Texas A&M -- 2 hours to Houston
Texas Tech -- is a hike to anywhere... but the city still has 225,000 people.
Oklahoma -- 30 minutes to Oklahoma City
Texas -- is in Austin, 90 minutes away from San Antonio...

So you're right, the middle of nowhere.

As for VTech, I seem to remember that originally, the ACC wanted Miami, BC, and Syracuse (all three of them because of football prowess and location), and it wasn't until the Virginia governor starting complaining that Virginia Tech was invited instead of Syracuse.

As Harrisonburg is still only two hours from DC. I mean, you could go to a 7 p.m. Nationals game and still be back by curfew...

What does this have to do with anything? These are all BCS schools. We're not making the jump to a BCS league perhaps ever, but certainly not in the foreseeable future. If/when we make the jump to the FBS it will be in a conference like the C-USA or MAC. Lots of those teams in those conferences are no where near "big markets" i.e. ECU.

[flamehunter]

LFL, you obviously have never been to boone, nc. App is doing just fine and that town is in the middle of nowhere, so location is not a hinderance.

Boone, NC is only two hours from Charlotte.

Lynchburg, VA is four hours from a major city.

Last I checked, Richmond is only 2 hours from Lynchburg. That's not exactly a hick-town. And you used it to defend your position regarding U of Richmond and VCU. Just saying.

[jcmanson]

LFL, you obviously have never been to boone, nc. App is doing just fine and that town is in the middle of nowhere, so location is not a hinderance.

Boone, NC is only two hours from Charlotte.

Lynchburg, VA is four hours from a major city.

Last I checked, Richmond is only 2 hours from Lynchburg. That's not exactly a hick-town. And you used it to defend your position regarding U of Richmond and VCU. Just saying.

He's from the 757. Everyone from there equates Richmond to a hick town.

[bigsmooth]

raleigh/durham...2 hrs. LFL your arguement holds no water.

[SuperJon]

App St - two hours from Charlotte, the #24 ranked market in the country.
Liberty - two hours from Raleigh, the #26 ranked market in the country.

And it's less than two hours to Greensboro which, while not a huge market, is still at Top 50 market in the country.

So basically, we're within two hours of the #26 market, the #46 market, and #58 market (Richmond). Add in that we're under four hours to Charlotte (#24), the NOVA market (#9), and the 757 market (#43) and your argument is just completely wrong.

Plus we have an airport in town that can handle teams.

If you want to look at it from a pure market perspective, we're a much better draw than App St.

[jcmanson]

And not to mention our draw is more of a world wide draw because of our school. We have fans in every state in this country, and all across the world much moreso than someone like App State, ECU, JMU, etc.

[BJWilliams]

Jon's right...and Im from that same neck of the woods (the 757) and originally from Richmond and its certainly getting better. Seems a lot of folks I know are moving there (or into Dinwiddie and Chesterfield counties)

[soccer7]

BJ your right...I live in Chesterfield which is 20-30 minutes to Downtown and this area is growing like crazy.

[jcmanson]

yeah, and how about that LU Richmond Alumni Chapter?! I hear it's hot!

[JK37]

The question of Liberty's proximity to a major media market(s) has obviously been answered. But what of Liberty's ability to draw viewership within those markets? I don't think we know the answer to our media following in Richmond, Greensboro, Raleigh/Durham, or D.C., beyond announcing our alumni numbers in those markets.

What we do know, and no one has imparted yet in this discussion, is that Liberty possesses the ability to draw regional and national network viewership (MASN/FamilyNet) all by itself. This point of self-negotiation of our current TV deals cannot be emphasized enough. Without doing the research, I seriously doubt there are very many FCS programs who can present themselves as a TV draw - with tangible evidence, such as this - to a conference looking for a TV impact-school as a new member.

[JK37]

I also point out that some of the markets everyone has mentioned to which Liberty holds close proximity, are already held by more established programs. Does this matter? Am I wrong? These are honest questions in my mind; maybe someone else has an answer. (I know osmeone HAS to have an opinion )

Richmond: U of R, UVA?
Raleigh/Durham/Greensboro: NCSU, Duke, UNC, ECU?
Washington, D.C.: U. of Maryland

[Liberty4Life]

The question of Liberty's proximity to a major media market(s) has obviously been answered. But what of Liberty's ability to draw viewership within those markets? I don't think we know the answer to our media following in Richmond, Greensboro, Raleigh/Durham, or D.C., beyond announcing our alumni numbers in those markets.

If you think that Richmond, Greensboro, Raleigh / Durham, et cetera are "major media markets", you obviously have a skewed version of what a "major" city is.

And if you can get to Raleigh in 2 hours from Lynchburg, don't let the cops in Halifax know.

[JK37]

Liberty - two hours from Raleigh, the #26 ranked market in the country.

And it's less than two hours to Greensboro which, while not a huge market, is still at Top 50 market in the country.

So basically, we're within two hours of the #26 market, the #46 market, and #58 market (Richmond). Add in that we're under four hours to Charlotte (#24), the NOVA market (#9), and the 757 market (#43) and your argument is just completely wrong.

Plus we have an airport in town that can handle teams.

If you want to look at it from a pure market perspective, we're a much better draw than App St.

And even if it's three hours, it applies.

But, L4L, don't ignore the most important point I made. It's the same point that allows Liberty's coaches to recruit nationally, and every other BSC program is relegated to just the Southeast. LU has a national footprint and following, as evidenced by TV contracts they have negotiated BY THEMSELVES!

[BJWilliams]

If youre top 30 in the country, I think its safe to call it "major" (just because youre not Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Seattle, Dallas-Ft Worth or Houston to name a few does not mean youre not a major city) (...Lynchburg is within driving distance (or a very short plane ride) of 5 of the top 60 major TV markets in the country (Washington DC #8, Baltimore MD #24, Charlotte NC #26, Raleigh-Durham NC #29, Norfolk VA #42) plus Richmond which rates #61 according to DIgital Syndicate Networks.

[SuperJon]

Hey BJ, thanks for posting the same exact thing I did.

[Liberty4Life]

If youre top 30 in the country, I think its safe to call it "major" (just because youre not Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Seattle, Dallas-Ft Worth or Houston to name a few does not mean youre not a major city) (...Lynchburg is within driving distance (or a very short plane ride) of 5 of the top 60 major TV markets in the country (Washington DC #8, Baltimore MD #24, Charlotte NC #26, Raleigh-Durham NC #29, Norfolk VA #42) plus Richmond which rates #61 according to DIgital Syndicate Networks.

Well, if'n Liberty ain't at the center of it all! Give me a break. Do you seriously think any conference commissioner is saying 'Boy, we need to sure up that Washington DC market. Quick! Get that school four hours away!' I mean, I guarantee you that newspapers & TV stations from those markets aren't sending beat reporters to our games. Seeing that I live in one of those aforementioned markets, I'll have to see if our rousing contest against Shawnee State gets a byline in tomorrow's paper. I look really, really hard, too.

It is nice that we have the MASN deal, but that's not really because we're filling their desperately-needed Lynchburg-programming demand. It's more of 'we are moderately in the area broadcast games on TV and they need to fill programming at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night' sort of thing.

I also like how someone pointed to a *regional* television deal as evidence of us being on *national* television.

But whatever, if you guys want to live in some deluded fantasy land where Lynchburg is the pinnacle of the universe, then I'm not going to stop you. It must be nice.