Transitions

Greetings, Big South friends, fans, family, and followers...Happy New Year!

Tonight marks an annual turning point--and I'm not talking about NBA free agency here.

With the end of June and the start of July, it's the functional transition point from one year's calendar to the next. For the Big South, we move from one fiscal year to the next, but it also represents a definable moment where "this year" becomes "last year" and "next year" becomes "this year"...or is that confusing?

By and large, it means we can do a little less looking back and a little more looking forward.
After all, July may be the thick of summer, but before the month is out we will hit Big South Football Media Day. And once you're there, it's a full-tilt countdown to the season itself--for all the fall sports, really--and the whole thing is rolling again.

So there is plenty on the planning tables here...stepping up things for the Big South Network with an effort toward more original programming to support the huge number of live events that we will again have available...improving the interactive content quality through this blog, plus our main Facebook and Twitter pages, and possible additions to that social networking family...and of course an overall commitment to making our events and championships the best they can be, along with enthusiastic support for our branding and mission: Developing Leaders Through Athletics.

Some of you are bound to ask about our membership...no, no changes for this year (Texas wouldn't return our phone calls--we thought they were ready to move...and if you're new to SHOUT, that qualifies as wild sarcasm, so please don't take that kind of remark seriously).

In fact, Presbyterian College still has one more transition year for most sports--the final year of the NCAA's lengthy process. PC will be eligible again in its "fast-tracked" sports (softball and men's tennis), but any potential championships in other sports will have to wait another season. As for Campbell University, the Fighting Camels will play one more year in the Atlantic Sun before a welcome return to the Big South next year.

Put another way, no sports will have more than nine teams competing for titles this year (2010-11)...but next year (2011-12) we'll see plenty with eleven squads fighting for the crown.

Before we go, a nod from Big South SHOUT to the South Carolina Gamecocks for winning the College World Series and the NCAA Baseball Championship...USC has been waiting for that one a long time--and they had to go through the Myrtle Beach Super Regional and Coastal Carolina to get to Omaha. CCU played the Gamecocks tough in two games, but came up just short. In the end, we see how strong USC was, but that also speaks volumes for the kind of team the Chanticleers put on the field this past season. Good work by both teams!

Shameless plug time: Coastal Carolina 2010 Big South Baseball Champions shirts are still available through the Big South Online Store!!! If you haven't visited the new store yet, go give it a look. Expect big things there in the upcoming year as well...

That's my time, folks, you've been great--drive home safely. SHOUT--out...