Media Day Blitz

'Tis the season...for Football Media Days.

Surely you've seen the festivities working their way through college football lately--the monster-size conferences get the most attention for their events, but they definitely don't have an exclusive on such things.

This week the Big South stages its annual launch/gathering/showcase in Charlotte, and football fanatics throughout the Conference will get their fix as we go into the last month before teams begin play.

Here's what Thursday's 2010 Big South Football Media Day will bring:

--first off, meetings...in the morning, the football coaches will gather to go over issues, followed by a joint session of those coaches and their athletics directors;

--next up, lunch...with the morning sessions concluded, the focus turns to a banquet hall--but it's not just about the food;

--featured presentations...the centerpiece of the luncheon is the formal release of the Big South's Preseason Poll and All-Conference Team (as shared in a preview video produced last week...so I know all those answers already, but I can't share for another 24 hours, sorry)...PLUS the coaches will each get a brief opportunity to address the room and the preseason players of the year (offense/defense) will have short interviews on stage;

--free-for-all frenzy...okay, so it's not really all that frenzied, but a lot happens in the couple of hours after the luncheon's conclusion, with basically three rooms abuzz: the main media room, where individual outlets will all be collecting sports information materials and grabbing lots of interviews...the player interview room, where the Conference will ask questions of the team representatives for use during the season...and the streaming broadcast room, where Matt Hogue (fresh from leading the luncheon) will put questions to all the coaches and players for a FREE live video stream on the Big South Network...plus I expect plenty of mingling and interviewing in the halls, too.

Catch the live stream if you can--and look for updates coming out on our Twitter and Facebook pages as well, where you can also submit YOUR questions for the coaches and players (and please do so -- we'd love to get the answers you're looking for).

And then sometime late in the afternoon, visitors will depart, the buzz will hush, and life will return to a semblance of normal.

But it will be different than the day before...

...because it will already be football season for those of us who have been waiting for it...(the less eager can try to hold out a few more weeks, but it won't be long now).

Let the games begin.
SHOUT -- out...

Wrapping Up--or Starting Over?

Truth is (regarding the title question), it's a little of both...when a season draws to a close, it's easy to think of it in terms of reviews, wraps, and retrospectives--and there's always a need for that kind of thing--but it remains a fact of the modern athletics industry (collegiate or professional) that there is no longer an "off-season"...only PRE-season.

When we last left SHOUT at the previous post, we were in the thick of the Conference Baseball Championship Tournament. Since then, top-seeded Coastal Carolina did indeed take that title, albeit with somewhat more drama than an undefeated Big South season would imply. Liberty fought CCU for that crown, and although the Flames had a good overall record, they wound up on the outside of the NCAA bubble looking in...

As for the Chanticleers, they hosted the Myrtle Beach Regional, which saw the ouster of NC State, Stony Brook (our football associate member--hello, Seawolves!), and Coastal nemesis College of Charleston. The CCU-CoC duels wound up being wild rides with high scores, multiple ties, lead changes, extra innings, arguments, and more thrills. In the end, the Chants survived and kept their #4 national seed (a first for the Big South) alive into the Super Regionals to face another Palmetto State rival: South Carolina.

Many of you are aware, but here's the quick rehash so we're all on the same page: many years ago, Coastal was part of the USC system and was under that umbrella. The familiarity between the two led to a similarity between mascots and a sharing of team colors (since dispatched and replaced by CCU). The relationship shifted when the kids wanted to move out of the house, so to speak, as Coastal broke from the USC network and went on its own. Aside from the exceptionally rare forced/accidental pairing (not set scheduling), the two had not met in competition since. Voila, instant subtext for the Super Regional. Add in a little grousing from the Gamecock faithful on how ticket selling was handled, and you know you've got some bitterness off the field.

Meanwhile, on the field, you had two of the nation's top teams squaring off, and the match-up was indeed a quality one. The games had plenty of intrigue, as many of CCU's post-season efforts did. Unfortunately for Coastal, the "dream season" would end with a two-game exit against USC rather than with a trip to Omaha. A shame, really, but after all, it was still a tremendous season--and only eight squads get to make that trek to Rosenblatt Stadium.

But it's not ALL baseball, not with the conclusion to the Outdoor Track & Field season happening in grand fashion at the NCAA Championships in Eugene. Seven Big South student-athletes competed at the event, all doing their programs proud, but none more so than Liberty running star Sam Chelanga. The distance specialist dominated the 10K race to claim HIS SECOND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR (going with his individual title in cross country). Before coming back to Liberty, he had a shot at another giant win, but finished the meet with a runner-up finish in the 5K...so close and yet...

We naturally salute Chelanga for that feat and for being the Big South Conference Male Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year, along with his female counterpart for the OTFAY honor: UNC Asheville's Natalie Pearson. Great seasons for both competitors and well-deserved honors also--so consider our SHOUT-out just the icing on the cake, okay?

Yeah, so there's the wrap-up...now what?

Well, since you asked...would you believe we're already more than halfway through June?
The month began with the annual Big South Spring Meetings, where lots of policy adjustments and decisions affecting the coming year are made. A number of other meetings dot the summer schedule, but the tent pole holding everything up between the end of one academic-athletic calendar and the next is Football Media Day. You may not believe it, but that's mere weeks from now, just over a month--on July 29th, and then it's full speed into fall sports...oh my...anyway, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the Dads out there...SHOUT--out!

When Marketing Attacks!

In a perfect world, we would be able to put our schedules out there and our student-athletes would find large crowds greeting them at every event, cheering them on to new heights.

In the real world, we depend on some clever people dedicated to getting the word out, selling positives ("so many wins!"), downplaying negatives ("what losses?"), and working very hard to promote our events, athletes, and ideals.

Yes, it's all about the marketing. Today the Big South Marketing Group gathers in Charlotte for a face-to-face talk about what's going on at the member schools of the Conference, best practices for handling certain scenarios, and how everybody can work together to grow the profiles of the member institutions and the Conference as a whole.

Everything from advertising inventory and television deals to championships, sponsor-promotion tie-ins, and social media developments will be on the list today.

Meetings, you say...boring, you say. Perhaps...to some.

In truth, the ideas that come out of sessions like this can have a big impact on how your favorite school's sports are presented--and how the Big South membership is interconnected for various sports, events, promotions, and more. Just sayin'...

Anyway, today's post is really our chance for a quick SHOUT-out to the "BSMG" folks who keep the ideas churning and the turnstiles turning--have a great session!

It's a Blog-centennial!

Tales of Baseball Tangles, Meeting Wrangles, and Anniversary Angles...the 100th post for Big South SHOUT!

And yes, for the Word Police, "blog-centennial" is all wrong (it's a hundred posts, not a hundred years, after all)...but it sounds a lot better than the more accurate "hectoblog" would have, so I'm taking poetic license on that one...

The final champion of the 2008-09 season has been crowned: the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers have won the Big South Baseball Championship. Yes, the top seed won, but it wasn't easy for them--or for the casual bracket follower.

You see, it all started getting complicated with Radford's upset win over Coastal in Game Five...that resulted in five surviving teams after six completed games...and that in turn meant leaving the standard double-elimination bracket (no picnic to follow in any case) and going to the first contingency bracket. With me so far?

Coastal dispatched High Point in the revised bracket's Game Seven, leaving four teams standing--but then the Chanticleers stirred up another bracket racket, this time by defeating the previously unbeaten Liberty Flames in Game Nine (I haven't lost you yet, have I?) and forcing the final three teams into the second contingency bracket.

Really. No point in making this stuff up, after all.

Here's the irony--the double-elimination bracket plays out in orderly fashion if the seeds hold, yet we wound up going through these extra twists and turns only to follow the seeds: the last four teams were the top four seeds and they were eliminated in four-three-two order to leave the number one seed in the champion's throne!

Anyway, next up for the Chanticleers, a date with Kansas at the Chapel Hill Regional on Friday. CCU is the 2-seed, facing #3 KU, while host and top seed UNC plays Dartmouth.

Baseball may be the last Conference Championship, but it's not the last activity for the Big South on the traditional academic/athletic calendar...not when the Spring Meetings are upon us. Meetings? Yes, it's time again to gather the CEOs, ADs, and other administrators from all the member institutions of the Big South to discuss matters of policy and procedure, finance and function, impact and interest. Parliamentary Procedure does not make much of a spectator sport, but the votes cast in these sessions do reach the fields and courts of competition in a variety of ways. I'll keep you posted on any major developments as warranted.

The other thing that comes out of these meetings is the Awards & Anniversary Dinner (in other years, it's the Hall of Fame Dinner, but no HoF this year--we're finishing off the 25th Anniversary celebration instead). Not only will we have the annual presentations of the Christenberry Awards and Graduate Fellowships, the All-Sport Trophies, and the Sasser Cup, but we will also reveal the final results of the "Best of the Best." A special video will count down the top ten from the 25 sensational spotlight athletes, teams, and moments of the Big South's first 25 years. Designated representatives from all 25 honorees will be acknowledged and someone from the top "moment" selected will address the crowd. I know the order, but it's top secret--you're not getting it out of me...

By the way, the Anniversary Dinner is invitation only, but don't worry, you can catch up on what went on--starting Friday, the countdown video and the evening's ceremonies will be available as free video on BigSouthSports.com!

Did a fun interview today with the NCAA News on the impact of Twitter for collegiate sports. That should run sometime in June--I'll let you know where to find that when it runs.

That's all for now--SHOUT, out!

Media Daze

Can you say "basketball time" ?

Believe it or not, the hoops preseason tip-off time is here!
Early next week we hit the annual events that mark that seasonal launch: the Big South Conference Basketball Media Days and Fall Meetings.

Best of all, you can get in on the fun...well, not the golf outing for the coaches and media (nor the board meetings of the Conference administration, although it's less likely you would find that "fun")...but you CAN get exclusive interviews with all the men's and women's basketball coaches on The Big South EDGE--for FREE.

The live streaming interviews can be seen at BigSouthSports.com on Tuesday, October 14th, at about 1:15pm (the time's a little flexible based on the events of the day, but that should be pretty close). In addition to the coaches, there will be interviews with the preseason players of the year--but you're not going to get those names out of me until all that is released on Tuesday, along with the full All-Conference Team and preseason poll predicting the order of finish (put together by the coaches and selected media representatives).

Meanwhile, back in the seasons that are playing right now, we have lots of intriguing match-ups, many of them on the video streaming schedule--so here's a look at the week ahead with our "On the EDGE" feature:

Look for more details on football in the Big South's Week 7 Preview.

In other news, we want to point out that the "Dig Pink" campaign is not the only volleyball effort on behalf of breast cancer awareness in the Big South Conference. High Point is playing a match for "Dig for the Cure" in conjunction with the Susan G. Komen Foundation. That's happening tonight (Friday the 10th) at 7pm in the Millis Center at HPU.

Speaking of the world of pink, get ready for more promotions in women's basketball this season to help breast cancer awareness...last year they were thinking pink, but this year it's straight to the "Pink Zone", so watch for that campaign coming soon.

And since we've worked our way back to basketball, I should point out that the Basketball Sports Passes are now available for the video streaming of all home basketball games in the Big South Conference for 2008-09. Order now and enjoy the games!

Olympians and Leaders

If your "Beijing Countdown" clock is ticking, here's something you should know--the Big South is going to the Olympics!

Okay, to be fair, we're really talking about a few special athletes representing their countries in the Games, but the Conference takes great pride in having these Olympians on the growing list of Big South athletic stars past and present:


Amber Campbell (former Coastal Carolina All-American) will participate in the hammer throw after placing second in the US Olympic Trials and reaching the necessary "A" level standard. It's redemption for Campbell, who came up just shy of the standard four years ago for Athens.


Taylor Milne (High Point alum and Big South record-holder) will compete in the 1500m run for Canada after placing first in the Canadian trials. He had already established his Olympic standard time at a previous meet, so now he's ready for the Beijing Games.


Emily McColl (active Coastal player, 2nd Team All-Conference in 2007) will rejoin New Zealand's national women's soccer squad for the Olympics. Last year McColl played on the team in the FIFA Women's World Cup (also in China). She plans to return for her senior season following the Games.


Congratulations to the international stars of the Big South Conference!

It's exciting to see members of our extended family compete at the highest level, isn't it? Heck, (name-drop alert) I went to college with Dara Torres--AFTER she had already been to the Olympics twice...who would've thought she'd still be at it nearly 20 years later??? Wow!


Time to segue from leaders in competition to leaders in life, who often wind up being many of the same people: student-athletes who learn to apply the best lessons of sports to the trials of business and society. The Big South Conference seeks to nurture that capability for success in its student-athletes with its 3rd Student-Athlete Leadership Weekend.


The Leadership Weekend conference (previously held in Charlotte and near Asheville) is coming up July 18-20 at the Kingston Plantation and Resort in Myrtle Beach, with the theme "The Race to Lead." Big South Partners Sherwin Williams and Musco Lighting will sponsor the event where about 50 of the finest Big South student-athletes will gather to network, listen to notable guest speakers, receive advice and tools for their future, plus enjoy some time away from campus. Speakers will include former CCU women's basketball player Brooke Weisbrod, Ken Carrick of Coleman, Lew and Associates, Dr. Kadence Otto from Western Carolina University, and Ken Rothmel of Sunbelt Rentals. Anyone seeking more information about the annual Leadership Weekend should contact Dawn Turner in the Conference Office.

That should just about do it for this morning--hope you had a good 4th!

And hey, it's just a little more than two weeks now to the combination of our 25th Anniversary announcements and the annual Football Media Day--get ready for a great year across the Big South!!! (Hmmm...I just realized the excess of exclamations in this post...must be excited--or taking SHOUT too literally)

PC Piece for PC Pleas

The alliterative title may be overselling it a bit, but there was an interesting development recently involving transitioning Big South Conference member Presbyterian College...translate the post headline as "a politically correct decision settles a Presbyterian College request".

As many of you probably know by now, the Blue Hose of PC in Clinton, SC, have played D-II for some time and have begun the transitioning process into D-I and membership in the Big South. NCAA policies and timelines being what they are, PC does not just get to jump in and play--there is a waiting/transition period: in this case, a four-year period altogether.

In the meantime, you have been seeing Presbyterian showing up on most Conference materials starting in 2007-08, with the PC teams incorporated in all schedules starting in 2008-09. The Blue Hose will not be fully vested and eligible across the board for everything that comes with D-I and the Big South until 2011-12. Seriously...I told you it was a long wait, but again--those are the rules.

So, here's the twist that took place when the Conference leadership got together for the Spring Meetings in Hilton Head: PC campaigned for a bigger stake in the Big South club...and won. Director of Athletics William "Bee" Carlton pled his case for proper recognition for his student-athletes who would be competing on the field of play but would not have their accomplishments acknowledged in the standings under the status quo. The debate that followed looked at the matter from more angles than I'm going to burden you with here, but suffice to say that the idea gained momentum and support to the degree that the matter looked far different when the meetings adjourned than it did when they convened.

Originally, PC games would be scheduled, but not count toward Conference standings/seedings and therefore would not impact Conference championships and awards--until such point as Presbyterian was fully eligible (sidebar: transitioning schools can "fast-track" two sports for eligibility in two years rather than four...for PC, those sports are softball and men's tennis).

When all was said and done, the Presbyterian College Blue Hose games would count in the Conference standings for all sports, PC was to be listed in the standings at the place befitting the school's record (not at the bottom or as 0-0), student-athletes would be eligible for Conference awards during and at the end of the season, and PC could even win a regular season championship (excluding football this upcoming year, since PC does not play a full Conference schedule)--but the school cannot compete in tournaments or advance to any post-season play; that part of the NCAA structure was not altered in any way.

It will make some things very interesting, especially if you're trying to keep stats straight, like the folks in our PR department...in this scenario, Presbyterian will be recognized by the Big South for more than by the NCAA--so you could see someone post a record acknowledged by the Conference but not by the national leader boards, etc. Stay tuned for the developments in this area over the next couple of seasons.

Odds favor the impact being a small one--after all, PC is moving up in level and transitions like that are not always easy. It would be foolhardy to forecast a glut of Presbyterian championships during the transition years...but it's not out of the question to see the "new kids" win something (remember the surprises the Blue Hose threw down in football last year). It's a tricky situation...after all, most of us would agree that the athletes are competing just as hard on the fields/courts/etc. of play and deserve the merits (and demerits) that come with winning and losing, just as all the other schools do...at the same time, it's not the way we've seen transitions like this handled before, hence the debate and discussion that occurred.

Either way, the proposal that started with PC was voted through (after some alteration and amendments), so look for Presbyterian College to be treated like everybody else for the most part in the season ahead (just don't look for them in the tournaments).

Why no fuss with Gardner-Webb, also coming into the Big South? No transition necessary: the Runnin' Bulldogs were already D-I, playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference, and can begin as a fully eligible member immediately. At least that is a simple matter...more complicated, apparently, is which way the Runnin' Bulldog should face--word has it he needs to look left now, but I only have the "right" dog picture, which may in fact be the "wrong" dog picture...we'll settle that later...

And a quick note to close--CONGRATS to Big South staffer Nic Bowman, who got married this past weekend...now that's a reason for a SHOUT-out !!!

Spring Cleaning

Lest you think that SHOUT fell into a deep hole, I'll begin by agreeing that the lapse since the last post was longer than intended--things have certainly been busy around here! Time to clean up the outstanding issues, at least briefly, so that we get all caught up to June...

The 2008 Big South Baseball Championship wrapped up with Coastal Carolina taking the title, and, while it should not be considered a surprise to see the top seed snag the win, the tournament did have its share of drama--including Liberty's surge to push Coastal into a second and deciding game on the last day of play.

Since then, the Chanticleers hosted one of the NCAA Baseball Regionals and dispatched the visitors (Alabama, East Carolina, Columbia) to advance to this weekend's "Super Regional" at the North Carolina Tar Heels. The games will be played at Cary, NC, on Saturday (12pm), Sunday (1pm), and Monday if necessary (time TBA), and all carried on the ESPN family of networks.

Meanwhile, outdoor track marches on with continued success, and the Big South powered through the NCAA Regional meet to place ten male automatic qualifiers to Nationals and one female at-large participant. The Men's OTF representation of the Big South exceeds that of most of the nation's college conferences and falls behind only ten leagues (largely of the major college heavyweight variety). Congratulations to all these stellar athletes who have gone farther, faster, or higher than the competition to reach the highest level--great job, everyone!

Don't forget that as the year has been putting on its final touches in the fields of play, additional action has been going on behind the scenes on behalf of the institutions and student-athletes of the Big South Conference with the annual Spring Meetings. All last week, the member school CEOs (presidents, chancellors, etc.), Directors of Athletics, and other upper-level administrators joined the Conference Staff for a series of meetings and discussions on a variety of issues facing the Big South in the coming seasons. I won't belabor the fine points here, but in coming installments we may touch on a few of the decisions and how they will impact what you see as a fan in terms of championship events, team standings, and other such matters.

Finally, a couple of individual notes of gratitude--
First, we thank Bernadette McGlade, who has done a commendable job as Coordinator of Officials for the Big South in women's basketball (alongside her duties as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference)...she is moving on to be the new Commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference and we wish her all the best!
Next, we salute Associate Commissioner James Companion, who has completed ten great years of service in Big South Conference Marketing, where he has taken Conference partnerships and sponsorships beyond all expectations. Fortunately for us, James is just celebrating that anniversary and is not going anywhere else (or so we hope)!

Thanks also to all our viewers and contributors who kept The EDGE alive and well this year, as we enjoyed a slate of about 525 streamed events--unprecedented in Big South Conference history. That will be a tough act to follow in the coming academic/athletic year, but we'll certainly give it a shot...

Big South Quick Hits...

***In our last post, we discussed the NFL Draft...of course we all know that's not the only way the pro teams build their rosters. As soon as the draft is over, it's free agent time--and three Big South players signed free agent deals with the hopes of latching on with a team. The players: Coastal Carolina's Mike Tolbert (FB, Chargers) and Liberty teammates Vince Redd (LB, Patriots) and Stephen Sene (OL, Rams). Good luck to one and all!

***This week featured a parade of coaches through the Big South's Charlotte offices--time for the annual meetings of the basketball coaches! The coaches all spent an afternoon (men's coaches on Wednesday, women's on Thursday) to discuss a variety of rules, policies, and ideas on how to keep hoops in the Big South growing and improving in the seasons to come. Meetings come with the territory--it can't all be fun and games...

***Some folks hear that May has arrived and run through thoughts of horse racing, auto racing, and playoffs in basketball or hockey, but for the Big South it's more like the "Big Finish": playing three days of games to crown a softball champion, holding five days of games to decide the baseball champion, and ending the month with the Conference Board of Administrators meetings (more planning, rules, policies, etc.)--culminating in the Hall of Fame Dinner to induct this year's class. Busy times!

***More great Big South baseball and softball this weekend--enjoy the games!!!