Game tonight vs. Lees-McRae

[TURKEYCREEK]

It's better than playing Lees-McCrae

[woffordgrad94]

I doubt a lot of Wofford folks really care about this , but I'll post it anyway. A while back, in a game in which Wofford upset then USC-Spartanburg, Jerry Waters refused to shakes hands after the game, which led to some ill feelings and the series was stopped. This was back in the mid-to-late 80s (not sure of the exact year...it was before my time at Wofford). Anyway, USCS contacted us every year after that asking for a game, and we refused to schedule them. That stopped once we became D-1. NBow that they have moved up to d-1 too, they contacted us for a game this season, hich we turned down, simply stating that "they are not the kind of team this best fits our needs". Now I know that AD Richard Johnson has been at Wofford a long time, as has Mike Young. Is it possible they still hold some kind of grudge against Upstate? I can tell you that a lot of people at Upstate think they might. Upstate also says that we think "it would be demeaning to us to stoop to their level and play them". Overall, many Upstate students I have known, past and present, have a verynegative opinion of Wofford, and see us as "snobs". I think it's silly we don't play them. I'm not saying to let them in the Southern Conference by any means, but we easily could and should develop a strong rivalry with them in all sports (well, except football). I think Wofford would get into the rivalry just as much as Upstate. We would have more than mothers and girlfriends at the game, I can assure you. It couldn't be any worse thjan what we had for Lees-McRae anyway. I would also like to point out that in my senior year at Wofford, both us and USCS made the D-2 women's basketball playoffs, and we just happened to be paired up against them at the Hodge Center (the USCS gym). The gym was FULL and the atmosphere was ELECTRIC- and this was for a WOMENS game. Wofford lost, but it was a LOT of fun! We haven't played them in men's basketball in roughly 20 years- and they are like 3 miles away! The attendance for the Lees-McRae game was pretty low, as I'm sure it will be for our next two games against those two college basketball juggernauts Virginia-Wise (NAIA?), and Toccoa Falls (even lower than NAIA- me and four friends could probably beat those folks' starters). Especially since the Virginia-Wise game will probably confict with the Clemson-USC football game (it is supposed to be a 2pm, but I hearit will likely be moved to night because of playoff football).

[ShortHairedDog]

I think putting Upstate on the schedule is a great idea. When I was at Wofford, there were a few occasions during the off season when Upstate players (not the starters) would come to Andrews Field House and play in a couple of pick up games. They seemed like great guys and good players. They would challenge us a lot more than Tocca Falls (why do we play them EVERY year?).

[Ruckus]

By adding USCS, we have nothing to gain and everything to lose from the program's point of view. Just like PC. Cross town rivalry is good as long as there is equality in the match-up. But there's not. If we win, so what? We were supposed to. If they win, they use it to springboard their own program which by all rights SHOULD be better than us (bigger school, no admission/academic stds and plenty of cash). I played baseball against those guys while at Wofford in the mid-80s and have no use for them. If RJ hasn't forgotten Waters, good for him.

[Sparklepup]

If their coach refused to shake Richard's hand then we shouldn't ever play them again, period! (grin)

[TURKEYCREEK]

Kentucky and Southern Cal can say the same thing about scheduling Gardner Webb and Mercer. Wofford can say the same thing about scheduling Toccoa Falls, Lees McCrae, Virginia Wise, etc. If scheduling tougher teams helps prepare Wofford for the conference games, then that's fine with me.

[Eyes of Old Main]

Just a few points regarding a rivalry with Upstate:

1) Does USC-U really have any fans? I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing anything from there or any cars that had stickers, etc. on them except maybe ones with student parking stickers. That's what I meant by my earlier comment about moms and girlfriends, because that's about all I think would show up from their side.

2) If their coach refused to shake hands, then they have less class than I previously thought.

3) If people around here ask the question of whether we should be in the SoCon with schools like GSU, ASU, WCU and Chattanooga because of them having lesser standards for admission and academics, then we really shouldn't be talking about USC-U. The public schools in the SoCon look like Harvard, Yale and Princeton campared to Upstate.

[beacon_fan]

1. RJ and Mike don't hold stupid grudges like that. period.
2. Nothing positive can come from this game.

I doubt that we will see this game in the near future.

[NCTerrier]

Whether we hold a grudge or not, I do not know. I do know that the USCS coach in question here, Jerry Waters, far removed from the program and current administration over there. I know current coach Eddie Payne and he has nothing to do with any controversy between the two schools. I am sure they would love to play us and honestly, we probably should play them. The only reason I see why we wouldn't is we are afraid to lose to them. Win or lose, I do not see it being a recruiting tool because I do not believe we go after the same kids.

[woffordgrad94]

1. RJ and Mike don't hold stupid grudges like that. period.
2. Nothing positive can come from this game.

I doubt that we will see this game in the near future.

I fear you are right about us not seeing this game in the near future, but still, I have a question and a comment:

What do we get that's positive from playing Virginia-Wise, Toccoa Falls, West Virginia Wesleyan, and Lees-McRae?

We should not worry about losing to Upstate- they will be one of the worst teams in D-1 for a few years, until they have a chance to get their program on track in D-1. In other words, we should play them sooner rather than later.

[Rowdy]

In other words, we should play them sooner rather than later.

Wrong! we should never play them.

[beacon_fan]

I fear you are right about us not seeing this game in the near future, but still, I have a question and a comment:

What do we get that's positive from playing Virginia-Wise, Toccoa Falls, West Virginia Wesleyan, and Lees-McRae?

We should not worry about losing to Upstate- they will be one of the worst teams in D-1 for a few years, until they have a chance to get their program on track in D-1. In other words, we should play them sooner rather than later.

Other than an easy win, I agree that we don't get much out of beating up on our 3 non d1 teams. I just feel that losing to Upstate would be even more embarrassing to our program than losing to one of the three we scheduled this year.

[Eyes of Old Main]

The problem here is philosophical. Our current regime seems to think this type of scheduling is OK, I do not. I wish we would do like most of the other SoCon teams and play fewer non-D1 games and take the record hit if it comes. I feel like we play as many non-D1's as we can to make our record look better so we aren't forced into difficult decisions about the direction of our program.

[NCTerrier]

I feel like we play as many non-D1's as we can to make our record look better so we aren't forced into difficult decisions about the direction of our program.

I agree 100 percent, I would rather play just one or two money games, then take on an ODU or JMU or the like. Someone with some name recognition in our area that we have a chance to bring into BJA in a home-and-home.