89rabbit Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Here is a link to a Mid-Con story from Utah: http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 90335/1006 Former SUU AD considers altering Mid-Con's identity By RICH JOHNSON rjohnson@thespectrum.com TULSA, Okla. - The Mid-Continent Conference will celebrate its 25th birthday next year. Newly hiredcommissioner Tom Douple has an idea for the perfect gift: A new identity. As part of his vision to take the Mid-Con to the next level, Douple is exploring a name change, which he believes would improve the conference's national reputation. "We hurt ourselves in a way," said Douple, who left his post as Southern Utah University's athletic director last October. "We call ourselves "Mid-Con." It's Mid-Continent, (and) that's a mouthful. So people don't know if that means "Middle Conference" or what, so we're looking at changing the name." No final decision has been made, though. The conference is still researching the possibility of changing its name and logo. The league office has sent out a student survey, and school presidents are currently considering the possibility. It wouldn't be the first time the league has changed its name. The Mid-Con was originally known as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities before changing to its current moniker in 1989-90. "You look at some of the leagues that have changed, like Midwestern Colligate Conference changed to Horizon, (and)they hit a home run with that," Douple said. "Trans-America Athletic Conference changed to Atlantic Sun. We've just got to get a feel and we're studying that right now." The "Mid-Continent" moniker also might not be a true geographical fit, as the conference now features schools that stretch from the Midwest to the South to the Southwest, a trend that's becoming more common to conferences throughout the country. And the conference could add more teams. "The decisions are do we really need to expand," Douple said. "Do we better ourselves by expansion, and who's out there to expand? Do we want to go into divisional play if we expand, or do we not?" The Mid-Con also would benefit from greater exposure, particularly on television. The men's basketball championship game was broadcast on ESPN again this year, and the women's title game was televised nationally for the first time on ESPNU. "Tom's trying to do some things to try and bring a little more enthusiasm to what we're doing," Valparaiso athletic director Mark LeBarbera said. "Particularly with basketball and trying to get everybody enthused about the whole and not just their own individual school." Douple said the Mid-Con's basketball tournament made money for the first time last year, mostly because of the strong support in Tulsa and a large turnout of Oral Roberts fans. He believes Tulsa is a good fit for the tournament, citingthe city's hospitality and media coverage. "We get four pages every day in the local paper," he said. "This facility is so conducive. We have to be honest about who we are and how many folks do travel with their teams and be realistic. This venue is second to none and it's just a right fit." The conference is also pushing to get championship games in every sport available on the Web through streaming video. Because he spent so much time affiliated with the Mid-Con whileat SUU, LeBarbara said Douple understands the conference's needs. "He really understands the conference and the issues that the schools face," he said. "I think he understands what the conference is and all the individual schools are. I think he's doing a tremendous job." The Mid-Con's Chicago base is certainly a change for Douple after his years in Cedar City. Traffic is particularly bad, and he hasn't had a chance to move his family yet. But he said he's been so busy at the league office that the adjustment has been easier. He also thinks new SUU athletic director Ken Beazer was the perfect choice to replace him. "Ken (Beazer) is going to do a fantastic job," Douple said. "I had some great visits with Ken. He's really going to add a lot to the conference as an athletic director." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Interesting story..... good idea to change the conference's name. How about the Golden Conference? Has a nice ring to it. And why is the league office in Chicago? We should move it to a more central (and less costly) location - like Tulsa. It should be near the "venue (for the conference tournament that) is second to none and ... just a right fit." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlh Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 When the conference started (think Horizon League) Chicago was a central location. I don't think they thought about moving it after all the changes. Just a guess on my part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Obviously I was just joking.... Chicago makes sense for a lot of reasons including transportation (O'Hare). It would be interesting for the posters to see what new conference names we could come up with. BTW, has anyone heard anything about Chicago State and their possible problems with the NCAA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 You're always trying to stir things up, aren't you, Terry? Just when things are starting to settle down a little bit you bring up the "Golden Conference"! And bringing the conference headquarters to Tulsa??? I can ONLY IMAGINE the emails that are flying to the commissioner at this very moment at the mere mention of such a thing. Don't forget, this is really the "Midwest Conference", not the "Mid-Continent Conference", and we really shouldn't be in it at all!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Great article, 89Rabbit. It will be interesting to see exactly where the conference heads over the next year or two. There are the issues of the name change, the possibility of losing some teams, and if so, the need for adding some to the conference in order to maintain the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. And then there's the ongoing issue of the Mid- West - I mean Mid-Continent Conference Tournament location. Actually, this commissioner may have more on his plate to deal with than has been the case in the last several years. It will be interesting see what happens with all of these issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EagleBackr Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Hey, kids! It's time to play "NAME THAT CONFERENCE"!! Let's see your ideas. Here's my Top Ten: 10. The 4-Hour-Airport-Layover-Followed-By-A-2-Hour-Bus-Ride Conference. 9. The Four-Points-Of-The-Compass Conference 8. The League Of Extraordinarily-Bad-Gentlemen-From-Centenary 7. The 20,000-Leagues-Under-The-Sea-And-Through-The-Air League 6. The Big-IX-Or-VIII-Depending-On-Chicago-State Conference 5. The First-Year-In-Division-I-Starter Conference 4. The North-South-East-And-Western-Wear Conference (with apologies to Drysdale's) 3. The Wish-We-Could-Get-In-The-Missouri-Valley Conference 2. The Big-XVI-Seed Conference 1. The Anybody-But-Valpo Conference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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