Hartwick College.....

[timmyboy]

Wow. The MAC has accepted the request for Hartwick College to join the MAC for soccer. This strikes me as a weird move because you would think you want stronger teams to join your conference to make it look better then it may actually be, but Hartwick's record last year was a pretty bad 8-10-2. They finished 2nd in their league last year, but after doing research their league only had 4 teams. Maybe the only reason that they allowed them to join is because the NCAA requires your league to have 6 memebers in the sport for the league to receive an automatic NCAA bid, and after IPFW left after the 2006 season it left the league without the required 6 members in mens soccer to get the bid....but they could have found someone a little bit better to join

[ZachTheZip]

Hartwick? Seriously? Oh well, I guess we can just chalk up another one in the "win" column. If MAC soccer fails due to programs being cut, I say we join the Big East or Big 10 for soccer only. It sure would help if we ever decide to change conferences in Football and Basketball if we already had a different sport already in the conference. Plus we would get more respect when it came time for the NCAA soccer tourney seedings.

[akronad]

I agree that Hartwick is not the best choice, but it is not that easy to find a team to join your conference. Even if it is conditionally for 1 sport. And the good teams that are looking don't want to match-up with a top ten team.

[br30302004]

Hartwick is not exactly a joke of a program and not a bad choice with the limited options the MAC was facing...22 NCAA D1 tourney appearances7 Final Four Appearances...I am not sure I would assume an easy W in the win column.

[skip-zip]

I've never even heard of Hartwick.Uakronkid....getting into a conference like the Big East in all sports is not a matter of us deciding that we want to switch conferences. I'd bet that Akron would move to the Big East in a second. But I can assure you, with our limited ability to generate revenue and fan support, we're complete off their radar.

[GoZips88]

with our limited ability to generate revenue and fan support, we're complete off their radar.

Yep.

[Captain Kangaroo]

with our limited ability to generate revenue and fan support, we're complete off their radar.

Yep.

I disagree. We have all the ability in the world to generate revenue and fans. In the past we have lacked the leadership to do so, we've lacked a plan to do so, we've lacked the competitive teams to do so...thus we have no history of doing so...but we certainly have the ability to do so. Our past 20 years is a crutch. Lazy people can give a piss-poor effort and simply point to "history" when we lack revenue or fans. "Hey...it just can't happen in Akron. Look at the last 20 years. It isn't my fault."Time will tell if we have the leadership to make our athletic programs attractive to a better conference. With the right leadership, U of A has the ability to ascend.

[UAZipster0305]

Getting back to this addition to the conference, Hartwick is actually the strongest addition the MAC could hope for here. Their history in men's soccer is very positive as previously mentioned.I agree though that if the MAC loses a school in the future and cannot find a replacement (hence losing the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament), we should opt for the Big Ten or Big East in men's soccer. Our program is strong enough to be very competitive in either of those conferences.

[skip-zip]

Captain Kangaroo. I agree that it is our apathetic history that is the problem. I'd love to see us turn that around. Yes, time will tell. But presently, we're a long way from where we need to be to even get onto the radar of a high-level conference.I wish that wasn't the case, because I hate to sound negative about potential moves that could upgrade athletics for my Zips.

[Z.I.P.]

Putting aside the political comments and remarks from the non-soccer crowd, here is what this means:The MAC is on the move in men's soccer! Hartwick, located I believe in the soccer hotbed of Oneonta, NY (home to the National Soccer Hall of Fame -- or possibly in Rochester, an even bigger hotbed) is a long-time college powerhouse. For many years Hartwick was a member of NCAA Division II, but competed against a very strong D-I schedule and I believe may have once (in the 1970s?) won an NCAA D-I soccer title (does anyone else know? -- I just heard this news and am amazed!). The soccer faithful know that this is huge good news for Akron and the MAC. I'm equally sure that Hartwick would not have come to the MAC without Akron's (i.e., coach Porter's) effort to pull them in. I think for the immediate future, you can forget about Akron moving soccer out of the MAC. In fact, look for programs at WMU and NIU to grow even stronger and field consistent nationally-ranked teams. Buffalo is also a strong program that is a natural rival for Hartwick. Take it from me, this is Grrrrr---reat!