VA College Conferences (Roanoke, Lynchburg, Williamsburg: high schools, universities, title)

[jballa]

During the Duke, UNC game last night I did some thinking about how UVA & VA Tech are the biggest schools in our state so obviously the sports programs get the most attention even though thier BBall has been poor on average in recent years. I'm sure many of you will remember George Mason going to the NCAA tournament final last year against Michigan St. and being dubbed the Cinderela story of the decade. George Mason is part of the CAA Conference which receives very little support from the media yet it is 1 of 6 conferences that has 4 teams with 17+ wins. It also sent 3 teams to the NIT tourney last year, nearly missing the title, and has faired respectable in NCAA tourney play. Duke only beat ODU last year with a half-court prayer shot, helping to make a point that they are the most underrated conference in sports.

VA Commonwealth, Old Dominion, JMU, and William & Mary are also all part of this conference and the basketball is great. The football programs have just been organized such that the CAA is sponsoring the sport in 2007 with a dozen teams and ODU adding to it in '09. Take a look at the website if you're interested

http://www.caasports.com/

I guess my question is why do I not hear anything in central/western/south VA, ever, about scores or news when collectively there are more Virginians affected here than the big 2? If you look at enrollment, there's not much difference between GMU, ODU, VCU, Tech, & UVA.

[williamsburgfan]

I am sure the scores are posted in your local newspaper and at least on the news as a scoreboard.

As to why you don't have more in-depth coverage you should ask your local news media. They make decisions based on interest, feedback and advertising dollars.

[jballa]

Originally Posted by williamsburgfan

I am sure the scores are posted in your local newspaper and at least on the news as a scoreboard.

As to why you don't have more in-depth coverage you should ask your local news media. They make decisions based on interest, feedback and advertising dollars.

Williamsburgfan, you are sure wrong. Roanoke Times or Lynchburg Advance (2 biggest) don't list any scores from this conference and very, very rarely from any CAA team unless they play Tech or UVA. The news stations WSET, WSLS, & ___(cbs,nbc, & abc) don't give game scores during sports scoreboard.

I would know (I went to ODU and look for scores online b/c they're not available locally) so see my point? You would think...

I think you are right about 1 thing, and that's public feedback and interest. Maybe the media isn't the group alienating the other VA schools.

[jballa]

While no teams are currently ranked, (not even the 15-7 Hokies), the AP and Coaches Polls are favoring 4 of the previously mentioned VA teams.

Others Receiving Votes: West Virginia 54; Arizona 53; Boston College 53; Virginia Tech 38; Virginia 36; Vanderbilt 35; Clemson 34; Virginia Commonwealth 32 (ODU on AP)


No opinions on this? OKAY, I'll just continue this conversation with myself...

[jballa]

Okay so I'll retract my previous comment this one time about a VATECH team being over-rated but I still find it offensive that with all the CRAP in the news that a 2"x6" space for CAA scores in the paper won't work. So I've made contact with some and here's one response to kill off this thread. I now realize the problem is funding to look up the scores on the internet before broadcast...

"The reason you don't hear as much about teams like JMU, William & Mary, ODU and VCU is because the schools aren't located in our market area. We devote most of our sports time to teams that are in this market, area high schools and area universities such as Virginia Tech, UVa, Liberty, VMI, Lynchburg College, etc.
I do try and include other state schools in our scoreboards, but the fact that they're all at least a couple of hours away from Lynchburg makes it really tough for us to actually go and cover their games. I would love to, but the distance factor makes it really tough.
However, when they face teams that are in our market, that's a great matchup that we most definitely will try and cover. "

Thanks for your e-mail.

Dennis Carter
WSET-TV Sports Director