Looking Forward

Man, it was a long drive home Saturday night from Philly. The Villanova game was further reinforcement that we play in a tough fb league and when you don't play well, you are going to get beat...something even Southern Cal experienced this past weekend.

So, its on to VMI...hope many of you are planning on making the trip. Its only a couple hours down the road. And speaking of VMI...continue to keep Jim Reid and his family in your thoughts as he recovers from his by-pass surgery.

You might want to check out our women's soccer team. They are off to a great start and, if they continue to play well, should be legitimate challengers for a conference championship.

#1

Although it's great to have a football team voted #1 in the country after 4 weeks of play, that's not really the important thing...

You probably think I am going to say that what's more important is where we finish...that's too obvious.

When I think about our football program, I believe the really important thing is how far we have come in just a few short years. Coming off a "final four" season and currently ranked #1, everyone agrees that we are one of the best FCS football teams in the country.

Just think, a few years ago we were struggling to have a winning season...

And now...thanks primarily to the support of our Spider fans and the University, we have...

1. attracted two great head football coaches [Dave Clawson and Mike London];

2. increased the assistants' salary pool to permit these head coaches to put together top-flight staffs;

3. funded a full allotment of football scholarships, which enables these coaches to recruit high quality student-athletes;

4. funded and obtained governmental approval to build an on-campus stadium;

5. constructed a new football locker room;

6. enhanced the weight rooms;

7. installed FieldTurf on the football practice facility;

8. hired an academic coordinator who focuses on football student-athletes;

9. increased team travel and recruiting budgets...

The list could go on...but these are some of the things that have helped create a winning attitude on and off the field...

THANK YOU to all the Spider fans who have made gifts to the Spider Club, who have contributed to building the new stadium, who have purchased football season tickets...you have helped make this happen!!

A Few Follow-Up Comments

I am pleased with the responses regarding the NCAA issue. Almost everyone I talk with recognizes the importance of adhering to NCAA rules and compliments the way the University responded.

And I am glad that our Fact Sheet has been so well-received. We wanted to make sure that anyone who was interested, could see exactly what happened. We have had over 2,000 hits.

The tough question has been...When you discovered some coaches were violating the text message rule, why didn't you just tell them to stop...why did you report this to the NCAA??

Unfortunately, those are the rules. I would much prefer a system that says exactly that...police yourselves and deal with it on campus. However, that is not the system we live in...the rules specifically state that we must report any NCAA violations of this magnitude.

However, the system is a little screwy. If the NCAA system governed how we deal with traffic issues, you would be required to call the police and tell them..."I want to report that I drove 35 in a 30 zone on my way home, please send me a ticket." ...and, if they thought you didn't call them soon enough, they just might give you another ticket...and...nothing happens to all those people who passed you going 5o and did not report themselves!!

Enough of that, let's start moving forward...

we have sanctioned those who are responsible for the violations...

we are dealing with this matter in an open and honest manner...

we are focusing on the future...

NCAA VIOLATIONS

I am sure that you have had the opportunity to review the Fact Sheet that we posted a little more than 24 hours ago. Obviously, we are disappointed that these violations occured...and those who violated the rules were signficantly sanctioned.

However, the other story is that the University has dealt, and will continue to deal, with this issue in an open and straight-forward manner.

I am glad to report that all of the emails and telephone calls to me have been complimentary of the way the University has dealt with this situation. Please feel free to contact me with your thoughts regarding this matter.

This & That

1. The first Sportsline show at Outback was a big hit. We had a great crowd and Outback did a wonderful job of getting everyone fed quickly. You may want to join us tomorrow [Tuesday]...and bring a friend or a business guest...

2. The score Saturday [16-0] did not reflect the type of game it was. We were behind by 3 with about 7 minutes to play. If we had made a couple early field goals and the TD was not taken away, the result may have been different...HOWEVER>>> that is not what happened....and i am very proud of the effort and am very optimistic about the rest of the season.

3. I was with President Ayers for much of the game Saturday. It was impressive to see how many UVa fans approached him and wished him and the Spiders well. After the game, Coach Groh made a special effort to track Ed down on the field and tell him what a great decision Richmond made when we hired Mike London.

4. In spite of the really bad weather conditions in the Richmond area, we had a really nice contingent of Spider fans at the game Saturday. That makes 2 weeks in a row the Spider faithful have followed the team...to Elon and then to UVa. I know we will have a great crowd this Saturday for our home opener against the only A10 team to beat us last year.

5. The fall season is in full swing. Visit our website [richmondspiders.com], check out the schedule of contests for each week and come see the Spiders play...its not just all about football...we have some really wonderful student-athletes competing in a total of 19 sports...check them out.

Lunch at Outback

Tomorrow [Tuesday, September 2], be sure to join Coach London and me for lunch and the Spider Sportsline from noon-1pm at the Outback Steakhouse at 7917 W. Broad St. Coach London and Bob Black will be live on ESPN Radio 950 and RichmondSpiders.com.

Increased Coverage

Recently I was asked the following question:

WE NEED MORE STATIONS BROADCASTING SPIDER SPORTS. VIRGINIANS OUT SIDE OF RICHMOND AND RICHMONDERS WHEN TRAVELING THE STATE OUTSIDE RICHMOND CAN NOT GET THE GAMES.

The concept of adding a string of radio stations that broadcast games is really a thing of the past. Trying to coordinate scores of radio stations around the state, securing local advertising, clearing time for the games, etc...just does not work and is not an efficient use of resources and time. That format still exists, and perhaps is useful, for major public institutions.

However, the modern trend, which we try to maximize, is for games to be available to our fans and alumni via the internet with both audio and streaming video access. Anyone in the world with a computer can listen to all our football, men's basketball, and women's basketball...and can usually watch the games via streaming video. We also use streaming video to broadcast many of our Olympic sport contests as well.

First FB Game

What a great way to start the "London Era".

We had a couple of buses filled with Spider Club members that added to the 2,000 Spider fans at Elon...second largest crowd ever at their stadium...a little over 10,000. Those who missed the game, should check out the gallery of game shots and video of some of the pre-game festivities hosted by the Spider Club and the Alumni Association.

This was a really big win. Elon was picked by the Southern Conference media and coaches to be the conference's second best team...behind Appy State. We have a long season ahead of us, but as they say..."You don't have to recover from a good start."

I wonder whether we will move up in the national poll? A couple of the teams ahead of us lost, but they were against BCS opponents [Appy at LSU and JMU at Duke]

Congrats also to the women's soccer team...3-0 to start the year.