Athletic Director

[Waterboy61]

Almost wish I hadn't opened up this thread to catch up on it and see where things stood.

Because when I opened it up I found BCBC55 believes being an Athletic Director at John Bapst in the 1980's is the same as running a Division 1 Universities Athletic Department in 2018.

Then I read BasketballGuy believes only males should be the Athletic Director, and preferably only males who've played football.

I wonder what I will find on the next thread.

I heard Blake James is interested in coming back.

I would say Blake has done well for himself. I felt once he was the sacrificial lamb but he has managed to survive.

I know it has been said before but I really think they will look at Scott Kull pretty heavily this time. This is his Bio on twitter: Passion college athletics. Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots fan. Enjoy racing IM 70.3 and relaxing in NH and Maine with family. I would say here is a guy with Maine ties...

[fafan]

New AD announced at UMaine!!!

https://goblackbears.com/news/2018/8/20 ... etics.aspx

[thebam]

New AD announced at UMaine!!!

https://goblackbears.com/news/2018/8/20 ... etics.aspx

I think this is a good hire for UMaine.. and a GREAT hire for UMaine Hockey. Pretty excited about this . Looking forward to what he has to say.

[dunbar]

His legacy and success is stringent on one thing:

Replacing Alfond Arena.

Great hire.

[parquetfloor]

I agree...on paper, this looks like a very good hire.

[bcbc55]

I also agree that this looks like a very good hire especially seeing that the new AD actually has college athletic director experience which the last several AD's at UMaine did not have as they were assistants coming into the Maine job.

Also, seeing that he is from New Hampshire that is a good sign that he may want to stay here at UMaine and not use the job as a career stepping stone like some of the past AD's have.

His AD experience as a D-1er in several sports is a plus.

I didn't realize that schools could be D-1 in some sports and D-2 or D-3 in other sports. Very interesting.

On a scale of one to ten with 10 being the highest I would rate this hire a 9.

However, the proof will be in the future pudding. His AD experience and his near by home state connected to Maine are really two big positives that some of the past AD's did not have.

Some past Maine AD's had to learn on the job and also took the job as a career stepping stone as illustrated by how they did the job and how soon they left when a better job was offered to them.

I would say this has been one of the better hires in the athletic department in awhile.

[mainejeff]

Good hire on paper. Maybe his first act can be to revamp the really dumb changes made to football games & tailgating this season....probably too late for that. Oh well...when attendance and revenues tank....changes will be made for next season.

His priorities need to be:

1. Hockey/Alfond
2. New turf for football
3. Directing resources toward men's basketball to help make them competitive with peers.

[MattyB]

UMaine names Ken Ralph new athletic director (Video): https://t.co/jJeGt8UpOW

Welcome UMaine Director of Athletics - Ken Ralph:https://t.co/V5sKwE2UAq

[dunbar]

Ralph stated in one of the interviews yesterday that the major factor of CC building their new arena was having their own facilities and keeping student-athletes on campus. It'll be interesting to see in the years to come whether a new arena will enable basketball to return to campus on even a part-time basis. The Connecticut model works very well with weeknights in Storrs/Gampel and weekends in Hartford/XL Center. Basketball and hockey can be compatible in the same venue (see every NHL and AHL arena not in Brooklyn) when designed for it, just not in an outdated rink with a roof/structural system that isn't feasible to expand.

[RForester]

Good hire on paper. Maybe his first act can be to revamp the really dumb changes made to football games & tailgating this season....probably too late for that. Oh well...when attendance and revenues tank....changes will be made for next season.

His priorities need to be:

1. Hockey/Alfond
2. New turf for football
3. Directing resources toward men's basketball to help make them competitive with peers.

I don't understand how a large % of Maine fans fail so badly to comprehend the logical, ethical reasons that there are rules in place for tailgating/football/friends groups -- you name it. If any changes are made to bring Maine up to speed, you'd think the world hath endeth.