That, and the fact that the second word I heard come out of the mouth of A-10 PR chief Stephen Haug after I was placed in the call was "cost-cutting." Then came further admissions that the cost of travel and the economic downturn led to the conference's decision to have everything done by teleconference instead of in person.
Look, I have no objection to having a teleconference or to doing so in the name of saving money. I mean, you could spin it as being greener than having everyone get on planes and buses and be telling the truth.
And not having to travel today saved me and the other Philadelphia-based reporters a lot of trouble as the World Series drags on towards infinity.
But I can't help remembering that the least happy person to be in Atlantic City at last year's event was Saint Louis' Rick Majerus. Yes, he had the farthest to travel. But coincidentally, he's also the conference's highest-profile coach, and one of the most outspoken in the nation at any level.
Coincidence. I can live with a coincidence.
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How prescient.
If you need some cheering up (and it sure seems like I do), Phil Martelli was talking during the conference call this morning on what it means to be playing the whole season at the Palestra.
Martelli said he's looking forward to having more students in the house, and he wants visting A-10 teams "to have a chance to experience that building ... It will be a memory that they will never, ever forget."
You wonder just how gregarious that second part was. It's going to be one heck of a winter on 33rd Street.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming, and I bet you won't hear those words for the rest of this week. Look at the moves up by Penn State and Rutgers...
Road win vs. No. 9/12 Ohio State, 13-6
Off
Road win vs. No. 22/46 Pittsburgh, 54-34
Off
Home loss vs. No. 54/47 James Madison, 23-19
11/1 at No. Northeastern, 1:00 p.m.
Home win vs. No. 111/112 Ohio, 14-10
11/1 at No. 44 Navy, 3:30 p.m., CBS College Sports
Road win vs. No. 184/195 Fordham, 48-13
11/1 at No. 161 Colgate, 1:00 p.m., WBPH
Road win vs. No. 160/169 Hofstra, 17-0
11/1 at No. 47 James Madison, 3:30 p.m., CN8
Road win vs. No. 169/175 Yale, 9-7
11/1 vs. No. 149 Brown, 12:00 p.m., Versus
Road loss vs. No. 159/157 Holy Cross, 35-21
11/1 at No. 225 Georgetown, 1:00 p.m.
Road loss vs. No. 209/200 Morgan State, 20-3
11/1 vs. No. 162 South Carolina State, 1:00 p.m., ESPNU
Down the ladder...
Home win vs. Cheyney, 60-6
11/1 at Bloomsburg, 1:00 p.m.
Road loss vs. Lycoming, 10-7
11/1 vs. Widener, 1:00 p.m.
Home vs. win FDU-Florham, 27-7
11/1 at Delaware Valley, 1:00 p.m.
Home win vs. McDaniel College, 26-7
11/1 at Moravian, 1:00 p.m.
Road win vs. Buffalo State, 20-7
11/1 vs. Kean, 1:00 p.m.
Road loss vs. Virginia State, 54-0
11/1 vs. St. Paul's College, 1:00 p.m.
Road loss vs. West Chester, 60-6
11/1 at Shippensburg, 1:00 p.m.
Finally, we go to the Top 10 chart, and
» READ MORE: here's the week's TV schedule
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