Professor Elam

Sunday Sept 18, 2011

As one professor at Texas State observed to me, all schools want to be something they aren't. 

Accounting gives you the tools to  consider and evaluate decisions. And so we look at a case in point, the desire for Incarnate Word to move from Division Two Athletic Status to Division One B.

At present UIW plays Division Two in the Lone Star Conference.  The Lone Star Conference features all but one team from Texas including kingville, West Texas State and Angelo State. The point being that there are realistic intra state rivalries. By the way, the Ivy League schools like Yale and Harvard all play Division Two. 

But, with UTSA headed for Division One A, UIW just can't stand it. Even though its per game attendance is a mere 3,000, and the Southland Conference averages 9,000, UIW thinks this is a good idea. Oh and it's expensive, lots of scholarships and a $1 M + Fee just to enter. 

And for my money, the Southland Conference is the Lost in Space League if there ever was one. Quick  when was the last time someone got excited about playing Nicholls State or Northeastern State

(what you never heard of them, they are in Louisiana).

The far better idea would be to build the existing team effort and start dominating the Lone Star Conference. And that might be affordable. And frankly if you aren't dominating the Division Two League, how are you going to compete one level higher? 

It is far better to become successful at your present station in life, football, or music than to wish for something else entirely different.