Excuses, excuses, excuses.
Excuses must cost money because the Vanderbilt, err, umm... athletic
department has a million of them.
The latest chapter of the Vandy-Middle Tennessee saga began unfolding Friday
morning when Vice-Chancellor for Kickball and Hopscotch David Williams
opined to The Tennessean writer Maurice Patton on the difficulty of scheduling
games with the addition of a 12th game in the FCS (formerly known as D-IA).
That article was followed up by MT AD Chris Massaro's perspective on Vandy's
scheduling woes — namely their reluctance to put Middle Tennessee on the
schedule — and a less than 'Dore-friendly column from The Tennessean
columnist David Climer. So we know the media is watching.
How tough is scheduling for Vanderbilt? So tough that the Commodores cannot
afford the requisite buy games that their SEC brethren indulge in.
No, Williams conceded, Vanderbilt does not have the blank-check luxury that
the Floridas, Alabamas, and Tennessees of the world have. That's why the
Commodores must offer return games to fill out their schedule.
Home games with whom, you might ask? Well the logical choice: Eastern Michigan and Miami (OH).
Despite the fact that a certain FCS school 30 miles away has already traveled to
Dudley Field three times, the Commodores would much rather venture north in
an attempt to secure a win.
Secure a win is the key phrase in that last paragraph because the obvious choice Middle Tennesse, for those of you not privileged enough to walk the hallowed
halls of Vandyland, thereby making you illiterate and basically a bad person,
holds a 3-0 record this decade against Vandy.
That record, we are assured, holds no bearing in Vanderbilt's reluctance to
schedule a game with the riff-raff from Murfreesboro. Rather, it is a lack of
holes in the schedule which make it so difficult. Nevermind the fact that both
contracts with MAC schools were signed within the last year.
So why are MT fans up in arms? Who knows? Heavyweight champions don't
request rematches with lightweights they just pummeled. On a park basketball
court (something I'm sure most of the Vandy faithful have seen in TV shows
such as The Wire) you don't keep asking the team you just beat to stick
around.
No, the position of power here should lie with the Blue Raiders, the team that
has been to a bowl in the lifetimes of fourth-year medical students.
MT AD Chris Massaro's efforts are to be commended. He has a point to feel like
the Blue Raiders are entitled to a game that David Williams promised in good
faith. But no, 2007 has been pushed back to 2010, and 2010 pushed back to
2015. So much for good faith, but give Vandy credit. Their operating style has
brought them plenty of success in the last 25 years.
Middle should take their ball, stay in Murfreesboro, and enjoy watching the Blue
Raiders play Virginia (better than Vandy), Maryland (better than Vandy),
Memphis (usually better than Vandy), and Georgia Tech (also better than Vandy)
in the coming years.