Conference history for UR and thinking at the time.

[urfan1]

very interesting history.

The Richmond Spiders' Patriot League Tale, Part One: Divisional Splits Lead to SoCon Divorce - The College Sports Journal

Richmond has been a master at surviving - they have been, and continue to be, the spider that cannot be stomped.

www.college-sports-journal.com

 

[32counter]

Scholarly article. A vision for survival and relevance.Written by a Chuck Burton of Lehigh footballnation.com

The guy is better versed about UR football than 95% of the UR posters.

 

[mojo-spider]

A very interesting story. I was a kid and UR student when most of this installment was playing itself out. I don’t recall worrying too much about the future of UR football at the time, just whether, or not, we’d win the next game.

I was mostly interested in the parties before the games, the games themselves and the road trips. Those are great memories.

Looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks for posting.

Go Spiders!

 

[KE Spider]

Great article.

One point I question. In the era discussed, UR was foremost a football school and basketball was a second thought at best. Attributing some of our thinking on conference (non-conference) affiliation to potentially qualifying for any national basketball tournament seems a stretch. Never happened before 1984.

Mr. Robins changed that with his love of the sport and funding a top notch arena for a school our size. Believe our basketball program largely grew from this man's vision and generosity.

 

[32counter]

Great article.

One point I question. In the era discussed, UR was foremost a football school and basketball was a second thought at best. Attributing some of our thinking on conference (non-conference) affiliation to potentially qualifying for any national basketball tournament seems a stretch. Never happened before 1984.

Mr. Robins changed that with his love of the sport and funding a top notch arena for a school our size. Believe our basketball program largely grew from this man's vision and generosity.

And Chuck Boone hiring Dick Tarrant.

 

[32counter]

The Richmond Spiders’ Patriot League Tale, Part Two: The CFA Splits College Football, And Splits Two Rivals - The College Sports Journal

Richmond, and their Rivals, William & Mary, were medium sized schools in medium sized markets with successful programs for their size and ambitions. Thanks to an entity called the "College Football Association", or CFA, Richmond and William & Mary's world was about to tear apart.

www.college-sports-journal.com

 

[Anachnid]

This series is really good. I have been overlaying my memories with the article- the temporary bleachers at the top of the visitors side to increase seating capacity. The game Jeff Nixon beat UNC and only 15k there. The schools the fb team played (Georgia, WVa, Tech, ) and others mentioned in the article.
Norris Eastman telling us as football goes, so does the swim team budget.
Frank Jones “retiring”
All the new teams that were the result of the Robins Center. And how the number of those teams played into the division splits. (Quick aside-UR probably has the least amount of NCAA supported teams in the CAA and PL).
Really good reading. Perhaps a former Collegian Editor can add some insight.

 

[ncspiderfan]

I think so have been following this series.

The Richmond Spiders’ Patriot League Tale, Part Three: The Birth of Richmond's I-AA Home - The College Sports Journal

Like many things in the history of the NCAA, the survival of the Yankee Conference a a football-only construct was an accident.

www.college-sports-journal.com

 

[GKiller]

Part 4

The Richmond Spiders’ Patriot League Tale, Part Four: In the Wake Of I-AA Reclassification, An Upstart League Tries To Form - The College Sports Journal

Richmond's Rival, William & Mary, was going to be a founding member of the Colonial League, which is now known as the Patriot League. It was almost a done deal.

www.college-sports-journal.com

 

[Ferrum Spider]

If you really think of it. What Washington St and Oregon St are going through today we were among the first to experience it. I wasnt around for the FBS days but its hard for me to believe we once had major P4 programs playing games at City Stadium with 16k+ fans.

 

[whampas]

If you really think of it. What Washington St and Oregon St are going through today we were among the first to experience it. I wasnt around for the FBS days but its hard for me to believe we once had major P4 programs playing games at City Stadium with 16k+ fans.

The first game that I saw as a freshman was a 17 to 10 victory over Va Tech at City Stadium. Dickie Irvin was named National Defensive Player of the week for his play, I believe (though my memory isn't what it used to be.) Stadium was packed and campus rocked afterwards.

 

[AnnapSpider]

I was there. I think it was Monsinger played out of his mind. (later I found out why LOL)

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Saw some great games there So Miss, WV, VaTech, UNC and in state rivalries.