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A few things to ponder before TV’s March Madness begins

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Mar 14, 2023

Here’s a few tids and bits to munch on before you camp out in front of the TV starting Thursday when the NCAA Tournament really gets going:

First, anytime you have change at the top, there’s change down the line. That is definitely the case at Rivier University, an athletic program in transition.

With some of the coaching moves in the last six months, forced or otherwise, the message is seemingly clear: It’s time to win.

The 3-20 records, 0-15s, 3-10s etc, are likely not going to be totally ignored. There has been even more of an emphasis on recruiting for athletics as a way to beef up enrollment, because quite frankly, enrollment means income.

The athletic administration has repeatedly said a focus is on enhancing the student athlete experience, and you better believe that means putting competitive and yes, winning, teams on the field, court, and ice. Hockey is still building but with two seasons in the books, you could certainly see the growth from year one to year two.

But you don’t spend $4.5 million to create a superb outdoor facility as the Robinson Pavilion, or hire a Tom Glynn for your basketball program unless you’re set on changing the climate and end results. In other words, you’re serious.

OK, that is clear. Now, here’s two more pieces to the puzzle the Raiders need to consider, and we’re sure they already have: One, the Muldoon. The renovations years ago to create a workout facility, coaches offices, etc. was badly needed. But the gym needs to be be enlarged and locker rooms renovated to create the facility that would attract basketball recruits. Think of what the soccer and lacrosse teams can be shown compared to basketball.The higher ups certainly know that, and we certainly understand that Rome – or Riv – wasn’t built in a day.

Second, the Raiders can show baseball recruits Holman Stadium all they want, and it’s certainly a plus. But the reality is unless we have a snowless March – that’s already a no – , they’re not getting on that field until likely the final two to three weeks of the season. Just the perils of New England College baseball.

It’s time for a new baseball field somewhere, somehow, that Riv can call its own. Easier said than done, but softball has an advantage with what they can show recruits: Here is where you’re playing, on campus.

It’s a different world athletically at Rivier, and it will become even more different. But the message is clear: Time to win.

—– The state tournaments have been fun the last couple of weeks, but it certainly had to fluster some the last couple of years that, especially in winter, that locations for state semis and finals, as well as times, aren’t finalized until a few days before the event.

First, it’s a product of the fact the semis are now for the most part, especially in Divisions I and II, at a neutral site high school gym rather than a college, partly because a lot of the colleges have limited their availability (SNHU is the most obvious one).

With regard to finals times, the thinking often is if it’s one site for girls and boys games for a sport (like hockey and Division I and II hoop), and the same school has a team in both, you want those games back to back so fans don’t have to leave and come back.

—- Parents and fans, stop behaving like kids. It was a fantastic postseason for wrestling but there was one hiccup – a disturbing situation caught on video in which the parent of a local wrestler had to leave the Bedford gym for unruly behavior during the Meet of Champions, and even shoved an official before he did so. Not cool. And earlier in the season a fan was asked to leave at a Hollis Brookline girls hoop game for getting on officials with bad language. Let’s calm down people.

—- NFL free agency began Monday – in these eyes, this is the real March Madness. Will the Patriots do anything besides clear out salary cap space by dumping Jonnu Smith, plus re-signing their own guy, Jonathan Jones?

Nothing like two years ago, when we all thought Smith was a fantastic signing. You build through the draft, plain and simple, with free agency supplementing what you have.

Which right now, for the Patriots, just feels like it isn’t a whole heckuva lot.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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