McGlade to be named A-10 commissioner

[BobbyBoucher]

Per espn.com and Andy Katz

The Atlantic 10 will name Atlantic Coast Conference associate commissioner Bernadette McGlade as its new commissioner at a Monday news conference, multiple sources told ESPN.com Sunday. McGlade replaces Linda Bruno, who decided in December that she would leave following a 13-year run on the job.
The A-10 called an 11:30 a.m. ET news conference for Monday at the Doubletree hotel in Philadelphia. A number of sources in the A-10 said McGlade has a great handle on the current state of college athletics and will help the conference as it tries to move forward in the competitive world of garnering major television contracts.
She dealt with scheduling and television at the ACC and has served in several NCAA committee-level jobs during her tenure. McGlade is from the Philadelphia area so this is viewed as a homecoming of sorts.

[wkrq59]

She's from Philadelphia so the BS continues

[Mr. Neutral]

Geez, Q, we ought to at least give her a chance. Nothing in her resume indicates she won't be an upgrade from Bruno. If McGlade turns out to be another mediocre commissioner, then by all means, fire away.

And score one for Dick Weiss for calling this move.

[Masterofreality]

From the Daily News Article:

"It's no secret that many folks within the A-10 weren't happy with the TV contracts that were put in place the last few years. McGlade participated on an eight-person NCAA TV Negotiating Committee that secured the largest TV contract for any sporting event ($6.2 billion) from both CBS and ESPN."

Well, well, well. After all the sh*** that I've gotten on this and other boards for loudly railing against this horriffic TV deal and for blaming Blutarsky for something that was clearly within her realm while others tried to deflect said blame, finally vindication.

Good riddance to Linda Blutarsky. Let's all hope that this lady has the stuff to move this league forward, and not just arrange conference calls.

[Mr. Neutral]

You never got any sh*t from me on this one, MOR.
I always thought Bruno was mediocre at best, but more likely a below-average commissioner who did little or nothing to upgrade the A10's profile and/or visibility.

Not that any commissioner can turn the A10 into the ACC, but league could really use a strong, decisive, forward-thinking leader.

[muskieman]

Geez, Q, we ought to at least give her a chance. Nothing in her resume indicates she won't be an upgrade from Bruno. If McGlade turns out to be another mediocre commissioner, then by all means, fire away.

And score one for Dick Weiss for calling this move.

But Gary, anyone would be an upgrade from our former phone call scheduler. Bernadette V. McGlade according to the ACC was the Associate Commissioner of Women's Basketball.

Some thing I found: Workshop – Division I: Marketing Women’s Basketball with Sue
Donohoe, Mary Eiland, Bernadette McGlade, and M. Dianne Murphy
This workshop brought different philosophies
and levels of marketing to focus. I was par-
ticularly interested in Bernadette McGlade’s
presentation on how the ACC markets their
Women’s Basketball Championship. While
not every woman’s basketball championship
is Division I, it is marketed in the same man-
ner. Bernadette’s examples and ideas were
all very viable and could be applied in some shape or form to champi-
onships across the board. Her presentation reinforced the theory that it
takes more than a strong media relations department to market a cham-
pionship; it takes forethought, strategic planning and positioning to
achieve success. – Sue Arakas, Southern Conference

"Collectively, the athletic directors at the campuses, along with (ACC commissioner) John Swofford, made the decision to put women’s basketball in a situation comparable to where men’s basketball is in the ACC," said Bernadette McGlade, the associate commissioner for the ACC who oversees women’s basketball. "They made that decision about eight years ago. It takes time to put things in place, like staffing and the financial commitment. You’ve seen a lot of that coming together over the last couple of years. There has been a convergence of a number of factors, but it basically revolved around the commitment elevation on the campuses and at the conference office."

The schools’ dedication included inflated budgets for the women’s programs, which are led by several outstanding coaches.


She has done a good job with women's basketball in the ACC getting schools to get the budget's up to where they need to be to compete but will that be something she does in the A-10 or will her women side influence bring women's basketball more influence with only a nominal influence on the men's side? That is the question. With three schools in Philly one that stinks, one that is a very good program and one that was the flagship trying to regain their stature what kind of influence will they have on the home office of the A-10?

[Mr. Neutral]

mm, you're correct, of course, in that we're not getting the commissioner of the ACC, B10, BE, etc., but the A-10 is never going to get that person. Just like a lot of our member schools, where our head coaches were assistants at bigger schools or head coaches at smaller schools, the same thing is likely to be true of our commissioner.

Bobinski would have been fabulous in this job, but at X's expense.

[wkrq59]

but the A-10 is never going to get that person.

This has been my point for several years amid all the crying and bitching about the A10 from those who say we can do better and why not?
Why can't the A10 get that person? Simply put $$$$$$$$$ or the lack thereof. LOJ Lack of jack.
Until I see different, I will reserve judgment on whether this person will be the commissioner of all A10 schools or just another Philadelphia Mama to cry to when the baddies from those other cities start stomping the underprivileged (read it LaSalle) of Philadelphia.
I suppose I should take more of a wait and see attitude, but I continue to ask myself the question "Can't we do better?" and Self answers, "You know why."
Why LaSalle and other similar league schools continue to suck the financial blood out of the conference, funds that other schools have earned in competition, is beyond me. Why, until he was forced by national public opinion to retire did the conference tiptoe around a sad case that coached Temple to infamy? Why are schools whose facilities are little more than bad high school gymnasiums continue to be allowed to telecast home games to the disgrace of the league? Why did this conference have such a lousy TV policy and why was there never an investigation or an audit of how this league was run?
Good luck Ms McGlade. You're gonna need it.

[Mr. Neutral]

<<Why can't the A10 get that person? Simply put $$$$$$$$$ or the lack thereof. LOJ Lack of jack.>>

Q, when X steals a commissioner from a Big Six conference, I'm buying. Until that time, no matter WHAT the money is (and it's folly to think that the A10 can outbid a Big Six conference), there is absolutely no way in the universe that a commissioner candidate is going to say "Hmmm, ACC or A10? I'm taking the A10!".

Unless we happen to somehow shift dimensions and end up in Superman's Bizarro World.

[muskieman]

I am not saying she will not be good, she might be great but here are the list of guys just in the acc they could have drawn from:

Associate Commissioners
Jeff Elliott - Finance & Administration
Mike Finn - Football Media Relations
Karl Hicks - Men's Basketball
Michael Kelly - Football
Shane Lyons - Compliance & Governance
Brian A. Morrison - Media Relations
Bernadette V. McGlade - Women's Basketball

Assistant Commissioners
W. Scott McBurney - Video Services
Davis Whitfield - Championships
Amy Yakola - Public Relations & Marketing

A person doesn't need to be The Commissioner and there are other conferences which have associate commissioners so why a women's commissioner.


The again this might help some of us.

"Bernadette's deep experience with arguably the class-act athletic conference in the country makes us incredibly excited to be bringing her on board as commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference," says Father Michael Graham, Xavier University president and president of the Atlantic 10 Presidents' Council.