UIC Ineligible for Horizon League Championships

[05Racer]

Found this article. Being a large well funded school in a major media market has its advantages. You have plenty of media options when you want to drag a bunch of petty jackasses through the mud.

https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-news-now/we- ... urnaments/

The easiest threat they can make is to withhold the exit fee. They would get sued, but cases like that can go on for years while inflation makes that fixed exit fee look smaller and smaller.

[MVCfans]

Gregg Doyel wrote a piece yesterday that I found interesting. Places blame on UIC, not the Horizon League. Unfortunately, it doesn't really matter because it's the student athletes who lose in the end.

Meanwhile, remember this: The Horizon League changed its bylaws in 2013, reducing the required notice to leave the conference without penalty from two years to one, but adding the conference tournament ineligibility component. That bylaw was approved in a unanimous vote, including a “yay” by then-UIC Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares, but only after someone presented the new bylaw in a motion to the Horizon's board.

And remember this: In 2013 the adult in the room who made the motion – the one preventing UIC athletes from competing in Horizon League championships in 2022 – was the chancellor at UIC.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/c ... 740655001/

[bradley_townie]

Gregg Doyel wrote a piece yesterday that I found interesting. Places blame on UIC, not the Horizon League. Unfortunately, it doesn't really matter because it's the student athletes who lose in the end.

Meanwhile, remember this: The Horizon League changed its bylaws in 2013, reducing the required notice to leave the conference without penalty from two years to one, but adding the conference tournament ineligibility component. That bylaw was approved in a unanimous vote, including a “yay” by then-UIC Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares, but only after someone presented the new bylaw in a motion to the Horizon's board.

And remember this: In 2013 the adult in the room who made the motion – the one preventing UIC athletes from competing in Horizon League championships in 2022 – was the chancellor at UIC.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/c ... 740655001/

That is some irony that UIC was the school that initiated the motion back in 2013 for the banning of tournament play if they don't give a year's notice. How no one in the room voting on that had the foresight to see how that would play out in the media if they enforced that particular bylaw is stunning. Make them double their exit fee or something but to penalize the students is particularly cruel.

[Mikovio]

That is some irony that UIC was the school that initiated the motion back in 2013 for the banning of tournament play if they don't give a year's notice. How no one in the room voting on that had the foresight to see how that would play out in the media if they enforced that particular bylaw is stunning. Make them double their exit fee or something but to penalize the students is particularly cruel.

Agreed. I appreciate the irony of UIC having been the one to propose the rule but it's a punitive rule that hurts kids who weren't the ones making the decision. Increasing the exit fee should have at least been explored.

[Bigdfromuic]

Different all-around leadership at UIC during that time. If the ineligibility clause was first added in 2013, then that means the Horizon banned Butler in 2012 for a whole year apparently just because. One could say UIC made its own bed here, but also…maybe they were smart enough to include the option to waive in the bylaw. To me, that allows the Horizon to shoulder the blame here. At this moment, the league has the sole power to hurt or help the athletes. They’re choosing to hurt them.

[VUGrad1314]

Agreed with the UIC side here. It's not like the same leaders who voted for this are still in place and the precedent was already set by the league with Butler before the bylaw was instituted so really they were just rubberstamping what LeCrone clearly wanted in the first place which most university presidents will do for their commissioner. If the option exists to waive the provision and it is not exercised despite the report that UIC has paid its full exit fee already then this is a heartless and cruel decision especially as Waddle and Silvy pointed out in light of COVID and what the pandemic has already taken away from these kids. I'm glad to be in a league that doesn't play these pedantic games with members but it now totally explains the 16 day (or so) delay between issuance of the invitation and formal acceptance of that invitation because it's clear the HL would have done this to our baseball and softball players. It's wrong and childish and really only hurts the Horizon League in the long run. UIC was all about scheduling HL teams in the non conference but I wonder if they'll be so keen on it now with the acrimony surrounding their exit. Moreover if you're a prospective Horizon League candidate like Bellarmine and you see how this league treats teams that leave the league do you really want to join even if it is a great move for you institutionally? The HL is risking a lot of long-term damage for a short-term power play and I just don't understand why. Worse yet was the preemptive blocking of national reporters from calling them out on Twitter. Just classless and inane especially when you consider how the OVC has handled things. That conference got utterly DECIMATED by realignment and is still letting its teams compete even when EKU and Jacksonville State have reportedly stiffed them so far on exit fees they still let them compete. This reflects very poorly on the HL even if the CAA is doing the same with James Madison and the AE is doing the same with Stony Brook. Other conferences making stupid wrongheaded decisions does not legitimize your own stupid wrongheaded decision.

[TylerDurden]

Gregg Doyel wrote a piece yesterday that I found interesting. Places blame on UIC, not the Horizon League. Unfortunately, it doesn't really matter because it's the student athletes who lose in the end.

Meanwhile, remember this: The Horizon League changed its bylaws in 2013, reducing the required notice to leave the conference without penalty from two years to one, but adding the conference tournament ineligibility component. That bylaw was approved in a unanimous vote, including a “yay” by then-UIC Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares, but only after someone presented the new bylaw in a motion to the Horizon's board.

And remember this: In 2013 the adult in the room who made the motion – the one preventing UIC athletes from competing in Horizon League championships in 2022 – was the chancellor at UIC.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/c ... 740655001/

I realize this is a nuanced discussion and the Horizon league is going to spin it their way, but the issue isn't that there are penalties for withdrawing without the required amount of notice.

The issue is the Horizon league is choosing to enforce a punitive punishment. Their bylaws do not mandate without exception that a school be kicked out of the League Championship. The Horizon League, via a vote by its Presidents, chose to kick them out of the championships.

Regardless of who made a motion about a rule in a meeting, the reality is all the Horizon League needed to do to mitigate any potential damages was to enforced the $500,000 penalty for early withdrawal.

That money is designed to offset any "damages" that they suffer. Anything else is punitive and petty.

UIC isn't without responsibility here. They know what sort of snake they're dealing with and should have known (hell, they probably did know) it was coming.

[Roberts Stadium]

At first I blamed the Horizon League but after stepping back from the headlines I think I've changed my mind. The laws were put into place and the thing about it is that with this short of a notice the HL either has to go steal another team from another conference who won't have time to find a replacement or they will not have a replacement themselves for at least one year. UIC should have just waited it out until next year and then I could agree that they should be allowed to leave with a small exit fee but without an additional penalty. As for the concern about the athlete's, they would not have been in the middle of this if it weren't for not just the greed of UIC but all of the teams that are involved with conference realignment. I like to see new teams added every once in a while but this move is all about money and a power struggle between decentralized conferences.

[05Racer]

However you want to spin this, the bottom line is that this rule punishes student athletes for decisions that they have no control over. Whether the rule existed before and who proposed it and approved it is immaterial because the rule itself is unjust, petty, and plain wrong. There used to be 'rules' segregating schools and restaurants but those rules were unjust, people said so, and they were changed. There used to be 'rules' preventing women from voting. Obviously I could go on. "They knew the rules and did it anyway" is an argument for bureaucrats, cowards, and tyrants.

[UICJohn]

Are both sides to blame? Absolutely.

However, UIC had its opportunity and seized it. They made the Horizon League aware of it from the beginning and all along the entire process. Doesn’t take away what they did but were transparent on the process.

Every Administrative position has changed since the 2013 bylaws were enacted. Again, doesn’t make it right but the current leadership didn’t have a role on putting those into place. But they have the role in improving UIC’s standing with a move to the MVC.

There is wrong on both sides - agreed. It is just awful that the athletes have to pay for it. UIC has offered other ways to go about this - for example, paying a larger exit fee if they allow the athletes to play in the postseason. But as of now there has been no action on that.