Summer sure has come in with quite a bang when it comes to football and conference happenings around the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Of course, anyone who has been paying attention this week already knows all about the nine West Virginia Conference schools who are leaving to form a new and yet unnamed conference.
Personally, I was just a little bit more than blown away when I heard the news sometime Monday afternoon that Ohio Valley University was going to be left out in the proverbial cold.
I remember quite vividly a decade or so ago when the Fighting Scots first arrived into the Division II ranks and how happy the folks were, especially former athletics director Ron Pavan.
Now, things have changed quite a bit and there are a lot of unknowns which must be dealt with.
"Right now, we're just kind of waiting to see how it's going to evolve," said Janet Bailey, the athletics director at Glenville State College. "We get along with everybody.
"We get along with the private and public schools and we love the OVU people. If that's what the football playing schools want to do then we are going to be a part of it."
Obviously, the Pioneers didn't have much choice of leaving the WVIAC. Had they stayed, they would have been the only program left in the conference which sponsored football.
Needless to say, when the respective college presidents get together in late July for their next meeting it's going to be interesting to see what comes out of it as it's been stated they are obviously looking to make the conference bigger than just nine squads.
"It did move quickly and there are still a lot of unknowns," Bailey added of the ever evolving situation.
Another situation I also found interesting was the recent failed vote to change the Tri-Valley Conference bylaws for Wahama.
While one might think trying to figure out the specifics of what just happened and is going to happen with all the schools which were and are still in the WVIAC, the TVC situation is just as bad.
When Wahama came into the league, the TVC had a policy that all members were supposed to be a part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. However, the TVC let the White Falcons in, but they never bothered to change and update the bylaws to where it just said the school had to belong to its own respective state association, like the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission.
Also, Wahama's recent string of ultra-successful campaigns in football evidently has caused some animosity. The good news for fans of the White Falcons, at least for now, is they will be members of the TVC for at least the next two years.
"My point of view is I like the league because you don't have to travel forever," said Wahama head coach Ed Cromley. "If we go back to being independent I don't know how many miles we'll put on the bus."
