Commissioner tries to calm Legacy controversy

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner Dr. Dennis E. Thomas refuses to answer the Press questions regarding the ESPN Legacy Bowl proposal. Thomas instead took a swipe at Bloggers and fans who have expressed strong opposition to dropping the conference automatic berth to the Football Championship Subdivision (1-AA) Playoffs.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. --Amid the storm of controversy surrounding the proposed Legacy Bowl, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference commissioner Dennis Thomas has attempted to maintain a calm front. Aside from comments made in June confirming the possibility of ESPN reviving the Heritage Bowl under a new aforementioned moniker with the MEAC and Southwestern Athletic Conference facing each other starting Dec. 17, 2011, the former South Carolina State head football coach has kept talk about the contest mostly under wraps.

"We are doing due diligence about the possibility and no decision has been made," Thomas said on Monday. "I can't make any comments until or if the deal is done. And then I can make some accurate comments about what is."

Thomas said he was hopeful a final decision on whether to participate in the game, which would require the MEAC to drop its automatic qualifying berth into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, would take place "sometime in the fall." At that point, the final decision would be left in the hands of the conference's school presidents and chancellors.

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Morris: FCS playoffs should be prize for South Carolina State

South Carolina State University highly talented quarterback Malcolm Long may have never played for the Bulldogs, if they were a none FCS Playoff participating program. The 2007 titled, "Mr. South Carolina" star player had may Division IA school choices available when coming out of Gaffney High School (S.C.) three seasons ago.

Worse ideas have come along in college football. It's just difficult to remember one. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is contemplating a requirement that its regular-season champion play against the champion from the Southwestern Athletic Conference for the historically black college national championship. It would be the revival of the Heritage Bowl, which died a slow death in the late 1990s when fans realized the game held little or no significance.

Such a game makes sense for one reason only - money. With a TV deal and a healthy gate at a neutral site, the black national title game could be a financial boom to both leagues. The problem is that by playing in the game, representatives from the MEAC and SWAC would forfeit any chance of playing in the FCS playoffs, which bring with it much national exposure for the participating team and its league. The SWAC already suffers from an inferiority complex and does not participate in the FCS playoffs.

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