Time for Mentor to join the WRC

BlackandGold

RollSide
With the high cost of all things and the uncertainty of when it will get better in the future, it's time for Lake-Geauga County schools to be more resourceful. Bussing, gas, and time can be cut for Mentor if they were to join the WRC and at the same time, add a local rivalry for all sports in the WRC. Shorter travel, great competition, and more gate money is a no-brainer.

I took a moment (thanks to Max Preps) to tally Mentor vs. the current WRC schools from Winter 2021 to Fall 2022 for boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, football, and volleyball:

Mentor girls vs. WRC girls
Mentor wins: 10
Mentor losses: 9
Ties: 2

Mentor boys vs. WRC boys
Mentor wins: 10
Mentor losses: 5
Ties: 1

Many of the Mentor wins across all sports were competitive contests. During times like these, I think the argument can be made that although Mentor has a much larger enrollment than the WRC schools, Mentor also offers many extracurricular activities (non-sports) that the WRC schools don't, which attracts many of their students to other interests. In addition to the cost of sports, some athletes don't participate.

I think it's unfair for Mentor girls programs (and non-revenue boys sports) and families to have to travel to Medina County for league contests when they can get competitive games in the Lake-Geauga County area.

Let's discuss.
 
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I have a feeling you’re going to ruffle someone’s feathers with this take……

I don’t think Mentor should, nor would they even entertain the idea, of joining the WRC. It wouldn’t be to the same degree, but it’s like Madison and Lakeside being in the CVC and playing smaller schools week in and week out, they will never be competitive at a state level doing this. Moving your program a notch down in conferences does nothing but hurt your programs.

Madison should have never left, and Lakeside, Harvey and West Geauga should be in the WRC.

Unfortunately, Mentor lives on an island when it comes to DI, other than Euclid, no one is close to them. It is what it is. I don’t think Mentor would have any problem scheduling at least two WRC schools in non-conference. That’s up to the WRC school to take them on though.
 
I have a feeling you’re going to ruffle someone’s feathers with this take……

I don’t think Mentor should, nor would they even entertain the idea, of joining the WRC. It wouldn’t be to the same degree, but it’s like Madison and Lakeside being in the CVC and playing smaller schools week in and week out, they will never be competitive at a state level doing this. Moving your program a notch down in conferences does nothing but hurt your programs.

Madison should have never left, and Lakeside, Harvey and West Geauga should be in the WRC.

Unfortunately, Mentor lives on an island when it comes to DI, other than Euclid, no one is close to them. It is what it is. I don’t think Mentor would have any problem scheduling at least two WRC schools in non-conference. That’s up to the WRC school to take them on though.
Don't know whose feathers would be ruffled. I think the guy knows that the WRC wants no part of Mentor in football for the most part. His school scheduled Mentor this year and next and I hope it continues but I think they did so thinking Mentor would be down and they could sneak in a win or two . Hope I'm wrong and it's long-term.

2 other WRC schools have scrimmaged us in football but they don't want regular season games except for an occasional check in by Chardon and South. I doubt most would want Mentor every year and Mentor wouldn't want 6 or 7 smaller opponents like this either

For boys basketball it would be the same situation as Brush. It's a horrible boys basketball league. Playing 2 a year or so is fine. There aren't any wrc teams on the schedule this season in a sport where every team makes the playoffs ...

The girls sports and non revenue boys sports would make some sense. I don't personally watch or care about them. I doubt a league would take a member partially and avoid the big 2 revenue sports though.

The WRC wouldn't want Mentor though. It's not a case of Mentor not choosing them. The option won't be on the table. Let's get real here
 
I have a feeling you’re going to ruffle someone’s feathers with this take……

I don’t think Mentor should, nor would they even entertain the idea, of joining the WRC. It wouldn’t be to the same degree, but it’s like Madison and Lakeside being in the CVC and playing smaller schools week in and week out, they will never be competitive at a state level doing this. Moving your program a notch down in conferences does nothing but hurt your programs.

Madison should have never left, and Lakeside, Harvey and West Geauga should be in the WRC.

Unfortunately, Mentor lives on an island when it comes to DI, other than Euclid, no one is close to them. It is what it is. I don’t think Mentor would have any problem scheduling at least two WRC schools in non-conference. That’s up to the WRC school to take them on though.
Wow! Interesting.

I do agree with Lakeside and Madison in the future CVC Lake and playing smaller schools. Although, the Ashtabula schools seem to be at least trying to turn around their football programs.

The western core of WRC schools would not be happy traveling to Ashtabula and I don’t think Lakeside would be interested in leaving the CVC until they have some competitive consistency. Harvey and Riverside are on a hiatus and I would liken it to North and Mentor playing each other.

West Geauga I agree could compete (even with Mentor) in most sports other than football right now.

Your suggestions for new schools seem to me like the same reasons I made to add Mentor.
 
I like the idea for the simple fact that it guarantees Riverside and Mentor play each other every year in football. I do think B&G brings up solid points in regards to good comp being in their backyard, but there is no way the WRC would ever want this to happen. What if they put together a great team in any sport like they are capable of doing and roll everyone? It then becomes a bad look for the conference and Mentor.

I like Harvey, Lakeside, West G, and Madison staying/joining the WRC, but think the conference should be more aggressive adding formidable powers to the league in my opinion. Aurora and/or Nordonia would be an awesome add although unlikely.

Side note, I think it is much more likely Riverside joins the GCC than Mentor joining the WRC.
 
What about all sports except Varsity Football?
And boys basketball. Mentor would roll the league in that sport.

Partial stuff isn't going to work though. The other sports would work, but it won't happen. Plus being independent in football would be a nightmare
 
Agreed partial stuff isn’t going to work. Mentor basketball would destroy every team in the WRC year in and year out. I don’t think the football level discrepancy between the two is as off as basketball. That said, for 10-15 years Mentor was as good as anyone in the state. It didn’t matter who they played. Same thing could have been said about Chardon in the 90’s. It goes in waves.

That said, I think it’s a bit premature for Riverside fans to be calling for a Mentor addition to the WRC or going to the GCC. You have a great team this season and probably next, but the consistent history to compete with a Mentor or with a schedule Mentor plays is a little far fetched at this point. Seriously, I can’t wait until you guys beat Hoban, it will be so sweet.

BTW - The WRC has been dominated by DIII schools for a while now.
 
The reason Mentor is in the Conference they are in now is because it is full of schools no conference wants. The WRC wants no part of Mentor now or in the future and it doesn't benefit Mentor at all to be in that conference.

Riverside has one or two years where they compete in revenue and non-revenue sports and this jackhole starts spouting off.

Sports is cyclical, it goes with the talent that comes in. Ever wonder why Mentor competes at a high level year after year? They have a constant talent pool of their own kids that keep coming in. (except a few transfers basketball) Most of the WRC will not be competitive with them year over year and who gives a flying crap about middle school or freshmen athletics because they have no bearing on how good the varsity team is going to be.
 
I like Harvey, Lakeside, West G, and Madison staying/joining the WRC, but think the conference should be more aggressive adding formidable powers to the league in my opinion. Aurora and/or Nordonia would be an awesome add although unlikely.

Side note, I think it is much more likely Riverside joins the GCC than Mentor joining the WRC.
Agree with the formidable opponents. Aurora would benefit slightly in travel by joining the WRC. Nordonia, in these tough financial times, has to do the sensible thing and at least try to compete in the SL. It’s equivalent to my point about Mentor joining the WRC.

The financial stress on parents trickles down to the kids. Long commutes for a league like the GCC is more money out of pocket for the both the schools and parents. Not to mention for the WRC folks trying to schedule ooc games, which can be out of area, with a smaller league. It should be considered at least a viable temporary option until things are more affordable.

Riverside joining the GCC would not be a financially wise decision right now.
 
Agreed partial stuff isn’t going to work. Mentor basketball would destroy every team in the WRC year in and year out. I don’t think the football level discrepancy between the two is as off as basketball. That said, for 10-15 years Mentor was as good as anyone in the state. It didn’t matter who they played. Same thing could have been said about Chardon in the 90’s. It goes in waves.

That said, I think it’s a bit premature for Riverside fans to be calling for a Mentor addition to the WRC or going to the GCC. You have a great team this season and probably next, but the consistent history to compete with a Mentor or with a schedule Mentor plays is a little far fetched at this point. Seriously, I can’t wait until you guys beat Hoban, it will be so sweet.

BTW - The WRC has been dominated by DIII schools for a while now.
Totally agree - My reasoning for the possibility of Riverside to the GCC is based purely on enrollment, they barely missed D1 this year. I am more thinking from the perspective of if they do become D1, they should be playing higher level comp to get ready for the playoffs. As for other sports, They are in D1 anyway, so why not play those schools in the regular season?
 
Agreed partial stuff isn’t going to work. Mentor basketball would destroy every team in the WRC year in and year out. I don’t think the football level discrepancy between the two is as off as basketball. That said, for 10-15 years Mentor was as good as anyone in the state. It didn’t matter who they played. Same thing could have been said about Chardon in the 90’s. It goes in waves.
That said, I think it’s a bit premature for Riverside fans to be calling for a Mentor addition to the WRC or going to the GCC. You have a great team this season and probably next, but the consistent history to compete with a Mentor or with a schedule Mentor plays is a little far fetched at this point. Seriously, I can’t wait until you guys beat Hoban, it will be so sweet.

BTW - The WRC has been dominated by DIII schools for a while now.
Mentor did not dominate the WRC last season in boys basketball. They were competitive games.
 
Mentor did not dominate the WRC last season in boys basketball. They were competitive games.
Well they did beat South by 30. Riverside and Mayfield werent blowouts but you are cherry picking 2 games from a large sample over the years. Try 2020-21 examples next.

When is the last time a WRC team beat Mentor in boys basketball? Doesn't happen often in the past couple decades.

Of course it would happen from time to time but it would be very unbalanced overall to say the least

Plus as usual you have an inflated view of the WRC schools bravery. Most wouldn't want anything to do with Mentor in the revenue sports. So this won't be on the table
 
I like the idea for the simple fact that it guarantees Riverside and Mentor play each other every year in football. I do think B&G brings up solid points in regards to good comp being in their backyard, but there is no way the WRC would ever want this to happen. What if they put together a great team in any sport like they are capable of doing and roll everyone? It then becomes a bad look for the conference and Mentor.

I like Harvey, Lakeside, West G, and Madison staying/joining the WRC, but think the conference should be more aggressive adding formidable powers to the league in my opinion. Aurora and/or Nordonia would be an awesome add although unlikely.

Side note, I think it is much more likely Riverside joins the GCC than Mentor joining the WRC.
I agree that Mentor will not join the WRC. I think we all know that Riverside should’ve beat Mentor this year. Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve but didn’t! Everyone familiar with Riverside football knew this was the best team they’ve had in over 2-3 decades, maybe 4. I wouldn’t put them in the conversation of leaving the WRC for the GCC based on 1 dominant year (minus Mentor) unless the sole reason is that they move up to D1. History of the Riverside program doesn’t suggest that they would consistently compete in the GCC. Won’t happen, unless they get bumped to D1 IMO. And that would be bad for Riverside unless all they want to do is play Mentor. That said, I will still be pulling for Riverside the rest of the way. Hope they can finish!!
 
We are in difficult economic times we haven’t seen in more than a generation. Families are not going to drive to a basketball game to Medina in the next couple years or more because they can’t afford to. It’s time for school leadership to make sensible economic decisions. We’re living during a time where you have to decide what’s better financially for the schools and families. The WRC can pick between getting beat badly within 15-20 miles from home or scheduling the out of area school they may or may not get beat badly by.
 
We are in difficult economic times we haven’t seen in more than a generation. Families are not going to drive to a basketball game to Medina in the next couple years or more because they can’t afford to. It’s time for school leadership to make sensible economic decisions. We’re living during a time where you have to decide what’s better financially for the schools and families. The WRC can pick between getting beat badly within 15-20 miles from home or scheduling the out of area school they may or may not get beat badly by.
You are the only one trying to justify this from either side in Mentor joining the WRC. It simply doesn't make sense for revenue sports for either side.
 
We are in difficult economic times we haven’t seen in more than a generation. Families are not going to drive to a basketball game to Medina in the next couple years or more because they can’t afford to. It’s time for school leadership to make sensible economic decisions. We’re living during a time where you have to decide what’s better financially for the schools and families. The WRC can pick between getting beat badly within 15-20 miles from home or scheduling the out of area school they may or may not get beat badly by.
I don’t think travel is an issue for WRC members. Did you mean GCC?
 
We are in difficult economic times we haven’t seen in more than a generation. Families are not going to drive to a basketball game to Medina in the next couple years or more because they can’t afford to. It’s time for school leadership to make sensible economic decisions. We’re living during a time where you have to decide what’s better financially for the schools and families. The WRC can pick between getting beat badly within 15-20 miles from home or scheduling the out of area school they may or may not get beat badly by.
You mean those energy efficient vehicles aren’t solving this travel issue?!
 
You mean those energy efficient vehicles aren’t solving this travel issue?!
They are catching on fire with the flooding in Florida. And it takes quadruple the time to road trip in one. This guy supports the idiots who created all these issues with stupid policy though. He says he blocked me so he won't see this 🤣
 
B&G vs. Cardgrad2002 pay-per-view event. Meet in a parking lot off of route 20 between Painesville and Mentor. Loser has to pay the travel expenses for Mentor athletics next year. who says no?
 
B&G vs. Cardgrad2002 pay-per-view event. Meet in a parking lot off of route 20 between Painesville and Mentor. Loser has to pay the travel expenses for Mentor athletics next year. who says no?
Probably both because most adults are past the stupid fighting stage. He can't even deal with people on a message board and supposedly blocks them too...

Also I don't live near Mentor anymore . Guy is a dope though. I see many see how dumb his ideas are too
 
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