Tom Hardy's job just got a little tougher.
The St. Francis athletic director must now find five football opponents to schedule each fall instead of two after Lake Michigan Conference superintendents recently approved a plan to oust the Gladiators from the league in that sport starting in 2012.
As a compromise, St. Francis will still get four games a year against league schools. All will count as non-league games.
League bylaws will need to be changed and approved, but that appears just a technicality.
All of this should not have come as a surprise, given that St. Francis has been almost unbeatable since joining the league (the last league loss was in 2001) and that most of the games have not even been competitive.
That ruffled some feathers and led to a simmering debate that reached a boil last school year.
What's ironic is that one angry coach predicted that this would be the outcome after a blowout loss to the Gladiators last fall.
Take St. Francis out of the mix, though, and the Lake Michigan Conference has much to prove on the football field. Only Boyne City has made a run in the post-season — the Ramblers reached the semifinals in 2001. It has not been pretty.
Elk Rapids and Grayling have made strides in their programs and those two schools will continue to play St. Francis on an annual basis.
You have to appreciate their thinking about wanting to play the best — and that's St. Francis, which has won back-to-back Division 7 state championships.
On the flip side, though, there are schools in the league that have struggled. They see no value in playing St. Francis. What's good about a 60-0 loss? Really, who can blame them?
In the end, it is what it is and for all schools it's time to move forward.
The scheduling logistics will need to be hammered out, particularly with the six schools (provided St. Ignace joins the league) that will play St. Francis on a rotating basis every three years.
From there, Hardy will get busy trying to fill a suddenly open 2012 schedule.
The Gladiators have a two-year contract with Kingsley that begins in 2011. Hardy will probably pursue a longer deal if possible. He's also had preliminary talks with another Northwest Conference school.
St. Francis has an "unending" agreement with Saginaw Nouvel. Hardy said he'll contact Muskegon Catholic, a school the Gladiators played for a number of years, and will probably be in touch with two independents in the north — Cheboygan and Manistee.
One thing is certain in all this. The Gladiators will need to boost their travel budget.
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