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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 10, 2004 Olson off to plead Raiders' case By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings For years, Southern Oregon University head football coach Jeff Olson has asked players to put their bodies on the line. Today, he'll try to convince a group of presidents to risk something far more valuable: their money. Olson will be the Raiders' lone representative in Lewiston, Idaho, where he'll explain to the Frontier Conference league of presidents what SOU can bring to the Montana-based league. "I'm not sure if I should wear a whistle around my neck, or a tie," Olson quipped. "I think I'll go with a tie." The SOU football program has been aiming to join the Frontier Conference since the end of the 2003 football season. Olson says the move would help the independent Raiders on many different levels. "This would certainly provide direction for us for scheduling and for recognition of our players," Olson said. "I just think it would be a very positive step for our program." It would also likely improve the Raiders' chances of making the NAIA national playoffs. Currently, SOU must finish as the nation's top-ranked independent to earn an automatic berth to nationals. In the Frontier, the Raiders could clinch a playoff spot by winning the six-team conference. The presentation will be the second made by the Raiders before the league of presidents this year. After the first presentation, made by SOU athletic director Phil Pifer Jan. 27, FC officials asked SOU to return for today's semiannual meeting, but did not move to accept the Raiders. According to Frontier Conference commissioner Ron Kennison, the league's biggest hang-up with adding SOU is the increased travel cost. Each FC team would need to make the long trip to Ashland - probably by plane - at least once every two years. This Kenison has said, presents a financial obligation that the league is currently unable, or unwilling, to bear. Olson's challenge is to convince the presidents that adding SOU will be worth the travel cost. "I'm going to try and certainly promote what Southern Oregon can bring to the table both as an institution and what we bring to the field," he said. "It can only enhance the conference." Olson's presentation is one of several items on the docket. A decision anytime soon is unlikely. Still, Olson says it's important that somebody represents SOU in person. "I think by us going again shows good faith on our part that we're wanting to make this thing happen," he said. SOU, which has played an independent schedule since the Columbia Football Association dissolved after the 1998 season, wants to join a conference because the Raiders' location and status as an NAIA elite has made scheduling increasingly difficult. In 2003, only three of the Raiders' nine games were at home and their itinerary included exhausting road trips to Bethany, Okla., and Silver City, N.M. The Raiders' 2004 schedule is slightly more favorable, with four home games to go with two road trips to Montana (vs. Rocky Mountain and Montana State-Northern) and another long bus ride to southern California (vs. University of San Diego). Even if the Frontier Conference does accept SOU, the Raiders won't become a full-fledged member - that is, they won't be able to compete for a conference championship - until 2006 because FC teams have already laid out their schedules through the 2005 season. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams