CURBSTONE COACHES OSU president partial to penguins

Youngstown State's Dr. David Sweet relayed a humorous story to the members.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- Ohio State University president William Kirwan likes penguins.
That was a side note during his conversation with Youngstown State president David Sweet regarding Jim Tressel becoming the Buckeyes' football coach.
Kirwan wanted to learn more about Tressel, so he called Sweet.
"[Kirwan] told me the story of the final interviews," Sweet said to the Curbstone Coaches during their luncheon Monday at Lockwood House.
"Coach Tressel was the next-to-last candidate to be interviewed, and [Minnesota coach] Glen Mason was the final candidate."
Penguin tie: Included in Kirwan's collection of penguins, Sweet discovered, was a tie with pictures of the bird.
"Apparently, when Glen Mason walked in for his interview, president Kirwan had his penguin tie on," said Sweet, to the laughter of the Curbstone audience. "[Mason] must have understood at that point that it was not going to be his lifetime opportunity."
Sweet never envisioned some of the events that would transpire during his tenure on the job -- at least not in the first nine months:
U Ohio State hired Tressel, who also served as Youngstown State's athletic director.
U The city of Youngstown began the planning stages of building a convocation center.
U YSU made a decision to move its athletic programs -- except for football -- from the Mid-Continent Conference to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. In football, the Penguins will remain in the Gateway Conference.
New AD: Youngstown State's search for its next athletic director is in the process of being completed, and its role with the proposed convocation center is in a "cautious phase of exploration," Sweet said.
As for the change in conferences, Sweet said, "They [the Midwestern Collegiate Conference] have extended a formal invitation and our board of trustees has formally accepted that invitation."
Youngstown State is currently in the final negotiations with the terms of its exit from the Mid-Continent Conference and its entrance into the new conference, Sweet said.
"What we're trying to achieve is an amicable departure from the Mid-Con and allow for sufficient planning in the [Midwestern] so it will be a smooth transition," he said.
Process: The process should be officially completed by July 1 of this year, Sweet said. That would allow Youngstown State's athletic programs -- excluding football -- to be eligible for Midwestern Collegiate championships.
Reasons for the change have been well documented in recent months.
Included is a reduction in travel costs and more of an opportunity for the Penguins to build in-state rivalries -- schools such as Southern Utah and Oral Roberts will be replaced by Cleveland State and Wright State.
Youngstown State does have to pay a $200,000 fine to leave the Mid-Con. That part of the Penguins' exodus is "in the final stages of discussion right now," Sweet said.
Reaction: So, what has been the Mid-Con's reaction to Youngstown State's departure?
"As you might expect, they were not happy," Sweet said. "But I tried to explain it [to them] in terms of our mission and our objectives -- the positive side of the exposure and media markets where we plan to recruit students and at the same time the reduction of costs."
The birth of the idea of moving conferences came about when Cleveland State contacted Youngstown State.
"That was the tangible kickoff," Sweet said. "I would not have initiated the conversation until a year or two down the road. But you seize the opportunity when you can."