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Post by arlingtonhoya05 on Mar 22, 2009 15:05:32 GMT -5
Wapo.com...discusses how unfair it is that NOVA got to play the first two rounds in Philly, and how the NCAA needs to get rid of their pod system. He somehow writes the entire article using NOVA as his prime example for how unfair the whole pod system is, without mentioning UNC and Duke consistently playing in their home state. Another cheap shot at the Big East from the most bias columnist in the business.
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Post by arlingtonhoya05 on Mar 22, 2009 15:05:58 GMT -5
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MCIGuy
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Anyone here? What am I supposed to update?
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Post by MCIGuy on Mar 22, 2009 16:28:34 GMT -5
Perhaps if UNC or Duke had been playing American he would have still mentioned it in his column. He is very protective of the small schools, especially the local ones.
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geedell
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by geedell on Mar 22, 2009 16:37:43 GMT -5
Some people, I choose to no longer pay attention to. He is one of those people.
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Post by JohnJacquesLayup on Mar 22, 2009 17:47:24 GMT -5
Did he mention GU "missing" the BE tourney, as usual?
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Mar 22, 2009 18:51:51 GMT -5
Perhaps if UNC or Duke had been playing American he would have still mentioned it in his column. He is very protective of the small schools, especially the local ones. Bingo. I pointed this out in the Bracket thread, but next season (2010) will be the first NCAA Tournament without a site in the state of North Carolina since 2003. I like the pod system, inasmuch as it's designed to give more fans an opportunity to attend and support their teams. It's somewhat luck of the draw--but using Nova as an example, they had to EARN their Philly draw in 2006 and 2009, and they did it by being a 1 and 3 seed...i.e. one of the top dozen or so teams in the country. Long as you earn your assignment, that's fine by me--recognizing even that North Carolina schools will have far more chances to earn a "home" date (hey, not their fault there are four NCAA quality venues in their state, two of which aren't even a school's home venue). What I don't like obviously is what happened with Davidson last year and Ohio State this year. Did he mention GU "missing" the BE tourney, as usual? For me, nothing will ever beat the article Feinstein wrote in 2003-2004 for AOL wherein he argued that Craig Esherick deserved an extension. That was a classsic--and probably more devious than all the directly harmful but ultimately childish things he says directly about the program. BTW just throwing it out there, had GU actually gone through with that Esherick contract extension, wouldn't this have been the season it expired?
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Post by HoyaTejano on Mar 22, 2009 18:55:05 GMT -5
If Feinstein writes on a dead tree in the woods, but no one reads it, did he actually write it?
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MassHoya
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Post by MassHoya on Mar 22, 2009 19:23:10 GMT -5
If Feinstein writes and no one reads it, all the better.
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lichoya68
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OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
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Post by lichoya68 on Mar 22, 2009 20:46:49 GMT -5
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jacko
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GET SOME
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Post by jacko on Mar 22, 2009 20:54:31 GMT -5
And of course he spends 1 sentence talking about the homecourt advantage of an 8 seed (OhSU) over a 9 and (potentially though thankfully not actually) over a 1. At least Nova is a 3 seed, presumably deserving a court in close proximity to the school. It's so random every year, why doesn't he devise a system that will treat all 3 seeds equally? What a dweeb - he has more to work with but he really shortchanges himself.
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jgalt
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Post by jgalt on Mar 22, 2009 21:59:18 GMT -5
i am always annoyed by the Duke Unc North carolina games, but i will say that when they both play in the same pod, the effect is moot. all the UNC fans stay and root against Duke and vice versa. of course that is not ideal but it does make it less of a total home court advantage.
The one thing that is different for NOVA is that they play many games at Wachovia center where they played this weekend. I think they still would have won both games (i think they are playing the best out of all the tourny teams) but they could have also been helped by being a familiar place. this bothers me a little because Nova clearly limits the number of games they play at the Wach so they can play NCAA games there.
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kghoya
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Post by kghoya on Mar 23, 2009 9:26:36 GMT -5
i am always annoyed by the Duke Unc North carolina games, but i will say that when they both play in the same pod, the effect is moot. all the UNC fans stay and root against Duke and vice versa. of course that is not ideal but it does make it less of a total home court advantage. The one thing that is different for NOVA is that they play many games at Wachovia center where they played this weekend. I think they still would have won both games (i think they are playing the best out of all the tourny teams) but they could have also been helped by being a familiar place. this bothers me a little because Nova clearly limits the number of games they play at the Wach so they can play NCAA games there. disagree. way more unc fans out there that go to games. at least per my experiences
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jgalt
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Post by jgalt on Mar 23, 2009 10:00:44 GMT -5
i am always annoyed by the Duke Unc North carolina games, but i will say that when they both play in the same pod, the effect is moot. all the UNC fans stay and root against Duke and vice versa. of course that is not ideal but it does make it less of a total home court advantage. The one thing that is different for NOVA is that they play many games at Wachovia center where they played this weekend. I think they still would have won both games (i think they are playing the best out of all the tourny teams) but they could have also been helped by being a familiar place. this bothers me a little because Nova clearly limits the number of games they play at the Wach so they can play NCAA games there. disagree. way more unc fans out there that go to games. at least per my experiences Ok yeah that is true. It appeared to me, though that once the UNC game was over it was about 50-50 pro-duke - anti-duke (for the duke texas game), but i could be, and probably am, wrong
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tgo
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Post by tgo on Mar 23, 2009 10:25:41 GMT -5
it isnt just the fans though, it is the travel and the comfort level, if you can sleep in your own bed and hop on a bus to a game it is so much better for your preparation, comfort level and rest going in to the game rather than having to stay overnight somewhere new, no matter how used to travel players are it helps to sleep in your own bed.
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mchoya
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Post by mchoya on Mar 23, 2009 21:50:50 GMT -5
The problem I have with Nova is that they usually play most of their home games in the Wachovia Center. This year, because they knew that the pod was going to be at Wachovia Center, they played their games at other venues (e.g. the Spectrum, the Pavillion) and played only 2 games at the Wachovia Center so that they could play the 1st/2nd Round games their this year.
The rule is that you can't play 3 games in a year and play at that site in the NCAAs. I think the rule should be that if you play at a site for an average of 3 games a year over the past three years than you are ineligible for their home court.
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jgalt
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Post by jgalt on Mar 23, 2009 22:44:38 GMT -5
The problem I have with Nova is that they usually play most of their home games in the Wachovia Center. This year, because they knew that the pod was going to be at Wachovia Center, they played their games at other venues (e.g. the Spectrum, the Pavillion) and played only 2 games at the Wachovia Center so that they could play the 1st/2nd Round games their this year. The rule is that you can't play 3 games in a year and play at that site in the NCAAs. I think the rule should be that if you play at a site for an average of 3 games a year over the past three years than you are ineligible for their home court. I totally agree. This bothers me and it is such an easy loophole to fix.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Mar 24, 2009 11:54:36 GMT -5
The problem I have with Nova is that they usually play most of their home games in the Wachovia Center. This year, because they knew that the pod was going to be at Wachovia Center, they played their games at other venues (e.g. the Spectrum, the Pavillion) and played only 2 games at the Wachovia Center so that they could play the 1st/2nd Round games their this year. The rule is that you can't play 3 games in a year and play at that site in the NCAAs. I think the rule should be that if you play at a site for an average of 3 games a year over the past three years than you are ineligible for their home court. Yep, I agree. And not just because Nova clobbered the Bruins. What I honestly don't understand is why there seems to be a pod every year in North Carolina. As FL pointed out, next year will be the first time in what, seven years, that there has been no NC pod. That makes no sense. There have to be plenty of places in the South where subregionals can be held without letting UNC and Duke almost have a home court advantage every year.
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Mar 24, 2009 12:08:27 GMT -5
What I honestly don't understand is why there seems to be a pod every year in North Carolina. Chances are these cities bid on them and others don't. What are the locations in the area with big enough arenas (and hotel rooms) to host a subregional? DC? Verizon, if the NBA and NHL don't get in the way. Maryland? College Park, but the committee is moving away from campus sites. Baltimore is too small. Virginia? Richmond, though it might be too small now. Ditto for Norfolk. SC? Columbia, but it's a campus facility. North Charleston Arena seats 14K but it's a stretch. Georgia? Atlanta, but the NBA and NHL limits dates at Phillips Arena and the Georgia Dome generally doesn't bid for regionals as much. The UGA facility is too small. NC? Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem all can host big events. And they do.
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jgalt
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Post by jgalt on Mar 24, 2009 15:06:52 GMT -5
What I honestly don't understand is why there seems to be a pod every year in North Carolina. Chances are these cities bid on them and others don't. What are the locations in the area with big enough arenas (and hotel rooms) to host a subregional? DC? Verizon, if the NBA and NHL don't get in the way. Maryland? College Park, but the committee is moving away from campus sites. Baltimore is too small. Virginia? Richmond, though it might be too small now. Ditto for Norfolk. SC? Columbia, but it's a campus facility. North Charleston Arena seats 14K but it's a stretch. Georgia? Atlanta, but the NBA and NHL limits dates at Phillips Arena and the Georgia Dome generally doesn't bid for regionals as much. The UGA facility is too small. NC? Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem all can host big events. And they do. The arena at Dayton University they were using for the first round is under 14k. (though i know they are trying to move to nothing under 20k for the first rounds) I think it comes down to that the NCAA knows they will sell out quick for any venue in NC and that the environment will be rocking. The UNC and Duke games looked like real games because of all the people- the games in Boise looked like the consolation round of the Old Spice Classic.
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Mar 24, 2009 17:29:16 GMT -5
Isn't South Carolina still barred from hosting NCAA games because of the state flag controversy?
What ultimately makes a difference is that the NCAA Tournament got more popular, necessitating better arenas and bigger cities/metro areas. There's been a trend towards more NBA arenas in bigger cities and less college venues/small town coliseums...not necessarily a trend I enjoy.
Georgetown played some tournament games in the mid-90s in Richmond and Tallahassee...that ain't happening again for those cities. IMO, the "growth areas" for non-North Carolina eastern venues are:
1. Florida -- Jacksonville is getting another go-round next season, Miami is back in the mix, Tampa has a quality venue in the rotation, and Orlando SHOULD be back if they'd ever replace that dump the Magic play in. Nobody's gonna say "Florida in March? Naaaah, I'm too happy here in my parka."
2. The NYC area -- You've got to think the Prudential Center in Newark will eventually get a nod as the successor to the Continental Airlines Arena/Izod Center (good luck with that urban development...neighborhood around that place makes late 90s/early 00s Chinatown look like an Epcot Center exhibit). And of course, one of the goals of MSG renovation is to give the NCAAs a shot--I can't decide whether this will be the greatest thing ever, or somehow cheapen the venue/the BET.
The odd venue that shows up next year is Providence. I know it hosted in the past, but even post-mini renovation when I went last season, it didn't strike me as a NCAA kind of place...though it is like a scaled down NBA arena, so maybe it'll work in an intimate kind of way. Bad news though--chances are you'll see UConn or Syracuse there.
I will say this--it's probably a little unfair to give the North Carolina schools an advantage...but that state likes its basketball. IMO, each of those four venues is quality, the metro areas (save Greensboro, as I've never been) are all nice and clean (I'm from Florida and don't mind driving to get anywhere in a city), the weather is nice in mid-March, the people are friendly, and they put on a good show.
Minus side--they all think Tyler Hansbrough is Jesus and Greg Paulus is talented.
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