Quote from: SKUD on December 01, 2024, 12:25:53 PMShort notice? I don't understand 3 weeks ago (when every team selected for tourney was known) there were plenty of rooms all over Vegas for reasonable prices. There are still
Rooms available for $261 a night.

Why didn't you book everything early, as it all can be cancelled?  What am I missing?

First, it's not accurate. Yes, the Motel 6 was available, but most the more mid-range chains were pretty outrageous when I was looking at hotels before the Elite Eight games were played. Flights from DC, ATL, CLT were also well in excess of $800 for red-eyes.

Second, it's the recent alums and wider communities that really miss out from this. At the Final Four in Greensboro, there were two W&L alums in their 80s who had played for a national championship in their day and made the trek, in addition to scores of young alums who made it work. (Most) parents will find a way, but the atmosphere will be more like an ECNL tourney than a college championship.

Third, the NCAA could have acted like any other convention and blocked rooms and made them available to travelers from the schools. They will do that for the revenue sports. I do recognize this would not be expected, but with the convention calendar very public and overbooked, it would have been appropriate foresight. There's also a large NCAA wrestling tourney the same weekend, and they blocked off hotels.

Finally, the idea that supporters are to be faulted for not booking in advance and cancelling is kind of absurd. As it is, my reservation is non-cancellable, but even if it were...

As far as giving feedback, don't hold your breath.

Quote from: jknezek on November 30, 2024, 11:11:41 AMHa. I've bemoaned this several times. If it was anywhere in the mid Atlantic I'd be on my way Friday. But there is no way I'm flying to Vegas. I suspect the crowd will be even sparser than usual for these games.

I hate when D3 does stuff like this.

You'd also be late.  Set your clock for 8 pm (central) on THURSDAY, not Friday.   I'll wave to you from the stands.

I know we covered from a competition perspective, but can we talk about what an absolutely boneheaded idea it was to host this tournament final in Las Vegas from a logistics point of view?  Everyone has to fly, and the hotels are nearly all sold out or in the $1000+ range for a single night.  It seems there is a 300k+ person convention/rodeo in town the same weekend (which is easily knowable) on top of Amazon, and others.  That's quite a commitment for families that want to see their kids play in the final four, not to mention the scores of young alums who otherwise would attend, but are being shut out by cost.

The NCAA also always had a travel rule that required the semi-final losers to vacate their hotels after their loss.  Are they enforcing that here, where everyone is required to fly?

Don't mind me, I'm just salty for having to spend my Christmas budget on red-eye flights and hotels.

Very very sorry to hear this, SC. 

Cheering for W&L today.  Must say, I've been really down on this side all year, mostly because due to a lack of faith in the coach and his new style of play, but the seniors have a winners mentality and can go out in style by putting together some wins in the tourney.

Deserves its own thread, I think...


Hearing some shocking news out of Lexington that Singleton has resigned for family reasons. W&L will be looking to replace one of the best coaches in the country on short notice.

Quote from: JEFFFAN on December 03, 2023, 02:06:09 PM
Anyone care to comment on Amherst getting absolutely screwed by that non-call on the goalie grabbing the ball outside of the box?

Sure, I'll have a go.  The lines are part of the areas that they mark, so unless you can definitively say that ball was entirely over the line, it is considered inside the area.  As a neutral... ok, semi-neutral... I'm not sure we have the angle to say that.  The goalkeeper's feel were outside, but the ball seemed less certainly out in the brief look I had at it.   The referee was accidentally in the right position to see it, so I'm going with him.  I'll also say, as a referee, that you don't make that call unless you are 100% sure of it. 

WOW, what a goal.  Let's go Olafs!

Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on December 03, 2023, 11:39:26 AM

especially the clear hand ball in or near the penalty area in the second half.

Not that it was a guarantee W&L converts that PK.

No one has said this, so I will.

I thought Amherst's postgame behavior was exemplary.  Most of the team briefly met in an expected celebratory huddle between the keeper and final kicker after the end.  Others immediately found W&L players who they'd battled against for 110+ minutes to console them, congratulate them on a hard-fought game, and offer words of support.  Even Nuhu, who earlier in the match had a few things to say to the General faithful was quite restrained in his celebration and did not address them afterward.  I was there among the W&L army, and was looking for something to happen.  It didn't.

One relevant note about the lists of "Colleges Attending..."   A healthy number of schools register and don't attend, so they can get the emails from players and send invites to camps.  And others attend, but don't register.  Admittedly far more in the first camp, but lots of both.

Bottom line for recruits, don't depend on the registration list as indicative of who is watching and when.

Quote from: southsidejet on November 29, 2023, 11:20:44 AM

Quote from: PaulNewman on November 23, 2023, 10:56:14 PM
I thought it was a 50/50 deal with Amherst, but I thought Midd was going to get it done...exactly as I felt a few times with Kenyon, including last year after beating Calvin and W&L (7-1 on aggregate) back to back and only needing to get by Williams at home.  That Kenyon team last year was really, really good...like "best Kenyon team ever" and national title good...but unfortunately they just didn't get to what clearly seemed in reach.  It's a testament to how good Middlebury was to presume without any doubt that they are experiencing massive disappointment.

There is more to being the 'best X team ever' than just winning games. How your players & coaches carry themselves before, during, and after games are part of the equation. Kenyon might have had some skill last year, but they didn't have the other 'stuff'. I know of a son of a Kenyon alum who ended up playing for Tufts this year (his freshman year) because his father was appalled at how the Kenyon soccer program carried itself in seasons prior. I'm sure we can say similar things about Amherst in recent years. They may have enough skill to win the title, but I would never consider a program like that 'the best ever' regardless of the results on the field. There is so much more to this sport (like many others) than simply putting the ball into the back of the net, or preventing it from happening. My two cents.

I don't know, Southside, this seems a little out of left field to me.   When my (senior) son's team was beaten by Kenyon in the tournament last year, he was the next to last player to leave the field, no doubt finding it hard to swallow the emotion of a career suddenly ending on that Ohio pitch.  The last player to leave?  One of the Kenyon kids who stayed well past everyone else to console him.  It was quite a show of compassion and sportsmanship.

When we are talking about a "best [school] team ever," I think we are invariably talking about wins and championships.  If this year's W&L team were to win the tourney, we will very clearly be talking about them as the "best W&L team ever," but I have have always thought the 2020 version had the very best talent.  Difference is, this team is still winning.

As for whether I would want my kid to attend X school or play for Y coach, that's an entirely different matter.   

Quote from: Bucket on November 20, 2023, 01:37:40 PM

Quote


Curious... who was the gentleman with the beard in the YouTube clip also waiving to the Midd fans?  He's not dressed to play, and he's out in front of the players at 1:32, taunting the parents.  Is that Asst Coach Ortega?

Yes.

If true, then you have a coach on film not only failing to get his boys in check, but actually leading the effort out front to taunt an opponent's fans.  Classless, indeed.

Kudos to the one kid who was pulling Nuhu and Kalinauskas back.  Wish his coach had the same integrity.

Quote from: walzy31 on November 19, 2023, 10:37:35 PM
Former Amherst Soccer player weighing in here on my first ever D3 Soccer post (used to have a lot more to post about in the D3Hoops forums, but for obvious reasons, that flame has flickered out like the Encanto house and I am ready for the rebuild). Familiar with Bucket and a couple other names that are loyal to D3 athletics.

I have some answers to a few of the questions being tossed around on the boards:

Q: What happened in the 1H when Coach Serpone was upset with the officials and there was a prolonged stoppage?
A: One of Middlebury's players called Amherst's gay athlete the slur "fagg*t". As has been the case in the past, the most passionate version of Coach Serpone is when an opposing player uses hate speech directed towards one of his players. I don't remember what year or game, but ~5 years ago something similar happened in conference play with the n-word. The haters may say that this is a coaching tactic/antic to fire up his team... and they would be wrong. Coach Serpone has built an incredibly successful program that is built on love. The players love each other and the coach loves the players like his own children. Most of you are parents. If someone attacks your kid, you will probably be upset about it. Pretty sure the initiating slur also goes against that NESCAC sportsmanship statement.

Q: Why was the game chippy?
A: Because the NESCAC has become the overpowering force in D3 soccer for the past ~10 years after taking the torch from Messiah's epic run. Middlebury got one during Messiah's reign back in 2007 which started it, Amherst won one, Tufts was ridiculously good and impressive winning 4, and Conn took home a title. Williams and Bowdoin are perennially in the mix, and you can't sleep on Wesleyan or Trinity some years. 6 of the last 8 national champions are from the NESCAC and the last 3 runner-ups are also NESCAC. So when you get a NESCAC vs. NESCAC NCAA game, it may as well be the National Championship game, and all the players on both teams know this. Midd is always the most physical team in the league and it's not surprising their leaders committed hard fouls in the 1H. That works for them and I don't knock them for a second for their aggressive play. Let the referees handle the on-field action and hopefully no one gets hurt. But it is an absolute war for 90 minutes in an elimination game between conference opponents who both have what it takes to win it all. You go all out. The final whistle blows. You are happy to advance and send the other team home. I am sure all three of the remaining teams are amazing, but as a fan, I am relieved it is not a Midd->Tufts->Conn path. Had Midd won today, they would have to be favorites in Salem.

It sounds like Amherst was the better side today, stifling the Middlebury offense and winning 1-0 despite also not converting a PK. Soccer can be cruel, glad the better team won.

Post game activities
Appreciate the YouTube link! Three sections here:
1) In that video, you've got a handful of kids waving/clapping good bye to the Middlebury fan side of the field. This is trivial and takes place at every intense rivalry of every sport at every high level. Please watch this Saturday's Ohio St / Michigan game, which has similar stakes to today's soccer game. Whoever pulls away or wins it at the end will have 5 guys doing the exact same thing to the opposing fan section in the Big House. Watch Carolina/Duke in hoops and same thing. This is not a culture problem, parenting problem, or coaching problem. This is kids that work their butt off in a war for 90 mins and get to send their haters home. Good call on LSU/Iowa too (everyone loves Caitlin Clarke and no coaches were fired, players suspended, parents attacked, etc for the reciprocal clapping by the LSU squad). Good sports talk show and ESPN.com content. And apparently good message board content. This is sports.
2) Nuhu is heated. He is trying to cross the line and engage, potentially physically, with the Midd sideline, but is restrained. Glad he was restrained. Applause to the leadership and teammates that held back the first year from making a bad decision. Also, who knows what he endured throughout the game. I think it is fair to say from other testimonials on this message board that it was unusual behavior for him, so he's not a guy who psyches himself up by going crazy at opposing fans. Verbal on verbal back and forth that almost gets out of hand also happens sometimes across sports. At the professional level, it usually results in slap-on-the-wrist fines. At the D1 NCAA level, usually nothing. Players are subjected to all sorts of crazy hazing during games such as commentary about your sister/s, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, mom, race, sexual orientation, and then the brute "you f-ing suck number twenty-one!" over and over again. This could have escalated, glad it didn't. I would be remiss not to remind folks that when Williams fell at the buzzer in the 2004 basketball National Championship game a year after winning it all in 2003, their senior 1st Team AA PG did not hug his brothers or shake opponents' hands, but rather Crotty ran to the Amherst cheering section and made gestures and started cussing back and forth with them. Amherst wasn't even in the title game that year. Still puts a smile on my face. Maybe today's Midd fans will smile knowing they got under the skin of Nuhu so much that they were priority #1 for him after the win rather than celebrating with his teammates. Moving on.
3) The air-jerk reserve for Amherst. Okay, yeah I am on the message boards side on this one...and apparently Amherst College is as well as he has already been suspended for the National Semi-Finals. That was dumb, classless, etc. Especially since he wasn't even marquee in the battle which means he wasn't getting it from the Midd students for 90 mins. Apologies to the Midd sideline (females especially) for that. College kids do stupid things sometimes.

The rest of the NESCAC hates Coach Serpone, as evidenced by his 1 COY award. If that's the cost for building a program that has won ~40% of league titles, made it to the Sweet 16 100% of his time coaching, and now 5 Final Fours in 16 years, I think he is good with that tradeoff. His players absolutely love him.

I was at the 2019 and 2021 National Championship games were we lost to Tufts 2-0 and Conn 1-1 in PKs. Two wars. Great sportsmanship by both teams. Tufts couldn't have been bothered less to win another natty, so that was just a flat ending to the game and they deserved the W. The Conn ending was the same as today's ending. 3-4 Conn kids waving home our sideline and alum section as they ran to celebrate the winning PK taker. No fans on on our side cared. They won. They celebrated. They shook our hands and we shook their hands and then we consoled our brothers. That match was cruel.

Amherst and Middlebury soccer do not like one another. It has been this way for 20+ years and will probably be this way for another 20+ years. Thus, the beauty of sports.

Curious... who was the gentleman with the beard in the YouTube clip also waiving to the Midd fans?  He's not dressed to play, and he's out in front of the players at 1:32, taunting the parents.  Is that Asst Coach Ortega?

Quote from: PaulNewman on November 19, 2023, 03:30:40 PM
Unfortunately....EXACTLY what was to be expected.

The Amherst President and AD should be forced to watch the Amherst post-game celebrations and taunting via a 60 second video played on a loop for 48 hours. 

All those masters degrees earned in 2.5 hour seminars in the Bronze Room of the Holiday Inn Express in Belchertown were certainly more than worth the total cost of $250.  Dude just exudes integrity, class, and sportsmanship. 

And in 1...2....3....here come the justifications and rationalizations.

Disappointed for Midd...really hoped and thought they would get it done...but in between the lines Amherst was the better team today.

I can't believe that about 10 days ago I had never heard the name Chris Comber...otherwise known as the "2023 Nick Boardman."

Welcome to the W&L bandwagon, PaulNewman.  Go Gennies.  Beat the Mammoths.