University Athletic Association

[Gregory Sager]

Well stated, ExTartan. I completely agree with your points.

[ADL70]

Congratulations to our #9 nationally ranked men's tennis team for crushing Kalamazoo College 5-0 in the second round of the NCAA tourney.

The Spartans now advance to the Sweet 16 where they'll play.....................guess who.................CARNEGIE-MELLON!!!

GO SPARTANS!!!

Read on.

http://athletics.case.edu/sports/mten/2013-14/releases/20140510jmubuk

Spartans avenge an earlier 5-4 loss to CMU with a 5-4 WIN to advance to the Elite Eight, joining Emory and WUStL.

[DagarmanSpartan]

With three teams in the Elite Eight, and four in the Sweet Sixteen, is there any doubt that the UAA is a Division III tennis "super" conference?

[ExTartanPlayer]

With three teams in the Elite Eight, and four in the Sweet Sixteen, is there any doubt that the UAA is a Division III tennis "super" conference?

I would say yes, but it occurs to me that I don't know how many D3 tennis teams there are...if there are more than 100, then I would say yes, absolutely, four of the top 16 and three of the top 8 qualifies the UAA for superconference status.  If there are only 50 or 60 tennis teams, still impressive, but maybe not as much.

[wally_wabash]

Believe there are upwards of 250 or so DIII men's tennis teams.  There's no good reason for me to know that. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Believe there are upwards of 250 or so DIII men's tennis teams.  There's no good reason for me to know that.

Is there any good reason for us to know any of the random minutiae we all know about D3 sports?

Sidebar on that, if you want to amuse yourself, my buddy and I were discussing the four major American professional sports the other day & tried to figure out which would be the hardest/weirdest to explain to a human being from a country that had never seen any of them (or anything comparable, i.e. cricket, soccer, etc).  I think baseball is the least intuitive and has the most weird rules (and that's even just basic gameplay, before we get to REALLY weird stuff like balks, infield flies, etc).  Football, basketball, and hockey, while they all have their respective quirks (try explaining "pass interference" sometime to a non-football fan), can be reduced to various forms of "try to get the ball into the goal" - but baseball is just so WEIRD for someone that's never seen it before (OK, so the guy with the ball is going to try to throw it past the guy with the stick, who will try to hit it between those two lines, but if one of the other guys catches it he is "out" and it doesn't count...etc).

[ADL70]

With three teams in the Elite Eight, and four in the Sweet Sixteen, is there any doubt that the UAA is a Division III tennis "super" conference?

I would say yes, but it occurs to me that I don't know how many D3 tennis teams there are...if there are more than 100, then I would say yes, absolutely, four of the top 16 and three of the top 8 qualifies the UAA for superconference status.  If there are only 50 or 60 tennis teams, still impressive, but maybe not as much.

There were 44 teams in the tournament, if the usual 6.5 access applies, then about 286.

Further light on the issue, there were seven Pool C teams, three each from UAA and NESCAC.

In almost every sport save football and wrestllng and maybe bseball, you could say the UAA is a power conference

[formerd3db]

Believe there are upwards of 250 or so DIII men's tennis teams.  There's no good reason for me to know that.

Wally, my/our friend, while I realize this is the football forum site, I am disappointed you would make that comment.  You are usually upright and sincere, so I hope you were joking.

Of course, NCAA DIII men's tennis does not share the notoriety/popularity with DIII football, nonetheless, it is important in the overall genre of collegiate sports and certainly at our level.  For example, Kalamazoo College's tennis history is similar to that of Kenyon College in swimming.  Kalamazoo College men's team has won 76 straight (yes, that's correct seventy-six) MIAA tennis championships, sharing the title only a couple of times-with Hope College in 2003 and again in 2013 with Hope and Calvin.  They have appeared in all the NCAA tennis championships i.e. 39 straight and have won the national title 7 times.  Quite an accomplishment, although this year's team did not have as stellar record as some of their teams in the past (13-9) and losing handily to CW this year in the tournament as has been mentioned.

In addition, and what would be no surprise, Kalamazoo's tennis facilities are in an elite class (as are Hope College's new outdoor tennis facilities, the latter of which won a national award; their indoor tennis facilities are excellent as well).  These are better then many of the DI schools, including Michigan State University here in our region. Kalamazoo's facilities have also hosted many of the women's professional tennis tournaments in past years.

*Above info/statistics obtained from the Kalamazoo College Athletic Website, tennis history section. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Believe there are upwards of 250 or so DIII men's tennis teams.  There's no good reason for me to know that.

Wally, my/our friend, while I realize this is the football forum site, I am disappointed you would make that comment.  You are usually upright and sincere, so I hope you were joking.

I think he was alluding to the fact that, in any other arena with those less informed about D3 athletics, people would find that a somewhat trivial piece of information.

Given that a not-insignificant group of students (and even faculty) at CMU were/are unaware that we have a football team despite the presence of a football stadium, daily practices taking place for two hours, and home games on five fall Saturdays...I think it's fair to make a joke about any of us knowing Division III sports factoids offhand.

You make a fair point, doc, that in some sports, top-caliber Division III teams will facilities and athletes can rival those from Division I and II counterparts, and I think this is a bit more common in some nonrevenue sports (tennis, golf, track and field, swimming, and wrestling being a few examples).

[wally_wabash]

Just having a little fun with my rampant DIII nerdery.  It's all good.   

[formerd3db]

Just having a little fun with my rampant DIII nerdery.  It's all good.   

Believe there are upwards of 250 or so DIII men's tennis teams.  There's no good reason for me to know that.

Wally, my/our friend, while I realize this is the football forum site, I am disappointed you would make that comment.  You are usually upright and sincere, so I hope you were joking.

I think he was alluding to the fact that, in any other arena with those less informed about D3 athletics, people would find that a somewhat trivial piece of information.

Given that a not-insignificant group of students (and even faculty) at CMU were/are unaware that we have a football team despite the presence of a football stadium, daily practices taking place for two hours, and home games on five fall Saturdays...I think it's fair to make a joke about any of us knowing Division III sports factoids offhand.

You make a fair point, doc, that in some sports, top-caliber Division III teams will facilities and athletes can rival those from Division I and II counterparts, and I think this is a bit more common in some nonrevenue sports (tennis, golf, track and field, swimming, and wrestling being a few examples).

My friends:

Wally, all-okay, I'm relieved! and that is good as you say.  I didn't think your initial post was your real opinion.  You just forgot to put the " " in there.  Then again, it was probably me just being too analytical/critical in expressing my opinion on that-I've been known to do that around here occasionally on various topics!

ExTartan, understood and I agree with you.  For sure, there are some people who find that type of information trivial, although I don't include you, Wally, myself or many others of our colleagues here in that regard. Most of us are passionate about DIII athletics entirely, although that is not to say there are not some "die-hards" on these boards who don't care for some of those other non-revenue sports.

And you are indeed right about those situations where faculty members at some schools have no interest in or, as you mention, don't even know anything about the football team or its existence (or even in some brazen instances are outright hostile towards the program), all of which is not only sad, however, but there is no excuse for, even though they are entitled to their own opinion.  While I may not have an interest in some of the non-athletic and/or academic programs, academic clubs, extra-curricular activities, etc., etc. (you name it, we all know there are a variety) that some colleges have as opportunities on their campuses for students, at the same time, I'm not so mean-spirited or misguided that I don't acknowledge their existence and/or at least know a little about them.  However,..."to each his own" as that saying goes.   

[SpartanMom_2016]

Do you know that Emory in Atlanta is in the UAA and that Atlanta is in the South?

If the guidance counsellors don't know about the UAA schools, they are doing a pitiful job.  While they may not be known in the parochial South, I have no doubt that they are in the metropolitan areas.  More students in China have probably heard of them than students in Hooterville have.

https://www.case.edu/president/cir/pdfiles/enrolltrendsugrdbystatecountry.pdf

And CWRU isn't as well known as NYU, Chicago, or WashingtonU.

Remember we are talking about football recruits, not the general student population.  Most guidance counselors do not assist with football recruiting and Emory does not have a football team.  The UAA football schools are not as well known among football coaches/players as the Ivies in this area (which is the 8th largest MSA in the US).

[ADL70]

I have no doubt you are correct about lack of knowledge of UAA football, but the post we have been responding to did not limit the commentary to football, even stating "even among honor students you'll get mostly blank stares."

[SpartanMom_2016]

I just went back and looked at your link and your link illustrates exactly what I have been discussing.  CWRU is a school that is not all that well known here in FL.  FL is a VERY LARGE state with several large metropolitan areas in it. 

CA has 220 student enrolled at CWRU. Since the population of FL is half the population of CA you would expect to see around 110 students from FL if the school were equally well known.  However, there are only 80 from FL which is over 25% lower than expected.  Texas has a population 34% larger than FL's yet has 41% more students at CWRU.

There are tons of good football players in these states and many students from down here really like CWRU when they get there.

When my son was looking at schools he had never heard of CWRU and I dragged him there.  He loved it once he got there.  It is the perfect size (not giant but large enough to offer any academic opportunity he could want).  He liked the people in the Midwest.  He liked the location close to downtown.  He wasn't crazy about the surrounding neighborhoods but overall he really did like the school.

A friend of mine (her son plays lacrosse) had the same experience with her daughter (who will be enrolling at CWRU in the fall).  She practically had to drag her on the plane to visit but once she was there for a day she loved it.  It is a huge contrast to the giant institutions here in FL and also a contrast to the tiny LAC that we visited.  I really do think that there are lots of prospective players who would play football for the UAA football schools if they were better known here in FL.

[jknezek]

I have no doubt you are correct about lack of knowledge of UAA football, but the post we have been responding to did not limit the commentary to football, even stating "even among honor students you'll get mostly blank stares."

Which I still stand by! I'll go so far as to say when I was in h.s. I knew nothing of CWRU or Wash U and little about U of Chicago. I did know CMU since my sister went there and Emory since I was accepted. But despite being national research universities they are largely regional schools in who knows about them. And yes, I know admissions show people from everywhere but W&L gets a kid a year or so from Alaska, it doesn't mean Alaskans know much about Washington and Lee.

Just as fun trivia, anyone else know why it's called Case Western Reserve? It's a great story...