WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[jekelish]

Through two men/women doubleheaders at AC, pretty much half the crowd has disappeared after the men's game.

[pbrooks3]

I believe it was a bit different from Friday to Sunday. Friday at Sewanee perhaps 75-85% of the crowd stayed for at least the first 20 minutes of the girl's game. Percentages weren't as high at OU Sunday afternoon. Of course, boys' families from the traveling team were focused more on getting on the road so numbers were lower for the Girls game.  Those who chose to stay Friday night for the 2nd half of the womens action saw an exciting finish at Sewanee. No doubt that was the case at Oglethorpe Friday night too.

[Ralph Turner]

Let's look at this from a different point of view.

Watching two games takes about 5 hours out of your day from start to finish.

(We golfers get really frustrated at about 4 hrs 10 minutes for 18-holes.)

If the women start first, then you can arrive at halftime, catch the second half of their game.  Catch the first half of the men's game and then stay as late as you need.  In any case, are fans likely to spend more than 3 hours at the game?

A big politically incorrect NO!

But that is the reality of it!

How do you schedule the game to offer the biggest entertainment value for the time that fans are willing to spend on this form of leisure activity?

(And I am a huge women's fan!     )

[jekelish]

At AC, it's been the student crowd that has significantly thinned out for the second game.  However, there are potential reasons:

First game was on a Friday night.  College kids are unlikely to stick around from 6 to 10 on a Friday night.  They just aren't going to do it when there are parties to go to.

Second game, this Sunday, happened to coincide with the Cowboys game.  I have to think that had something to do with the crowd thinning out so much.

[pbrooks3]

Ralph's comments are certainly true about the time on the golf course - one of my big complaints about the game as a whole. Other major sporting events I would tend to agree that 3 hours is about it.  D3 in the SCAC has a variety of factors affecting attendance. Hometown support for a D3 team may fall in line with  Ralph's thesis. However, who are the real fans of the SCAC?  Probably parents, extended family, the student body, alumni and various administrators and faculty of the school(s). Some of these folks may frequently make it a doubleheader. It's generally possible to wrap 2 SCAC games into the time it takes for a pro sporting event like baseball, hockey or football. I have certainly witnessed D3 sporting on a larger scale attendance-wise (i.e. Wooster) than the SCAC. Sewanee can hardly be compared to a Wooster.

[frank_ezelle]

Ralph, you and I and apparently the vast majority of the coaches have the save viewpoint:

That's the reality of it.

In my case I'm going to be at both games from start to finish on the days when both teams play.  It makes for a very long day when I'm taking photographs and I suspect it makes for a longer day when a person is just there as a fan.  I'll find out this afternoon because I'm not taking my camera to the games. 

According to the Millsaps website, today's basketball games will be webcast.  That would be the women vs. Piedmont at 1 Central time and the men playing against LaGrange at 3.  You have to know where to look to find that information on the Millsaps website and finding the link to the webcast can be even harder.  Here's the link:

http://www.atwsportscast.com/Colleges/Millsaps%20College.htm

[Ralph Turner]

Frank, as a player, I would rather see fans trickle into the gym as the game progresses than to see the crowds dwindle as the game goes on!

Put the women first and then follow with the men.

Let the women experience the growing numbers rather than the dwindling crowd!

[frank_ezelle]

Well today the women did play first and there was a pretty good crowd from start to finish considering that most of the students have gone home for the Christmas break.  In a game that was close throughout, Millsaps pulled out an 81-74 win over Piedmont in the closing couple of minutes.  The win in the third in a row for Millsaps and it evens their record at 4-4.

One can look at the Millsaps team so far and see the glass as half empty or half full.  I choose to see the half full.  I believe the talent is there but there have been bumps in the road from trying to mesh the experienced with the unexperienced on the roster.  The 2006-07 Millsaps men were 4-5 prior to Christmas and went 14-4 over the rest of the season.  That would be a hard feat to duplicate but I could see the possibility.  Then again, if there are injuries and things don't mesh, it might be hard to stay at .500 the rest of the way. 

Here's the box score from today's game where Piedmont shot much better than Millsaps but Millsaps won the battle of the boards and limiting turnovers:

http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/basketball-w/mcw08-07.htm

[pbrooks3]

It's always been my intention when attending SCAC games that I see both the mens and womens games regardless of game order.  I, too, think the women will benefit more overall on attendance when their games are played first. 
 

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps wrapped up the 2008 part of their schedule this evening with a 73-67 victory at Rust College this evening.  It was a different story from the easy 86-38 victory posted by Millsaps in Jackson on November 30th.  Millsaps trailed at the half by 5, took a quick lead early in the second half and the game went back and forth the rest of the way.

According to the webcast, freshman Janice Okeke led the Lady Majors with 23 points and I think that 17 or 19 of those came in the second half.  Senior LaReina Adams was right behind with 22 and freshman Olivia Coats was also in double figures with 12.

[frank_ezelle]

Regarding the Millsaps at Rust game last night:

Link to story:  http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/basketball-w/121508release.shtml

Box score:  http://www.millsaps.edu/athletic/basketball-w/mcw08-08.htm

Freshman Janice Okeke followed up a 4 point, 2 rebound first half with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the second half.  I compared her in an earlier post to Edrick Montgomery but she really reminds me more of an earlier Millsaps men's star, Thomas Adams who played center in the late 90's and early 2000's.  I remember Thomas' freshman year when he would look great at times but he also had stretches where he struggled.  The consistency started coming in the middle of the season and I think that will happen with Janice. 

Consistency is what the entire Millsaps team needs to find.  I continue to believe that the talent is there for a very successful season.  The first 8 games resulted in a 5-3 record and most importantly, a 1-0 record in the SCAC.  The competition will be stiffer once league play starts so they'll have to play better if they want to have a winning record for the 11 games in January.  After that it is 6 games and the SCAC Tournament in February.  Barring any serious injuries, they could be a tough team to beat during that last stretch.  I'm still looking at the glass as being half full at this point in the season.

[pbrooks3]

Centre Women go to 5-4 with a 64-48 win over Mt. St. Joseph tonight.  Lauren Huter led the Lady Colonels with 19 pts and 9 rebounds.

[scaccommish]

We just opened the door on another new area of the SCAC website - SCAC Interactive.

We will use this area to blog from championship events as well as post pictures and video. Also, we plan on a weekly (or bi-weekly podcast), featuring interviews with student-athletes and coaches.

To check out the inaugural podcast, click this link:

http://www.scacsports.com/inside_athletics/interactive

[petrel23]

  8)

[FlightofthePetrel]

Petrel23,

Good to see you actually posting now but words do a little better than a row of smiley faces.  +1 for you for supporting the Lady Petrels though... hope to see you at a game soon.