MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[hasanova]

How do they give individual game totals when you buy a ticket for a two-game set on Saturday (twice) and Sunday?  In total, they only sell tickets to four events.  I, for example, bought one ticket last year and watched both the VWC/EMU and BC/GC games.

Sports Information Directorss have the amazing ability to skim over a crowd and go "umm, 592."

Yep, funny also how 200 people can look like 462.  lol  Must be depth perception!

[hasanova]

Well, this has been an interesting discussion.  I can see the pros and the cons of all arguments.  I still say, however, have two Play-in games with #10 at #7 and #9 at #8.  Then hold the Quarterfinals at the home courts of the #1-4 Seeds.  Finally, have the Semis on Saturday and the Championship on Sunday.  One reason I have never been to a Championship game is because it's on Monday and it's too far to drive on a work night (the other, for all you wags who can't wait to point it out, is because GC has never made it past the Semis.   lol)  To recap, plan the regular season to finish on a Sunday or Monday, host the #7 through #10 Play-in games on Tuesday and play the Quarterfinals at Seeds 1-4 on Thursday.  Then move to Salem, have the banquet on Friday, the Semifinals on Saturday and the Final on Sunday.  Problem solved.  lol 

[3sdown]

Not to mention the ODAC tournament was well attended last year with 764 fans a game.

kid .... Where did you get the "764" attendance figure for the 2005 tournament?  I've just looked at the stats at http://odac.bridgewater.edu/winter/mbball/default.html and this is what I get for the 2005 tournament:

Quarterfinals:  1250 (RMC/LC), 2050 (Roanoke/HSC), 348 (VWC/EMU), 291 (Guilford/Bridgewater)

Semifinals:  1890 (RMC/HSC), 452 (VWC/Guilford)

Final between RMC & VWC:  960

Average for quarterfinals was 985
Average for semifinals was 1171
Attendance for final was 960

Average for all 7 games of the 2005 tournament was 1034, unless I'm totally goofing on this.

960 at a Championship GAME?  That is real good...At either VWC or RMC the gym would have been packed and it would have been an unbelievable environment for an ODAC Championship Game.  Instead the game had no real energy and it was blah.

[3sdown]

Not to mention the ODAC tournament was well attended last year with 764 fans a game.

kid .... Where did you get the "764" attendance figure for the 2005 tournament?  I've just looked at the stats at http://odac.bridgewater.edu/winter/mbball/default.html and this is what I get for the 2005 tournament:

Quarterfinals:  1250 (RMC/LC), 2050 (Roanoke/HSC), 348 (VWC/EMU), 291 (Guilford/Bridgewater)

Semifinals:  1890 (RMC/HSC), 452 (VWC/Guilford)

Final between RMC & VWC:  960

Average for quarterfinals was 985
Average for semifinals was 1171
Attendance for final was 960

Average for all 7 games of the 2005 tournament was 1034, unless I'm totally goofing on this.

How do they give individual game totals when you buy a ticket for a two-game set on Saturday (twice) and Sunday?  In total, they only sell tickets to four events.  I, for example, bought one ticket last year and watched both the VWC/EMU and BC/GC games.

B/c that is what the guys in powdered whigs with canes and seat cushions do!!!  You didn't know that...They count the people in attendance rather than cheer, make noise, and scream at Jerry Stone.

[3sdown]

kid .... Where did you get the "764" attendance figure for the 2005 tournament?  I've just looked at the stats at http://odac.bridgewater.edu/winter/mbball/default.html and this is what I get for the 2005 tournament:

Quarterfinals:  1250 (RMC/LC), 2050 (Roanoke/HSC), 348 (VWC/EMU), 291 (Guilford/Bridgewater)

Semifinals:  1890 (RMC/HSC), 452 (VWC/Guilford)

Final between RMC & VWC:  960

Average for quarterfinals was 985
Average for semifinals was 1171
Attendance for final was 960

Average for all 7 games of the 2005 tournament was 1034, unless I'm totally goofing on this.

The attendance wasn't on the box score for the R-MC/H-SC semifinal game.  So my 764 average was only six of the seven games.

Thanks for finding the 1,890 number, makes my argument look a little better.

Doesn't make your argument look better...Just shows that when RMC and HSC play then lots of people from both schools show up.  And the 960 at the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME really makes your argument legitmate...Just so we can say we have an "EVENT"?

[tigerfanalso]

Guys

What is the best sporting event every year?... I don't know, but lots of people swear the ACC Tourney is... I wonder why it is always played at a neutral site and not at the higher seeds home court... I don't have the answer to the question but the ACC has been doing it this way forever so if it works for them just maybe the ODAC is on to something !!!! From all the info posted regarding attentance at various ODAC games it seems that RMC, HSC, VWC and Roanoke draw the biggest crowds, typically when they play each other and that probably is not going to change regardless of where the games are played. If W&L played Guilford in the finals the game is not going to draw, if VWC plays RMC or HSC or if HSC plays RMC, people are going to show up as those schools seemingly have the largest fan base and I'm just basing that on the numbers provided by previous posters !!! An old man told me years ago "if it ain't broken don't fix it" and maybe, just maybe that's the case with the ODAC tourney.

[jdubyadubya]

Tigerfanalso - Thank Goodness. Some sanity amongst all the craziness going on this afternoon.

[Jacketlawyer]

Tigerfanalso - Thank Goodness. Some sanity amongst all the craziness going on this afternoon.

And beer with the posters, guys, on Saturday.  Let's not forget beer. 8)

[hasanova]

Tigerfanalso - Thank Goodness. Some sanity amongst all the craziness going on this afternoon.

Well, some of us don't think the discussion is "craziness."  Your opinion certainly has validity, but that doesn't mean an alternate viewpoint is invalid.   In my normally sane opinion there are some very compelling reasons to consider a modified format. 

[3sdown]

I agree with Hasanova...somewhat like your proposal, but I would like to go a little further that all games be played at the higher seed in order to get the most people (especially students) at the game and to have a great college environment.  I would rather have a few 100 people not be able to get into the gym than have the Championship Game on Monday night draw 960 people (unless that game happened to be between RMC and HSC).  Additionally, the Monday night games sucks as well for fan attendance...

And let's not even try to compare the ACC Tournament with the ODAC Tournament.  Talking about comparing apples and oranges...****, not even apples and oranges...they are close....Lets say avocados and coconuts.  I mean give me a break on that analogy.  And on top of that the ACC Tournament is a corporate event,  but at least it as well-attended.  Can't say that about the event in Salem?  Nope...960 individuals at a CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!  And that was a #1/#2 seed match-up!!! 

Makes me want to beat my head into the wall...

[Pat Coleman]

Jim, a 10/11 game would not be another play-in. The 10 seed would play the 7 and the 11 seed would play the 6, just like in any 16-team tournament bracket. (You might see some of those on an annual basis, say, in March.)

[seminoletiger]

I like Hasanova's proposal, especially the part about Monday night...it really s*cks for travelling fans who have to make a living doing something else, plus the 4-day weekend (including banquet) is just too, long.  Give the fans that rooted for their teams one more night of home cookin' in the quarters before moving to a Final Four weekend (Sat./Sun) in Salem or some other neutral site.

And like mentioned earlier, why can't all 10 teams participate in the Tourney?

[hasanova]

Well, to me, comparing the ACC and the ODAC is just not going to work.  When you consider the ACC's number of living alumni, corporate sponsorships, media exposure, huge TV contracts, radio networks, level of athletic play, wide geographic appeal, apparel sales, non-alumni support (for example, many Marylanders will root for the Terps just because they bear the state's banner), the gap is enormous.  How many people with absolutely no affiliation to the twelve ACC schools would attend their Tournament?  Thousands, millions?  Pick me, pick me!  On the other hand, how many people without an ODAC connection will drive to Salem to watch ODAC DIII basketball.  Hundreds?  Maybe.  To compare these two conferences and their marketing appeal is, it seems to me, a big stretch.  Admittedly, there is some nostalgic, collegial appeal to having all eight qualifying teams come to Salem and I do enjoy meeting folks from other schools, but I honestly find the ODAC tournament to be a sterile, almost boring, event to attend.  If you take someone with you without an ODAC affiliation (unless they are just a true basketball fan), you practically have to wake them up when it's over.  The whole night, it's "is this all the people that will be here?" or "that guard is not as tall as me!" or "where is the pep band?"  They could care less.  Trust me, I know this from personal experience.  Put the tournament in the home gyms for the first couple of games and at least it will have some enthusiasm.  Just one man's thoughts and experience and I realize there is room for many more.    

[tigerfanalso]

hasanova
obviously the scale of the ACC Tourney is much larger... that kind of goes without having to be said...but when the ACC first started, it wasn't that big of a deal and yes, I'm older enough to know that ..... Maybe it was held at a neutral site to celebrate the current b'ball season and to allow the ACC fans an opportunity to watch, enjoy the best b'ball the ACC had to offer... to allow fans an opportunity to watch teams play they hadn't seen during the season and to meet and socialize with the fan support from those schools. I think that is the main benefit to staging any like event at a neutral site.. the second benefit is to prevent the best programs from having a home court advantage which largely eliminate the possibility of an upset.... I agree the Monday game needs to go away but I do know why it is played on Monday; by playing on Monday only the players from those two teams are forced to miss class; if the first round was held on Friday, players from all eight teams would be forced to miss class. I got that info from Coach Nunnally years ago because he was also against the Monday Championship game for the reasons already stated; ODAC is D3 and the conference is going to run the athletics in away that prevents kids from missing class or to minimize the amount of classes missed. increased attendance is not going to happen until the ODAC member schools take a more active role in selling the event to those it needs to be sold to, marketing is something the ODAC and the ODAC members know little about when it comes to athletics and I think alot of the blame goes to the various SID's and AD's on campuses all around the ODAC.

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

3sdown,

Yikes, you think the ODAC has it bad.  Try our friends over in USA South.

Last year's tournament was played in in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Their championship game (both teams from N.C.) drew 375 people.