MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[justafan02]

VWC won 75-49

[hasanova]

Not much of a game tonight in Norfolk.  I don't know the stats yet but HSC was horrific offensively.  The Marlins defense was a factor but HSC continually missed open shot after open shot and we arent' talking 3's...layups etc.

VWC  played well but they weren't great.  However, they are just that much better than HSC right now w/ the injuries.

I tip my cap to the young man who is out, who came to the game on crutches.  I am assuming one of HSC injured players.  This kid was into every second of the game trying to motivate his teammates.

I assume you're talking about Troy Kaase.  Yes, the Tigers miss him very much on the court, but I'm glad (and not surprised!) he was there to cheer on and mentor his teammates.

[baselinejam]

W&L86 -EMU 62

W&L is 5-4 having only played 2 home games.

There's some excitement in Lexington!

[hasanova]

W&L86 -EMU 62

W&L is 5-4 having only played 2 home games.

There's some excitement in Lexington!

Congratulations to the Generals.  Seems like the Royals are having a tough time right now.  Here's hoping they can win one before too long.

[GP87]

I have not seen a capacity crownd since the first year the Batten Center opened (the fish were undefeated at home that year) other than the tournament games.

I'm not sure if you were at the HSC game but it was very close to capacity.  There were barely any seats left and I heard mulitple comments from students along the lines of "Everyone on campus is here".  For a school with such a small student body, especially living on campus, I don't think the fans are too bad at home.  They don't travel often for regular season games.. but I don't see many fans from other schools at the tank when they play the Marlins either.  Soccer games are well attended, as are lacrosse.  That's a pretty harsh assessment of VWC pride in athletics; as a student I'm not sure it's completely accurate.  But hey, I'm just a student.. figure I'll go listen to my IPod.

Take it easy guys; I thoroughly enjoy browsing the board.


Go Marlins

[jdubyadubya]

Justafan02 and GP87 - Wow! Sounds like the Fish turned up the heat defensively on the Tigers. The Tigers turned it over 17 times vs. 2 for the Marlins. The Tigers shot 32.2% from the field vs. 55.4% for the Marlins. Fantin and Adair had 15 each. Adair had 23 assists! I wish them well on their upcoming roadtrip. Go Fish!!

[jdubyadubya]

I have been corrected by STH>...Adair had 3 assists, a team total of 23; the Marlins turned it over 7x. Adair also had a block and 2 steals. A so-so performance!

[justafan02]

[/quote]

That's a pretty harsh assessment of VWC pride in athletics; as a student I'm not sure it's completely accurate.  But hey, I'm just a student.. figure I'll go listen to my IPod.

Take it easy guys; I thoroughly enjoy browsing the board.


Go Marlins
[/quote]

I dont' think I really ever said there was no "pride", just simply fair weather fans.  I have missed one home game through my 8 years of VWC basketball (4 as student).  Last night was a very good crowd, however, you had two recreation league basketball teams, who played at half time, and their parents.  On top of that you had a couple hundred HSC fans and big section of middle school students.  Take those guys out of there and you have your typical crowd. 

I wouldn't say it was a "capacity" crowd last night as there were still empty seats throughout.  I still expect more from a student body of a National Champion.

[jdubyadubya]

Justafan02 - What's the mix of students and the community? I have always thought that there would be a certain segment of the community that would turn out to watch the national champions play.

[DeWayneCarter]

I live in Virginia Beach, close to Salem High, and me and my boys always go to VWC home games, even though I graduated from Northeastern...... I'm a college basketball junkie... I go to ODU, Norfolk State, sometimes Hampton games. I've even been to a few CNU and William and Mary games also.... but I've been going to VWC games for the past two years.


I know everyone at the game liked Norman Hassels bang at the very end of the game....... nice exclamation point

[justafan02]

Mr. Warren,

I am not sure I understand your question but I will try and answer it anyway.

The Virginia Beach/Norfolk area, for some odd reason (and in my opinion), aren't great VWC supporters.  I don't know if it is the Division III mentality/ignorance or the fact that Wesleyan is such a small school and campus that many just choose to ignore it.

Being in a large metropolitan area, VWC athletics are not 'news worthy' either.  The local news gives them a blip here and there and the sports section buries Wesleyan Athletics in the back of the sports section or gives a three inch report.  Old Dominion on the other hand, gets a decent amount of publicity and I guess it is the Division I jersey they wear.

The local news did not jump on the VWC bandwagon until late last year.  I just blame it on a small school in a big area.  I have family in Danville, VA and when I go to visit the high school sports and Averett cover the sports section.  Here, there isn't much more of a mention unless your get a finals apprance in any sport.

An example is the women's soccer team went to the final four this year and I gurantee 95% of Virginia Beach/Norfolk had no idea.  VWC Athletics has had to highest winning percentage of any other VA school....but locals have no clue.  It's just one of those things.

[justafan02]

I know everyone at the game liked Norman Hassels bang at the very end of the game....... nice exclamation point

DeWayne,

Talk about a kid who has come out of nowhere the last week or so.  WOW!  Confidence does wonders doesn't it?  I hope these last few games for Norman are pictures of what is to come for him the next two years.  He could be special.

[GP87]

It had to have been near capacity but if not, as you said, most of the residential students were there.  Most students living on campus mark the Mens games ahead of time and plan to be there; community support, especially like there was last night with young teams coming in, is even better.  There are around 700 residential students.  You saw the majority of them last night. 

As for media coverage and community support, it's sad.  Even for tournament games last year, the number of outside fans was limited.  The same can be said for huge ODAC tournament games in other sports, big conference games, etc.  I think Justafan explained the reasons fairly well.  There's too much news and too many other schools around the area to provide adequate coverage of Wesleyan sports.

Hassel is gifted.  Macedo, the coach that he is, has fit him in perfectly.  He will hopefully provide what Tyler Fantin has (and perhaps more) in the next couple years.  Athletic big men with decent range aren't easy to come by at this level, or any really.  The Fish have 2. 

There was a lot of talk about Stephen Fields for FOY earlier on the board.  He seems to be struggling a little though.  Any insight?

[Jacketlawyer]

As for media coverage and community support, it's sad.  Even for tournament games last year, the number of outside fans was limited.  The same can be said for huge ODAC tournament games in other sports, big conference games, etc.  I think Justafan explained the reasons fairly well.  There's too much news and too many other schools around the area to provide adequate coverage of Wesleyan sports.

When you've got an NCAA champion in your area, that alone should be enough to warrant more coverage, or one would think.  Sadly, though, I think the above statement is applicable to any ODAC school (not knowing enough about how other DIII conferences are treated by their local and regional media).  R-M used to get fairly decent press when they were DII, but now we exist in the shadow of UR/VCU, and to an extent, VUU.  Most of the ODAC is in the shadow of UVA and VT.  Guilford is another matter.

Though sometimes the RT-D (Richmond Times-Dispatch), will break out a really good article on the DIII schools in Virginia.

[jdubyadubya]

Norman is going to be OK. He's starting to get a feel for the court. He's a good player. By the way, that number he wears is a magic number