University Athletic Association

[Pat Coleman]

I doubt these voters have any interaction. Our voters don't even know who each other are, frankly. And it's obvious from the results of this poll that the voters are all voting separately, and even on separate days!

BTW, at least one person on this panel is also on ours.

...and when a coach makes it public to fans before the poll is even released, what does that say??

Where do you see that?

[Ralph Turner]

BTW, at least one person on this panel is also on ours.

We know that they are getting their choices in research to inform their voting. 

[sean-o]

I found it odd in this poll that Scranton has two No. 1 votes but also two losses. When did this vote take place exactly??

I thought that was odd too. Then I realized that those votes were obviously submitted before the Scranton result was in. The deadline is Tuesday at noon, but coaches can submit them earlier. Once they're in, they can't be changed, which is a huge problem. I can understand some coaches having travel plans that make it hard to do it Tuesday morning or anything like that, so they're should be some flexibility from the pollsters.

Also, I can guarantee you that nobody on the Chicago team, including the coaches, cares about these polls. In fact, they don't really care to be #1, as it just brings more attention. You don't even know how coaches voted... Chicago very well may have been ranked higher by other voters than by its very own coach. I wouldn't be surprised.

So I wouldn't worry too much about fans getting all excited about it nor the potential conflicts of interest voters have. These are for discussion purposes only and to get people excited about their own teams.

[Hoop Dreams]

I am not getting too worked up over the Top 25 polls.  It is fun to see your team at the top of the rankings, and it does give us something to talk about.  However, the bottom line is that both polls are a collection of OPINIONS that are not all that relevant at this point in the season, with so much basketball left to play.

I am just rooting for Chicago to claim a UAA title in what is an outstanding year for women's hoops in this conference.

[Pat Coleman]

I found it odd in this poll that Scranton has two No. 1 votes but also two losses. When did this vote take place exactly??

I thought that was odd too. Then I realized that those votes were obviously submitted before the Scranton result was in. The deadline is Tuesday at noon, but coaches can submit them earlier. Once they're in, they can't be changed, which is a huge problem. I can understand some coaches having travel plans that make it hard to do it Tuesday morning or anything like that, so they're should be some flexibility from the pollsters.

That really invalidates the poll, wouldn't you think? What's the point of having this poll, then?

If you can't vote until Tuesday you still need to vote through Sunday's games, like everyone else did.

[sean-o]

Hold on. A little confused, Pat.

Scranton lost Monday night, right? So in order to correctly drop Scranton down, we would be talking about voting through Monday's games, not Sunday's.

What's the d3hoops.com policy about turning votes in early as well as changing them?

[Pat Coleman]

D3hoops.com poll is through the date which is listed on the poll, unequivocally, always. Except for a week around the holidays each year, that is always through Sunday's games.

We don't change votes and we really don't seem to have a problem with people voting on the right date. Usually when the poll is delayed it is because I am at my regular job and not because a ballot is waiting all night into Tuesday.

My point is that some WBCA voters took Monday into account and some obviously did not. Yet, the WBCA took those Sunday game ballots and put Monday's record on them, making two of their voters look foolish, as if they ranked Scranton No. 1 despite their second loss.

[Hoop Dreams]

Even amidst all the Super Bowl coverage, the Chicago Sun-Times managed to find room for a write-up on the Maroons in today's sports section:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/228093,CST-SPT-small25.article

[deiscanton]

UAA Internet coverage

Weekend of Jan. 26-28, 2007

Friday, Jan. 26, 2007

1.)  Case at Rochester-- Tip time 6 PM Eastern

Audiocast:  http://www.wysl1040.com
Videocast:  http://www.rochester.edu/athletics/webcast

2.)  Emory at Carnegie Mellon-- Tip time 6 PM Eastern

Audiocast:  http://www.wrct.org

Live stats also available-- Link is provided at http://www.cmu.edu/athletic

3.)  Brandeis at Wash U-- Tip time 6 PM Central/7 PM Eastern

Audiocast:  http://www.kwur.com

4.)  NYU at Chicago-- Tip time 6 PM Central/7 PM Eastern

Audiocast is on Teamline service-- http://www.teamline.cc
Team code is 3979

Audiocast is free on the Internet.

Live stats also available-- Link is provided at http://athletics.uchicago.edu

Sunday, January 28, 2007

1.)  Case at Carnegie Mellon-- Tip at 2 PM Eastern
2.)  Emory at Rochester-- Tip time 2 PM Eastern
3.)  Brandeis at Chicago-- Tip time 2 PM Central/3 PM Eastern
4.)  NYU at Wash U-- Tip time 2 PM Central/3 PM Eastern

Instructions for following Sunday's games are provided under Friday's coverage-- Just follow instructions for the home site of the game you are interested in following.

[deiscanton]

In preparation for this weekend, the Chicago Maroon interviewed me on Monday for a feature that just came out in today's edition.

You can read it at http://maroon.uchicago.edu

Putting some of the Chicago embellishments aside, I like the article.  I did get asked some questions about my personal life which I consented to answer for the record-- I figured that if the Chicago fans wanted to get to know me personally, I had to tell some of my life story.  (I figured that some of the life story could clarify why I could not financially afford this weekend's trip, at the very least.)

I just wanted to add a few things that I did not get asked in the interview--

1.)  In the final regular season game that Brandeis basketball played at the old Shapiro gym before ground was broken for the Auerbach Arena, (this was my junior year at Brandeis-- 1989-90 season) I received a plaque from then Brandeis men's basketball coach Kevin O'Brien and the rest of the team acknowledging me as "Brandeis's #1 fan".  I have kept this plaque in my apartment and treasure it to this day.

2.)  I did check air fares for this upcoming weekend back in October and found out the cheapest air fares from Boston for the Chicago/St. Louis trip were at least $100 more than what I paid last year.  I got a great deal with a $236 air fare last year for the trip that I probably will not expect again.  Since both Chicago and Wash U are coming to Brandeis next week, I did not feel that it made any sense for me to travel this weekend to personally see these teams.  I also feel that it is more comfortable for me as a fan to travel to these cities in years where Brandeis doesn't play Chicago and Wash U on 2 consecutive weekends.  I did consider the Amtrak train option (which I used for my 2004 trip to the Midwest-- I left a day before the team to do this), but I did not feel that it was prudent to travel this year at the mercy of the freight rail train operators-- going by train means a guaranteed 2 to 6 hour delay in arriving at the destination.

[martin]

The ldirect link to the article on Allen is:
http://maroon.uchicago.edu/online_edition/sports/2007/01/26/no-deis-judges-super-fan-allen-staying-home/

There is also a story about a UofC fan - who really likes to go after Wheaton (IL).  Out of respect for Diehardfan, I won't post anything on the CCIW board about it.

The Chicago people know which poll really counts - from the UofC sports blog:
Women's basketball #1 in ESPN/USA Today Poll!
Just came out this morning. As much as it hurts, we're still going to be forcing ourselves to stay consistent and use the more scientific d3hoops.com poll, but it's certainly exciting to think that, somewhere, somebody has the Maroons at #1.

That link is:
http://maroon.uchicago.edu/sportsreport/

It should be an exciting weekend.

[martin]

If you are coming to Chicago this weekend for exciting D3 hoops action, if you can stick around through Monday, there is a Memorial Service for one of my heroes, Milton Friedman. Information is at:
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/070122.friedman.shtml

[atn alum]

Allen and Chicago folks

Enjoyed the article, and thanks for the nice comments about your trust in our poll...

I saw Allen in action for first time last yr when I broadcast Brandeis-Carnegie Mellon...I thought they left out something cool...Allen, I don't know if this is something you do every game (or on the road), but my favorite part of your cheering was right before the women's team came onto the floor for warmups, I believe you did a full sprint across the gym screaming out

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN....YOUR BRANDEIS JUDGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It made me laugh, but it also made me think that D3 needs more fans with the guts to do something like that.

[deiscanton]

Atnwriter--

You are paraphrasing a bit of what I did last year at the Brandeis home games, but I essentially did something similar to what you wrote.  I did not reveal that part in the phone interview on Monday, however-- so it did not make the article.

I may bring my pre-game warm-up introduction from last year back at next week's Brandeis games-- depending on what happens this weekend, I may have to pull out all the stops next weekend at Auerbach Arena.     

[newtonnancy]

Allen, you are an international man of distinction......a force within the universe.....known far and wide.....I think after such a wonderful article in the UC Maroon newspaper, a fierce competitor of "DEIS", I think Brandeis University should find the funds to be your sponsor, you do as much as anyone to promote Brandeis University...

Unfortunately, whether or not you made this trip, your female Judges will be licking wounds from an 0-2 trip to the heartland, not to worry, you will see hem go 0-2 at home next weekend .......

Anyway, I tought it was a nice write up and quite a complement from UC.......