Top Conferences and NCAA Bids

[Saint of Old]

The Future is the present my friend.
There is no stopping football (soccer) now. People now know the athletic ability it takes to excel at the sport.
Turn on your TV to NBC.
Good luck to Trinity (This weekend that is).

[PaulNewman]

Mr. Boerger, I agree.  Surprised the message boards haven't been rocking these past couple of weeks and seems especially slow this week.  Even the Loras consortium seems to be running out of steam.  The NESCAC group, save for the complaint about bids, also is rather dormant.  Come on folks.  This is exciting.  Sweet sixteen.  Let's go!

[jknezek]

There is no doubt soccer is growing as a professional sport in this country 40 years after it really started growing as a youth sport. We will see how far it gets. I think MLS will eventually overtake the NHL, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for overtaking MLB, NCAA basketball, NBA, NCAA football, or the NFL in any kind of national popularity.

All that being said, to be a major sport I don't think it needs to overtake those sports, and it is nice to see soccer highlights on ESPN, games (even if they are mostly European) on TV every weekend on both network and cable channels, and the undeniably growing popularity of the USMNT, with a sidebar to the successful popularity of the USWMNT (even if we can't make a women's pro league stick). Heck, when I was growing up we couldn't even watch the World Cup ('86 and '90), now the U.S. broadcast rights are some of the most expensive in the world.

We'll see how the continued growth of MLS works out and if the league can continue a climb to global respectability if not relevance. In order to do so, the TV contracts will need to continue to grow to allow for more player compensation, and in order for that to happen MLS needs to turn its strong local fanbases into a more national audience.

Either way, professional soccer is here to stay rather than just the brief cameo it had in the late 70s and early 80s. The question will be how big can it get?

[KICKIN95]

Mr. Boerger, I agree.  Surprised the message boards haven't been rocking these past couple of weeks and seems especially slow this week.  Even the Loras consortium seems to be running out of steam.  The NESCAC group, save for the complaint about bids, also is rather dormant.  Come on folks.  This is exciting.  Sweet sixteen.  Let's go!

The Loras contingent are trying to get our winter down fluffed up after the last few days of cold weather went from 50's and sun to 20's and snow with nasty wind)!  Now that we have had our obligatory 2 days of acclimation I am sure the post will be picking up again.  I would love to get video of the Trinity lads stepping off the plane in Dubuque, IA and getting their first breathe of 20 degree low humidity lung burnin' midwest fall air!  I am not sure how quickly they will be able to acclimate to the change in temp, I know it drops in TX from time to time, but 70's to 20's in a matter of 2 hours is quite a bit to ask.  The ball will be a bit harder the sting of a clipped heel or clashed shins exponentially worse and trying to stay warm can zap your fitness and we just received a fresh 3 inch coat of the fluffy white stuff (should be gone by tomorrow ;-).

[KICKIN95]

There is no doubt soccer is growing as a professional sport in this country 40 years after it really started growing as a youth sport. We will see how far it gets. I think MLS will eventually overtake the NHL, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for overtaking MLB, NCAA basketball, NBA, NCAA football, or the NFL in any kind of national popularity.

All that being said, to be a major sport I don't think it needs to overtake those sports, and it is nice to see soccer highlights on ESPN, games (even if they are mostly European) on TV every weekend on both network and cable channels, and the undeniably growing popularity of the USMNT, with a sidebar to the successful popularity of the USWMNT (even if we can't make a women's pro league stick). Heck, when I was growing up we couldn't even watch the World Cup ('86 and '90), now the U.S. broadcast rights are some of the most expensive in the world.

We'll see how the continued growth of MLS works out and if the league can continue a climb to global respectability if not relevance. In order to do so, the TV contracts will need to continue to grow to allow for more player compensation, and in order for that to happen MLS needs to turn its strong local fanbases into a more national audience.

Either way, professional soccer is here to stay rather than just the brief cameo it had in the late 70s and early 80s. The question will be how big can it get?

I think the US TV market took a huge leap this year showing the EPL on NBC's primetime weekend slots.

[ldahoSoccer]

Mr. Boerger, I agree.  Surprised the message boards haven't been rocking these past couple of weeks and seems especially slow this week.  Even the Loras consortium seems to be running out of steam.  The NESCAC group, save for the complaint about bids, also is rather dormant.  Come on folks.  This is exciting.  Sweet sixteen.  Let's go!

The Loras contingent are trying to get our winter down fluffed up after the last few days of cold weather went from 50's and sun to 20's and snow with nasty wind)!  Now that we have had our obligatory 2 days of acclimation I am sure the post will be picking up again.  I would love to get video of the Trinity lads stepping off the plane in Dubuque, IA and getting their first breathe of 20 degree low humidity lung burnin' midwest fall air!  I am not sure how quickly they will be able to acclimate to the change in temp, I know it drops in TX from time to time, but 70's to 20's in a matter of 2 hours is quite a bit to ask.  The ball will be a bit harder the sting of a clipped heel or clashed shins exponentially worse and trying to stay warm can zap your fitness and we just received a fresh 3 inch coat of the fluffy white stuff (should be gone by tomorrow ;-).

Trinity is probably flying to Chicago or Des Moines and then taking a bus to Dubuque.  But either way, the conversations will go something like this.

Trinity Player #1: "WOW it is cold up here."
Trinity Player #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQLNS3HWfCM

[Madhatter5]

Mr. Boerger, I agree.  Surprised the message boards haven't been rocking these past couple of weeks and seems especially slow this week.  Even the Loras consortium seems to be running out of steam.  The NESCAC group, save for the complaint about bids, also is rather dormant.  Come on folks.  This is exciting.  Sweet sixteen.  Let's go!

Calm before the storm.

[lastguyoffthebench]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A3quSLt-Pc

[KICKIN95]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTKpKBzd7jg

[Ron Boerger]

LOL I'm not "Mr Boerger" ... that would be my dad.  The only reason my name is here is I used to be one of the football regional columnists.

I think the Trinity guys played in the snow during their national championship but the guys on this year's team were just figuring there was more to the sport besides chasing the ball back then     It's not a WHOLE lot better down here right now, upper 30s/low 40s and very windy and somewhat wet.

Good luck to all the teams this weekend and thanks for the conversation all season.

[Christan Shirk]

Excellent sectional preview articles so far.  Very well done.  The quality of the writing on the site, from Shirk to the new guys, is superb.  I assume these are side hobbies for all, but any of them could be doing high-end sports coverage.  Too bad they don't have even more time to devote to things like profiles of some of the student-athletes who really are exceptional young adults.  Very appreciative of what is here, though.

+1 NCAC.

I have a feeling that if the traffic to the site warranted it that there would be more stories.    Soccer just doesn't get the hits that the other football, basketball, and baseball sites do.

Very thankful to have what we do have.  Living in TX there isn't any media interested in covering college soccer, let alone D3 soccer.

Thank you for the kind words and compliments. 

You are right, the website is pretty much a hobby for us.  One we take very seriously, but it can't always be priority no. 1, or even no. 2 or 3, . . . even during the soccer season.  The number of articles has nothing to do with how many visitors or hits we are getting, it just reflects how much "hobby time" and energy we have left over to write after we take care of the other aspects of the site (keeping schedules/results up-to-date; doing the Top 25 polling, tallying, and posting; preparing and maintaining the Conference Championship Central and NCAA Tournament Central, etc.).  Speaking personally, I am as frustrated as anyone that I no longer have the time to contribute more columns.  The additions of Jim Naprstek (who's work should not be unfamiliar to some of our visitors) and Ryan Harmanis late in the season has been wonderful and they are doing awesome work for the site, including on the two men's sectional previews that we have put out so far.  If we are able to hold onto them for next season (fingers crossed), the site stands a much better chance of having fresh, new content with greater frequency and of having more content that goes beyond the factual recaps and results summaries and more into the opinion/editorial realm.  And if you or someone you know would be a great addition to our now growing staff of (unpaid, volunteer, for-the-love-of-D-III-soccer) writers, please reach out to us in the off-season.   

To wrap up, we sincerely appreciate the visits and hits that let us know that a website like this one is needed and wanted for D-III soccer and worth the effort.  And we do enjoy hearing feedback, especially positive compliments (but also negative and/or constructive criticism).  So, thanks.

Now can I muster up the energy to do a sectional preview of my own?

[Ralph Turner]

LOL I'm not "Mr Boerger" ... that would be my dad.  The only reason my name is here is I used to be one of the football regional columnists.
I think the Trinity guys played in the snow during their national championship but the guys on this year's team were just figuring there was more to the sport besides chasing the ball back then     It's not a WHOLE lot better down here right now, upper 30s/low 40s and very windy and somewhat wet.

Good luck to all the teams this weekend and thanks for the conversation all season.

Yeah, we liked his old screen name alias much better!

[Wormburner]

What good is talk at this point?  It's time to see what happens on the pitch, the rest is just wasted pixels!!

[PaulNewman]

As noted on the NESCAC thread for Amherst today, weather is going to play a major role at most or all sites.  Windy and cold at Amherst.  Windy with heavy gusts and frigid wind chill at Messiah.  Bone-crushing cold at Loras.  Snow for the women at Middlebury?  And assume very cold/windy at William Smith.  With the exception of teams playing out of climate (i.e. Trinity), do less than ideal condition and especially the heavy winds favor the underdogs, the favorites, or are they neutral?

[cciwrabblerouser]

I  believe that the wind (and other conditions that can affect the game) is to the less-talented team's advantage.

Let's say, on a perfect day, the probability for the most talented team to win is 60 percent (three times out of five, the better team will win).  However, throw in bad weather conditions (in this case, the wind), we will assume that both teams will be penalized equally -- maybe a factor of 20 percent in controlling the ball and keeping possession.  So now, the sixty-forty percentage changes.  The 20 percent is split equally, and now the remaining 80 percent, split 60-40 becomes 48-32.   Add the wind factor -- 10 percent for both teams -- and the percentage becomes 58-42.  The more talented team's win probability drops from 60 to 58 percent.  Of course, adverse weather conditions can impact the game more than the 20 percent that I am using to illustrate this example.  In any case, however, the less-talented will benefit more from "equalizers" than the more-talented team will.

In more extreme weather, we'll say that the conditions have a 50 percent factor.  Thus, the percentages become 30-20, favoring the better team, plus splitting the weather factor (25-25), the new percentages become 55-45.  At that point, especially in the sport of soccer, the game is a toss-up.

Hdre's hoping that the better teams will not allow bad weather to end their seasons.