2023 NCAA Tournament

[EnmoreCat]

yet Amherst is the last one standing and will win it all.

Gotta say, I am comfortable with this, but hopefully my presence in Virginia won't be an unnecessary weight on the team.

[PaulNewman]

Southside, I understand the reluctance to be more specific, but it makes it hard to assess if behavior is egregious without details.  You said players and coaches.  Don't know if you also meant fans, but either way it's hard to know if whatever sparked you was truly out of the norm or a reflection of what we often see between big rivals where there is some history/bad blood.  I've only seen matches with JCU by video but from what I've observed and heard about Kenyon vs JCU are chippy matches and I would have guessed with JCU being the chippier of the two.  I think of JCU as being very physical (not dirty) with a vibe of "you're about to go through 90 minutes of hell playing us."  That's a compliment.
Makes sense to me that among players and fans there could be some occasional ugliness, especially from the perspective of whoever is on the losing end in a given year.  They clearly don't like each other.  You don't like Kenyon, and I don't like JCU.  That all seems pretty normal to me within reason.  We are talking about the top two programs in Region VII since 2015ish.

As for Tufts, I've been to several of their games in person, against, like, Amherst, and I'd be shocked if what you and the other guy experienced exceeds what I've seen at Tufts or have observed when playing OWU or Denison or CMU.  If we're gonna slam a team and leave a deeply negative impression on a public board, especially based to a significant degree on a singular hearsay report, seems like we should know exactly what we're talking about.

As for Brown, I'm no insider, but I haven't gotten any sense that he was pushed out at all.  Imo he gave everything he had to win a national title and he just couldn't quite get there.  I think he was exhausted.  Was he often on the dislike side of a dislike/like meter?  I would guess he was.  He no doubt is not for everybody, but he did his job in the sense of being singularly focused on getting to Final Fours and a title for the school.  He also put Kenyon on the national map and at the forefront of Region VII, and kept them there where before the gap between OWU and programs like Kenyon, JCU, CWRU, etc was large.  Where teams like Kenyon and JCU are now relative to OWU would have been nearly unimaginable 12-15 years ago.

[southsidejet]

Southside, I understand the reluctance to be more specific, but it makes it hard to assess if behavior is egregious without details.  You said players and coaches.  Don't know if you also meant fans, but either way it's hard to know if whatever sparked you was truly out of the norm or a reflection of what we often see between big rivals where there is some history/bad blood.  I've only seen matches with JCU by video but from what I've observed and heard about Kenyon vs JCU are chippy matches and I would have guessed with JCU being the chippier of the two.  I think of JCU as being very physical (not dirty) with a vibe of "you're about to go through 90 minutes of hell playing us."  That's a compliment.
Makes sense to me that among players and fans there could be some occasional ugliness, especially from the perspective of whoever is on the losing end in a given year.  They clearly don't like each other.  You don't like Kenyon, and I don't like JCU.  That all seems pretty normal to me within reason.  We are talking about the top two programs in Region VII since 2015ish.

As for Tufts, I've been to several of their games in person, against, like, Amherst, and I'd be shocked if what you and the other guy experienced exceeds what I've seen at Tufts or have observed when playing OWU or Denison or CMU.  If we're gonna slam a team and leave a deeply negative impression on a public board, especially based to a significant degree on a singular hearsay report, seems like we should know exactly what we're talking about.

As for Brown, I'm no insider, but I haven't gotten any sense that he was pushed out at all.  Imo he gave everything he had to win a national title and he just couldn't quite get there.  I think he was exhausted.  Was he often on the dislike side of a dislike/like meter?  I would guess he was.  He no doubt is not for everybody, but he did his job in the sense of being singularly focused on getting to Final Fours and a title for the school.  He also put Kenyon on the national map and at the forefront of Region VII, and kept them there where before the gap between OWU and programs like Kenyon, JCU, CWRU, etc was large.  Where teams like Kenyon and JCU are now relative to OWU would have been nearly unimaginable 12-15 years ago.

Paul, the antics were on the sidelines after the game had ended. Taunts in the handshake line, childish chants afterwards. One of your coaches was also involved shoving a JCU player. Similar incidents at other games were reported by the other parent I had mentioned. Nothing involving parents or fans. If you feel this is 'normal' and 'just part of a rivalry' then you and I have different opinions of what sportsmanship entails. There was none of this after JCU won back in September, they kept everything on the field and were gracious winners afterwards... the way it's supposed to be handled.

You can believe what you'd like, but I know what I saw / heard (in-person, not over video) and would put it right up there with some of the things Amherst tends to be accused of on the board. And, again, my two cents. We all have different levels of what we find acceptable.

[southsidejet]

Sorry for hijacking the Final Four threads, please carry on. Good luck to all 3 teams this weekend!

[PaulNewman]

Southside, I don't want to believe what I like. What I'd like is data...and you're still being quite vague. If you're putting Kenyon behavior on the level of Amherst I'd like to know more about that.  And if it's true or even close to true I want it stopped. I've seen pretty vigorous jawing from JCU and a few scuffles, perhaps including at end of Mary Wash game. Would never occur to me to talk about Amherst and JCU in the same sentence.

Also, if as bad as you suggest, I wonder why we're only hearing about it now and why you've let this fester for well over a year. We also have not seen a flurry of similar critiques over the years. Strange.

[southsidejet]

Southside, I don't want to believe what I like. What I'd like is data...and you're still being quite vague. If you're putting Kenyon behavior on the level of Amherst I'd like to know more about that.  And if it's true or even close to true I want it stopped. I've seen pretty vigorous jawing from JCU and a few scuffles, perhaps including at end of Mary Wash game. Would never occur to me to talk about Amherst and JCU in the same sentence.

Also, if as bad as you suggest, I wonder why we're only hearing about it now and why you've let this fester for well over a year. We also have not seen a flurry of similar critiques over the years. Strange.

Data? Lol. I told you what transpired. Now I have to explain why I didn't post about something over a year ago? If you continue to deflect hard enough your Owls might actually come out clean on the other end! That coach is gone, and many of those players are gone. Nothing to be done at this point and that wasn't the intention of my original post (sportsmanship being an important component of a 'great' team). Enjoy your offseason, we've beat this one to death already.

[Hopkins Walk-On]

I'm old enough to have played on some truly terrible turf fields. Homewood's main requirement was that a lacrosse ball would roll smoothly, so for most of my time there the turf was basically like the plastic stuff folks would roll over their backyard patio. My junior consisted of 3-a-day training sessions and my hips and outside thighs were so chewed up I'd stick to the sheets at night.

The field was literally green plastic velcro with cement underneath. Everyone played in flats, unless it rained, in which case you wore turf shoes (Beckenbauers). The upside was that we had the only turf field in the conference. We almost never lost at home. The other teams would wear regular cleats on the field and would typically have significant problems with their footing.

[Hopkins92]

I'm old enough to have played on some truly terrible turf fields. Homewood's main requirement was that a lacrosse ball would roll smoothly, so for most of my time there the turf was basically like the plastic stuff folks would roll over their backyard patio. My junior consisted of 3-a-day training sessions and my hips and outside thighs were so chewed up I'd stick to the sheets at night.

The field was literally green plastic velcro with cement underneath. Everyone played in flats, unless it rained, in which case you wore turf shoes (Beckenbauers). The upside was that we had the only turf field in the conference. We almost never lost at home. The other teams would wear regular cleats on the field and would typically have significant problems with their footing.

Not to mention the weight of passes... It would befuddle most teams.

[SKUD]

#condemhomewood. Worst field in D1&D3

[Hopkins92]

#condemhomewood. Worst field in D1&D3

I mean... not no mo'. As you can see/extrapolate from my handle... I'm old.

[Freddyfud]

Still waiting for a reference to that surface's heat during summer workouts.  As in melting the nubs of those Beck's making them Sambas...

[SierraFD3soccer]

Did not want to pile on as to Homewood. It is still bad. Rumor is that it will be resurfaced in the summer.

FYI the Balt Sun just ran an article on Washington College's coach, Roy Dunshee, and his success. Apparently according to the article he was an assistant coach at Amherst for a season in 2012. He then ended up coaching at Washington College. Also he owned an a local bar in Annapolis called Acme. Still a nice place. https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bs-sp-roy-dunshee-washington-college-mens-soccer-final-four-20231130-ryp5dzb5a5gubdseqfua7rw3zq-story.html
You all may not be able to access it without a subscription. True Renaissance man

[camosfan]

but hopefully my presence in Virginia won't be an unnecessary weight on the team.

Today I was thinking about you not posting for sometime and said to myself, is he on that 16 hours flight from Sydney!

[EnmoreCat]

but hopefully my presence in Virginia won't be an unnecessary weight on the team.

Today I was thinking about you not posting for sometime and said to myself, is he on that 16 hours flight from Sydney!

Of course Camosfan, it's tragic in the extreme.  I had to explain a bemused immigration official at SFO that I was coming to watch my son play soccer.  I think it just didn't make sense to her.

I did have a funny incident today in Georgetown also.  Now, they aren't sponsoring my foul count, but I am a fan of Vineyard Vines and visited the shop there today.  I was chatting to the young man (makes me sound old) assisting me and when we established I was here for the soccer, supporting Amherst (and PN there is no way there is a 5pct support for The Mammoths on this board!) he suddenly showed me his belt which had a W&L logo on it and advised me he was a 2021 alum and knew one or two soccer players.  It's a small world.

Separately, I know there is an Australian on the St Olaf team, not sure if any of his family are here, but if they are, would love to try and catch up.

[camosfan]

My friend, it is a rare experience, cherish it. There are thousands of us who would love to be in there.