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Messages - jknezek

#16
Men's soccer / Re: SimpleCoach D3 Soccer YouTube Channel
December 19, 2023, 01:24:39 PM
I like pro/rel and I think it would have made for a better system in the U.S., certainly let the sport stand out from the crowd a lot more than it can now. There were several opportunities to set up American soccer as pro/rel, first in the early 90s when MLS was being formulated as a requirement of the '92 World Cup, then in the early 2000s when it almost went under and Lamar Hunt basically saved it, and finally recently NASL wanted to set up a competing tier 1 League as pro/rel and couldn't get sanctioned by USA Soccer.

But you are absolutely correct that we can't force Pro/Rel on MLS at this point. That's not happening and is a complete pipe dream. I wouldn't mind USA Soccer setting up USL as a competing First Tier League and then seeing what American's prefer over the long-term.
#17
Men's soccer / Re: SimpleCoach D3 Soccer YouTube Channel
December 18, 2023, 09:33:12 AM
Frankly I find this ridiculous. U.S. Soccer should threaten to set USL up as a competing League 1. The Open Cup is a traditional and amazing opportunity. It's named after Lamar Hunt, who basically saved MLS and these owners are being ridiculously whiny babies. Stop setting up more and more tournaments with Liga MX and play a domestic cup. Do a better job of promoting it. It is, literally, the only American professional sport where the underdogs get the big stage to work magic. That should be the marketing pitch, and it should be heavily promoted.

I know here in town the Birmingham Legion promoted the heck out of their games against MLS opponents last year. A road win at Charlotte in the Round of 16 where the team organized multiple fan buses and an 18K attended home loss to Inter Miami (no, Messi did not play) in the Quarter-Final. 18K for a soccer game, in Birmingham AL, where soccer is still sometimes considered a communist past time!

No, MLS needs to get a kick in the rear from U.S. Soccer and be reminded they don't hold all the cards even if they do hold most of the money. Perhaps U.S. Soccer shouldn't have helped MLS sue the NASL into history if this is the thanks they are going to get.
#18
D3football.com poll puts R-MC comfortably in front of Trinity. Not much of a surprise I think given how the Championship game went.
#19
I really don't care about this argument but I think it's very easy to argue either team at this point. Personally, given how the tournament played out, I'd put R-MC ahead. But I could easily see a 10 game split being 5-5. Cortland had to play darn near a perfect game to beat NCC and they played as close to one, offensively, as I can imagine. The QB was ridiculous, the running game was enough. Do I think Cortland wins 5/10 from NCC? No. But they won the one that mattered.

Cortland beat RMC pretty easy, but NCC destroyed Trinity. That's enough for me to give the nod.

Congratulations to Cortland. Heck of an accomplishment. This argument is irrelevant but both Trinity and RMC had excellent seasons to be proud of.
#20
Actually I don't mind those too much. Yes, the actual "signing" is the signing of the deposit check, which the NCAA makes very clear when you try and download the form! But it's something official that commemorates something that actually happened... a student athlete is agreeing to go to the school and is likely intending to try out for a sport. If the school wants to aid in that celebration, I understand it.

The concept of an "offer" for a sport in D3 means nothing, literally, unless it is the receipt of the student's acceptance, which has nothing to do with athletics. So an "offer" to play a sport is flat out ridiculous, whereas "signing" to try out for a sport after getting accepted is something that actually has some meaning. It is a bit silly, since it's non-binding, but since the deposit check is mildly binding, or at least punishing if you back out of attending, it at least has some attached consequence, even if that consequence has little to nothing to do with athletics.

Anyway, it doesn't bother me as much because it is something that celebrates the student athlete who is already agreeing to attend. The "offer" is just something made up to brag about when your school lands a recruit that other schools might have been interested in.
#21
Quote from: Etchglow on December 14, 2023, 07:28:58 PM
Quote from: jknezek on December 14, 2023, 07:01:29 PM
Quote from: Etchglow on December 14, 2023, 06:10:34 PM
Umhb picks up commit from UTPB transfer Wil Minor:

https://twitter.com/wil_minor11/status/1735411018388431193?s=19

Minor is a 6'4" 275 DL with 2 years of eligibility remaining from Manor, TX. He had offers from Sul Ross, McMurry, and Hardin-Simmons.

Offers for what? To pay tuition and room and board and tryout for football? Heck, I could get an offer from UMHB and I'm 46 years old and fat. Well, maybe not. I did use up a year of eligibility playing soccer almost 30 years ago. But all I'd have to do is send in application paperwork and pay the application fee and they'd "offer" me the chance to pay to come to school the same way they "offer" over 90% of the people who apply.

Check a box saying I'd like to tryout for football, show up at the right time in August and I've been "offered" by a college football team? No doubt I'd be sent to the very back of whatever line they have, be it cuts or just the hopeless end of the practice field, but I'd have the same "offer" anyone in the portal has gotten.

How strange and impressive D3 has gotten these days!

Or an offer to apply for need or merit based scholarships that 75 percent of division 3 athletes receive... Or an offer to be able to compete for a roster spot and playing time that they might not get at another institution or higher division. It is basically a way for a team to say "hey, if you go through all of the work to apply and go through the process to get accepted we want you here".

Athletes can't receive scholarships at a disproportionate rate or amount to the general population of a D3 school. So yeah, 75%, but most of D3 on average offers financial aid of some kind or another to at least 75% of students attending schools. The Leadership Scholarships schools tried in the 90s and 00s were heavily scrutinized on these grounds. As for the rest, that's about right. Not much of an offer. But I suppose a nice indication of interest. It just makes me laugh when fans start talking about all the "offers" from other D3 schools their incoming players got. The only "offer" you get in D3 is admission and a bill, as large or little as that bill may be.
#22
Quote from: RaidersRGr8t on December 11, 2023, 01:14:58 PM
FYI, I heard a rumor and this is what I found:

https://ferrumpanthers.com/sports/football/schedule/2024

Dear lord that is not going to go well for Ferrum....
#23
Quote from: Etchglow on December 14, 2023, 06:10:34 PM
Umhb picks up commit from UTPB transfer Wil Minor:

https://twitter.com/wil_minor11/status/1735411018388431193?s=19

Minor is a 6'4" 275 DL with 2 years of eligibility remaining from Manor, TX. He had offers from Sul Ross, McMurry, and Hardin-Simmons.

Offers for what? To pay tuition and room and board and tryout for football? Heck, I could get an offer from UMHB and I'm 46 years old and fat. Well, maybe not. I did use up a year of eligibility playing soccer almost 30 years ago. But all I'd have to do is send in application paperwork and pay the application fee and they'd "offer" me the chance to pay to come to school the same way they "offer" over 90% of the people who apply.

Check a box saying I'd like to tryout for football, show up at the right time in August and I've been "offered" by a college football team? No doubt I'd be sent to the very back of whatever line they have, be it cuts or just the hopeless end of the practice field, but I'd have the same "offer" anyone in the portal has gotten.

How strange and impressive D3 has gotten these days!
#24
General Division III issues / Re: Future of Division III
December 14, 2023, 03:15:43 PM
Here is a very good article about the economics of small colleges. It's very balanced, with lots of input from various colleges and universities that show up on the matrix. And there are a lot of D3 schools on that matrix. I do think it's a high level look that limited itself to 5 important but not all-important factors, so there are some factors that I believe should be a part of the debate, but it's still a good look at the challenges ahead for a very large part of the D3 universe.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-us-higher-education-analysis/#:~:text=Bloomberg%20News%20consulted%20six%20experts,aid%20and%20persistent%20operating%20losses.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-us-higher-education-analysis/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy
#25
Bummer. Great season though YellowJackets!
#26
Quote from: CruFrenzy on December 07, 2023, 11:44:00 PM
My lines for the semis

North Central (-13) at Wartburg - total 70.5

Cortland State at Randolph Macon (-17.5) total 56

Two pretty big favorites imo for Saturday. Do we break the all time attendance record in Salem if we get a North Central v Randolph Macon Stagg?

Looks like about a 3 hour drive to Salem from RMC.

I don't know but I doubt it. One of the Bridgewater Staggs got close, with over 8k. But that West Georgia - Augustana game that reported 9K in 1982 is a tough mark to beat. I'd be happy to see attendance back to 7-8K after a couple disastrous years and way too many in the 3s.
#27
Men's soccer / Re: Coaching Carousel
December 08, 2023, 09:18:30 AM
Quote from: PaulNewman on December 07, 2023, 09:44:35 PM
Quote from: jknezek on December 07, 2023, 08:53:02 PM
Quote from: PaulNewman on December 07, 2023, 08:41:29 PM
Quote from: d4_Pace on December 07, 2023, 07:59:58 PM
You've got a better chance of the boards nominating Serpone for the Nobel Peace Prize than Burke leaving Conn for Colby. I think Jordie Ciuffetelli is a great suggestion for the job, obviously I'm biased having worked with and played for him, but he'd be great there. I've also done the recruiting circuit with Billly Schmidt and Zach Grady and think they would both be good fits. An underrated aspect of these jobs is the personal life of the coaches. Not saying this is the case for any of those guys specifically, but if you're a single guy in your late 20s/early 30s Waterville, Lewiston, Bowdoin etc can be a tough sell. Just an off the radar factor that does come into consideration that you may not think about initially.

You're right, what was I thinking...the Chili's in New London, CT is outstanding.

Really?  New London is very much part of a metropolitan corridor. Waterville is a long way from anywhere. Even when I was at W&L the preference was for married coaches. The experiences of holding on to young, single coaches/professors at smaller, rural colleges is well known.

Corridor is pretty generous.  Guessing now, but over 2 hours from Boston, over an hour from Providence, an hour to New Haven, and 45-60 minutes to Hartford?  We all have different preferences.  That said, do we know that Burk is single?  I know nothing about him personally but did seem to have a ring on a ring finger in SC interview.  I mean Waterville isn't Caribou, ME.  There's two colleges in Waterville, Bates within distance, and not that far to Portland.  My pitch is that Colby is trending and this would be a great time to get in on it.  Conn from what I can gather is considered to have the weakest facilities in NESCAC with Colby now arguably the best.

Anyway, my take here is far more about Colby than Burk or any particular coach...and we've seen at a bunch of schools including W&L that getting the right coach can make a huge difference.  I'm just hoping they take their time, think big, and see what happens.

Take a look at this map from the 2020 census. Most of my family lives up that way, so I'm pretty versed in the New London/CT area. It's a high density area, definitely in the dark red of 500-1000 people per square mile at least, and is fully surrounded by areas with at least that density. Waterville, ME on the other hand, is in the 10-150 people per square mile, surrounded by those types of rural areas, until you get to Bangor, which for a relatively small area matches New London.  Either way, they are not comparable in density, not even remotely. And yes, New London is part of the metro corridor, or megalopolis, that runs from Boston to D.C, Waterville is not.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Frx6dueqiyvl71.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_megalopolis

As for whether he is single, I have no idea. I was just laughing about someone thinking a joke about a Chili's being the big draw in the New London area is remotely accurate. It's not Manhattan, but it's definitely suburban at the very least, with significant urban areas around.

#28
Men's soccer / Re: Coaching Carousel
December 07, 2023, 08:53:02 PM
Quote from: PaulNewman on December 07, 2023, 08:41:29 PM
Quote from: d4_Pace on December 07, 2023, 07:59:58 PM
You've got a better chance of the boards nominating Serpone for the Nobel Peace Prize than Burke leaving Conn for Colby. I think Jordie Ciuffetelli is a great suggestion for the job, obviously I'm biased having worked with and played for him, but he'd be great there. I've also done the recruiting circuit with Billly Schmidt and Zach Grady and think they would both be good fits. An underrated aspect of these jobs is the personal life of the coaches. Not saying this is the case for any of those guys specifically, but if you're a single guy in your late 20s/early 30s Waterville, Lewiston, Bowdoin etc can be a tough sell. Just an off the radar factor that does come into consideration that you may not think about initially.

You're right, what was I thinking...the Chili's in New London, CT is outstanding.

Really?  New London is very much part of a metropolitan corridor. Waterville is a long way from anywhere. Even when I was at W&L the preference was for married coaches. The experiences of holding on to young, single coaches/professors at smaller, rural colleges is well known.
#30
Men's soccer / Re: Coaching Carousel
December 07, 2023, 12:09:45 PM

I think you really have to take these with a grain of salt. W&L's Singleton only has 2, and one of them says he doesn't know soccer and didn't make the team better. First off, you don't get an A license without knowing the game. Anyone who's taken the licensing classes above D these days knows they are comprehensive. The fact that Singleton helped design those courses, once upon a time, says something else. And the overall improvement in the W&L program over 10years says something about making teams better. It's been a slow, steady, climb for W&L from not making the tournament, to first and second round, to sweet sixteens and final fours.

https://www.2adays.com/coaches/michael-singleton-36240

I think a lot of times the people that come give these reviews are the ones with an axe to grind. One thing we've found helping out our local martial arts place is it's hard to get people who are satisfied to go give a review. It just doesn't really cross their mind and when it does, they feel awkward writing comments instead of just clicking buttons, which no one cares about. But the minute someone is upset, that's the first thing they do is go try and tell everyone about it.