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Messages - irapthor

#1
Men's soccer / Re: 2023 NCAA Tournament
December 04, 2023, 03:59:30 PM
Quote from: PaulNewman on December 04, 2023, 02:27:13 PM
I lost my best post of the year in the latest outage so I'll do an abbreviated version.

I'm sure, whether pro or con, we're pretty much done with Amherst talk, but as we tidy things up I have an observation and a question.

I agree with jknezek about Amherst's sustained, remarkable success for at least a decade and a half making sense.  My observation is about what seems like the pattern dynamics on the board...Allowing for significant carryover effect, every year the antipathy towards the Mammoths grows as the season progresses and reaches peak crescendo level over the last two to three weeks until there is close to a unanimous verdict about the program and a desire for Amherst to get knocked out (excluding of course Mammoths Nation and some NESCAC diehards).  Then some of us (like me in some previous years) see a couple of press conferences with Serpone dripping in charisma combined with direct witness observations of gracious, empathic encounters with players on the opposing teams, and especially players on other teams that were in some degree of a recruitment process with him.  And then there's a feeling in the air of maybe we (and I mean a collective we) went a little far and we conclude with a bit of a correction.  Until the next year verifies everything again and rinse/repeat.

The question is about exactly how expansive Serpone's recruiting goes and how many prospects believe they are truly in the mix to get a spot at Amherst (and I'm raising this with no intent for anyone to go into the weeds on 'tips' and such).  Now I assume that Serpone gets most of what he wants (again, aside from any major admissions issues), but he may miss on some.  One of the announcers noted during the W&L game that he has a neighbor who picked W&L over Princeton (no athletics aspect was implied).  In any case, I would guess Serpone receives inquiries well into the hundreds (or more).  How many does he seriously get involved with, pursue, keep the mutual interest going, etc?  100?  50?  25?  And is there a point when he releases the ones under heavy consideration who he does not offer in the end?
Notwithstanding what I just wrote above, his yield has got to be very high.  Nevertheless, I've heard too many opponent parents publicly and/or privately make a point of noting Serpone's positive embrace and interactions with their sons after games to just discount that.  How does the process unfold concluding with his final selection of 6-8 players each year?  And he can't be the only coach in D3 who recruits hard and who would embrace a recruit who went elsewhere, right?  What's his hook or pitch?  How does he convince a kid that the combo of Amherst athletics and academics won't be too much?

Charisma often is confused with and/or masquerades as character....and is incredibly addictive and difficult to resist.

Lastly, anyone have insight they can share about the Nuhu injury?  In live action on video it did not look like much at all and the announcers surmised that he was milking it and/or trying to draw a card on the St Olaf player, but then they would pan over to the trainer seeming to work with him and he never returned.  Some odd substitutions for Amherst in that final game...and of course one that paid off handsomely.  Curious about ten Cate being relegated to a minor role and also Cubeddu who is so dangerous (but the latter did seem like he was a little banged up).

Paul, to answer your last question about the Nuhu injury, we were not sure of the severity of it. It didn't look as serious of a contact to the naked eye as say the Hakeem Morgan injury the previous day, but we watched how it developed and were noting throughout the broadcast he was being treated by the trainers, on the bench, and at the trainer's table. That became a good sign it was more serious than it initially appears. And then the Mammoths suffered some other key injuries, including to Landa (who really toughed it out in the second half... we knew Perez was ready to sub in if he could not continue) and Clark-Eden.

It's hard with injuries because unless you're right there listening to the conversation between player and athletic trainer, you're speculating. From personal experience, I've collided with someone at full speed on the field where they blew out their knee and I walked away unscathed. Then there's been incidents where I've planted a foot wrong and strained a hamstring. So you just never know.
#2
Men's soccer / Re: 2023 NCAA Tournament
December 04, 2023, 03:46:18 PM
Quote from: PaulNewman on December 04, 2023, 12:40:43 PM
The announcers during the W&L-Amherst game commented that there were a lot of "extracurriculars" behind the play that video viewers could not see.  Anyone have any insight about this or know what they may be been talking about?

Hey Paul, since I was one of the announcers, we were referencing the off-the-ball physicality, including some contact and jersey tugs. Nothing you would not expect to see in an emotionally-charged game when everyone is tired and there is so much on the line.
#3
Men's soccer / Re: 2023 NCAA Tournament
December 04, 2023, 12:05:15 AM
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on December 03, 2023, 11:17:46 PM
Quote from: irapthor on December 03, 2023, 09:15:27 PM
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on December 03, 2023, 03:28:27 PM
Great game! All played well. Amherst kept St.Olaf below their goal average, but probably had too many injuries to win.

Once again we have to go to the too many games in such a short time. A day off not to sufficient for quality soccer. I don't know why the announcers were saying that over and over.

Though Amherst is 1-4 now, most of us would say they would trade places any time. Hey, they are ahead of the Buffalo Bills!

As to the keeper out of the box I agree that the ball has to be totally out. We are also watching it from above as opposed to being on the field and or too far away from the play. If the center do not see or the AR does not clearly see, no call just like the hand ball calls which would have affected the game much more.

Would you prefer not having a day off in between? I think it was a great move by the NCAA to give these players a chance to recover.

Nope more days. Too be an effective team, players have to have at least 72 hours recovery between matches and not play more than 3 matches over two weeks.  Soccer is not American football or lacrosse, but players still need more time too be their best. May be just a "too bad, so sad" situation, but you can't take it seriously and expect teams to be playing well.

You'll notice that D1 mens soccer have three days between semis and finals as well as 5 days between quarters and semis.  D1 womens have a similar schedule. They are non revenue sport as well.

It's just not in the cards at this level. Too expensive and too much missed class time. We are fortunate we don't have back to back days anymore.
#4
Men's soccer / Re: 2023 NCAA Tournament
December 03, 2023, 09:15:27 PM
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on December 03, 2023, 03:28:27 PM
Great game! All played well. Amherst kept St.Olaf below their goal average, but probably had too many injuries to win.

Once again we have to go to the too many games in such a short time. A day off not to sufficient for quality soccer. I don't know why the announcers were saying that over and over.

Though Amherst is 1-4 now, most of us would say they would trade places any time. Hey, they are ahead of the Buffalo Bills!

As to the keeper out of the box I agree that the ball has to be totally out. We are also watching it from above as opposed to being on the field and or too far away from the play. If the center do not see or the AR does not clearly see, no call just like the hand ball calls which would have affected the game much more.

Would you prefer not having a day off in between? I think it was a great move by the NCAA to give these players a chance to recover.
#5
Men's soccer / Re: 2023 NCAA Tournament
December 02, 2023, 12:17:50 AM
Quote from: Freddyfud on December 01, 2023, 11:41:10 PM
Ira, I appreciated your color during the games today.  Well done!

Thank you. I try to provide honest assessment and interesting tidbits ... and a little humor when appropriate. I spent time with all 4 coaches this week .. they were all very gracious with their time.
#6
Men's soccer / Re: 2023 NCAA Tournament
December 01, 2023, 10:45:40 PM
Quote from: GKForverr1 on December 01, 2023, 05:49:46 PM
camosfan I agree the stream was not good. I do video production for a living and was annoyed to see each camera set to different exposures and white balance. Seemed like they had to cut to different cameras during second game PK's because the center camera was so dark. I expect that from student workers during the regular season but not for an NCAA hired crew. (Was told by an athletic comm friend there is a hired crew) A first world problem but nonetheless this is the championship it should look like it!

For anyone who was on site... did the field boundaries and corners seem dark? It looked like the lights did not fill the whole field with consistent light.


Hi, the corners were very dark. I can confirm from calling the game. Please be advised that it's a small production crew and they worked hard. The cameras were not all the same, which might be explain why the lightning seemed a little different, but it was definitely dark on the field and the weather made it appear gloomier.
#7
Men's soccer / Re: Big Dance 2022 - Let's Go!
December 02, 2022, 10:56:18 PM
Quote from: Yankeesoccerdad on December 02, 2022, 05:24:15 PM
Here is the video.  it took a couple of minutes to find so thought folks would like the link.

https://www.ncaa.com/video/soccer-men/2022-12-01/diii-mens-soccer-2022-semifinal-recap

Definite handball.  He instinctively tucks in his arm afterward to act like nothing happened.

It seemed like the refs were reluctant to call fouls in either game yesterday, while in the prior tournament games I saw this year soft fouls (at least relative to NESCAC standards) were consistently called fouls.

I think we all agree. As an announcer, I was trying hard not to harp on it... I didn't want to ruin the overall moment of the win for Williams. But I also would not have been doing my job had we not talked about it.
#8
Men's soccer / Re: Big Dance 2022 - Let's Go!
December 02, 2022, 11:20:35 AM
Quote from: FBALLISLIFE on December 01, 2022, 06:37:38 PM
Quote from: Gregory Sager on December 01, 2022, 06:31:29 PM
Dave McHugh wanted to go back to get another look at that possible handball in the box by Williams in the final two minutes, but the production crew never replayed it. Both he and Ira Thor reacted as though they had seen a handball, but from that angle and distance you couldn't really tell conclusively without a replay from an alternate camera.

I went back on the video several times, and it sure looked like the defender opened up his arms (making himself bigger) and caught that ball with his right hand when the MW player ducked.  No intentional by any means, but a handling offense nonetheless.  Tough to call that in that situation, and the act by the MW player to bend over really put the ball in a difficult spot for the defender, but that's why you get the whistle in the Final Four.

Sure wish we had better angles on the video.

As a neutral party calling the games, I truly felt what we saw was a handball. While I know it's a tough call for an official to make in that spot, if that's a handball in the 8th minute, then it is a handball in the 89th minute. I stand by what I said.

With that said, the Chicago/Stevens game was by far the better of the two and you would think that Chicago is the favored team heading into the finals. But Dr. Siebert's team seemingly always finds a way. It's almost like they have the cheat codes for the video game. They are the aggressor when they need to be but they don't put themselves in peril with poor decisions. They completely took Josh Kirkland out of the game and as good as Carter Berg was for UMW (and I think he's the better of the two players IMO), the Williams back 3 or 4 was better.
#9
Multi-Regional Topics / Re: D3hoops All Americans and POY
December 07, 2021, 12:01:09 PM
Quote from: SidelineHero on December 06, 2021, 01:41:51 PM
Jordan Moretti (UMass Dartmouth) is the best female player in D3. Change my mind.

Don't sleep on sophomore point guard Damaris Rodriguez at NJCU. Already has games of 16 steals and 18 assists this year and would have likely been the D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year if they had made selections last spring.
#10
Men's soccer / Re: 2021 Final Four
December 04, 2021, 07:58:47 PM
Quote from: Jump4Joy on December 04, 2021, 07:37:25 PM
Will be interesting to see how these familiar foes ask questions of one another tonight.
Announcers: much improved coverage so far.

Thanks...we do listen to constructive feedback...the two of us have been doing this together for some time now.

I'm surprised Amherst has not gone deeper into its bench in the first half to preserve some legs for the second half which we know is going to be juicy.
#11
Men's soccer / Re: 2021 Final Four
December 04, 2021, 11:06:13 AM
Quote from: PaulNewman on December 04, 2021, 09:45:24 AM
A few odds and ends from yesterday and last couple of pages...

Most importantly, beginning with Amherst...We saw the whole complicated/controversial package.  A great program doing whatever necessary to get back to the Final, relentless and unforgiving, determined to get the win with whatever that would mean, the yelling and histrionics [the writhing and rolls on the ground must be something they practice and I hesitate to say this because looked the he really did get hurt with a ball to the eye area late in the game but ten Cate is the best writher/roller I've seen with Cubbedu taking second place honors last night... and let me say I'd want both on my team as ten Cate who is not built like an Aroh battles and plays to exhaustion like no other and I've been saying Cubbedu could be a super-talented X factor and wondered why he doesn't start going back to the Tufts game], the ref having to chastise coach and bench, the hoofing and never ending flip throws into the box that may be ugly but puts enormous pressure on the other team with errors likely to happen over 90 or 110 minutes, rarely losing headers in their defensive third, taking a really superb Chicago team out of its game which isn't a shock but I honestly thought the Maroons would handle better, glimmers of just how good some of their players are, etc, etc.  D4 insisted early in the season that Amherst was the 2nd best team in D3 (we know who he thinks is 1st)...I tended to agree that they had been underrated early and I rated them very highly early in our little mock polls, but then after seeing them live vs Tufts I thought I had overrated them, and then obviously thereafter underrated them.  I will readily eat crow and if they win tonight I will grudgingly tip my cap.  The thing about crow is that if you put enough butter and teriyaki and/or lemon pepper on it you can almost convince yourself that the first bite tastes like chicken... but definitely by the second bite you're like "ah, no, that tastes like crow."

On the it's funny that those who endorsed the second yellow did so based on not what the yellow actually was given for (allegedly)...what's even funnier is that if they did that it was also because of the broadcast which the broadcasters also endorsed in real time and for some time thereafter (and just above here as well), so that's not quite the own there implied.  And aside from whether deserved or not, technically or otherwise, there seems to be at least some consensus that the ref lost track and may indeed have kept the card in his pocket if he had realized in the moment that he was gonna pull a second card. The look on the player's face even seemed to suggest he knew the ref didn't know but that he was screwed because once drawn there was no way for the ref to put it back...then the look at the book..and the delayed pull for the red.

WUPHF, there are miles and miles between extended periods of silence and letting the game breathe a little.  An anecdote here and there over 90 or 110 minutes is fine, to be expected, and maybe even a nice touch, but some of the completely irrelevant banter would happen when a team was moving the ball inside the 18.  I'm not exaggerating when at times it seemed more like the game was interrupting a video of the banter between two old friends at a bar watching a game, and maybe in some respect they were catching up and maybe the fact of the missed year and long wait had an impact.  Buck/Aikman and "lulls in the action" of two national semis?  Please, stop.  I mean, what's the over/under here on me thinking as I'm watching "wish they'd bring in Mr. Sager"?
You guys are super-experienced, know your stuff for the most part, have good chemistry with each other, etc, and I'm sure seeing snarky, jesting criticism after a very long day isn't pleasant, but you're broadcasters putting yourself out there to a (national) audience, so maybe try to hear the feedback and tone down the reminiscing and hyper-verbality.  All that said, work address is 25 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114.  Happy to show you around and let you observe.

So, not happy about another NESCAC final, especially after two OT games that easily could have gone the other way, but I look forward to seeing how this last game plays out.  Also curious if most think there was no PK call to be made for Chicago in OT because of course, especially with what that call could mean in OT, Kelly and Hope-Gund are going to pre-preemptively wave the "no, no, nothing there" finger and home plate safe sign.

I think it's hilarious you gave out your actual work address. Well played sir....well played. :)
#12
Men's soccer / Re: 2021 Final Four
December 04, 2021, 11:03:35 AM
Greg, I actually have done the past 3 D3hoops classics in Vegas...missing this year unfortunately due to a bowl game conflict...but those are LONGGGG days. I actually announce professional men's volleyball and those are 12-14 hour days, so actually used to those long days.

To the others, Dave and I do read the constructive feedback, so thank you. These events are tough. Certainly don't want to be a homer towards any team. I spend hours speaking to each coach 1:1 to get further background on the teams. It's absolutely a challenging process for a one-weekend a year commitment, versus guys who their full time job is to announce and they get to spend every moment committed only to a broadcast.

Either way, please tune in today and enjoy the games...my predictions are TCNJ and Amherst winning, but think both will be one-goal games. The margins between all of the teams playing this weekend were so razor thin.
#13
Men's soccer / Re: 2021 Final Four
December 04, 2021, 01:35:06 AM
I didn't think the card was warranted. Soft second yellow in a major moment.

Also, yes semifinals day is a long day but we've done this for years and have never had an issue. At all levels announcers try to have some fun with the call during lulls in the action and get serious when a serious moment is happening. How we handle it is no different than a Buck/Aikman.
#14
Men's soccer / Re: Big Dance
December 15, 2019, 09:19:33 AM
Quote from: PaulNewman on December 07, 2019, 02:31:42 PM
Speaking of the announcers -- who I commend for being honest when they don't know something or when they missed exactly what happened on a play and do an excellent job overall -- a really interesting moment in the Calvin-Tufts tilt was about 20+ minutes in McHugh commented that Calvin seemed to be dictating play and had an edge with Tufts scrambling a bit.  I agreed with him but at the same time did not think Calvin was necessarily in good shape long term.  Thor responded to McHugh's  observation by hesitating and saying he needed a little more time to decide...and sure enough Tufts scored in the next 3-4 minutes.  I didn't think Calvin was out of it then but by the second goal the game seemed over.  The last time Calvin was down 2 goals was probably in a Sweet 16 game 2-3 years ago against Chicago.

Anyway, Tufts is very interesting that way and I assume it is intentional.. Whereas Amherst tries to overwhelm and steamroll you right out of the gate, Tufts seems to take their time, maybe engaging in a bit of rope-a-dope, and then gradually turns the screws like last night to the point that Calvin had zero space to operate.  And it's at that point, I think versus Amherst and Tufts, that the other team looks like they are from a lower division and can hardly get the ball off their feet being suffocated.  Maybe when all of this over Mr. Zinner can give us some insight into whether there is an overt strategy of "OK, let's do this the first 15-20 minutes and then hit this switch, and at 60 minutes hit this other switch, etc."  Tufts' depth (where the 2nd 11 might well be a Sweet 16 team) is a key obviously, and to exaggerate just a tad the Jumbos seem to have at least one kid score every game that you didn't even know was on the roster.

Good observation Paul. I felt as if Tufts wasn't being outplayed but rather allowing its defense to contain Calvin until its offense could find an opening...which they did. And again. And again and then it was over. Tufts was too good to allow any team to truly dictate play; rather it was a chess match and they were waiting for one piece to make an imperfect move.
#15
Men's soccer / Re: Big Dance
December 07, 2019, 10:00:01 AM
Quote from: Medicated Pete on December 06, 2019, 09:10:33 PM
These announcers.....

Thanks for the feedback :)