Salem, Virginia

Started by justafan12, November 04, 2016, 02:11:37 PM

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jknezek

Wherever it is, it will always be far from somewhere. If you get closer to St. Louis, you get farther from Boston. If you go closer to Boston, you are farther from Belton. Short of putting it on campus for one of the participating institutions, there isn't a way to make it closer for the fans, teams and administrators. I think it's important to have community support, and Salem has a long record of doing that really well. You can make the case another city would do just as well. Maybe so, maybe no. That's the opportunity cost. That being said, I think Canton is too good an opportunity to pass up if the bid is good.

Pat Coleman

Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 22, 2017, 12:01:25 PM
Football weather is football weather. Canton's average high in early December is in the low forties. If you're a fan of the sport, you won't be deterred one bit when the thermometer reads in the low forties or high thirties.

Stagg Bowls are not played at the time of day where the average high is in play.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Seriously... we have frozen our tails off the last few years at the Stagg Bowl since it is being played at night.

FYI - Salem's location is considered by the committees all of the time... and it is usually thrown to the side when everything else is considered. Tough to outweigh a single con (relatively speaking).

BTW - the other important factor, Salem makes the experience for the student-athletes the priority and that is where they excel. Going to another location is almost a sure bet of a step backwards on that. That is what the committees are ultimately considering.

And how good is the experience, check this quote out from Duncan Robinson recently (not sure the source):
Quote"To me, playing at Salem was one of the most special moments of my basketball life for sure. The NCAA does such a good job hosting that event and making it special. Obviously I've played in bigger venues at this level, but there's something about the idea of Salem. It's a special place; one I'll never forget."
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

Gregory Sager

Quote from: jknezek on March 22, 2017, 01:17:42 PM
Wherever it is, it will always be far from somewhere. If you get closer to St. Louis, you get farther from Boston. If you go closer to Boston, you are farther from Belton.

Yes, there's no escaping that. But D3 has a very specific membership map that doesn't reflect U.S. geography as a whole, or U.S. demography, nor does it even remotely coincide with the membership maps of D1 and D2. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a map of D3 as a whole online, but there is a D3 football map that you've no doubt seen, and it's enlightening to look at it:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/NCAA_Division_3_football_map.gif

(If anything, D3 football somewhat undersells the division's overall presence in New England, where the percentage of non-football D3 schools seems to be higher than the norm.)

Roughly half of the membership of D3 is located in the northeast (New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland), and about a third is located in the midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska, in terms of midwestern states that actually have D3 campuses). Yet only 17% of the U.S. population lives in the northeast, and only 20% lives in the midwest. D3's center of gravity is thus far more compact than it is for the general population, or even for the membership of the NCAA as a whole. Therefore, if you wanted to choose a location central to the vast majority of D3, you'd put it somewhere close to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

That, as much as the HOF, is what makes Canton ideal -- and not just for football. Canton's still a long trip for Bostonians -- it's 10 hours from Beantown -- but it's less than five hours from Rochester, about five hours from Grand Rapids, about six hours from Chicago, about eight hours from St. Louis, and about 12 hours from the Twin Cities. Those are significant time savings as compared to Salem. And it's not as though Canton is the only city close enough to the OH/PA border to be geographically desirable; there's also Erie, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown.

Of course, there's a dozen or more other considerations that enter into it, from a city's willingness to bid to the availability and quality of specific competition sites to hotel and restaurant access to the expertise and accommodating personnel that D-Mac cites in Salem's favor. But the point is, while the folks on the D3 islands are always likely to suffer in terms of distance to D3 championship events, the membership map of the division is actually favorable to finding a central location that's amenable to the large majority of the division's schools.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Pat Coleman

Going from talking about Canton in the abstract to in reality, there's another factor to be considered: Would the committee be willing to essentially give Mount Union a home game?
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Gregory Sager

The Purple Raiders have to get back there first. After all, it's been a whole year now since they made it to the Stagg Bowl. ;)
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Pat Coleman

Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 22, 2017, 04:52:05 PM
The Purple Raiders have to get back there first. After all, it's been a whole year now since they made it to the Stagg Bowl. ;)

You can joke but that's a serious consideration for everyone who actually will make that decision.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)


The HOF thing is going to be interesting - they're essentially building a whole complex there so teams will be able to stay, eat, and practice in one village, essentially.
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Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

FYI - the decisions have been made by the committees. I was told it was wrapped up for almost all the committees earlier this month. Just waiting for the April 18th announcement. I believe the NCAA spends that time making sure there aren't any issues that might surprise people. And I believe, without looking it up, that the announcement might be in conjunction with DIII Week? A bit of an ad lib from the original plan to have this out in late October or early November like last time.
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Pat Coleman

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 23, 2017, 02:15:56 PM
FYI - the decisions have been made by the committees. I was told it was wrapped up for almost all the committees earlier this month. Just waiting for the April 18th announcement. I believe the NCAA spends that time making sure there aren't any issues that might surprise people. And I believe, without looking it up, that the announcement might be in conjunction with DIII Week? A bit of an ad lib from the original plan to have this out in late October or early November like last time.

Well, I believe we can blame North Carolina HB2 for that.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: Pat Coleman on March 23, 2017, 05:51:59 PM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 23, 2017, 02:15:56 PM
FYI - the decisions have been made by the committees. I was told it was wrapped up for almost all the committees earlier this month. Just waiting for the April 18th announcement. I believe the NCAA spends that time making sure there aren't any issues that might surprise people. And I believe, without looking it up, that the announcement might be in conjunction with DIII Week? A bit of an ad lib from the original plan to have this out in late October or early November like last time.

Well, I believe we can blame North Carolina HB2 for that.

Correct... the delay between it being announced last fall and being announced this spring is because of HB2.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

iwumichigander

Quote from: Pat Coleman on March 22, 2017, 06:20:01 PM
Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 22, 2017, 04:52:05 PM
The Purple Raiders have to get back there first. After all, it's been a whole year now since they made it to the Stagg Bowl. ;)

You can joke but that's a serious consideration for everyone who actually will make that decision.
Yes, but given the number of times Mt Union made it --- think of the travel cost savings!

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Not much of a savings... they still pay for the bus and the hotel rooms... and the NCAA basically considers the costs of those the same whether it is 90 miles or 499.9.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

Pat Coleman

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 30, 2017, 08:43:54 PM
Not much of a savings... they still pay for the bus and the hotel rooms... and the NCAA basically considers the costs of those the same whether it is 90 miles or 499.9.

True, but "considered costs" are for budgeting purposes and are not the same as actual costs incurred.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: Pat Coleman on March 31, 2017, 11:33:52 AM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 30, 2017, 08:43:54 PM
Not much of a savings... they still pay for the bus and the hotel rooms... and the NCAA basically considers the costs of those the same whether it is 90 miles or 499.9.

True, but "considered costs" are for budgeting purposes and are not the same as actual costs incurred.

Maybe... but when the decisions are made, they tend to go with the general numbers for travel ... so I've been told. They don't usually break it down any further into details since every team is different.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.