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Topics - jknezek

#1
Men's soccer / Ties and Overtime
October 11, 2022, 02:51:29 PM
Yep. I'm starting a thread because I got tired of sorting through multiple places. I was mildly against this rule change, mainly because I think more soccer is better and with the substitution rules being what they are... player fatigue is on the coaches being unwilling to go deep into a bench. A bench that for many teams is at least equal to the size of the team on the field, if not double that at home. I thought the OT rule made more sense in conjunction with the proposed substitution changes, but one without the other is just... well, not my cup of tea. Is it something I'd go to war over as ruining the game? Of course not. I just think more game time is better for deciding the best teams, a tricky proposition when you can't play a true home and home type round robin.

So I did some basic research using Week 6 of the D3soccer.com Fan Poll through Week 6 and here's the data on ties:

2011 - 23
2012 - 23
2013 - 28
2014 - 20
2015 - 25
2016 - 28
2017 - 15
2018 - 26
2019 - 34
2021 - 30

average: 25.2
median: 25/26


2022 -- 57
Coaches -- Pack the bus against better teams. So far this year, on average, it's more than twice as easy to get a draw against the Top 25 than it's been historically. It's bloody hard to score in soccer, a game already noted for teams with 15 SOG losing to a team with 1 on a semi-regular basis. Well, in NCAA college soccer it's now twice as easy to tie up the better teams.

We all know that when a top team ties a team they were expected to beat, home or away, it's a negative for the top team and a positive for the lower team. So really, if you are a mid-tier team playing a top tier team, just put 10 back, waste as much time as possible, and kick and run and hope up front. It's a lot easier to have it work out when games can be more than 20% shorter.
#2
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/ncaa-streamlines-constitution-set-to-give-power-to-schools/2021/11/08/d2cdf676-40a5-11ec-9404-50a28a88b9cd_story.html   modified to include a working link

Not sure how well that link will work. Regardless, at the end of a story about the new NCAA Constitution, which is going to emphasize giving autonomy to schools, especially those in DI, is the following quote from Shane Lyons, WVa athletic director:

"There's a huge gap in Division I with schools roughly with $175 million budgets and schools with $4 million budgets," Lyons said. "A lot of times we've tried to legislate from an equality standpoint. Is there possibly a new division? Is there a Division Four? Do some schools break away and make a Division Four, and what is the membership requirements?"

Now I don't think he's talking about the same DIV type of debate that happened quite a while ago and was soundly defeated, but the fact remains that if the small percentage of the money from the NCAA basketball tournament is no longer pushed down to DII and DIII to help pay for National Tournaments, how many DIII schools are going to be interested, or capable, of paying their own way?
#3
Men's soccer / D3Boards.Com Soccer Top 20 Fan Poll
September 30, 2021, 08:44:38 AM
Edited to add 7th voter


D3Boards.com Soccer Fan Poll Games as of 9/27/2021
National Top 20























Rank
School
Points
Voter Breakdown
1
Tufts
129
5 , 4 , 2 , 2 , 1 , 3 , 1
2
Washington and Lee
126
1 , 3 , 9 , 1 , 3 , 1 , 3
3
Messiah
124
3 , 6 , 1 , 6 , 3 , 2 , 2
4
Trinity (Texas)
116
2 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 5
5
Ohio Wesleyan
104
4 , 7 , 4 , 7 , 4 , 12 , 5
6
Oneonta State
97
7 , 5 , 5 , 8 , 6 , 8 , 11
7
Middlebury
96
6 , 1 , 7 , 4 , 6 , 6
8
Johns Hopkins
87
8 , 8 , 13 , 12 , 5 , 12 , 2
9
Amherst
62
11 , 11 , 6 , 4 , 11
10
New York University
59
10 , 16 , 8 , 13 , 8 , 12
11
Calvin
56
9 , 12 , 10 , 9 , 9
12
Montclair State
51
13 , 15 , 20 , 17 , 10 , 14 , 7
13
Otterbein
48
11 , 10 , 16 , 14 , 18 , 15 , 15
14
Rochester
42
14 , 20 , 11 , 15 , 11 , 13
15
North Central (Ill.)
34
9 , 10 , 10
16
Franklin and Marshall
29
15 , 12 , 18 , 17 , 14
T17
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
27
18 , 13 , 17 , 9
T17
Cortland State
27
12 , 14 , 19 , 19 , 16 , 19
19
Hope
18
20 , 15 , 15 , 16
20
Carthage
14
9 , 19

Also Receiving Votes:
Coast Guard (12) , Chicago (11) , Emory (11) , Washington U. (11) , Rowan (10) , Randolph (8) , St. Mary's (Md.) (7) , Augsburg (6) , Eastern (4) , Redlands (4) , Kenyon (3) , St. Olaf (3) , Wheaton (Ill.) (2) , Pacific Lutheran (1) , Wilmington (1)

1 = 1st Place Vote, 7 = 7th Place Vote in Voter Breakdown
Special Thanks to the Voters: Gregory Sager, Ejay, SimpleCoach, College Soccer Observer, D4_Pace, PaulNewman, D3_Slack

#4
General football / New Board Organization
September 15, 2021, 10:22:58 AM
I want to thank Pat for getting the board reorganized. I think it's pretty clear that the D3.com structure has been a labor of love for a while now, especially given last year. With no Kickoff to sell this year, and views way down, I appreciate that not only are the site and boards still available to us, but being kept up to date. Thanks Pat and whoever else is helping. We appreciate it.
#5
Washington Post article on Andrew Wilson, the former Emory swimmer, who just made the U.S. Olympic Team for Tokyo. He just missed in 2016. The article says he's the first DIII swimmer ever to make the Olympics.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/06/16/andrew-wilson/
#6
Neat article about a former F&M team captain building bowl game slates for players. I know there are a bunch of these around that charge players to come, but this has a nice DIII connection.

https://blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories/Q4K39S6JTSE8
#7
General Division III issues / College Likeness Rights
October 29, 2019, 02:37:28 PM
Well the NCAA was finally forced into it. Now they are asking all 3 divisions to come up with rules. It will be interesting to see how DIII responds. Do I think there is a big market for this in DIII? Absolutely not. But it all depends on the rules. I could see some schools finding donors to buy some autographs. Not many, and not in very many sports, but enough to land an impact player or two? Maybe. I'm not sure I'd see the upside, but then again, when you look at some of the facilities that have been built around DIII, what's a few hundred orchestrated dollars for autographs for that qb that is wavering between preferred walk on status at a DI or a DIII national football contender?

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/27957981/ncaa-votes-allow-athletes-profit-likeness
#8
Alright guys... I know many of us played at various levels and I'm looking for some coaching help from the brain trust if anyone wants to help. I'm coaching littles, which I've done for the last 6 seasons. We are up to the U8 level and of my 9 kids, I've only got 2 or 3 that have figured out the mechanics of pulling their leg back, locking their ankle, and swinging through the ball for power. I'm not particularly worried about toes right now, though we talk about it, I just need them to understand the locking and swinging motion.

Developmentally, I'm not surprised that I don't have a lot that have picked this up, but I'd like to get any tips or tricks you remember from your own youth to see if I can get a few more over the hump.

What made an impression when you first learned to kick for power? For example, I remember a soccer camp where a counselor from T&T worked with me and what stuck was that if you swing through properly, your plant foot will either try to lift or hop from the force. Mostly an exaggeration, but understanding that was what was required got me moving in the right direction. It is not, however, an explanation that is resonating with many of my own players.

Thoughts or suggestions? What sticks out? What basic drill got you moving in the right direction?
#9
Men's soccer / ODAC 2018
June 28, 2018, 12:35:29 PM
Pleased with W&L's OOC schedule this year. They have certainly stepped it up since Coach Singleton came on board. 3 tournament teams plus CNU who lost in the CAC Championship. York and Sewanee aren't overly exciting, though neither is a terrible team. Adding in at Lynchburg and at Roanoke in the ODAC doesn't ease the difficulty either. Those first 3 OOC games are a heck of a way to start a season.


Ogelthorpe Neutral Site (Emory)  **
at Emory **
at F&M **
at York  7-8-3
Sewanee 8-8
CNU 14-3-1
#10
Women's soccer / South Atlantic 2016
October 13, 2016, 08:49:58 AM
W&L takes down Lynchburg 1-0 at home last night. First loss for Lynchburg on the year, first loss in the ODAC since 9/26/09, an 82 game conference win streak. The loss leaves Shenandoah at the top of the conference at 5-0, 11-3-0. The Hornets have a 1-0 home win over W&L and travel to Lynchburg this weekend.
#12
General Division III issues / ESPN.com Cover and DIII
November 22, 2013, 10:24:40 AM
How often does the front page of ESPN.com have 2 D3 stories at once. Right now Rick Reilly's column is about Grinnell basketball and one of the video stories links to a 4+ minute segment on Gallaudet.
#13
The College of State Island's athletic department was just put on 4 years probation for lack of institutional control related to the men's swimming program. A 2 year postseason ban for the swim team was also tacked on.

I grew up in NJ and never even knew this CUNY school existed, but it sounds like they let a coach run amuck. Saw the article on my Bloomberg Terminal, so I can't link to the article.
#14
General football / National Media -- ESPN's Gene Woj
October 22, 2013, 12:55:37 PM
What is it with the national sports media? I understand DIII is pretty much off the radar except for the occassional fun fodder stat or ridiculous play, but do these people understand the NCAA so little that they think teams can just jump divisions the way players can?

In today's BMOC Gene Woj suggests Grambling can no longer afford FCS football and that, "As painful as it might be for the Grambling football purists, perhaps the administration should consider dropping the program to, say, Division III, or dropping the program altogether."

This implies that DIII football has teams with filthy, rotten, uncared for equipment and training rooms, lack of resources, and doesn't involve long bus rides. It also supposes that Grambling could just up and move the football program, ignoring that all other sports have to be in the same division.

It just continues to amaze me that these guys don't understand the things they cover. Maybe he doesn't need to know about DIII, but Gene Woj should certainly understand the rules about how the NCAA is structured.

#15
General football / D3 Senior Football Classic
December 08, 2012, 09:02:01 AM
Anyone know where we can find stats and a recap for the D3 Senior Football Classic? The website has no information about the game. Was wondering how W&L's two players did.
#16
General football / The saddest days of the year
December 19, 2011, 06:17:57 PM
Does anyone else find it to be one of the saddest days of the year when the football section on d3boards.com drops down below the winter sports? Seriously, it has to rank in my top 15 or so...