Miscellaneous questions, thoughts, impressions, etc.

[hmmm]

Just heard that because SB is leaving their conference to go to CAA they cannot compete for conf championship . Winning that’s conf championship = automatic bid . Crazy.

Really?? I hope that's not the case. I thought they needed at least 6 teams in the conference to have an automatic bid, has that changed?

America East currently has 7 teams including SB. SB can win the regular season championship, just can't play in the Am East tournament. Same deal with JMU and the CAA. SB and JMU both have strong enough OOC schedules that they don't need the AQ if they play well.

Oh I see, I thought this was about the American East conference no longer receiving an automatic bid because SBU was leaving, my mistake

The biggest effect is that there will most likely be 1 less at large bid available if you assume that SB will get one. The Am East is usually a one bid league so someone that normally wouldn't make it (UMBC, Albany, UVM, etc) will get a bid. CAA usually gets multiple bids so the JMU situation probably doesn't effect the NCAA field.

[user1020]

https://northeastconference.org/news/20 ... el_22.aspx

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Three women’s lacrosse programs — James Madison, Cincinnati and Liberty — have different degrees of conference uncertainty. All three are moving because of their football programs, and all three are moving to leagues without lacrosse.

In the case of JMU, there’s urgency because the CAA has banned its teams from participating in postseason play, which has caused all but football and men’s soccer to move to the Sun Belt in July. That leaves a women’s lacrosse program that won a national title just four years ago without a home.

It’s up to Kevin White, James Madison’s associate athletic director for sport programs, to find the Dukes’ next conference in concert with coach Shelley Klaes and athletic director Jeff Bourne.

“It’s like dating,” White said. “Some people you might like, but they have to like you in return. You turn over all the rocks and look at every possibility that leads to what you want to do.”

An obvious landing spot for James Madison is the American Athletic Conference. It already is home to FBS-level affiliate members and nationally ranked programs like Florida and Vanderbilt, as well as in-state rival Old Dominion, with whom JMU will be moving most sports to the Sun Belt.

As for a timeline, the Dukes are intent on getting this done soon. The CAA has already banned their winter and spring sports from competing in postseason tournaments and come July 1 the majority of their athletic department will be in the Sun Belt.

“It’s a singular approach for us. It’s been about lacrosse,” White said. “I think we’re close.”

How close?

“I would envision before the semester is over making an announcement,” White said. “I feel like we’re that close.”

Other conference possibilities for James Madison could include joining the Big East or staying in the CAA as an affiliate member. While White and JMU seem intent on finding another home, D’Antonio did not rule out a return welcome to the CAA.

“That’s probably a situation that remains open,” D’Antonio said. “Until our membership situation is settled, we’re not going to be making future decisions as it relates to the possibility of institutions becoming affiliate members. That’s a situation that remains to be seen. I wouldn’t close any doors. I don’t want to provide any preconceived notion of what the future could hold.”

Bobby Weygand, AAC associate commissioner for sports administration and championships, declined comment though a spokesperson.

As for a full member, the American was ready to comment on Cincinnati, whose department is heading to the Big 12 on July 1, 2024. In a statement, the conference said:

“The bylaws also stipulate that the withdrawal would encompass all sports — though the conference may elect to accommodate a school if it wishes to keep one or more sports in the American, if it is to the benefit of the conference. None of those determinations have been made yet for any sports with our departing members.”

According to the Orlando Sentinel, indications are Cincinnati wants to leave the American sooner than 2024, which would mean the lacrosse team might need a new home by next season.

If keeping lacrosse in the American is not an option, Cincinnati could land back in the Big East. The Bearcats entered the Big East in 2009 and became an affiliate member of the league in 2014 until the American sponsored women’s lacrosse starting in 2019. Cincinnati would also likely be welcomed in the MAC, which is focused in the Midwest and has a collection of FBS schools. Cincinnati declined to comment for this story.

Liberty will have the same decision to make, but on a slightly accelerated timeline. The Flames are set to join Conference USA in most sports July 1, 2023. No decision for their conference prospects has been determined either. Liberty’s field hockey team plays in the Big East.

“Liberty will be a member of ASUN Conference for women’s lacrosse in 2022 and 2023. We are currently exploring options for 2024 and beyond,” Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw said.

If Liberty ultimately leaves the ASUN, that league would be down to five women’s lacrosse-playing members. In such a situation, one could expect an agreement with the Big South for one of its affiliate members to join and even numbers out so the ASUN can keep its automatic qualifier. The two leagues absorbed the Southern Conference’s teams when it disbanded after the 2021 season. The Big South now has 10 teams.

Lastly, should there be any leagues short on numbers, the two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams — San Diego State and UC Davis — remain free agents without access to an automatic bid.

https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... se-changes

[Finalseason]

I wasn't sure on where to post so I chose this since its misc..

Curious if others have seen coaches penalizing players for missing practice due to class? The only class time available the whole year is this spring during practice. Needs the class to graduate in May and had taken the pre-requisite classes last fall. Coach knew prior to season but basically has her on the sidelines every practice...

[DMac]

I wasn't sure on where to post so I chose this since its misc..

Curious if others have seen coaches penalizing players for missing practice due to class? The only class time available the whole year is this spring during practice. Needs the class to graduate in May and had taken the pre-requisite classes last fall. Coach knew prior to season but basically has her on the sidelines every practice...

Too many questions here.
Where was she prior to this regarding "basically has her on the sidelines every practice..."?
If she's not seeing the field because she's attending required classes needed to graduate, this
coach needs to be fired.

[DMac]

Stole this from a facebook post, very clever, love it.
Season's on, groundhog saw the shadow.

[TNLAX]

I wasn't sure on where to post so I chose this since its misc..

Curious if others have seen coaches penalizing players for missing practice due to class? The only class time available the whole year is this spring during practice. Needs the class to graduate in May and had taken the pre-requisite classes last fall. Coach knew prior to season but basically has her on the sidelines every practice...

Too many questions here.
Where was she prior to this regarding "basically has her on the sidelines every practice..."?
If she's not seeing the field because she's attending required classes needed to graduate, this
coach needs to be fired.

Without knowing all the facts I find this kind of harsh, firing the coach. Did the student/athlete have the opportunity to take the classes last year and not have them conflict with lacrosse? Or maybe take the class in the summer time or Maymester? Maybe there is an underclassman that is just as talented on the field and will have another year or two in the program to contribute where as the mentioned senior is not going to be on the field next year or the following year.

[8meterPA]

I wasn't sure on where to post so I chose this since its misc..

Curious if others have seen coaches penalizing players for missing practice due to class? The only class time available the whole year is this spring during practice. Needs the class to graduate in May and had taken the pre-requisite classes last fall. Coach knew prior to season but basically has her on the sidelines every practice...

They can't do that - that's a fire-able offense if true. How are the players penalized?

[DMac]

I wasn't sure on where to post so I chose this since its misc..

Curious if others have seen coaches penalizing players for missing practice due to class? The only class time available the whole year is this spring during practice. Needs the class to graduate in May and had taken the pre-requisite classes last fall. Coach knew prior to season but basically has her on the sidelines every practice...

Too many questions here.
Where was she prior to this regarding "basically has her on the sidelines every practice..."?
If she's not seeing the field because she's attending required classes needed to graduate, this
coach needs to be fired.

Without knowing all the facts I find this kind of harsh, firing the coach. Did the student/athlete have the opportunity to take the classes last year and not have them conflict with lacrosse? Or maybe take the class in the summer time or Maymester? Maybe there is an underclassman that is just as talented on the field and will have another year or two in the program to contribute where as the mentioned senior is not going to be on the field next year or the following year.

"Without knowing all the facts", actually, knowing virtually none of the facts, hence "too many questions here".
If this girl was seeing the field and playing regularly and is now standing on the sideline because she's attending a class required in order to graduate, then firing isn't too harsh in my book. While it might not be to a lacrosse coach, that sheepskin is priority number one. If your coach doesn't respect and appreciate that he/she needs to be reminded of why these kids are in school, and if he/she doesn't understand that he/she is not the kind of person who should be coaching college lacrosse.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I meandered over to the men's D1 board yesterday and was intrigued to find this:

viewtopic.php?p=325753#p325753

"Here are the lines:
Duke (-6.5) v. RMU - over/under at 23.5
Mercer (+2.5) v. Bucknell - over/under at 21.5
Maryland (-4.5) v. High Point - over/under at 25.5
Ohio State (-6.5) v. Detroit Mercy - over/under at 22.5
JHU (-5.5) v. Jacksonville - over/under at 21.5
Delaware (-8.5) v. NJIT - over/under at 21.5
Navy (-6.5) v. MSM - over/under at 19.5
Penn State (-7.5) v Lafayette - over/under at 23.5
Rutgers (-7.5) v. LIU - over/under at 25.5
Hofstra (-4.5) v. Merrimack - over/under at 23.5
Holy Cross (+2.5) v. Providence - over/under at 20.5
Utah (+4.5) v. Denver - over/under at 22.5
Michigan (-7.5) v. Bellarmine - over/under at 21.5"

I learned decades ago that betting sports is very dangerous and can lead to addiction and ruination. Luckily, I stopped before any of that occurred, but got close enough to getting into debt and embarrassment if the Flyers hadn't defeated the Canucks by 2 goals or more back in the 1980's to wise me up right quick.

However, I didn't abandon the betting angle entirely because I still find it interesting to see what the "experts" set the lines at for games. Sometimes they nail it and sometimes they miss it badly, like yesterday's Mount St. Mary's upset win over Navy, for instance. Navy was favored by 6.5 goals but lost by 2. There was a mix of the bookmakers guessing rightly and missing badly. I've heard that predicting the final score is ultimately not the goal, but to come up with a line that entices both sides to bet for and against. Bookmakers make good steady cake on the vig if they balance the amount of bets they have for and against on each game, but that's getting into minutia. Still fun to look at the befores and afters, though.

These days, with Draft Kings and others of their ilk allowing folks to bet on pretty much anything that moves, I wonder if women's lacrosse will begin to be handicapped. "Anything that moves" reminds me of an anecdote from Henry Hill or some other mobster from some book about mob life where it was related that gambling was a mainstay of everyday life for wiseguys. Something along the lines of seeing two birds on a telephone wire and betting on which one would fly first. Too funny. Anyway--I have asked for a website that may have lines for women's D1 under the men's post further down. We'll see if a link is produced.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Are there any members who frequent this Women’s D1 board who have never played or coached lacrosse, and who have never had children who played lacrosse? My guess would be No—but that’s why I’m asking. And on the heel of that question, a broader follow up would be—how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

[Laxfan500]

Are there any members who frequent this Women’s D1 board who have never played or coached lacrosse, and who have never had children who played lacrosse? My guess would be No—but that’s why I’m asking. And on the heel of that question, a broader follow up would be—how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

By the way supposed to be almost 50 in chestnut hill Saturday . Any shot they play outside so spectators can watch ? Couldn’t get nicer weather ….as I said previously you never know how it’s gonna be in February . Weird to play inside when you don’t have to .

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Are there any members who frequent this Women’s D1 board who have never played or coached lacrosse, and who have never had children who played lacrosse? My guess would be No—but that’s why I’m asking. And on the heel of that question, a broader follow up would be—how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

By the way supposed to be almost 50 in chestnut hill Saturday . Any shot they play outside so spectators can watch ? Couldn’t get nicer weather ….as I said previously you never know how it’s gonna be in February . Weird to play inside when you don’t have to .

I agree with everything you said. I doubt they’ll change the venue at this late stage but what do I know.

[DMac]

how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

Maybe 2.
As much as wlax has grown it has not grabbed the attention of the casual fan, I'd bet that the vast majority (with a capital V) are connected to the game by someone in the family who plays/played (and many/most of them have no idea what's going on on the field). Further, once that family member is no longer playing way too many of those fans disappear and no longer have any interest in the game (have experienced this with fathers whose daughters played). The "new game" has a much better chance of grabbing some casual fans but there's still plenty of shivering when women's lacrosse is mentioned in sports discussions. How many football (15 minutes of football in a 60 minute game that takes 3+ hrs to play) fans actually ever played football? You don't get that kind of fan for wlax.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

Maybe 2.
As much as wlax has grown it has not grabbed the attention of the casual fan, I'd bet that the vast majority (with a capital V) are connected to the game by someone in the family who plays/played (and many/most of them have no idea what's going on on the field). Further, once that family member is no longer playing way too many of those fans disappear and no longer have any interest in the game (have experienced this with fathers whose daughters played). The "new game" has a much better chance of grabbing some casual fans but there's still plenty of shivering when women's lacrosse is mentioned in sports discussions. How many football (15 minutes of football in a 60 minute game that takes 3+ hrs to play) fans actually ever played football? You don't get that kind of fan for wlax.

Thanks DMac. Interesting observations. You obviously know whereof you speak. You’re a kinda sorta fan to women’s lacrosse in a sense, right? You knew the men’s game but then you discovered the women’s game and grew to like it though you were initially skeptical.

[Brownlax]

Has anyone else heard that UVA has lost a bunch of players who recently quit the team?

[wlaxphan20]

Has anyone else heard that UVA has lost a bunch of players who recently quit the team?

Oh jeez, no I haven't heard anything about it. Do you know if it was mostly upper or underclassmen? Or if it was it pretty evenly spread?

[8meterPA]

Are there any members who frequent this Women’s D1 board who have never played or coached lacrosse, and who have never had children who played lacrosse? My guess would be No—but that’s why I’m asking. And on the heel of that question, a broader follow up would be—how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

I'm thinking there is just 1

[hmmm]

Are there any members who frequent this Women’s D1 board who have never played or coached lacrosse, and who have never had children who played lacrosse? My guess would be No—but that’s why I’m asking. And on the heel of that question, a broader follow up would be—how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

I'm thinking there is just 1

Yes I’m guessing ONW is the only person on here that fits that profile. More power to him.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Are there any members who frequent this Women’s D1 board who have never played or coached lacrosse, and who have never had children who played lacrosse? My guess would be No—but that’s why I’m asking. And on the heel of that question, a broader follow up would be—how many total fans of women’s lacrosse would you guess have never played, coached or had kids play lacrosse?

I'm thinking there is just 1

Yes I’m guessing ONW is the only person on here that fits that profile. More power to him.

Maybe 2.
As much as wlax has grown it has not grabbed the attention of the casual fan, I'd bet that the vast majority (with a capital V) are connected to the game by someone in the family who plays/played (and many/most of them have no idea what's going on on the field). Further, once that family member is no longer playing way too many of those fans disappear and no longer have any interest in the game (have experienced this with fathers whose daughters played). The "new game" has a much better chance of grabbing some casual fans but there's still plenty of shivering when women's lacrosse is mentioned in sports discussions. How many football (15 minutes of football in a 60 minute game that takes 3+ hrs to play) fans actually ever played football? You don't get that kind of fan for wlax.

As DMac writes here, there may be another one. It is strange to me that there aren't more fans just from discovering the sport like I did, by flipping around the channels and happening upon a game and getting hooked. Like DMac said, "How many football fans actually ever played football? You don't get that kind of fan for wlax." He's right. But it's still odd to me that an exciting fast moving sport like women's lacrosse doesn't have more fans. Not that I really care how many fans the sport has as long as they keep playing the sport.