The Seeds of Discontent

On By MikeIn lacrosse9 Comments

When the field for the NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was revealed, many lacrosse fans were left scratching their heads. As with NCAA tournaments in every sport, there was the usual questioning of which teams were invited to play and which ones were left to prepare for next year. This year, though, the most talk wasn’t about the fate of “bubble teams;” it was about the arrangement of the teams at the top.

Cornell got hosedCornell ended the regular season undefeated and atop both the media and coaches’ polls. The champions of the Ivy League had already defeated the two polls’ consensus #2, Duke, so it appeared that they would be the no-brainer #1 seed in the tournament. The selection committee, however, had other ideas. Duke received the #1 seed. Cornell fell all the way to #4, behind not only Duke but Virginia and Johns Hopkins as well.

Now, I have no problem with the media and coaches’ polls not being part of the committee’s selection or seeding criteria. They shouldn’t be. In fact, I don’t necessarily mind that Cornell is not the #1 seed, although they’d be my choice. I do have a problem with Cornell being seeded behind a 4-loss Johns Hopkins team, though. Maryland head coach Dave Cottle sheds some light on how that happened:

“There is a formula for seeding the tournament that is 50 percent results, 30 percent strength of schedule and 20 percent RPI,” said Maryland head coach Dave Cottle, a member of the selection committee.

I won’t go into the obvious conflict of interest involved with having tournament coaches as part of the selection committee. It’s a sham, but that’s not my point for today. For now, my objection is to the enormous weight placed on the strength of schedule and the over-reliance on the formula.

This won’t be a very popular argument. There are some people who feel that the world revolves around schedule strength. But there are two things that stick out as serious flaws of making simple strength of schedule a 30% chunk of the selection and seeding formula.

First, strength of schedule is already factored into the RPI. 75% of the RPI formula consists of opponent winning percentage plus opponent’s opponent winning percentage. By adding a separate strength of schedule component, you end up counting it twice. The end result is that the team’s winning percentage, which really should be the biggest factor in the formula, is marginalized.

Second, strength of schedule as a stand-alone measurement is meaningless. Having a tough schedule isn’t a team accomplishment. You don’t have to be good to lose to a top team; anyone can do that. Should a loss to Duke be more beneficial than a win over someone like Air Force or Canisius? It is now. If a team goes 0-14 but played the top 14 teams in the nation, that team will have the #1 strength of schedule. That means that a winless team gets 30% of the formula in determining the tournament’s top seed. Yes, I know you aren’t eligible for the tournament with a losing record. But does it make sense to use a system where that scenario is even theoretically possible?

Even if the formula is tweaked, that won’t solve all the problems there are in the selection system. When you read Cottle’s comments in the linked article as well as the comments of other committee members in other stories on the same subject, you get the sense that they were bound by the formula. If that’s the case, then what on earth is the point of having a committee? It doesn’t take a committee of lacrosse experts to churn out formula results. You can do that with any random guy off the street who’s handy with a spreadsheet. The committee is either obligated to seed teams according to their formula score or they like to project that image in order to justify their selections. Neither condition is appealing.

It’s never a good idea to sacrifice common sense for the “objectivity” of a math problem that is inherently flawed.

All Good Things…

On By MikeIn lacrosse, navy lacrosse1 Comment

Navy’s season ended Sunday evening in the first round of the NCAA lacrosse tournament with a 12-8 defeat at the hands of North Carolina.

Recaps: Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, Annapolis Capital

It’s a hard loss to take. Navy outshot UNC, but after scoring 4 goals in the first ten minutes, the Mids’ offense could only muster 4 goals out of 31 shots over the last three quarters. North Carolina trailed 6-5 at the half, but came out in the 3rd quarter playing a zone defense that seemed to catch the Mids off guard. The offense never recovered.

So, thus endeth the season. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I’ll ever call 11-4 with a Patriot League championship a disappointment. That said, I admit that I had higher hopes than a first-round loss for the senior seasons of Dingman, Billy Looney, Dow, Barger, Wallace, and Wallin. I really thought that this group had a chance to go far. And before I turn into Debbie Downer, in a way they did. They are, of course, the winningest class in Navy lacrosse history. I guess I just wanted more for these guys. They were a big part of what’s become a renaissance for Navy lacrosse. But as the saying goes, deserve’s got nothing to do with it. In the end, five UNC goals in the 4th quarter is all that matters.

One line in Bill Wagner’s recap caught my eye:

Meade knew it would be important for Navy to create a half-field, six-on-six type of game and prevent North Carolina from scoring in unsettled situations. His worst fears came to fruition as the Tar Heels got goals off fastbreaks, substitutions and rebounds.

Once upon a time, that was Navy’s bread and butter. The 2004 team lived off of running teams into the ground by sending in wave after wave of fresh-legged midfielders and scoring goals in transition. What happened to that? What’s changed? Not that there’s anything wrong with settling down and playing 6-on-6 lacrosse, of course. It’s simply a matter of style, and there’s obviously more than one way to win. But in three years, Navy went from the running and gunning team in lacrosse to a team where you hold your breath on every clear attempt. We’ve won both ways, so I’m not complaining as much as I am curious about the apparent shift in coaching philosophy. The only thing I can think of is perhaps the coaches don’t feel that the midfield is quite as deep, but that is just pure speculation.

Speaking of depth, there are a couple of obvious questions that need to be answered about next year’s team. Who’s next on the Ray Finnegan goalie production line, and how are we going to replace the sheer goal-scoring production of Ian Dingman? The answer to the first question will probably be Matt Coughlin, a rising junior who was a two-time All-American in high school and standout at NAPS. At 6-2, 209, he’ll definitely be the biggest goalie we’ll have seen between the pipes in Annapolis in a long time (should he win the job, of course). The answer to the second one might seem less apparent, but with Ian Dingman’s “Adventures in Commissioning” it’s a problem we’ve faced before. When Dingman sat out the 2005 season, John Tillman turned to his midfielders to pick up the slack. With an offense designed around Jon Birsner feeding cutting and slashing midfielders, Navy scored 157 goals in 2005 with all three starting midfielders and Birsner earning All-America honors. If that’s the route that Tillman wants to take the offense next year, he should have the horsepower to do it with Basil Daratsos, Terence Higgins, and Tim Paul.  Bruce Nechanicky looked like he was on his way to a fantastic season before going down to injury against Georgetown. He would fill Birsner’s role nicely. Nick Mirabito and his team-leading 44 points returns on the attack. If Tim Paul switches from attack back to the midfield next season, Nechanicky and Mirabito would probably be joined by Matt Guido or Matt Bitter. Jordan DiNola and Brendan Teague will once again anchor a solid defense.

With Bucknell and Colgate on the rise in the Patriot League, 2008 will be a very entertaining year.

Hello, Cleveland

On By MikeIn bowls, football, navy football1 Comment

There aren’t too many examples in the sports world of the three service academies acting together as a single unit. Considering what it takes to make it happen, it’s usually a pretty big deal when it does. And nothing brings service academies together like… the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

The commission has brought together the three service academies and the Mid-American Conference in a game to be played annually at Cleveland Browns Stadium, called the Patriot Bowl. Rumored for more than a year now, the inaugural First Merit Patriot Bowl will be played on September 1st at 6pm and will feature Army vs. Akron in the season opener for both schools.

First Merit signed a 3-year deal to be the title sponsor of the game, which is scheduled to take place over Labor Day weekend each year. Navy already has games scheduled on that weekend over the next two years (Towson in 2008 and Hawaii in 2009), so assuming that each service academy will rotate through once in the next three years, expect some schedule juggling (I’m looking at you, Towson). The MAC representative each year will be one of the confrence’s Ohio schools in an effort to maximize the game’s attendance. Attendance is a concern, too, since none of the MAC schools really set the world on fire in that category. But the commission hopes to draw 30,000 for the game by inviting teams with a national following (the service academies), and making the game the centerpiece of a weekend sports festival featuring “patriotic, civic events, including a tailgate, Cleveland Firefighters vs. Cleveland Police flag football pre-game match and spectacular halftime show.” 

As far as Navy as concerned, it looks like a pretty good deal. We already play a couple of MAC teams every year anyway. If it’s only once every three years that one of those games is played in Cleveland, at a big venue, as part of a weekend festival, and with a trophy on the line (the “Cleary Trophy,” not to be confused with the ECAC hockey trophy of the same name), then it isn’t exactly a big hassle. Assuming, of course, that it’s the MAC team giving up a home date and not Navy. It almost certainly will be, since they’d want to count that attendance figure toward their averages.

No word yet on TV coverage.

Game Day

On By MikeIn lacrosse, navy lacrosseLeave a comment

Tommy Wallin and the Mids hit the road to take on North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA lacrosse tournament today at 5:00. Television coverage will be handled by ESPNU, while Pete Medhurst has the radio call on WNAV beginning at 4:45. Gary Lambrecht takes a look at today’s games involving Baltimore-area teams here. 

Navy game notes

UNC game notes

Meanwhile, Lambrecht also wrote an excellent piece on life as a defensive midfielder. It’s a great look at the evolution of the game.

Bowl Game in Washington?

On By MikeIn bowls, football, navy football1 Comment

The Washington Times broke the story last week that the District of Columbia Bowl Committee is almost ready to submit their application to the NCAA to put a bowl game in RFK Stadium as early as 2008. And to top it off, they want Navy in it every year.

If you think back to where the program was 5-6 years ago, the state of the program today is a small miracle. In 2002, Navy football was coming off of a 3-year record of 3-30. The last Commander in Chief’s Trophy win was in 1981. The stadium was slipping. People debated whether or not the program even belonged in I-A. Today, the team’s record over the last three years is 27-10, we’ve won 4 straight CIC Trophies, the stadium is gorgeous, one bowl game has already been specifically created with Navy in mind (Poinsettia), and now we’re on the verge of a second. Can you believe it? I know that there will be those who turn up their noses at this DC game, but I hope that they keep it all in perspective. This is a great thing for Navy football.

RFK Stadium

A lot of people think that RFK Stadium is a dump. I will reluctantly agree, although I still think it’s a great place to watch a football game. And while it might not be in the greatest neighborhood either, the long-term future of this game (should it happen) is probably at the Nationals’ new ballpark, part of a larger redevelopment plan in SE.  I’d love to see the game played across the Anacostia River at DC United’s planned stadium at Poplar Point, but as of now that facility will only hold 27,000; not enough for NCAA certification.

In addition to Navy, there are several conferences who would probably love to be a part of this game. The first one that comes to mind is the ACC, which would almost certainly like to find a new game so that it can drop Boise. The ACC, Big East, MAC, and Big Ten all have schools within 200 miles of Washington.

If this game does happen, I doubt that Navy would commit to it every year. I imagine a rotation between this game, the Poinsettia Bowl, and then a third year where we see what kind of one-off arrangements can be made (like Charlotte). East coast, west coast, wild card. Pure speculation on my part, of course, but it’d be tough to beat that arrangement.

What on earth is a “Birddog?”

On By MikeIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Here in the South, a “bird dog” is just another name for a Pointer. Pointers are a hunter’s best friend; dogs that track game birds and point at them so the hunter can find them. Like those hunters employing their trusty canines, the Naval Academy had a nationwide system of “pointers” in the 1950s and 60s led by the legendary “Rip” Miller. Instead of game fowl, though, these scouts looked for athletic talent. Scouts would identify high school athletes and alert Navy coaches, who could then begin the process of recruiting them. The similarity to the relationship between the hunter and his dog earned this scouting network the nickname, “Birddogs.” The Birddogs were once labeled by Time Magazine as “perhaps the most extensive recruiting service in college football. ”

Over time, as information became more readily available and college football became less of a regional affair and more of a national one, “Birddogs” became obsolete. Players can now mail their own highlight tapes to coaches, and they do it to schools across the country. While civilian talent scouting might be a thing of the past, the spirit of the Birddog as a far-flung advocate for Navy athletics remains, and is the inspiration behind this blog.

Or maybe it’s just to heckle from the balcony. It’s what the internet does best!

Statler & Waldorf

So there you have it. Hopefully a couple more “Birddogs” will catch on and have some fun with this. Happy reading!