Schadenfreude - Duke vs. Hopkins NCAA lax title game

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Sorry, but unlike most I'm going to say I'd rather have seen Duke win.  Johns Hopkins winning reinforces everything that's wrong with the lax establishment and their rating systems.  While Duke was rated number 1, there was some justification for them having a high rating.  There was no justification for Hopkins to be so highly rated other than pure southern bias.

While I dislike the media darlings that Duke have become, they at least earned their on-field status.  While the Duke players aren't the angels that the media are now portraying them as, I'm willing to give them credit for their skill.

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82]Sorry, but unlike most I'm going to say I'd rather have seen Duke win.  Johns Hopkins winning reinforces everything that's wrong with the lax establishment and their rating systems.  While Duke was rated number 1, there was some justification for them having a high rating.  There was no justification for Hopkins to be so highly rated other than pure southern bias.

While I dislike the media darlings that Duke have become, they at least earned their on-field status.  While the Duke players aren't the angels that the media are now portraying them as, I'm willing to give them credit for their skill.[/quote]
I agree, Jeff.  I'm not sure I'd call it "southern bias"--just a deeply-flawed selection/seeding criteria.  Fred's nailed it succinctly time and again over on laxpower.  The question now is:  Will anyone step up to changing it?

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote Jeff Hopkins '82]Sorry, but unlike most I'm going to say I'd rather have seen Duke win.  Johns Hopkins winning reinforces everything that's wrong with the lax establishment and their rating systems.  While Duke was rated number 1, there was some justification for them having a high rating.  There was no justification for Hopkins to be so highly rated other than pure southern bias.

While I dislike the media darlings that Duke have become, they at least earned their on-field status.  While the Duke players aren't the angels that the media are now portraying them as, I'm willing to give them credit for their skill.[/quote]
I agree, Jeff.  I'm not sure I'd call it "southern bias"--just a deeply-flawed selection/seeding criteria.  Fred's nailed it succinctly time and again over on laxpower.  The question now is:  Will anyone step up to changing it?[/quote]

That's what I'm afraid of.  Hopkins winning the final can easily be used to justify that "the system worked."

[BillCharlton]

In that case Tambroni should do everything he can to upgrade the strength of schedule. Why can't we replace the likes of Binghamton, Colgate, Army, and Notre Dame with Hopkins, Virginia, or Maryland? Georgetown, Navy, or North Carolina would also be a significant upgrade. If we scheduled two or three strong Southern teams (even if we had to play them on the road or a neutral site like the Carrier Dome) and Syracuse every year, and the Ivies don't stink the way they did this season, we would have the opportunity to get a fair seed. As a fan I would much rather see these games than another 19-4 blowout of Binghamton. Tougher competition in my opinion would also leave us better prepared for the tournament.

[ugarte]

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82]That's what I'm afraid of.  Hopkins winning the final can easily be used to justify that "the system worked."[/quote]
I don't think anyone who takes the game seriously thinks that. JHU beat Duke by the same score and margin of Duke's victory over us after playing the early game on Saturday against a semifinal opponent that couldn't score in the proverbial whorehouse. I don't think there is any doubt in anyone's mind that - at worst - there are three teams that could win or lose based on how their breakfasts agreed with them on gameday.

After the final I am more convinced that ever that we had the best team in the country this year.

*sigh*

[ebilmes]

[quote Al DeFlorio]
I missed it, but my wife said one of the TV announcers (Quint?) gave it to Pressler during halftime.  I've heard enough whining about him being "forced to resign" and how unfairly he was treated. His team was out of control, and he did nothing to fix it, as far as I can tell.[/quote]

I was so happy to have caught this part of the halftime broadcast. They had a lengthy taped interview with Pressler in which he just came off as the poor coach who unfairly lost his job and is now trying to tell the truth so his players will have their honor restored. (He has a book coming out in June.) They sent it back to Quint Kessenich (?), and one of the anchors asked Quint if he thought Pressler was the "fall guy," and Quint (shockingly) said as part of his answer that he thought action should have been taken against some of the players by benching them for either the Virginia (?) or Cornell games. He made the point that there had to be something in the underage drinking/strippers mix that violated team rules. The anchor did a sort of "Okay, Quint" and it ended.

ESPN's coverage of all this just sickened me. As much as Hopkins was seeded too highly, I loved seeing them win today. If it couldn't be us, it shouldn't be Duke.

[Roy 82]

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82]
That's what I'm afraid of.  Hopkins winning the final can easily be used to justify that "the system worked."[/quote]

I agree, but how can a guy named J. Hopkins root against his almost-namesake?

Let's discuss this at our 25th reunion.

[jtwcornell91]

[quote BillCharlton]

In that case Tambroni should do everything he can to upgrade the strength of schedule. Why can't we replace the likes of Binghamton, Colgate, Army, and Notre Dame with Hopkins, Virginia, or Maryland? Georgetown, Navy, or North Carolina would also be a significant upgrade. If we scheduled two or three strong Southern teams (even if we had to play them on the road or a neutral site like the Carrier Dome) and Syracuse every year, and the Ivies don't stink the way they did this season, we would have the opportunity to get a fair seed. As a fan I would much rather see these games than another 19-4 blowout of Binghamton. Tougher competition in my opinion would also leave us better prepared for the tournament.[/quote]

There should be a postseason tournament pitting the two top-five RPI teams with the worst strength of schedule.  They can play two games and agree to each win one, which will improve both teams' NCAA seeding.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote Roy 82][quote Jeff Hopkins '82]
That's what I'm afraid of.  Hopkins winning the final can easily be used to justify that "the system worked."[/quote]

I agree, but how can a guy named J. Hopkins root against his almost-namesake?

Let's discuss this at our 25th reunion.[/quote]

I can root against them.  It's just difficult cheering "Hopkins sucks!"  ::help::