Cornell lacrosse 2018

[BearLover]

This whole "good wins" and "bad losses" rationale is just nonsense, right? All of that is already built in to the RPI. Why do these random humans think they are smarter at evaluating SOS than a computer system designed to do so?

[billhoward]

This whole "good wins" and "bad losses" rationale is just nonsense, right? All of that is already built in to the RPI. Why do these random humans think they are smarter at evaluating SOS than a computer system designed to do so?

There is danger when a person considers being chair of the kennel club annual dinner, or NCAA seeding commmittee, to be the highlight of his or her life's work. You saw those people in Lake Placid with the 4-H ribbons reading, ECAC Hockey Tournament Committee / Staff.

[ugarte]

Smoke-filled rooms and backfill excuses. Not a big deal though. Cornell has played well in the Dome lately and I don't think the location will matter much.

[billhoward]

http://www.insidelacrosse.com/league/di/polls/18 Lax media poll has Cornell 7th (+2 positions) and Syracuse, our NCAA tournament host team 11th (+1). Maryland is the new #1, and former #1 Yale is down to 4th. Albany is 2, Duke 3.

The last team in the tournament, Villanova, is seeded 13th and ranked by the 17th. The teams left out are ranked:

13. Rutgers
14. UMass
15. TOSU
16. Bucknell

Five-loss teams to make the tournament and their poll rankings:

Code Select Expand


 8. Notre Dame 9-5
10. Virginia 12-5
11. Syracuse 8-6 <-- only 6-loss team
17. Villanova 10-5

http://www.insidelacrosse.com/league/usila/polls/18  USILA poll has Cornell 8, Syracuse 9. Notice the point differential:
 7. Hopkins   318
 8. Cornell   312  -06 vs 7th
 9. Syracuse  259  -53 vs 8th
10. Rutgers   241  -18 vs 9th

[George64]

http://www.insidelacrosse.com/league/di/polls/18 Lax media poll has Cornell 7th (+2 positions) and Syracuse, our NCAA tournament host team 11th (+1). Maryland is the new #1, and former #1 Yale is down to 4th. Albany is 2, Duke 3.

The last team in the tournament, Villanova, is seeded 13th and ranked by the 17th. The teams left out are ranked:

13. Rutgers
14. UMass
15. TOSU
16. Bucknell

Five-loss teams to make the tournament and their poll rankings:

Code Select Expand


 8. Notre Dame 9-5
10. Virginia 12-5
11. Syracuse 8-6 <-- only 6-loss team
17. Villanova 10-5

http://www.insidelacrosse.com/league/usila/polls/18  USILA poll has Cornell 8, Syracuse 9. Notice the point differential:
 7. Hopkins   318
 8. Cornell   312  -06 vs 7th
 9. Syracuse  259  -53 vs 8th
10. Rutgers   241  -18 vs 9th

FAKE NEWS!

[djk26]

Can't reach too much into this, but I found the contrast between Syracuse's reaction to the selection show:

https://twitter.com/CuseMLAX/status/993298170464497664

and Cornell's reaction:

https://twitter.com/CornellSports/status/993302647204663296

to be interesting.  There are multiple factors, including the fact that Cornell had played a game that day and Syracuse had not.  I am sure that both teams know they will have a tough opponent on Sunday.

[Jim Hyla]

Smoke-filled rooms and backfill excuses. Not a big deal though. Cornell has played well in the Dome lately and I don't think the location will matter much.

It will to our fans. If it didn't rain, I think we could have had a big crowd at home, much less for Sunday PM in Syracuse.

[dbilmes]

Cornell is offering free bus transportation to students, and $5 tickets.

[upprdeck]

shocking the school actually stepping up..

[billhoward]

shocking the school actually stepping up..

It's on TV. Cornell realizes even the Ivies are judged by student amenities. RIT has a river pool like at the Hawaiian resorts, only indoors. Arizona State has student condos around a party pool; the WSJ quoted a prof saying it's the nicest housing most students will have until their 40s. Marist chartered a plane to the women's first round NCAA basketball game: ~$30 for tickets, T-shirt, and the same-day flight out and back.

Or it's just the decent thing to do. Also, nobody is driving with alcohol in them.

[Swampy]

shocking the school actually stepping up..

It's on TV. Cornell realizes even the Ivies are judged by student amenities. RIT has a river pool like at the Hawaiian resorts, only indoors. Arizona State has student condos around a party pool; the WSJ quoted a prof saying it's the nicest housing most students will have until their 40s. Marist chartered a plane to the women's first round NCAA basketball game: ~$30 for tickets, T-shirt, and the same-day flight out and back.

Or it's just the decent thing to do. Also, nobody is driving with alcohol in them.

But one way or the other, it's really great the administration is doing this. It's something all alums interested in Cornell sports should get behind. Perhaps we can earmark contributions: e.g., to the McEneaney poetry scholarship fund or the McEneaney-Harkness indoor athletic field.

[djk26]

Were any ELFers at the league tournament games?  I read that the final had ~2600 fans.  That must have been below what the league wanted by having the games in New York.  How was the atmosphere? Was this experiment less than successful?

[Cop at Lynah]

No way in hell there was 2600 fans in the stands.  Huge failure having the ILT in NYC

[Swampy]

Were any ELFers at the league tournament games?  I read that the final had ~2600 fans.  That must have been below what the league wanted by having the games in New York.  How was the atmosphere? Was this experiment less than successful?

I was there.

On Friday night initially I was sitting in the midst of a bunch of Yale supporters. I was quite happy with this, as I thought Yale would be a better Sunday opponent for Cornell's chance to dance. It was quite cordial and spirited. Of course Yale crushed Penn, so one would expect a celebratory mood in the area for most of the game.

Then, most of the Yale supporters left, and the area around me was filled in with Cornell supporters. So I felt quite at home. I was happy to see the Cornell band was there -- the only band I noticed from the four schools. But the acoustics sucked. I couldn't even hear them playing "Davey." (But maybe that's just my aged hearing.) The mood was joyous, partly because Cornell led most of the game and was clearly better than Brown. But while Brown's tactic of face-guarding Teat and Cornell's willingness to allow it stirred up some conversation, it also made for a subdued atmosphere. With Brown trailing by only a couple of goals, there was a constant fear of disaster. Compared to Sunday's game, it was quite boring.

Sunday was a different matter. Cornell fans occupied what seemed to be about half the stands on the east side of the stadium (not to capacity), and I assumed Yale fans had similar occupancy at the other end of the field. With Cornell spanking Yale, the atmosphere near me was great. Lots of high-fives, organized cheers, standing ovations, etc. But I didn't see or hear any bands: I don't know if this was a matter of acoustics, with the bands at the other end of the field, or if no bands showed up for the game. There was no standing for the alma mater at halftime, so I assume it was the latter. Curious.

According to Wikipedia, the stadium's capacity is 17,000. But they only allowed seating on one side, which holds 10,500. This side has two distinct characteristics: it has a section having seats with backs and arms, and it is where the officials' table was set up. The stadium staff did not enforce tickets for the fancy seats (at least not on Sunday), so I was very happy I had sprung only for GA but was able to upgrade the seating on Sunday when I showed up with grand kids. (Ivy students got in for free, but the ticketing staff wouldn't take the eleven-year-old's statement that he gets all A's on his report card as proof he goes to Harvard. Damn!) The officials' table was at the midfield stripe and in a canopy tent, which blocked the view of the field from the stands. So most fans sat around the forty-yard lines rather than at midfield.

As for success, I'm not sure what the Ivy League's goals were, so it's hard to say. Because fans left/arrived on Friday night, at any one time there would be fewer people than total attendance. On Sunday there was good Cornell attendance, about double of what I usually see at the away games I attend. (I live too far from Ithaca to go to home games.) But it's hard to assess total attendance from one's seat, and besides I'm not really skilled at making crowd-size estimates.

I watched the championship game on TV, and the announcers made the case that the league should continue the experiment for at least five years. Certainly some bugs can be worked out, and very little marketing was done this time. (How is it the Ivy League can't afford decent marketing?) So there is room for improvement. I was surprised to learn there are several nascent youth lacrosse organizations in the five boroughs, and if the sport keeps on growing this youth contingent should be substantially larger. (I think they also got in free.) Unfortunately, I think geography and within-school popularity of the sport will have a strong impact on future attendance: imagine a Penn-Dartmouth final.

[Beeeej]

Were any ELFers at the league tournament games?  I read that the final had ~2600 fans.  That must have been below what the league wanted by having the games in New York.  How was the atmosphere? Was this experiment less than successful?

I was there.

On Friday night initially I was sitting in the midst of a bunch of Yale supporters. I was quite happy with this, as I thought Yale would be a better Sunday opponent for Cornell's chance to dance. It was quite cordial and spirited. Of course Yale crushed Penn, so one would expect a celebratory mood in the area for most of the game.

Then, most of the Yale supporters left, and the area around me was filled in with Cornell supporters. So I felt quite at home. I was happy to see the Cornell band was there -- the only band I noticed from the four schools. But the acoustics sucked. I couldn't even hear them playing "Davey." The mood was joyous, partly because Cornell led most of the game and clearly better than Brown. But while Brown's tactic of face-guarding Teat and Cornell's willingness to allow it stirred up some conversation, it also made for a subdued atmosphere. With Brown trailing by only a couple of goals, there was a constant fear of disaster. Compared to Sunday's game, it was quite boring.

Sunday was a different matter. Cornell fans occupied what seemed to be about a quarter of the stadium (not filled to capacity), and I assumed Yale fans had similar occupancy at the other end of the field. With Cornell spanking Yale, the atmosphere near me was great. Lots of high-fives, organized cheers, standing ovations, etc. But I didn't see or hear any bands: I don't know if this was a matter of acoustics, with the bands at the other end of the field, or if no bands showed up for the game. There was no standing for the alma mater at halftime, so I assume it was the latter. Curious.

According to Wikipedia, the stadium's capacity is 17,000. But they only allowed seating on one side, which holds 10,500. This side has two distinct characteristics: it has a section having seats with backs and arms, and it is where the officials' table was set up. The stadium staff did not enforce tickets for the fancy seats (at least not on Sunday), so I was very happy I had sprung only for GA but was able to upgrade the seating on Sunday when I showed up with grand kids. (Ivy students got in for free, but the ticketing staff wouldn't take the eleven-year-old's statement that he gets all A's on his report card as proof he goes to Harvard. Damn!) The officials' table was at the midfield stripe and in a canopy tent, which blocked the view of the field from the stands. So most fans sat around the forty-yard lines rather than at midfield.

As for success, I'm not sure what the Ivy League's goals were, so it's hard to say. I watched the championship game on TV, and the announcers made the case that the league should continue the experiment for at least five years. Certainly some bugs can be worked out, and very little marketing was done. (How is it the Ivy League can't afford decent marketing?) I was surprised to learn there are several nascent youth lacrosse organizations in the five boroughs, and if the sport keeps on growing this youth contingent should be substantially larger. (I think they also got in free.) Unfortunately, I think geography and within-school popularity will have a strong impact on future attendance: imagine a Penn-Dartmouth final.

I just have a hard time understanding why they thought New York City would be a good idea when Columbia has no varsity men's lacrosse team (N.B. - they have a varsity women's team). Geographic center of the league? Maybe. But if there's a bright center to the Ivy League lacrosse community, you're on the planet it's farthest from.