Div B Breaking News: Calvin is out... Southwestern is in!

[Sonny]

What a break for Southwestern.

That certainly is another way to spin it.

[Jolly Roger]

How about all the vendors who made T-shirts, etc. I'll bet they got started as soon as the field was announced. What are they going to do with all the stuff that lists Calvin?

This is 2 years in a row that a team has dropped out of the tournament. This does not reflect well on the B Division.

Don't expect the B tournament to expand anytime soon.

[John Paul]

Answer to the question is: Yes, the CCLA loses the B Division automatic bid next year. Every bid to the tournament, whether it is an automatic bid or an at-large bid, is treated the same way. It is an honor to receive a bid, and it is expected that any MCLA team that receives a bid will attend without hesitation.

The CCLA Board, and then the MCLA Board, will figure out what penalties Calvin will receive after the tournament.

[John Paul]

How about all the vendors who made T-shirts, etc. I'll bet they got started as soon as the field was announced. What are they going to do with all the stuff that lists Calvin?

That's part of the issue. Laxworld had already ordered 1300 shirts that will now have Calvin on them instead of Southwestern. The programs were also already at the printer, although I think the organizers were able to make the changes there just under the wire.

I don't want to use this forum to get into all of the reasons this is unacceptable, but there are a lot of them.

Fortunately Southwestern was in a position to step up and take the spot.

[More Cowbell]

The only way the CCLA-B will lost their AQ bid is if Calvin wins. Salem state won their conference, and the were not allowed to compete this year. That is how it goes.

My undertanding is that the PCLL-B had no AQ this year...regardless of who won the league

[Hi-Line Lax]

I can't say that this makes me happy at all. I would have expected better things from Calvin, especially since they've been to both B tournaments so far. This does not only reflect poorly on them, but to the entire B division as well. I've been a strong advocate for the legitimacy of our league since we began play in Div B, but two years in a row of teams missing out on the National Tournament is pretty frustrating and hard to swallow.
I guess I'll have 25 hours on the bus this weekend to think over a move to Div A...

[PNWLaxer]

What is the point in playing an entire season when the ultimate prize is going to be turned down in the end? Why pay dues, practice all year, play hard all spring and then say no when Nationals comes around? If you know your team is not going to play in May then don't play in March and April.

Regardless if this is an at-large team or not it is complete BS for a team to turn down the place at the year end tournament. Precident was set by Salem St so yes the CCLA should lose their AQ but there needs to be harsh penalties for Calvin as well.

This Association has worked hard over the past years to straighten themselves out and look professional yet some teams/individuals are not stepping up to the plate and being accountable for themselves.

I could use a lot more colorful language but I know that will not fly and I am sure my digust and disappointment are laid out clearly above.

[OAKS]

that's the breaks....you might be fortunate in the fact that calvin was an at large and not an AQ, so they didn't have enough time to prepare, but that wish could or could not get granted

I'd say that being ranked highly most of the year and being in the hunt for an at-large bid should have a team much more prepared to make the trip to Dallas than a team winning the AQ. It's happened quite a few times in the past few years on the A side where a team unexpectedly won their conference and had to turn around get the squad out to nationals in a week or two.

[Beta]

It's happened quite a few times in the past few years on the A side where a team unexpectedly won their conference and had to turn around get the squad out to nationals in a week or two.

::cough::
2004
::cough::
GT
::cough::

[bste_lax]

that's the breaks....you might be fortunate in the fact that calvin was an at large and not an AQ, so they didn't have enough time to prepare, but that wish could or could not get granted

I'd say that being ranked highly most of the year and being in the hunt for an at-large bid should have a team much more prepared to make the trip to Dallas than a team winning the AQ. It's happened quite a few times in the past few years on the A side where a team unexpectedly won their conference and had to turn around get the squad out to nationals in a week or two.

Think about Utah's turn around two years ago. They didn't think they were in but then CSU was found ineligible a couple days later and they came up with something.

[Andy Sharp]

The Calvin lacrosse team was surely honored to get recognized as a contender and receive the offer, but regretfully declined the offer since we would be missing those who scored 73 of our 98 goals, 9 of our 11 starters from conference, and 13 of our 17 upperclassmen. The dates of this year’s postponed tournament where more difficult than ever with exams on the day of the 1st round and quarter finals and our graduation ceremony on championship day. Believe me I questioned each player's commitment and in the end, this was just how it worked out.

I'll take another look at the by-laws on www.mcla.us and find out the rules that deal with AQs and ALs. Oh wait . . .
The way I see it, Automatic Qualifiers represent their conference, while At Larges represent themselves. The CCLA had no bearing on Calvin's ability to attend, other than postponing the conference championship to 9 days prior to nationals which caused the flight costs go up a couple hundred to $478, and should not be punished.

Step back for a second, this is a team from a school 1/10th the size of UofM, who practice Jan-Mar on a 50'x100' b-ball court, where 17 of the 31 never played lacrosse before college, and a coach who does all he can to help a team for a whopping $99 a week during season. The Calvin lacrosse team has overcome many obstacles to stay competitive, who knows what the future holds, but step back and consider if this is something that is worth beating a team/conference up over. Southwestern, a remarkably successful team from an even smaller school has filled the slot and everything will go on as planned.

In the future, this issue could be addressed by officially asking teams after the final poll is tallied if they intend to attend and waiting to declare the field of teams until each team has accepted. It could be more exciting and climatic for teams to gather waiting by the phone for the big call instead of hitting the refresh button. There would then be a firm deadline to prepare for, between 9&10pm on Sunday night, rather than the anguish we went through of counting bodies on Monday and having to initiate our regrettable pronouncement.

If anyone wants me to fix their LaxWorld t-shirt, I'll be at the tourney with a Sharpie marker in my pocket ready to make the necessary update.

[bullhighutewoozgriffclam]

wow.

i can see both sides here. it would make sense, due to the numerous teams that have declined thier invitation to the big dance, to have some sort of acceptance call or post or IM.

i feel bad for all those kids on calvin's squad that worked their butts off this season.

i also feel bad for those administrators for the championship that are scrambling as i type (maybe not, it's a little late).

tuff sicheeashon.

maybe well get to play southwestern.

we will just have to see.

[BigheadTodd]

The dates of this year’s postponed tournament where more difficult than ever with exams on the day of the 1st round and quarter finals and our graduation ceremony on championship day. Believe me I questioned each player's commitment and in the end, this was just how it worked out.

I think that if there is any good reason for Calvin, this is it. The tourney was moved at a relatively late date. alot of teams have the resources to make that change, but alot don't. Some teams have a person who can proctor (I miss police academy)exams, but obviously some don't. Alot of teams could spend close to $500 per ticket for air transportation, some can't. One option would be to get a few 15 passenger vans, but there are some people that would attack that plan as well.
a note on the utah situation a few years back, a big reason why they were able to make that trip was the fact that mason is a Delta pilot and was able to get a deal.
In my opinion, all conferences should have kept the original dates for thier tourneys, and that would have given teams 2 whole weeks to make preparations.

[Kyle Berggren]

The question that keeps coming up in my mind is when did the Calvin players know this was an issue? Did they know they couldn't/wouldn't make it if they were given an at-large when the tournament date was changed? I find it hard to believe there wasn't any talk amongst the team about it. I can however believe the coaching staff could have been left out of the loop.

Flight Costs are irrelevant & shouldn't have even been brought up. If players wanted to make the trip, they'd find a way.

"step back and consider if this is something that is worth beating a team/conference up over."

You're right, the MCLA leadership has a few choices, but in the end they should be making choices based on the future of the MCLA as a whole, not Calvin or the CCLA. The two aren't mutually exclusive, but effectively Calvin has decided not to finish their season. I can't image another sport, conference, or event (other than golf) when a team would turn down an opportunity to compete for a national championship. A team that played their required OOC competition & was hovering in the polls around the 10 mark for the majority of the season.

It's a tough decision Andy, you're obviously the person that brought the bad news, not the person that said I'm not going. I'm sure you'd be there with 13 guys if you could. You're the face of Calvin here, so you'll take the brunt of it, but we know in the end you can only guide your players, you can't make the decisions for them.

[laxfan25]

My only question - would the same decision have been made if Calvin had beaten Dayton in the CCLA Championship game? The announcement of the at-large bid wasn't made too long after that game, like the next day.