Tournament format

[jmazz]

Will the tournament feature a rest day inbetween games or will games be played straight through?

[Sonny]

I believe the tournament will have a rest day on Thursday with no Div. A or Div. B action. MDIA Tournament Director Chris Larson should chime in with the tournament schedule soon.

[Chris Larson]

The schedule is at this point tentative.

A Division play: Tues (1st round), Wed (Quarterfinals & consolation), Fri (Semifinals & consolation) , Sat (Finals).

B Division play: Wed (Quarterfinals), Thurs (Semifinals and consolation), Fri (Consolation), and Sat (Finals).

[reLAX10]

Why did we decide on a rest day this year?

I am just wondering because nationals is always during Illinois's finals week, although it hasn't mattered since 1999. Back in the late 90s I know Illinois was pro playing on sundays to have one less day of finals cut out. Now with a rest day, it really cuts into our finals week. If Illinois is fortunate to come out as GRLC champs, its players will have to take its finals all on fri, sat and mon before the tourney and not be able to leave town until after 10 pm on that monday night. That is assuming professors allow them change their finals.

So I was just wondering about the rest day, also is this the first year of the rest day, because I have been fairly disconnected from the national tournament the last couple years.

Thanks,
Brady

[Bluevelvet]

There was a rest day in 2001. Then it made its return in 2004. Without the rest day, the quality of play in the final suffered greatly due to playing 4 games in 4 days.
The clicher was the UCSB v. CSU final in 2003 [(6-4 CSU) very lethargic game]. Both teams were exhausted after playing tough semi final games in 90 degree heat and and 90 plus humidity.
Almost every team has a story similar to Illinois. BC has complained for 2 years about finals. Michigan is finished with school and must bring their team back from summer vacation. UCSB (quarter system) is in the middle of midterms. etc etc etc...

[DanGenck]

Any chance that there will be some "prime time" games during the National Tournament? It would be awesome to have a night game in there if possible...

[John Paul]

We are looking into the possibility of night games on Friday and Saturday. The only field with lights is the stadium, and we're not sure if they're sufficient for CSTV. We'll see.

The first year we went to the tournament it was earlier than it is now, and it was right in the middle of our finals. It's a tough situation, but with some good advanced planning, it's manageable. We had as many guys take their finals early as possible, and the rest we proctored in St. Louis. We just used a meeting room in the hotel for a couple of sessions of final exams. We faxed them in to the professors when they were done. They all had very particular guidelines about how we received the exams, timing, how we returned them, etc , but it worked out fine.

[LAX SAMURAI]

I was actually hoping this topic would come up. I'm seeking advice for how to approach the school's administration about playing in the tourney during finals week? Any ideas or previous experiences, good or unsuccessful, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

[reLAX10]

At Illinois, in previous years, players are given a letter with the dates they will miss at the beginning of the season. They are then told to meet with their teachers at the beginning of the semester to set up a conflict exam ahead of time. Most teachers will be very accomodating as long as you tell them ahead of time. This year, since I am a TA in teh math department, I have also offered to administer finals for the teachers at nationals if they would prefer the player to take the test at the same time and not have to write a conflict exam. In previous years, 1999 being the last time, all our players were able to move their tests. This year with the tournament starting on Tuesday instead of Wednesday like the last time we were in it could make it a little tougher if we are fortunate enough to make it to Blaine.

Hope to see everyone in Blaine with my full team

Brady

[onpoint]

Best thing to do is be honest with your teachers, I wouldn't even approach the administration. But you have to go up to them right now and let them know. Say, "I play in a school sponsored sport and I may not be here for finals. What are your suggestions to how I can be sure to schedule my exams in a way that is fair to both me and my classmates?" Three options are: 1. Take them before you leave. 2. Take them while you are in Minnesota (if you have a trainer or someone school sponsored, they can act as the proctor). 3. Take them when you get back.

Most teachers are pretty understanding and our club sports department would write us mass letters with everyone on the team (including trainers, managers, etc.) on them that indicated to the teachers that we were going to be gone on certain days and to make any concessions they could with regard to academics. The key is to get on your teachers now and let them know so that you are not springing it on them at the last second. I never really was one to go introduce myself to the teacher, etc., but on the first day of class every spring I would go up and explain my situation. Usually, they are very understanding. My other suggestion is to hook up with your club sports department and figure out a way for them to help you "excuse" your abscences. This goes for regular season trips too.

[Chris Larson]

Because the Championship Tournament falls during our Finals week as well, we have to make an official petition to the University's Committee on Educational Policy which includes a description of the event, history of the team, success of the team, etc. Our team leadership and our Rec Sports manager then must also make a brief presentation to this committee. This is about a 10 week process since the committee meets irregularly at best, so we get this started in the fall.

CL

[cjwilhelmi]

We had days and days of meetings here about this issue. I ended up meeting with a couple of the VP's of the school and the AD about it (we don't have a club sports dept). End result is that we have to switch all of our finals to monday and tuesday morning. No taking exams the weekend before, no proctoring, no taking exams late.

My best advice is to start talking to people now and find out who you need to go through. If its anything like our school its going to be a long process.

[CSUalum32]

as a player from 01-03 i saw the off day the first year then dropped the next two. in 2001 we saw a great week of lacrosse with upsets, blow outs and close games. the championship game that year was the highest out of the past four years. i think it was 16-7, the csu vs byu semis game that year was probly one of the best i was a part of, an exciting game right till the finish. i am sure that day of rest contributed to the players condition for the game. in 2002, another good week of lacrosse. i dont think the elimination of the off day had a huge effect this year, the championships were still exciting, with close games. in 2003 you could see the teams dragging towards the end of the week, as mentioned before the championship game was a low scoring battle, with both teams exhausted. imo i am glad the brought the off day back, when you look at the field of competition now compared to the competition of just a few years back there are better teams and more teams that are capable of playing at a higher level. with more teams becoming better it takes more to advance on. there are no more blow outs in the quarterfinals anymore, it pretty much takes everything a team has to advance on, this comes along with the aspect of depth. overall the off day is a great idea more advantages that disadvantages.

Granted yeah getting the time off of school is tough. we had a deal where a school employee, a trainer would adminster the exam just like we were back at school. it was hard to take tests out there cause we all know lax is the only thing on everyone's mind for that week. try to talk to teachers early in the semester, explain the situation. our profs were generally pretty understanding. could very from school to school though.

however, good luck