2008 Lax World MCLA Division 1 Top 25 Poll (4/9/08) is out

[onpoint]

Wait, so what you're saying is that extenuating circumstances led to difficult conditions for three teams that traveled to your town to play you? I thought those were inexcusable in the MCLA

Myself, and our coach at the time did everything we could to get as many of those games played as possible. A 4 day downpour that causes severe flooding is different then a team that expects leniancy because they practice in cold weather all year round. One is adaptable, one is not.

P.S. If I remember correctly, UF was beating you guys, up 5-0 I think at one point. CSU didnt take the lead until the 4th quarter.

Haha. Good thing games aren't won in the first quarter. I misspoke, by the way, the final of that game was 18-12. So that makes the final 50 minutes of that game 18-7? If I recall, CSU ran away in the middle of the third quarter when the Florida downpour really started. We beat Va Tech 15-4 earlier in the day in a baseball outfield that was not suitable for wildlife, let alone a lacrosse game. Glory days aside, that trip was not exactly a ringing endorsement for tripping down to Tallahassee and isn't relevant to the conversation. Let's not act like the 'Noles were gracious hosts either, sorry that the truth hurts a little.

[nhoskins]

Wait, so what you're saying is that extenuating circumstances led to difficult conditions for three teams that traveled to your town to play you? I thought those were inexcusable in the MCLA

Myself, and our coach at the time did everything we could to get as many of those games played as possible. A 4 day downpour that causes severe flooding is different then a team that expects leniancy because they practice in cold weather all year round. One is adaptable, one is not.

P.S. If I remember correctly, UF was beating you guys, up 5-0 I think at one point. CSU didnt take the lead until the 4th quarter.

Haha. Good thing games aren't won in the first quarter. I misspoke, by the way, the final of that game was 18-12. So that makes the final 50 minutes of that game 18-7? If I recall, CSU ran away in the middle of the third quarter when the Florida downpour really started. We beat Va Tech 15-4 earlier in the day in a baseball outfield that was not suitable for wildlife, let alone a lacrosse game. Glory days aside, that trip was not exactly a ringing endorsement for tripping down to Tallahassee and isn't relevant to the conversation. Let's not act like the 'Noles were gracious hosts either, sorry that the truth hurts a little.

Still... you have to count that 18-12 loss by Fla in 2003 as a quality loss, especially because they were up 5-0 at one point. And therefore pollsters should move up this year's Fla team at least two spots

[onpoint]

FWIW, here's a snippet from the CSU end of season release in 2003. Not that I have that year on speed-dial.

Even when over a thousand miles away, the Rams could not escape the clutches of a very angry Mother Nature. The trip to Florida brought even more rain. Not “showers and drizzle” rain, either. This was serious, torrential downpour, monsoon season in India-type rain. The Friday night game against Virginia Tech was moved to Saturday in the morning to accommodate the two traveling teams. With no fields on the Florida State campus, the two teams moved to a baseball park in the city, hoping to find a patch of grass anywhere to get the game going. Unfortunately for Virginia Tech and CSU, the baseball outfield was really just mud disguised as grass and the turf quickly deteriorated as both teams took the field.

Despite the adverse conditions, Colorado State had no trouble with the Hokies and dispatched them by a score of 15-4. Waiting for the Rams in the wings were the Florida Gators, an up and coming team that was beginning to show the potential that would carry them all the way to an SELC championship and second round appearance in the USL-MDIA national tournament. After the emotional Gators jumped out to an early lead, the skies opened up. With the rain pouring down, it was Colorado State who looked used to the “swamp”- like conditions and the Rams coasted the rest of the way in. The team was led in large part by Kale Nelson’s superlative effort at attack and Dave Clark, who won approximately 80% of his face offs on the day. By the time the day was done, the tired and dirty Colorado State Rams had become the first team to ever win games against ranked teams in the same day. Their 18-12 win was as much for themselves and the Gators as it was for the Florida State Seminoles, Sunday’s alleged opponents, who were on the sidelines for the night game. CSU was hungry for the game the next day after getting an earful from the Seminoles the night before, but Florida State declined to play and left on spring vacation early.

Not only were the Rams disappointed not to play the Seminoles, but they were left with nowhere to play the Auburn Tigers, another team who had traveled to Tallahassee to take on Colorado State. In all, Colorado State had come to Florida on a budget of $20,000, and played two games in one day.

[Danny Hogan]

off topic but...

the way i remember the CSU/Tallahassee trip going down....FSU did quite a bit of scrambling to get games in at all for the out of town teams and when all the games would not be possible, they ate the cancellation (of course VT and CSU did too). we played in the outfield of a softball field?

one of the worst rain storms for the longest periods of time...

as far as the game....UF beat CSU!.....for a quarter....it was 6-2 Gators after one...8-8 at half 18-12 final....

...back on topic

over ranked under ranked no respect rabble rabble i'm done with it....

i think the west coast opinions would come across with a little less venom if anyone posted under their real names....

[UkraineNotWeak]

P.S. If I remember correctly, UF was beating you guys, up 5-0 I think at one point. CSU didnt take the lead until the 4th quarter.

Aye yi yi.

[nhoskins]

The solution to the problem is easy. Schedule multiple teams that are going to be in the Top 10 every year and you won't have this "non-recognition" problem. The more exposure you get amongst the voters, the more likely you will get the recognition you crave.

The other option is to beat all those teams. If you don't want to be subject to the whims of the pollsters, trying winning all your games. All the teams in that 8-16 range are there because they couldn't take care of business when they were supposed to (i.e. beating the teams below them and/or above them). If you're going to lose to unranked teams or teams below you, then pollsters have no choice but to subjectively base their rankings on something other than head-to-head match-ups. If that something is a program's history, then so be it.

[CATLAX MAN]

The solution to the problem is easy. Schedule multiple teams that are going to be in the Top 10 every year and you won't have this "non-recognition" problem. The more exposure you get amongst the voters, the more likely you will get the recognition you crave.

The other option is to beat all those teams. If you don't want to be subject to the whims of the pollsters, trying winning all your games. All the teams in that 8-16 range are there because they couldn't take care of business when they were supposed to (i.e. beating the teams below them and/or above them). If you're going to lose to unranked teams or teams below you, then pollsters have no choice but to subjectively base their rankings on something other than head-to-head match-ups. If that something is a program's history, then so be it.

BINGO. A GOLD STAR TO NATE.

[UkraineNotWeak]

i think the west coast opinions would come across with a little less venom if anyone posted under their real names....

Blame my parents for naming me this.

[StrykerFSU]

P.S. If I remember correctly, UF was beating you guys, up 5-0 I think at one point. CSU didnt take the lead until the 4th quarter.

Aye yi yi.

Didn't I just read a similar post regarding a game between Noma and UCSB...aye yi yi indeed. We have an old saying around these parts that goes, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

And I'm with Danny, my head hurts and I'm tired. We'll see how this discussion progresses come conference tourney time but methinks it will be revisited if some of the teams we talked about this week are still sitting in at-large land in front of teams they have lost to.

I'm Stryker Buck and I approved this message. (that one's for you Danny!)

[Danny Hogan]

hahah well played ukraine.....

.....and the man with a real name that sounds like a handle

[EvanFSU]

Glory days aside, that trip was not exactly a ringing endorsement for tripping down to Tallahassee and isn't relevant to the conversation. Let's not act like the 'Noles were gracious hosts either, sorry that the truth hurts a little.

I'm sure Coach Harkins would be happy to host CSU next year on the new field. No worries about rain outs. And to end this topic- it usually signifies a bad host when you let a visiting team(CSU) use half of your practice field at the very same time the home team (FSU) is practicing. Knowing this was the only time we could get CSU PT, we did so. Very ungracious, I know.

[onpoint]

Don't get too upset, Evan. Just having some fun reliving the past. Thanks for the callback. You can read more about this fun trip for us here:

http://www.csulacrosse.com/2003/journal/2003-03-06.htm

http://www.csulacrosse.com/2003/journal/2003-03-07.htm

http://www.csulacrosse.com/2003/journal/2003-03-08.htm

http://www.csulacrosse.com/2003/journal/2003-03-09.htm

http://www.csulacrosse.com/2003/journal/2003-03-10.htm

This is the MCLA. We don't all have varsity funding. We don't all have varsity resources. FSU did the best they could (mostly) with the circumstances that season and it didn't work out. I'm not bitter about the weather. The heckling and skipping town - that's another story. I only use all this as a comparison for all the CU/FSU talk this year.

CU did the best they could with their circumstances this year as far as I know - I don't speak for any Buffalo, by the way. Let's all agree to let the "FSU is getting jobbed by CU cancelling a trip" argument die. FSU scheduled extremely well this year, meaning that missing this one game isn't going to make or break their season. I wholeheartedly agree that if FSU had no other games with key OOC teams, this would be more of an issue. But things are more complicated than just "black and white," don't you think?

[buffalowill]

ahhh westcoast had to bring the Bruins in this thread...ok the Bruins have beaten a few teams EVER, just a few notes UCLA 16 Chapman 8 in 2006, they also own a winning record over Arizona State all-time, 1982 WCLL Champions....ok i'm not going any further, this thread is on life support...ok fine, the Trojans have never beaten anyone

[TrainerDan]

We can all argue until we are blue in the face here but it all doesn't really make a huge difference. When the 16 teams make it to Dallas, the cream will rise to the top. The teams that truly belong will get the job done and move on. It's hard to argue against the UCSBs, CSUs, SSUs, and BYUs of the world because when it comes down to the final four, those 4 teams over the past 5 years have made up 3/4 of the teams there every year: '07- BYU, UCSB, CSU, Oregon; '06- BYU, CSU, UCSB, CU; '05- CSU, UCSB, SSU, FSU; '04 CSU, UCSB, BYU, SSU; '03- BYU, CSU, UCSB, SSU

[Timbalaned]

All the scheduling complaints and arguments coming out of the RMLC are garbage. It must be nice having to play only 3 conference games, always against quality opponents and not have to worry about it. All other teams have at least 5 or 6 conferences games and some of those are going to be against weaker teams. Not all conferences can force teams down (Utah State) or just force them out into other conferences (Boise State)