USLIA.com coverage of '05 MDIA Championships in Minnesota

[Sonny]

All,

I hate to bear the disappointing news, but it appears that I won't be able to formally cover the MDIA National Championships from Minnesota this year on USLIA.com as we have in years past (real time stats, game recap articles, pictures, etc.). I wanted to give everyone a heads up early, so players/fans/parents were not surprised next month.

As noted earlier -- the USLIA.com web site is 100% independent now, in the sense that the site doesn't rely on any MDIA council funds to help partial support it's operation any longer. Everything you see on the site is financially supported by my limited group of advertising sponsors, handful of Premium Memberships, or out of my own wallet. I'm not complaining about this financial situation as it was my personal choice to go down this road with the web site that I started 5 - 6 years ago. Just stating the facts of the matter so everyone knows where I'm coming from.

To cover the MDIA tournaments (remember it's plural this year with the addition of an 8-team field for Division B), would require a small army of volunteer media staffers not to mention all the assorted travel/lodging/food expenses. We aren't just talking about a few people. More like a lot of people. And it takes a lot of people and money to produce that information each year.

Further compounding the issue of media coverage is the overlap of MDIA games in Blaine. The tournament schedule was recently finalized and will be announced shortly by US Lacrosse. Many of the MDIA games overlap which makes coverage extremely problematic.

To my knowledge, Dave Adams will be at the NSC in Blaine the entire week shooting his quality pictures. I'm sure he will try to capture as much of the MDIA action as possible. Just remember that he is one single photographer trying to cover one 16-team tournament and one 8-team tournament over 5 consecutive days. Many of the games overlap, so he will miss much of the action. Also, it will be months (well into the summer) after the event is concluded till he can sort through thousands of his pictures, edit them, and then modify them for publication on the web. (Patience isn't just a virtue, it's a requirement.)

It's my understanding that US Lacrosse will report on the games on the USL web site each evening. I don't think they intend to do detailed statistics or any real-time reporting like we have done on USLIA.com in the past. But that's their call. Here is the link to the IA Championships portion of the USL web site:
http://www.uslacrosse.org/events/iacham ... ps05.phtml

Best of luck to all this weekend as the '05 regular season draws to a close and in the upcoming conference championship tournaments! The competition gets better and better each MDIA season and I'm sure the best lacrosse is still to be played this year.

[WCLLPREZ]

Sonny,

Throw out a dollar figure of what you think it would cost to cover the event like you have in the past. I know I would be happy to cover some of the costs from my personal finances and the Santa Clara Lacrosse budget.

Maybe other coaches and teams, premium members would be willing to do the same.

Gary

[Sonny]

Thanks Gary. I appreciate your support. But I obviously don't expect you or SCU lacrosse to do this on your own.

Without exaggerting one bit, I would estimate (off the top of my head) - that it would take around $25,000. To secure lodging/food for 6 nights plus airfare, hardware, and other assorted expenses for an army of media staffers is expensive. And that is doing it on the cheap with volunteer support. When you basically ask a person to take a week off from their real job to come serve on the web site staff in Minnesota, you should be paying them some type of modest salary or stipend (in addition to covering expenses).

If some of you know of a potential sponsor that could do this, please drop me an email off line for further discussion and I will probably re-evaluate my decision. If some of you Silicon Valley types from WCLL-land can get Intel, Google, Yahoo, or H-P on board, it would be great! That's chump change to companies like that!

[CyLaxKeeper00]

..and hawaiian polo shirts.

[canders23]

Sonny,

Would local cable companies, ISP's, or Media outlets be of help?

[Sonny]

Would local cable companies, ISP's, or Media outlets be of help?

As a potential financial sponsor of USLIA.com for the MDIA Championships? Absolutely!

[TrojanLaxman5]

If some of you Silicon Valley types from WCLL-land can get Intel, [don't say the G-word in front of me], Yahoo, or H-P on board, it would be great! That's chump change to companies like that!

I'm going to work for Yahoo full-time starting later this summer, and I worked there all last summer. I know a bunch of people there and will do my best to contact someone within the company to throw out the idea.

Sonny, do you have any sort of informal proposal or at least a list of what you would need? Also, what should I tell them they get out of it (they may have a lot of $, but they don't throw it around without reason), ie: Yahoo banners at the games, does it become Yahoo MDIA Tournament (or some similar name), do they get other advertising space, TV exposure, etc?

Also, I'm assuming yes, but is the MDIA a 501(c)3 non-profit?

I'll do what I can to help out and at least get the idea to as many relevant people as possible. Just let me know...

[John Paul]

Yahoo, or any sponsor of USLIA.com, would not get any kind of presence at the tournament unless they gave money to US Lacrosse for the support of the entire event (MDIA and WDIA tournament). Even then, the package would have to through Glenn Schorr at US Lacrosse, not Sonny or me. None of that money would go toward's USLIA.com's involvement. USLIA.com is a private enterprise. If Yahoo, or any sponsor, wanted to support the website's coverage of the event, all of the marketing opportunities would be through the website (banner ads, website promotions, etc.).

I'm trying to talk Sonny into just coming up himself, or maybe with one staff person, to do daily reports and post nightly Dave Adams photos. It seems wrong to me that USLIA.com, a website set up to cover the MDIA and only the MDIA, would not cover the MDIA championships in any form. I think he's thinking that it has to be at the level it's been in the past (live stats and photos, full articles about every game, etc.) to be worthwhile. I hope he'll be covering the event, even if it's not at the level it was the past couple of years. I think I can speak for all of you out there that any coverage would be better than none.