DAY 2 -- MDIA Championships - Quarterfinals - Div B Begins

[Kyle Berggren]

Well, UCSD only has 4 or 5 attackman, so McCall or Dean had to be out there. That was the case all year. I am simply not buying into teams saying that these consolation games count.

They're weird at best. I do think teams should play them, they're fun to watch, but most aren't played from start to finish with a goal of keeping your best personel on the field at all times. A player that plays in 2 regular season games totalling 8 minutes of on the field does not get into a close game against a top 10 team if its not a consolation game... It makes for a weird dynamic. Every player out there is still trying to win, its just not playing full strength.

[sohotrightnow]

I will agree with you there. I just think it's hilarious how team A who is not very good, beats team B who is notably better, but 1) isn't playing full strength and 2) is upset by their showing in the first round (perhaps losing to a lower seeded team) etc. and team A gloats as if they are amazing and that team B "was actually trying". I simply am not buying it. There is a reason why other sports don't have these consolation games.

[Sonny]

All Wednesday articles are up on the main page. We couldn't cover all of the consolation games. (That will be the same story on Thursday and Friday moving forward).

Enjoy.

[Sonny]

Best of Wednesday Photos from Dave Adams are uploading:
http://www.uslia.com/photos/2006/tourne ... index.html

[Zamboni_Driver]

"If we made the requirement that teams need to be in the top 16 or 20, it would encourage programs to play tougher schedules. "


In my opinion a national tournament means national representation. It is a match up of the best teams from each region. Not necessarily the top 16 in the country. If you look to the NFL and the Superbowl, they play the best team from the NFC against the best team from the AFC. Those two teams are not always the top 2 in the whole league.

Lower ranked teams and winners from weaker conferences will play tougher schedules because they are tired of getting beat at the nationals, and it prepares them better for their own league schedule, regardless of the AQ.

What I think AQs do is tell teams to simply win their tournament! And teams that can't do that are looking for some chance of redemption at the national tournament. AQ tells teams to take care of business in their own league first.

[Now I foresee some talk about the RMLC - which I think the AQ sends a message to the leagues to continue to develop and maintain the league. I think the RMLC is in a tough spot]

[Champ]

I am simply not buying into teams saying that these consolation games count.

You need to look at it from a players point of view. These are the last games they get to play until fall ball, and for seniors they are the last of their college career. I remember watching the seniors in front of me at nationals play their hearts out in the last two games because they were their last. I feel this would be similar on other teams.

And in case you forgot and think FSU played poorly because the game "didn't count".... UMD beat Cal-poly who beat FSU, so this win isn't suprising if you look at it like that.

[KnoxVegas]

If you are not playing to win, what are you playing for?

[Chris Gaffney]

You play these games for fun. It's like a summer league game, or a men's club game. Everyone goes out and plays hard, it's just that there really is no game plan and you try to get as many people involved as possible. Instead of just playing the 20 guys that got you to the tournament, coaches generally will try and clear the bench. These games don't hold much weight in determining if team A is better than team B.

[sohotrightnow]

And in case you forgot and think FSU played poorly because the game "didn't count".... UMD beat Cal-poly who beat FSU, so this win isn't surprising if you look at it like that.

I am not buying that either. I will give you two perfect examples of why these games do not mean as much to teams.

2002 St. Louis

Arizona plays Sonoma in the quarterfinals on one field and Stanford plays CSU in another quarterfinal on the adjacent field.

Arizona and Stanford lose devastating overtime games in which they led for a majority of the game.

The next day, in the consolation round, Arizona lost to Texas A and M by a few I believe and Stanford lost to Michigan 6-4.

This is the press release from Michigan's web page after their win:

A day after a season-ending loss can be a difficult time to play for some teams, and this was true for both 6th-seeded Stanford and 4th-seeded Michigan today at the USLIA National Championships consolation round. Michigan lost a tough game to 5th-seeded Brigham Young, 10-3, and Stanford saw a 7-2 lead disappear in a 10-9 overtime loss to 3rd-seeded Colorado State. However, the two teams still played for fun in an exhibition-style game that featured shortened quarters and more frequent substitution.

The Wolverines (18-3) built a 3-0 lead after the first quarter and held on in the second half for a 6-4 win. Junior midfielder Chip Thomas (Tenafly, NJ/Dwight-Englewood) led Michigan with two goals and junior attackman Sloan Buchan-McGilliard (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer) added a goal and an assist. Freshman midfielder Mike O'Leary (St. Louis, MO/Clayton) also scored a goal in front of a home crowd. Every healthy Michigan player saw game action.

Michigan may have been better than Stanford. For all I know, Stanford may have played all their backups. The quote above clearly shows that, even in a 6-4 win over a top 10 team, they played all their players. Do you expect me to believe that Michigan would do that if they were still alive in the tournament? Give me a break. Do you think it is possible that Stanford did not want to be there at all? I will answer that one for you. They left right after the game and did not stick around to watch the National Championship game.

Arizona lost to Texas & M and I have a hard time believing that they fielded their starters. They just lost an overtime game to the eventual champions that year! Would you be excited to play in some crap consolation game against a team who got waxed in the first round by Stanford 18-10?

A & M lost to Sonoma by 10 goals and Cal by 9 goals during the 2002 regular season. In turn, Arizona beat Cal in the first round 12-9.

So, your claim that the outcome doesn't surprise you and/or that all teams take these games seriously does not seem to be applicable in many cases.

[jayp4757]

So by throwing out one case in 2002 your claim is completely supported?

[sohotrightnow]

One case? Do you want more? Ok, give me a sec and I will go through the annals of USLIA Championship history and get back to you. By the way, that is 2 cases.

[BB]

In any situation, an apparent top #6 team fighting for respect is going to play hard the day after being whooped by an #11 seed. Yes seniors may see the field more, but that should be equal on both sides of the field.

make the consolation count and we won't have these arguments, (even if you reseed to play teams you haven't)... Each team will make a decision on how to play depending on their own circumstances. For each team it's different, so it is impossible to make generalizations about every team, and every game.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

The bottom line here is that every team will approach the consolation games differently. . .some will play it like it's the most important game in the world, and others will play reserves and get minutes for their seniors when otherwise they would not.

The bottom line is. . .who really cares? Once a team is eliminated, they should enjoy the consolation games. . .win or lose.

I just don't like it when a team plays its reserves, loses a consolation game, and then comes onto the website to tell everyone they weren't really playing to win. It's bad sportsmanship and really unnecessary.

As a fan, I don't care who wins the consolation games. It's irrelevant. If you don't play to win, fine. . .just don't make excuses afterward saying your best players weren't playing.

We have this discussion every year and frankly it's getting pretty stale.

[jayp4757]

agreed.

oh sorry two cases. my point is your just using inductive reasoning to justify what i feel is a rather weak argument.

[Champ]

So, what if UMD played their backups as well? Then we can conclude that UMD's backups are better that game than FSU's backups.