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"What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
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WMSportsBlog Offline
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Post: #1
"What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
The other day I was thrown off when asked "What sport is W&M's best?" ...To which I answered "Well, we're good at football for our level" -- but no, this person meant NATIONALLY/in general (not taking into account relative to your own division), I had to think...W&M Baseball comes to mind, with recent trips to the NCAA Tournament, so after some deliberation, I answered that W&M Baseball is our best squad (men's and women's).

But that got me thinking..are there actually other sports that I'm not thinking of that are arguably "better" on the national stage? Certainly of the "big sports" (footbal, baseball, basketball), you can quite easily say baseball.

Wanted to hear everyone's thoughts! What's our best sport for both men's and women's? And not "the best relative to our league," but nationally, without regard for divisions/conferences/etc.
02-16-2017 09:42 PM
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zablenoise Offline
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Post: #2
RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Gotta be cross country right?
02-16-2017 09:49 PM
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Tribal Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-16-2017 09:49 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  Gotta be cross country right?
By a long shot

One Tribe. One Family.
02-16-2017 10:57 PM
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Tribe Fan Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
CC not even close
02-17-2017 09:48 AM
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Men's and Women's?
02-17-2017 11:44 AM
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TribeNiner Offline
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Post: #6
RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Women's Soccer has to be up there, as well. Only three other programs have been to more NCAA Tournaments than Tribe Women's Soccer: UConn, UVA and UNC-CHeat.

36 consecutive winning seasons (tied with UNC-CHeat for the most). Notable alumni such as Jill Ellis.

That's a big one for us.

Also, our tennis teams deserve a shout out.
(This post was last modified: 02-17-2017 12:55 PM by TribeNiner.)
02-17-2017 12:51 PM
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WM Beancounter Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Isn't men's gymnastics in the conversation? Last I heard, they've kind of owned the state title for a silly number of years.
02-17-2017 03:43 PM
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zablenoise Offline
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Post: #8
RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-17-2017 03:43 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  Isn't men's gymnastics in the conversation? Last I heard, they've kind of owned the state title for a silly number of years.

Well we're the only program in the state.

I have a pet peeve with men's gymnastics. They're always hyped as a "top 20" team nationally. There are only 20 teams.
02-17-2017 03:59 PM
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tribemike09 Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-17-2017 03:59 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  
(02-17-2017 03:43 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  Isn't men's gymnastics in the conversation? Last I heard, they've kind of owned the state title for a silly number of years.

Well we're the only program in the state.

I have a pet peeve with men's gymnastics. They're always hyped as a "top 20" team nationally. There are only 20 teams.

03-lmfao In all seriousness though, what's the value prop in having gymnastics if there are so few teams? Couldn't that money go to the other sports? Sorry to offend any gymnastics supporters on here - just not sure why we'd be spending money on something less than 20 other schools have when we're not flush with cash.
02-17-2017 04:56 PM
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WMInTheBurg Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-17-2017 04:56 PM)tribemike09 Wrote:  
(02-17-2017 03:59 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  
(02-17-2017 03:43 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  Isn't men's gymnastics in the conversation? Last I heard, they've kind of owned the state title for a silly number of years.

Well we're the only program in the state.

I have a pet peeve with men's gymnastics. They're always hyped as a "top 20" team nationally. There are only 20 teams.

03-lmfao In all seriousness though, what's the value prop in having gymnastics if there are so few teams? Couldn't that money go to the other sports? Sorry to offend any gymnastics supporters on here - just not sure why we'd be spending money on something less than 20 other schools have when we're not flush with cash.

I don't know how many scholarships they have, but I would guess very few. Put another way, I don't think we could cut gymnastics to get a basketball practice facility unless our target start date is 2050.
02-17-2017 06:03 PM
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bubbadog57 Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Easy to pick out the best individual teams W&M ever had:

1947-48 Mens Tennis: NCAA National Champions both seasons (only NCAA team championships W&M has ever won)...team composed of Tut Bartzen, Gardner Larned (both in US Tennis Hall of Fame) and the Covaleskie Brothers (both played for Canada's Davis Cup team). Teams won 86 consecutive dual
matches and were undefeated both years!

1942: Football team was 9-0-1 (lost a 14-7 game to North Carolina Pre-Flight, composed mainly of
NFL all-stars); defeated Navy, Dartmouth and Oklahoma on the road, shutout Virginia Tech and Richmond; 7-7 tie at undefeated Harvard; won Southern Conference and Big Six Championships. Four W&M Hall of Famers made first-team All-Southern...Gerrard "Buster" Ramsey, Marvin Bass, Glen Knox, and Harvey "Stud" Johnson. All four named by Richmond TD to state's All-Century team in 2000. Ramsey elected in 1982 to College Football HOF. Ramsey's number 20 never worn again after that season by any W&M player.
02-18-2017 07:20 AM
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WMSportsBlog Offline
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Post: #12
RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-18-2017 07:20 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Easy to pick out the best individual teams W&M ever had:

1947-48 Mens Tennis: NCAA National Champions both seasons (only NCAA team championships W&M has ever won)...team composed of Tut Bartzen, Gardner Larned (both in US Tennis Hall of Fame) and the Covaleskie Brothers (both played for Canada's Davis Cup team). Teams won 86 consecutive dual
matches and were undefeated both years!

1942: Football team was 9-0-1 (lost a 14-7 game to North Carolina Pre-Flight, composed mainly of
NFL all-stars); defeated Navy, Dartmouth and Oklahoma on the road, shutout Virginia Tech and Richmond; 7-7 tie at undefeated Harvard; won Southern Conference and Big Six Championships. Four W&M Hall of Famers made first-team All-Southern...Gerrard "Buster" Ramsey, Marvin Bass, Glen Knox, and Harvey "Stud" Johnson. All four named by Richmond TD to state's All-Century team in 2000. Ramsey elected in 1982 to College Football HOF. Ramsey's number 20 never worn again after that season by any W&M player.

True, but we're talking about present-era teams!
02-18-2017 10:26 AM
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bubbadog57 Offline
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Post: #13
RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Just thought it would be nice to toss that in to round out an interesting discussion board.

By the way, that 1942 football team was ranked #10 in the nation at season's end and Ramsey was named to first team AP All-American. Team had an orange bowl bid assured but many of the players were already gone or committed to the WWII service and school dropped football for a year. Coach was the great Carl Voyles.
02-18-2017 12:51 PM
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-18-2017 12:51 PM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Just thought it would be nice to toss that in to round out an interesting discussion board.

By the way, that 1942 football team was ranked #10 in the nation at season's end and Ramsey was named to first team AP All-American. Team had an orange bowl bid assured but many of the players were already gone or committed to the WWII service and school dropped football for a year. Coach was the great Carl Voyles.

Writing an article about that 1942 team has been on our list of future articles for a while. Potentially this offseason! 04-cheers
02-18-2017 01:47 PM
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Pete24 Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-17-2017 06:03 PM)TribeInTheBurg Wrote:  
(02-17-2017 04:56 PM)tribemike09 Wrote:  
(02-17-2017 03:59 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  
(02-17-2017 03:43 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  Isn't men's gymnastics in the conversation? Last I heard, they've kind of owned the state title for a silly number of years.

Well we're the only program in the state.

I have a pet peeve with men's gymnastics. They're always hyped as a "top 20" team nationally. There are only 20 teams.

03-lmfao In all seriousness though, what's the value prop in having gymnastics if there are so few teams? Couldn't that money go to the other sports? Sorry to offend any gymnastics supporters on here - just not sure why we'd be spending money on something less than 20 other schools have when we're not flush with cash.

I don't know how many scholarships they have, but I would guess very few. Put another way, I don't think we could cut gymnastics to get a basketball practice facility unless our target start date is 2050.
Regarding the funding for Mens Gymnastics, I am reasonably certain that the Gymnastics program itself has a substantial endowment. W&M is unique in the fact that many sports alumni (and their parents) give back financially to their respective sports program to help fund the program. As you may know, mens' gymnastics has had one of the highest GPA's for any sport on campus for years, so let's assume the Gymnast alums are quite affluent and give back financially. It is probable that the interest from this endowment helps sustain the program financially, in perpetuity. That's how you save a program from being cut.
02-28-2017 10:27 AM
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TribeNiner Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Actually, it looks like there are only 17 Men's Gymnastics teams (all teams compete on one level): http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec2/spo...&sport=MGY
02-28-2017 02:03 PM
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wrnbldg Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
Top 17 in the nation every year. What more can you ask for?
02-28-2017 02:47 PM
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TribeNiner Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-28-2017 02:47 PM)wrnbldg Wrote:  Top 17 in the nation every year. What more can you ask for?

With so few teams, maybe a national title?
02-28-2017 02:53 PM
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TDenverFan Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
I think there are 20 teams, not that it really matters

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/gymnastics-men/nc
02-28-2017 03:07 PM
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TribeNiner Offline
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RE: "What is the BEST sport that W&M has?"
(02-28-2017 03:07 PM)TDenverFan Wrote:  I think there are 20 teams, not that it really matters

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/gymnastics-men/nc

Yeah it does! That means we should only win a championship 5% of the time vs. 5.9% of the time!
02-28-2017 04:45 PM
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