https://caasports.com/news/2023/7/27/caa...gbJzhhkdqY
DC seems like a decent place to host the tournaments. The league doesn't need such a large arena anymore since the fan bases of the new teams are generally smaller than they once were. It's an expensive place to go, but it's accessible to everyone. And with no CAA presence in DC, there's no unfair advantage like there was in Richmond.
Women's Tournament also moving there and off of the campuses. One thing that I don't like is that the tournaments will be back to back, instead of concurrent. In the MAAC you can go to Atlantic City and possibly watch your women's team play in the afternoon and your men's team play at night. Now if you're a huge fan of both your school's men's and women's team, you'll have to make two separate trips to DC, or stay for a really long trip.
(07-27-2023 11:45 AM)J.B. Wrote: [ -> ]https://caasports.com/news/2023/7/27/caa...gbJzhhkdqY
DC seems like a decent place to host the tournaments. The league doesn't need such a large arena anymore since the fan bases of the new teams are generally smaller than they once were. It's an expensive place to go, but it's accessible to everyone. And with no CAA presence in DC, there's no unfair advantage like there was in Richmond.
Women's Tournament also moving there and off of the campuses. One thing that I don't like is that the tournaments will be back to back, instead of concurrent. In the MAAC you can go to Atlantic City and possibly watch your women's team play in the afternoon and your men's team play at night. Now if you're a huge fan of both your school's men's and women's team, you'll have to make two separate trips to DC, or stay for a really long trip.
I found it interesting that the press release only refers to the conference as the CAA and does not spell out the full name. I guess that's the branding going forward (like IBM or BMW).
The geographic center of the 14-team CAA is in the Chesapeake Bay, right at the end of the Potomac. Short of a floating basketball arena, D.C. seems like a perfectly cromulent place for both tourneys -- super accessible, tons of accommodations, plenty of stuff for fans to do in the off hours.
(07-27-2023 12:41 PM)JonP Wrote: [ -> ]D.C. seems like a perfectly cromulent place for both tourneys -- super accessible, tons of accommodations, plenty of stuff for fans to do in the off hours.
Except the Entertainment & Sports Arena (without a naming rights deal since it opened five years ago) is none of these. No nearby accommodations, no restaurants, and not a walk around and see the sights kind of place.
https://stadiumandarenavisits.com/visits...rts-arena/
Its a small arena in the middle of the footprint. A compromise that everyone can tolerate, because it could be worse, but no one really likes.
I assume fans traveling from the south find a hotel in Arlington or Alexandria and take the “metro” to the arena, correct? I’m getting a sketchy vibe!
(07-28-2023 08:46 AM)DFW HOYA Wrote: [ -> ] (07-27-2023 12:41 PM)JonP Wrote: [ -> ]D.C. seems like a perfectly cromulent place for both tourneys -- super accessible, tons of accommodations, plenty of stuff for fans to do in the off hours.
Except the Entertainment & Sports Arena (without a naming rights deal since it opened five years ago) is none of these. No nearby accommodations, no restaurants, and not a walk around and see the sights kind of place.
https://stadiumandarenavisits.com/visits...rts-arena/
I take your point, but I was talking about DC at large. The Navy Yard is two stops away on the Metro, and the mall is a couple more. It's very easy to get to more interesting places.
(07-28-2023 08:46 AM)DFW HOYA Wrote: [ -> ] (07-27-2023 12:41 PM)JonP Wrote: [ -> ]D.C. seems like a perfectly cromulent place for both tourneys -- super accessible, tons of accommodations, plenty of stuff for fans to do in the off hours.
Except the Entertainment & Sports Arena (without a naming rights deal since it opened five years ago) is none of these. No nearby accommodations, no restaurants, and not a walk around and see the sights kind of place.
https://stadiumandarenavisits.com/visits...rts-arena/
As long as there is a Metro Stop within a short walk of the arena, which there is, then it's fine. Most of the entire metrpolitan area can be accessed to/from the arena without needing a car. That's a win that DC has over a lot of cities. The arena doesn't need to be right in the middle of the National Mall, but you can get to/from National Mall to the arena in 15-20 minutes.
(07-28-2023 08:46 AM)DFW HOYA Wrote: [ -> ] (07-27-2023 12:41 PM)JonP Wrote: [ -> ]D.C. seems like a perfectly cromulent place for both tourneys -- super accessible, tons of accommodations, plenty of stuff for fans to do in the off hours.
Except the Entertainment & Sports Arena (without a naming rights deal since it opened five years ago) is none of these. No nearby accommodations, no restaurants, and not a walk around and see the sights kind of place.
https://stadiumandarenavisits.com/visits...rts-arena/
True - though last year my group stayed in Old Town Alexandria, which was a short and easy hop over to the Arena. And that area is a terrific place to loiter and stay.
It is in a bad area high crime i heard it from our fans. They took bus from motel to be safe. I will not attend any caa tounery held at that location and that goes for most uncw fans.
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I do think they should have combined the mens and womens tournament in the same weekend, but its fine in DC. Location makes sense for the conference. Reality is neutral tournaments of this length just dont do well any more unless you are a power conference. The gap between mid majors and powers has only grown across the board. There really isnt much left of the mid majors, its really now the majors and everyone else and bids to the tournament share that sentiment. So to me it makes more sense to have the early rounds on higher seeds court then meet somewhere for the semis and finals on a Saturday/Sunday. Doesnt really matter when the early rounds are played in my opinion. I know many will say its bush league playing on home courts, but reality is this conference is a lower major, even if at the top of the lower majors. So is the A10 IMO. Saturday and Sunday semis and finals will draw your biggest crowds. Just not sure how viable a full neutral tournament is these days unless Joey and the league somehow get a vision and can push this league forward.
(07-31-2023 10:08 AM)dan10 Wrote: [ -> ]I do think they should have combined the mens and womens tournament in the same weekend, but its fine in DC. Location makes sense for the conference. Reality is neutral tournaments of this length just dont do well any more unless you are a power conference. The gap between mid majors and powers has only grown across the board. There really isnt much left of the mid majors, its really now the majors and everyone else and bids to the tournament share that sentiment. So to me it makes more sense to have the early rounds on higher seeds court then meet somewhere for the semis and finals on a Saturday/Sunday. Doesnt really matter when the early rounds are played in my opinion. I know many will say its bush league playing on home courts, but reality is this conference is a lower major, even if at the top of the lower majors. So is the A10 IMO. Saturday and Sunday semis and finals will draw your biggest crowds. Just not sure how viable a full neutral tournament is these days unless Joey and the league somehow get a vision and can push this league forward.
I'd love to have two different N/S 7 team tournaments with the winners playing each other in a winner take all championship game. Team with the Higher NET ranking gets to host.
(07-31-2023 10:08 AM)dan10 Wrote: [ -> ]I do think they should have combined the mens and womens tournament in the same weekend, but its fine in DC. Location makes sense for the conference. Reality is neutral tournaments of this length just dont do well any more unless you are a power conference. The gap between mid majors and powers has only grown across the board. There really isnt much left of the mid majors, its really now the majors and everyone else and bids to the tournament share that sentiment. So to me it makes more sense to have the early rounds on higher seeds court then meet somewhere for the semis and finals on a Saturday/Sunday. Doesnt really matter when the early rounds are played in my opinion. I know many will say its bush league playing on home courts, but reality is this conference is a lower major, even if at the top of the lower majors. So is the A10 IMO. Saturday and Sunday semis and finals will draw your biggest crowds. Just not sure how viable a full neutral tournament is these days unless Joey and the league somehow get a vision and can push this league forward.
I'd rather it be the other way around. Have the early rounds in one location, so they can sell tickets to all of the schools, and then the coaches and players can all be there at the same time. Then have the finals at the home court of the highest seed. During championship week, if there's a championship game played in small, packed, on campus gym or arena, I'm watching. Dan, I know they were before you time, but those 4 championship games at the DAC in the 90's (Then the PEAC) were some of the most memorable games I've ever experienced. When I go on college tours at other schools, they talk about that championship basketball game held on campus. Those games really are special to the schools that host them.
With 14 teams, one arena can't have the Round of 12 for both genders in one day or the Quarterfinals for both genders in one day. To play the tournaments concurrently, you would need to not invite every team to the tournament, to have teams have off days while the other gender played, or to have Round of 12 and Quarterfinal games at two sites so there could be eight games in one day. The Women used to play in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and using Towson's SECU Arena for a couple of days could be possible. With 14 teams in each gender concurrently at one arena, you would have:
Day 1: 2 Men's games and 2 Women's games
Day 2: 4 Round of 12 games for one gender
Day 3: 4 Round of 12 games for other gender
Day 4: 4 Quarterfinals for gender that played on Day 2
Day 5: 4 Quarterfinals for gender that played on Day 3
Day 6: 2 Men's Semifinals and 2 Women's Semifinals
Day 7: Men's Final and Women's Final
Seven days is a long tournament, and with six consecutive games having four games, there will be many weekday day games, which would be bad for attendance. If a team that started in the Round of 12 won three games to reach the Final, they would play in a six-day span. Alternatively, Days 2 through 5 could have the Women play day games and the Men play night games to help the Men's attendance, but then you have a Final between a team that played the previous day and had the day before that off against a team that played the previous two days.
The area around the arena isn't great, but it's a 5 minute walk to get from the metro to the arena. You will be just fine.
Pick your favorite spot in the DMV, stay at a hotel there, and you can take the metro and arrive at the arena in ~30 minutes for like $2.
(08-02-2023 10:47 PM)TDenverFan Wrote: [ -> ]The area around the arena isn't great, but it's a 5 minute walk to get from the metro to the arena. You will be just fine.
Pick your favorite spot in the DMV, stay at a hotel there, and you can take the metro and arrive at the arena in ~30 minutes for like $2.
Seriously, unless you are a serious fan of a team that had a good chance of surviving deep into the tournament, why would anyone at the Modernized Coastal Athletic Association expect people who wouldn't otherwise be in the DC area to take personal time and money for travel, lodging, and meals to go to an event in an area that's "not so great" - which you need to travel 30 minutes back and forth to see your team maybe play one game and get bounced?
(08-05-2023 01:33 PM)70shawk Wrote: [ -> ] (08-02-2023 10:47 PM)TDenverFan Wrote: [ -> ]The area around the arena isn't great, but it's a 5 minute walk to get from the metro to the arena. You will be just fine.
Pick your favorite spot in the DMV, stay at a hotel there, and you can take the metro and arrive at the arena in ~30 minutes for like $2.
Seriously, unless you are a serious fan of a team that had a good chance of surviving deep into the tournament, why would anyone at the Modernized Coastal Athletic Association expect people who wouldn't otherwise be in the DC area to take personal time and money for travel, lodging, and meals to go to an event in an area that's "not so great" - which you need to travel 30 minutes back and forth to see your team maybe play one game and get bounced?
You can make the argument for any mid-major conference tournament in one location, not just the CAA in DC. That was the same argument that I made 15 years ago when it was in Richmond. If you like college basketball, and you root for your team, you'll go. But most fans do not attend. This is the probably the argument that Patriot or AE uses to justify having all tournament games on campus sites.