Summit Tourney Etc

Superneck · Sun Mar 08, 2015 12:43 pm

nothing I saw this year inspires me. This program needs to STOP being a proving ground. Coach Mo brought a known level of experience, a known name and a level of respect to this program that struggles to survive in the facilities and with the community support it gets compared to other D1 schools, not only in our state, but in our conference, much less the rest of the country. What would any student athlete see as promise and potential in this program? Where is the program that was playing Iowa at the Mark, or hosting Scott Skiles and MSU back in the day? I thought there was progress with Coach Mo, but we have managed not to take steps backwards, but big giant leaps backwards. I'm embarrassed.

sealhall74 · Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:25 pm

ORU pep band very good. Or did they rent them guys? Avg age about 42.

wiu712 · Sun Mar 08, 2015 9:47 pm

sealhall74 wrote:ORU pep band very good.

The Midco Sports Network TV announcers have made many positive comments about the Oral Roberts pep band during tonight's telecast.

wiu712 · Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:04 pm

Attendance for the Sunday night Men's Quarter-finals was 6,653.

Necks2003 · Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:23 pm

I hate the fact that the Dakota schools basically get home games for the conference tournament. However, when the conference previously had it at In Kansas City, nobody ever showed up. The Summit League does need to find a way to mix it up a bit. Nobody likes South Dakota or North Dakota at anytime of year. Its either too cold or just boring and miserable. Hopefully after the contract is up with Sioux falls, they can move the conference tournament to a more centralized location. Sioux Falls doesn't even have a real airport for teams/fans to effectively utilize.

OldHare · Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:08 am

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-wom ... onal-hosts
The site of the tournament has been the result of the Sioux Falls Sports Authority. The fact that they have generated revenue for the Summit League has set the bar higher for competing venues. The home court has some basis, but as we look at the attendance for the tournament it is difficult for the Summit to want to move too quickly. If there is another venue to bid this event, they will need to bring a solid plan. Sioux Falls must have gathered a little positive attention as you can see in the attachment that the NCAA will bring women's regional games to the Denny Sanford Premier Center in March 2016.

sealhall74 · Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:23 am

Necks2003 wrote:I hate the fact that the Dakota schools basically get home games for the conference tournament. However, when the conference previously had it at In Kansas City, nobody ever showed up. The Summit League does need to find a way to mix it up a bit. Nobody likes South Dakota or North Dakota at anytime of year. Its either too cold or just boring and miserable. Hopefully after the contract is up with Sioux falls, they can move the conference tournament to a more centralized location. Sioux Falls doesn't even have a real airport for teams/fans to effectively utilize.

The only thing I agree on the "mix it up" part. More on that later. Weather next two days will be sunny and around 60. The SFD airport is better than MLI, PIA, and BMI (I could probably if I run through airport and have a car waiting for me get from airplane seat to Premier Center seat in 10 minutes or less). The arena itself caters to your every whim when it comes to food and beverage. The only thing that leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth is the large number of midcourt bowl seats which local investors essentially own for all arena events and they can do what they want with those seats. Those folks can take a short walk a few steps up to the exclusive "Quarzite Club" to enjoy even finer wining and dining. Tons of parking around the place.

The Summit League does have a problem to deal with or not, depending on how you view the world. Three Dakota teams in the semi-finals will pretty much be the case for the foreseeable future - especially true now that they can pack another 5K Dakotans into this arena. Not an easy fix, but if I were Tom Douple, I would move first round quarterfinal games to local campus sites and leave the real Tournament to the winners of those games. That would increase local fan interest and might even spur them enough to want to attend the next round. I would also somehow find a way to alternate the Tournament sites between Sioux Falls, Omaha, Indianapolis, ... Not sure exactly how it should be done, but I think teams should be rewarded for conference performance. So if you outright win the conference regular season title, then you should have more say in where a future (a couple of years down the road) tournament site is going to be.

With the exception of the parents of JD's ladies, not much of noticeable purple presence around here. But if you are like me, one trip to Sioux Falls is all it will take to make you want to come back. I encourage everyone to give it a shot next year.

BTW, where were our guys yesterday.? Very surprised I did not spot them in the arena cheering on the ladies. That bothers me.

wiu712 · Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:26 am

sealhall74 wrote:If I were Tom Douple, I would move first round quarterfinal games to local campus sites and leave the real Tournament to the winners of those games.

The Mid-Con did that for one year back in the 90's. I can remember going to a Mid-Con Quarterfinal game at Western Hall.

Tere North · Mon Mar 09, 2015 2:00 pm

sealhall74 wrote:
Necks2003 wrote:
With the exception of the parents of JD's ladies, not much of noticeable purple presence around here. But if you are like me, one trip to Sioux Falls is all it will take to make you want to come back. I encourage everyone to give it a shot next year.

BTW, where were our guys yesterday.? Very surprised I did not spot them in the arena cheering on the ladies. That bothers me.

Very disturbing if the WIU folks who went to support the men, didn't stay to support the women. Likewise, inexcusable if the men's team didn't stay to support the women.

beauspencer · Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:03 pm

It pains me to say this, but the Summit League Tournament is not moving from Sioux Falls, nor should it. It continues to set attendance records which means more revenue for the league. Two years ago I thought Des Moines would be a perfect venue for the tournament, but in all honesty centrality will not bring in more fans. If WIU doesn't bring in 1,500-2,000 fans IN MACOMB on a consistent basis, why would another location for the tournament attract any more interest? Moving it to a central location will not bring more fans from other programs, either. Like sealhall74 mentioned, Sioux Falls does everything (mostly everything) right as tournament host.