The topic that won't die

[lincolnman]

Omaha weighs on NCAA's mind
BY DIRK CHATELAIN/WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

SAN ANTONIO - Craig Skinner, the former Nebraska volleyball assistant, looked at the spotty Alamodome crowd. He thought of Omaha. He wondered why the NCAA would go anywhere else.

"Until someone else can prove they can consistently bring in over 10,000 people to watch a volleyball match, whether the home team is there or not, I think it's the only thing our sport should do," said Skinner, the first-year Kentucky coach. "Hawaii and Nebraska may be the only teams that can do that."

Thursday night wasn't a good night for the sport, Skinner said. Two runaway semifinal victories and an arena with several thousand empty seats - attendance was listed at 7,931 - don't interest potential fans.

"Baseball and softball are doing the right things," Skinner said. "They're having it in the same place every year."

Skinner's suggestion: send volleyball's top event to the Heartland every December.

Omaha's reputation for hosting big events has created big expectations for the 2006 final four among fans and coaches in San Antonio. They've seen those College World Series crowds. They've seen those numbers from the Omaha regional, which drew more than 30,000 fans over two nights last weekend.

"They've proven they can put on a great show, that they're committed to the student-athlete experience," said Cindy Fox, an NCAA volleyball committee member who helps decide where future final fours are held.

Colorado State coach Tom Hilbert attended a Division I coaches meeting Wednesday in which several people suggested the NCAA place a regional or the final four in Omaha and Hawaii, widely considered the two hotbeds of volleyball interest, every year.

"If we don't do that, we're idiots," Hilbert said. "People want to come there. That's where it's legitimate. I think you do that just to show the world it's important to someone."

Omaha has submitted bids to host the 2008 and 2009 final fours - Sacramento will host in 2007. The NCAA is considering holding the event in cities for two or three consecutive years, allowing the host city to learn from mistakes and use excitement from one year to build interest the next. On the other hand, Fox said, fans may tire of traveling to one place.

"I think it's good to move it around and get it exposed to different places," she said.

Fox, who has no concerns about Omaha's ability to host the final four, raved about Nebraska's knowledgeable fan base. Organizers will properly market the event. The test, she said, will come if Nebraska doesn't qualify. Will fans show up?

"I think they'll want to see some good volleyball," Fox said. "We're counting on them."

The only drawback about Omaha, Skinner said, is the weather. Freezing temperatures won't go over well with the hundreds of coaches who travel to the final four every year. They need to set aside their personal agendas and do the best thing for the sport, he said.

Another potential downside is Nebraska's home-crowd advantage. Irene Matlock, a former national junior-college coach of the year in Spokane, Wash., wants the best programs at the 2006 final four. That includes NU. Besides, placing the final four in Omaha doesn't ensure a home-court advantage; the Huskers still have to get there.

"It's an advantage for Nebraska probably," Skinner said, "but what kid wouldn't want to play in front of a sold-out arena?"

[IdahoBoy]

Wow, as if they summarized a VT thread using coaching quotes.

Two scary things, both related to Cindy Fox.

Cindy, we can't see good volleyball if you keep f&*#$ing up the brackets.
"I think they'll want to see some good volleyball," Fox said. "We're counting on them."

Didn't the Regional attendance figures pretty much blow this theory out of the water?
"I think it's good to move it around and get it exposed to different places," she said.

[roofed!]

While the attendance at Omaha is out-of-water for volleyball championship, I would not want it to be a permanent host for the FF. It would simply give the Nebraska team an great home-court advantage over other teams.

[lincolnman]

What if they rotated the Championship between Nebraska and Hawaii? Two years at one spot or every other year. That could be a lethal mix of warm and cold weather though.

[beachman]

NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

[Deleted]

There are other sites which have been proven attendance-winners: Madison, for one. I bet the Twin Cities could do OK.

They should also have more realistic goals: don't hold the damned thing in cavernous 15,000-seat arenas if you know it's not going to bring in that many people. Pack smaller venues with more fan-friendly seating.

Above all else: MARKET YOUR DAMNED SPORT! That starts with not punishing well-attended programs by sending them on the road for the first two rounds if they've earned the right to host. That continues with creating better brackets. That is completed by not wasting the obscene amounts of money brought in by football and basketball.

[TheRange]

Beachman, I think there are some powerful people considering the very notion that you are so sure won't happen.

[SaltNPepper]

roofed said:

While the attendance at Omaha is out-of-water for volleyball championship, I would not want it to be a permanent host for the FF. It would simply give the Nebraska team an great home-court advantage over other teams.

I'm not so sure it would be that huge an advantage for the Huskers. First of all, it is doubtful they would allow the Huskers to host regionals in any year that they were a host for the Final 4, so they could very well be at a disadvantage just to get to the Final 4. It is hard telling how good the Huskers will be in 2008 or 2009 - the next two Final 4's that are open for assignment. Everyone on the current Husker team except this year's freshmen (Larson, Gates & Schwartz) will be gone by the 2008 season and none would be left for the 2009 season. Who knows how good they will be then. Two years ago, it looked like USC and Stanford could be penciled in just about every year, but that wasn't the case and I'm sure it will probably be the same with the Huskers, especially if they're on the road trying to make the Final 4. As successful as the Huskers have been with this being their 9th Final 4, they've never made it to the Final 4 when they haven't hosted a regional, so it may be more of an uphill battle for Nebraska than most would first think.

While the crowd at Omaha was obviously very pro Nebraska, they really weren't anti- anyone else. Playing in front of 15,000+ fans can be intimidating to all the teams including the Huskers, but it was an experience that all teams seemed to appreciate. If people are worried that the Huskers would have too many of their fans in attendance, then maybe they should be trying to figure out how to keep their fans from traveling to other Final 4 destinations since in San Antonio this year apparently half or more of those attending were supporters of the Huskers. Any way you figure it, a lot of the Husker fans will be at the Final 4 each year if they are playing.

If the Final 4 each year can generate enough additional revenue to offset the extra expense of travel by scraping the "minimum number of flights rule" maybe that is something the NCAA might be interesting in doing and having all 64 teams seeded (or at least the top 32). (And while they are making all these changes, maybe they'd look at the selection committee process to see if there are ways to improve it. No, that would be too much to hope for.)

[tomclen]

It's hard enough to make travel plans on short notice for a final-four trip. But there is NO way I would plan a trip to Omaha in the winter a week or two before Christmas.

San Antonio is not bad, but the venue is awful for Volleyball. They need warm-weather locations. Vegas would be great, but the NCAA won't host anything there.

Maybe they should consider a weekend off between round of 16/8 and the final 4. It would enable more fans a chance to get airplane tickets and make travel plans without getting stuck by super high airline prices.

[Go Iowa]

Put it in a travel hub every year... Chicago. That way I don't have to travel. And God knows none of these Chicago teams are going to make it to the Final Four anytime soon!

[bugman24]

Well I can tell you this: if it ever happens I will never go to a Final Four again. People don't realize what is right for one sport isn't always right for another.

"They need to set aside their personal agendas and do the best thing for the sport" Oh so he knows what is best for the sport why not just name him as the Tsar of NCAA volleyball then. I think he needs to set aside his personal agenda a think of what it really good for not only the sport but the players.

"but what kid wouldn't want to play in front of a sold-out arena?" what kid want's to go to the final four knowing that very few of the 14,000 (or how ever many) fans will be cheering for you? I really think this statement is BS and the people who make this decision should really consider the players instead of pretending to like this statement does.

I think sending the FF there every year is just an easy way out for them, so they don't have to worry about picking a place etc. If they would actually get some coverage of Women's Volleyball in general maybe more people would go to the FF. Instead lets stick it off in Nebraska somewhere and forget about it.

Anyway off of the soap box. I just really think that this would be a big step backward for the sport. Nothing against Nebraska or Nebraska fans, I think it is great that they draw out so many fans. I just don't want it to be held in the same place every year no matter where it is. I wouldn't want it to be in Louisville every year(I know what a laugh but that's where I am) I think it is detrimental to the growth of the sport.

[Keystonekid]

This topic most certainly should not die. Our sport needs to play in fron of the big crowds. The support of those regional finals is a complete embarrassment. As a sport, we are a lot closer to water polo and fencing than we are to womens basketball or soccer.

[beachman]

therange said:

Beachman, I think there are some powerful people considering the very notion that you are so sure won't happen.

NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

[IdahoBoy]

Still, I'm not sure which way to go on this.

Tell ya what. I'll let Omaha host (or Madison could be another good sight... potentially Seattle, too, if they keep their current growth rate of fans.) if we get rid of the stupid pre-determined Regionals.

[beachman]

What I find amazing is how some of you simple minds try to equate the college world series, held in Omaha to this event. TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES HELD IN ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE TIMES OF THE YEAR. The College World Series takes place over more than a weeks period and there are far more than 4 teams and schools involved. It's tough enough to get tickets if your school is involved and if not it's impossible. Quite a few of us, and yes I have been, were wondering this past year just how difficult it would become if Nebraska was a participant....?? Just a thought.....it was easy to put it there when their baseball team sucked(as it has for eternity, with the exception of the last couple of years) but today I doubt that the decision to put it there would be made all over again. Plus ladies, gents, and kiddies, volleyball ain't baseball! National Pastime folks, and the comparison is impossible to make. Furthermore, what is your weather like in Nebraska right now? A week ago the forecast called for temperatures below freezing with questionable flying weather.....sooner or later the event would have to be cancelled due to weather.....then what are you gonna do? The NCAA would be far better off, if attendance is what is driving this whole thing, to go back to the old way of doing regionals where teams EARN THE RIGHT TO HOST, thus virtually guaranteeing the best possible shot at having the best possible attendance. They were moronic for abandoning that procedure and hopefully this years' tournament demonstrated this to them(although I doubt it). There are far too many programs, coaches, A.D.'s etc. who would VEHEMENTLY OBJECT to a permanent placement in Omaha......NOT GONNA HAPPEN!