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Post by ohiostatetad on Jul 14, 2007 7:19:27 GMT -5
Can anyone find the Ohio State stats on the new website? They don't seem to be there.....I've looked too. Ohio State continues to treat the sport of woman's volleyball like a ill favored stepchild. I can only hope that this year the Buckeyes will allow something other than their in house "gametracker", which was the worst, to allow fans to follow games as they are played. You must have missed the big, black link which reads "statistics." Perhaps you can take English 101 at OSU and transfer the credit to one of the Madison pubs? ;D www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/fls/17300/stats/wvolleyball/2006/teamcume.html
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Post by bomber on Jul 14, 2007 8:43:01 GMT -5
No temper here but it seems I've got you fired up. Nor did I call you ignorant but your observation was ignorant. The numbers simply proved you wrong. Have your opinion or disagree with mine but don't make claims the numbers don't support, that's all. I never even mentioned anything about who is better than who or who should be this honor or that honor. That's all you. Have at it. And I'm not new. Far from it. I'm not fired up. I repeat, my point is simply that of the players you mentioned as outsides, I would probably play those players before I'd pencil in Ms. Merlau, based on how they performed since they've been in the conference vs what she has done in the conference so far. Apparently I'm not alone in that regard, or she would have gotten consideration for the conference honor team. Where do I say this person is better than that person?? And oh, with regard to your comment about the fact that statistics don't back up my statements about a player's effectiveness, I beg to differ. Ms Merlau had easily the worst hitting percentage last season of any of the players mentioned in this thread. The next poorest was Dolgner, a freshman, who was still 25 points higher in hitting effectiveness than Merlau. The last thing I believe the Purdue offense needs is to give her more swings, as you mentioned previously. Probably they need to give her less. Newbie........
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Post by bomber on Jul 14, 2007 8:55:03 GMT -5
Technically, Bomber, Griffin called the "observation" ignorant, not you. But I'm just posting this to build up posts so that people can't call me "newbie". Technically, wolverine, you are right. But I would have preferred griffin to use a word like misinformed, mistaken, or perhaps confused when describing my observation. "Ignorant" seems so adversarial, don't you think? Que sera, sera.......
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Post by bomber on Jul 14, 2007 8:57:58 GMT -5
I love it! we haven't seen so much UW/UM bad blood since the Badgers blew in the Gophers to the NCAA last year. Nothing like a good spat on the board to get one's blood flowing again......now, where's BIK?
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Post by ohiostatetad on Jul 14, 2007 10:08:55 GMT -5
I love it! we haven't seen so much UW/UM bad blood since the Badgers blew in the Gophers to the NCAA last year. Is anyone else confused by this? I love it! we haven't seen so much UW/UM bad blood since the Badgers blew in the Gophers to the NCAA last year. [/size] [/quote] This I understand, but I don't think that was intended....
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Post by bucky415 on Jul 14, 2007 17:14:01 GMT -5
I think the conference will be really strong this season. Penn State will be the favorites, obviously, but I doubt they will run the table. If Wisconsin is healthy, I think they will be really good and could make a Final Four run with the regional being in Madison. I am not sure after that. Ohio State will have a lot of firepower, but having a new setter always makes things questionable and they weren't a great blocking team last year. Maybe more experience for Dozier will help that. Minnesota is a big question mark. I am guessing they will improve over the course of the season, but you have to figure they will have a dropoff at the libero position at some point. I thought Peniata last year was every bit as good as Gentil from what I saw of her. I could see them going as high as second if the back row play is good. I don't know what to expect from Purdue. Lynch is good, but I don't think anyone else has been a consistent star for them. I have to admit that I too have not been all that impressed with Merlau, but maybe the injuries had something to do with that. I was really surprised how easily Minnesota and Wisconsin won there at the end of last year. Still, Shondell has done a great job there, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Boilers made a run in the tournament again.
I think there is a dropoff after those five, but six to nine will probably pull some upsets and might all make the NCAAs if they don't beat each other up too much. I am a big fan of Bruzdzinski when she isn't playing the Badgers, and Miller gives them another standout hitter. If Zimmerman can take over and Selsky moves back to libero, that would probably make them better. That isn't a rip on Selsky, it just isn't optimal to have your setter leading your team in digs, as she did a lot last year. If she can touch the ball more in the back row, they will probably be better off for it. Johnson and Schatzle will give MSU the second best outside combo in the league, but they will need newbies to step up at libero and setter. Illinois should be better with the influx of freshmen and hopefully a return to good health for Brown and Turner. Northwestern didn't have a great year last year, but they have enough to make the NCAAs as well.
Finally, at the bottom, it looks like roster shakeups will probably make things tough at Iowa and Indiana. It is hard to move up when you have to keep starting over all the time. I think Iowa has some players, but there just isn't much depth, so it will be hard for them to make a move, especially given how deep the conference should be.
Getting back to the original theme of the post, I would probably go with Harmotto (who I think might be POY due to her strong hitting and blocking), Fawcett, and Hodge from PSU. Simpson, Dolgner, and Reineke from Wisconsin, Jones from Minnesota (there will be someone else on the post season list probably, but I don't know whom it will be), Lynch from Purdue, Meyer from Ohio State, Bruzdzinksi from Michigan, Johnson from MSU, and Brown from Illinois.
That leaves off some good players, which i think just shows how tough the league could be. I think that Schatzle, Turner, Hartmann, Roehrig, Szerszen, Stevens, Miller, Merlau, Hyser, and Jeffers could all make the postseason list without surprising me too much, and that leaves out freshmen and definite liberos. It really should be a good season to watch. Now, if only the Big Ten Network and my cable company could quit being stupid and find a way for me to buy that network........
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Post by bomber on Jul 15, 2007 7:48:02 GMT -5
So you don't like Merlau. I get it. You think others are better, so be it. You look solely at the stats and you've got a good arguement. But you keep harping on all big ten. I never claimed anywhere that she should have been "All Anything" last year. Not once. All I said in her defense was that for the first part of the season she was putting up great numbers. Even was POW once and then her game took a drastic down turn. It was like night and day. Although there probably were some naturally bad games in this stretch, you could tell something just wasn't right with her and come to find out she was sick and injured. Probably shouldn't of been playing at all but what other choice did she have? It's not like Purdue was deep at the OH position. So I guess all I was trying to say, is you might consider cutting the kid a little bit of slack. That's all. OK, OK, I'll cut her some slack. I do think however that there are lots of players right now in the conference that are better players than her at outside. Hopefully for you at least, she might prove me wrong this year and put up great numbers for an entire season rather than a half. By the way, the reason I bring up "All BIg Ten" is because that is the title of this thread ........
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Post by wolverine on Jul 16, 2007 8:58:51 GMT -5
Technically, Bomber, Griffin called the "observation" ignorant, not you. But I'm just posting this to build up posts so that people can't call me "newbie". Technically, wolverine, you are right. But I would have preferred griffin to use a word like misinformed, mistaken, or perhaps confused when describing my observation. "Ignorant" seems so adversarial, don't you think? Que sera, sera....... Agreed. Oldie.
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Post by BoilerUp! on Jul 16, 2007 10:53:40 GMT -5
Now, if only the Big Ten Network and my cable company could quit being stupid and find a way for me to buy that network........
Agreed!
I'm going on vacation the beginning of August, and I keep wondering if I am going to have to scramble and order Direct TV when I get back.
When is the pre-season all Big Ten team announced, anyway?
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Post by wiscvball on Jul 16, 2007 11:03:00 GMT -5
Last year the team was announced on August 17th... I'd look for it around the same time this year.
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Post by BoilerUp! on Jul 16, 2007 11:15:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the info!
It seems like the Big Ten web site could have something volleyball between Jan 4 - Aug 17...
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Post by wolverine on Jul 16, 2007 13:36:58 GMT -5
It's pretty common for the (big) cable companies and a launching channel to have a stare down right down to the wire (I speaketh with some experience in this area), especially when the new channel is looking to get on basic instead of being relegated to the premium packages and is looking for a sizeable wholesale rate (both of which Big10 TV is). But cable companies also don't like to be disadvantaged to satellite on program offerings. My guess is some compromise really close to D-Day.
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Post by ugopher on Jul 16, 2007 21:29:04 GMT -5
While I hope that the local cable company, Comcast, and the B10 Network work this out, I don't know that I will be that upset if it doesn't happen. I feel that volleyball will be relagated to a lot of delayed broadcasts at odd times. However, I do see that MN has two Sunday afternoon matches which may be scheduled to allow for B10 Network coverage.
We'll have to wait and see.
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Post by bomber on Jul 16, 2007 23:43:11 GMT -5
While I hope that the local cable company, Comcast, and the B10 Network work this out, I don't know that I will be that upset if it doesn't happen. I feel that volleyball will be relagated to a lot of delayed broadcasts at odd times. However, I do see that MN has two Sunday afternoon matches which may be scheduled to allow for B10 Network coverage. We'll have to wait and see. And another thread gets highjacked and fades slowly into the sunset..............
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Post by wolverine on Jul 17, 2007 11:40:10 GMT -5
Bomber, no river runs perfectly straight. Likewise, threads.
Besides, being able to watch volleyball on BigTenTV will allow everyone to determine if their Pre-Season All Big Ten predictions are likely to come true.
So, put away the hall monitor armband.
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