Post by moi808 on Dec 4, 2012 5:08:23 GMT -5
I hope Dave can create a tournament like the Nike invitational. Penn St., Stanford, Texas, Hawaii, would be a great tournament to have in front of 8000+ fans. Even if Hawaii got an SEC, ACC, WCC team all in one tournament, it would help their chances, or is the strategy to be the best of the west as playing other conferences doesn't matter if regional seedings are taken into account.
It was interesting to see Lewis mention Shoji's retiring. I believe he'll stay at least until his 4th decade.
It'll be exciting to see Texas at Hawaii. Would be nice if they got UCLA or UW to join in that tournament, instead of Albany. One thing with Dave though, he's always trying to bring back teams with local ties. I'm sure he could have stacked tournaments, but he's constantly trying to bring back local girls to play in the Stanley and in front of their families. A class act.
Hopefully Hawaii will use this loss, this unfortunate 20th seeding as motivation next season. The CAL loss probably was the reason they didn't get seeded. The team will have to keep its focus for every point.
Hopefully everyone stays healthy too.
The 2012 team came into the season without an identity, it left with a gritty, never say die mentality. A Hawaii HS VB coach once said, in sports, you kick the dog down when its down. The 2013 team can be dominate if they stay focused and don't let up.
Let's not forget they were up 2-1 in sets and 7-2 in the fourth. Shoji should have called a timeout when UW was making a run before they caught and passed Hawaii at 8-7. You have to stop the momentum before it catches you, and that early run cost Hawaii, putting their backs against a wall the whole set. They were always trying to steal the momentum back.
As for the seedings, it was an interesting notion to hear Dave say that they should have gotten seeded but not play at home. Has this ever happened before?
This tournament seedings made little sense at all. RPI+AVCA+Pablo were all thought the three criteria needed to host. Clearly, it was a lot more that went into it, and the frustration is just lack of clarity and transparency. If it's because of regional rankings, Hawaii being presumably 6th on the West coast, then say it was that. But all of Hawaii's regular season and pre-season matches, including one against a DII team, all are in the top 25 attended matches this year, including the first and second rounds. So clearly, Hawaii fans would have shown up for a regional, bringing in revenue for a first and second round match. These are the two day total attendances at the 16 sites:
Nebraska 8,350
Kansas 8,029
Washington 7,297
Penn St. 7,001
Louisville 6,194
Oregon 5,734
Texas 5,564
Iowa St. 4,794
BYU 4,528
Minnesota 4,512
Kentucky 3,500
Florida 3,455
Stanford 2,057
Southern California 1,833
Florida St. 1,604
UCLA 1,490
Hawaii, year, at the sub-regional, had an average of 8700, 17,400 total for the first and second rounds. So being a cost issue to send teams to Hawaii is somewhat of a joke. Not having the rankings, RPI, AVCA, PABLO, is laughable, considering two teams with lower rankings in all categories were seeded.
Hawaii has to think larger than sub-regionals though. Last year's regional was great. But it's been over a decade, 1999, since Hawaii hosted the NCAA's. The NCAA is looking for bigger arenas than the 10,300 the Stan Sheriff holds, but if it is Shoji's last years, they should at least give him the chance to host the finals in the stadium he built and the fans he's brought to this sport. Shoji's presence has built an arena most would assume to house a basketball program; No, that arena was built for Dave's Wahines. He has made a whole state fall in love with a sport that has no professional league in it's boarders. He has produced a team that has led to great TV coverage and should be looked up to as the gold standard, K5/OCsports. Hawaii should make a bid to host the finals, remind the NCAA's why Hawaii fans should have a place to watch good volleyball. Hawaii fans, even if Hawaii wasn't playing, would watch the finals and fill the stands to capacity. That's because Dave Shoji has made a state fall in love with the sport.
The 2014 site has been picked, Oklahoma, but there is a regional opening for next year. At the least they can do is give Hawaii, and its fans, a regional to cheer for.
It was interesting to see Lewis mention Shoji's retiring. I believe he'll stay at least until his 4th decade.
It'll be exciting to see Texas at Hawaii. Would be nice if they got UCLA or UW to join in that tournament, instead of Albany. One thing with Dave though, he's always trying to bring back teams with local ties. I'm sure he could have stacked tournaments, but he's constantly trying to bring back local girls to play in the Stanley and in front of their families. A class act.
Hopefully Hawaii will use this loss, this unfortunate 20th seeding as motivation next season. The CAL loss probably was the reason they didn't get seeded. The team will have to keep its focus for every point.
Hopefully everyone stays healthy too.
The 2012 team came into the season without an identity, it left with a gritty, never say die mentality. A Hawaii HS VB coach once said, in sports, you kick the dog down when its down. The 2013 team can be dominate if they stay focused and don't let up.
Let's not forget they were up 2-1 in sets and 7-2 in the fourth. Shoji should have called a timeout when UW was making a run before they caught and passed Hawaii at 8-7. You have to stop the momentum before it catches you, and that early run cost Hawaii, putting their backs against a wall the whole set. They were always trying to steal the momentum back.
As for the seedings, it was an interesting notion to hear Dave say that they should have gotten seeded but not play at home. Has this ever happened before?
This tournament seedings made little sense at all. RPI+AVCA+Pablo were all thought the three criteria needed to host. Clearly, it was a lot more that went into it, and the frustration is just lack of clarity and transparency. If it's because of regional rankings, Hawaii being presumably 6th on the West coast, then say it was that. But all of Hawaii's regular season and pre-season matches, including one against a DII team, all are in the top 25 attended matches this year, including the first and second rounds. So clearly, Hawaii fans would have shown up for a regional, bringing in revenue for a first and second round match. These are the two day total attendances at the 16 sites:
Nebraska 8,350
Kansas 8,029
Washington 7,297
Penn St. 7,001
Louisville 6,194
Oregon 5,734
Texas 5,564
Iowa St. 4,794
BYU 4,528
Minnesota 4,512
Kentucky 3,500
Florida 3,455
Stanford 2,057
Southern California 1,833
Florida St. 1,604
UCLA 1,490
Hawaii, year, at the sub-regional, had an average of 8700, 17,400 total for the first and second rounds. So being a cost issue to send teams to Hawaii is somewhat of a joke. Not having the rankings, RPI, AVCA, PABLO, is laughable, considering two teams with lower rankings in all categories were seeded.
Hawaii has to think larger than sub-regionals though. Last year's regional was great. But it's been over a decade, 1999, since Hawaii hosted the NCAA's. The NCAA is looking for bigger arenas than the 10,300 the Stan Sheriff holds, but if it is Shoji's last years, they should at least give him the chance to host the finals in the stadium he built and the fans he's brought to this sport. Shoji's presence has built an arena most would assume to house a basketball program; No, that arena was built for Dave's Wahines. He has made a whole state fall in love with a sport that has no professional league in it's boarders. He has produced a team that has led to great TV coverage and should be looked up to as the gold standard, K5/OCsports. Hawaii should make a bid to host the finals, remind the NCAA's why Hawaii fans should have a place to watch good volleyball. Hawaii fans, even if Hawaii wasn't playing, would watch the finals and fill the stands to capacity. That's because Dave Shoji has made a state fall in love with the sport.
The 2014 site has been picked, Oklahoma, but there is a regional opening for next year. At the least they can do is give Hawaii, and its fans, a regional to cheer for.
