BoilerOn
Freshman
Boiler Up and Fight On!!
Posts: 71
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Post by BoilerOn on Aug 18, 2014 11:07:27 GMT -5
Purdue lost a ton of experience in graduation - four starters plus a fifth year part-time starter. You don't win in this league with a young team. I think Purdue is a 6-8 finisher this year. Looking for a sleeper, try Ohio State. That is if the biggest name in college athletics can be considered a sleeper. Somehow the Buckeyes have played themselves into that role. I think the talent, coaching, and system will drastically hide these losses. We always forget to bring in coaching into these discussions and its dumb. Same was said about their loss of Ariel Turner in 2012 but the coaches trained accordingly and Purdue did fairly well last year! The loss of Rachael Davis will be covered by Val Nichol setting the 5-1 (which will also help the passing). Amanda Neill will step into Carly Cramer's spot very nicely, Kate Workman has looked good and the loss of Hillary Fox will be softened. Hitting wise, they lost Cat Rebarchak and Katie Griffin but I think the talent of the incoming freshman will cover that up and the experience of other hitters (Epenesa and Drews) hasn't been talked about. I think you are overestimating the impact of the losses and underestimating the new talent and maturity of existing players.
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Post by pogoball on Aug 20, 2014 0:59:08 GMT -5
Just announced this afternoon. Discuss. 2014 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL 1. Penn State 2. Nebraska 3. Wisconsin 4. Illinois 5. Purdue 6. Michigan State 7. Minnesota 8. Michigan 9. Ohio State 10. Northwestern 11. Iowa 12. Indiana 13. Maryland 14. Rutgers www.bigten.org/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/081414aac.htmlLast year, there was Penn State at #1, then about 9 teams that could finish in almost any order. This year, the top 4 seems to have a little separation, then the next 6 and a bottom 4. edit: to add to that, last year's top 8 or so would be at the same level as this year's top 4, IMO. Just a bit of a drop-off this year.
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Post by psufan24 on Aug 20, 2014 7:37:13 GMT -5
Looking for a sleeper, try Ohio State. That is if the biggest name in college athletics can be considered a sleeper. Biggest name in college athletics? Okay. Yea, I dont want to start something, but REALLY? Considering Stanford has won the Director's Cup for the last 19 years... maybe throw them in the conversation?
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Post by zenyada on Aug 20, 2014 13:29:29 GMT -5
All of these banters are interesting and all, but I wish VT has an icon to indicate who are the volleyball professionals and who are just opinionated fans (e.g., pelcj11). This way, we can distinguish a professional opinion vs. fan opinion. And you CANNOT vote for yourself. How about it moderators? A bit of a silly idea in context imo in that it implies all coaches have superior knowledge therefore their opinion has more value. The informed opinion of a former player may be just as accurate in that between high school and club tournaments they may have seen a particular player far more than any college coach.
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Post by MTC on Aug 20, 2014 15:33:34 GMT -5
And yet it is probably true that all coaches think they have superior knowledge and their opinion has more value.
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Post by jsn112 on Aug 20, 2014 17:18:22 GMT -5
All of these banters are interesting and all, but I wish VT has an icon to indicate who are the volleyball professionals and who are just opinionated fans (e.g., pelcj11). This way, we can distinguish a professional opinion vs. fan opinion. And you CANNOT vote for yourself. How about it moderators? A bit of a silly idea in context imo in that it implies all coaches have superior knowledge therefore their opinion has more value. The informed opinion of a former player may be just as accurate in that between high school and club tournaments they may have seen a particular player far more than any college coach. I think you might want to read the post again. I explicitly said volleyball "professional," not coaches only.
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Post by zenyada on Aug 20, 2014 21:20:57 GMT -5
A bit of a silly idea in context imo in that it implies all coaches have superior knowledge therefore their opinion has more value. The informed opinion of a former player may be just as accurate in that between high school and club tournaments they may have seen a particular player far more than any college coach. I think you might want to read the post again. I explicitly said volleyball "professional," not coaches only. Okay, help me understand. By professionals are you including referees? What other group is making a living in vb? Many really good refs never played, so why would their professional opinion on talent necessarily more valuable than an ex-player who understands the game that apparently you'd place in your alternative "just an opinionated fan" category?
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Post by jsn112 on Aug 21, 2014 0:08:33 GMT -5
I think you might want to read the post again. I explicitly said volleyball "professional," not coaches only. Okay, help me understand. By professionals are you including referees? What other group is making a living in vb? Many really good refs never played, so why would their professional opinion on talent necessarily more valuable than an ex-player who understands the game that apparently you'd place in your alternative "just an opinionated fan" category? Wow. You are really splitting hair and wanting to run with it, aren't ya...? OK, knock yourself out... without me. I think what I stated was pretty clear.
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Aug 21, 2014 8:36:23 GMT -5
And yet it is probably true that all coaches think they have superior knowledge and their opinion has more value. Actually, the beauty of this forum is that everyone is equally full of it. Except me. I'm moreso
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Aug 21, 2014 8:38:39 GMT -5
Biggest name in college athletics? Okay. Yea, I dont want to start something, but REALLY? Considering Stanford has won the Director's Cup for the last 19 years... maybe throw them in the conversation? True, BUT "names" in college athletics are not determined by successful in volleyball, track or even women's basketball. It's determined by football, football, men's basketball and football.
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BoilerOn
Freshman
Boiler Up and Fight On!!
Posts: 71
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Post by BoilerOn on Aug 21, 2014 9:25:24 GMT -5
Biggest name in college athletics? Okay. Yea, I dont want to start something, but REALLY? Considering Stanford has won the Director's Cup for the last 19 years... maybe throw them in the conversation? No one cares about the Director's cup, and the Director's cup counts the following sports... Baseball, W and M Golf, W and M Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Softball, W and M Tennis, W and M Track and Field, Men's Volleyball and Women's Water Polo. That's what you're gunna base Stanford's athletic power on? In director's cup rankings, Virginia is higher than USC. Do you honestly think Virginia has a bigger and better athletic program than USC? Stanford's athletic program doesn't have the facilities, profit, or alumni power Ohio State does. It's not close. I'm not a buckeye fan but there's no way you can count Stanford in the same class as OSU, especially considering that Stanford has only become a name in athletics since their football team beat USC with Jim Harbaugh. More people wear Stanford gear for the academic reputation, not the athletic one.
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Post by crosscourt3m on Aug 21, 2014 9:33:34 GMT -5
Walbridge was an All-American. Not the same. Well aware. My point being that both played in most but not all of their matches their freshmen years, then all of their matches their sophomore and junior years...with great recruits coming in for their senior seasons. More similarities than the 2nd-Team AA difference. If you would have told many people that Walbridge wouldn't play her senior year after what she had previously contributed to the team, they would have been surprised. Could say the same of Grant. Now, I'm certain Grant will contribute more her senior year than Walbridge did hers, but you wonder if someone like Thelen can surprise us all and be much better than we may have expected. Just musing. Thelen being better than Grant would be a very welcoming surprise.
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Post by MTC on Aug 21, 2014 13:05:09 GMT -5
Grant is going to help PSU this year a lot more than Thelen will. Grant is still a player improving every year.
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Post by jasonr on Aug 21, 2014 19:48:27 GMT -5
Yea, I dont want to start something, but REALLY? Considering Stanford has won the Director's Cup for the last 19 years... maybe throw them in the conversation? No one cares about the Director's cup, and the Director's cup counts the following sports... Baseball, W and M Golf, W and M Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Softball, W and M Tennis, W and M Track and Field, Men's Volleyball and Women's Water Polo. That's what you're gunna base Stanford's athletic power on? In director's cup rankings, Virginia is higher than USC. Do you honestly think Virginia has a bigger and better athletic program than USC? Stanford's athletic program doesn't have the facilities, profit, or alumni power Ohio State does. It's not close. I'm not a buckeye fan but there's no way you can count Stanford in the same class as OSU, especially considering that Stanford has only become a name in athletics since their football team beat USC with Jim Harbaugh. More people wear Stanford gear for the academic reputation, not the athletic one. If we're going off of name recognition in sports with no care given to actual success then it's either Texas or Notre Dame. Not that neither of those programs are successful, they are, but they're going to move the most merchandise and move the needle the most in terms of media coverage.
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Post by pepperbrooks on Aug 21, 2014 20:07:27 GMT -5
Yea, I dont want to start something, but REALLY? Considering Stanford has won the Director's Cup for the last 19 years... maybe throw them in the conversation? No one cares about the Director's cup, and the Director's cup counts the following sports... Baseball, W and M Golf, W and M Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Softball, W and M Tennis, W and M Track and Field, Men's Volleyball and Women's Water Polo. That's what you're gunna base Stanford's athletic power on? In director's cup rankings, Virginia is higher than USC. Do you honestly think Virginia has a bigger and better athletic program than USC? Stanford's athletic program doesn't have the facilities, profit, or alumni power Ohio State does. It's not close. I'm not a buckeye fan but there's no way you can count Stanford in the same class as OSU, especially considering that Stanford has only become a name in athletics since their football team beat USC with Jim Harbaugh. More people wear Stanford gear for the academic reputation, not the athletic one. Do you want it based on only the sports Ohio State is good at? And you forgot football, basketball. Swimming, etc.
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