VCU's goin' dancin'!

[JackReacher]

I, too, caught the occasional glimpse of a big bald man at the scorer's table -- when I could see at all. Most of the night my view was obscured by obnoxious VCU fans turning to scream in my face and yell at my 11-year-old son for having the audacity to wear a Mason jersey.
Not that it would've mattered last night b/c Mason couldn't throw the ball in the ocean from the shore, but it gets more and more ridiculous every year the CAA hosts the tournament in Richmond. If the rule is, No. 1 seed gets to host, that's fine; other smaller conferences do it that way. But giving VCU a built-in hometown advantage and 10,000 screaming fans every year just isn't right.

Picking nits here, but no chance there were 10,000 in attendance last night. I'm guessing about 8,000, maybe 8,500.

Overall point taken, though.

 

[Hokie_pokie]

Official attendance was listed at 11,200, if I'm not mistaken. If that's accurate, at least 9,000 were VCU fans.
Personally, having the tournament in Richmond every year is easier on me b/c it's only about a 25-minute drive for me and my kid. But it's not cool having such a significant homecourt advantage in a game that decides a conference's one and only NCAA bid. VCU's program is good enough that they don't need the extra help.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

In the head for another week, Mods.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Official attendance is tickets sold, not turnstile count. Probably some fans who bought ticket books, then got the heck on up outta there when their crappy team crapped itself.

Richmond has been the CAA host forever, well before VCU was in the conference. In fact, the homecourt advantage then was U. of Richmond's. Then for a couple of years, both were in the CAA. Now it's just VCU.

Richmond has always been the geographic center of the conference, both in its condensed and now more spread-out incarnations. All the schools that draw are in Virginia, so it'd be economic suicide to move the tournament to, say, Atlanta or Philly (though they're having the baseball tournament at Fenway). And Virginia has sucky arenas -- they probably couldn't get John Paul Jones Arena in C'ville, Scope is a piece of buttass and Hampton Coliseum is only good for Phish concerts. So it stays in the Cradle of the Confederacy.

 

[Hokie_pokie]

Except now, with Northeastern in the mix, Richmond isn't technically the geographic center of the conference. Who's to say if the CAA found a way to take the tournament to Baltimore that the northern schools wouldn't bring more fans?
Obviously, Baltimore would have to want to bid on the tournament. But it seems to me that the CAA would be on more solid ground financially there b/c the top Virginia schools are going to travel in numbers anyway and it would be easier/more economical for Towson, Hofstra, Drexel and Northeastern to get there. In Richmond, it's only a big financial success if VCU makes it to the final game; an early exit for the Rams and the place is half-empty.
Moving the tournament to a more neutral location also would remove the appearance that the conference bosses are closet VCU fans. Let's see how well VCU's real fans will travel when they have to pay for hotel rooms and drive more than 20 minutes to the arena.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Northeastern is counterbalanced by Georgia State, so it's probably still fair to say Richmond is the geographic center of the CAA.

The northern schools have **** tier attendance: Delaware, at 2,917 a game, is the leader among north-of-Virginia schools. Hofstra is 2,681, Drexel is 1,934, Towson is 1,820. And Northeastern, despite having a team in contention all season, is 2,041. Unless you put the thing in Baltimore, you'll have a hard time getting Richmond-level numbers when it's no longer a day trip for more than half the conference. And if you put it in a big arena, it's going to make for an awful show for ESPN when the final draws 5,000 in a 15,000-seat place.

Nobody complains that the ACC tournament is in Atlanta this year. Or that the Big East is in NYC. Or that the Pac 10 is in Los Angeles. A truly neutral site would be ideal, but almost impossible for this league. Unless you put it somewhere odd like Charlotte and hope for the best.

 

[Moderator1]

VCU joined the CAA for the 1995-96 season and won the league easily with a team of mostly Metro Conference players.
It went all the way until 2004 before it won again.
It has won in 2004, 2007 and 2009.

Tournament has been in the same place all those years. VCU generally wins when it has the best team and doesn't win when it doesn't have the best team. Mason, despite being from not Richmond, has had its fair share of success in the event. UNC Wilmington sure didn't seem to have a problem winning there (and beating VCU a number of times) when it had Brett Blizzard.

 

[JackReacher]

Wasn't there a rumor about Atlantic City trying to get the tourney? And Baltimore wouldn't be awful, either.

 

[lone star scribe]

Northeastern is counterbalanced by Georgia State, so it's probably still fair to say Richmond is the geographic center of the CAA.

The northern schools have **** tier attendance: Delaware, at 2,917 a game, is the leader among north-of-Virginia schools. Hofstra is 2,681, Drexel is 1,934, Towson is 1,820. And Northeastern, despite having a team in contention all season, is 2,041. Unless you put the thing in Baltimore, you'll have a hard time getting Richmond-level numbers when it's no longer a day trip for more than half the conference. And if you put it in a big arena, it's going to make for an awful show for ESPN when the final draws 5,000 in a 15,000-seat place.

Nobody complains that the ACC tournament is in Atlanta this year. Or that the Big East is in NYC. Or that the Pac 10 is in Los Angeles. A truly neutral site would be ideal, but almost impossible for this league. Unless you put it somewhere odd like Charlotte and hope for the best.

After years of complaining by the non-NC schools, the ACC went to a rotation system for conference tournament sites: Greensboro, Charlotte, Atlanta, Landover. Apples and oranges comparing the ACC with the CAA. And you think Charlotte is a "neutral" site? Over the years, the Tar Heels have a better winning percentage there than in Chapel Hill. Look it up.

 

[spnited]

Wasn't there a rumor about Atlantic City trying to get the tourney? And Baltimore wouldn't be awful, either.

A-10 is in Atlantic City this week. Has been for a few years now and I think just re-upped for about 5 more.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Northeastern is counterbalanced by Georgia State, so it's probably still fair to say Richmond is the geographic center of the CAA.

The northern schools have **** tier attendance: Delaware, at 2,917 a game, is the leader among north-of-Virginia schools. Hofstra is 2,681, Drexel is 1,934, Towson is 1,820. And Northeastern, despite having a team in contention all season, is 2,041. Unless you put the thing in Baltimore, you'll have a hard time getting Richmond-level numbers when it's no longer a day trip for more than half the conference. And if you put it in a big arena, it's going to make for an awful show for ESPN when the final draws 5,000 in a 15,000-seat place.

Nobody complains that the ACC tournament is in Atlanta this year. Or that the Big East is in NYC. Or that the Pac 10 is in Los Angeles. A truly neutral site would be ideal, but almost impossible for this league. Unless you put it somewhere odd like Charlotte and hope for the best.

After years of complaining by the non-NC schools, the ACC went to a rotation system for conference tournament sites: Greensboro, Charlotte, Atlanta, Landover. Apples and oranges comparing the ACC with the CAA. And you think Charlotte is a "neutral" site? Over the years, the Tar Heels have a better winning percentage there than in Chapel Hill. Look it up.

I mean having the CAA in Charlotte, or Charleston or some other city in the Mid-Atlantic that doesn't have a team in the league.

As for Balmer: Would 1st Mariner Arena be a suitable stadium? Sizewize, it sounds okay, but isn't it kinda really old?

It's going to be a hard sell to get the CAA to stray too far from Virginia with its tournament, since only the Virginia schools (and UNCW when they're good) draw. Taking away CAA arenas, you have John Paul Jones Arena, Richmond Coliseum, Hampton Coliseum, Scope and Salem Civic Center. Assuming JPJ isn't likely, Richmond's the best of a bad lot.

 

[Hokie_pokie]

My point is even an ACC-style site rotation would be more fair than keeping the tournament in VCU's backyard for the next 20 years. They may not win it every year, but they have a significant hometown advantage every year, and with one NCAA bid at stake in many of those seasons, it's just not right.
Also, just because the northern schools haven't traditionally brought big numbers to the tournament since joining the CAA, that doesn't mean the conference shouldn't do something to represent their interests. How will we know how well a Baltimore or Philly-based CAA tournament would draw until it actually happens?
Imagine the howling from VCU fans if the CAA headquarters had been settled in Norfolk instead, and the tournament had been hosted at either Scope or the Hampton Coliseum every year. Chances are, ODU wouldn't have won any more titles than VCU has over the same span, but VCU fans would still be screaming about the unfairness of it all.

 

[JackReacher]

Wasn't there a rumor about Atlantic City trying to get the tourney? And Baltimore wouldn't be awful, either.

A-10 is in Atlantic City this week. Has been for a few years now and I think just re-upped for about 5 more.

Yeah. I seem to remember the AC idea being nixed pretty quickly. I would have been there; that's for damn sure.

 

[93Devil]

In Richmond, this tourney is a big deal so it receives more coverage and probably higher ticket sales.

In Baltimore, this would be behind the Orioles and the Raven free agents on the local news..

Plus, aren't the CAA league offices already in Richmond?

 

[JackReacher]

In Baltimore, this would be behind the Orioles and the Raven free agents on the local news..

Really?

 

[93Devil]

In Baltimore, this would be behind the Orioles and the Raven free agents on the local news..

Really?

Unless Towson is in the title game, I think the pro teams get the nod.

I could be wrong.

 

[JackReacher]

In Baltimore, this would be behind the Orioles and the Raven free agents on the local news..

Really?

Unless Towson is in the title game, I think the pro teams get the nod.

I could be wrong.

You think fans of CAA teams give a **** about Baltimore pro teams? I understand that non-CAA fans from Baltimore might attend, but these things are mainly attended by CAA fans, no?

 

[93Devil]

In Richmond, this is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Moddy can correct me, but I think the CAA Tourney ranks behind the two NASCAR races and one IRL race, and that is the list.

 

[imjustagirl]

In Baltimore, this would be behind the Orioles and the Raven free agents on the local news..

Really?

Unless Towson is in the title game, I think the pro teams get the nod.

I could be wrong.

You think fans of CAA teams give a **** about Baltimore pro teams? I understand that non-CAA fans from Baltimore might attend, but these things are mainly attended by CAA fans, no?

He said on the local news, which is different than figuring out who would attend. This would be a VERY low priority, I would agree, for a city like Baltimore when distributing coverage.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

My point is even an ACC-style site rotation would be more fair than keeping the tournament in VCU's backyard for the next 20 years. They may not win it every year, but they have a significant hometown advantage every year, and with one NCAA bid at stake in many of those seasons, it's just not right.
Also, just because the northern schools haven't traditionally brought big numbers to the tournament since joining the CAA, that doesn't mean the conference shouldn't do something to represent their interests. How will we know how well a Baltimore or Philly-based CAA tournament would draw until it actually happens?
Imagine the howling from VCU fans if the CAA headquarters had been settled in Norfolk instead, and the tournament had been hosted at either Scope or the Hampton Coliseum every year. Chances are, ODU wouldn't have won any more titles than VCU has over the same span, but VCU fans would still be screaming about the unfairness of it all.

What would the rotation be, then? Richmond, Baltimore and ...