tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8780248647362852089.post3317898296105579359..comments2023-10-31T03:42:57.725-07:00Comments on Win The Fields: Preview + ReStructure ThoughtsLouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13365249342438107816noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8780248647362852089.post-33408149065195772642011-05-06T12:50:39.880-07:002011-05-06T12:50:39.880-07:00Ugh, Kyle, I had some long, thoughtful reply that ...Ugh, Kyle, I had some long, thoughtful reply that Google ate. I'll try to be shorter but hopefully still thoughtful.<br /><br />1)and 2) I cannot dispute. Not being a current college player (though I'm friends with many, including Cricket from Utah) and certainly not an elite player, I guess I value "growth" more highly than "competition", but not everyone will agree.<br /><br />Travel would still suck. But it would be 10 and 12-hour drives instead of 14 and 16-hour drives. Those few hours make a whole lot of difference for poor college students--think how much less gas money!<br /><br />I agree that this isn't the time for a separate Big Sky. Moving Utah from the NW to Four Corners already helps a lot. A (current) Big Sky region only works with Colorado thrown in, and it doesn't work as well as Four Corners.<br /><br />--Mike LommlerMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15716908266431672312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8780248647362852089.post-8679641499202146752011-05-06T11:55:24.845-07:002011-05-06T11:55:24.845-07:00Mike - 24 team natties does impact teams in the fo...Mike - 24 team natties does impact teams in the following ways:<br />1. Reduces potential sites for Nationals<br />2. Reduces competition at Nationals<br /><br />Not that it's a terrible idea (it isn't) but there are impacts that should be considered. <br /><br />The fact is, no matter how much you slice up Regions, travel in the interior West is going to be difficult. I think the biggest aversion to adding more West Coast Regions is that a really small Region (say with 12-16 teams) doesn't *feel* legitimate. With fewer teams in the Region there is also a greater possibility that a really, terribly undeserving team makes Nationals.<br /><br />That said, the Metro East has proved time and again that even large (by number) regions don't guarantee good teams at Nationals. <br /><br />Over the year, I've been won over by the idea to *at least* add one additional region to get Colorado out of the SW, NW, SC, and NC and help those Regions w/ travel times. Big Sky is a bit of a tougher sell, I think.Kyle Weisbrodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12968840595720794251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8780248647362852089.post-84801548721265701802011-05-05T11:36:17.065-07:002011-05-05T11:36:17.065-07:00Inspired by some of your earlier commentary on col...Inspired by some of your earlier commentary on college restructuring, I proposed a Four Corners region on RSD. Naturally, the easterners sh*t a brick. Of course, with extra bids to a 24-team natties, it shouldn't affect *them* at all, but people often react badly to change. But I played my college ulti as a grad student at Montana, and a bunch of club tournaments from my current base in southwest Utah, and am thoroughly acquainted with travel's dampening effect on growth in these areas. I mean, when I was at Montana the NEAREST college tournament we played at was 6 hours away. For college kids this kind of travel is an extremely heavy burden, more so when you're getting your brains beat in by the more established teams on the coast. Makes it very hard to retain players. When I was at Montana we had three Flycoons on the team (Nevin, Ken, and Hugh, outstanding all-around players) and we hardly ever won a game because we had no depth (example: we often had a woman on the line, which worked on offense but not so much on D). Anyway, breaking up the western regions a bit is overdue. People are worrying too much about having a "weak" team at natties, or not getting 16 teams at regionals (which should matter only to the people in that region) and forgetting that ultimate is still very much within its growth stage as a national sport.<br /><br />Love the blog.<br /><br />--Mike LommlerMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15716908266431672312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8780248647362852089.post-15169560089359491872011-05-04T10:08:07.963-07:002011-05-04T10:08:07.963-07:00Speaking of CO, Kali is back in the South Central ...Speaking of CO, Kali is back in the South Central Regional line-up after Missouri State declined their bid. I'm really interested to see how they will do this weekend. They have a lot to prove and could either crumble under the pressure or respond and surprise the hell out of everybody.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com