Shoji asks "What do we have to do?"
This was Ann’s story this morning. Any thoughts? Don’t know what his ‘out of the box’ ideas are other than one that was floated here a while back where UH ‘hosts’ a subregional in Las Vegas.
Canceling the Hawaii-Brigham Young football game Dec. 7 at Aloha Stadium might be a deal maker for Rainbow Wahine volleyball.
The anger UH coach Dave Shoji directed at the NCAA volleyball selection committee last fall, when his eighth-ranked team was not seeded in the top 16, has not subsided. But the guy who should become his sport’s winningest coach in September said he will wait until the Wahine open their season before he approaches anyone on the committee with some of his “out of the box” ideas.
“We want to make sure we’re in position to be in the top 16,” Shoji said. “Otherwise it doesn’t make much sense, if you’re not going to be worthy of seeding anyway. After the preseason, we’ll see how we do against the good teams and in the league. Then we might have a better idea.”
Shoji believes putting in a Thursday-Friday subregional bid last fall played a part in the Wahine’s failure to get a top-16 seed because teams have to fly so far so soon after the bracket is announced. This year, the UH-BYU football game originally scheduled Dec. 7 also would have forced another Thursday-Friday bid. With the cancellation, UH can bid for Friday-Saturday (Dec. 6-7).
“One more day gives us a better chance to host,” said Shoji, who has brought up the possibility of trying to bid to host at a neutral site, such as Las Vegas. Hawaii has led the country in volleyball attendance since it moved into the Stan Sheriff Center in 1994 and is the only revenue-producing program in the country.
“It makes a lot of sense,” he said, “but I’m not sure how the NCAA views that. It’s been done before when a host team didn’t have a home facility that weekend.”
Athletic director Ben Jay has not had a discussion with Shoji dedicated to the subject, so he speaks only in general terms for now.
“I want to make sure that Dave has what he needs,” Jay said this week. “We have to work on the committee and what we have to do to raise our profile to make sure things like that don’t happen. But we have to make ourselves better in order to host.
“I think everything is do-able, it’s a matter of getting the committee to listen to some of those things and see if they are willing to try.”
Two teams with an RPI below Hawaii’s (No. 17) moved up and two moved down in the final week last November, when UH was idle. The committee seeds the top 16 teams in the NCAA tournament. In 2011, the Pac-12 pushed for a new rule that required seeded teams to get the option of hosting. When his team was not seeded last year and sent away — for the eighth time in nine years —Shoji blew up.
“To tell my team they weren’t good enough to be in the top 16 teams is absurd …,” he said after the Wahine fell in five to the Huskies. “To disrespect this group of athletes is tragic to me.”
Any “disrespect” was probably directed at the Big West Conference. Hawaii was 27-3 last year, and had a 20-match winning streak going into the NCAA tournament. Most of those wins came in their return to the Big West, whose next-best team (Long Beach State) had an RPI of 61. Cal State Northridge (76) and Pacific (88) were the only other top-100 Big West teams.
The NCAA’s RPI system is based on opponent strength of schedule (50 percent), winning percentage (25) and “opponents’ opponent strength of schedule.”
“We just have to be better as a conference,” Shoji said. “The conference RPI was so low, that brought us down to where we were one spot out from hosting. I don’t think there’s any doubt our conference will be better next year. All things being equal, if we have the same kind of scenario as last year we will host. I’m positive our conference will be better.”
Hawaii’s isolation has kept all things from being equal in the past. In 2004, Hawaii won its first 28 to rise to No. 1 in the coaches Top 25 poll. It was sent to Colorado for a subregional and Green Bay, Wis., for a regional. The team traveled more than 40,000 miles that season.
David McClain, UH’s interim president at that time, wrote NCAA president Myles Brand to ask for a review of procedures for deciding postseason site selections, saying “the NCAA’s decision to direct us to Ft. Collins defies common sense.”
About the only way Hawaii can guarantee itself a seed is to go unbeaten through a preseason that starts Aug. 30 against NCAA champion Texas, and includes UCLA, San Diego, Santa Clara, Arizona and Northwestern. Shoji is in the process of finalizing two road matches against “ranked teams” in September and wants to bring in a Japanese team for exhibitions later in the season. The only match between Oct. 12 and Oct. 24 now is an alumnae exhibition.
Nebraska, which hosted an NCAA Regional last year in Omaha, will host again this year at its renovated Devaney Center in Lincoln. USC, Kentucky and Illinois are the other three regional sites. Florida was initially announced as the fourth site. Washington is hosting the final four, Dec. 19 and 21 at Key Arena in Seattle.
The 2014 regionals are at Washington, Iowa State, Louisville and Minnesota, with the final four in Oklahoma City.
You can guarantee yourself a seed if you finish with a RPI well above 16 last year we fell just below that magic number so do we really have a beef ?
Maybe we should blame ourselves for scheduling Toyota Auto Body and BYU Hawai`i and being idle in the last week ?
Maybe it is time to can this football comes first policy and see how much we actually lose in attendance ?
Hosting in Las Vegas is just plain ridiculous.
just saying the Vegas idea was floated here, not by me.
Agree that you have to wonder how ‘split’ the attendance would be if the two sports played the same day.
However the RPI is a computer ranking generated by imput biased towards the BCS conferences.
The BYUH and Japanese teams had no bearing on the RPI. because there is no comparative data.
UH wasn’t idle that last week. They played their Big West finale on Friday, Nov. 23 against UCR
Selection Sunday was the 25th.
RPI plays a portion of the seeding. Unfortunately the thinking is that our seeding was lowered below 16 due to the travel constraints.
Having a top 10 RPI definitely makes it harder for the committee to screw Hawaii (and I advertently whichever PAC 12 school we play).
The hosting in las vegas idea is terrible, UH should host at the SSC only.
Not just because I want to attend but because if the NCAA does make UH host in Las Vegas , they might never let UH host at the SSC again and the big advantage of hosting is that you don’t have to travel.
Really glad to hear that UH will be bidding for a friday/saturday regional. even when there is a football game they should continue to do so. UH should be able to host two big events on the same day, it’s not impossible to do so.
It depends on how the football team is doing over all. If they are having a bad season, I could see headlines wondering if the volleyball game took a few 1,000 or so fans away from the stadium. If they are doing good we’ll wonder if SSC would have been sold out if the volleyball game was scheduled around the football game.
I worry that offering a neutral location to the NCAA would give them another excuse not to have UH host at Stan Sheriff. The only upside of having a neutral site if we’re seeded is that it wouldn’t give homecourt advantage to a very good unseeded team. We’ve been to USC (twice), Washington, and Long Beach as the seeded team, which was crazy.
Even with a Friday-Saturday schedule doesn’t mean the NCAA will give UH a first-second round.
Something else that the admin has considered is how it affects its staff. Most, if not all, of the UH sports inforation department is at the football game to work game management and stats. 2 events around the same time splits their resources as well.
Not saying it couldn’t be done, just saying it takes a lot of staff for both a football game and a sub-regional.
If the NCAA would split the first-second round so that there was a day in between, then UH would have no problem hosting Fri-Sun. But they won’t because it costs money.
I say move into a BCS conference. That is the only way to guarantee you get seeded. Of course you still have to keep winning. If all things were equal amonst two teams, the BCS school more than not, gets in. The PAC 12, BIG 10, BIG 12 and now SEC gets most of its teams in, with the belief that even the mid teams are capable of beating the majority of the other teams in the field. The WCC is also being favored. IF you are truly serious, BCS conferences are the way to go. THAT IS FACT. Hawai’i Wahine volleyball, skill and reputation wise IS a BCS caliber team-make them so.
“If the NCAA would split the first-second round so that there was a day in between, then UH would have no problem hosting Fri-Sun. But they won’t because it costs money.”
Cindy, could Hawaii pay the additional hotel for the remaining team if it were Friday-Sunday? I believe the NCAA only picks up the first night and the second night if you make the Regional Finals. I’m sure, Hawaii could work something out with one of their hotel partners.
Not going to happen. Volleyball is not THE sport the BCS deals with. That is football.
It’s not like conference are begging for Hawaii to join. Look what Hawaii has to play just to be in the Big West and Mountain West.
Setaone, believe they asked about splitting the subregional but it then makes it unfair to the other sites. and that means a ‘No.’
8. LOL if it was only that easy.
And I think UH owes it to Dave and his team to bid for fri/saturday regionals only from now on. He doesn’t have a lot of time left at UH and if they don’t bid because they are too lazy to host two big events on the same day then shame on them. Many teams on the mainland have volleyball and football on the same day or even at the same time.
Never said UH was lazy. it’s a matter of practicality.and a small staff.
Yes, schools have events on same day but Hawaii is one of the few places that actually cares about volleyball.
just look at the subregional at USC a few years ago. it was the same day as the UCLA-SC football game. match conflicted with the game in Pasadena and there was hardly anyone at the Galen Center.
I went to football and had to leave at halftime to make it back to Galen in time for volleyball.
there’s hardly anyone at the Galen Center anyway. 🙂
Well there was more the day before when it didn’t conflict with football.
RPI’s bias is less to do with the BCS, than with regional bias. It’s a rating based on a formula, it doesn’t favor one conference over the other. But it can be gamed to favor teams from certain regions, primarily the east and midwest (with an abundance of teams to schedule).
Hawaii’s RPI last year was the only time its rating wasn’t quite good enough to nab them a seed. Last year was the FIRST year that Hawaii wasn’t seeded when participating in the tournament.
So up until last year, Hawaii did not have an issue with getting seeded. Their RPI was always high enough, even when they were in the WAC, which is arguably weaker than the Big West.
The problem with Hawaii’s scheduling last year was a lack of regional diversity among the teams its played. Hawaii already played Big West schools who are all in California. What compounded the scheduling problem was that even Hawaii’s non-conference schedule was predominantly teams from the west.
Hawaii can’t help that the Big West is comprised of all California schools, other than itself of course. But Hawaii can’t compound that issue by scheduling all or mostly western/California-based teams in the nonconference portion of their schedule.
They’ve either (1) got to be more aggressive in inviting teams from the midwest or east to come and play at Hawaii in the early season tournaments (yes, it’s tough for teams to travel in these tough economic times, but then the Admin in the athletics dept needs to get more creative in bringing teams here), or (2) what Shoji appears to be doing this year by scheduling some tough midwest team (or tournament) on the road.
Hawaii can’t control who it plays in the Big West, but it can have greater control over its nonconference schedule. The nonconference portion of the schedule is where Hawaii can get the biggest boost to its RPI.
rpi is not the end all to being seeded as evident previously. Its easy fr the NCAA to lower an rpi rating at the last days of the seedings. The BCS has the political juice to get thins done behind closed doors. The fact is, if a BCS school brings forth a complaint, the NCAA will provide some attention because of the BCS’s lobbying power. I wish everyone will look at the college NCAA’s as a business first because then you can understand how to play the game. Hawai’i does not have the juice as it did once. Back in the day, when less schools were involved, Hawai’i was equal to the Stanford’s and USC’s… jump to today, and many innovations and systems have been created to surpass Hawai’i’s dominance. The more endowned schools could pivot and grow while Hawai’i is playing catch up. Campaining for BCS entry isnt going to be easy, the institution will have to make serious changes, but if there was a full effort attempt, I think Hawai’i would be better off all the way around.
top players look for top schools in mostly a BCS setting. Stanford can get the top because the students want the experience and the degree from Stanford. Same goes for USC, UCLA, UW, PENN ST., Etc. Aside from geography which UH cannot do anything about, making the Schools’ reputation for excellence equal to top BCS schools will help bring in the TOP players.
unfortunately Women volleyball and men football are not created equal. Volleyball is not a revenue making sport as a whole in the NCAA. It’s a sideline. Until the landscape changes for college athletics, the money and power are with the BCS schools right now. If you want sponsor ships, legacies, donations then BCS has the machine. Hawai’i as a state looks to itself as apart from the rest of the states because culture and history. But when it comes to the NCAA, assimilation is key for a program’s future and dominance. To get into a BCS the entire mindset of a institute will have to change and get up to real and perceptive levels so that both students and the general population alike will feel like being a aprt of a superior product. The presidential suite at an outrigger hotel will never equal a four season presidential suite.
@15. I’m sure there were. I was joking, referring to their lack of volleyball support at USC, hence the smiley face.
WUJ, the problem is, as it is with UH’s recruiting and scheduling, just because Hawaii wants you to play for them or come to play against them, doesn’t mean you’re going to do it. Stan Sheriff had serious talks with the Pac-10 back in the day and it seemed as if it might happen. That was back in the late 80s and early 90s. but when Stan died, so did the headway of getting into the Pac-10.
UH can want to be in the BCS all it wants but I don’t see it happening. It’s not about perception. It’s about reality. UH’s facilities are sub-par and they will lose the recruiting battle just on that. UH’s academic reputation is good in some areas but it’s not overall.
and that is what im saying. its a holistic apporach. when Shoji asked the question…my answer is…holistically UH has to make serious changes to its entire system. Make a campaign to take the steps to get to a level of acceptance from the BCS if that’s what they want for admittance. Instead of saying we tried… I say ask questions..what do we need to do? then do it and keep trying until you get it. 80’s 90’s are different from 2013. A plan has to be made and then holistically take steps toward changing. That is the only way UH will be viable in the eyes of the NCAA… Otherwise a band aid apporach will get you more frustrations, just like our road repair program. Get the citizens behind it… get serious donations and partnerships like a hawaiian airlines or even bigger and say we build new buildings and facilities in your name and don’t take no. If you want to play in a big pond, you better have the means.
UH as some world class faculty… research is a big draw. Change the level of the programs acorss the board and except nothing less. Serious students would welcome the committment. build the facilties and resources and challenge the state to also make UH a top notch institution.
“Maybe it is time to can this football comes first policy and see how much we actually lose in attendance ?”
Totally agree with this. Until the football team starts gaining the support it needs (through wins), then maybe they should take a backseat. Maybe I’m biased, but Wahine Volleyball is the premier sport at UH.
the paradigm has to be revised. Study how other schools have done it. Get one or more of them to consult with. Make it priority.
One thing I forgot to point out, the article stats UH will play two ranked teams on the road, but I thought he wanted to play three teams? two in one day?
I feel pretty good about UH’s chances to host a sub regional with preseason road matches against good competition and with improved Long Beach and UCSB(with their new coach) and a match against a for sure top 3 RPI team in Texas. The wahine just need to take care of business and not lose more than 2-3 matches.
24. I am right there with you, UH wahine volleyball IS uh’s premier sport and their best chance at a national championship realistically. I think even with a UH football game earlier in the day 8-9 thousand would show up for a second round match.
wop ur jaws, do you really think its that easy? Study other BCS schools to see how they did it, and just keep doing what they do? Challenge the state for funds then build the necessary facilities to compete? Reach out to donors and sponsors? Do you also think these suggestions haven’t been brought up in some form throughout the years? C’mon brother…
no one said it would be EASY. Again if you want an answer… this is one. Unless BIG chances are taken i’m afraid small victories will be all.
It’s never the Easy way out. Play safe and stay in your comfort zone or take control and make your own destiny. A few institutions have remade itself. It took leadership and a master plan. In the end the changes brought great success.
27. What time do you suggest they play UH football in order for fans to make it back to the SSC, say by at 7 or 8?
Don’t see FB teams wanting to play at noon, or fans wanting to go at noon either.
25. do you really think that all the ADs, beginning with Sheriff, haven’t made it a priority? It’s been at the top of every one of their lists. Again, conferences don’t want Hawaii. The only reason the MWC took them was because of subsidies.
as for canning football, even on a bad day, FB still outdraws the 10,000 Wahine can max out at the SSC.
but the question is why as you say they do not want UH?
34. if they had wanted UH, UH would be in a BCS conference. There have been no invitations from anyone.
Is it the quality of our programs? Is it lack of tv market? is it perception of UH? is it our leadership? Is it the state’s overseeing? is it our geography? Does UH have to provide them with something they want? Could the women’s volleyball team move to a BCS conference only? I dont know any of the answers but I do know that as with UH the leadership of each school aso changes, maybe its about who we know ( as far as leadership with other schools). Maybe it comes down to money.
maybe we have to sell ourselves?
I believe A football game can start at 2:30, a few years back they had an ESPN game against BYU start at that time.
Volleyball match around 8, I think it can be done sure some won’t be able to attend both oh well, they might have to leave early if they want to.
IMO it’s better than not hosting a sub regional at all.
All the Wahine have to do is win their first 9 matches. Lose just one of those 1st 9 matches and they would have to pray, the rest of the Big West teams RPI are really strong, which most likely will not be. In that case, the Wahine and Dave Shoji is back to where it was last year. Out of the top 16, RPI wise. What cost the Wahine last year was losing 2 of those 1st 9 matches. If they had won those 1st 9 matches they would have been one of the Top 16 teams hosting. I know it is a rotten deal, but the Wahine have to play those 1st 9 matches like it is for the National Championship. Cannot bank on the Big West RPI, for help.
Plain and simple, the Wahine have to go undefeated, so that the committee has no choice but to give them a 1st and 2nd round host site. Lose just 1 match, and you give the committee reason.
I think losing a preseason match to say someone like Texas would do less harm to their rpi than losing a big west match, so they need to not lose a big west match….
If UH want to belong to a BCS Conference, namely the PAC-12, they need to upgrade their Men’s programs, not to mention their Athletic Facility. The Women’s programs are competitive right now, but not the Men.
warriorfan, you could be right. But do you remember what happened last year. They lost to California, and UCLA, their only 2 loses of the regular season, and because of that, they did not get to host. The Wahine cannot give the committee any reason not to be able to host.
Cal was a bad loss no doubt about that, it didn’t help that they floundered all season and barely made the ncaa tourney (and probably shouldn’t have) Uh just can’t afford any bad losses like that.
40. DF, all you have to do is go back to 2004. Hawaii WAS undefeated. Wahine were No. 1 AND
They got shipped to Colorado State for the sub-regional and placed in the Wisconsin (Green Bay Regional)
We (and I mean we since I was with them) were on the road for something like 27 of 29 days when being at the WAC tournament at Nevada then to Utah and Utah State over Thanksgiving week. then to Ft. Collins and Green Bay.
no guarantee.
But I do agree that a loss to Texas will do less harm than a loss in the Big West.
Cal ended up being a bad loss but the RPI of the Pac-12 kept it from being a really bad loss.
the bottom line is the Big West was bad.
Still the Selection Committee played the ‘regional’ game when it suited them and dropped out UH out of the Top 16 conveniently and gave SEC teams undeserved hosting duties.
Cindy, need to remember, back in 2004, the Top 16 RPI host rule was not in effect. If the Wahine go undefeated there is no way the committee can keep them from hosting. Their RPI will be in the Top 16, if not, in the Top 10. In that case, it would be taken out of the committees hand, which is what you want.
I still feel Northern Iowa is one of the teams Dave Shoji is trying to schedule, for this coming season, at their place. Why, cause Northern Iowa always seems to have a High RPI ranking. I believe the other team is from the Big 12.
Dave Shoji with wife, attending tonite’s baseball game.
Still no excuse for them to send UH on the road in 04.
Dave loves baseball. He was quite the player in high school
Just saying, if the Wahine go undefeated it will be out of the committees hand, due to the Top 16 RPI rule.
DF – it’s not a ‘top 16 RPI rule’ … it’s a top 16 seed rule. the top 16 seeds are guaranteed to host, if they choose to. but the top 16 RPI is not guaranteed to be seeded.
And why should our school have to be undefeated in order to be a top 16 seed? Other schools
last season had more losses to lesser teams and still got higher seeds. It is because politically and financially UH is lightweight compared to…again BCS schools or other mid major programs. I say someone from Star AD should write about this issue. Start with could UH ever be invited into a BCS conference and take it from there. Interview everyone involved and have a series of stories regarding how UH can compete with the rest of the schools. Hawai’i to me always have to prove themselves to the NCAA where other programs get by because of connections and power in the BCS.
wop — it’s easy and convenient to point to some BCS conspiracy, but the numbers last year spoke for itself. you don’t need a conspiracy theory to see why Hawaii didn’t get a seed last year.
Hawaii was on the bubble for a seed, and didn’t give the committee a whole lot of data to clinch the seed outright. Hawaii’s record against top 25 RPI teams last year was only 1-1. so they only played 2 teams who were in the top 25 RPI. that, plus the loss to Cal, which was a top 50 RPI team. other teams who rec’d a seed over hawaii had more losses, but also more wins against the RPI top 25. that’s where hawaii’s schedule hurts them. it didn’t give them a high enough RPI to lock in a seed, and it put them at disadvantage when the committee was looking at the ‘nitty gritty’ of their schedule.
compare that to 2011. where Hawaii had an RPI firmly in the top 10 (i can’t remember the number exactly). they didn’t play all that many more top 25 RPI teams that year (i believe they played 3 top 25 RPI teams that year). in any given year, Hawaii doesn’t usually play more than 2 or 3 top 25 RPI teams anyway. but in 2011, the difference was that Hawaii had a balance of nonconference teams from different regions of the country on their schedule (like Ohio St, Wichita St, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, plus UCLA, Arizona and Long Beach St). the diverse schedule gave them a very strong RPI, and it took the decision over whether to even seed Hawaii out of the hands of the selection committee.
the RPI can be gamed, even if you’re not in a BCS conference. Hawaii has proven that, b/c they have always been seeded (except for last year). so Shoji for sure knows how to put together an RPI-friendly schedule. they should continue to schedule aggressively, but also smartly. diversify the schedule, and play teams that will boost their RPI, which will allow them to finish with an RPI that’s not on the bubble. then the committee has no choice but to seed them.
hawaii was able to do that all while they were in the weak WAC. i don’t see why they can’t continue to do that since they’ve moved to the Big West.
SMH – Our Sand team swept by USC 5-0
Cindy… again for me its not about each season…there has been a dramatic shift with the NCAA and Hawai’i when it comes to post season. I remember back in 1981 as long as I have been around UH when Hawai’i would easily host first and second rounds. Grand today and bak then or even in the 90’s have so many variants, I understand that… it’s just from one perspective since say 9/11, hosting first and second rounds got harder and harder… and again I know a lot had to do with travel expenses and security… but even after things have loosen, the NCAA has not. I honestly feel, since the popularity of this sports has been embraced by the majority of the BCS and Mid Major conferences whole heartedly, the landscape has changed for mid majors. They (NCAA commitee selection) has the option of spreading the tournament any way they want… if say geography is the issue they use, then that is the main reason why one school will host… or if it’s lack of RPI, then they say it’s because of that as a reason to not seed a team. and so on… And its their choice to do so. yet, its ironic how in recent years, some BCS schools regardless if they lost its last five matches will still get a number one seed in a region. So to my point about us in a BCS or mid Major conference (like a red hot WCC), our RPI will automatically improve because our in conference opponents will have higher RPI’s consistently from season to season. And yes I know the Big West should be better this season if no major injuries take place, but a PAC 12 conference even in a “down” year will still have higher RPI’s because of the quality of the programs with the players and coaches.
LC, see new sand thread.
WUJ, you cannot compare 81 with today. 81 the first year of NCAA sponsorship and there were no where near the number of teams as there are today. and in the 80s the NCAA kept it very regional tournament ‘to grow the game’ think of the years that the best two teams were in the PCAA/Big West, the Pacific-Hawaii years when only one of them got out of the regional.
think the 9-11 excuse is no longer valid. it’s been 12 years. It’s about money. they have no problem moving men’s basketball teams all around the country, never did, but the sport has so much money to do so.
besides back in the 80s it wasn’t a 64 team field. It was 32. then 48.
It is very unlikely that UH will ever get into a BCS conference so think you need to let that go.
The inequity of it all is that, as happened last year, some of the mid-majors are a one-bid league. The chances of that 1 team getting even to the final four is minuscule compared to the 7-8 chances for teams from the Big Ten or Pac-12 to make it. so you just perpetuate the flawed system that promotes the ‘power’ conferences.
My issue is with the bias toward the SEC which has never had a volleyball champion despite the almost forced effort by the selection committee to make it happen. FSU had a cakewalk a few years ago. They keep bringing the BCS football mentality over to a sport that doesn’t deserve it. There was such blatant bias by the selection committee last season to give Kentucky and Tennessee host duties and making Louisville a No. 10 seed.
Yes, I know, Louisville is Big East. or was.
What they need is someone on the committee who knows something about volleyball.
Cindy as I stated, I know the difference between the 80’s 90’s and today. For the reason you mentioned. My point was, one, if it’s about RPI then a “major” conference in theory would provide in-conference competition amonst higher RPI teams. That’s how an iowa st. (big 12) and the likes of Northwestern (big 10) has high RPI’s. By virtue of its conference they play against Penn St., Texas etc.. So that is a reason why I think Hawai’i would benefit from a “major” conference. Two, back in the beginnings of this colligiate sport, Hawai’i was around when NCAA’s didn’t even sponsor it. Of course with popularity and interest from more institutions, the NCAA’s came in and took over. Title IX really brought women’s volleyball to the forefront because it allowed schools to be in compliance as well as provide opportunities for female student athletes. A win win. But with the sport growth, I feel Hawai’i kind of lost it’s lead as one of the pioneering schools-if for nothing else, once more schools participated, they were able to entice student athletes that thought about life after playing volleyball. Thus in the late 80’s many “prestigious Schools” could get the top picks even from Hawai’i and California. Then when the mid west and mid east started to take serious interest, Illinois, pennsylvania and michigan area student athletes had closer home choices than California and Texas and Florida. Meanwhile Hawai’i was falling behind with the Athletes and techniques they were working with. For example, the quick defensive minded teams were becoming less and less and the rise of huge, tall, quick players came to be along with new schools and its coaching tehniques, game strategies changed the game forever. Now days new training innovative techniques are discussed around the country at coaching seminars when panel coaches teach other coaches its regimine. Hawai’i would have gone to asia to lern new techniques and skills. Today, with the students being exposed to volleyball at an early age all throughout the country, institutions have more competition to land a blue chip player. Hawaii will always have geographical issues, but trying to look at things from a different approach is what I am saying. Doing something different to me is better than doing the same thing over and over. I feel that if given the chance, new AD Jay will no doubt explore other conference alignment.
You have many valid points. I would like to hear your ideas on doing a different approach. I just don’t see UH being invited to a BCS conference. It’s about money, of which the athletic department continues to run at a deficit due in part to the myopic legislature. How does one expect a department to break even, let alone make a profit, when you are not allowed to keep revenue it generates. Parking money goes to upper campus, concessions are contract bid, etc.
as you pointed out, athletes have thought about life after athletics which means the prestige of a degree from a name school. Hawaii is not there academically, at least that is the perception.
yup i wish i knew..what can be done. I guess I’m searching for ideas from new perspectives. It seems from the things AD Jay has been doing, going to various sports matches and getting input from a variety of sources, he is formulating his road map for UH athletics. If he can get the debt erased, I think he would have a better chance of making bold changes. I know that H is not an easy sell for any BCS conference, but I’m wondering if the athletic landscape and the shifting of schools and/or the possibility of mega conferences or revolt from the BCS system will allow UH to be a aprt of the possible changes. If so, like being an independent in some sports may be an alternative. Or forming a new conference with other like minded schools would make sense. I don’t think hosting a mainland tournament helps except as a stop gap season to season. I mean it wouldn’t change the NCAA mindset towards UH at least for VB committee members. Maybe UH needs school athletic officials to lobby a spot on the committee someone to fight for UH no just their for their own self promotion.
I don’t like Vegas.
I lilke them remaining in SoCal if at all possible.
The Anaheim Convetion Center would be GREAT, but unlikely.
Pasadena and Ontario have Convention Centers also and probably more likely. Bleachers/seating would be the only other thing for the rental(s).