Harvard Crimson 2014-15

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Gocrimson.com has some fun videos from this past weekend including a video of the team watching the selection show on the trip home from Potsdam. They were predictably excited about the third seed and home ice but were measured in their response to learning that the Bobcats would be their opponent. At least that is the sense I got from watching them respond to the news. Have to be careful not to create bulletin board material at this point.

On a totally separate note, I'm very happy for our seniors particularly Jo Pucci and Kalley Armstrong. With what they have had to go through these past couple of seasons with concussion issues, it's great for them to be a part of the success the team has enjoyed particularly in the second half.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Well, that stinks because I will be at Bright-Landry for the women. The video board over center ice has streaming capability so my guess is that they may stream the men's game between periods. They did that during men's hockey game vs. Brown last Friday night.

What an incredible bunch of idiots the Athletic Department are! Not merely allowing the games to be scheduled simultaneously in the first place (the men are playing AWAY that night! not using the rink at 7pm!), but to provide stupid little snippets of the men's basketball game over the jumbotron? If the athletic department really wants the hockey game to start at 4, and if the BB game can be accessed in its entirety via ESPN3 or NCAA archives, with all its ebbs and flows and twists and turns, and all its suspense, why don't they think we would want to simply leave the rink and watch the BB game on replay without knowing its outcome until the very end?

I plan to wear earmuffs at the game.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

.On a totally separate note, I'm very happy for our seniors particularly Jo Pucci and Kalley Armstrong. With what they have had to go through these past couple of seasons with concussion issues, it's great for them to be a part of the success the team has enjoyed particularly in the second half.

Apropos of Josephine Pucci and Kalley Armstrong, here is something I wrote about them and their classmates back when they were ephebes in the fall of '10

"Two Games Down; Four Seasons to Go

"Although to us spectators the immediacy of the moment sweeps us into assessing the promise of the first-year players on the basis of -- how many shifts are there in two games? not very many -- and looking ahead to where the team will be in March 2011, stop a moment to consider the time perspective of those first years themselves.

"They're going to be here for four years. Who knows how each of them will develop? I've been watching Harvard's teams since Angela Ruggiero was a pup, and in that time I've seen all sorts of development arcs. One memorable player stood out as a first-year by being a tireless grinder but mistake-prone and penalty-prone: you could see her biting her lip in frustration whenever she went to the penalty box yet again. Her scoring touch bloomed late, but when it did her last-second heroics carried the team on her shoulders throughout the final games of a season. Another memorable player, a productive scorer in her freshman year, never brought her scoring to a higher level but in every other aspect of the game became a superb two-way player whose speed, grit, backchecking slight of hand and smart positioning made her the quintessential player Katie wanted on the ice when the chips were down. My point is that you couldn't have predicted how these kids, or any other first-years, would eventually end up individually.

"As a group, the first-years naturally look beyond where the team will place in the ECAC and NCAA in 2010-2011. This year is a great opportunity for them, if they jell fast enough, with the strong deep senior Class of '11 still on board; their fortunes next season, as part of a very very young team, will depend on how good a Class of '15 can be recruited and how swiftly they can jell; but after that, as juniors and seniors, with a ton of experience under their belts, they can look forward to perhaps being who the Coskrens and Buessers and Ryabkinas are now. It will be quite an adventure for them.

"As spectators, let's sit back and enjoy the ride with them.

"Watson Rink"

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

What an incredible bunch of idiots the Athletic Department are! Not merely allowing the games to be scheduled simultaneously in the first place (the men are playing AWAY that night! not using the rink at 7pm!), but to provide stupid little snippets of the men's basketball game over the jumbotron? If the athletic department really wants the hockey game to start at 4, and if the BB game can be accessed in its entirety via ESPN3 or NCAA archives, with all its ebbs and flows and twists and turns, and all its suspense, why don't they think we would want to simply leave the rink and watch the BB game on replay without knowing its outcome until the very end?

I plan to wear earmuffs at the game.

I'd think that the NCAA had most of the say in the scheduling of the women's game and the Ivy League and TV partners definitely had a say in the scheduling of the basketball game. And to be fair, you could make the same argument that if the game was at 7, it was interfering with hockey fans ability to follow the men's hockey game at the same time.

As for not showing the results of the basketball game - most people will be checking online I'd imagine, which means the athletic dept. is siding with the majority that wants to know. And yes, they could just let those people check online but alas, the Out of Town Scoreboard has become a traditional feature of sporting events.

 

[dave1381]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I agree Harvard had zero control over the Ivy playoff game time. But I fail to believe that the 4pm game time was dictated by the NCAA. Harvard is hosting the event. Why would the NCAA care? Its not like this quarterfinal is on television.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Apropos of Josephine Pucci and Kalley Armstrong, here is something I wrote about them and their classmates back when they were ephebes in the fall of '10

"Two Games Down; Four Seasons to Go

"Although to us spectators the immediacy of the moment sweeps us into assessing the promise of the first-year players on the basis of -- how many shifts are there in two games? not very many -- and looking ahead to where the team will be in March 2011, stop a moment to consider the time perspective of those first years themselves.

"They're going to be here for four years. Who knows how each of them will develop? I've been watching Harvard's teams since Angela Ruggiero was a pup, and in that time I've seen all sorts of development arcs. One memorable player stood out as a first-year by being a tireless grinder but mistake-prone and penalty-prone: you could see her biting her lip in frustration whenever she went to the penalty box yet again. Her scoring touch bloomed late, but when it did her last-second heroics carried the team on her shoulders throughout the final games of a season. Another memorable player, a productive scorer in her freshman year, never brought her scoring to a higher level but in every other aspect of the game became a superb two-way player whose speed, grit, backchecking slight of hand and smart positioning made her the quintessential player Katie wanted on the ice when the chips were down. My point is that you couldn't have predicted how these kids, or any other first-years, would eventually end up individually.

"As a group, the first-years naturally look beyond where the team will place in the ECAC and NCAA in 2010-2011. This year is a great opportunity for them, if they jell fast enough, with the strong deep senior Class of '11 still on board; their fortunes next season, as part of a very very young team, will depend on how good a Class of '15 can be recruited and how swiftly they can jell; but after that, as juniors and seniors, with a ton of experience under their belts, they can look forward to perhaps being who the Coskrens and Buessers and Ryabkinas are now. It will be quite an adventure for them.

"As spectators, let's sit back and enjoy the ride with them.

"Watson Rink"

Jo Pucci in my mind is the best offensive defenseman we've had since Rugger. The way she can lug the puck and pick up steam through the neutral zone is really impressive and fun to watch. Her goal against Yale in Game 2 of the quarters was a highlight reel play. We are so lucky to have been able to watch her play at B-L.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I agree Harvard had zero control over the Ivy playoff game time. But I fail to believe that the 4pm game time was dictated by the NCAA. Harvard is hosting the event. Why would the NCAA care? Its not like this quarterfinal is on television.

What makes it even more peculiar is that there is nothing else going on down at the athletic complex on Saturday. The women are it so why should it matter if the game is at 4pm or 7pm?? Especially where there is so much interest in the winner take all basketball game.

Nothing about athletic scheduling this winter has made any sense at all especially given the snow and the failure to clear space for parking. It is mind boggling that someone in the athletic department didn't have the courage to question the scheduling of all those events at the complex when parking was so tight.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I agree Harvard had zero control over the Ivy playoff game time. But I fail to believe that the 4pm game time was dictated by the NCAA. Harvard is hosting the event. Why would the NCAA care? Its not like this quarterfinal is on television.

There's not a single evening game among any of the four matchups. Minnesota is the latest start and that's 5PM Eastern.

 

[KTDC]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I agree Harvard had zero control over the Ivy playoff game time. But I fail to believe that the 4pm game time was dictated by the NCAA. Harvard is hosting the event. Why would the NCAA care? Its not like this quarterfinal is on television.

The Minnesota men's team has a home game at 7PM central on Saturday. I believe the games are being staggered by U of M (mostly for parking reasons). Last year Wisconsin's quarterfinal was at 7PM

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I agree Harvard had zero control over the Ivy playoff game time. But I fail to believe that the 4pm game time was dictated by the NCAA. Harvard is hosting the event. Why would the NCAA care? Its not like this quarterfinal is on television.

Highly detailed Boston Globe article about the Ivy League's apparent reluctance to embrace big-time TV coverage: http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...-principles/zT4tsIKsG2ndkSMHhlct2K/story.html

Contains debatable assumption that nationwide TV audience cares much about Ivy games. Sets bar low by comparison to North Florida v. South Carolina Upstate.

Vague references to technical quality of ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com streaming: HD, analog....but doesn't report the actual technology employed. I thought that the ESPN3 feed last weekend looked as crisp on my TV monitor (via HDMI cable) as on my computer screen, whereas ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com feeds generally lose quality on their way to the TV monitor, but is there a technical explanation for that or is it just my eyes or the ambient lighting at Cheel or the readability of the numbers on the various uniforms?

I also believe that the old stand-alone Harvard streaming employed more camera angles than ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com now does. Oh well, at least we now get to choose among all home games in all sports on all eight campuses.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I also believe that the old stand-alone Harvard streaming employed more camera angles than ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com now does. Oh well, at least we now get to choose among all home games in all sports on all eight campuses.

Not sure about recently, but in years past, the Harvard Feed with multiple camera's was always one of the better ones in the Ivyleague network/ECAC rinks, both in terms of quality, camera angles and replays.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I agree Harvard had zero control over the Ivy playoff game time. But I fail to believe that the 4pm game time was dictated by the NCAA. Harvard is hosting the event. Why would the NCAA care? Its not like this quarterfinal is on television.

No question that CBSSportsNetwork dictated the tap-off time for one of the recent men's BB games....a group of friends showed up at the accustomed hour only to find that the first half had already been played!

So the next weekend, when they and I were chowing down some sloppy joes at Dillon Fieldhouse halfway through the doubleheader (women's hockey senior day v. Clarkson, men's BB v. Princeton) we noticed a score being reported on the crawl on the big screen TV: "Harvard 15, Princeton 14" and immediately bolted over to Lavieties only to find that.....that was the score of a H-P men's lacrosse game (being played in February. Under the lights. In the snow)

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Highly detailed Boston Globe article about the Ivy League's apparent reluctance to embrace big-time TV coverage: http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...-principles/zT4tsIKsG2ndkSMHhlct2K/story.html

Contains debatable assumption that nationwide TV audience cares much about Ivy games. Sets bar low by comparison to North Florida v. South Carolina Upstate.

Vague references to technical quality of ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com streaming: HD, analog....but doesn't report the actual technology employed. I thought that the ESPN3 feed last weekend looked as crisp on my TV monitor (via HDMI cable) as on my computer screen, whereas ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com feeds generally lose quality on their way to the TV monitor, but is there a technical explanation for that or is it just my eyes or the ambient lighting at Cheel or the readability of the numbers on the various uniforms?

I also believe that the old stand-alone Harvard streaming employed more camera angles than ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com now does. Oh well, at least we now get to choose among all home games in all sports on all eight campuses.

Some of the highest ranked NBCSN hockey games (at least in the initial offering) were Ivy League games. I'm pretty sure there was a long stretch where Harvard-Yale hockey in 2012 was one of only three games above the 100,000 viewer mark.

A lot of times ESPN3 steals the ILDN feed but often times has better quality. I don't think how Harvard produces the games has changed though - if anything it should have improved with ILDN. Of course, what do I know, I paid for the thing this year (auto-renewed) and didn't even realize it.

 

[ARM]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

The Minnesota men's team has a home game at 7PM central on Saturday. I believe the games are being staggered by U of M (mostly for parking reasons).

I think Frost prefers a 4 pm Saturday start. He doesn't like when his players have to sit around all day on Saturday waiting to play at night, at least based on his past comments.

 

[dave1381]

I think Frost prefers a 4 pm Saturday start. He doesn't like when his players have to sit around all day on Saturday waiting to play at night, at least based on his past comments.

Now that you mention it, probably the logic with Harvard's 4pm start is that is the time the team is used to playing on Saturday, so might as well maintain that routine. And that extends to fans' routine in showing up as well. Just too bad men's basketball ended up at the same time.

 

[driventoit]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Mark Johnson: ". . . to me, the quarter final games in the NCAA are the most challenging and the most difficult to win . . . "

Certainly validates this fan's anxiety. At the same time, after last weekend and the strength of their performance against Cornell, I think Harvard will say "enough already" with QU. 4-1.

(BTW, the Badger preview video is nice. We don't get to see much of this media effort here in the east, unless, of course, you enjoy being interrupted by the master.)

 

[ARM]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Mark Johnson: ". . . to me, the quarter final games in the NCAA are the most challenging and the most difficult to win . . . "

This is one of those coach cliches that seems to have merit until one zooms out and realizes that teams average .500 in quarterfinal games just as they do in every other postseason round.

 

[dave1381]

This is one of those coach cliches that seems to have merit until one zooms out and realizes that teams average .500 in quarterfinal games just as they do in every other postseason round.

I think a more concrete statement would be that for the eventual NCAA champion, the quarterfinal game has been the toughest more often than you might expect based on seedings alone. That's particularly true for the Wisconsin title teams, except 2009.

 

[ARM]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I think a more concrete statement would be that for the eventual NCAA champion, the quarterfinal game has been the toughest more often than you might expect based on seedings alone. That's particularly true for the Wisconsin title teams, except 2009.

Give me a challenging win over a loss anytime. After losing its first quarterfinal, Wisconsin has won the next seven. Meanwhile, it is 4-2 in championship games. But yes, I can agree with your statement in the rather brief history of quarterfinals and the small sample size of 10 winners. There were also some quarterfinals for eventual champs that weren't all that close (Minnesota over PC in 2005 or UND in 2012, and Wisconsin over Dartmouth in 2009.)

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Give me a challenging win over a loss anytime. After losing its first quarterfinal, Wisconsin has won the next seven. Meanwhile, it is 4-2 in championship games. But yes, I can agree with your statement in the rather brief history of quarterfinals and the small sample size of 10 winners. There were also some quarterfinals for eventual champs that weren't all that close (Minnesota over PC in 2005 or UND in 2012, and Wisconsin over Dartmouth in 2009.)

Two of Harvard's most memorable games came in the NCAA quarters. In 2005, we had that triple OT special against Mercyhurst and in '07, the 4 OT thriller at Wisconsin. I was there for the Mercyhurst game, had to get updates on the Wisconsin game due to a prior commitment. Both were draining for obvious reasons. And it does make you appreciate a Frozen Four appearance that much more when you come through those games as the winner.