New home for Women's tournament

[nwofalconfan]

Hate the idea, and it has nothing to do with a home court advantage, but more to do with the downtown Toledo location. I know there are a few new eateries, but outside of that, what is there for out-of-town visitors?

The league is more than NW Ohio...I know some people (a youth travel team, approximately 30 total) that stayed in 2 of the downtown Toledo hotels, and they were not at all happy, and these are not people that were expecting a high class establishment, just clean and safe, and they got neither.

Also, how much cheaper can it be to rent 2 facilities for a minimum of 3 days each, as opposed to renting one facility for a total of 4 days?

[BillyLP]

I think that this would be a good move. LCA is a great facility and would be the perfect size for the women's tournament. The main thing I think they would have to do is make sure the tournaments were held different weeks, which is what a lot of conferences do anyway, so fans have the opportunity to go to both. Each school is going to get a certain number of tickets allotted so the home court advantage will probably favor UT a little bit but not my much. But I support this move, personally.

[threestooges]

I don't like separating the tournaments at all. I believe the reason they chose to return to playing the first round at the schools was to fix the scheduling problem that we've seen in years past - the problem of games starting as early as 11 am and as late as 11 pm.

Imagine us last year. Both teams were #1 seeds, so clearly under the current format would be playing at the tournament. Imagine if all the women's games were in Toledo, and all the men's games were in Cleveland. We've now got to either come up with two different bands and two different sets of cheerleaders, or we've got to bus one group back and forth each day. And you know at some point, there's going to be a conflict where both the men's and women's teams would play at basically the same time so it is impossible to see both.

Or, if they separate the tournaments and also change the dates, now we've got the problem of needing to create bands and cheerleading squads that can cover a longer time span, meaning basically the entire spring break. Both of these solutions sound like logistical nightmares.

The current format favors the fans. It allows the fans to see both of their teams if they both make it far enough, sometimes in the same day. Separating them would be an incredibly stupid move IMO. I think it is only being pondered so that all teams get the opportunity to play tournament games at a neutral site.

I think part of the problem is that The Q doesn't really want the women's tournament. We saw that by the treatment the women's championship game received last year. Basically, they wanted that game to end as soon as possible so they could get the arena ready for the Cavs game that evening.

They made all of the fans sit on the same side of the arena, and there were rumors that, if the game took too long or went to OT, the winning team wasn't going to get to cut down the nets.

I have enjoyed having both tournaments in Cleveland, and it obviously works out well for fans of schools with both their men's and women's teams in the tourney. But, as a MAC fan, I want the women's tournament to be held at a place that actually wants to host it.

[NWLB]

Bring the tourney to an area that actually gives a darn. I don't see UT getting any real edge. And frankly BG does pretty well on its own. Still, the down side is that the tourney would be in Toledo, and lord knows nothing much tends to be worth going up there.

[h2oville rocket]

Makes a lot of sense economically and in terms of upgrading the status of the ladies tournament as opposed to it playing red-headed stepchild to the men's. People outside NW Ohio may not like it but at least they can come to a place with clean, safe hotels as opposed to the horror that is Cleveland.

[Rollo83]

I don't like moving it at all. Selfishly, I like it here because I live in the Cleveland area. Secondly, the fans have to love being able to watch both the men's and women's teams in the same venue. No traveling, no switching hotels. I see a lot of people stay in town to watch both teams. Alumni chapters here center events around the tournaments. Plus, the women would lose the appeal of playing in a NBA arena in a major media market. I think some people think the women are being overshadowed by the men and deserve their own spotlight. Be careful of what you wish for.

[FalconTurf]

Cleveland State is about 3-4 blocks away from The Q. If they want to rent two facilities decal the floor at CSU with the MAC logo and run the quarter finals for men and women at the same time. Alternate back and forth for semi-finals and have the Finals at different times on the same days. 20-30 minutes between games in case the same school is involved at both sites (buses on standby outside the arenas). I'm just not sure the traffic cops in Cleveland could handle all the activity (don't expect friendly).

[NWLB]

Makes a lot of sense economically and in terms of upgrading the status of the ladies tournament as opposed to it playing red-headed stepchild to the men's. People outside NW Ohio may not like it but at least they can come to a place with clean, safe hotels as opposed to the horror that is Cleveland.

I think our UT rivals to the north might agree too, that if there is a region that deserves it, surely it is NW Ohio. If the rest of the MAC wants a title, they should try winning the league first. If there is to be an earth-shaking epic war for the goods, it rightfully ought to be in NW Ohio, because odds are it'll be those teams playing for it anyway.

[bgsufalcon24]

Makes a lot of sense economically and in terms of upgrading the status of the ladies tournament as opposed to it playing red-headed stepchild to the men's. People outside NW Ohio may not like it but at least they can come to a place with clean, safe hotels as opposed to the horror that is Cleveland.

Wait, so Cleveland is a horror and yet Toledo isn't? That's a new one. Just about everything Toledo has, Cleveland has, except bigger and better. Between the arenas and ballparks, the restaurants and the shopping, and yes the hotels, there's really nothing that Toledo has on Cleveland. I've spent extensive time in both cities, and I honestly can't think of any one positive thing that Toledo has that Cleveland lacks.

But aside from that, I think MarkL and Rollo have it right. Splitting up the two tournaments creates some logistical problems for fans, for the cheerleaders and band(s), and for the whole university community in general. Now of course since our men's team rarely plays past the first round anyway, this might not be an issue most years, but every so often you'll have a situation like last year where both teams are playing in the semifinals, and now you're making us choose between one game or the other. Not cool. I suppose if they moved the women's tournament up a week, or something like that, then it could be done, but I still wouldn't be happy about it.

[NWLB]

Wait, so Cleveland is a horror and yet Toledo isn't?

It is a horror, but it's OUR horror!

[factman]

If it has two years to in Cleveland, the NEW Stroh Center seems the obvious choice for the women........what home court advantage? At least it is not downtown Toledo!!!!!!!!!

[jg4242]

The primary reasons for moving the women's tournament to Toledo are twofold: One, LCA is smaller than the Q and is therefore going to look less cavernous with the meager (for the most part) crowds that the women's tournament draws. Further, there are major issues with getting all the teams practice time once they're in Cleveland. The women's teams struggle to secure practice time at the Q, which is not fair at all to them.

Another good reason, as stated above, is that the Q hasn't been terribly hospitable for the women's tournament. The way fans and teams were treated last year for the finals was disgraceful at best! I think it could be nice to give the women a shiny new arena to have the spotlight for themselves for a change.

On the other hand, the logistical nightmares for the bands and cheerleaders are just that: nightmares. The cost factor alone could cause schools to send a band to only one of the tournament sites, or none at all. Also, I really enjoy the tournament atmosphere in Cleveland!

[Class of 61]

Someone has already suggested something that I've mentioned to friends before...If the game schedules are too crowded with 4 games in a day for women, then 4 for men etc., then check out the possible use of CSU's arena with its 13 K seating capacity. You could play the FIRST ROUND ONLY for the ladies (at least of the teams in Cleve.) at CSU, then the Rest at the Q.... AND you could possibly split the games (2 at CSU, 2 at Q) if you wanted better times...

To be honest, I don't like the Toledo idea for this main reason...the headquarters for the MAC is in Cleve. not Toledo...and the original idea behind the tourn. in Cleve. was to give the players a BIG TIME MAJOR LEAGUE Venue to play in. If the women want to play in a smaller setting then so be it.

As to the Q "not wanting" the women's tournament, I don't know where that idea comes from... last year, there WAS a conflict with a Cavs game in the evening.. Did you want them to pull up the MAC floor and put down the Cavs floor inside of a few hours? Having the Cavs floor didn't make a difference to the women, so why should it bother you? As to the fans being "encouraged" to leave quickly, I wasn't happy with the WAY it was handled, but I understood that they had to have time to clean the arena prior to the Cavs startup.

[DustinXtreme]

far as the tournament being held in turdledo that is stupid idea
talk about unfair advantage,who cares if toledo has never played there before.
Cleavland is only about a two hour drive from BG and less than that from toledo.
So why should toledo get their way about it?

[nwofalconfan]

If the rest of the MAC wants a title, they should try winning the league first. If there is to be an earth-shaking epic war for the goods, it rightfully ought to be in NW Ohio, because odds are it'll be those teams playing for it anyway.

Actually, going back to 2000, schools winning MAC tournament titles are Kent in 2000 and 2002, Toledo 2001, Western Mich. 2003, Eastern Mich. 2004, Miami 2008 and Ball State 2009, then of course, BG in 2005-2007.