Thursday, September 30, 2010

Ratings Page is Here!

The overall ratings page is here! Click on the bar at the top for it. And before you all bite my head off: I know men's soccer is down in the ranks on crowd size. I do not expect it to stay that way. However, there is 1 men's soccer game there and it was Tuesday's game in the rain, which naturally was poorly attended. That should come up.

Tuesday September 28th: Men's Soccer vs. Boston College

What: Men's Soccer vs. Boston College

Result: Win 2-0 (report)

When: Tuesday September 28th, 7:30 PM

Summary: Sorry for the delayed post, I've been busy. I'll try to post these shortly after, but since we don't have many readers yet since I'm starting to post this places when I'm done with this post, it shouldn't matter. Anyway, I went here with Goal Patrol (UConn student section). The weather was a bit nasty, pouring rain at times, and drizzling throughout most of the game. The stands were pretty empty. We got 2 goals, by Carlos Alvarez and Stephan Diop. Overall a good time, and another shutout.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Student section was a very good with eachother. What they were saying was not necessarily family-friendly but for college students it was about what you would expect. Overall, I wouldn't want my 8-year-old (if I had one) sitting there, but it wasn't too big a deal. Rating: 8/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Those who came out despite the weather were very into it. It's the Goal Patrol, the best student section in college soccer. That makes it amazing. And it was loud and raucous. Rating: 15/15

Event Atmosphere: The weather made this a bit nasty, but it was a good nonetheless. Fans were into it, there was stuff going on, and free pizza for students! Rating: 12/15

Atmosphere total: 35/40

On-field:

Quality of play: Good Game. BC Goalie seemed good in the first half before we got 2 in the second. Still a very competitive game. Our goalie and defense were spectacular as usual. And BC played well also. Rating: 18/20

Excitement: First half was scoreless, second half got exciting with Alvarez scoring, but once Diop made it 2-0 with a bit over 20 minutes left, it was basically over. Our goalie has let in 1 goal all year, he wasn't about to let in 2 in 2o minutes. But it was still exciting. Rating: 9/10

Quality of UConn Play: We played excellently. We won, we dominated, great. Rating: 10/10

Result: We won: Rating: 10/10

On-field total: 47/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: There was a PA announcer, and he made everything clear including Corner Kicks, who scored goals, etc. Good job. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Boston College was ranked #14, we were ranked #3. It was a pretty big non-conference showdown. Unfortunately, we're probably not moving up in the ranks unless UNC or Akron (#1 and #2) loses but we won't move down, that's for sure. BC's ranking should now fall a couple of spots. Rating: 10/15

Size of Crowd: Official Attendance was 1,484. We normally get about 3,000-4,000. It was the weather that did it, but nonetheless it was still detrimental. Rating: 5/15

Other total: 20/35

Rating total: 102/125

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Schedule Week of 9/28-10/3 2010

Here is my schedule of events I may attend this week. I will post all the ones until Sunday here, then over the weekend, I will do from next Monday. Here we go

Key:

Y= definitely (or near-definitely) attending'

P= Probably attending

M= Maybe attending

D= Doubtful to attend

If I am certainly not attending, I won't post it. If things change and I do wind up attending one of these, I will post again.

Tuesday September 28th:

Men's Soccer vs. Boston College 7:30 PM (Y)

Friday October 1st:

Women's Volleyball vs. Louisville 7:00 PM (M)

Saturday October 2nd:

Football vs. Vanderbilt 12:00 PM (Y)

Sunday October 3rd:

Softball vs. Bryant 11:00 AM (M)
Women's Volleyball vs. Cincinnati 2:00 PM (P)
Softball vs. Southern Connecticut State 3:00 PM (D)

September 26th, 2010: Women's Volleyball vs. Villanova

What: Women's Volleyball vs. Villanova (Gampel Pavillion)
When:
September 26th, 2010 2:00 PM
What I saw: Most of second set and all of third
Result: Villanova 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-21) Report


Summary: I arrived at Gampel a little ways into the second set, UConn down one set. There were some students there, but the crowd appeared to move in and out throughout the course of the match. The Huskies played somewhat well, keeping the second and third sets close, but lost. It was a somewhat interesting match.

Ratings:
Atmosphere:


Fan Friendliness: Fans kept it clean but really didn't have that same chemistry feel you get in the crowd at a lot of other events. During the third set, there were a few students sitting right behind the 'Nova side of the court screaming "AAAAAAAHHHH" every time they served. That got a bit annoying. Rating: 8/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Fans seemed somewhat into it, but not much. A few younger kids with their parents got a bit excited, as did the annoying students from behind the Villanova courtside. But overall, not a very raucous crowd. Rating: 7/15

Event Atmosphere: It was in Gampel, which helped, and there was music during timeouts and between sets. There were also signs telling me to join the "Block Party" which I believe is the fan group for volleyball, but I found no place where I could do so. It's clear they're trying, but not very well. Rating: 6/15

Atmosphere total: 21/40

On-the-field:

Quality of play: We played well (sort of) and Nova played well. There were some good, long rallies. A lot of hits sometimes. Some of these points, it's too bad someone had to lose it. Rating: 14/20


Excitement: Second set was somewhat exciting, but once we went down 2-0 everyone knew it was over. We weren't going to win 3 straight sets. Still, it deserves some credit. Rating: 5/10

Quality of UConn play: The first set (which I did not see) we apparently struggled. The second and third we kept it close, leading for a while in the second, but we lost in straight sets anyway. Overall, a good job, and far better than the scoreline looks. Rating: 6/10

Result: We lost. Rating 0/10

Overall on-field: 25/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: Awesome PA announcer "pooooooooint UConn!". Announced the names of the players who won the point. Don't know his name, but that's usually the case with PA guys. I'm just spoiled since I'm a Yankees fan and had the legendary Bob Sheppard PA the games for over 50 years. And before you ask, nobody, at UConn or otherwise, is as good a PA announcer as he was. But I digress. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: The first Big East game of the season. Not that bad. But it didn't appear to mean much. Rating: 9/15

Size of Crowd: Like I said, since this is in Gampel, which is designed for basketball crowds, volleyball won't be penalized for only filling 10% of the seats. That being said, we didn't. That may be due to homecoming events happening at the same time. It was still a decent crowd though. Rating: 6/15

Overall other: 20/35

Total score: 66/125


Sunday, September 26, 2010

September 26th: Softball vs. Rhode Island

Event: Women's Softball vs. Rhode Island Rams
Date: Sunday September 26th, 11 AM
What I saw: I came in the top of the 6th, with UConn down 5-1. I left in the top of the 9th, with URI up 10-6 and about to get more.
Result: I don't know. I assume UConn lost, but I couldn't find a score anywhere, or a summary, or anything. Strange.

Summary: I was on Uconn's athletic website this morning around 11:50 to see what time the volleyball game (which will have a review in a minute) was. I saw we had a softball game going on then. At first I thought it was an error because it was the fall, but I confirmed that there is in fact a brief fall softball season. I got to Softball Field (no name) around 12:15, and the game was in the Top of the 6th, URI up 5-1 having gotten 5 runs in the 5th. We hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-4, and took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 8th. URI went up 10-6, and had runners on second and third with one out, when I left to go get some lunch because it was already after 1 and the game was basically over. I cannot find a summary or score anywhere, but I assume the Rams won. If anyone knows what happened, please comment. There was also no PA announcer, so I have no idea who any of the players were. They didn't distribute programs (in fact there was nobody even watching who was coming in; bin Laden could have waltzed in there unnoticed). It was an interesting stadium. No restrooms; even the girls had to use the Port-a-Pottys. And they wound up hopping over the chain fence in left field to do so because the gate to get out of the field and onto the grass where the outhouse stood was locked. Anyway, here are the ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan friendliness: Most of the fans were parents or other family members of the Players. They seemed to know eachother pretty well. They kept the language clean, and not offensive at all. One of the moms even baked cookies for the other families. She was sitting right behind me and offered all of them cookies, but not me. They all were commenting on how good and amazing they were. But I let them have them. I'm not related to any of the players; she didn't know me and I didn't know her. So that's ok. Other than that, they were all very nice. Rating: 10/10

Fan Enthusiasm: The fans seemed to get excited at times, yelling encouragement such as "Come on girls, everyone get on" and "Rally!". They really didn't seem to say much of anything when we were in the field other than a golf clap of sorts when we got an out. They clapped when someone got on for us, and "good try" when an out was made. They seemed to be cheering very casually, but not apathetically by any means. Rating: 10/15

Event Atmosphere: Few if any students there other than me. Nothing going on other than the game and conversations in the stands (and the cookies). No PA announcer either. Players didn't seem to be ignoring the fans, but they were focused on the game. While there wasn't much going on, it wasn't boring either. Rating: 6/15

Overall Atmosphere Rating: 26/40

On-field:

Quality of play: No mistakes that I saw. Both teams played hard and well. But given that UConn gave up 5 runs in two separate innings (5 and also 9 where they may have allowed more) it wasn't perfect by any means. Rating: 16/20

Excitement: We rallied from 4 down to get runs in the 6th and 8th, then URI rallied. So it was somewhat exciting until they kept scoring after they'd pretty much sealed it. Rating: 8/10

Quality of UConn play: We played hard, then fell apart in the 9th. We did a good job overall though. Rating: 7/10

Result: Assuming we lost (if not I'll update later) this will be handled accordingly. Rating: 0/10

Overall On-field rating: 31/50

Other:

Clarity of fan Communication: No PA announcer, so I didn't really know who the players were. But the umps were good about communicating ball/strike, safe/out etc and there really were no unclear calls. Rating: 4/5

Magnitude of Event: Not a big game, but one of the first of the year, and one of only a few fall games before we go to spring. It counts like any other regular season game, and it's against a former football rival of ours. Rating: 5/15

Size of Crowd: Fans were somewhat full, mostly with parents and family. Not really any locals or students. Rating: 5/15

Other total rating: 14/30

Welcome

Hello. This is a new blog I figured I'd make describing the quality of UConn Sporting Events. I will be attending and chronicling various UConn Sporting Events in as many sports as possible. I will start with the two I attended today. These will be up in a few minutes. I will summarize the game, as well as rate each and give a summary. If you want to know our rating system, go to Rating System (click there or above.) I will usually upload pictures if I can, but for the two that will be up in a few minutes, I have none.

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