Irvine

ejjqb:
You assume I don't have connectons.

But Geez is absolutely right, if I'm not willing to back up my statements with data I should keep my mouth shut. And I will from here on out.

Just assume that what I said is simply my opinion because without data that is reallyi all it is.

And as far as Team vs Program, don't worry about it. Its just a pet peeve I have, I shouldn't have even brought it up. Its silly really. And I agree UPSF gave a very good explanation on the differances.

Who knows maybe it will all work out for the best for everyone involved. I hope it does.

Geez,

I am just curious, what did you do before you retired? You don't have to anwer if you don't want to.

I worked in the construction industry

Not to derail things, but 2 notes on recruiting.

1) UP does not offer the range of courses/majors that larger universities do.

2) Some of our opponents this year have a large number overseas players. I would guess that it takes money and organization to do that kind of recruiting and that a large U would have the advantage there.

I like that a large number of our players come locally, from the NW and from the West. We just need a Canadian superstar to add to the mix.

You can add to Dan No Yell's comments:

3) More universities are now investing dollars into womens sports than before. Look no farther than Corvallis, a nice enough soccer only stadium and a nice place to go to college or Washington, another nice enough soccer only stadium and a nice place to go to college.

4) Better coaching across the country at the collegiate level.

5) Large population bases of young female soccer players in California and throughout the midwest and east coast. While most kids want to get away from home to go to college, there are a lot of options to allow you stay within a 3 hour dirve or 2 hour flight from home.

The reality is the marginal results this year point to the greater challenges to maintain the success of years past that exist as the sport evolves. As someone pointed out, even mighty North Carolina is having challenges this year.

As far as heat on Garrett, give me a break. There are a lot reasons team's succeed or fail. And not all successt can be attributed to having a roster of superstars. Chemistry, injuries, player development, heart and luck just to name a few. And let's be honest, the Pilots have experienced their share of injuries over the last 2-3 years that are still impacting this year's team. Many of the elements listed above are beyond the control of the coach,. And while the coach can influence these items, the reality is a lot of this comes down on the players.

Lastly, someone in this thread made the comment that Soccer is just a game and everyone should take a breath. I applaud that person for pointing out what a lot of people seem to be missing. We're talking about women's college soccer, get some perspective. God help you if you take the rest of life so seriously.

Geez, you are obviously not a fan of American football. Darrell Royal played at Oklahoma, but he was the coach at UT-Austin.

Garrett is in one of the toughest jobs in the world:
Darrell Royal -> Fred Akers (winning coach who nobody remembers)
John Wooden -> Gene Bartow (two years, two NCAA appearances, quit for UAB)
Vince Lombardi -> Phil Bengston (four years, fired with losing record)
Red Auerbach -> Bill Russell (three years, left with bitter feelings all around)
Bear Bryant -> Ray Perkins (six years, winning record, quit to go to pros)
Dean Smith -> Bill Guthridge (three years, 2 Final Fours but declining win-loss record, retired)

I think you see the pattern here. Following a legend is never easy. Hopefully the UP coaches will continue to find success.

Also, our little board is finally starting to read like some of the "big boy" boards I peruse.

Shows how old I am. I always knew he was in the rivalry, but I guess I got confused as to where he played and coached. Those years were the biggest rivalry in sports.

Its all perpective. After Wooden retired:

Bartow was 52-9 when he got fired for not measuring up.

so they got Garry Cunningham, who went 50-8 before he got fired for non-perfomance.

They each lasted two years and had better career winning percentages than Wooden had in his tenure at UCLA. He posted a record of 36 -14 his first two years, and he spent 16 years learning the craft of coaching as head coach of UCLA before he won his first national title.

who's up next? Larry Brown. he really sucked at 42-17 -- really unacceptable, so they got rid of him. I hope his exit clause was a good one. I hope he got a good job somewhere.

Larry Farmer was next. he still came nowhere near living up to the legend. He went 39-15 and got booted.

they thought "lets go with a UCLA legend" so they hired Walt Hazzard. nobody could shoot from the corner like he. He apparently saw the two year cycle of firings and got a five year no- cut contract.
He went 77 -47. Mount St Mary's in Maryland, a little school of 1200 students did better. He did get an NIT ring, though. I'll bet that is front and center in the trophy case.

Then they decided we needed to stick with somebody, so they chose Jim Harrick and rode him to a 192-62 record and one championship - a bit better, but there was that unfortunate rules violation thing and the false expense reports. I guess a BMW wasn't in the contract.... details.

So Steve Lavin was next. Elite Eight his first year, pretty good -- but then it was sweet sixteens and a first round appearance, and a 145 -78 record - not as good as the Wizard of Westwood, so lets fire him.

Ben Howland? UP beat him. His last three seasons are an 8-10 bracketed by two 13-5 seasons. he is now 182 -80. He's the dead mouse on the kitchen floor that folks are drawing straws over who will throw him out.

coming after a legend is tough. looking back, Gene looks pretty good.

Roy Williams is probably a whisker away from retirement.
How would you like to be the guy who follows Anson or krzyzewski?