I just don't blog. I twitter pretty well, but blogging seems to be a medium that is beyond my abilities and time availability. So that experiment is over at this point, I'll be putting this to bed.
In coming weeks, this space will become *something* that talks more about what I'm doing with our beloved website, CAAZone.com. It will talk about what our plans are, what challenges we're running up against, what problems we've solved, and what we're excited about for the future.
- We will be doing a top-to-bottom redesign and redevelopment of the website AND boards. This means an update of technologies and software.
- We will be asking you to join with us in an effort to make this site and the CAA even better. For instance, we'll be starting a "CAA Tournament Committee" to help put together a better event each year. We're thinking of moving the event to a Friday night party out on the town, instead of on Saturdays in the basement of the Coliseum. We'll need a few of you to step up and help out!
Anyway, those are just a couple items and there will be more. Congrats to everyone on another successful year in the CAA!
William & Mary forward Chris Stratton is interviewed by Dan Steinberg of the WashingtonPost.com SportsBog and mentions CAAZone when talking about the internet, message boards, etc:
What's the best way to keep up with hot league-wide CAA news? Did you try to keep up while you were playing? Will you this year?
I tried to catch any CAA game that was ever on TV so I could get a look
at the teams we'd be playing and see what they do well, but that's a
little tough when there's only a couple of CAA games on Comcast
[SportsyNet] a week. There are the CaaZone.com message boards also.
Some players read them, but most probably don't.
There was normally pretty good incentive to not read them when playing
at William & Mary because most people weren't saying very nice
things about us.
My normal rule was to read them in the preseason and postseason, but
not during the season, because I would just get mad. VCU, ODU and Mason
fans are always posting on there, but normally the worst stuff we read
came from our own fans.
Last season, once we started winning, I allowed myself to take a look
at the boards 'cause I figured people would be saying better things,
which was mostly true. Now that I'm not playing, I definitely keep up
with the CAA by reading the message boards and other CAA - related
sites. I also talk to our coaching staff pretty frequently to keep
up-to-date with how the team is looking.
Point guard: Ben Eblen, Virginia Commonwealth
Shooting guard: Rashaad Whack, George Mason
Small forward: Paris Bennett, George Mason
Power forward: Johnny Williams, George Mason
Center: Rashanti Harris, Georgia State
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=875238
Everyone's got their opinions on the new distance of the three point line that is being used for the first time this season. Both Dopriak and Mull have good articles this week on the controversy.
It seems clear that this change will effect the ability of the mid-majors to compete with the BCS programs, but it's not clear to what degree.
In Chris Jollay's interview (video on front page) at CAA Media Day with Coach Matt Brady of JMU, Brady said he's already decided to only let his best shooters take the three-ball, and is reigning in marginal shooters from even attempting the shot. Other coaches said they didn't think the effect would be that great beyond an adjustment period.
JMU's Jalloh says "There's no difference, It's just a line."
Dopriak's DNR article quotes ODU's Blaine Taylor.
"They call the
3-pointer the great equalizer," Taylor said. "If you look at the
Butlers and Gonzagas, some of these outfits, they've really lived and
died with 3-pointers. ... I think a month from now, it's going to be
pretty interesting to reconnect to the subject to just kind of see
nationally what's happened."
The internet moves at break-neck speed, and over the past 10 years of CAAZone's existence we've seen plenty of changes. Just as the coaches and players of the CAA come and go, so do the sponsors, networks, and affiliates that CAAZone works with.
In a move to get better advertising rates and better advertisers, the advertising network we participate in has agreed to become a part of the YardBarker.com network. As a result, we'll carry some of their national campaigns, and make a bit more money than we did before. This money pays for CAAZone.com's hosting costs, corporation fees, federal and state taxes, "Zonies" trophies, and occasional travel costs. After all that is taken care of, there's not much left unfortunately - so any extra money is a good thing.
A side-effect of being a part of the YardBarker.com ad network, is that the At-Large Blog is part of their blog network, and CAAZone.com articles can get cross-posted to YardBarker as well. This will probably help drive traffic from their site to ours.
Soon you'll see "Bark It Up" buttons on our site. If you see an article or blog, or thread on the boards that you think deserves attention - clicking the "Bark It Up" button will move that content up in the rankings at YardBarker, giving us more exposure and traffic.
Here's an example:
If you see any ads served by the new network that are annoying, offensive, or in any other way unacceptable to you - please let me know. We want to remove these kinds of ads from our rotation, and we need your help to spot them!
In other news, we've decided to discontinue production of The Zone Show. It was great to have last season, and we'd like to thank the guys who put so much hard work into it - Jon Wagner, Keith Lavon, and Adam Jones. If anyone has a new show idea, we're always interested.
Thanks to everyone for being good sports and good friends!
As you are well aware, Wednesday was CAA Media Day down at the ESPNZone in DC. This is the one time every year where I get to go and rub elbows with many of the real sports journalists and TV personalites that seem to care about the CAA.
You had your TV guys who normally do CAA games for Comcast, like Al Koken and Glenn Consor. You had your national newspaper guys like Stephen Goff of the Post, Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times. Your local paper guys were there too, guys from Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, Harrisonburg, Baltimore, and New York.
Media Day is always fun because I get to see the rest of the merry band of CAA diehards. The guys who don't do this for a living neccesarily, but for their love for the game. Guys like Michael Litos and the CAAinsider.com fellas.
But we're all there to talk to the Coaches, and of course the gentlemen of the Head Office. Bertovich was working the crowd, along with a jovial Yeager.
As usual, Larranaga seemed to grab attention from the media... he's a good interview and easy to talk to. Blaine Taylor is much the same way. For some reason Blaine seems like the type that would grab you and give you a big hug if you got too close to him, or at least tell you a story about a dog and a pickup. Tom Pecora flew strangely under the radar at this event.
Anyway... check out our video on the front page for more Media Day Madness , as Chris Jollay asks some of the questions the others are afraid to ask.
- Find out if Tony Shaver got rid of the mustache.
- Hear about how Matt Brady thinks the new 3 point line will effect the game.
- See Blaine Taylor call Tony Shaver a chicken.
- What big frivolous purchase did Anthony Grant make with his bonus?
- Does Jim Larranaga regret crumpling up the paper with the Irish on it in his pep talk before the Patriots lost to Notre Dame?
- Why hasn't Pau Geli become a household name in the U.S.?
"It" is recruiting. New Dukes Head Coach Matt Brady has secured official visits from three different four-star ranked recruits this fall.
The latest is 6-8 PF Andrew Fitzgerald, who yesterday announced he is taking the first 3 of his official visits to Minnesota, Kentucky and... James Madison.
JMU and Brady may not land Fitzgerald, but it seems these high level recruits think that something is going on in Harrisonburg.
After much hoopla on our message boards, and after the story being picked up by this blog, and then here and here and so on, it looks as though the mystery of why two Mason Final Four rings showed up on Ebay is coming to a close.
What sucks is that after the initial sensational speculation of a high ranking university executive selling off these prized gifts, it turns out that they were actually stolen from him. Unfortunately most of the blogs and internet news sites that picked up the story won't be following up with an update clearing Dr. Scherrens name. I'm glad a couple did.
Touted freshman guard Chris Fouch will likely take a medical redshirt this season as he recovers from a blown ACL and meniscus, reports CAAinsider.com.
Bad news for the Dragons, but they do have some depth at guard - with 7 others on the roster.
LEAVING Rodney Spruill, 6-5, G, Soph., Towson
Robin Sikes, 6-8, F, Fr., UNC-Wilmington
John Sexton, 6-3, G, Soph., William & Mary - JUCO
Joe Posey, 6-5, G, Jr., James Madison – D-2/NAIA
Montas Leonavicious, 6-7, F, Soph., Hofstra
Rob Hampton, 6-4, G, Soph., Drexel – NORFOLK STATE
Lance Feurtado, 6-5, G, Soph., Drexel
ARRIVING
JohnMark Ludwick, 6-7, F, Fr., UTSA – WILLIAM & MARY
Jay Gavin, 6-3, G, Fr., Marist – VCU
John Fields, 6-9, F, Fr., East Carolina – UNC-WILMINGTON
UMass coach Derek Kellogg made the hiring of William & Mary assistant Antwon Jackson official.
Former Duquesne and Northeastern player Shawn James is expected to file a lawsuit that claims Duquesne was negligent in failing to prevent the shootings that happened back in 2006. James' attorney, Teresa Toriseva, said her clients draft stock was affected by the injuries.
Everyone's got their opinions on the new distance of the three point line that is being used for the first time this season. Both 
After much hoopla on our message boards, and after the story being picked up