2023 Season

[ucsdcollett]

Final IRA comments
- Congrats to UCSD. Yes it was for 19th but certainly a step in the right direction at a school that has a lot going for it.

Hey, we take those!

-V8 6 seat gets food poisoning on Thursday.
-2V had a boat damaged while trailering east and scrambled to use borrowed equipment over the weekend.
-Graduating 2 from the V8, 1 from the 3V and the rest of the team next year will be all freshmen/sophomores/juniors with only 1 senior.

[FullSend]

I would argue Harvard is more well resourced than any of the other programs that were mentioned. Pton would be the closest, but they don't seem to have the depth of Junior/u23 pedigree that Harvard consistently has had. Harvard's horses should put them up with Yale consistently IMO and they are only falling farther back last couple of years.

Maybe that's just the group not clicking, lord knows I've had groups where they just don't quite click and others with less talent that do. Somewhat more concerningly, they seemed to lose relative speed from Sprints to IRAs. 1V behind NE, 2V wins sprints then behind Yale at IRA (might say more about Yale with the lineup gelling around Williamson).

Covid took a lot out of a lot of coaches. A lot of uncertainty and stress. A lot of coaches close to retirement seem to have stuck it out to see their programs through, and are stepping down now that things have stabilized. There's no shame in that with a career like Charley has had and maybe it's just time. I'm sure he could have a coach emeritus role and they would always have a spot for him to ride along if he wanted to.

[augustus]

Thinking more on this the coaching aspect it is also kind of tricky. Like for example Hughes, Crotty, and Boyce all have had a few bad years before producing the results they had this year. Very rare that a coach comes in and completely changes a program (even Gladstone took a while). Ultimately, alumni and supporters may just have to understand that this sport requires the long view. The real question being how long should that view be?

That being said from what I've seen there is no accountability from some of these programs' Athletic Departments and alumni networks don't have the leverage to affect any change without indirectly punishing the athletes (pulling funding/international trips).

[augustus]

Playing devil's advocate, there are a few coaches that you could make a similar argument for if you had the axe to grind:
-Dave Reischman - great the past 3 seasons, but this team's results have had some serious variance going up and down the ladder
-Greg Hughes - similar to Syracuse, just less of floor and more of a ceiling
-Todd Kennett - could argue he's still cashing in on the '10 medal if you were feeling petty
-Tom Bohrer - consistent Petites
-Chris Clark - appears to have the horses if you believe the press conferences
-Paul Cook - I don't see how a guy producing multiple athletes for the USNT gets a pass without getting to the medal dock (again, playing devil's advocate here).

Manning shot himself in the foot, the job was his. Bohrer has never had good results. If I was a BU alum I would have gotten rid of him long ago, especially when you look at NU's consistent performance with the same inputs. Kennett seems to have protection of the alum. I have not heard many positive reviews come from his ex-athletes.

[rowing]

Somewhere the ACRA coaches borne of 2008 just guffawed.

The Boys in the Moat.....protected from everything but themselves.

[haveoarwillrow]

Playing devil's advocate, there are a few coaches that you could make a similar argument for if you had the axe to grind:
-Dave Reischman - great the past 3 seasons, but this team's results have had some serious variance going up and down the ladder
-Greg Hughes - similar to Syracuse, just less of floor and more of a ceiling
-Todd Kennett - could argue he's still cashing in on the '10 medal if you were feeling petty
-Tom Bohrer - consistent Petites
-Chris Clark - appears to have the horses if you believe the press conferences
-Paul Cook - I don't see how a guy producing multiple athletes for the USNT gets a pass without getting to the medal dock (again, playing devil's advocate here).

Manning shot himself in the foot, the job was his. Bohrer has never had good results. If I was a BU alum I would have gotten rid of him long ago, especially when you look at NU's consistent performance with the same inputs. Kennett seems to have protection of the alum. I have not heard many positive reviews come from his ex-athletes.

I would say Bohrer losing Lindberg has set that boathouse back a bit more than anything else, but I see your point and that's what I was driving at. Lot of status quo in D1 Men's Rowing.

It would be nice to see more young coaches coming into the scene and getting their shots. Ivo seems like one to watch in Philly.

[SQUAREdown]

Of course status quo in men’s rowing, the stakes aren’t really that high win or lose.

Many of the head coaching positions appear to be ceremonial handoffs to brand names in a given generation. Sometimes they work out performance wise and if they don’t. We’re fooling ourselves if we think they’re ALL carefully considered hires aimed at improving the product that goes on the water. As a rule, the majority of higher Ed is stocked with people hired via “credentialism” or nepotism. So it’s not surprising ADs apply this same template to their hiring process.

This doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy watching good racing on the day of course. It would, however, be a bit more enjoyable escapism if the commentators could stop red-pilling us about the stakes by consistently mixing up who’s ahead and behind.

[fullmetal]

Even in the lwt women's races, the commentator couldn't stop himself from confusing Georgetown and Radcliffe. It's such a "small" thing, but it just kills the sense of expertise.

[oneofthorsboys]

Not being American I cant comment on hiring of coaches, but having access to the YouTube coverage of the IRA regatta I feel I can comment on the commentating (so to speak). There seemed to be Bears, Oranges, Midshipmen, and at least two Huskies going up and down the lake with a lot of other names which didn't really make it any easier for us foreigners to make out who was who. Furthermore some of the commentators seem to possess that affliction common to a lot of rowing pundits worldwide of not taking parallax into account when calling relative positions. We have Albano buoyed courses. It's actually not that hard to tell who is in front.
There were plenty of quality International and American athletes on view, with World and Olympic medals to their name yet rarely did a commentator single out or draw attention to these people. Some of the best (certainly U-23) rowers in the world were on show, but all we got was the Huskies chasing the Huskies. Mush!

[SQUAREdown]

Not being American I cant comment on hiring of coaches, but having access to the YouTube coverage of the IRA regatta I feel I can comment on the commentating (so to speak). There seemed to be Bears, Oranges, Midshipmen, and at least two Huskies going up and down the lake with a lot of other names which didn't really make it any easier for us foreigners to make out who was who. Furthermore some of the commentators seem to possess that affliction common to a lot of rowing pundits worldwide of not taking parallax into account when calling relative positions. We have Albano buoyed courses. It's actually not that hard to tell who is in front.
There were plenty of quality International and American athletes on view, with World and Olympic medals to their name yet rarely did a commentator single out or draw attention to these people. Some of the best (certainly U-23) rowers in the world were on show, but all we got was the Huskies chasing the Huskies. Mush!

Could not agree more. We can all see what’s happening on the screen in front of us. It would be different if it was a radio broadcast like back in the day.

Henley coverage really is the gold standard. Racing happening on the screen, commentators talking about rowing in general, technique of different crews, rowers of note in a given lineup, inside info from coaches, etc. Something you can have on in the background like baseball or major tennis. When and if you want to give full attention, you’re bound to pick up something interesting and or see something entertaining. Not just people shouting about throwing blankets over bows or asking “who wants it more?” Love the enthusiasm, but it’s really stale and plays more like weekend warrior vicarious thrill seeking on what would otherwise be a lazy Sunday morning.

[Faster-n-faster]

If I was a BU alum I would have gotten rid of him long ago,

I’ll be thinking about this one all day.

[str8four]

I think I did the math right and there were 14 American rowers out of 48 in the Grand Final (excluding coxes):
- NE had 5
-Syracuse had 3
- Yale and Princeton had 2 each
- Cal and UW had 1 each

It would be interesting to figure out the number of grad students and transfers as well, but I didn't look for that info.

[crewu]

It would be interesting to track track the 16 rowers in the top two boats at youth Nationals each year to see how their rowing careers play out. It seems almost none of them ever make it into a men's varsity eight at a top program. Whereas the best rowers at the top schools in England seem to break through.

[gamestop]

If I was a BU alum I would have gotten rid of him long ago,

I’ll be thinking about this one all day.

This is a rough take. So you're getting rid of Bohrer long ago, when he cracked the IRA GF in '09 and '12??

In 15 seasons, BU V8 IRA finish 7th or better four times, and outside of the top 10 only five times, which includes this year. That is remarkably consistent. It's so hard to win at this level. If you want better than those results, it's just as likely other changes are due aside from the coach.

That said, 15 years is about as long as one can hope for in a given role, before people start tapping their foot after a bad year or two.

[Scull8tor]

…15 years is about as long as one can hope for in a given role, before people start tapping their foot after a bad year or two.

And to add, current AD’s need to understand that there is an acceptable hierarchy when it comes to finishing as a rowing program each year.

Only one school can win each year.

Up ending a program and letting a rowing coach go just because the team didn’t win or medal only guarantees that the supposed “program mediocrity, will continue.

Top athletes will go to top programs.

If AD’s really want to change results, then make it easier to get in to your school. Provide incentive to want to apply and represent your university over the “top” programs.

Otherwise, take more pride in the value that your tenured coach has provided in shaping decent human beings, and graduates of your establishment.

“Losing” the IRA isn’t a real-life failure.