Get ready for your newest forum game, Around the Arena!

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Around the Horn is the game of competitive banter, played on ESPN by sports columnists from around the USA.

Around the Arena is the game of competitive banter, played on TheForce.net's "The Arena" by users from around the world.

Here's how the game works:

Four players will sign up at a time.
Once four players are signed up, the game host (Darth McClain) will start the game.

The game host will start by posting a topic from recent news in the world of sports. The four players will then have a minimum of 24 hours to debate the topic. The host will then close discussion on this topic, and award points to each of the players, based on the quality of their argument, statistics used, and sources cited (with possible bonuses for "inside information"). A second topic will then be posted, and the four players will have a minimum of 24 hours to debate the topic. The host will then again close discussion on the topic, and award points again. The first two topics will always be about headline events.

The game host will then transition to "buy or sell" questions, where a statement is given about a current event in sports, and the players are asked to buy or sell (agree or disagree with) the statement. Points are scored in a similar fashion to the first round, but generally are scored in lower amounts. Each question here will again be posted for a minimum of 24 hours before it is closed off. After all three questions have been scored; the player with the lowest cumulative score will be cut, and will be given a 24-hour game ban.

The game host will then issue a question about a topic that is controversial in nature from the world of sports, or that is barely related to the world of sports. Players will again be given 24 hours to debate the topic, and scoring will be done as before, but again, points will be given out in even lower amounts. At the end of the scoring, the player with the lowest score will be cut, and will be given a 24-hour game ban.

Finally, the two remaining players will go head-to-head to debate three final topics. Each player will be given one post to state their side, and the host will declare which side must go first. The host will then declare a winner for each of the head-to-head debates. The player that wins at least two of them will win the game, and the other player will receive a 24-hour game ban. The winner of the game will move forward to a championship round.

And the game will be repeated three times, until four players have moved onto a championship round. Then, we play the game as normal, only the winner receives one week of VIP, title, and custom colors.

If you are eliminated from a round, you are still eligible to play again in the next round. No reserve spots will be held. Sign-ups will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

To sign up for the first round, simply add your name to the list:

1.
2.
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4.

Hopefully, we will be able to start this opening round on Monday, March 8.

 

1.
2.
3. Trimaj
4.

 

Ok, I assumed you were going to change the host's name, at least...

 

Quiet, you. That's what I get for copying and pasting and not reading.

 

1.
2. Jedi_Johnson
3. Trimaj
4.

 

Wait, why is this labeled "new game"????

 

Your game is long dead.

 

Edited the name of the host and the title.

All credit for the opening post and the game and stuff goes to Inty

 

@ the title

 

Very happy to see the return of this game.

All Hail Inty, and thanks for making a new round McClain.

 

Gotta make sure that Inty gets credit for the logo, too.

 

1.
2. Jedi_Johnson
3. Trimaj
4. RX_Sith

 

One more victim...err...participant, and we can begin!

 

1. Darth Dark Helmet
2. Jedi_Johnson
3. Trimaj
4. RX_Sith

All right, I'll give it a try.

 

This should be fun

 

Alright, our first topic on Around the Arena is basketball related.


Last night, the UConn women broke their own record for most consecutive games won. They've won 71 times in a row, and play West Virginia for the Big East Championship.

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I have three questions for our panelists.

1) How would you compare UConn's current streak to the UCLA men's 88 in a row?
2) Who do you think has the best chance of beating them?
3) Is this dominance good for women's basketball?

 

Ooh, good topic. Can't stand the team... but definitely a good topic

 

I don't think this streak quite compares to the UCLA's streak of 88, and not just because of the men/women angle. Right now, I would even say that it doesn't quite compare to UConn's previous streak of 70, for one main reason. UConn's streak started Nov. 16, 2008, and the last time UConn played Tennessee, was Jan. 2007. They went this whole streak without playing the team that is arguably, right with them in the top two Woman's college basketball programs. If you want to be considered the best, you have to play the best. Never playing Tennessee during these 71 wins devalues the streak just a hair.

That also leads me into my pick for who could be the team to beat them. There's a very good chance that UConn could meet Tennessee in the Final Four or Championship game. Pat Summit has a good team this year, right now ranked 4th in the nation, 30-2 record. If there's any team that can stand up to UConn and not wilt under the intimidation of trying to end the streak, its a Pat Summit led team.

As for the how good this streak is for the sport? One of the things that made the NFL so popular, was parity, that idea that any team can win. We also see it with the Men's tourney, people love upsets, they love to root for the underdog. If you have one team that just dominates the competition, its not as fascinating to watch. Its becomes "ho-hum." There's little incentive to watch the other games, because we know UConn is going to be there at the end and it doesn't matter who they play. Compare to the Men's tourney, where there are right now 6-7 teams that could make deep runs, and we see the potential for a lot of good match ups. That's what the women need. One dominate team doesn't create buzz, it doesn't create excitement.

 

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I'm stealing Woody's chalkboard!

I'm going to be unpopular, the streak isn't in the same league as the 1988 UCLA men's team streak. Here's the simple reason why. Womens NCAA Basketball is not as competitive as the mens game. There are 1-2 great teams in the women's field and in the mens there is a great deal more parity and competition. Recreating that streak in the mens field would be far tougher mostly because of the competition the teams face on a game by game basis.

As for who is going to beat them, I'm going with the homer pick. As a proud alum of WVU I'm going with the Mountaineers. And my pick isn't all school pride. UCONN just broke their own streak. The pressure is off now and whether they realize it or not they will relax mentally. The is the perfect opportunity for the #2 team in the Big East to steal a win. (Lets GOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!) Plus, we can't overlook the fact that WVU head coach Mike Carey has put together a tough defense that will want to avenge their biggest loss of the year in this clash of Big East titans.

I think the streak is a good thing for the womens program. Just look at the publicity its getting the sport. Whens the last time you saw NCAA Women's Basketball as one of the top stories on ESPN? The streak draws in a few kinds of viewers. Those that want to see what the big deal is, those that want to see the streak end, and those that are genuinely basketball fans. The hype surrounding the streak has brought great press to the women's side of the sport.

 

Looks like Trimaj and RX_Sith both got the mute button for this round.

Darth Dark Helmet - Great point about UConn not playing the Lady Vols since before the streak (+ 2). I hadn't realized that those teams hadn't played in the past few years until doing a little research on the subject. I, too, think that Tennessee has the best chance of beating them. (+ 1) I'm with Jedi_Johnson on it beging good for Women's Baskteball. There isn't much parity (+ 1), but the exposure that the UConn women get is more than the rest of the teams combined.

Jedi_Johnson - Alright, Mr. Paige. I would agree with you - the two streaks are not in the same league. Like you said, the parity isn't there (+ 2). I like the homer pick of West Virginia (+ 1O, but it didn't happen (-1). Well, at least not in the Big East tourney. I definitley agree with you about it being good for the sport. Women's basketball wouldn't get nearly the exposure it has throughout the regular season that it did this year without UConn's streak (+ 1).

The scores after this round...
Trimaj - -1
RX_Sith - -1
Darth Dark Helmet - 4
Jedi_Johnson - 3

Around the Arena will continue later today.

 

We're sticking with basketball for our second time 'round the Arena. This time, we're going to be in the Big East men's tourney.

[image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/81/2010_Big_East_men%27s_basketball_tournament_logo.jpg]

Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia each had double byes, giving them free passes into the quarterfinals. All but West Virginia lost in their opening game, and the Mountaineers needed a buzzer beater.

Do you think that this reflects more on lots of talented teams in the Big East, lack of great teams, or some combination thereof? Let's go Around the Arena to find out what our panelists think.

 

Are the Big East teams more talented then other conferences? They might be, but what you see in the Big East that led to yesterday's upsets are a lot of teams that are first and foremost, well coached. Bob Huggins, Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, Jaime Dixon, Jim Boeheim, are some of the top coaches in the NCAA right now, John Thompson III has proved he's a very good coach and Buzz Williams at Marquette is only in his second year, but is showing very good coaching ability. Gone are the days when one team can have three, or four future NBA players. The talent in the NCAA is getting spread thinner every year, if you can get one of those future NBA players on your team that's a huge success these days. So you need to find and recruit guys that can play around him and work in the system. This puts more emphasis on your coach. And in a conference with so many high level coaches, the gap between the teams gets smaller. Take Syracuse, against an equally talented, but lesser coached team, they might be able to play their B game and get away with it, simply turn things on when they need a run and coast to a win. Against a well coached team like Georgetown, who has seven wins this year against ranked teams, they can't have that off day, they can't turn it over 17 times and simply expect to make that run when they need it.

 

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All homerism aside, it?s hard to dispute that the Big East is a very strong Basketball conference this year. In fact some teams that were expected to be down this year and were incredibly strong this year. Syracuse and Pitt were supposed to have rebuilding years and this year looked really strong in the regular season. Teams like WVU were supposed to be solid this year, returning lots of talent.

But all the talent in the world doesn?t mean anything without a good coach and your kids buying into the system. The key part is that the three teams above have really good coaches and their kids buy into the system that?s been put in place. Dark Helmet is on target saying coaching is huge in the Big East, but all the coaching in the world won?t lead to success if your players don?t buy in.

How do we know that works? Jim Boeheim and Jamie Dixon had nearly entirely new starters this year but have put a system in place that players can flourish in. Bob Huggins has taken elements of the old coaching staff at WVU (1-3-1 defense) and allowed his players to run it. In fact in Huggs own words he doesn?t know the 1-3-1 so he relies on players who played under John Beilein to teach it to the rest of the team.

These two elements account for a lot of the play of the Big East coming into the tournament. As nice as it is for the players to get 2 days rest if they are in the top 4 seeds, I think this is a lot of what hurts their team. The 2 day break in essence allows a team to cool down, even if they are hot coming in. A team playing on day one is hungry and builds momentum. They might be tired as all hell, but they believe they have momentum on their side and that means a lot as they progress in a tournament. Just look at Syracuse last year where they played out of their mind in the tournament (6 OT anyone). It?s the same thing we see in March Madness with the Cinderella teams. These low seeds have to scrap through everything and that builds confidence. Scrapping for a win give a team and its players the belief they can win. Combine that with the two pieces I described earlier and you?ve got a strong reason for all the upsets we?re seeing.

 

I am going to respond to this question totally different. First, the Big East matters in more sports than just basketball. Why? You might ask. Well, considering that the Big Ten is going to expand and is looking at not one, but up to three Big East schools (Pitt, Syracuse, and Rutgers) then there is cause to realize that only one ultimate thing matters; Money. Rutgers and to a lesser extent Syracuse bring the vast New York area and its millions of subscribers under the Big Ten's vastly superior contract. When you consider that its contract rewards its schools with the most money per school (22 million) which is way more than the Big East (2 million) than you'd have to be pretty moronic to turn that kind of money difference down.