04-11-2018, 04:21 PM
Thanks for the reminder!
The USC-Cal game that USC won handily was at the USC pool. During the broadcast of the Stanford-UCLA match, it was pointed out that the MPSF tournament will be at Cal, while the NCAA tournament will be at USC. If staying at home helps, those teams (plus, to a lesser extent, Stanford & L.A. teams) may have some advantages.
As I think was said last year, being #1 in the conference gives you the inside track at the MPSF tournament (as the top three teams are always tight while #4 drops off a bit - but I'm not sure that holds this year). Winning that tournament gives you the inside track at the NCAA tournament. So, the game on Friday is very important.
The weather looks great (70 & late afternoon sun). Note that the sports parking will be crowded: home matches in MTen (3:00), WWP(5:30), Baseball (6:00), SB (7:00), and WLAX (7:00). A water polo match lasts about an hour, so you can also catch most of the baseball, or all the softball or lacrosse.
Unlike most other sports, water polo is seen better at the stadium than over TV. I find the TV coverage, esp. at Stanford, to be lacking. They have too wide a field and often are looking into the sun & its reflection. And sometimes the directors focus on the ref or the coaches when play has already started, so you miss some critical plays.
The USC-Cal game that USC won handily was at the USC pool. During the broadcast of the Stanford-UCLA match, it was pointed out that the MPSF tournament will be at Cal, while the NCAA tournament will be at USC. If staying at home helps, those teams (plus, to a lesser extent, Stanford & L.A. teams) may have some advantages.
As I think was said last year, being #1 in the conference gives you the inside track at the MPSF tournament (as the top three teams are always tight while #4 drops off a bit - but I'm not sure that holds this year). Winning that tournament gives you the inside track at the NCAA tournament. So, the game on Friday is very important.
The weather looks great (70 & late afternoon sun). Note that the sports parking will be crowded: home matches in MTen (3:00), WWP(5:30), Baseball (6:00), SB (7:00), and WLAX (7:00). A water polo match lasts about an hour, so you can also catch most of the baseball, or all the softball or lacrosse.
Unlike most other sports, water polo is seen better at the stadium than over TV. I find the TV coverage, esp. at Stanford, to be lacking. They have too wide a field and often are looking into the sun & its reflection. And sometimes the directors focus on the ref or the coaches when play has already started, so you miss some critical plays.