Hi everyone, and welcome to the CUNY Athletic Conference’s second edition of Ask Zak. Commissioner Zak Ivkovic took time out of his schedule to respond to questions from fans.
QUESTION #1
Where can I buy CUNY clothing?
ZAK’S RESPONSE:
We are currently working on having our annual CUNY gear line available for online sales and hope to have all of it done by the start of the Winter Championship season (February, 2010) whereby we can have some of our top selling items available to our students, staff, alumni, parents, and fans. Our gear has been highly sought after and we promise to have it available for purchase to all that would want it, via our website www.cunyathletics.com.
QUESTION #2
How do the commissioner's cup standings work? Why don't non-conference sports (rifle, wrestling) count?
The Commissioner's Cup point standings were developed by the member schools’ Athletic Directors and our office. For the senior colleges, they work under the 10, 5, 3 point system for first, second, and third place team during the regular season and 10, 5 points for the conference championship tournaments.
There are slight variations in sports with less than six teams sponsoring the sport (baseball, men’s swimming) and individual team sports (cross country, track, and swimming) where only the postseason is counted.
According to CUNYAC bylaws, only sports which have at least four conference members participate will have CUNYAC Championships, thus, the community colleges have developed a different, somewhat more complicated system which we are currently working on streamlining. It is similar to the senior colleges system with some added emphasis on participation in the individual team sports.
QUESTION #3
How come a CUNYAC men's soccer got a team in the NCAA's via automatic bid, but not the women's?
ZAK’S RESPONSE
The NCAA awards AQs (automatic qualifications) in all team sports where at least seven (7) member schools sponsor the sport. For our men's soccer league there is no issue as we have 10 schools fielding soccer teams, but in our women's league we only have 3 teams, although we are working hard on adding teams and reaching the 7-team barrier in order to obtain the AQ. We are expecting Brooklyn and John Jay to field teams next season, in the fall of 2010.
QUESTION #4
Why was there such a delay at the volleyball championships before the championship game?
ZAK’S RESPONSE
Volleyball is an unpredictable sport where the game is concluded when the winning team wins three out of five sets. During our semifinals we had each winning team wrap up the finals berth in straight sets, but as organizers of the event we have to allow for the possibility that each would go to five sets. Clearly both semis finished quickly with our championship slated for 8:00 pm, and thus the 90 minute gap that was created.
Similar situations occur at the NCAA Championships, whose championships protocol guidelines we follow to better prepare our teams for the postseason.
QUESTION #5
The DJ/public address announcer you guys have for the championships is really good. Does he play weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, etc?
ZAK’S RESPONSE
Joe Tribuzio is exceptional and that is why we have him for all of our championships! He is available for other engagements and in fact plays in a band that is available for your hiring as well. He can be reached at MetroMusicJoeT@optonline.net
QUESTION #6
Why doesn’t any CUNY school offer football?
ZAK’S RESPONSE
Sports sponsorship by member campuses is an individual campus decision based on interest from the student body. With football so many other factors come into play, including costs associated with fielding such a large team, along with equipment needs, practice and playing facilities, support staff needed for football (extra coaches and athletic trainers), etc. An additional dilemma is compliance with Title IX regulations whereby adequate opportunities would need to be offered for female students at that institution, which would be quite an obstacle since D3 football teams generally have 100+ members. Remember that CUNY student population as a whole is 60% female. In essence that institution would be fielding football and 4-5 women's sports, which would require at least a doubling of its' athletic budget.
QUESTION #7
Why don’t CUNYAC schools play St. John’s in any sports?
ZAK’S RESPONSE
Our schools do compete against St. John's and other Division I and II institutions but it's normally in sports like Fencing, Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Rifle and Track & Field. The issue is that in order to improve your strength of schedule, an institution needs to play schools and win from within its' own Division (NCAA I, II or III). Playing schools from other divisions doesn't help you; in fact it hurts you when those selections are being made since there is no proper comparison (common opponent). Therefore in team sports those things usually only happen as exhibition events or scrimmages.
QUESTION #8
Do you think that Medgar Evers' Athletic Director / Coach Roy Anderson is a better soccer or basketball coach?
ZAK’S RESPONSE
Talk about a loaded question about my friend and colleague. You would think that his Jamaican and English roots would give him an edge in soccer, but only his use of the thick Caribbean accent on the soccer pitch gives him the notion that he knows what he is talking about. He is a fan of a third division English league team Bradford, so I am not high on his soccer knowledge. Besides, his women's team lost in the finals four of the past five years; on the other hand, his basketball teams have flown under the radar for quite a while. My honest notion is that he should focus more on being the AD and soccer coach with the return of his entire squad and scoring machines Shakera Ho-Sang and Kerissa Harris.