Topics

A friend of mine sent this to me ... The Team Name was a Fill in the Blank.... thought I'd help.
=================================
About that Butler middle line-backer:
"He doesn't know the meaning of the word fear.

In fact, he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words."
______________________________________
Why do Butler fans wear orange?
So they can dress that way for the game on Saturday,
go hunting on Sunday, and pick up trash on Monday.
______________________________________
How many Butler freshmen football players does
it take to change a light bulb?
None.  That's a sophomore course.
__________________________________
What do you say to a Butler University
football player dressed in a three-piece suit?
"Will the defendant please rise."
______________________________________
What do you have when you put 32 Butler
cheerleaders in one room?
A full set of teeth.
______________________________________
The Butler Coach is only going to dress half of his
players for the game next week;
the other half will have to dress themselves.
______________________________________
How is the Butler football team like an opossum?
They play dead at home and get killed on the road.
______________________________________
How do you get a former Butler football player off your porch?
Pay him for the pizza.

Thought it might be fun to look at the top returnees from this year's rosters for next year's "Pre-Season All Conference" picks...and overall strength of the teams in the HL...

(Current Class Years):
Cleveland State:   Forbes (SO), Lewis (SO), Grady (SO), Lee (JR)
Detroit:  Howard, Jr (JR), Williams (FR)
Green Bay:  Sykes (JR), Fouse (SO) Love (SO)
Illinois-Chicago:  Bird (FR) Parker (JR) Brown (JR)
Milwaukee:  Tiby (SO) McWorter (JR)  Arians (SO)
Oakland:  Felder (FR) Petros (JR)
Wright:  Arceneaux (JR) Sledge (JR) Hopkins (JR)
Youngstown:  Amiker (JR)  Hain (SO)
... and us.
Peters, Williams, Adekoya, Yeo, Fernandez, Carter...+E.Victor

Preseason All Conference ...
Peters
Sykes - POY
Felder
Howard,Jr
Arceneaux  (but Petros, Forbes, Hopkins and Tiby will get some votes

Wow... almost ran out of room for the subject!

We are proud of our affiliation with the Assemblies of God and our Pentecostal tradition. We are also proud to be a welcoming community for students from all Christian backgrounds and denominations. Our campus includes many Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, etc., as well as non-denominational students. Everyone shares a strong commitment to knowing Christ and making Him known, and we celebrate our theological similarities while appreciating our differences.

This "Fire" team looks like a decent NAIA team!  (Looking at their point-spreads...and being 8-1)  receiving votes in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll for the week of 12/3 (not 12/10).

http://www.seufire.com/schedule.asp?sportID=3

Two Exhibition Games, both losses:   Florida State 112-74; Univ of Tampa  78-65

Nov. 7, 2013   Trinity College   Lakeland, Fla.      101-78 W   
Nov. 9, 2013     Pensacola Christian College   Lakeland, Fla.      93-59 W   
Nov. 16, 2013    Clearwater Christian College   Lakeland, Fla.      107-81 W   
Nov. 19, 2013   @ Trinity Baptist College   Jacksonville, Fla.     82-65 W   
Nov. 25, 2013   Franklin College   Lakeland, Fla.      (OT) 107-97 W   
Nov. 29, 2013   at Oregon Technical Institute   Ashland, Ore.   86-76 W   
Nov. 30, 2013   @ #2 Southern Oregon University   Ashland, Ore.      81-91 L   
Dec. 3, 2013   Florida National University   Lakeland, Fla.      103-98 W   
Dec. 7, 2013   @ Thomas University*   Thomasville, Ga.      (OT) 76-74 W
   
Tonight:
Dec. 16, 2013   @ St. Thomas University*   Miami Gardens, Fla.      7 p.m.   

Wednesday... with Video Available:
Dec. 18, 2013   Milligan College   Lakeland, Fla.      7 p.m.   Video
Live Video Broadcast Link: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/southeastern.portal

Here are their leading scorers:

Dwayne Johnson 6-1 SR   21.3 ppg
Timothy Mitchell 6-9 (270lb) JR  18.2 ppg; 14.1 Rebounds per game, and 24 blocks in 9 games
Brandon Moore 6-6 SO   14.7 ppg
Amir Royal  6-7 JR  11.5 ppg (Non-Starter)
Jordan Talley 6-4 SO  10.3 ppg (sometime starter)

NAIA D2 coaches poll...  Bethel #5, Ind Wesleyan #7, Robt Morris (IL) #8.. and a shout-out to Ryan Wronkiewicz' Lourdes is #25.

Hi...  I'll start this thread with the CORRECT Game time at the ARC.  Seems there are two schedules out... the correct time 1:05pm Central.    So.  I'm thinking Valpo by 15.   These Lions are not Billikens.  They have not been victorious against anyone with an RPI under 230.  Back to Back Cross Country trips (played Friday 12/6 at Pitt, lost by 17.  The beat Long Beach State (0-9) by ONE.

They have a 7-player rotation...when looking at their PITT boxscore:

VISITORS: Loyola Marymount (6-3)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 BLACKWELL, CJ....... f  1-4    0-2    0-0    1  0  1   2   2  0  2  0  0  21
10 Dickinson, Ben...... f  5-10   0-0    0-1    3  3  6   1  10  2  0  0  0  27
32 Levin, Gabe......... f  6-15   0-1    2-2    5  9 14   2  14  0  1  0  2  35
01 Payne, Evan......... g  5-14   2-4    4-4    2  0  2   2  16  0  2  0  2  32
03 Ireland, Anthony.... g  7-17   1-3    5-6    1  1  2   2  20  5  4  1  0  37
11 Stover, Nick........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0   8
15 Osborne, Alex.......    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0   4
21 Heller, Max.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  1  0  0  0   6
23 Flint, Chase........    0-2    0-2    2-2    0  2  2   4   2  1  2  0  0  17
42 Mornar, Marin.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    3  2  5   0   0  1  0  1  0  13
   TEAM................                         1  4  5   1         1
   Totals..............   26-67   3-12  13-15  16 21 37  21  68 10 12  2  4 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3%   2nd Half: 13-37 35.1%   Game: 38.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6  16.7%   2nd Half:  2-6  33.3%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half: 11-12 91.7%   Game: 86.7%    1

These guys are good. Their RealTimeRPI is 75 (VU is 120)

Date   Opponent   Opp. RPI Rk   Results
  11-08     at    Texas     5-1 (0-0)   48    73-76    L
$  11-16         Seton Hall     4-2 (0-0)   68    77-74    W
  11-18     at    Evansville     3-1 (0-0)   65    76-89    L
  11-23         Yale     3-3 (0-0)   212    81-54    W
  11-26     at    Ohio     4-1 (0-0)   27    67-76    L

Get this... Undefeated at home (4-0) winless on the road (0-3)... sound familiar?  (Two non-D1 wins at home)

http://www.mercerbears.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/files/teamcume.htm for their stat sheet

Starters: (same for all 7 games)

Hall, 6-4 SR  17 ppg  88% free throw shooting, 43% from 3 point range
Coursey 6-10 SR 10.9 ppg  14 blocks in 7 games
Nwamu  6-5 SO 10.6 ppg
Gollon 6-6 SR  6.4 ppg
White  6-2 SR 5.3 ppg  (Indpls Pike)

71% free throw shooting

Gee... let's see... How about I go on a limb... Valpo 85, Mercer 70...which is one more point than they beat us in football (35-21).  They'll be looking ahead to their next game:  Monday night in Norman against the Sooners.

and how will the HL fare?    5 games on tap Friday night...

Youngstown State at Kennesaw State (first game of the KState Owl Tournament where the Owls will play 4 games in 4 days to open the season (EKY, FIU and Warren College).

Milwaukee at Loyola.  Someone will have to wake me up with this one's over.  Can a game end 2-0 and not be a forfeit?

UDM is at South Alabama.  Who's going to coach the Titans now that Junior is gone?

Oakland at the Dean Dome against UNC.  (FROM CBSSports.com)North Carolina will open its season, as expected, without the services of P.J. Hairston and Leslie McDonald, the school confirmed to CBSSports.com on Thursday.  Hairston and McDonald are both out because of issues that are possibly NCAA-related.

Hairston, a junior, had multiple run-ins with law enforcement during the offseason and was also caught driving a rental vehicle linked to an ex-convict with questionable motives. McDonald's issues are apparently rooted in the fact that a company called Iceberg Guards advertised McDonald, a senior, as a user of its mouth guards, which seemingly violates NCAA bylaws. There's no timetable for a resolution in either case.  UNC is ranked 12th in the preseason AP poll.

and of course THE game in the friendly confines.

I'm going with 3-2 for the HL...  Valpo, Milwaukee and Youngstown coming out on top.

OK... lots of talk about the 2014 and 2015 recruits... let's get back to the 2013 group...   Name the Starting 5 against Hillsdale?  I have not made it to any practices, so this will be interesting tomorrow night as I have to learn two teams, instead of just one.

This can be a double-edged sword... oh wait... our crusader doesn't carry a sword anymore... just the shield.
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http://www.midmajormadness.com/2013/7/9/4509244/mid-major-basketballs-top-venues

Is it the fans or the buildings that make a venue great? We explore a few venues from around the country and tell you why they are some of the toughest places to play in the nation.

As we continue to trudge through the Summer by profiling the best of the best around Mid-Major hoops, today we step away from players and look at some the venues that make college basketball special.

The Palestra
Tenants: Penn, Philadelphia Big 5 (Penn, LaSalle, Saint Joseph's, Temple, Villanova)
Opened: 1926
Capacity: 8,722

The Palestra is the grandfather of college basketball in terms of venues. Built nearly ninety years ago, Philadelphia's gym has become hallowed ground. No other arena in the nation has hosted more regular season or post-season NCAA men's basketball games, more visiting teams, or more NCAA tournaments.

When most think of the ancient venue they usually think of the annual round-robin Big 5 competition between the city's heralded basketball programs. All the games aren't still played on 33rd Street, but the annual event is still synonymous with the arena.

The cathedral is still home to the Penn Quakers and even hosted the Atlantic 10 tournament from 1989 to 1995.

McCarthey Athletic Center
Tenant: Gonzaga
Opened: 2004
Capacity: 6,000

Gonzaga fans still lament about missing the "Kennel", but the 6,000 seat MAC is a unique venue on its own. No one wants to head up to Spokane to play the Zags and the nearly ten year old arena is routinely the toughest ticket in town.

Since moving to the new arena, Mark Few's squad has a staggering 122-9 record in their new digs. If anyone should have the "Abandon All Hope" sign it should be the Bulldogs and their great fans in the Pacific Northwest.

Charles Koch Arena
Tenant: Wichita State
Opened: 1955
Capacity: 10,506

The nearly sixty year old building is nothing to write home about itself, but its the crazy atmosphere inside the "Roundhouse" that makes the Wheat Shockers home a special place. Wichita State has long been known as one of the nation's toughest venues to play and it shows in a 645-219 record all time at Koch Arena. Hostile, loud fans make all the difference in college basketball and the Shockers have them.

The arena did go through a $25 million renovation in 2003 featuring a new concourse and updated seating and video boards.

Stuart C. Siegel Center
Tenant: VCU
Opened: 1999
Capacity: 7,617

In the same vein as Wichita State it isn't the building that makes the Siegel Center special, rather the Rams' fans inside. The"Stu" is home to the 2013 Naismith Student Section of the Year in the "Rowdy Rams" and also features a top notch college pep band in the "Peppas".

VCU is 178-29 all-time in the building and it's not getting any easier when you add in Shaka Smart's HAVOC with the continued growth and passion of the Rams' fanbase.

CFSB Center
Tenant: Murray State
Opened: 1998
Capacity: 8,602

Only in Kentucky would you get an arena where fans wearing UK or Louisville gear are called out on the Jumbotron and forced to change into the home team's gear. The Racers passionate, intelligent fans makes "The Bank" one of college basketball's best venue. Did we mention the Racers 182-32 in this building? There's a reason why.

Corbett Sports Center
Tenant: North Carolina A&T
Opened: 1978
Capacity: 5,700

"The Dawg Pound" features one of the nation's most hostile environment and an environment that has been nationally recognized and produced a home court advantage for not only the men's team but the women's team too.

Stadium Journey sums up a night in the "Pound" quite well:

    The Aggies average over 4000 fans a game and that is far more than any other school in their conference. Those fans include the students standing at each end just 2-3 feet from the court. It is very intimidating to have fans that close. Twice during the game there was an announcement to stay off the court and out of play. But tonight the students were well behaved and they stayed off the court.

    Music is front and center at this venue. When the action stops the very good pep band swings into action. If it is not the band, then they crank up the rap music or sometimes some jazzy R and B music.

    But rest assured it will not be quiet.

I remember listening to a game on the radio when my Longwood Lancers visited a couple of years back. I had to cut off the radio because it wasn't even worth trying to decipher what the play by play guy was saying.

Cameron Hall
Tenant: VMI
Opened: 1981
Capacity: 5,020

I can't assure that if you visit Lexington, Virginia that you'll be greeted by a full house of fans, but if you catch VMI in the midst of conference play or against a inter-state rival then you're in for a treat. Like most military institutions, VMI alumni are full of pride and have a special bond. This bond shows in the passion they show for the basketball program.

In Cameron Hall you'll find knowledgeable, fanatic alumni and a corps of cadets ready to let loose. For big games it seems as if the corps are...well lets just say strongly encouraged to attend and they show up ready to cheer and let some steam off. The most unique feature may be the upperclassmen who have already received their class rings bang mercilessly on any metal object they can find in the arena. At times the chime of rings can be deafening and distracting.

Athletics-Recreation Center
Tenant: Valparaiso
Opened: 1984
Capacity: 5,000

Valpo's home is another case where it's not the building, it's the fans. The Brown and Gold continue to show up to make the ARC one of the nation's most loud and hostile venues. Horizon League teams cringe every year when they see a road trip to face the Crusaders pop up on their schedule.

Be interesting to see how things go at the Resch on Saturday afternoon.

I'm hoping the HL will have the VU-GB game on their schedule sometime.   Other games in the HL: 
UDM@UIC 1pm
YSU@WSU 1pm
CSY@LUC 2pm

So, this is game 31..the 17th time we've played a game 31 in a season... we are 9-7.
We are 3-1 at home, 0-2 on the road and 6-4 on neutral courts. 

The two road losses:  3 years ago at the Nutter in the HL first round and at Carver-Hawkeye 62-60 in the NIT in '02-03.

We won our last 2 31st games, by 12 over Butler last year and 14 over UIC 2 years ago.   We played three NCAA games as the 31st game of the year:  A Loss to the Zags; a Loss to Boston College... oh, and a little win over Rebels in OK City.

We are 23-7.  We have done that twice before 00-01 and 01-02; winning the next game both times. 

We were 24-6 in 96-97 for the best record after 30 games.

We are 14-2 at home.  We have never won 15 games at home.
We are 9-5 on the road.  We have never won 10 games on the road.

We have not played a neutral court game in 2 years.  There is only one way to break that streak.

KVW has 995 career points.  I'll enjoy watching him break through that grand number in person.

From the Twitter world...
Will Haskett ‏@willhaskett
The Kendrick Perry knee injury at YSU sort of sums up their HL season... What could have been.


Valpo win Tues wraps 1 seed "@JoeScalzo1: YSU's Kendrick Perry may miss rest of regular season with knee injury suffered in Wed practice."

Oh man. RT @JoeScalzo1: Breaking: YSU guard Kendrick Perry [may] miss rest of regular season with knee injury he suffered during practice.

Breaking: YSU guard Kendrick Perry will miss rest of regular season with knee injury he suffered during Wednesday's practice.

Sources tell me that YSU's Kendrick Perry will miss the final three games of the regular season with a knee injury

OK... top that for your news of the night!! 

Once again, VU is well represented at the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions !   Russ Schumacher won a TON of $$ a few years ago... and now, we have '92 Dr. Stephanie Jass soaring into the Quarter Finals starting today !!

I watched her hot streak of wins a few months ago... very impressive... and she made it out of the preliminary round ...

Go Stephanie!!

I'm guessing we will have a lot to discuss over the next 94+ hours to tip off in the ARC...

The 26th game of the season continues to be a lucky number as we have now won more of those games than any other game counter; and we continue our Dominance on February 12th games at 7-1 over the past 20 years.

Now, let's talk about game #27.   Not a bright spot in the annuls of basketball numerology at Valpo.   We have lost 5 straight game #27.  BUT!  Every one of those has been on the road!   Each time, it was a different HL team... we have never played Detroit in game #27.

In the ARC over the past 20 years we are 5-2, including these events;
'06-07, Homer's 300th win at Valpo 80-56 over Western Illinois
'03-04, 74-66 win over Chicago State that CLINCHED #1 SEED IN MID CON!

Win it for Koala!!

So... the Ohio Road Trip... Part 2, without a plane...

Someone posted earlier "you can't win the HL without winning in Ohio"...

So, I had to look, over the past 5 years we have been:

0 - 1 (so far)
1 - 2
2 - 1
1 - 2
1 - 2
2 - 1
total of 7-9 in Ohio HL games...(we are 23-26 overall in HL Road Games)

Back to just CSU... This is Game #25 of the season...

In Game #25 for the past 20 years, we are:
14-6 overall
9-2 at home
5-4 on the road  (One of the L's is to Duke)
We have played CSU twice in game #25... and split with them.  We won at Wolstein and they won at the ARC.

They had a weird game with YST last night...here's their write up...

http://www.csuvikings.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/020513aaa.html

Since I did not see another one... I thought I'd start one...with a little history...

This is game #23 of the year.   Going back 20 years to the basketball reformation at Valpo...

We are 11-0 at home in game #23.  We are 4-5 on the road in game #23.    The last time we lost at home in the 23rd game of the season was to Green Bay in 1991-92, when we lost 76-48 (two weeks later, they beat us 69-25 at their place)

BUT wait!  this marks the first year since joining the HL that we have played a home game on #23.

We won at UWM last year 55-52; before that:
Lost at CSU
Won at GB
Lost at WSU
Lost at GB

as a footnote, the UIC game will be our 100th game in the Horizon League Regular Season... we are 56-42 so far...and still we are 1-game over .500 as a D-1 school at 531-530.

OK, it's been almost 2 hours since the mini-comeback of the year, taking over first place... now... about the Phoenix.  They've won 4 straight HL games Loyola by 13 at home, UIC by 6 at home, YST by 9 at home, and today a 77-50 drubbing of CSU.   Gee, another team with 4 straight home wins coming in.

We're both off until Wednesday... they have lost their two road HL games @ Wright State and @ Detroit.... and actually, they have NO road wins all year, losses to Idaho, Nevada, Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee Tech and SIU,

They do have some nice Home wins, #53 ND State and a two point win over #19 Marquette.

HL Standings now:

Valpo 5-1
Wright State 4-1
Detroit 4-2
Green Bay 4-2
and the rest

Lets keep the Momentum in the ARC...!!

SO... Milwaukee is not having a good season.  to wit:

11/11/12    at South Carolina TV    Columbia, SC    L, 82-75
11/17/12    vs. Davidson TV    Klotsche Center    W, 73-68
11/19/12    at Arkansas-Little Rock    Little Rock, Ark.    L, 59-43
11/24/12    vs. Jacksonville    Puerto Vallerta, Mexico    L, 71-66
11/25/12    vs. Rider    Puerto Vallerta, Mexico    L, 74-60
12/01/12    at Northern Iowa TV    Cedar Falls, Iowa    L, 72-61
12/05/12    vs. Buffalo    Klotsche Center    L, 52-72
12/07/12    vs. Northern Illinois    Klotsche Center    W, 80-73 (OT)
12/09/12    at DePaul    Rosemont, Ill.    L, 84-50
12/12/12    at Fairfield    Bridgeport, Conn.    L, 62-46
12/15/12    vs. Tennessee Tech TV    Klotsche Center    L, 69-58
12/22/12    at Wisconsin TV    Madison, Wis.    L, 74-53
12/29/12    vs. Ohio Dominican    Klotsche Center    W, 95-80
01/03/13    at Detroit TV    Detroit, Mich.    L, 74-59
01/05/13    at Wright State    Dayton, Ohio    L, 53-51

1-12 in the last 13, and that one was an OT win at home against Northern Illinois.  But i will say that game against Wright State was a nail biter.

Anyone going to the Klotsche Center for the 1PM tip?  We have Student Bus(s) and at least one "alumni" bus heading up...  Let's make it a VU home game in their 3,750 seat arena.

With only 9 teams, I see the Bracket on Horizonleague.com

http://s3.amazonaws.com/hln/sports/brackets/2/bracket.pdf?1355414244

Round 1, Tuesday March 5th

4_________
9_________   Winner to Round 2 at #1 seed site vs 5/8 winner

5_________
8_________   Winner to Round 2 at #1 seed site vs 4/9 winner

6_________
7_________   Winner to Round 2 at #1 seed site vs #3_______

So #3 gets one bye but does not get to host; #2 and #1 get the coveted double-bye.

Round 2 is Friday, March 8 at #1 seed
Semi Finals are Saturday March 9th at #1 seed

Championship is Tuesday March 12 at highest remaining seed.

OK, Everyone has an opinion...

10-15 years ago... a Valpo 3-point basket at the ARC was announced as "Nothing but Net"...(sometimes in a humorous kinda way)
6 years ago... it was a County Seat Dairy Queen 3-pointer  (following the "Biggest Loser" on NBC this year??  Way to Go Marci!)
for the past several seasons, it's been a Centier Bank 3-pointer...

this year... unsponsored...it's been "For 3" or some other exclamation....

folks have suggested: 
"KaBoom" [see Bulls broadcaster Neil Funk]
"Yowser"
"Nothing but Net"
and more than a few have said "Doesn't matter, can't hear the guy anyway"

any suggestions?  just in case we have another home game this season...and just in case we are allowed to!