I've not seen that any of the schools' websites or the Challenge in Music City website are showing live video for these games. It looks like audio only.
Drake is 0-3 after losses to Bowling Green at Des Moines by 19, DePaul and Western Michigan (is it Wemisch?) on the road by 18 and 16 respectively.
The Bulldogs are low on the totem pole in the MO-Valley.
Drake takes on IUPUI at the Knapp Center in Des Moines on Tuesday before heading to Nashville. That game will help us evaluate our chances but so far Valpo's chances of winning lean heavily in our favor.
Murray State is the quasi host of this Challenge in Music City event as they play the OVC tournament every year in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Although to Murray it's OVC members Belmont and Tenn State that are actually in Nashville.
Drake is located here in Des Moines, where I live.
Agree that we should beat them. They are picked to finish either last or next-to-last in the MVC. However, they have been without their best player, Gary Ricks, who was suspended for the first three games of the year. Not sure of the reason for the suspension. I think it will be a very close game.
Paul
Quote from: 78crusader on November 24, 2014, 07:10:38 AM
Drake is located here in Des Moines, where I live.
Agree that we should beat them. They are picked to finish either last or next-to-last in the MVC. However, they have been without their best player, Gary Ricks, who was suspended for the first three games of the year. Not sure of the reason for the suspension. I think it will be a very close game.
Paul
It may be close but shouldn't be. If it is we are not moving forward. On a nuetral court I think we win by 12-15. Best player asside, Valpo shouldn't be challenged by a bottom feeder in the Valley. They lost to DePaul by 18 while UIC lost to Depaul by 1.
We should win this game by double figures, I'm guessing around 15. Drake will technically be in the game until 5 or so minutes left in the game.
Both Vashil and KC seem to be hitting their stride as they both had great weekends along with Alec.
KC - 6-10 13 pts, 11 assists, 4 steals, 5 TOs
Vashil - 6-9 17 pts, 13 boards, 11 blocks, 4 steals, 3 TOs
Alec - 18-26, 5-10 3pts, 50 points, 13 RBs, 4 TOs (astonishing numbers in only 50 minutes of game-time this weekend)
We need both of them to step up this season, Drake is better than AR-PB and Maine but not by a whole heck of a lot. On a neutral court we should win by 15 or so and have control of the game from the get-go, with a 12 point lead at half and cruise in the second for an easy win.
My guess
Valpo 73
Drake 58
It's too early to use Sagarin or RealTime RPI for comparison... obviously not "normalized" yet... Wide difference of opinion
RPI is Through Games Saturday 11/21 (the Valpo win over Maine is not included, Sagarin is as of 11/23
SAGARIN REALTIMERPI
Valpo #165 #198
Drake # 277 # 76
Murray State # 95 #301
Portland #141 #242
I see us pounding Drake, Playing to a tight win over Murray State... and then losing to Portland's Giants (I know they are the pilots, but with 4 players 6'10" or taller, they are ineligible to be pilots.
I predict the game will be much closer than you think...and I'm not convinced that Vashil scoring 17 points in two games over 2 of the weakest 5 teams on our schedule is the start of a new era. He disappears in games against better quality opponents.
Paul
With the loss of Creighton and the recent decline of formerly strong programs like Southern Illinois, Bradley and Drake, plus the subtraction by addition of Loyola, the MVC is a mere shadow of its former self. They have gone from a multi-bid league to Wichita State and everyone else seemingly over night. Even with our inexperience, we should be able to handle a bottom feeding MVC team.
I looked at a recent box score and found their starting five to include 2 seniors, a sophomore and 2 freshman. Off the bench they bring 2 more freshman and a senior. Size wise they start a 7 footer (sophomore), and 6'6", 6'3", 6'1" and 5'10". Based on these guys, we should have a size advantage at 4 of 5 spots. Off the bench they have a 6'2" freshman, a 6'6" senior and much less time for a 6'11" freshman.
Obviously they are relying heavily on young guys, as do we! Of their 8 deep, 4 are freshman, and 1 is a sophomore.
Quote from: wh on November 24, 2014, 10:44:32 AM
With the loss of Creighton and the recent decline of formerly strong programs like Southern Illinois, Bradley and Drake, plus the subtraction by addition of Loyola, the MVC is a mere shadow of its former self. They have gone from a multi-bid league to Wichita State and everyone else seemingly over night. Even with our inexperience, we should be able to handle a bottom feeding MVC team.
The MVC might not be what it once was but it is still much better than the HL. They still have the Shockers and some decent programs in, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Indiana State, and Evansville, would all be top HL teams and possibly win the HL. Drake, Missouri State, and Bradley aren't very good this season but have have had decent seasons in the past. Yes, they do have Loyola (good riddance) and SIU which are plain bad but I'd still rather be in the MVC than the HL.
The post-Creighton era means the MVC isn't as good as it once was but it is still better than the HL.
The MVC is currently 17-14, with 3 undefeated
The HL is currently 17-20, with no undefeated
The MVC is a level above the HL. They have a top-tier program in Wichita St, and Northern Iowa is a high-level mid-major that would compete for the HL crown as would Indiana St, Illinois St, and Evansville. Beating a poor Drake team will look good simply because they come from a stronger conference.
Interesting to see how much Drake has dropped off since that stellar run a few seasons back. One player coming back won't make up the difference in some of those scores mentioned.
Valpo 77
Drake 64
Whatever classof2014 is drinking today, I want some! To say that the MVC is much better than the HL is a joke. Yes, I would rather be in that conference due to the affiliations with more like-minded programs, but they are not a 'class above the HL.' If they played more road games, their records wouldn't be as high. The MVC has always scheduled very favorably in getting home games, and making sure that their refs give a large home court advantage (cough...Evansville...cough cough).
I prefer to use KenPom for my evaluation especially this early in the season. Seems to have the best available data on the limited number of games (Also I have the subscription for it)
Valpo #155
Drake #272
Murray State #79
Portland #117
Drake is one of the few teams in country with less experience than us with 1.19 years (We have 1.35, remember when we were #1 in the country with 2.73 yrs with Rowdy and Co.? We will soon get back to that with Alec and Co.)
Senior Chris Caird is their "go-to guy" when they have the ball, he uses the possession (ie: he shoots with no off. rebound or has a turnover) nearly 30% of the time. He plays a little like Rowdy did, shooting 15 threes and 13 twos (he averages 13.3 ppg). The other guy we need to watch out for is Reed Timmer, through 3 games he's almost an identical player to Tevonn. I see Keith guarding him more because they have 2 other guards who start and they would be better assignments for the Tevonn. They also have a Vashil, a 7 foot project player named Jacob Enevold Jensen. Should be interesting to see how Vashil does against another "real" big. He didn't look good Rosburg at Mizzou, but the team didn't look good there.
We should be able to beat Drake, but I don't know if it's the drubbing everyone thinks it will be. KenPom gives us a 73% chance of winning with the spread at 5 points.
Quote from: valpotx on November 24, 2014, 11:05:13 AM
Interesting to see how much Drake has dropped off since that stellar run a few seasons back. One player coming back won't make up the difference in some of those scores mentioned.
Valpo 77
Drake 64
Whatever classof2014 is drinking today, I want some! To say that the MVC is much better than the HL is a joke. Yes, I would rather be in that conference due to the affiliations with more like-minded programs, but they are not a 'class above the HL.' If they played more road games, their records wouldn't be as high. The MVC has always scheduled very favorably in getting home games, and making sure that their refs give a large home court advantage (cough...Evansville...cough cough).
I suspect "too much coffee" as he is also repeating himself!
They still have the Shockers and some decent programs in, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Indiana State, and Evansville, would all be top HL teams and possibly win the HL
They have a top-tier program in Wichita St, and Northern Iowa is a high-level mid-major that would compete for the HL crown as would Indiana St, Illinois St, and Evansville.
Slow down!! ;)
In a year that we went 7-9 in the Horizon League we beat Illinois State by 15. No chance that Illinois State could have competed for the Horizon League championship. But then 2014 didn't think Bader was any good either.
Bader let that one go, pal.
I don't think the MVC is down as much as you would like. At any rate, the early returns on the HL this year are not good. We're not 17-20 in real life. Could be a year equivalent to B1G football for us--some steady, most down.
Quote from: Grizz on November 24, 2014, 11:30:26 AM
In a year that we went 7-9 in the Horizon League we beat Illinois State by 15. No chance that Illinois State could have competed for the Horizon League championship. But then 2014 didn't think Bader was any good either.
Never said Bader was no good, just that he was one-dimensional and all he did was shoot 3's. When he was on he was great and could beat anyone but when he was off they Grizzlies could lose to anyone, you live by the 3 and die by the 3 and that was the case with Bader but that is neither here nor there since Bader has graduated.
Just by saying you beat Illinois State means they wouldn't have competed for the HL title is plane stupid. IL St, was 9-9 probably would've been 3rd in the HL at 11-5 or something like that. Chances are if Oakland was in the MVC they would be a 5-13 team or something like that. And by going off the logic of because we beat them we are better, than back in the 10/11 season Valpo was national runner up because they beat Butler in the regular season and Butler played for the national championship.
Still the MVC is stronger than the HL, they have better teams, better programs, and stronger competition. They are still a mid-major conference but are a level above the HL.
It will be interesting to compare some of the up-coming competition as IUPUI beat Ball State last weekend. Also. IPFW is predicted to win the Summit.
and everything balances out in the end... over the past 29
years (since the ARC opened)
in the
First game of year, we are 16-13
Second game of the year, we are 15-14
Third game of the year, we are 16-13
Fourth game of the year, we are 15-14
Fifth game of the year, we are 16-13
Looking ahead... over the past 28 years...
6 (Drake) 16-12
7 (Murray) 15-13
8 (Portland) 11-17
9 (EKY) 14-14
10 (UNM) 15-13
11 (Trinity) 13-15
12 (Ball State) 19-9 !
13 (IPFW) 17-11
14 (Goshen) 16-12
15 (JMU) 11-17
The Best Record we have is game #26 we are 21-7 (this year Oakland at home)
The Worst Record we have is game #27, we are 9-19 (this year Green Bay at home)
OH, Since Bryce became coach... we have scored exactly 7,500 points (given up 6,860) 74.26 ppg vs 67.92 oppg.
Your league is not a level above another league, if your conference RPI is, on average, only 3 places above the other league. Heck, during the 2010-2011 season, the HL was one spot above the MVC :o. You are basing your opinion on 8-10 years ago, when the MVC routinely put 2-4 teams into the tourney. It isn't the same conference over the last few years. Yes, their top teams have more success when they get to the tourney, but the conference as a whole is VERY similar to the HL in terms of quality.
Guys the MVC is very good. The top of the league is comparable to the big east and really the top 3 would probably do alright in any of the Power 7s. Hell Wichita would probably be picked to win any thing but the B1G, B12 and ACC and Northern Iowa stands a chance of getting an at large. If Green Bay or CSU got an at large (CSU
ISN'T getting an at large after losing to Savannah St.) I'd die of shock. Their mid-level is very comparable to our mid-level. Evansville, Indiana St. and Missouri (Don't call them Mizzou) St are all on the same level as Wright St. and Valpo. Their bottom tier is better than our bottom tier, but if we did a Big 10-ACC style challenge their bottom would beat our bottom when at home while we'd win ours while at home. If you take out Wichita for this challenge here's how it'd break down:
| MVC | KenPom | Horizon | KenPom | Result |
| Northern Iowa | 63 | Green Bay | 83 | UNI Both |
| Illinois St. | 94 | Cleveland St. | 99 | Split |
| Evansville | 122 | Detroit | 139 | Evansville Both |
| Indiana St. | 144 | Wright St. | 152 | Split |
| Missouri St. | 157 | Valparaiso | 155 | Split |
| Southern Illinois | 171 | Oakland | 209 | SIU Both |
| Loyola Chicago | 178 | Milwaukee | 213 | LU-C Both |
| Bradley | 257 | Youngstown St. | 240 | YSU Both |
| Drake | 272 | Illinois Chicago | 284 | Split |
This would lead to an 11-7 MVC win and this is leaving out the fact that Wichita would trounce every team and if you slide every team down a slot then you've got trouble. The MVC is a head better than us, but it's not like we're the Summit or SWAC. We're still a top 5 mid major conference and should our 1 seed win the conference each year we'll get a 12-13 seed in the dance.
Quote from: Kyle321n on November 24, 2014, 01:28:06 PM
Guys the MVC is very good. The top of the league is comparable to the big east and really the top 3 would probably do alright in any of the Power 7s. Hell Wichita would probably be picked to win any thing but the B1G, B12 and ACC and Northern Iowa stands a chance of getting an at large. If Green Bay or CSU got an at large (CSU ISN'T getting an at large after losing to Savannah St.) I'd die of shock. Their mid-level is very comparable to our mid-level. Evansville, Indiana St. and Missouri (Don't call them Mizzou) St are all on the same level as Wright St. and Valpo. Their bottom tier is better than our bottom tier, but if we did a Big 10-ACC style challenge their bottom would beat our bottom when at home while we'd win ours while at home. If you take out Wichita for this challenge here's how it'd break down:
| MVC | KenPom | Horizon | KenPom | Result |
| Northern Iowa | 63 | Green Bay | 83 | UNI Both |
| Illinois St. | 94 | Cleveland St. | 99 | Split |
| Evansville | 122 | Detroit | 139 | Evansville Both |
| Indiana St. | 144 | Wright St. | 152 | Split |
| Missouri St. | 157 | Valparaiso | 155 | Split |
| Southern Illinois | 171 | Oakland | 209 | SIU Both |
| Loyola Chicago | 178 | Milwaukee | 213 | LU-C Both |
| Bradley | 257 | Youngstown St. | 240 | YSU Both |
| Drake | 272 | Illinois Chicago | 284 | Split |
This would lead to an 11-7 MVC win and this is leaving out the fact that Wichita would trounce every team and if you slide every team down a slot then you've got trouble. The MVC is a head better than us, but it's not like we're the Summit or SWAC. We're still a top 5 mid major conference and should our 1 seed win the conference each year we'll get a 12-13 seed in the dance.
Interesting analysis. I doubt however, regardless of ranking numbers, that Loyola could beat anybody in the Horizon twice. Also doubt that SIU would beat Milwaukee twice. If you split those then then tally is 9-9. I'd like to see that Challenge, even is Wichita St trounces one of ours.
RPI standings - last 10 seasons:
YEAR MVC HL DIFF
13-14 11th 14th 3
12-13 9th (2) 12th 3 ()NCAA entries
11-12 8th (2) 14th 6
10-11 12th 11th -1
09-10 9th 14th 5
08-09 9th 12th 3
07-08 8th 11th 3
06-07 6th (2) 12th 6
05-06 6th (4) 15th 9
04-05 8th 20th 12
Pretty plain to see that the gap has narrowed significantly over the past 10 years. Back in '05 and '06 when they were ranked at high as 6th, the MVC was the talk of the NCAA basketball world. They were even being accused of exploiting a weakness in the RPI formula by the way they were scheduling. As I stated before, the difference between the leagues now is 1 powerhouse team (WSU) that by itself is inflating the MVC's RPI by at least 3 places. These are the macro facts. You either believe them or you don't.
[tweet]536972813891297281[/tweet]
Quote from: vu72 on November 24, 2014, 01:45:23 PMI doubt however, regardless of ranking numbers, that Loyola could beat anybody in the Horizon twice.
insert photo of UIC and Milwaukee fake smiling at this while backing away slowly
Quote from: vu72 on November 24, 2014, 01:45:23 PM
Interesting analysis. I doubt however, regardless of ranking numbers, that Loyola could beat anybody in the Horizon twice. Also doubt that SIU would beat Milwaukee twice. If you split those then then tally is 9-9. I'd like to see that Challenge, even is Wichita St trounces one of ours.
I'd prefer a MAC vs HL Challenge. With all the Ohio and Michigan schools in the MAC and us having 55% of our league in those states as well you'd get some fun rivalries You could also have Ball St-Valpo rivalry renew and Northern Illinois vs UIC would be a fun rivalry (plus a decent game). I don't know how our Wisconsin schools would feel about travelling to Ohio/Michigan, but for the quality opponent the MAC will supply it'd be a good test.
Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on November 24, 2014, 02:38:22 PM
Quote from: vu72 on November 24, 2014, 01:45:23 PMI doubt however, regardless of ranking numbers, that Loyola could beat anybody in the Horizon twice.
insert photo of UIC and Milwaukee fake smiling at this while backing away slowly
Loyola could easily beat YSU and UIC twice. Milwaukee looks lifeless so far, I don't know if that's because they've faced 2 decent opponents but they also lost to IUPUI. We should probably split off this MVC vs. HL convo from the game thread as this has been sufficiently derailed.
1. http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html > Realtime RPI
2. Don't use RPI until conference season starts. Texas Pan Am is #1 in country.
3. The MVC had the best team in the country last year. Without that circus shot by Andrew Harrison, I think they would have went to Dallas. Indiana State was also very good, but unfortunately had no shot at an at large.
4. The MVC has a floor just like every other conference. Drake isn't very good. Playing in a good mid major conference does not change this.
Quote from: Kyle321n on November 24, 2014, 02:49:44 PMbut they also lost to IUPUI.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Tiby only played 4 minutes in this game and IUPUI also beat Ball State. Might not end up being such a terrible loss.
Quote from: FWalum on November 24, 2014, 09:01:04 PM
Quote from: Kyle321n on November 24, 2014, 02:49:44 PMbut they also lost to IUPUI.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Tiby only played 4 minutes in this game and IUPUI also beat Ball State. Might not end up being such a terrible loss.
No offense, but IUPUI is coming off back-to-back 6 win seasons ... it's a bad loss.
Quote from: EddieCabot on November 24, 2014, 09:11:53 PM
Quote from: FWalum on November 24, 2014, 09:01:04 PM
Quote from: Kyle321n on November 24, 2014, 02:49:44 PMbut they also lost to IUPUI.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Tiby only played 4 minutes in this game and IUPUI also beat Ball State. Might not end up being such a terrible loss.
No offense, but IUPUI is coming off back-to-back 6 win seasons ... it's a bad loss.
Gardner has been pretty impressive in game management from what I have seen. I expect that IUPUI will do much better than 6 wins this year.
Will there be any video or audio available for the Nashville games this weekend?
Quote from: valpo64 on November 25, 2014, 03:45:17 PM
Will there be any video or audio available for the Nashville games this weekend?
Well we know Todd will be on the call all 3 games and they always stream the feed on WVUR. This "challenge" seems a little underwhelming and I can't find any good information about it (How it started, if there's video streaming, anything besides the fact that there are tickets available) so I highly doubt that there's video.
Would love to see a 12-15 point win, but doubt it. Most have this game as a 4-8 point win for VU.
Valpo 71
Drake 64
Quote from: Kyle321n on November 25, 2014, 03:52:09 PM
Quote from: valpo64 on November 25, 2014, 03:45:17 PM
Will there be any video or audio available for the Nashville games this weekend?
Well we know Todd will be on the call all 3 games and they always stream the feed on WVUR. This "challenge" seems a little underwhelming and I can't find any good information about it (How it started, if there's video streaming, anything besides the fact that there are tickets available) so I highly doubt that there's video.
A lot of there not being much information on this "challenge" is that 2014 is the first year of the tournament. Also the Central Michigan tournament was in it's first year. BTW, CMU knocked off UAPB 75-43 in their afternoon game Sunday. The reason teams are attracted to these tournaments is because it allows teams such as Valpo to play exempt games. I imagine the reason VU is playing in Mt Pleasant and Nashville instead of Maui, Cancun, Anchorage or Puerto Rico is the cost of traveling to these tournaments. Suffering through low attendance at the first years of these tournaments is the "cost" of getting them established and getting to play closer to home so that fans can travel less expensively to the games.
Unfortunately due to unforeseen issues I will not be getting up to Carmel tonight for the Zionsville/Carmel battle.
Quote from: EddieCabot on November 24, 2014, 09:11:53 PM
No offense, but IUPUI is coming off back-to-back 6 win seasons ... it's a bad loss.
Quote from: FWalum on November 24, 2014, 09:50:13 PMGardner has been pretty impressive in game management from what I have seen. I expect that IUPUI will do much better than 6 wins this year.
I agree with FWalum. You really can't judge IUPUI on last year's record since they have a new coach, who also brought three players from Loyola with him, and has a great area to recruit from.
Drake wins by 13 73-60 against IUPUI. They shot an impressive 60.9% from the floor and their 7' 0" sophomore Jensen had 4 blocks. This will be a good test for the Crusaders
University of Northern Iowa beat Virginia Tech last night. The MVC is a tougher league than the HL and Friday's game against Drake will be very tough.
Paul
Quote from: Kyle321n on November 25, 2014, 03:52:09 PMWell we know Todd will be on the call all 3 games and they always stream the feed on WVUR.
Just want to make a point that WVUR doesn't "stream" someone elses broadcast. WVUR produces the broadcast, including the pregame, postgame and halftime show. Other radio stations stream the feed.
Spreads:
Valpo -5 vs. Drake (avg. of 4 services)
MSU -2.5 vs. Portland
I'll be in attendance tonight, cheering on Valpo to victory, hopefully. Anyone else?
Adekoya was stirring the drink, Bryce takes him out.
And Peters with abysmal fast break execution .
29-21 valpo at the half. Peters took a while to get going, now seems to be on track. Foul trouble for T Walker, some really tick tack calls. #3 and #25 are carrying Drake, otherwise it wouldn't be close.
Weird environment here. Only about 300 people in attendance for game 1. Quiet.
Would love to be seeing this game. Even with the poor shooting it seems that we are playing very good ball scoring the first 5 of the second half. Hope to hear more of your impressions rink.
Can't believe there is not a video feed for this game.
Up 24 with 8:00 to go. D Walker and KC hot from outside this half. Peters solid. Stout defense from the crusaders. Almost had some trouble with their press earlier, but it was a really soft press that we figured out quickly. Similarly, when they switched to 2-3 zone, the guys broke it quickly with excellent ball swing.
Quote from: 78crusader on November 26, 2014, 09:48:58 PM
University of Northern Iowa beat Virginia Tech last night. The MVC is a tougher league than the HL and Friday's game against Drake will be very tough.
Realy surprised that this is a 20 point blowout especially with the subpar performance by Peters.
Valpo 66-46. I will take 5 pts/7 rbs from Vashil every game. Eat it Vashil detractors ;)
This is a really good showing against a team who would be average in our league, think Oakland or Milwaukee. Hopefully this is a sign off things to come.
Nice big victory. Quick game! 1:45.
Valpo did a nice job on one of their two weak points by committing only 4 turnovers! The other weak spot in free throw shooting still needs improvement, but not horrible (11-17 65%). Good team win for Crusaders.
Super impressive that Carter held their leading scorer to a big goose egg. Yes that is right, 0 points with Carter taking 2 charges. I hope this is the confidence builder that Keith can take forward into the rest of the season. GREAT all around game.
Yes, 12 asst/4 TO is great. We actually ended up 11/16 in FTs, as the live stats gave Joseph a missed FT instead of a missed 3.
So can anybody remember a 12 asst 4 TO game? Nice improvement. Granted, Drake isn't very good, and we didn't shoot well--but still, a 20 pt win is nice.
Tonight's 4 TO's are the fewest in the last 450 games over the past 15 seasons. That's as far back as Statsheet.com goes. The previous low in that period was 5 against Cleveland State on Feb. 3, 2011.
Does anyone have access to stats prior to 2000? Might this be an all-time record?
Portland beat Murray State 64-61. Hopefully we can hold Murray State to 28% shooting from 3 as well!
Any stream available for tonight's game??
From the MS board:
Neal tweeted there was no video for the Portland game, I think it would be a safe bet to assume there will be none all weekend.
Boo
The amount of untelevized, oddball tipoff time games is killing me this year.
Reporting in from Nashville. The Nashville Muni is a lot older than I thought. It does not have a video board but does have a good sound system. So it's a real throw back kind of arena.
Valpo had an excellent game. The big difference was that Valpo played great defense and shot much better especially in the 2nd half. My prediction is that Drake won't win a game in this tournament and it will be toss up for the Valpo/MSU and Valpo/Portland games.
As far as turnovers I think Valpo threw a lot of passes that were almost turnovers but were collected in by athletic saves. It seemed incredible to me after watching the game that Valpo only had 4 turnovers including offensive charges.
I can't figure out why they don't have live video for these games. They handed out some printed sheets with the name of an organization and their website were they were posting interviews, highlights and other info. I'll try and get that website posted later.
If the Crusaders can pace themselves and shoot better they could beat both the Racers and Pilots. Keith "Drew" Carter and Darien Walker were both hot in the 2nd half.
At the alumni gathering today Rod Moore said everybody was okay and there were no injuries that were going to leave anyone on the bench. Alec was atthe alumni event with the rest of the team and he seemed just fine after taking a real shot to the jaw against Drake. Alec's family was at the game. As was a large contingent of Coach Gore's family, I believe he said 24 members, and a large group of EVic's family from Atlanta. Homer was also at the alumni event.
Also the alumni event was held in the Marriott at Vanderbilt where the team is staying which has rooms that look into the Vanderbilt Stadium. So there were multitudes of Vanderbilt and Tennessee football fans running all over the place. We actually had a great view of the Volunteers entering the stadium and their orange clad fans greeting their arrival at the Vanderbilt Stadium. There were actually a greater amount of Tenn fans than Vanderbilt fans.
I found this quote, from the Drake coach, telling, and indicative of the entire weekend:
"We need to be much tougher than we are, those were men we played against tonight," said Drake head coach Ray Giacoletti. "We need to step that up and do the same things [Valparaiso was doing] every night."
Short video on Darien Walker's 4 point play. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR0V3I3LuT4&list=UUluIw7oLeBn27jlMmTNBRUg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR0V3I3LuT4#ws)
Unfortunately Darien missed the free throw so it was only the three point shot that counted.
OK... I need some help here. Can anyone explain the financial ramifications of the Challenge in Music City? No TV. Crowds ranging from 0 to 300 ...and that trophy sure looks like it was expensive. Lots of Officials, Renting the facility and staff to run the place. I'm guessing Murray covered the scorers table/PA, etc... but... Who made money on this? I wonder if we paid to play in this one? (oh... as it turned out, worth every penny if we did)
Murray State had well over 1,000 fans at each game.
The Murray State box score shows 504 for the Drake game... and 0 for both Valpo and Portland...
Even at 1,000... someone lost a ton of money on this tournament with no title sponsor and no TV coverage.
I was going to say that 1,000 for the Murray State games seems a bit much. Chef is probably used to those small crowds at the ARC being estimated at 1,000 or more during the guess-the-crowd-size era at Valpo :-).
It didn't matter during the 2nd half of the Murray St/Valpo game because most of the crowd was acting like they were hunting rabbits with Elmer Fudd. They were "werry qwuiet."
(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140525133914/villains/images/2/2f/Elmer_fudd.jpg)
Quote from: bbtds on December 02, 2014, 02:44:46 PMIt didn't matter during the 2nd half of the Murray St/Valpo game because most of the crowd was acting like they were hunting rabbits with Elmer Fudd. They were "werry qwuiet."
Judging by the video, because they had lost their voices (along with their minds) screaming at the refs 1st half.
I think a lot of Murray people didn't come back for the Drake game after the Crusaders dismantled them the day before. The Murray - Portland crowd was significantly bigger.