Various sources are reporting confirmations that Northern Kentucky will join the Horizon League this year.
Wright State President welcomes likely future travel partner Northern Kentucky on twitter:
[tweet]597085413858287617[/tweet]
Gee. I wonder when the Wright State folks stopped laughing at the idea of NKU joining the Horizon League? Amazing the difference a couple of years can make in ones sense of humor.
Wouldn't you think news of this proportion would have been broken FIRST on the HL web site?
Nah!
Nuthin!
Nada.
:-X
Ok, now that the two big stories have dropped, let's at least look at the positives of NKU:
Sports: 15 -- the only sports that we have that do not align are FB, Bowling and M&W Swimming & Divng
MEN
Baseball
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CC
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WOMEN
Softball
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FACILITIES:
Home to Norse Basketball, The Bank of Kentucky Center sits at the front entrance of Northern Kentucky University's Highland Heights, Ky., campus. Opened in 2008, the $60 million complex has laid a great foundation for NKU's future. The Bank of Kentucky Center holds 9,400 seats and serves as a multipurpose arena for not only NKU but the surrounding community as well. The facility serves the Norse athletic teams with excellent strength and conditioning facilities, training areas, meeting rooms and beyond.
The Norse men and women's soccer teams host their home matches on Northern Kentucky University's campus at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Located in the front of campus adjacent to The Bank of Kentucky Center, the stadium welcomes Norse fans and the community alike.
The stadium opened in August of 2009. The $6.5 million soccer stadium offers a World Cup style 120-yard by 80-yard FieldTurf competition surface. With bleacher seating, the stadium is well-equipped to seat 1,000 spectators, plus additional space for standing room for a comfortable and enjoyable experience. The stadium also contains several other amenities including four team locker rooms, an officials' room, an office suite for the men's and women's soccer coaching staff, press box, athletic training facility, and a laundry and equipment storage area. The Founders' Room, located above the seating area overlooking the field, is a 1,000-square-foot luxury suite offering a VIP experience on game day and a comfortable and spacious meeting and event space throughout the year. NOTE: the NKU soccer stadium makes Brown Field look like a Middle school facility. http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219 (http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219)
Newly renovated in 2013, the Bill Aker Baseball complex is symmetrical left-to-right, with a 320-foot fence down the lines and a 365-foot distance in to the centerfield wall. Equipped with brand new synthetic artificial turf for the infield, the only dirt that remains is on the pitching mound. Also added to the renovated facility is a new fence and drainage system.
The Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field, opened in 2000, is home to NKU's softball team. Located at the far west side of Northern Kentucky University's campus, the field hosts the home competitions throughout the athletic spring season. The facility is equipped with bleacher and ground level seating for approximately 500 fans, enclosed home and visitor dugouts, bullpens and batting cages for both teams and a press box. The outfield fence at the Grein Softball Field extends 190 feet down the lines and 200 feet in center field.
The Joyce E. Yeager The Joyce E. Yeager Tennis Complex was dedicated on April 22, 2007, and is the home of the NKU tennis program. The facility has six courts, seating for about 200 fans and includes lights for practice and recreational use. was dedicated on April 22, 2007, and is the home of the NKU tennis program. The facility has six courts, seating for about 200 fans and includes lights for practice and recreational use.
They do not list a track as a facility but do have a T&F program
We will probably travel with UIC and see a lot of WSU and NKU on the same weekends.
Wow, only 365 feet to center?? I can still hit it past that to dead center at age 33, so how many homeruns are hit for these 18-22 year olds??
Quote from: VULB#62 on May 09, 2015, 06:08:22 PM
Wouldn't you think news of this proportion would have been broken FIRST on the HL web site?
Nah!
Nuthin!
Nada.
:-X
It's not official yet. Horizon League site won't have anything till it's official. Just good reporters doing their job. ;)
I wonder if these last two decisions from the league will make it more likely that VU will get more serious about changing conference affiliation.
You'd like to think so. But the Loyola add to the MVC was a dagger. The MVC needed a 10th and picked a less successful Horizon team than Valpo. No reason for us to join any other league than MVC. If Wichita State leaves, we might catch a break. Do they play football?
I think playing conf. finals in Detroit is a much bigger downer for our staying in the Horizon than adding NKU. It really turns us into an Ohio-Michigan conference at a 3rd rate rank in that footprint behind the MAC. With Loyola, we had the #2 tier rank in our Chicago-based footprint.
It's official.
[tweet]597761754966294529[/tweet]
Its not the end of the world, but its not Murray State or Belmont either. On the bright side, they certainty have one of the best names in D1 sports.
Having Nored as a coach is definitely interesting and an aspiring young coach is certainly a breath of fresh air in a conference full of uninspiring stagnant fossils like Kampe, Slocum, Waters, and McCallum. They may be in way over their heads, but hell, even Loyola was able to turn their dumpster fire of a program around with a conference switch. I have faith that in 4 years NKU won't be a bottom dweller, but not getting Murray State or Belmont is disappointing. It takes two to tango, so I doubt the HL passed on these two schools for NKU.
Time to leave the HL!
Quote from: valpo84 on May 11, 2015, 01:55:15 PM
Time to leave the HL!
That's cool, but conferences are invite-only.
I wonder if we leave if we could get some of our exit fee waived....Because this is not what we signed up for. The HL is massively different from what we entered 10 years ago. Butler and Loyola gone. Oakland and NKU added. Tournament in Detroit five hours and different time zone from our recruiting hot bed. UIC, UWM, and CSU were really good when we entered even earned at large bids. Not a two bid league anymore.
LeCrone is a terrible commissioner, the HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left. You lose two private schools and replace them with two commuter schools. The basketball programs have gotten worse. The only school making big strides up is Valpo.
There is no regulations on scheduling, Oakland shouldn't be allowed to play a complete B1G schedule for OOC while Wright State plays Northeast Idaho State.
Also when you look at academics, Butler and Loyola are two of the better schools in the country. You replace them with Oakland, which is basically a community college, and Northern Kentucky. I'm not bashing people who went to state, commuter schools, but the HL lost two of its best in terms of academics and you basically find scrubs to fill their shoes.
I want LeCrone gone. He's a joke of a commissioner, if he really tried we would have better replacements for Butler and Loyola. Maybe he has a few tricks up his sleeves to pull in a few privates to make it a twelve team conference but I doubt it. I have zero confidence in LeCrone; I hope that Wichita St leaves the MVC and we are the replacement. The Horizon League isn't the same league it was in 2010. It's basically turned into a more compact version of the Summit League.
Found this perusing other HL fan message boards today:
http://norseforce.proboards.com/ (http://norseforce.proboards.com/)
NKU's fan message board.
Quote from: classof2014 on May 12, 2015, 10:36:12 AM
LeCrone is a terrible commissioner, the HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left. You lose two private schools and replace them with two commuter schools. The basketball programs have gotten worse. The only school making big strides up is Valpo.
Also when you look at academics, Butler and Loyola are two of the better schools in the country. You replace them with Oakland, which is basically a community college, and Northern Kentucky. I'm not bashing people who went to state, commuter schools, but the HL lost two of its best in terms of academics and you basically find scrubs to fill their shoes.
I want LeCrone gone. He's a joke of a commissioner, if he really tried we would have better replacements for Butler and Loyola. Maybe he has a few tricks up his sleeves to pull in a few privates to make it a twelve team conference but I doubt it. I have zero confidence in LeCrone; I hope that Wichita St leaves the MVC and we are the replacement. The Horizon League isn't the same league it was in 2010. It's basically turned into a more compact version of the Summit League.
If the Horizon added Northern Iowa and Wichita State, they'd be adding two public commuter schools. That certainly isn't the problem as the MVCs strongest programs have been their large public universities (sans the departed Creighton).
Revisionist history is complaining about Loyola leaving. That was one of the best things to happen to the Horizon. Even with a somewhat decent season last year, they still havent broken the top 100 RPI since 1985. Loyola has an embarrassingly bad program which consisted of 7 consecutive 199+ RPI seasons (damn that one data point) from 2007-2014. Their average conference tourney seed was 6.4 and their highest seed was 3. It's just nonsensical to mention losing Loyola as a negative.
The league was terrible last year, but its still consistently much better than the Summit and it was last year as well. People forget how terrible some of these conferences are. The Summit hasn't been close to an at-large bid, while Valpo and Green Bay have been borderline the past two years. They've sent only 4 teams to the NIT, while the Horizon has sent 21. The conference rank is consistently at least 5-10 spots better than the Summit. Calling the Horizon basically a more compact version of the Summit is simply not remotely true from a factual standpoint.
Some interesting thoughts from people in the Atlantic Sun about NKU's move. Not Everyone Happy with NKU move to Horizon League (http://www.rcnky.com/articles/2015/05/11/not-everyone-happy-nkus-move-horizon-league)
Interesting comment at bottom of article:
QuoteHorizon is not a step up. Just bc the local fan base has heard of wright state doesn't make it better. Giving up the opportunity to play in a geographical region rich with athletes and selling 4 trips to Florida was an advantage. There is no advantage to playing in the Midwest.
Quote from: oklahomamick on May 12, 2015, 06:55:22 AMI wonder if we leave if we could get some of our exit fee waived....Because this is not what we signed up for. The HL is massively different from what we entered 10 years ago.
Quote from: classof2014 on May 12, 2015, 10:36:12 AMthe HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left.
You know I love you guys, but
1) This is not the Horizon the Titans signed up for either. You think it is different from 10 years ago--We signed up for a conference with Xavier & Evansville, with its sights set on Marquette, Dayton, DePaul, St. Louis, Bradley.
2) "A downward spiral since Butler left"? The league has been in a downward spiral since Marquette and St. Louis left in 1991. Look, Valpo has the most in common with Detroit of any current Horizon school, and of late has been the #1 program, year in and year out - starting even before Butler left. So I'm not trying to slight you when I say that for Detroit fans, Valpo is part of the decline. No offense, but Xavier or Dayton you ain't. Again, don't get me wrong - right now, you're about the best thing the league has going, and I'd hate to lose you. We sure ain't Xavier or Dayton - programs we once considered equals - anymore either. But that fact that you are the best thing going shows the decline of the MCC/Horizon. The conference we want, and were once in, was Butler, Dayton, Evansville, Loyola, Marquette, St. Louis, Xavier, and Detroit. If we could put that back together, we'd be happy to have you, too.
So...
1) No, you don't get your exit fee waived. If you can't afford the exit fee, you're not ready to move; and
2) Let's hope our programs can both soar in the next few years, and we can move on together!
Love ya,
The Commish
Quote from: Commissioner on May 13, 2015, 02:25:14 PM
Quote from: oklahomamick on May 12, 2015, 06:55:22 AMI wonder if we leave if we could get some of our exit fee waived....Because this is not what we signed up for. The HL is massively different from what we entered 10 years ago.
Quote from: classof2014 on May 12, 2015, 10:36:12 AMthe HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left.
You know I love you guys, but
1) This is not the Horizon the Titans signed up for either. You think it is different from 10 years ago--We signed up for a conference with Xavier & Evansville, with its sights set on Marquette, Dayton, DePaul, St. Louis, Bradley.
2) "A downward spiral since Butler left"? The league has been in a downward spiral since Marquette and St. Louis left in 1991. Look, Valpo has the most in common with Detroit of any current Horizon school, and of late has been the #1 program, year in and year out - starting even before Butler left. So I'm not trying to slight you when I say that for Detroit fans, Valpo is part of the decline. No offense, but Xavier or Dayton you ain't. Again, don't get me wrong - right now, you're about the best thing the league has going, and I'd hate to lose you. We sure ain't Xavier or Dayton - programs we once considered equals - anymore either. But that fact that you are the best thing going shows the decline of the MCC/Horizon. The conference we want, and were once in, was Butler, Dayton, Evansville, Loyola, Marquette, St. Louis, Xavier, and Detroit. If we could put that back together, we'd be happy to have you, too.
So...
1) No, you don't get your exit fee waived. If you can't afford the exit fee, you're not ready to move; and
2) Let's hope our programs can both soar in the next few years, and we can move on together!
Love ya,
The Commish
Fair analysis. Heck, you might as well include Notre Dame. They left you behind as well!!
Commish, that was a good post. I didn't realize the total scope of the changes that you guys have had to endure in the HL. Your summary of the last 10 years doesn't inspire optimism regarding the state of the HL or its future under LeCrone's continued leadership. Do you think we've reached the point where the HL Board of Directors or the university presidents have to seriously consider whether he is the person to lead us forward?
Quote from: Commissioner on May 13, 2015, 02:25:14 PMYou know I love you guys, but 1) This is not the Horizon the Titans signed up for either. You think it is different from 10 years ago--We signed up for a conference with Xavier & Evansville, with its sights set on Marquette, Dayton, DePaul, St. Louis, Bradley. 2) "A downward spiral since Butler left"? The league has been in a downward spiral since Marquette and St. Louis left in 1991. Look, Valpo has the most in common with Detroit of any current Horizon school, and of late has been the #1 program, year in and year out - starting even before Butler left. So I'm not trying to slight you when I say that for Detroit fans, Valpo is part of the decline. No offense, but Xavier or Dayton you ain't. Again, don't get me wrong - right now, you're about the best thing the league has going, and I'd hate to lose you. We sure ain't Xavier or Dayton - programs we once considered equals - anymore either. But that fact that you are the best thing going shows the decline of the MCC/Horizon. The conference we want, and were once in, was Butler, Dayton, Evansville, Loyola, Marquette, St. Louis, Xavier, and Detroit. If we could put that back together, we'd be happy to have you, too. So... 1) No, you don't get your exit fee waived. If you can't afford the exit fee, you're not ready to move; and 2) Let's hope our programs can both soar in the next few years, and we can move on together! Love ya, The Commish
I was being sarcastic when wanting exit fee money. Mercy absolutely has a louder complaint than we should. I don't disagree.
Quote from: webbvufan on May 13, 2015, 05:13:24 PM
Commish, that was a good post. I didn't realize the total scope of the changes that you guys have had to endure in the HL. Your summary of the last 10 years doesn't inspire optimism regarding the state of the HL or its future under LeCrone's continued leadership. Do you think we've reached the point where the HL Board of Directors or the university presidents have to seriously consider whether he is the person to lead us forward?
Considering the majority of the ADs voted for both Detroit neutral location, as well as NKU, I doubt there's much pressure to get Lecrone out.
Also, pretty much every mid major league has members that want to bolt for a big and better league. Its just hard to blame a commissioner for that happening. Of course Butler wanted into the A10. Of course a crappy Loyola program wanted into a better league. Same with SLU, VCU, Creighton, Xavier, etc. There's just a clear tiered system in college conferences with movement everywhere. The Horizon isn't unique to losing members.
So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.
Quote from: Valpofan00 on May 13, 2015, 09:44:35 PM
So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.
As opposed to Grizz and Jimmy whom we unapologetically troll even when they're not here.
Quote from: Valpofan00 on May 13, 2015, 09:44:35 PM
So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.
Might you be confusing LeCrone with the Commish (out of Detroit)?
Quote from: VULB#62 on May 14, 2015, 10:39:56 AM
Quote from: Valpofan00 on May 13, 2015, 09:44:35 PM
So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.
Might you be confusing LeCrone with the Commish (out of Detroit)?
(http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/~/media/6D48EEF17445429DAC39B8268A0787ED.ashx?w=120&h=121&c=1)
Yep, lives in Indianapolis area and works downtown next to the Indiana Convention Center on S. Capitol Ave. This is in the Pan Am Plaza Building.
http://tinyurl.com/m8a4ghy (http://tinyurl.com/m8a4ghy)
Lucas Oil Stadium is south of the convention center on S. Capitol Ave on the south side of South St. You can barely see it in this streetview looking south on Capitol Ave.
The most prevelent thing is this view is the railroad bridge behind the Indiana Convention Center and the parking garage. This is where the NFL combine is held.
http://tinyurl.com/q3yprvt (http://tinyurl.com/q3yprvt)
Looking north from Lucas Oil Stadium you can see the JW Marriott on the left and the Indiana Convention Center on the west side of Capitol Ave. The HL offices are on the right side of Capitol Ave.
http://tinyurl.com/kja5rch (http://tinyurl.com/kja5rch)
If you turn the image directly south from this view you will see you are standing next to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Commish is a poster that is a fan of Detroit-Mercy.
Quote from: crusaderjoe on May 12, 2015, 03:36:02 PM
Found this perusing other HL fan message boards today:
http://norseforce.proboards.com/ (http://norseforce.proboards.com/)
NKU's fan message board.
Looks brand new? 11 members?
"Valpo Fan Zone has good graphics and lots of conversation, but heavy on unrealistic homer talk. But hey, its where you can go to get Valpo info. After Detroit Titans Hoops, the most active board in the league. There are some genuinely witty posters here, which compensates for the homerism. The intellectual quality speaks well of the University: www.valpofanzone.com/forum/
Read more: http://norseforce.proboards.com/thread/6/horizon-league-links#ixzz3aXzhx3jj"
Unrealistic homer talk? As if!
Quote from: a3uge on May 18, 2015, 09:24:26 PMUnrealistic homer talk? As if!
Yeah, we all know Valpo fans are too intelligent for homerism. The only real homerism on the Valpo board is Homer-Drewism.
Is it Homerism when you have pretty much owned the league in 3 of the last 4 seasons, and probably the next 2? I call that justified...
Yeah but we can't beat Nebraska tho, so we suck.
Or Missouri. :(
Or any power conference team*
*-note UCF doesn't count because we beat them but don't bring them up because they aren't a traditional power conference team
Quote from: Kyle321n on May 19, 2015, 04:02:11 PM
Or any power conference team*
*-note UCF doesn't count because we beat them but don't bring them up because they aren't a traditional power conference team
So a conference containing Cincinnati, U Conn, Memphis and Temple don't qualify? Nice definition. ???
Quote from: vu72 on May 19, 2015, 04:12:52 PM
So a conference containing Cincinnati, U Conn, Memphis and Temple don't qualify? Nice definition. ???
You seemed to have missed the sarcasm dripping from the previous two comments as well. We don't suck because we can't beat a power conference.
Now that NKU is in the HL, I hear that one of their top players is transferring? True? What does that say about NKU's move?
They did lose a good freshman who averaged 13+ points per game. He signed with Ball State. NKU also fired their coach.
http://www.kokomotribune.com/news/local_news/persons-commits-to-transfer-to-ball-state/article_dac41ff2-fb6c-11e4-8eb0-9b544015610d.html (http://www.kokomotribune.com/news/local_news/persons-commits-to-transfer-to-ball-state/article_dac41ff2-fb6c-11e4-8eb0-9b544015610d.html)
Quote from: Kyle321n on May 19, 2015, 04:15:02 PMWe don't suck because we can't beat a power conference.
Unless we do, because we can't (or at least haven't lately).
Quote from: IndyValpo on May 19, 2015, 08:49:53 PMThey did lose a good freshman who averaged 13+ points per game. He signed with Ball State. NKU also fired their coach.
Indiana All-Star, ASun freshman of the year.
But this is all old news, right? He left before the HL announcement. NKU lost their coach before the HL announcement. It's the new coach that brought in Nored.
The only new news is that the freshman that left NKU signed with Ball State (?!).
Quote from: agibson on May 20, 2015, 02:27:01 PM
Quote from: IndyValpo on May 19, 2015, 08:49:53 PMThey did lose a good freshman who averaged 13+ points per game. He signed with Ball State. NKU also fired their coach.
Indiana All-Star, ASun freshman of the year.
But this is all old news, right? He left before the HL announcement. NKU lost their coach before the HL announcement. It's the new coach that brought in Nored.
The only new news is that the freshman that left NKU signed with Ball State (?!).
Yes. I think the only question is will we be playing Ball State and will they be vastly improved? We should have beaten them badly last year but played a tremendously poor first half and spent the rest of the game coming back for a slight 3 point win. The Cardinals had a final shot to tie but missed it. I think it will take a vastly improved Ball State team to beat Valpo. If we get in a challenge thing with the MAC I would be disappointed to be paired with Ball State.
Trying to play catch-up after a hiatus. Does anyone know if the vote to add NKU was unanimous? The HL announcement says,
The Horizon League Board of Directors has approved Northern Kentucky University's application to join the Horizon League.
Notice it does not say "unanimously approved," which typically is standard procedure as a public display of unity.
Specifically, I'm interested in how Valpo voted. If for whatever reason we voted against NKU in addition to voting against Detroit as the future sight for the HL tournament, that would constitute a complete repudiation by the league's top program of the future direction of the league.
Everyone including Valpo voted to add NKU.
Quote from: Big D on May 27, 2015, 08:22:35 PM
Everyone including Valpo voted to add NKU.
I'm really interested in how hard the Horizon was in pursuing Murray State and Belmont.
Time lapse installation video of new NKU arena floor complete with HL logos:
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klw3XO3dbBU#)
Very cool. Glad one team got its new court right (I'm looking at you Oakland)
Just curious, but do court pieces essentially snap together nowadays? I have never really thought about how a basketball court is laid, but it looks like they are essentially interconnected, not sealed together.
Quote from: valpotx on August 20, 2015, 01:14:08 AM
Just curious, but do court pieces essentially snap together nowadays? I have never really thought about how a basketball court is laid, but it looks like they are essentially interconnected, not sealed together.
I would imagine in most multi-purpose arenas in college and the NBA the floors are more or less squares of wood that are snapped together. This is done so the floor can be easily removed for other events, concerts, hockey, conferences, etc... While a smaller gym like Valpo is a legitimate wood floor that is lade plank-by-plank.
Quote from: VULB#62 on May 09, 2015, 06:37:20 PMThe Norse men and women's soccer teams host their home matches on Northern Kentucky University's campus at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Located in the front of campus adjacent to The Bank of Kentucky Center, the stadium welcomes Norse fans and the community alike.
The stadium opened in August of 2009. The $6.5 million soccer stadium offers a World Cup style 120-yard by 80-yard FieldTurf competition surface. With bleacher seating, the stadium is well-equipped to seat 1,000 spectators, plus additional space for standing room for a comfortable and enjoyable experience. The stadium also contains several other amenities including four team locker rooms, an officials' room, an office suite for the men's and women's soccer coaching staff, press box, athletic training facility, and a laundry and equipment storage area. The Founders' Room, located above the seating area overlooking the field, is a 1,000-square-foot luxury suite offering a VIP experience on game day and a comfortable and spacious meeting and event space throughout the year. NOTE: the NKU soccer stadium makes Brown Field look like a Middle school facility. http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219 (http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219)
The facility did look nice on ESPN3 video. Stand right up on the field, no football lines, etc. I think they even had two cameras for the broadcast, and pretty good camera work.
I am a little surprised at the small-ish number of seats. There's definitely something to be said for an intimate environment, getting your fans to sit closer together, etc.
But Valpo gets 500-600 for some home games. I'd like to hope we could get close to 1,000 if we hosted the HL tournament, or put together a good run of home games and wins some season. (I'd like to think we could still host the tournament this year! I think we still control our own destiny, e.g. win out and I assume head-to-head over UIC would give us the tie-breaker for #1. We have games in hand over maybe every team in conference.)
NKU won the D2 national championship, I guess the year after their new facility opened. And, for the home games (they hosted the Midwest regional, with I guess the national finals taking place down the road in Louisville) they only drew ~700. But, at the D1 level, I'd hope it would be a bigger deal.
Makes me wonder if they built it with D1 expansion in mind, or not. To have a student population of 15,000, to build a very nice-looking soccer facility, and to give it only 1,000 seats seems... what's the opposite of aspirational?
Maybe standing room could pack in a significant additional number of fans.
Quote from: agibson on October 19, 2015, 11:44:19 AM
Quote from: VULB#62 on May 09, 2015, 06:37:20 PMThe Norse men and women's soccer teams host their home matches on Northern Kentucky University's campus at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Located in the front of campus adjacent to The Bank of Kentucky Center, the stadium welcomes Norse fans and the community alike.
The stadium opened in August of 2009. The $6.5 million soccer stadium offers a World Cup style 120-yard by 80-yard FieldTurf competition surface. With bleacher seating, the stadium is well-equipped to seat 1,000 spectators, plus additional space for standing room for a comfortable and enjoyable experience. The stadium also contains several other amenities including four team locker rooms, an officials' room, an office suite for the men's and women's soccer coaching staff, press box, athletic training facility, and a laundry and equipment storage area. The Founders' Room, located above the seating area overlooking the field, is a 1,000-square-foot luxury suite offering a VIP experience on game day and a comfortable and spacious meeting and event space throughout the year. NOTE: the NKU soccer stadium makes Brown Field look like a Middle school facility. http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219 (http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219)
The facility did look nice on ESPN3 video. Stand right up on the field, no football lines, etc. I think they even had two cameras for the broadcast, and pretty good camera work.
I am a little surprised at the small-ish number of seats. There's definitely something to be said for an intimate environment, getting your fans to sit closer together, etc.
But Valpo gets 500-600 for some home games. I'd like to hope we could get close to 1,000 if we hosted the HL tournament, or put together a good run of home games and wins some season. (I'd like to think we could still host the tournament this year! I think we still control our own destiny, e.g. win out and I assume head-to-head over UIC would give us the tie-breaker for #1. We have games in hand over maybe every team in conference.)
NKU won the D2 national championship, I guess the year after their new facility opened. And, for the home games (they hosted the Midwest regional, with I guess the national finals taking place down the road in Louisville) they only drew ~700. But, at the D1 level, I'd hope it would be a bigger deal.
Makes me wonder if they built it with D1 expansion in mind, or not. To have a student population of 15,000, to build a very nice-looking soccer facility, and to give it only 1,000 seats seems... what's the opposite of aspirational?
Maybe standing room could pack in a significant additional number of fans.
I hope you get to experience a standing-room-only soccer match at VU. Our grandstand seats about 1,700, and when we surpass that number the atmosphere is unbelievable. We broke our school record for attendance this year by bringing in just over 4,000 for the Marquette match (always a sellout, but they almost doubled the seating capacity). It's crazy.
Quote from: blackpantheruwm on October 21, 2015, 03:30:50 PMI hope you get to experience a standing-room-only soccer match at VU. Our grandstand seats about 1,700, and when we surpass that number the atmosphere is unbelievable. We broke our school record for attendance this year by bringing in just over 4,000 for the Marquette match (always a sellout, but they almost doubled the seating capacity). It's crazy.
One source claims Brown Field seats 5,000. I've never seen more than about two people in the "away" stand. I don't even know how to get over there.
So, a standing-room crowd is unlikely. But, I do respect wanting to keep the stands reasonably-full rather than reasonably-empty.
I heard about the Marquette crowd - nuts!
Anywhere above about 700 for soccer, or even the right 600 (pep band drum line helps, Newman Center priest who used to be a cheerleader helps, etc.), and Brown Field starts to have a pretty decent soccer atmosphere. Still too far from the field, of course. And football lines.
Northern Kentucky has been a great addition so far! They are very competitive in each of the 3 sports so far: men's soccer, women's soccer, and volleyball.
Apparently, former UWGB AD (Ken Bothof) covered up sex incident at NKU. This is from the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter. Apparently the basketball players involved were allowed to continue to play out the season and were then suspended AFTER the season was over.
http://www.htrnews.com/story/sports/college/uwgb/2016/09/10/former-uwgb-ad-covers-up-sex-incident-nku/90202892/