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I'm disappointed the conversation made it this far without the requisite Dana Shaw joke...

Setshot wouldn't like any nepotism conversations, joke or not.

How quickly we forget! It took me a full 40 seconds before I pieced together who Dana Shaw is. Duh!

Do share.

Not sure if you are serious, but I'll take the bait!  Dana Shaw is Homer and Janet's daughter.  She is married to Casey Shaw, former NBA player and current Vanderbilt assistant coach.  Dana was an All-American at Toledo and MAC POY twice. She is also a lawyer and Bryce's agent.

She is also a freshly minted MAC Hall of Famer.


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I'm disappointed the conversation made it this far without the requisite Dana Shaw joke...


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Nice win at U. of California by UC-Riverside.  Maybe they caught Cal on a night when half of their roster was out protesting against a conservative speaker.   

I'm pretty sure that's every night at Cal.


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If the Valley is pairing a Horizon League team to go with Murray State, I would definitely prefer NKU to Milwaukee. There is so much instability in the Milwaukee athletic department that is difficult to look past. I even think Green Bay fits the Valley profile (smaller market with less competition for attention) better than Milwaukee (or NKU for that matter).

As for Milwaukee's RPI vs Ken Pom disparity: that's all courtesy of our friends at Concordia-St Paul. Games vs non D1 opponents don't effect your RPI but do effect your Ken Pom.


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[12. Gonzaga (13):]

Andy Katz just wrote that Gonzaga wants to be in the Big East (I mean who wouldn't?), but its the first time I've heard a prominent national journalist/reporter say it publicly. The geography makes absolutely sense but not Geography means less and less these days. Ex: WSU in the AAC, SLU in the A10, the entire WAC conference...

I don't want a team like the Zags joining the Big East. It makes basketball sense only but it would be a blow to mid-major basketball as a whole. I don't consider Gonzaga a true mid-major anymore but I'd like them to remain in the WCC.

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2017-12-04/andy-katzs-power-36-whos-ncaa-tournament-dec-4

12. Gonzaga (13): The Bulldogs had one of the most impressive wins of the week, knocking off Creighton at home by putting up 91 points against the offensive Bluejays. And the Zags did it without Corey Kispert, who got hurt in the previous game against Incarnate Word. The Zags, who would love nothing more than to be in the Big East, can show the conference office and its power brokers that they belong with a win over Villanova in New York at the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday. OK, there is something called geography in the way, but Gonzaga would like to be in the league. They return to their regular schedule (non-Big East games) Sunday with the revival of the Washington series, this time back in Seattle on Sunday.

"The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes, the Houston Oilers to Tennessee, where there is no oil, the Big East added Gonzaga, a school in Washington...the state."

BASEketball (adapted)


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I'll be satisfied with 4-3, but think 3-4 is more realistic. Less than 4 wins would be a disappointment and more a bonus.

Purdue has the potential to be ugly. West coast trips are always rough and I'd be shocked to see them do better than a split. I️ expect wins at Ball State and InSt but weird things happen during in-state road games *cough* refs *cough* especially to young teams. The month's success or failure comes down to Northwestern (tough situation that the team is probably too young to overcome) and MoSt on NYE which I️ think they find a way to win.

Getting the power 5 (7 if you count the Big East and AAC) to agree to much of anything is a stretch, but the rest of the leagues need to do something. The timing was terrible, but I️ loved the Bracket Buster concept.

If I were king, every team should get 2 games (home and away) during the week between Christmas and New Years (when the networks are desperate for programming because people are off work). You could do the draw the first or second week of December after exempt tournaments and conference challenges finish. The better programs have separated themselves by that point. Seed teams based on Ken Pom or something similar and give them one last chance to boost their resume before conference play kicks in.

This is looking like a tie. SIU should be able to handle San Jose State, but I️ don't see the Valley pulling an upset at Wyoming or San Diego state.


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Give that man a contract extension!


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Always good to play at home, but Porter County is no kangaroo court system. Valpo will still have to make a strong case that the $500k early exit clause doesn't apply to them.

From many years of observation I have noted that VU students never seem to win in the Porter County courts.  .  Given that track record maybe our best defense would have been to leave this case in Vanderburgh County.   

Perhaps we can go to pre trial diversion with Judge Chidester...not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.


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I can't tell you how tempted I was to type 'Buck Futler' several times in the FB chat area while watching the game.

That thought crossed my mind too but since I live in Indy and.....well, like you, I thought "I'll be better than those over confident Butler fans."

My junior or senior year, the athletic department was soliciting designs for a butler game specific t shirt. A few of us toyed with the idea of independently designing and ordering (since there was no way the school would allow it) shirts with a picture of Darrell Hammond from SNL in his celebrity jeopardy costume and the caption "Sean Connery says Buck Futler"

Sadly, these were never a reality.


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As someone who loves Alaska and wanted to go up there for a shootout sometime in the near future, discovering that we were invited to play, and that the tournament was subsequently cancelled within 140 characters is an emotional roller coaster I just wasn't prepared for.


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This lineup is indicative of what basketball has become over the last 20 years.

Guys like LeBron and many Europeans have made the ball handling SF the focal point of the modern game. Guards have been reduced from being the key offensive piece to 3 and D specialists in many systems.

Look at the last few generations at VU. When Huff graduated, we struggled until Broekhoff and later Peters established themselves as scoring threats in the front court. Even though we had some talent at other positions, the 3/stretch 4 has been the key to our success.


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Speaking of the PFL, Presbyterian College will reportedly decide on Nov 11th whether or not to drop football scholarships.  Obviously, dropping scholarships would imply that they'll seek PFL membership.

At least those players that do stay will always be PC.

Presbyterians don't decide...god has already preordained the fate of their football scholarships.


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Let's be serious - I understand the cost difference, but many more will be engaged with hockey than lacrosse. Too bad it is only a dream.

I would have thought the same, but Marquette was drawing 1,000+ for lacrosse matches before they moved into their temporary dome, which limited attendance to 500.

Louisville also plays lacrosse and they would be within 300 miles.

As another point of reference, the Cleveland State lacrosse team draws as well as or better than its men's soccer team.

The NCAA hockey landscape is well settled right now. Penn State is the only program in recent memory to break in with any hope sustainable success (and that came courtesy of millions of dollars from the Pegulas.

High School Lacrosse is spreading quickly across the upper Midwest. If we can be one of the early adopters regionally, we can establish ourselves as an impact program regionally before any more major regional players establish themselves.


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I think we finish with a 11-7 MVC record. I think we lose both games to Mo State and IL State, take both from Loyola (yes, both games), Drake, IN State and EU and split with Bradley, SIU and UNI.  I think that will get us a 4th (or tied for 4th) place finish.  I also predict that our team steadily improves over the season and that we lose only 2 games (@ SIU and IL State) in the final 8 games of the season and come into Arch Madness as everyone's dark horse.

LOL, win in Evansville...certainly not if the refs have anything to say about it.


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So we need to welcome and include Christians, including (of course) those who are evangelical, fundamentalist, etc. And we need to include conservatives. Otherwise, it would not be inclusion.

But don't we also need to include people that are mainline and liberal protestants?  those that are Jewish?  Mormons?  Muslims?  all minorities?  Atheists?  Liberals?  Moderates?  Again, it would not be inclusion without welcoming and respecting them too.

We need to stop demanding that our ideologies must win without exception, regardless of whether we are liberal, conservative or whatever. Instead, we need to respect everyone and their inherent right to have and live by their own beliefs, as long as they do not harm others. This is the environment that Valparaiso needs to strive for. Having a great Christian program does not harm someone that is Jewish, as long as there is not some type of required adherence. Having a gay student organization does not harm an evangelical Christian group.  Etc., etc. I would recommend that Valparaiso focus on what they can do foster this environment.

Well stated. However, that objective has been increasingly harder to achieve in the currently chaotic, divisive and insensitive environment that has developed around us. Inclusion and mutual respect have to work very hard to just to get to the discussion table these days.

That goes back to the idea of having the university run by a pastor instead of a career academic. We should welcome individuals from all perspectives. However, if they don't hear the gospel proclaimed regularly during their 4 years, Valpo has failed to achieve a primary goal of its mission and has ceded the ground that makes it unique. I don't think this is something that Dr Heckler can/will ever fully appreciate.

Over homecoming, an atheist student told me how disheartened he was to have to "deal with people talking about Christ on campus" and that, during his tour, he was told he wouldn't have to be exposed to religion if he didn't want. I told him I thought that was naive considering the prominence of the chapel on campus.

The Christian faith makes a claim to absolute truth. How that truth applies to our world is open for discussion, but denying/not teaching it, especially to the lost when we have the chance, is gross negligence and an insult to our ideals.


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So what distinguishes Valpo these days from the hundreds of "progressive" private universities and liberal arts college?  Have we decided to abandon the idea of differentiating ourselves in our country and just accelerate recruitment of international students who will take a "progressive" view of the U.S.?

The one word answer to that question is "nothing." The momentum was rolling before Heckler's hiring, but the final nail in the coffin of Valpo as a truly unique institution and the self-styled meeting-place between "Athens and Jerusalem" was when the board chose to hire a career academic instead of a pastor to run the school.

OP is rolling in his grave.


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Honest question: would it have been possible to maintain the old system during installation of the new or did we have to so thoroughly gut our AV infrastructure that such a venture was impossible?


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Full disclosure, I'm not a Trump supporter but also don't consider him an existential threat.

I've had limited interactions with Heckler, as well as semi-frequent conversations with university insiders (mentors still employed, board members in my social circle) who have dealt with him more often.

He always struck me as heavy on rhetoric, light on facts in the way he addresses difficult topics. The two best examples offhand being how he (mis)handled an incident with then-LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick in 2009-10(?) and how he communicated some of the school's recent debt issues to the board a couple of years back. Even his comments regarding the HL lawsuit smells of a similar brand of rhetoric.

Heckler seems like a shoot from the hip type, especially when he feels threatened. I don't know what he said, but the fact he felt the need to speak strongly doesn't surprise me at all. Trump is a threat to his worldview and he has responded in a way consistent with past behavior.

Should he know better? Absolutely. Particularly given the makeup of our donor base. But, it's part of the Mark Heckler package that comes with positive and negative aspects.


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Make American Women's Golf Great Again


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As a point of reference, Kent State (what could be considered the gold standard of mid major baseball regionally) renovated its baseball stadium beginning about 15 years ago to what I assume would be our target. It was an initial $3M campaign followed by another $1M gift around 5 years later.

I'd be curious as to the seed gift and the fundraising goal. Given inflation, I'd have to think it starts at or near $4M.l, more if we plan to start broadcasting games on Watch ESPN.

http://kentstatesports.com/facilities/?id=4


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One whole NIT win? Congrat! How many felons did you have to recruit to accomplish this feat?


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To me, the bigger question is why would IUPUI jump from the Summit to the Horizon?  The Summit by many standards, has past the Horizon and with the loss of Valpo that gap just got bigger. The Summit also appears to be much more stable also.

From what I can tell, the Horizon has a better TV deal (definitely more national games and probably better money). The move will also cut down on travel expenses.

Either way, you're playing in a perennial one-bid league. Might as well save some money while you're at it.


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Can't think of another situation where a college team that has had seven straight losing seasons and just a single NCAA appearance in its history (14 years ago) fell upwards like this, save for maybe Rutgers, and even they had experienced some semi-recent success in football. But you do you, Horizon League.

In fairness, who were they going to add? Grand Canyon and New Mexico State were hoping to use the HL as a catapult to a bigger league (WCC & CUSA respectively). Omaha and Fort Wayne are broke. RMU cares more about hockey than any sport the HL sponsors. Murray, EKU, and Belmont had no interest.

As best I can tell, that left you with IUPUI, Lipscomb, and UMKC. Not much there when you break it down.

What I would find wildly entertaining is the Summit replacing IUPUI with GCU and/or NMSU. That would firmly place it above the Horizon and send the HL fan forum (and Jimmy's twitter into complete chaos).


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