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As many of you know, Eugene Parker, Valparaiso Law School alumni and top rated sports agent, passed away on March 31. Eugene was a wonderful person and had an influence on me on hard work and pursuing your life goals. He was a well respected sports agent to many athletes and had "tough but fair" approach in his dealings. His career resume is very impressive in many ways as seen in the links below. His actions reflected what Valparaiso University is about.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Parker_(sports_agent)
http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/04/15/eugene-parker-nfl-agent-death

Eugene was an outstanding representative to Valparaiso University and his recognition is well overdue. It is due time for him to be in the Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame or some other group of recognition at Valparaiso University.

http://www.people.com/article/dancing-stars-ginger-zees-beauty-beast-wows

In another post, they showed that the head football coach at Valp  is paid $200K annually. In reality, Valpo has a non-scholarship, Div 3-like football program. Is this reasonable? Are Division I non-scholarship and Division 3 coaches getting paid this much? I am blown away by this.

I noticed the UConn women's team pretty much have the national title in their hands, with the remote exception of Baylor giving them a game. Yesterday they defeated a 5 seed Mississippi State team by an insane 98-38 score. A 60 point win in a Sweet 16 game! I looked at their schedule and results and the numbers are gaudy. I have to wonder - do you just appreciate the greatness and coaching of this team, or is there a competitive problem in women's college basketball?

The Valpo football team should review how Stanford's offensive line and defense performed (OK, completely dominated) during the Rose Bowl. I know Christian McCaffrey was phenomenal, anyone can acknowledge that. But their offensive line fundamentally has excellent technique and in general these guys know how to block! Also, the Stanford defense knows how to square in and tackle. Stanford is a well coached team, and I think the team can learn from this.

I wish DePaul and Northwestern would quit being such wimps and cover their ineptitude and play the Crusaders. Chicagoland college basketball is at an alltime low, and getting the locals teams to face off among each other will only help its exposure. I understand DePaul and Northwestern have a stance that playing Valpo will not help their programs, but at this day and age that is complete bovine excretion. Cripes, DePaul and Northwestern have not faced Valpo since 1980 - that's just not right!

the computer gods were good to us...

http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

So I read feedback about Butler's great tailgating, and thought a topic for this was required. When I was at the game at Drake, I saw some decent tailgating. The Valpo administration needs to start promoting this to enhance the football and college experience. VU is too paranoid about their alcohol policy and the enforcement at football games is overdone.

Which CoF team is Valpo facing? Is there a roster? A location? A school?

Are any of you attending the Willow Creek Church Global Leadership Summit (GLS)? I was there today and it was outstanding and has great notes on how to improve as a leader. They mentioned that there were several billboards in Fort Wayne advertising the GLS.

Based on the postings, has the Greek system at Valpo taken a dive recently? I know in the 80's it was pretty strong, and I think it dropped some in the 90's. What percentage of students are in frats and sororities?

I was watching College Hoop Gameday where they are discussing various topics and proposing rule changes. As I reflect on the Valpo-CSU game last night and listening to these guys, I thought about what would be good for college basketball.

1. Shot clock needs to be reduced to no more than 30 seconds. The game requires more tempo. Being very pro-NBA, Stephen A. Smith recommended a 24 second shot clock and no zone defense. I do not go for that, but I would like to see a little more finesse and less 50-49 results. I think you will still see aggressive defense witj this change.

2. The proposal of revisiting freshman sitting out for a year is crap. Let them show their skills. Freshmen need comradery; this rule prohibits that.

3. This is a little radical - to reduce physical play
    - make the free throw area international
    - increase the floor width 5  feet.  Kids are bigger and stronger these days and more space is required.

4.  For crying out loud, please get rid of the alternating possession.  Do it NBA style.

5.  Enforce the 3 second violation rule.

[The melody of the West Point alma mater is the same as Valpo.]

OK, I must be naive or something... while I was cleaning the family room, I had the Army-Navy game on.  Both team played hard, and like usual Navy won. At the end, both academies sing their alma maters. The melody of the West Point alma mater is the same as Valpo.  So how in the world did that happen?  Who copied who? - I would guess Valpo was copier with pride.

Valpo is not at the bottom at the Sagarin Ratings as they moved up to 251, over Davidson who is 252.

In my deranged mind I would love to see a College Game Day at Brown Field with these 2 teams.  Imagine the 50 to 100 fans freezing in the backdrop.

What is the recent tailgating experience at beautiful Brown Field?  Any cars, vans, grilling, socializing?  Is Valpo still on the alert for any open containers of alcohol - where the campus police defend their existance? Just wondering.

There is nothing wrong with tailgating and you do not need to be a bigtime school to have a decent tailgating experience.   I am not talking about what happens in Madison or Ames where it can get out of control.    Ivy League schools bring out the wine and shrimp.  Drake tailgates well, they have fun before the game and has a team somewhat similar in quality to Valpo.  I just heard SFA is tailgating at 8AM for a 6:30PM game!!

Tailgating enhances the football experience, increases football enthusiasm at the school, and influences recruits when they visit campus.  Tailgating is an enabler to football program success, and Valpo needs to promote this.  I am sure Coach C would support this.

Even without alcohol, to get football and school spirit jumpstarted, do you think Valpo should consider a tailgate party for the students before the game?  Grill brats, hotdogs, burgers, pretzels etc, and have a beanbag toss, throw the football, good tunes, friends and all that fun stuff?  I think that would be a low cost fun and a positive experience for all. 

Scary stuff here...

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/04/victoria-osteen-reactions_n_5759860.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

What is the deal with Keith Carter?  I thought this guy was going to be a savior to take this hoops team to the next level.  Is he injured?  Is the system not compatible with his skills?  Was he overhyped?

The consistency on my Saturdays of experiencing another Valpo defeat is gone.  For once I will not be waiting for Dale Carlson to punt on 4rth and 1 at midfield and hear the post game  blame on the players for not executing. 

BTW, Iowa State is also experiencing a long season, and they face Kansas tonight in the battle of the Big 12 cellar in very frigid conditions.  Their fans have been incredibly loyal and have a lot of fun.  They are expressing their fotoball season in gifs...

http://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/football/178746-season-gifs.html

Final game of the year at Brown Field.    Thanks to the seniors for their committment, and best of luck in their future endeavors.

I hope these guys come out loose and have fun, similar to USC when Ed Orgeron took over - heck, what do you have to lose?

Dayton 56
Valpo 20

why not?  talk about getting student interest!

A pretty disturbing story on the Detroit Free Press website.  This made the headline over their bankruptcy woes.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130721/SPORTS08/307210081/oakland-university-fired-beckie-francis-special-report

So how important was the Davidson game and the following game against Morehead State in regards to Dale Carlson's tenure at Valpo?  Carlson has been here 3 years with a record of 2-30.  I keep hearing there has been improvement, but is it enough?  They went from a team that is #246 in the Sagarin ratings to #245.  I know Sagarin is not the holistic metric that tells all.  But has there really been improvement?  I keep seeing a lot of disorganization during games and coaches running around like chickens with their heads cut off. 

Also, this is not all Carlson's fault of course.  The president and the suitors can say it, but Valpo is not committed to football success in any way, shape or form.  The university is going with the flow is just say they have a football team to bring on students.

I am not sure how to say it the right way, but the improvement at a high level is non-existent and the explanation of improvement is like buffing a turd.

Well, I guess Howard Beale came through to get our beloved Crusaders to a win.  So this week, as a special guest, Bill Murray will give the weekly pep talk, based on his role from the movie "Stripes"

John Winger: Cut it out! Cut it out! Cut it out! The hell's the matter with you? Stupid! We're all very different people. We're not Watusi. We're not Spartans. We're Americans, with a capital 'A', huh? You know what that means? Do ya? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts! Here's proof: his nose is cold! But there's no animal that's more faithful, that's more loyal, more loveable than the mutt. Who saw "Old Yeller?" Who cried when Old Yeller got shot at the end?
[raises his hand]

John Winger: *sarcastically* Nobody cried when Old Yeller got shot? I'm sure.
[hands are reluctantly raised]

John Winger: I cried my eyes out. So we're all dogfaces, we're all very, very different, but there is one thing that we all have in common: we were all stupid enough to enlist in the Army. We're mutants. There's something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us. Something seriously wrong with us - we're soldiers. But we're American soldiers! We've been kicking ass for 200 years! We're 10 and 1! Now we don't have to worry about whether or not we practiced. We don't have to worry about whether Captain Stillman wants to have us hung. All we have to do is to be the great American fighting soldier that is inside each one of us. Now do what I do, and say what I say. And make me proud.

I saw in the other post about how an inspiration talk  or a pep talk can result in a victory for our beloved Crusaders.  I thought I would add the great Howard Beale from Network.  Maybe this will allow us to grab that glorious #244 spot in the Sagarin...

" I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

I will say this - as of today Valpo is #245 in the Sagarin and Campbell is #246!  This has got to be a prime time showdown and made for a College Gameday Saturday.  Imagine a group at Campbell of about 50 behind Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit.