Who should our "new" HL Rival Be?

[milanmiracle]

GOVALPOGO asked the question -- so why not have a poll?  Poll ends in 14 days.

Even though the end of this season featured some friction between UDM and VU at the end, that doesn't make them a rival.  GOVALPOGO mentioned the contrast in styles, etc.  Still doesn't make them a rival, just have a lower level of respect for them. Rivalries, IMO, have to contain a respect element.

Really? You think Notre Dame respects Miami? Nope, the best rivalries have no respect for the other team.

[SadersofthelostArc]

ND and Miami are rivals, in a sense, I guess...but ND's true rivals are USC and Michigan

[vu72]

 Michigan is Ohio State's rival.  USC maybe, but probably Navy.  They play them every year! 

[VULB#62]

Good point 72. Some rivalries are one sided.  Team A thinks they have a rivalry with Team B.  Team B has their own rivalry with Team C.  ND plays Miami for the money and the TV drama that spurs ratings and the money.  Sure they hate each other, but it's not a rivalry -- largely, IMO, because the respect element is missing (and the history is comparatively short).  And despite the fact that BC and ND are the only FBS Catholic universities, Frank Lahey coached at both, and BC of late had won a few games at ND's expense, only BC thinks its a rivalry.  Is USC's true rival ND or UCLA?  Michigan State's rival is UM, but UM's is OSU (and OSU's is UM).

IMO Detroit is a recent phenomenon and once one or both of the McCallums are gone no one at Valpo would get psyched about a UDM game.  And while there is a dislike there now due to recent incidents, there just is no history and respect, while there is with UWM and, yes, Oakland if/when(?) they come aboard.  Will we enjoy beating Detroit?  Sure, I'm thinking the satisfaction might be of a different ilk.

[valpopal]

I don't think any of the teams listed will be more of a rival than Oakland if and when they join the Horizon League, which I believe will happen soon, so I will wait until Oakland is an option before I vote.

[crusaderjoe]

What is unique about Oakland from a historical standpoint to make it an immediate rival?  Valpo has been conference mates with Green Bay, Cleveland State and UIC  longer than it has with Oakland.  The only thing that Oakland brings is a more recent history with us in the Mid Con – a history though that VU shares with seven other members of the conference. 

I don't think there's a right answer to this question.  Some of the old timers here may always consider Butler as the ultimate rival.  Some of the moderately aged fans might consider Wright State as the main rival because of the split.  Some of the newer fans may consider UWM or Oakland (when they join) as the rival.  Since no one has picked them, I'll go with both CSU and UIC since we founded the AMCU-8 with those guys.

[crusaderjoe]

GOVALPOGO asked the question -- so why not have a poll?  Poll ends in 14 days.

Even though the end of this season featured some friction between UDM and VU at the end, that doesn't make them a rival.  GOVALPOGO mentioned the contrast in styles, etc.  Still doesn't make them a rival, just have a lower level of respect for them. Rivalries, IMO, have to contain a respect element.

Really? You think Notre Dame respects Miami? Nope, the best rivalries have no respect for the other team.

Not sure I agree.  IMO, there is actually a ton of respect between Miami and FSU, and that rivalry when both teams are dominant is one of the best in the nation with a sprinkling of some historical mystique (see Wide Right I, Wide Right II, Wide Right III, Wide Left I).

[blackpantheruwm]

Over the entire 5 years of our existence in the HL, there's only one team on that list that fits the definition almost perfectly in my book.

Milwaukee:

1.  Jeter staring down Homer in 2008 at The Cell.
2.  Last year's taunting technical on Edwards.
3.  Almost every game has been a nail-biter, both score-wise and tension-wise.
4.  Any game that is a blowout at one point during the game always seems to end as a nail-biter.
5.  Regular season combined record over the 5 years? 5-5

If I could give a 2nd place vote, it would be Green Bay, but they have owned us a bit, and they've blown us out a couple of times.

I agree that for this year in particular, we will have Detroit on our radar screen, but over the long haul, they're not even close.

1. Jeter didn't like that Homer, up by 9 points with the ball and our defense backed off with only 10 seconds left, called timeout. The game is over, I don't fault him for that at all.
2. Edwards was being a major d-bag. I moonlighted in the student section that game (they asked me, had to bring back the booming voice of reason) and could clearly see Bryce trying to give him a stern talking to in the timeout before the tech.
3. Seriously, there's been like...2 of the games that were no-doubters heading into the final 5 minutes.
4. 2010-11 game at Valpo wasn't.
5. Spooooooky

This is why I thnk Valpo is a bigger rival for Milwaukee in the long term than Green Bay.

1. The high percentage of the Valpo community (alumni, students, etc.) that comes from Milwaukee and the greater Milwaukee area.
2. The traveling fan bases - Valpo always travels here, we always travel there.
3. The stakes always seem higher than with other teams.  Even when we'd play teams higher in the standings, it seemed like we had more on the line against VU.
4. Milwaukee shouldn't be in the same conference as Green Bay, and should distance itself. I'd like to attach ourselves at the hip with Valpo much like Dayton and Xavier have done.
5. Detroit's a flash in the pan that will fade when the McCallum's are gone.  CSU will return to being CSU when Gary Waters (61 y/o) retires. In case you didn't know, they sucked.  Green Bay will never be able to keep Wardle, once they have fleeting success he'll get hired away by a school that can afford to pay him more than $133,000 in school money - 70k comes from donors who could flip the switch at any time. Milwaukee is always going to be here. When Jeter is gone, we're still going to be the school of 30,000 with the $200 million endowment and big basketball budget. We moved from Bo Ryan to Bruce Pearl to Rob Jeter without a hiccup.  I mean seriously, we've got the absolute worst facilities situation in D-I outside of Fordham, and we still do better over time than Detroit, who has a storied on-campus facility of ample size and no issues with finding practice time.

If Milwaukee is Michigan, Valpo is Ohio State. Green Bay is Michigan State.

[StlVUFan]

4.  I forgot about that game

On 1&2, you needn't explain any more.  I wasn't in defend mode.

[blackpantheruwm]

4.  I forgot about that game

On 1&2, you needn't explain any more.  I wasn't in defend mode.

I know, I just wanted people here to know there's two sides to every story.

[milanmiracle]

Good point 72. Some rivalries are one sided.  Team A thinks they have a rivalry with Team B.  Team B has their own rivalry with Team C.  ND plays Miami for the money and the TV drama that spurs ratings and the money.  Sure they hate each other, but it's not a rivalry -- largely, IMO, because the respect element is missing (and the history is comparatively short).  And despite the fact that BC and ND are the only FBS Catholic universities, Frank Lahey coached at both, and BC of late had won a few games at ND's expense, only BC thinks its a rivalry.  Is USC's true rival ND or UCLA?  Michigan State's rival is UM, but UM's is OSU (and OSU's is UM).

IMO Detroit is a recent phenomenon and once one or both of the McCallums are gone no one at Valpo would get psyched about a UDM game.  And while there is a dislike there now due to recent incidents, there just is no history and respect, while there is with UWM and, yes, Oakland if/when(?) they come aboard.  Will we enjoy beating Detroit?  Sure, I'm thinking the satisfaction might be of a different ilk.

I'll politely disagree. As somebody who has family that went to ND and has friends on the faculty, I can assure you the Miami game is as big or bigger than the USC game. There is true distain for Miami and the only reason that series was cancelled in the first place was because it was becoming too heated with fights in the tunnels and quotes like this..."save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me" - Lou Holtz. The presidents of the university decided it was time for a break. Heck, the Miami bowl game even brought back the old Catholics vs. Convicts t-shirt...and I know this because I own one.