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And I will acknowledge the advantage over the 2 seed is pretty much gone.

I think that the advantage actually shifts to the 2 seed when either OU or UDM earns that seed.

Olympia said there would be "growing pains" and there is "lots of work to do" -- see above advance ticket sales numbers. They are hoping for an OU-Detroit final.   

Nice to see that the folks who are putting on the "Neutral Site" HL Tournament are remaining neutral. 

That's a fair point, Valporun, but would have been an incorrect assumption in my daughter's case.  Of the final list of schools she is considering, 2 of them are in Indiana.  If memory serves, Valpo and Purdue are the only D1 schools in Indiana that she never heard from.     

I've also wondered about the University's commitment level to the track program.  Of course, the fact that we never even had a track until recently helped shape that opinion.  I've met Coach Moore, Coach Straubel, and Coach Pukstys before and was very impressed by each of them.  If there is a problem, I really don't think it comes from the coaching staff. 

Recently, I've started to wonder about the resources Coach Moore is given to work with, particularly his recruiting budget. My daughter is currently a senior in high school and is being recruited by several mid and high major D1 track and field programs from across the country.  Despite her being in Valpo's own back yard, she has never heard from them.  It's not sour grapes; she has always wanted to attend a larger school, so VU was never an option for her.  It's just odd that they never even contacted her to find that out.     

I'm so sorry to hear that.  I will definitely keep him and his family in my prayers.

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?   

Here are two questions I would like to get everyone's feelings on.

1.  If Mercy or Oakland try to play a regular season game at the Joe Louis Arena should the HL forbid them? 

2.  Would must of us be as upset  about the neutral location if Chicago hosted? 

1. If the HL wants to maintain the pretext of Joe Louis Arena being a neutral site, then they should not allow UDM or OU to use the arena as a home court during the regular season.

2. No, I would not be as upset, but only for purely selfish reasons.  I would certainly understand if other schools or their fans complained that the site was not neutral.  I would also prefer the current (I mean former) format over a Chicago tournament because of the great atmosphere that our tournament creates every year.  I hope that I'm wrong, but I fear that the HL will never create that electricity at a neutral site, regardless of the location.

There may be one other question to ask:  If the 20K per team is supposed to help offset travel costs, should UDM and OU get a full share?

I think we all want to add a few schools to the HL that we can be proud to have in the conference.  I also think having a true neutral site tournament down the road (Indy) is in the HL's long term best interest. 

If conference expansion is the driver of this move, then the new schools better be along the lines of UAB, Belmont or Murray State.  If the net gain is a school along the lines of a IPFW, IUPUI or Northern Kentucky, then this move is a joke.

The big problem I have with all the whining amongst everyone is that you want to be considered a better league, then you need to accept the neutral site games.  The nice thing is that anyone who wants to support the league will know they need to be in Detroit/Chi-town/Indy for the specific weekend before the season starts.

Even if BigD is correct, 5 straight years in Detroit is not "neutral".  It may be about as far from neutral as it can be.  You and OU will have recruiting classes that will never have to play an "away" tournament game for their entire careers.  For everyone else, it will be just the opposite. 

I think there is another side to this discussion.  I never went but some of the older guys on this forum did go to the tournaments held at neutral sites like Kansas City.  I don't really think the Tulsa tourneys count in that regard.  I think the sentiment is that those days brought fans from every school and had a more "tournament" like atmosphere.  I understand the lowly number of fans at title games if someone other than, in the Detroit case, OU or UDM was playing.  Still, playing at a site in a major city certainly would draw more folks then trying to get folks from Cleveland or Detroit to come and spend a few days in Valpo--no knock on the City of Valparaiso--but to fans from larger cities it would seem hard to imagine what to do with spare time.

I see your point, 72, but I don't believe that concern for the fan experience or tournament atmosphere has anything to do with this.  If that were the case, cities like Indy or Cincy would be much more attractive destinations for fans while also being more neutral geographically.  This is a money grab, plain and simple. 

This is just another step in the long, torturous decline of the Horizon League.  If the rumors about Northern Kentucky and this are true, I can see us winning the HL regular season crown next year, having our RPI trashed by having to play teams like NKU, YSU, and UIC twice, and being rewarded with a "neutral site" tourney game against OU or UDM in Detroit.   We need to do whatever is necessary to move on to a conference like the MVC (or just about any conference not run by LeCrone). 

Trey Lewis announced today that he will be transferring to Louisville.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2015/04/07/ex-cleveland-state-guard-trey-lewis-announces-plan-transfer-louisville/25403987/

Someone on the CSU board mentioned Louisville as a possible destination for Lewis.

Facility needs: First off, I can't help but think that it is easy to build strong arguments to spend someone else's money.

While that's a fair point, I think that this conversation has always been about more than that.  It was the Valpo Administration that made the step up to the Horizon and at least considered the possibility of stepping up again to the Valley.  It is clear that the Administration wants to upgrade the athletic profile of the University just like many on this board. In this day and age, the simple truth is that an upgrade in the athletic profile can't be based purely on the success of the Drew family.  It requires capital spending on facilities.  This needs to start with the signature revenue sport.  VU can't have it both ways.  Either invest in the future or fall further behind.     

Which job do we worry about next?

If the Leitao news is true (I'll believe it when they introduce him at the presser), that's a relief...for now.

Worrying about the next job could be pretty consuming.  Bryce is too classy and too loyal to go after just any job that might be perceived as a step up, and that is a big part of why he is so well regarded.  There will continue to be suitors trying to convince him that their job is "special". At some point, the right opportunity will come along for Bryce and his family.  When that happens, I will be grateful for all he has done for VU and will wish him and his family the best.

In the mean time, I think that we shouldn't worry about those things that we can't control, like who comes calling next.  I think that the job we should "worry about" is the Valpo job.  Not to hijack the thread, but we need to leverage the talent and success on the court,  the quality and stability of the coaching staff, and make the investments necessary to help the program reach its potential going forward.  Many would argue that we missed a chance to do that after the Sweet Sixteen run, so I'm hoping that mh and ml will do the things necessary to make sure that history does not repeat itself.  The Valpo administrators need to make this job a "special" one.

Man, when did Valpo fans get so angry about everything? I think many of the posters on here need to watch this. Pay particular attention to the part about "we never beat our chests" and "we didn't scare so easily."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zqOYBabXmA

+1 

While on the subject of track, my daughter attended the shot put clinic at VU this past Sunday.  I came away very impressed with Coach Moore and Coach Pukstys.  They are extremely knowledgeable and both seem to be great guys.  They also did a fantastic job working with the kids.  Give ML credit; he seems to have a knack for finding quality coaches for all of our athletic teams.  Hopefully this is the right place for this post.

http://michiganstate.247sports.com/Board/93/tOfficial-Valpo-look-a-like-thread-17539420/1

^ That link is hilarious.  Here is another with a forum discussion about Valpo.

http://michiganstate.247sports.com/Board/93/Get-To-Know-Valpo-17542615/1

+1   Looks like you guys have a lot of fun over there.

I believe that we will still get the #1 seed, as our guys will win the next 3, and come out to play at GB.   

+1  I believe in this team.  They will bounce back.   Tonight was tough. but we're still in the driver's seat.

Your move, VU.  Are you now going to give the guy a facility worth a damn to work with so he can build a program here or not?

Agreed.  The time to commit to building a top mid-major program is now.  If the Administration doesn't see it that way, then no one can fault Bryce for looking at other options.

So..................does anyone have any more info about Vashil Fernandez?  

I respect Homer and think he did a great job this year, but I just can't get behind the idea that the Bracketbuster game had such a negative impact on the team.  I know that we played a lot of games down the stretch and that could have contibuted to our problems.  What I can't understand is if the coaches truly felt that the Bracketbuster was a negative and the team had tired legs, why didn't we rest some key players against Missouri State?  The minutes breakdown against Missouri State looks a lot like the breakdown for many games this year:

## Player Name            MIN v. MISSOURI ST.
04 JOHNSON, Cory................. 24
45 BROEKHOFF, Ryan........... 26
14 LITTLE, Howard.............. 29
15 BUGGS, Erik................... 26
32 WOOD, Brandon.................32
01 ROGERS, Michael............. 14
05 WITT, Cameron....... ......... 2
22 HARRIS, Jay......... ........... 13
23 KENNEY, Matt......... .........21
55 VAN WIJK, Kevin...... ........13

This game was marketed by the Athletics Department as a major event with Dick Vitale and ESPN coming to the ARC.  Homer even met, Dicky V. at the airport.  We treated it as a big game, we played our players like it was a big game, and now we're complaining that the game did more harm than good.  Sorry, but it sounds like we're making excuses for a team that had a fine season, but simply faltered down the stretch.

Here, and ready for more hoops!