Challenges at Milwaukee

[vu72]

I apologize in advance if this has surfaced in other posts (I'm sure I'll hear about it!) but I came across this article on the Horizon League site concerning the newly placed AD who is replacing Andy Geiger.

For a state school, they need a bunch of stuff so we aren't alone in this.  They apparently will be back at US Cellular after experimenting with playing back on campus at the Kolache (sp?)

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/panthers/braun-will-build-carefully-at-uwm-kf9ui2d-207641181.html

[bbtds]

Bet they get all three done before Valpo completes one new athletic building just for sports. That doesn't include a remodel of the ARC.

But of course I digress. Valpo is what it is and I love it for it's greatness and it's faults.

When I recently read the piece on the history of Valpo and found out that the patriarch of Valpo, Henry Baker Brown, didn't see a need for sports or games, it's sometimes a wonder that Valpo ever made it to Div. I sports.

I looked up Brown on the internet and found the amazing fact that he was buried across US 30 from VU in Graceland Cemetery and has been watching the growth of his university from what is very close proximity.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22205971

I would also guess that Axe Ave near VU was named for his wife Neva W. Axe Baker.

[wh]

I don't think that moving to the Klotsche Center had anything to do with the current decline of the men's basketball program.  As far as I know, everyone on the '12-13 team was recruited when they were still playing at US Cellular.  The move to the Klotsche may be making recruiting even more difficult now, but my suspicion is that they have more to fix than just returning to the Cell.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I would also guess that Axe Ave near VU was named for his wife Neva W. Axe Baker.

i don't know who you should axe about that.

Andy Geiger, we hardly knew ye.

[wh]

I think there are significant challenges at 3 HL schools right now - Milwaukee, Detroit and Green Bay - that depending on the outcome could diminish the standing of the conference more than losing Butler.  As mentioned previously the men's basketball program at Milwaukee is in serious decline with multiple issues to work through.  Detroit is still working through the effects of a major scandal, and the Wardle "bullying" issue could have serious ramifications for the future of the GB men's program.  Regardless of who the HL adds or doesn't add, we need the best that every current member program can deliver in order to maintain and elevate the standing and reputation of the league. No conference can have a third of its members dealing with multiple self-inflicted wounds and not suffer the effects.   

[historyman]

It does make you go hmmmmm when you think about which school has a better future in athletics, Loyola or Valpo?