Student Section of the Year Voting

[agibson]

if you close your voting tab (after voting) and come back to the link on this page, then you can vote multiple times.  I've been voting about 20x a day for Bryce!

I've been wondering how they handled that.  I didn't see any rules.  Nor do I see any clear indication that my vote (or votes) is counting - no running total, etc.

Are you sure all of your votes are counting?

[govalpogo]

I'm not sure, no, but it does say "thank you for your vote"  each time.

[HC]

Pathetic showing tonight by the Valparaizone....Good thing voting is about over because they lost my vote.

[truth219]

Yeah pathetic really...pretty empty everywhere

[mvandersee]

Criticize if you want, but just realize there's a lot of stuff happening around campus right now with this being a big exam/paper week plus a gala tonight for one of Phi Mu Alpha's brothers who died in Afghanistan. There are actually bigger things in life than making it to one basketball game, whether you guys believe it or not...

[bbtds]

Yeah pathetic really...pretty empty everywhere

I guess it's appropriate then that the Valparaizone was passed by the Venturous Bonnies. Now in 7th place.

[vu72]

Pathetic showing tonight by the Valparaizone....Good thing voting is about over because they lost my vote.

Understand you sentiment and I also wish the "zone" was packed at every game. Still, as our young friend pointed out, there are other things in life or death, as the case may be.  Not sure if you are a Valpo grad, but getting in is one thing, getting out is quite another.  KEEP VOTING!!

[mvandersee]

The vote is all about school spirit, it would be nice to see the community get more involved with VU events sometimes, this is a great opportunity for it to happen

[HC]

Here we go again....anywho....excited to see the Zone bring it when Detroit rolls into town. I bet Valpo gong gets a booster, if voting is still open, after that night.

[hailcrusaders]

Isn't there voting in phase II as well? If that's the case we cannot stop voting now, regardless of your displeasure for the attendance tonight. If anything, vote out of school pride and for the scholarship VU gets if we win.

And as a student, I can vouch for all the exams this week. After all, VU is an academic institution and I hope you understand that well enough to keep supporting the Valparaizone.

[valporun]

Tuesday nights are also nights for major labs. Just because the basketball team has a game on Tuesday night doesn't mean the university has to stop everything so all students can go to the game.

[valpotx]

We had the same schedules, but still managed to have a lot of students at each home game.  I was disappointed as well, as I have been for several games.  I understand there is more to life than basketball, but also in life, you have to be able to juggle many things at once.  I thrived in undergrad doing a full class load and 20-30+ hours/week in baseball (still attending every home basketball game for at least a half), and after that, worked full-time and went to MBA classes at TCU at night for 2 1/2 years (2007-2009), which was a 45 minute drive from where I worked each day.  Yet, I still managed to get out and do things other than just work and study.  If you are a fan and true supporter, you make sure you get everything done around watching your team, to be able to support them as best as you can...not just for TV cameras

[valpopal]

I think excuses don't explain a poor turnout since we all know that many more students would have found a way to attend had the game been on ESPN or the opponent been someone like Butler. Still, I give credit to those students in attendance last night, who were energetic and loud. A special salute goes to the fans who performed with the Crusaderettes at halftime:

[valpotx]

Of course, I am sure there is a dedicated bunch that makes each game, and they are to be commended.  I have never liked fair-weather fans, or those that go for TV purposes.  The Mavs have been absolutely terrible this year for various reasons, and I still go to several of those games, even with us probably missing the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.

[talksalot]

I voted all of my emals a few minutes ago... and yes, the bonnies passed us... They must have done some sort of email blast to their alumni... for that kind of spike...

As for the students?  Sorry Tx, but there are dozens of additional night classes this year that have never been night classes before.  Remember the comments about the NIU game last November on a TUESDAY?  The analysis said that more students would miss class to attend a night game than would miss to attend a morning game... Ta Da!   

As for the voting... all we need to be is in the top 16 to "move forward in the competition"... lets see what they roll out tomorrow since today is the last day to vote in round 1...

and after that game last night?  I'm guessing there are a lot of students who say they watched it... but did not come to the arc.... a great performance by the guys! 

[valpotx]

I can understand night classes, but are you truly saying that it is hard for a few hundred students to come to a mid-week game out of a student population of 4,000?  Obviously, there are many people that probably don't care about sports...but how large are our student stands anyways?  It can't be more than 300 or so?  Unless the timing of night classes changed, I believe they start at 7 pm?  Therefore, they could always come for the last 10 minutes of the game if they are true fans...I did that after my night classes.

[agibson]

The Bonnies up to #5!  Passing Gonzaga.  Valpo's still at #7.

[truth219]

Let's be honest, do you really think we have one of the top ten student sections n the country...I mean the excuses that the student section was half full on Tuesday were comical. I mean I watch games every night and besides on winter break you don't see a poor student turn out much. Sure they are on tv but still. I mean knowing that we were in the hunt for best student sections and the students did show up....I'm afraid this contest means more to alums and fans than it does to the actual student body

[hailcrusaders]

Let's be honest, do you really think we have one of the top ten student sections n the country...I mean the excuses that the student section was half full on Tuesday were comical. I mean I watch games every night and besides on winter break you don't see a poor student turn out much. Sure they are on tv but still. I mean knowing that we were in the hunt for best student sections and the students did show up....I'm afraid this contest means more to alums and fans than it does to the actual student body

I'm a bit confused as to your point. So our student section is NOT top ten and puts out comical excuses? But then you don't see a poor student turnout except over break. So are we good, or not?

I definitely can't speak for everyone but I voted 45 times through three different email accounts, out of pride, loyalty, and if nothing else for the scholarship VU gets if we win. I don't think anyone is claiming we (or St. Bonnie's for that matter) outcheer IU, Purdue, or Kansas.

Also I see the I Love College Hoops link shared around on Facebook nearly daily. There is no way VU could have outvoted so many bigger public schools without SOME student support. 

[KL31NY]

It's one thing to vote your way into the Top Ten. It's another to be a Top Ten student section. I admit, it's fun to see the votes coming in just to see what we can get out of this, but I'm still not perfectly sure how to feel about the result. I haven't voted for this personally, and come to think of it, I share a lot of these kind of things without even voting myself. Guess I've got other things to do

Perhaps the biggest reason I'm not all "gung ho" about this is that I remember too many days where the section has been pitiful. I was in a student section of about 20 for a Sunday game with Green Bay a couple years back. Another game a year earlier we had less than 40. I even wrote a Torch article about the lack of consistent support.

In my opinion, it has been better this year. Just seeing it more than half full for a non-TV game makes me happy enough, but I can't wait for the days when it's always full like it should be.

[valpopal]

I have praised the student section on this board a few times for their support this year, but I can't buy the excuses for the weaker attendance at the UIC game. The reasons given were that Tuesdays are a bad night because of classes and that it was a big week for exams/papers. Well, the final regular season home game, which will be Senior Night for six players, is also on a Tuesday evening and in the final week before Spring Break, which is a time when even more exams and papers are scheduled. If those excuses given are accurate, we would expect a low turnout for the Senior Night game similar to what we had against UIC. I don't expect that to happen.

[valpotx]

If you can't take 1-2 hours out of your week to support a team that you say you are a fan of, you are not a fan.  In a homestand, that maybe becomes 2-4 hours in a week (if you catch at least one half in each).  An absolutely pitiful excuse to not attend a home game, as you should be able to better balance your homework and studying.  If you can't do that now, you are going to struggle when it comes time to get outside the college 'bubble,' and succeed in the real world. 

[talksalot]

I had not seen anyone post the rules... now that we are firmly ensconced into Round 2... here are the official rules:

6. Winner Determination:
a. School Winners:
i. First Prize Winners: After the conclusion of Voting Phase 1, the school with the most votes from each of the twenty nine (29) conferences, listed below, during Voting Phase 1, will be a potential First Prize winner. Conferences include: America East Conference, Atlantic 10 Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Atlantic Sun Conference, Big 12 Conference, Big East Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Conference USA, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Mountain West Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Pacific-12 Conference, Patriot League, Southeastern Conference, Southern Conference, Southwestern Athletic Conference, Sun Belt Conference, The Summit League, West Coast Conference, and Western Athletic Conference. In the event of a tie, the school that received all votes first will be deemed the potential First Prize winner for the applicable conference.
ii. Grand Prize Winner: After the conclusion of Voting Phase 1, the sixteen (16) schools with the highest vote totals will appear in an online gallery for public voting as described in Section 5a during Voting Phase 2. After the conclusion of Voting Phase 2, [FEB 8 - FEB 22] the eight (8) schools with the highest vote totals (each a "Finalist") will be evaluated by the Naismith Board, based on the judging criteria listed below.
o Does the Student Section have a name? (10 points)
o Does the Student Section coordinate its attire? (10 points)
o Average attendance for student section as compared to overall seating capacity of the venue (up to 10 points, scaled based on ratio of attendance to allowable tickets)
o Spirit captured by photo submission portion of the nomination. (up to 10 points, scale of 1-10)
o Spirit captured by video submission portion of the nomination. (up to 10 points, scale of 1-10)
o Rank based on the results of Voting Phase II (up to 10 points, top vote getter receives 10 points, second gets 9, etc.)
o Review of paragraph explaining why student section should win which was included in the nomination. (up to 10 points)
The Finalist that received the highest score from the Naismith Board will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner. In the event of a tie, the Finalist which received the highest score for Spirit captured by photo submission portion of the nomination, as determined by the Naismith Board, in their sole discretion, will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner.
b. Sharing Prize Winners: The twenty five (25) registants who have accumulated the most points at the end of Voting Phase 2 will be potential Sharing Prize winners.

[govalpogo]

This vote is about school spirit and our student section, which-when full-is pretty awesome. Do I think they really belong in the top 10?  Probably not, BUT getting an award from a contest like this can give future students a reputation to live up to.  I know that it was hard during my tenure (07-11) to get my friends to be really excited about any Valpo Sports.  Even when we were in 1st place in the HL my senior year, people would still say stuff like, "yeah, but it's Valpo."  "What's the CBI?"  "What's the CIT?"  To be honest, one 9-22 season does way more damage than a string of 20+ win seasons does good and I think we are just now recovering student section wise from that year.

I think we are definitely on an upswing, but an NCAA tourney appearance is needed THIS YEAR to keep momentum.  Get back to the tourney regularly like we did in TX's time and the students will come.  So, do we belong in the top 10 right now, nah.  but CAN the ARC be a top 10 atmosphere...I believe it can.  Spoken from one who now stands on occasion with the Cameron Crazies.     

[hailcrusaders]

First, let me say that I was at the game Tuesday, and plan on attending every game that I possibly can, exams or no. So I'm not trying to defend my own absence, and don't have anything personal invested in this debate. I was also disappointed in the low turnout for Tuesday's game, and did my best to talk as many of my friends into going as possible.

That being said.... I think our expectations here are a juuuust a touch high.

If you can't take 1-2 hours out of your week to support a team that you say you are a fan of, you are not a fan.  In a homestand, that maybe becomes 2-4 hours in a week (if you catch at least one half in each).  An absolutely pitiful excuse to not attend a home game, as you should be able to better balance your homework and studying.  If you can't do that now, you are going to struggle when it comes time to get outside the college 'bubble,' and succeed in the real world. 

I don't think one forfeits their fandom for missing a game. If that's the case, there are precious few true fans at this school, or any school. Nor do I think that consistent basketball attendance is an accurate reflection of success in the "real world." A "bad" student who won't succeed in the real world would have forgone studying at all and went to the game anyway, to butler with exams. Spending the night studying at the library instead of the ARC, as avoidable as it is, shows that the student's priorities at the end of the day are with their schoolwork, where they should be. Could/Should they have gone? Probably. But are they a bad student for not? No, quite the opposite, in my opinion.

I have praised the student section on this board a few times for their support this year, but I can't buy the excuses for the weaker attendance at the UIC game. The reasons given were that Tuesdays are a bad night because of classes and that it was a big week for exams/papers. Well, the final regular season home game, which will be Senior Night for six players, is also on a Tuesday evening and in the final week before Spring Break, which is a time when even more exams and papers are scheduled. If those excuses given are accurate, we would expect a low turnout for the Senior Night game similar to what we had against UIC. I don't expect that to happen.

Apples to oranges here. Yes, Tuesday game, exams, etc. still apply, but just the fact that it's senior night, the last regular season home game of the year will draw a higher crowd. The YSU game will have more hype. There may also be t-shirt giveaways, etc. And any student who remembers harassing the sanity out of Jerry Slocum last year will want to witness that again. Last, but certainly not least, that could be the game in which we clinch the HL. All of which are factors that were not applicable to the UIC game.

As I read the Round 2 rules, apparently there is another round of voting. The top 8 schools get judged by this Naismith Board on other criteria. So it appears that if we don't vote our way into the top 8 again, nothing else matters. So how about we keep voting like last round?

The game Tuesday night was (and will be) the most poorly attended out of any home game this year while school is in session. Please don't write the Valparaizone off because of one night.