Loyola invited to MVC per an AP story

[talksalot]

Just a thought... can it be a shiny new car?  I thought they stopped making Ramblers years ago...

[bbtds]

Just a thought... can it be a shiny new car?  I thought they stopped making Ramblers years ago...

Taking the old Rambler out of the garage to see how it really looks!!!!!    

[valpotx]

Our loss against Indy in 2009-2010 is just a tad bit different than their loss against Lewis.  Indy is a better program overall, and we had just received two very high profile defections in Bouchie and Haanpaa, players that were going to be key to a solid season.

[wh]

Nice warm welcome from Wichita (both clips are worth a look):


http://www.kwch.com/sports/valley-welcomes-newest-member/-/21054560/22727182/-/4afryl/-/index.html

http://www.kwch.com/sports/loyola-who/-/21054560/22726518/-/4tqv0p/-/index.html


I don't think Butler people were even this condescending.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I don't think Butler people were even this condescending.

sure weren't that blonde either

[vu72]

It was a bit harsh.  Heck, Shelvin Mack didn't know Butler had a football team!  The other side of this ego trip is the fact that they are located in WICHITA!  Have you guys been there?  I have, several times.  It is flat, desolate, windy and NOT an hour away from anything!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

It is flat, desolate, windy and NOT an hour away from anything!

shocker

[a3uge]

Nice warm welcome from Wichita (both clips are worth a look):


http://www.kwch.com/sports/valley-welcomes-newest-member/-/21054560/22727182/-/4afryl/-/index.html

http://www.kwch.com/sports/loyola-who/-/21054560/22726518/-/4tqv0p/-/index.html


I don't think Butler people were even this condescending.

Lol.

It seemed like the coaches and players (Ron Baker is cool) were going out of their way to find an upside in bringing Loyola in. Kind of like a postgame interview where you have to explain Josh Freeman as your starting quarterback.

It is flat, desolate, windy and NOT an hour away from anything!

shocker

Well played.

[valpotx]

The one girl is correct in saying that they are a D-3 team 

[bbtds]

The one girl is correct in saying that they are a D-3 team 

Some Loyola people would say she was just rambling when caught off guard by the TV reporter. 


A Rambling Man

[zvillehaze]

Nice warm welcome from Wichita (both clips are worth a look):

http://www.kwch.com/sports/valley-welcomes-newest-member/-/21054560/22727182/-/4afryl/-/index.html

http://www.kwch.com/sports/loyola-who/-/21054560/22726518/-/4tqv0p/-/index.html

I don't think Butler people were even this condescending.

The comment that "Ramblers" came from playing home games at multiple locations is wrong, but isn't too far from the truth.  When I was in school in the early '80's, Butler played them at four different locations ... Alumni Gym (former Loyola campus arena), McGaw Memorial Hall (Northwestern campus; renamed Welsh-Ryan Arena in '83), UIC Pavilion and Alumni Hall (on campus of DePaul).  Later in the '80's, they also played games at the Amphitheatre in Chicago.

The multiple locations were driven by a Midwestern Cities Conference rule in '82 stating that conference games had to be in a venue seating at least 7,500.  That moved Xavier from on campus to the Cincinnati Gardens, Oklahoma City to The Myriad Center (off campus arena seating 15,000 ... average attendance closer to 200) and Loyola to whatever arena that would have them.

FWIW, I think the Horizon has done the right thing by letting teams play in smaller venues.  As many Valpo fans have pointed out, if you're going to draw 3,000 fans, it's better having them in a 5,000 seat gym versus a 10,000 seat arena.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

since drawing fans is so important to team success, i think it important that i share what i've been working on this past offseason

[talksalot]

ok, that's pretty good.  Hope it doesn't put a ceiling on the number of fans we have...

[bbtds]

Well, we all know that being a Valpo fan is like being on a merri-go-round. Maybe this men's basketball team will blow us away.

[wh]

I see not much has changed for the Ramblers:

http://www.mvcfans.com/wp/

[Vinny]

and here we are a year and half later with no progress or even promise except a running track that makes the university a little closer to valpo high in regards to facilities. It's just a matter of time before valpo is fortunate to have the horizon league and not the other way around. Other schools are bettering themselves. Valpo is obviously okay being middle of the road or lower.

Laugh at the ramblers all you want but take a look around the athletic buildings in valpo to see why our best days are behind us. "The shot" was last century. Time for the crusaders to get a new attraction.

[valpotx]

What do you truly expect in 1 1/2 years??  A completely new basketball arena to have been built?  Such an uninformed comment, when considering how many new buildings have been built overall at Valpo in the last few years, including several renovations/new building announcements related to several sports (Football, tennis, field house, etc).

[wh]

and here we are a year and half later with no progress or even promise except a running track that makes the university a little closer to valpo high in regards to facilities. It's just a matter of time before valpo is fortunate to have the horizon league and not the other way around. Other schools are bettering themselves. Valpo is obviously okay being middle of the road or lower.

Laugh at the ramblers all you want but take a look around the athletic buildings in valpo to see why our best days are behind us. "The shot" was last century. Time for the crusaders to get a new attraction.

I think most everyone associated with Valpo athletics understands that rehabbing or rebuilding the ARC is critical to Valpo's basketball future.  I have said repeatedly that we are living on borrowed time.  That said, Loyola certainly isn't doing anything to help make the case for new facilities.  They were a bottom feeder in the HL before they transformed the Gentile Center, they were a bottom feeder when they left the HL 2 years after the rebuild, and they remain a bottom feeder in the MVC today in their 4th season with a rehabbed venue.

[Vinny]

i was back on campus for homecoming and while the new weight room is a baby step in the right direction, it was needed years ago.  Valpo has something like 20 sports and until this year used the one weight room in the arc? Brown field is still nothing more than a hs facility. I didn't notice anything different at the tennis courts except screens on the fences that finally have the new shield. I'd be happy to admit im wrong if I missed something there.

Speaking of the field house when is construction supposed to begin? these things look fancy on paper but can we expect it to be up and running in 10 years? what's the cost and will the university pitch in? I haven't heard much news on the field house/parking garage. I'm anxious but don't want to get disappointed. Athletics at valpo have taken a back seat for so long.

[bbtds]

Keep the groundswell going. It's gonna take investors but just as the Christopher relative who donated in honor of his hs track coach there will be donors if they know enough people connected with VU want this to happen.

Keep talking so the investors/donators have to come through.

[vu72]

and here we are a year and half later with no progress or even promise except a running track that makes the university a little closer to valpo high in regards to facilities. It's just a matter of time before valpo is fortunate to have the horizon league and not the other way around. Other schools are bettering themselves. Valpo is obviously okay being middle of the road or lower.

Laugh at the ramblers all you want but take a look around the athletic buildings in valpo to see why our best days are behind us. "The shot" was last century. Time for the crusaders to get a new attraction.

I think Vinny needs a little refresher course in what has happened at Valpo since "the Shot".  Oh, and by the way, before you belittle the new track, remember that Loyola's track team still needs one!

So let's go back to 1998 and see what has happened to the athletic facilities since then.

Football/Brown Field (affecting Men's and Women's Soccer as well)
1. 2008  New Artificial Turf installed
2. 2008  New Scoreboard
3. 2010  New Lights
4. 2014 New Weight Room for Football
5. 2014 New Track

Basketball
1. Completion of renovated Hill Top as dedicated practice facility
2. 2010 New Floor
3. 2010 Mosiak Performance Center for Varsity Athletes
4. 2011 New Scoreboard

Baseball
1. 2001 New Clubhouse/ offices/ hitting cages/team room/locker rooms
2. 2008 New wooden fence and flagpole
3. 2011 New visitor's dugout
4. 2014 additional seating added

Softball
1. 2003 New Field on campus
2. 2011 New grandstand including chairback seating and concession stand
3. 2015 addition of restroom facilities

Tennis
1. 2006 Entirely new 12 court facility
2. 2014 addition of new wind screens
3. 2015 Locker rooms and restrooms to be added

General Students
1. 2010 New Fitness Center opens

Now, to attract not just athletes but quality students to cheer on those athletes, just a few changes have occurred on campus since "The Shot"
1. 2004 $33,000,000 Christopher Center
2. 2005 Kalley-Christopher Center for Meteorology and Geography
3. 2009 $74,000,000 Harre Union
4. 2013 Fites Addition to Engineering
5. 2013 Solar Energy Research Facility
6. 2013 New Arts and Sciences Building
7. 2014 New Welcome Center
8. 2014 Beacon Hall
9. 2015 Completion of $15,000,000 addition to the Chapel
10. Significant addition to the University's Endowment

I know I've missed some things.  All this with a living alumni base of less than 50,000.  Has Loyola built as much in the same time frame?

[bbtds]

Has Loyola built as much in the same time frame?

You really need to go see what has been added next to the lake in Rogers Park. There are no remodels up there. They are all brand new facilities with probably 10 times the money spent.

The library doesn't compare to Valpo's but all the other facilities are so much better. The only real remodel was the Gentile Center. You could never beat the views of the lake.





Chapel, science building and library




Medical School




Obviously a much greater number of people involved.

[vu72]

Has Loyola built as much in the same time frame?

You really need to go see what has been added next to the lake in Rogers Park. There are no remodels up there. They are all brand new facilities with probably 10 times the money spent.

The library doesn't compare to Valpo's but all the other facilities are so much better. The only real remodel was the Gentile Center. You could never beat the views of the lake.

They also have an enrollment nearly 4X Valpo's with 3 times as many living alumni, 85,000 of whom live in Chicago.  You'd think they could get a few thousand fans to fill their whopping 5200 seat Gentile Center. Maybe the players are too busy looking at the lake to make any baskets!   

[valpotx]

Hmm, didn't even know that we added baseball seating!  I am happy with our investments as a University, and think that they will pay off in regards to athletics soon.

[wh]

Has Loyola built as much in the same time frame?

You really need to go see what has been added next to the lake in Rogers Park. There are no remodels up there. They are all brand new facilities with probably 10 times the money spent.

Once upon a time a group of university presidents from the outer lands came upon a big city. To a man, they were bedazzled by all the pretty buildings, the sleek sail boats on the sparkly lake and the colorful lights resonating from the giant buildings to the south. In unison they cried, "Surely this place will carry us to the basketball promised land!"  And they all lived happily thereafter. The end.