Northern Kentucky to Join Horizon League

[VULB#62]

So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.

Might you be confusing LeCrone with the Commish (out of Detroit)?

[bbtds]

So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.

Might you be confusing LeCrone with the Commish (out of Detroit)?

Yep, lives in Indianapolis area and works downtown next to the Indiana Convention Center on S. Capitol Ave. This is in the Pan Am Plaza Building.

http://tinyurl.com/m8a4ghy


Lucas Oil Stadium is south of the convention center on S. Capitol Ave on the south side of South St. You can barely see it in this streetview looking south on Capitol Ave.

The most prevelent thing is this view is the railroad bridge behind the Indiana Convention Center and the parking garage. This is where the NFL combine is held.

http://tinyurl.com/q3yprvt

Looking north from Lucas Oil Stadium you can see the JW Marriott on the left and the Indiana Convention Center on the west side of Capitol Ave. The HL offices are on the right side of Capitol Ave.

http://tinyurl.com/kja5rch

If you turn the image directly south from this view you will see you are standing next to Lucas Oil Stadium.


Commish is a poster that is a fan of Detroit-Mercy.

[agibson]

Found this perusing other HL fan message boards today:

http://norseforce.proboards.com/

NKU's fan message board.

Looks brand new?  11 members?

[a3uge]

"Valpo Fan Zone has good graphics and lots of conversation, but heavy on unrealistic homer talk. But hey, its where you can go to get Valpo info. After Detroit Titans Hoops, the most active board in the league. There are some genuinely witty posters here, which compensates for the homerism. The intellectual quality speaks well of the University: www.valpofanzone.com/forum/


Read more: http://norseforce.proboards.com/thread/6/horizon-league-links#ixzz3aXzhx3jj"

Unrealistic homer talk? As if!

[historyman]

Unrealistic homer talk? As if!

Yeah, we all know Valpo fans are too intelligent for homerism. The only real homerism on the Valpo board is Homer-Drewism.

[valpotx]

Is it Homerism when you have pretty much owned the league in 3 of the last 4 seasons, and probably the next 2?  I call that justified...

[a3uge]

Yeah but we can't beat Nebraska tho, so we suck.

[VULB#62]

Or Missouri. 

[Kyle321n]

Or any power conference team*


*-note UCF doesn't count because we beat them but don't bring them up because they aren't a traditional power conference team

[vu72]

Or any power conference team*


*-note UCF doesn't count because we beat them but don't bring them up because they aren't a traditional power conference team

So a conference containing Cincinnati, U Conn, Memphis and Temple don't qualify?  Nice definition.   

[Kyle321n]

So a conference containing Cincinnati, U Conn, Memphis and Temple don't qualify?  Nice definition.   

You seemed to have missed the sarcasm dripping from the previous two comments as well. We don't suck because we can't beat a power conference.

[valpo64]

Now that NKU is in the HL, I hear that one of their top players is transferring?  True?  What does that say about NKU's move?

[IndyValpo]

They did lose a good freshman who averaged 13+ points per game. He signed with Ball State. NKU also fired their coach.

http://www.kokomotribune.com/news/local_news/persons-commits-to-transfer-to-ball-state/article_dac41ff2-fb6c-11e4-8eb0-9b544015610d.html

[agibson]

We don't suck because we can't beat a power conference.

Unless we do, because we can't (or at least haven't lately).

[agibson]

They did lose a good freshman who averaged 13+ points per game. He signed with Ball State. NKU also fired their coach.

Indiana All-Star, ASun freshman of the year.

But this is all old news, right?  He left before the HL announcement.  NKU lost their coach before the HL announcement.  It's the new coach that brought in Nored.

The only new news is that the freshman that left NKU signed with Ball State (?!).

[historyman]

They did lose a good freshman who averaged 13+ points per game. He signed with Ball State. NKU also fired their coach.

Indiana All-Star, ASun freshman of the year.

But this is all old news, right?  He left before the HL announcement.  NKU lost their coach before the HL announcement.  It's the new coach that brought in Nored.

The only new news is that the freshman that left NKU signed with Ball State (?!).

Yes. I think the only question is will we be playing Ball State and will they be vastly improved? We should have beaten them badly last year but played a tremendously poor first half and spent the rest of the game coming back for a slight 3 point win. The Cardinals had a final shot to tie but missed it. I think it will take a vastly improved Ball State team to beat Valpo. If we get in a challenge thing with the MAC I would be disappointed to be paired with Ball State.

[wh]

Trying to play catch-up after a hiatus. Does anyone know if the vote to add NKU was unanimous?  The HL announcement says,

The Horizon League Board of Directors has approved Northern Kentucky University's application to join the Horizon League.

Notice it does not say "unanimously approved," which typically is standard procedure as a public display of unity.

Specifically, I'm interested in how Valpo voted. If for whatever reason we voted against NKU in addition to voting against Detroit as the future sight for the HL tournament, that would constitute a complete repudiation by the league's top program of the future direction of the league.

[Big D]

Everyone including Valpo voted to add NKU.

[a3uge]

Everyone including Valpo voted to add NKU.

I'm really interested in how hard the Horizon was in pursuing Murray State and Belmont.

[wh]

Time lapse installation video of new NKU arena floor complete with HL logos:

! No longer available

[a3uge]

Very cool. Glad one team got its new court right (I'm looking at you Oakland)

[valpotx]

Just curious, but do court pieces essentially snap together nowadays?  I have never really thought about how a basketball court is laid, but it looks like they are essentially interconnected, not sealed together.

[classof2014]

Just curious, but do court pieces essentially snap together nowadays?  I have never really thought about how a basketball court is laid, but it looks like they are essentially interconnected, not sealed together.

I would imagine in most multi-purpose arenas in college and the NBA the floors are more or less squares of wood that are snapped together. This is done so the floor can be easily removed for other events, concerts, hockey, conferences, etc... While a smaller gym like Valpo is a legitimate wood floor that is lade plank-by-plank.

[agibson]

The Norse men and women's soccer teams host their home matches on Northern Kentucky University's campus at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Located in the front of campus adjacent to The Bank of Kentucky Center, the stadium welcomes Norse fans and the community alike.

The stadium opened in August of 2009. The $6.5 million soccer stadium offers a World Cup style 120-yard by 80-yard FieldTurf competition surface. With bleacher seating, the stadium is well-equipped to seat 1,000 spectators, plus additional space for standing room for a comfortable and enjoyable experience. The stadium also contains several other amenities including four team locker rooms, an officials' room, an office suite for the men's and women's soccer coaching staff, press box, athletic training facility, and a laundry and equipment storage area. The Founders' Room, located above the seating area overlooking the field, is a 1,000-square-foot luxury suite offering a VIP experience on game day and a comfortable and spacious meeting and event space throughout the year.  NOTE:  the NKU soccer stadium makes Brown Field look like a Middle school facility. http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219

The facility did look nice on ESPN3 video. Stand right up on the field, no football lines, etc. I think they even had two cameras for the broadcast, and pretty good camera work.

I am a little surprised at the small-ish number of seats.  There's definitely something to be said for an intimate environment, getting your fans to sit closer together, etc.

But Valpo gets 500-600 for some home games.  I'd like to hope we could get close to 1,000 if we hosted the HL tournament, or put together a good run of home games and wins some season.  (I'd like to think we could still host the tournament this year! I think we still control our own destiny, e.g. win out and I assume head-to-head over UIC would give us the tie-breaker for #1. We have games in hand over maybe every team in conference.)

NKU won the D2 national championship, I guess the year after their new facility opened. And, for the home games (they hosted the Midwest regional, with I guess the national finals taking place down the road in Louisville) they only drew ~700. But, at the D1 level, I'd hope it would be a bigger deal.

Makes me wonder if they built it with D1 expansion in mind, or not. To have a student population of 15,000, to build a very nice-looking soccer facility, and to give it only 1,000 seats seems... what's the opposite of aspirational?

Maybe standing room could pack in a significant additional number of fans.

[blackpantheruwm]

The Norse men and women's soccer teams host their home matches on Northern Kentucky University's campus at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Located in the front of campus adjacent to The Bank of Kentucky Center, the stadium welcomes Norse fans and the community alike.

The stadium opened in August of 2009. The $6.5 million soccer stadium offers a World Cup style 120-yard by 80-yard FieldTurf competition surface. With bleacher seating, the stadium is well-equipped to seat 1,000 spectators, plus additional space for standing room for a comfortable and enjoyable experience. The stadium also contains several other amenities including four team locker rooms, an officials' room, an office suite for the men's and women's soccer coaching staff, press box, athletic training facility, and a laundry and equipment storage area. The Founders' Room, located above the seating area overlooking the field, is a 1,000-square-foot luxury suite offering a VIP experience on game day and a comfortable and spacious meeting and event space throughout the year.  NOTE:  the NKU soccer stadium makes Brown Field look like a Middle school facility. http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219

The facility did look nice on ESPN3 video. Stand right up on the field, no football lines, etc. I think they even had two cameras for the broadcast, and pretty good camera work.

I am a little surprised at the small-ish number of seats.  There's definitely something to be said for an intimate environment, getting your fans to sit closer together, etc.

But Valpo gets 500-600 for some home games.  I'd like to hope we could get close to 1,000 if we hosted the HL tournament, or put together a good run of home games and wins some season.  (I'd like to think we could still host the tournament this year! I think we still control our own destiny, e.g. win out and I assume head-to-head over UIC would give us the tie-breaker for #1. We have games in hand over maybe every team in conference.)

NKU won the D2 national championship, I guess the year after their new facility opened. And, for the home games (they hosted the Midwest regional, with I guess the national finals taking place down the road in Louisville) they only drew ~700. But, at the D1 level, I'd hope it would be a bigger deal.

Makes me wonder if they built it with D1 expansion in mind, or not. To have a student population of 15,000, to build a very nice-looking soccer facility, and to give it only 1,000 seats seems... what's the opposite of aspirational?

Maybe standing room could pack in a significant additional number of fans.

I hope you get to experience a standing-room-only soccer match at VU. Our grandstand seats about 1,700, and when we surpass that number the atmosphere is unbelievable. We broke our school record for attendance this year by bringing in just over 4,000 for the Marquette match (always a sellout, but they almost doubled the seating capacity). It's crazy.