Union Street Hoops

[oklahomamick]

Where is the link to 14? 

[vu72]

Just listened.  Another great show.  Some of the conversation was about whether or not Alec's career needs another NCAA appearance and win (or two) to compare favorably to Bryce's, scoring records not withstanding.  Bryce went three times and lost in the first round once and went to the Sweet Sixteen his senior year.  Alec has been once and went to the NIT title game another. 
I would certainly put the NIT run in a very favorable light compared to going to the NCAA's and losing in our first game.  The school gains immense national exposure and with wins against Florida State, St. Mary's and BYU I might even say it ranks ahead of a single win in the tourney.  Getting to the NCAAs and winning a game this year would certainly put his post season record on par to Bryce's.

[M]

After the first exhibition game I came home and told my wife he would be better then Rowdy....but what's he's done is remarkable!

[talksalot]

Where is the link to 14? 

Hey pgmado... I'm with OKMick here... Do you have the "Sorolla" / "Fernandez" / "Howard Little" episode?

[StlVUFan]

Where is the link to 14? 

http://www.nwitimes.com/digital/audio/union-street-hoops/podcast-union-street-hoops-episode/audio_859abe86-dda2-11e6-b3f7-cfaf998c53a0.html

I think he tweeted out the soundcloud link to it, but not the nwitimes link.

I took a swing and lucked into the page where all of them are:

http://www.nwitimes.com/digital/audio/union-street-hoops

[SanityLost17]

Everyone is complaining about attendance.  This week's podcast spoke about it for 20 minutes and referenced the last 4 years a lot.   The problem is simple.  LACK OF SATURDAY NIGHT GAMES.     

I usually go to 5 or 6 games a year.   I have been to 1 this year.

ESPN3 is killing attendance with these stupid Friday/Sunday games.   We have not had a Saturday night conference home game yet.  What the hell is that about??! 

This leads to a domino effect.  Once you start making it hard for people to make it to a game, they eventually stop even considering it. 

[bbtds]

Where is the link to 14? 

It's at the bottom of that post.

Episode 14: http://www.nwitimes.com/digital/audio/union-street-hoops/podcast-union-street-hoops-episode/audio_859abe86-dda2-11e6-b3f7-cfaf998c53a0.html

Episode 15: http://www.nwitimes.com/digital/audio/union-street-hoops/podcast-union-street-hoops-episode/audio_3797c9be-e274-11e6-9ada-af2068be6622.html

Episode 16: http://www.nwitimes.com/digital/audio/union-street-hoops/podcast-union-street-hoops-episode/audio_49f43ae0-e740-11e6-baa7-532d91d7f501.html

[VUBBFan]

Everyone is complaining about attendance.  This week's podcast spoke about it for 20 minutes and referenced the last 4 years a lot.   The problem is simple.  LACK OF SATURDAY NIGHT GAMES. I usually go to 5 or 6 games a year.   I have been to 1 this year. ESPN3 is killing attendance with these stupid Friday/Sunday games.   We have not had a Saturday night conference home game yet.  What the hell is that about??! This leads to a domino effect.  Once you start making it hard for people to make it to a game, they eventually stop even considering it.

It's a lot more than not having Saturday games. This current crop of students ( outside of the 25-35 diehards) just have no interest or enthusiasm for the games. That would be alright for a losing team but is just sad for a top notch team with a lot of upside. The student section for a 1st place conference team should be packed rattling the rafters. The games in the past have been a coming out party for the fans to interact, go crazy and have fun doing outrageous things with colorful signs and costumes. A few years ago the Fan Zone was packed with face painted caped rabid fans making Videos, skits, noise and mayhem, cheering on lesser teams while having a great time interacting with each other. What has happened to lead to this state of apathy? Maybe there just isn't any student leadership to rally people together as there has been in the past. When I was a student being at the event was sometimes more of a fellowship with colleagues and acquaintances than the game itself. This should be a time of letting yourself go and having fun. I hope we can get back to filling the stands with at least a little enthusiasm. As it stands now this is an embarrassment to the University.

[a3uge]

Everyone is complaining about attendance.  This week's podcast spoke about it for 20 minutes and referenced the last 4 years a lot.   The problem is simple.  LACK OF SATURDAY NIGHT GAMES. I usually go to 5 or 6 games a year.   I have been to 1 this year. ESPN3 is killing attendance with these stupid Friday/Sunday games.   We have not had a Saturday night conference home game yet.  What the hell is that about??! This leads to a domino effect.  Once you start making it hard for people to make it to a game, they eventually stop even considering it.

It's a lot more than not having Saturday games. This current crop of students ( outside of the 25-35 diehards) just have no interest or enthusiasm for the games. That would be alright for a losing team but is just sad for a top notch team with a lot of upside. The student section for a 1st place conference team should be packed rattling the rafters. The games in the past have been a coming out party for the fans to interact, go crazy and have fun doing outrageous things with colorful signs and costumes. A few years ago the Fan Zone was packed with face painted caped rabid fans making Videos, skits, noise and mayhem, cheering on lesser teams while having a great time interacting with each other. What has happened to lead to this state of apathy? Maybe there just isn't any student leadership to rally people together as there has been in the past. When I was a student being at the event was sometimes more of a fellowship with colleagues and acquaintances than the game itself. This should be a time of letting yourself go and having fun. I hope we can get back to filling the stands with at least a little enthusiasm. As it stands now this is an embarrassment to the University.

It's disappointing, but can we stop throwing around the word "embarrassing"? We literally have a team in the conference that has a mural in place of students. UWM has an enrollment of over 27,000 and they're lucky to get 12 of them at a game.

[Kyle321n]

Everyone is complaining about attendance.  This week's podcast spoke about it for 20 minutes and referenced the last 4 years a lot.   The problem is simple.  LACK OF SATURDAY NIGHT GAMES.     

I usually go to 5 or 6 games a year.   I have been to 1 this year.

ESPN3 is killing attendance with these stupid Friday/Sunday games.   We have not had a Saturday night conference home game yet.  What the hell is that about??! 

This leads to a domino effect.  Once you start making it hard for people to make it to a game, they eventually stop even considering it. 

I have to ask, if you're able to go to Saturday night games, how does that make it different from Sunday matinee games? Also how hard is it to get to a game on a Friday night? I kind of like the Friday night games

[VU2014]

I have to ask, if you're able to go to Saturday night games, how does that make it different from Sunday matinee games?

From a students perspective a Sunday could be the worst games to attend. Hung-over from the weekend and you have to knock out that homework for next week on Sundays. At least from my perspective those were some of the tougher games to go attend because academic, club, and fraternity obligations all use to fall on that day for me when I was in school.

Saturday night games were the absolute best games imo when I was a student. I'm wondering if the Horizon League is catering too much to ESPN on the game time scheduling for broadcasts on ESPN3. The Horizon is forced to schedule around ESPN3s scheduling for the broadcasting coverage.

[oklahomamick]

Valpo will always struggle getting 5k-6k fans in the stands.  Be happy that the ARC is consistently 60% full which makes for a good environment most of the time. 

It's simple.

1.  Valpo is a small community.
2.  Valpo is a small university with small alumni population
3.  Much of Valpo alumni does not live near the University. 
4.  No Marquette, No Purdue, No Notre Dame, No Butler, No Cincinnati on the ARC schedule

I bet VU has more fans than other HL schools when competing on the road.  Why?  Because of the success of the program but more so, we have alumni in other markets.  This is not the case for other HL state/commuter schools. 

[valpopal]

Everyone is complaining about attendance.  This week's podcast spoke about it for 20 minutes and referenced the last 4 years a lot.   The problem is simple.  LACK OF SATURDAY NIGHT GAMES. I usually go to 5 or 6 games a year.   I have been to 1 this year. ESPN3 is killing attendance with these stupid Friday/Sunday games.   We have not had a Saturday night conference home game yet.  What the hell is that about??! This leads to a domino effect.  Once you start making it hard for people to make it to a game, they eventually stop even considering it.

It's a lot more than not having Saturday games. This current crop of students ( outside of the 25-35 diehards) just have no interest or enthusiasm for the games. That would be alright for a losing team but is just sad for a top notch team with a lot of upside. The student section for a 1st place conference team should be packed rattling the rafters. The games in the past have been a coming out party for the fans to interact, go crazy and have fun doing outrageous things with colorful signs and costumes. A few years ago the Fan Zone was packed with face painted caped rabid fans making Videos, skits, noise and mayhem, cheering on lesser teams while having a great time interacting with each other. What has happened to lead to this state of apathy? Maybe there just isn't any student leadership to rally people together as there has been in the past. When I was a student being at the event was sometimes more of a fellowship with colleagues and acquaintances than the game itself. This should be a time of letting yourself go and having fun. I hope we can get back to filling the stands with at least a little enthusiasm. As it stands now this is an embarrassment to the University.

It's disappointing, but can we stop throwing around the word "embarrassing"? We literally have a team in the conference that has a mural in place of students. UWM has an enrollment of over 27,000 and they're lucky to get 12 of them at a game.

I think most on this board do not set the bar so low as to compare with these other HL universities. Instead of these weak expectations, we prefer to aspire to comparisons with universities like (dare I say it) Butler, as we have done in the past.

[VUBBFan]

It's disappointing, but can we stop throwing around the word "embarrassing"? We literally have a team in the conference that has a mural in place of students. UWM has an enrollment of over 27,000 and they're lucky to get 12 of them at a game.

Your right, I shouldn't have used the word embarrassment. Disappointing is more accurate. My perspective is there used to be really good support for a product that was ok - good but now that  product has improved to great, so why has support slipped so much? As a devoted Fan I have trouble getting my mind around it.

[wh]

How about "unacceptable by Valpo standards?"

[vu84v2]

I agree that the turnout and enthusiasm was disappointing for the Northern Kentucky game. What confuses me is that there are recent cases where the turnout and enthusiasm was exceptional (Saint Mary's, Rhode Island). Yes, these are better opponents and, particularly in the case of Saint Mary's, more important games - but the fact that there was incredible support for these recent games would suggest that there is something more at play than just apathy. I don't know what that is, but it would certainly be good for the athletic department to take steps to figure it out.

[hailcrusaders]

Everyone is complaining about attendance.  This week's podcast spoke about it for 20 minutes and referenced the last 4 years a lot.   The problem is simple.  LACK OF SATURDAY NIGHT GAMES. I usually go to 5 or 6 games a year.   I have been to 1 this year. ESPN3 is killing attendance with these stupid Friday/Sunday games.   We have not had a Saturday night conference home game yet.  What the hell is that about??! This leads to a domino effect.  Once you start making it hard for people to make it to a game, they eventually stop even considering it.

It's a lot more than not having Saturday games. This current crop of students ( outside of the 25-35 diehards) just have no interest or enthusiasm for the games. That would be alright for a losing team but is just sad for a top notch team with a lot of upside. The student section for a 1st place conference team should be packed rattling the rafters. The games in the past have been a coming out party for the fans to interact, go crazy and have fun doing outrageous things with colorful signs and costumes. A few years ago the Fan Zone was packed with face painted caped rabid fans making Videos, skits, noise and mayhem, cheering on lesser teams while having a great time interacting with each other. What has happened to lead to this state of apathy? Maybe there just isn't any student leadership to rally people together as there has been in the past. When I was a student being at the event was sometimes more of a fellowship with colleagues and acquaintances than the game itself. This should be a time of letting yourself go and having fun. I hope we can get back to filling the stands with at least a little enthusiasm. As it stands now this is an embarrassment to the University.

The Friday night games seem pretty well attended, even for students. Maybe not packed-to-the-rafters like when we'd host Butler, but afternoon games (on any day of the week) aren't going to draw well. Any marketing student will tell you that the optimal time for entertainment events is Friday or Saturday nights.

[hailcrusaders]

Everyone is complaining about attendance.  This week's podcast spoke about it for 20 minutes and referenced the last 4 years a lot.   The problem is simple.  LACK OF SATURDAY NIGHT GAMES. I usually go to 5 or 6 games a year.   I have been to 1 this year. ESPN3 is killing attendance with these stupid Friday/Sunday games.   We have not had a Saturday night conference home game yet.  What the hell is that about??! This leads to a domino effect.  Once you start making it hard for people to make it to a game, they eventually stop even considering it.

It's a lot more than not having Saturday games. This current crop of students ( outside of the 25-35 diehards) just have no interest or enthusiasm for the games. That would be alright for a losing team but is just sad for a top notch team with a lot of upside. The student section for a 1st place conference team should be packed rattling the rafters. The games in the past have been a coming out party for the fans to interact, go crazy and have fun doing outrageous things with colorful signs and costumes. A few years ago the Fan Zone was packed with face painted caped rabid fans making Videos, skits, noise and mayhem, cheering on lesser teams while having a great time interacting with each other. What has happened to lead to this state of apathy? Maybe there just isn't any student leadership to rally people together as there has been in the past. When I was a student being at the event was sometimes more of a fellowship with colleagues and acquaintances than the game itself. This should be a time of letting yourself go and having fun. I hope we can get back to filling the stands with at least a little enthusiasm. As it stands now this is an embarrassment to the University.

It's disappointing, but can we stop throwing around the word "embarrassing"? We literally have a team in the conference that has a mural in place of students. UWM has an enrollment of over 27,000 and they're lucky to get 12 of them at a game.

I think most on this board do not set the bar so low as to compare with these other HL universities. Instead of these weak expectations, we prefer to aspire to comparisons with universities like (dare I say it) Butler, as we have done in the past.

As noble as this sounds, it doesn't make sense to me to evaluate the team with one measuring stick (we're the best in the HL!) but attendance with another measuring stick (we're not as good as Big East schools in big cities with FF runs!).

Can attendance be better? Absolutely. It hasn't been as good as it has in the past for a variety of reasons, and it's in the best interest of the team and the school to get it back to where it once was. I want that to happen as much as anyone, but that doesn't we can't be proud to have the best student attendance (especially for our size) and home court advantage in the league.

That said, I'm glad we only have attendance to complain about when many other schools are complaining about the on-court product.

[vu72]

I'm guessing the attendance issue is found across a lot of schools.  Last night I settled in the watch Dayton (tied for first place in the A-10) play at Fordham.  The announcers were kind, calling the Fordham gym "cozy" when in reality it is tiny, with a seating capacity of 3200. Still, with 8800 undergrads and a national tv game (CBS sports) you would expect a packed house. It didn't happen. Attendance?  2412.

[Valpo89]

Speaking of attendance, sometimes a decent halftime show might attract some additional fans (not students anyway). The Jesse White Tumblers, a frisbee dog, a guy on a unicycle. Those are things that have been done in the past.

This year's halftimes have been lame. Almost as bad as the Family Express commercials. I love Family Express, but the commercials make me NOT want to go there.

All I've seen recently is a two-minute routine by the Crusaderettes, and then the clock just ticks down until the teams come back out to warm up. A few games have featured Boone Grove or Chesterton kids scrimmaging.

I'm sure whoever used to be in charge probably doesn't work there any more. If there has been a replacement, that person needs to figure things out.

[M]

The worst part about those Family Express commercials is you go there for a muffin and they don't even have the type of muffins they are advertising...I just want a chocolate chip muffin!

[bbtds]

I'm guessing the attendance issue is found across a lot of schools.  Last night I settled in the watch Dayton (tied for first place in the A-10) play at Fordham.  The announcers were kind, calling the Fordham gym "cozy" when in reality it is tiny, with a seating capacity of 3200. Still, with 8800 undergrads and a national tv game (CBS sports) you would expect a packed house. It didn't happen. Attendance?  2412.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooPBXfnIpYI
(start at 20 seconds)

[VU2014]

New Union Street Hoops Podcast! Its a good one.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/827000116095680512

http://www.nwitimes.com/digital/audio/union-street-hoops/podcast-union-street-hoops-episode/audio_277e48b2-e8f7-11e6-9ae8-eb5a22d9410c.html

[VU2014]

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/vu-s-matt-lottich-and-milwaukee-s-todd-townsend-are/article_4790ab93-86f2-5f83-9858-0b419dcd7bdc.html3

VU's Matt Lottich and Milwaukee's Todd Townsend are forever brothers

Paul Oren Times Correspondent 3 hrs ago

"When Matt Lottich walks into UWM Panther Arena tonight, the Valparaiso coach will go straight to the opposing sideline and look for Milwaukee assistant coach Todd Townsend.

The two share a history that dates back more than 20 years. It has continued to spread over multiple continents and has now settled in the Horizon League."


Give the story a read and listen to the last podcast. Amazing and motivational story.

[talksalot]

I read this Townsend story in today's NWI Times... and was almost late for work.   What a phenomenal story!

The Senior Night is TUESDAY, Feb 21 at 7pm.  Now that's a date and time that will truly inspire the crowd to pile into the ARC... maybe we can get upwards of 40 students.