High Point vs Valpo, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.

[VU2010]

I'm just thankful that they only eyesore in the ARC - the giant crusader - is now gone. Now, we can enjoy the freshly painted walls, comfortable seating, and try to peak thru the yellow handrail. Oh, and we can even be blown away by the air conditioning. And, we've got plenty of leg room nowadays. We can stretch out and take a nap if we wanted to. It's so quiet and relaxing. We stand up for the first couple minutes until the Crusaders score. We hope for a Centier Bank 3-pointer or two or maybe even 3!!! We yell at the refs because that makes us feel better about ourselves. And, then we watch a relaxed game of musical chairs. Most players never get up and hit the court. That way - they always have a seat! But, alas we do have tired legs from all that flying around the county! Go Valpo Pandas!

[a3uge]

I feel like a Cleveland browns fan. Always holding out for some sense of hope. Much like tonight as we gave up a lead to a lesser team ... in our home court. A glimmer of hope on the made 3 by Ryan. Only to be let down by the last defensive possession. Left with .8 seconds ... to throw up a shot ... that was oh too short. Yes, I was there when Broekoff made the game-winning 3. It was fun. It was special. Maybe those days return. Not sure.

The Browns is an absurd comparison. They've been above .500 twice in the last 20 years and haven't won their division since the 80's - when they were literally a different franchise.

Valpo has only had 1 season since the 90s where they weren't at least around .500. Don't get me wrong, there's a lack of talent at Valpo right now, but let's not pretend they're some dismal program year after year.

[valpopal]

I feel like a Cleveland browns fan. Always holding out for some sense of hope. Much like tonight as we gave up a lead to a lesser team ... in our home court. A glimmer of hope on the made 3 by Ryan. Only to be let down by the last defensive possession. Left with .8 seconds ... to throw up a shot ... that was oh too short. Yes, I was there when Broekoff made the game-winning 3. It was fun. It was special. Maybe those days return. Not sure.

The Browns is an absurd comparison. They've been above .500 twice in the last 20 years and haven't won their division since the 80's - when they were literally a different franchise.

Valpo has only had 1 season since the 90s where they weren't at least around .500. Don't get me wrong, there's a lack of talent at Valpo right now, but let's not pretend they're some dismal program year after year.

Is there really a lack of talent? According to the measurement by Verbal Commits, Valpo's talent of recruits present on the team is the highest rated (2.564) in the Missouri Valley, Loyola (2.515) is second. The highest rated of all the other teams is Missouri State (2.333). Admittedly, the number is slightly inflated because of the two redshirts, who average 3.0, but I believe enough talent is present, and the challenge for coaches is both developing and motivating the players, as well as using correct game strategy.

[crusadermoe]

I really liked the large Crusader looming over the ARC games. It looked good on TV.a  Anything that marks "our turf" is helpful.   

The PC discussions among the faculty may or may not be related to its removal. But one has to see a potential connection.   Could we get someone to speak to the removal and its rationale?   

The student mascot absence is hopefully an odd coincidence.   I don't know if the term, "Crusaderette," ever made a bunch of sense anyway.  But if it turns out to be a PC-driven decision, I would be further concerned. 

[crusader05]

As for the dance uniforms I've heard that the drive was to be more cohesive with the cheerleaders in regards to both having Valpo and that they just needed new uniforms. You could barely read the crusaderette type from far away anyway.
My guess is that more than anything the giant crusader was a big pain in the ass. It seems to be that if they were really phasing out the name all the social media encouraging you to get out there and support your crusaders wouldn't be happening. Also, sometimes the chapel isn't the best place to hold an event and that's okay, especially now that there are other locations on campus.

[wh]

I'm just thankful that they only eyesore in the ARC - the giant crusader - is now gone. Now, we can enjoy the freshly painted walls, comfortable seating, and try to peak thru the yellow handrail. Oh, and we can even be blown away by the air conditioning. And, we've got plenty of leg room nowadays. We can stretch out and take a nap if we wanted to. It's so quiet and relaxing. We stand up for the first couple minutes until the Crusaders score. We hope for a Centier Bank 3-pointer or two or maybe even 3!!! We yell at the refs because that makes us feel better about ourselves. And, then we watch a relaxed game of musical chairs. Most players never get up and hit the court. That way - they always have a seat! But, alas we do have tired legs from all that flying around the county! Go Valpo Pandas!

Trying to placate chronic complaining secular professors with a hodgepodge of personal agendas and student organizations representing a religion that has a dark, centuries-old hatred for Christianity and Judaism by hiding religious symbols and deeming your Christian chapel as "unwelcoming" is a fools errand. Earlier this morning I had a physical therapy session at St. Anthony's Hospital in Crown Point. Catholic symbols are on proud display everywhere. Their chapel looks like a miniature Catholic Church, yet it's open to anyone regardless of religious affiliation. Every day at lunch time someone from the leadership team says a community prayer over the PA system. Yet, their medical services are open to everyone, regardless of religious affiliation or any ties to religion whatsoever. At the same time they don't water down their stand on abortion to placate the pro abortion crowd, or hide their crucifixes.

Valpo needs to stop trying to run from its religious heritage if it expects to survive. Otherwise, by default it will be perceived as equivalent to a quality state-supported universitiy at twice the cost. It's all about establishing a unique value proposition and staying true to it. A few of the Concordias have have done an excellent job of staying true to themselves and are thriving because of it, despite a decline in membership in the Lutheran faith. IMO if Valpo continues down the same road it is headed for serious trouble.

"If you stand for something you will have people for you and people against you. But if you stand for nothing you will have nobody for you and nobody against you."
Maurice Saatchi

[agibson]

I can address both issues with knowledge. I was there and heard the comment by a respected faculty member that the venue was changed since it was felt "the Chapel is not a welcoming place because it is not inclusive." The faculty member's statement was made in a tone that indicated a lack of agreement with the decision.

Which event was it?

I mean, the Chapel - particularly the sanctuary and the chancel - is obviously a sort of a sectarian space. That said, it's the sect with which the university is connected. In a sense, it's _our_ sect. It's at the high point (too soon?) of campus on purpose. We routinely have large public, university events there (convocation, the MLK plenary, December commencement) and I can't imagine that changing anytime soon.

[valpo64]

This "PC" thing is getting ridiculous.  As for the Chapel, I remember attending a "concert" in the Chapel  starring, at the peak of their popularity at the time, Peter, Paul and Mary!  A packed house as I remember it.  Do I need to ask for forgiveness?

[agibson]

This "PC" thing is getting ridiculous.  As for the Chapel, I remember attending a "concert" in the Chapel  starring, at the peak of their popularity at the time, Peter, Paul and Mary!  A packed house as I remember it.  Do I need to ask for forgiveness?

There is a whole other (conservative?) tack there, certainly. We could put up a movie screen and show Hollywood films in the chapel. But, it probably does make more sense to show those in the Neils auditorium.

[vu84v2]

This "PC" thing is getting ridiculous.  As for the Chapel, I remember attending a "concert" in the Chapel  starring, at the peak of their popularity at the time, Peter, Paul and Mary!  A packed house as I remember it.  Do I need to ask for forgiveness?

One can just imagine the words and melodies of "Puff, the Magic Dragon" wafting around the chapel.

[FieldGoodie05]

I feel like a Cleveland browns fan. Always holding out for some sense of hope. Much like tonight as we gave up a lead to a lesser team ... in our home court. A glimmer of hope on the made 3 by Ryan. Only to be let down by the last defensive possession. Left with .8 seconds ... to throw up a shot ... that was oh too short. Yes, I was there when Broekoff made the game-winning 3. It was fun. It was special. Maybe those days return. Not sure.

The Browns is an absurd comparison. They've been above .500 twice in the last 20 years and haven't won their division since the 80's - when they were literally a different franchise.

Valpo has only had 1 season since the 90s where they weren't at least around .500. Don't get me wrong, there's a lack of talent at Valpo right now, but let's not pretend they're some dismal program year after year.

Is there really a lack of talent? According to the measurement by Verbal Commits, Valpo's talent of recruits present on the team is the highest rated (2.564) in the Missouri Valley, Loyola (2.515) is second. The highest rated of all the other teams is Missouri State (2.333). Admittedly, the number is slightly inflated because of the two redshirts, who average 3.0, but I believe enough talent is present, and the challenge for coaches is both developing and motivating the players, as well as using correct game strategy.

Agreed, in my view we are more like the "all-star" players that are not accustomed to playing together at this juncture.  To be fair, none of these are "all-stars" as it stands today but each has individual talent level that dwarfs many many players I have seen on VU since 2001.  It's a team game at this level and we are simply note cohesive yet. 

Now if we are talking "elite" outside shooting, I don't think we have 2.564 average star rating on this team in ANY WORLD!!!  That COULD end up being quite concerning, but I am willing to be angry ever 3rd game until we get things figured out.

[talksalot]

Watching the ND-UCLA game at Pauley... one of the three officials is John Higgins... who worked this game in the ARC.

[bbtds]

Btw, Ball State just knocked off Notre Dame on a contested 3 at the buzzer. We better figure some stuff out before we play them.

...where are you seeing this?

Yeah that's not accurate at all, that's from last yr, ND lost to Oklahoma by 5 tonight, research before you post...

When he said "just" he could have meant "just last year." 

[tiny707]

High Point is beating Ohio State in Columbus.

[EddieCabot]

High Point is beating Ohio State in Columbus.

In hindsight, maybe that wasn't such a bad loss.

[bbtds]

High Point is beating Ohio State in Columbus.

They were only leading for a very small part of the first half.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbjYcC2stjQ&feature=onebox