Paging DMValpo, DMValpo Your Table is Ready

[Crusader03]

Hey DM...I know it has been mentioned here that you are a student at VU...time for some real talk, FROM the student body.  How do YOU GUYS feel about the women's program right now?  Apathetic?  Angry?  Depressed?  What is the buzz in the dorms, on the quad, in the union, etc?  I'm sure you're hearing rumblings...fill us outsiders in on the sitch (situation).  I know in bygone times the students supported the Lady 'Saders in a big way, but that seems to have declined.  Thanks for taking the time to hit me back with your thoughts!

(All other VU students feel free to chime in too!!!!!  No fogeys allowed....jk rlh, you can comment as well!:) )

[DMvalpo18]

Why are you doing this Crusader03? I honestly don't know a whole lot about the women's basketball program. You apparently seem to be quite the fanatic.

[Crusader03]

Just curious as to the student perspective on the team...I guess your answer says it all my friend!

[DMvalpo18]

Well I don't mean to be down on the team, but I just mean to speak for myself.

[Crusader03]

Well I don't mean to be down on the team, but I just mean to speak for myself.

Not a problem at all....TIYPOC (that is your prerogative of course)...your response those does tell me something about how far the program has fallen at this point.  A gifted student writer just doesn't even have the slightest shred of interest in the team, even though he is a "hoopsaholic."  Sad times we've fallen on. 

[valpofan56]

Hardly anybody has ever or will ever care about Valpo Women's Basketball. Even when they weren't one of the worst teams in their conference they were getting no more than 20 students at a game.

[Crusader03]

Hardly anybody has ever or will ever care about Valpo Women's Basketball. Even when they weren't one of the worst teams in their conference they were getting no more than 20 students at a game.

C'mon now....20 students?  There were definitely times less than 10 years ago when games were better attended than that by students.  But, your point is well made and well taken...no one cares anymore on the VU campus.  DMV18 has proven that...small sample size, but I will take it with 100% certainty.

[valporun]

Even when the women's teams from 1999-2004 were good, minus 2000-2001, the students weren't coming out in droves, minus the WNIT game against Houston. The most students you regularly saw at women's games were in the pep band. Yes, you saw maybe a small handful,<10, come out to a women's game, but they weren't all the rage on campus then, and we had postseason teams three of those five years.

[swiftmutiny]

Typically I'll go to the women's games if I don't have anything important to be doing, but it's really not a priority. As for the buzz... There is none, because to put it bluntly, nobody ever talks about women's basketball. Our team is doing poorly on top of women's basketball being, in general, much less fun to watch than men's. It shouldn't surprise anyone that we have such low attendance.

[KL31NY]

I talked earlier this year with a coach from a different sport, and they talked about this as a "two-way street"...

From the team side, obviously the most recent teams aren't giving reasons for the students to come out due to their performance. It's tough to get a full student section at the men's games w/out some form of bribery or incentives. What is the joy then to go out to the ARC to see a women's team that's struggled pretty regularly over the past few seasons?

From the other side, there is no consistent attendance or buzz created by students. Part of it is lack of student interest, as well as the lack of promotion. IMC and all the other promotion entities hardly put a decent effort to promote the women's teams, and especially not the women's basketball program in the state that it is. So most don't know, and most don't care.

IMO, if there's ever going to be any real student attendance for VUWBB, the program needs to put together some better performances and more engaging play and the students need to find a reason to enjoy a couple hours at the ARC and get the rest in on the action. QED 

[StlVUFan]

Hardly anybody has ever or will ever care about Valpo Women's Basketball.

Is it really necessary to be such a party pooper about this (re: the part I've bolded above)?  I'm sure someone could lay a cheap bet against this prop bet you are suggesting that could pay off big-time, but so what?  What does it cost you to let them try to win over more fans?  I'm pretty sure everyone knows what an uphill climb that is, but people love a challenge, and as far as I can tell, it's a harmless one.

[agibson]

IMC and all the other promotion entities hardly put a decent effort to promote the women's teams, and especially not the women's basketball program in the state that it is.

I thought one of the "Pack the ARC" type promotions was regularly held, also, for the women's basketball team?  Where by regularly I mean once per year, perhaps.  Some sort of attendance competition - maybe across the Horizon League?

All I really mean to say is that I do recall _some_ promotion for attending women's basketball games.  I don't, however, recall seeing any yet this season.