Listened to Paul's podcast, and I am tempted to say it is his best commentary yet. However, maybe that is because everything he said echoed the conversations at my house following the game Saturday. Paul correctly covered the unfortunate state of mid-major basketball with the NIL and transfer rules that are turning away former fans, the great regard for Darius (can we add him as an assistant coach next year?), the difficult situation concerning futures for Schwieger and Wright, the emotional investment in this program and his players by Powell, the poor officiating at the tournament that seemed intent to enable a Drake-Bradley finals, the lack of respect for Valparaiso from the league leadership and other teams in the conference, the loss of stature for the program in its downturn following the Horizon League days, the lessening of enthusiasm and engagement by Valpo fans since the team entered the MVC, the uncertain path ahead, etc. Kudos, Paul.
Paul’s comments about getting towered over by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Bradley, Drake, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Illinois St, etc fans and having the same 20 or so of us go to STL every year was exactly what I posted last week. Great supportive point about how we took over conference tournaments that were in-state.
Still one of the funnest weekends ever even if there were only 50-100 VU fans there. Thank you Roger and the players.
If Valpo wins in the regular season, you will see fans at Arch Madness. We did it in Fort Wayne and Kansas City, but we were winning. Unless you live in the STL area, you aren't very motivated to watch an 11 seed play.
