Valpo Retiring the Crusaders

[tribecalledquest]

Sad days for America.

Drama much?

Schools have been changing nicknames and mascots for years now. This isn't new.

Drama? Wouldn't that be what is causing the changes?

The drama comment was that a small private school in Indiana changing its nickname is not a “sad day for America”.

[bleach]

The drama comment was that a small private school in Indiana changing its nickname is not a “sad day for America”.

If they are changing the name because of outside pressure to be politically correct, it is a sad day at least in America (has little impact on most of America).
If they have decided they want a different mascot for the sake of program improvement, good for them.

[Purple35]

As a basketball fan who lives 4 blocks from the VU campus, I'd say this isn't something that's a terribly important issue. But if you intend to market to a new audience of fans and businesses, you have to stay relevant. People who are yabbering on about 'cancel culture' and other social media buzzwords need to get a grip.

Valpo is like a lot of private schools that are sensitive to resources that aren't "from the church" like it was 60 years ago. You need to sell pizzas and shirts and billboards. Enrollment is down, money is tough to find. You remarket, rebrand ... and tell the fans it's about a sensitive issue. That makes everyone understand that you are being topical, not just greedy for the bucks.

The Crusader mascot is a dreadfully boring nothing in the middle of the floor in a world where masots are supposed to dance and trampoline-dunk and interact with the fans. This thing does none of that.

Get past the 'PC" of this. "Crusader" has been out of date for 40 years and in a D-1 world, you can't be out of date. Every school rebrands. Some of them do it better than others.

Go Eutectics!

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Agreed that Crusaders is kinda boring. They have an opportunity for a nickname that stands out. It can be unique or goofy.

Valparaiso Valkyrie
Valparaiso Vampires
Valparaiso Vipers
Valparaiso Vultures
Valparaiso Vulcans
Valparaiso Volcanoes
Valparaiso Valpos (a la St Thomas Tommies/St Bonaventure Bonnies)

Just don’t recycle a name already used in Division 1.

Unfortunately, the types of people in charge of nickname switches usually pick something woefully generic (EMU Eagles, Miami Redhawks, Marquette Golden Eagles, etc).

Hopefully, Valpo does it a lot better than those schools did.

[DUBulldog]

As a basketball fan who lives 4 blocks from the VU campus, I'd say this isn't something that's a terribly important issue. But if you intend to market to a new audience of fans and businesses, you have to stay relevant. People who are yabbering on about 'cancel culture' and other social media buzzwords need to get a grip.

Valpo is like a lot of private schools that are sensitive to resources that aren't "from the church" like it was 60 years ago. You need to sell pizzas and shirts and billboards. Enrollment is down, money is tough to find. You remarket, rebrand ... and tell the fans it's about a sensitive issue. That makes everyone understand that you are being topical, not just greedy for the bucks.

The Crusader mascot is a dreadfully boring nothing in the middle of the floor in a world where masots are supposed to dance and trampoline-dunk and interact with the fans. This thing does none of that.

Get past the 'PC" of this. "Crusader" has been out of date for 40 years and in a D-1 world, you can't be out of date. Every school rebrands. Some of them do it better than others.

Go Eutectics!

Love the St. Louis College of Pharmacy reference. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here who understands it.

[Adunk33]

Brand team-specific

The Valpo Men's Basketball Team
The Valpo Football Team
The Valpo Volleyball Team.

Seemed to work well for Washington.

[Drakey]

Good time to change those horrible school colors also. Looks terrible on TV.

[tribecalledquest]

Good time to change those horrible school colors also. Looks terrible on TV.

Yes. Any Valpo game on TV looks horrendous.

[BCPanther]

Welp, there goes the budget for replacing any light bulbs in there.

Worse lighting than most 1A high school gyms in Iowa.

[acepurple84]

THE Gelded Monks