MVC Games Week 16

[E-Villan]

Very funny

Consider the source. I am pretty sure this is the same UNI blowhard that tried to throw some barbs at Marcus Wilson on twitter, until Marcus just laid him out. If not, they have an abnormally high amount of clowns for such a small fanbase.

Womens Golf are defending league champions, volleyball made the postseason, and has nearly all returning. The softball team is 6-1 I believe so far. The womens basketball team finally made a move with the coaching staff, which appears to already be paying off. Millions have been invested across the board in facilities in the last decade, I would venture to say much more than what has been spent at your blueblood of the MVC in Frostbite Falls.

You're not going to find a UE fan that doesn't agree with you that the basketball program is a crapshow, and is certainly at a level that is unacceptable. You're also not going to find too many that don't agree with you that our AD must go. Absolutely none of us disagree. Where you lose your credibility is when you spout off crap like everyone can contribute except UE. What inherent advantage does UNI have over us, that we can't overcome?

Besides the facility upgrades, we spend in the upper half in men's basketball. Our attendance is near the top every year, which is remarkable considering what we are paying to watch. Even if you take out the rent we spend on the Ford, we are still well into the upper half, and almost double what Indiana State spends, yet you claim we are the only ones that have no chance.

I will take our resources, fan base and facilities over most anyone in the league. That is the hard part, getting competent people should be easier to achieve. We have had it before, and that is the only thing you or anyone else in this league has on us.

[BCPanther]

Very funny

Consider the source. I am pretty sure this is the same UNI blowhard that tried to throw some barbs at Marcus Wilson on twitter, until Marcus just laid him out. If not, they have an abnormally high amount of clowns for such a small fanbase.

Womens Golf are defending league champions, volleyball made the postseason, and has nearly all returning. The softball team is 6-1 I believe so far. The womens basketball team finally made a move with the coaching staff, which appears to already be paying off. Millions have been invested across the board in facilities in the last decade, I would venture to say much more than what has been spent at your blueblood of the MVC in Frostbite Falls.

You're not going to find a UE fan that doesn't agree with you that the basketball program is a crapshow, and is certainly at a level that is unacceptable. You're also not going to find too many that don't agree with you that our AD must go. Absolutely none of us disagree. Where you lose your credibility is when you spout off crap like everyone can contribute except UE. What inherent advantage does UNI have over us, that we can't overcome?

Besides the facility upgrades, we spend in the upper half in men's basketball. Our attendance is near the top every year, which is remarkable considering what we are paying to watch. Even if you take out the rent we spend on the Ford, we are still well into the upper half, and almost double what Indiana State spends, yet you claim we are the only ones that have no chance.

I will take our resources, fan base and facilities over most anyone in the league. That is the hard part, getting competent people should be easier to achieve. We have had it before, and that is the only thing you or anyone else in this league has on us.

Sorry, not me on Twitter.

Listen, I hope you figure it out and I was probably a little too harsh and what does make me shake my head is just exactly what you said. UNI has literally zero advantages over everyone else and has been the most consistently successful.

Our facilities are awful, our AD is just simply awful and we still win across the board. Frankly, if we were to lose any of the coaches in our major sports, I dread the hire we'd make.

There's no reason Evansville can't find their DeVries and turn it fast but there isn't much that inspires confidence with the current administration that that's going to happen.

[siudawgs]

Unfortunately it's a guarantee that Lottich will be back for at least this year. Valpo's longtime AD is retiring so they are looking for a new AD. That AD will probably take some time to evaluate the state of the program under Lottich (even though I think there is more than enough data at this point to make a decision) before making a move. I think there is some reticence on the part of Valpo to pay a buyout at this time given some of the financial challenges the university is facing. It's not good for the program but we might be stuck at this point until the last year or so of his contract.

I don't know the motivation/details around the timing of the AD's retirement but if it delays the badly-needed rebuild of men's basketball, that timing of abandoning ship is somewhat of an F-U to the fan base. I'm sure it's a tough job, but leaving with men's basketball scuffling badly (and in need of a reboot) and the worst facilities in the league ain't much of a legacy.

[pafan]

Womens Golf are defending league champions, volleyball made the postseason, and has nearly all returning.

Volleyball was tied for fifth in the MVC standings this year. So yes, they were invited to a post-season tournament, and advanced pretty far in that tournament. But if 9-9 in the MVC is the highlight of the whole athletic department, we've got trouble.

Similarly, Women's golf had a good weekend at the conference meet this year. They did not have a good season. And the program has been dreadful from the beginning of MVC golf. Quoting the MVC press release announcing UE winning the championship:
Evansville, which was picked ninth in the pre-championship poll, has never finished higher than 7th in the MVC Championship (beginning with its first year in 1997).
UE also announced last year they are reducing the number of scholarships in M&W golf (and M&W swimming or M&W track), so that will surely help our contribution to the MVC in the future.

The softball team is 6-1 I believe so far.

Evansville Softball, a program that has not had a winning MVC season since John Paul II was still pope. They were 13-12 the last season JPII could have cheered for the Aces.

The womens basketball team finally made a move with the coaching staff, which appears to already be paying off.

I see 2-12 in the MVC wins so far, the same number of wins as last season (granted, 4 games left). The non-con means very little. Coach RSW deserves her chance, but I'm not ready yet to take Harold and Ethel-Pat to Hardees for biscuits and gravy (my treat).

I will take our resources, fan base and facilities over most anyone in the league. That is the hard part, getting competent people should be easier to achieve. We have had it before, and that is the only thing you or anyone else in this league has on us.

An institution that has resources doesn't lay off 15% of the faculty or make student-athletes pay room and board.

Sorry for sharing my dour perspective.

[Action10]

Consider the source. I am pretty sure this is the same UNI blowhard that tried to throw some barbs at Marcus Wilson on twitter, until Marcus just laid him out. If not, they have an abnormally high amount of clowns for such a small fanbase.

Womens Golf are defending league champions, volleyball made the postseason, and has nearly all returning. The softball team is 6-1 I believe so far. The womens basketball team finally made a move with the coaching staff, which appears to already be paying off. Millions have been invested across the board in facilities in the last decade, I would venture to say much more than what has been spent at your blueblood of the MVC in Frostbite Falls.

You're not going to find a UE fan that doesn't agree with you that the basketball program is a crapshow, and is certainly at a level that is unacceptable. You're also not going to find too many that don't agree with you that our AD must go. Absolutely none of us disagree. Where you lose your credibility is when you spout off crap like everyone can contribute except UE. What inherent advantage does UNI have over us, that we can't overcome?

Besides the facility upgrades, we spend in the upper half in men's basketball. Our attendance is near the top every year, which is remarkable considering what we are paying to watch. Even if you take out the rent we spend on the Ford, we are still well into the upper half, and almost double what Indiana State spends, yet you claim we are the only ones that have no chance.

I will take our resources, fan base and facilities over most anyone in the league. That is the hard part, getting competent people should be easier to achieve. We have had it before, and that is the only thing you or anyone else in this league has on us.

Sorry, not me on Twitter.

Listen, I hope you figure it out and I was probably a little too harsh and what does make me shake my head is just exactly what you said. UNI has literally zero advantages over everyone else and has been the most consistently successful.

Our facilities are awful, our AD is just simply awful and we still win across the board. Frankly, if we were to lose any of the coaches in our major sports, I dread the hire we'd make.

There's no reason Evansville can't find their DeVries and turn it fast but there isn't much that inspires confidence with the current administration that that's going to happen.

The Evansville / UNI discussion about resources and success seems to come down to making the right decision on coaching hires. That seems to be a common advantage for some programs and a curse for others. Think about it this way... When was the last time Evansville got a coaching hire truly right? On the other hand, when was the last time UNI got one really wrong? The answer has been a while for both...

[Campbellproud]

Evansville as a program will be fine long term. They have a lot of positives that other schools wish they had. They just need to get the right coach. And it will take a few years to build back up, but they’ll get there faster than a team like Valpo, which doesn’t have the same support.

[E-Villan]

There's a few things here. First, to BCPanther, my apologies for assuming you were the twitter guy. Maybe it was the same guy I mixed you up with before. Just seemed to be the same crash your program theme the other UNI fan was spouting off to Marcus. In your defense, I got the impression that guy didn't know who Marcus was, and obviously, you're far more knowledgeable than that.

Action10 summed up the point I was trying to make. The difference between us, UNI and anyone else in the league IMO comes down to personnel and good hires. UNI has certainly made the most of theirs, while we seem to crap the bed over and over the last two decades. Case in point, they hired Jacobson while we passed on Rick Byrd twice for Merfeld and Marty. Despite the venom we seem to attract from Cedar Falls, I have a lot of respect for what Jacobson has done there. He never seems to have the most talented team in the league, but always gets the most out of them. His teams remind me a lot of the type of teams Crews was putting together here. Hard nosed defensive teams, with a few snipers that can play both motion or uptempo.

Pafan, you and I seem to have a glass half empty/full thing. You see failure in these non-rev sports, where I see some progress. I am not arguing that our athletic programs have been horribly mismanaged over the last few years, but there does seem to be some progress in the competitiveness, and you can't argue the facility upgrades. I am sure you, I and nearly all Aces fans agree that it is time for a change in our AD. You see the budget cuts to a few golfers and staff as a storm cloud, while I see the president adamantly taking D-1 status off the table from the very beginning of the budget cuts as a strong endorsement. It certainly is a long way from the debacle Jennings created years ago. There have been budget cuts as well as entire team eliminations with fellow conference members in the last few years. We are not alone in this.

We've climbed out of a bigger hole than this once, and we have seen numerous programs rise from longer periods in the abyss than us to find success. Drake, Loyola, and Butler all come to mind. Our current problems are far deeper than Todd Lickliter, but it still is getting the right people. Everything else seems in place. It really is going to come down to our current president, trustees and boosters this time. When connected people like 44 and Marcus say they believe we can and will rebound, those are the wagons I am hitching up to until proven otherwise. Hopefully I am right. If you are, then I guess I will trade my season tickets in for USI. I had a kid graduate from there as well.

[BCPanther]

There's a few things here. First, to BCPanther, my apologies for assuming you were the twitter guy. Maybe it was the same guy I mixed you up with before. Just seemed to be the same crash your program theme the other UNI fan was spouting off to Marcus. In your defense, I got the impression that guy didn't know who Marcus was, and obviously, you're far more knowledgeable than that.

Action10 summed up the point I was trying to make. The difference between us, UNI and anyone else in the league IMO comes down to personnel and good hires. UNI has certainly made the most of theirs, while we seem to crap the bed over and over the last two decades. Case in point, they hired Jacobson while we passed on Rick Byrd twice for Merfeld and Marty. Despite the venom we seem to attract from Cedar Falls, I have a lot of respect for what Jacobson has done there. He never seems to have the most talented team in the league, but always gets the most out of them. His teams remind me a lot of the type of teams Crews was putting together here. Hard nosed defensive teams, with a few snipers that can play both motion or uptempo.

Pafan, you and I seem to have a glass half empty/full thing. You see failure in these non-rev sports, where I see some progress. I am not arguing that our athletic programs have been horribly mismanaged over the last few years, but there does seem to be some progress in the competitiveness, and you can't argue the facility upgrades. I am sure you, I and nearly all Aces fans agree that it is time for a change in our AD. You see the budget cuts to a few golfers and staff as a storm cloud, while I see the president adamantly taking D-1 status off the table from the very beginning of the budget cuts as a strong endorsement. It certainly is a long way from the debacle Jennings created years ago. There have been budget cuts as well as entire team eliminations with fellow conference members in the last few years. We are not alone in this.

We've climbed out of a bigger hole than this once, and we have seen numerous programs rise from longer periods in the abyss than us to find success. Drake, Loyola, and Butler all come to mind. Our current problems are far deeper than Todd Lickliter, but it still is getting the right people. Everything else seems in place. It really is going to come down to our current president, trustees and boosters this time. When connected people like 44 and Marcus say they believe we can and will rebound, those are the wagons I am hitching up to until proven otherwise. Hopefully I am right. If you are, then I guess I will trade my season tickets in for USI. I had a kid graduate from there as well.

Thanks!

I think where I get (overly) upset (apologies) is when I see programs in the league that have ten times the resources we do that don't consistently compete. It's not just Evansville. We as an entire university end up getting whatever scraps are left behind after the Board of Regents takes care of Iowa City and Ames and the BOR has ensured that continues by placing absolute yes men in positions of power at UNI.

We're also stuck with the boat anchor that is FCS football and are forced to take far less general fund money than any comparable school because idiot legislators don't understand that we aren't getting the $50M TV check that they are in Ames and Iowa City. The only thing separating us from being awful is a small donor base that we've tapped out to pay coaches while completely abandoning any facility projects. That's an AD issue that I won't get into (the new guy is just awful).

I hope Evansville (and Valpo and Illinois State and Indiana State) figure it out. I hope Evansville has Marcus Wilson heavily involved (would he kick the tires on being AD?). We can get to the point where we're consistently the 7th best league in the country and those 4 schools can bea big part of it.

[ColonialBulldog]

Anyone else wake up extremely excited to watch basketball tonight? Tonight's lineup feels like a nice March appetizer (hors d'oeuvre for our Loyola friends on the Atlantic coast). Obviously I'll be watching my guys in the Region but might have to have some fast fingers on the remote.

[Loyola_Fan]

Anyone else wake up extremely excited to watch basketball tonight? Tonight's lineup feels like a nice March appetizer (hors d'oeuvre for our Loyola friends on the Atlantic coast). Obviously I'll be watching my guys in the Region but might have to have some fast fingers on the remote.

Thanks but I prefer an aperitivo