Rambler63 wrote:
Take a deep breath, Blers42. None of it will make any sense. It never will. We were hated more than any other team when we joined the conference, we were hated all along while we improved in the conference, and we were hated and despised when we became successful and injected $14 million+ directly from the NCAA and millions more through Chicago media power.
UIC is worse off than when we joined the conference, but you don't see people setting themselves on fire out of hate against them. We were the only ones who got that.
And now that the despised people from the wrong town who never did anything wrong and have been portrayed as "elites" are leaving....... now you're mad and nasty and hateful to them for leaving while giving you millions from the NCAA Tournament.
I hate you for coming, I hate you for being here, I hate you for leaving. But only for Loyola-- no other team ever in the 114 history of the conference got it that way. All the things people said they hated Loyola for are more deeply engrained in the fan bases of the new admits that EVERYBODY LOVES....
Come on in, Belmont with your bad attendance, small arena, 3rd rate performance in a terrible conference, and your focus on music in your academics. Come on in, Valpo, with your crappy facilities that make Loyola look like Michigan State--- suck up the place for several years. Murray State, come on in-- nobody cares about markets, academics, or NCAA recruiting standards. And UIC-- I've got news for you all.... UIC never cares about basketball AT ALL unless they have an opportunity to upstage Loyola.
I covered this in another post Blers agreed with. That’s really a small minority of posters here. Personally, I disliked the add because y’all replaced Creighton and who was going to do that? Some random team from a third rate conference that hadn’t really had any success? Damn. I remember more red shirts in non con and early conference games against Loyola when Bradley would visit than Harry Potter scarves. My overall thought for Loyola when y’all came was that you would catch up (albeit I didn’t predict you to become a powerhouse under a once fired ISU coach).
Chicago media power… okay bub. I guarantee you most people in Chicago root for ND, Northwestern, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, ISU, and Bradley. You got some success as a Cinderella which probably won you more fans outside that market than within it. Check yourself. Was it a major market? Yes. Does it own a large share of that major market? Hell no. Market was pretty much why we added you in the first place, that and a large ISU/Bradley alum base in Chicago.
You’re absolutely wrong about “no one else getting it that way”. To this day I watch Wichita is Not a State hoping they lose. I was pissed when Creighton left. My parents were pissed when Tulsa left and it carried down to me rooting against Tulsa because they left right around the time I was born. I hated Wichita when they were here because of Gregggg (course you don’t get that) and I hated Creighton because it was a consistent 2 Ls on our schedule (though I don’t hate them the way I hate Tulsa and Wichita, I actually root for Oregon because of Coach Altman… again you don’t get that). We took in Wichita when they were okay, we took in Evansville shortly after they joined DI (and people weren’t too happy about it considering they were Tulsa’s replacement)
As far as embracing Valpo… no one on the Bradley board even wants them in the conference to this day. At least Loyola belonged even when we added y’all. I spent one year at Valpo and (no offense to the die hards on here because you aren’t who I’m talking about) I have never met a less educated idiotic group of plastic fans who know nothing about basketball much less good basketball in my life. I sat in my dorm room and the library listening to Geno’s teams get their ass kicked rather than going down to watch Valpo play in a gym which was slightly smaller than my high school gym. (Incidentally, BW’s UWGB ended up beating them in the tourney that year).
Ftr, we all loved Belmont and Murray because they are both coming to the conference off positive swings (NCAA appearances, top 25 appearances, etc.) which we haven’t had… like ever. We were always an upgrade for upcoming D-II and mediocre D-I/lateral moves. They give Valley fans energy because we haven’t been an “upgrade” for top performing teams. UIC is being welcomed because they maintain our presence in the Chicago market. That’s about it. They seem to have some loyal fans but honestly, compared to picking up Loyola and Valpo, it’s an upgrade on Valpo and about a 1/1 change from the time we picked up Loyola.
So go foreward with your sob story, that’s fine. Act the victim. I might root against you after you leave or I might not. I don’t really care. I’ve stated before I enjoyed the rivalry BU and LUC started to develop and I hope we can continue it. You guys will probably get a Creighton place in my head “hey, remember they used to dominate the MVC?” Rather than a Wichita place “f*** you guys I hope you lose every game ever”. It’s just a bit more raw now and the worst part is we feel betrayed. Ftr I wore maroon and yellow during your Final 4 and Sweet 16 run because, ya know, that’s what we typically do as a conference. God Bless Sister Jean.
EDIT: As far as “institutional fit” goes I can only speak for BU. My transfer decision was down to BU and LUC (which I was getting more money from LUC but Bradley had a Chinese language “program”). Additionally, most of Peoria is Catholic, and BU is one of the only if not the only schools to have a historic Catholic Church on its campus (St. Mark’s) which I attended regularly to a healthy student congregation during my time there. I’m pretty sure the only reason BU wasn’t a Catholic school was because Lady Lydia was not a Catholic. St. Mark’s was built in 1891 (21 years after LUC was founded and 47 years prior to the Madonna Della Strada’s construction, which by the way is beautiful).
