MissouriValleyUnite wrote:Kyle_Saluki_17 wrote:I lived in Evansville for a couple of years. I'm far from an expert on that town, but my general feeling was that USI would have better support in that town than UE would if it were D1. Now it will be, and I can't see this being anywhere close to a good thing for UE. Time will tell though. When I did live there, the only day I felt the town actually cared for UE's existence was the day after they beat Kentucky. And we all know that win quickly faded with 18 straight conference L's.
The Aces have been intertwined with Evansville’s cultural identity for generations. In the 90s, Evansville drew 11,740 fans at their peak, which was top-30 nationally. Also, the Aces play downtown while USI is in a rural part just outside Evansville. The Aces have intrinsic advantages with location and generational support relative to USI.
The generational support of UE is dwindling fast. Loyalist like me are getting old. Younger Evansville fans haven't seen much in 20 plus years...only the stories. Additionally, not many local students go to UE anymore, mostly international students who don't care about athletics. USI, on the other end, since their beginnings, have graduated well over 40,000 students and half of them have stayed in Evansville. To say this another way, UE has to step up and learn how to find a coach that can actually match the facilities they have to offer. My hometown team has been awful for a long time, no one needs to tell me that...but they shouldn't be as bad as what they have been. Should USI make a big splash, and UE stays the same, the younger and casual fan, plus the USI alumni, may have an easy choice to make.
