Missouri Valley Opponent Venues

[rrshock]

Sure. Since you'll be in Misery. And as everyone knows, Misery loves company. So in order, be weary of food poisoning, be weary of carjackers, be weary of scalpers.
:smiley_simmons:

Or if you hear a banjo or "You sure do have purty teeth", RUN LIKE HELL! :)

[1972Shocker]

I've been to MSU a couple of times, both for Volleyball matches/tournaments at HSC. The second time I was there JQH was under construction.

The thing that struck me, and somewhat surprised me, was how non-descript and plain the MSU campus seemed to be. Pretty much a concrete jungle with very little aesthetic appeal at all. I was expecting something more Ozarks-like I guess.

Admittedly I am biased but IMHO, the WSU campus beats it hands down. That wasn't always the case. I don't think the WSU campus was particularly impressive when I attended, although that was 40 years ago and the things you notice tend to change with age, but I will say that the WSU campus has aged quite nicely in terms of the campus setting. 40 years of growth on some of the trees provided for some nice natural monuments. All-in-all I think WSU has done a terrfic job with its campus over that last few decades.

[rrshock]

For those of you that have traveled to away games, what are the better venues out there for the Valley teams? Maybe not even just venues, but perhaps the area of the city the venue is in is safe, fun, family friendly, etc.

To answer the question, I have only been to the Knapp center. I had been to the old arena that MSU plays in as well as the Omaha Civic Auditorium. The Knapp Center at Drake is the Heskett on steroids. It is a rec center with classrooms and some pull out bleachers. It is definitely not a selling point for their program. I thought the old arena at MSU was better than Drake's is.

[Rosewood]

Drake - What a dump - it is basically a high school gym. On the plus side, it was easy to get courtside seats. I'll never forget that game because I see the team come out from the locker room (looks like a high school locker room) from my seat and ... Sean Ogiri is in a cast :(

Mo State - old - also a dump and horrible accoustics and lots of bad angles.

Mo State - New - I hate to say it but not too shabby

sCUm - I've gone to multiple games there and I've set high, middle, and down low. It really is no different then going to IBA. Big, really bright, ok accoustics, and a lot of drunk fans. That means some fans are pretty lazy and others are drunk and rowdy. Their student section is a little goofy but it is good I guess. The thing about going to a sCUm game is the fans whine about every. single. call. Now, I know we like to work the refs and whine. I know I'm guilty as hell about it. But when one of our boys has an obvious foul we don't whine. We don't. They do at sCUm. At first it was funny but after a few years of going there -- I just find it sad.

UNI - Lol right, like I'd actually drive that far.

Not in the valley but Municipal Auditorium for UMKC games had a very unique feel. It obviously wasn't a 'big time' feel but an old timey feel that I liked. But again, maybe I just liked being close.

[shocker3]

I have been to all of the Valley cities several times over the years to watch baseball games. I have also been to Omaha, Des Moines, Springfield and Tulsa to watch basketball games.

Drake- The Knapp Center stinks. It is like a big high school gym.

Creighton- The Century Link Center is nice, a lot like Intrust Arena only bigger. It is in downtown Omaha and very near the Old Market. There are a lot of nice, expensive places to eat in the Old Market. If you like pasta and don't want to spend a lot I would suggest Spagetti Works. Unlike most places in the Old Market, the prices are very reasonable.

If you like steak, there are several good steakhouses in Omaha. My favorite is Anthonys at 72nd and F St. (it is not anywhere near the Century Link Center). If you like Mexican food, Howard's in South Omaha is great. It is a family run restaurant. It is located on South 13th St, south of the old Rosenblatt stadium and Henry Doorley zoo. Speaking of which, if you like zoos, you have to visit the Henry Doorley Zoo, it is great (and I don't even care much for zoos). It is one of the best around.

Bradley- Downtown Peoria is very nice for a city of 150,000. It feels like a much bigger city. They have several good restaurants downtown including chains like Joe's Crab Shack. If you like Italian food, you have to go Avanti's. They have the best sandwiches I have ever eaten, I believe they are called Gondolas.

Illinois St- Normal/Bloomington is kind of the opposite of Peoria. Not many motels, not much of a downtown. But they do have Avanti's there (see Bradley). If you like steak I would suggest Jim's steakhouse in Bloomngton. The decor is right out of the 60s but the steak is good. If you like fast food, they also have Steak and Shake.

Southern Illinois- Carbondale is off the beaten path and there isn't a lot there. But if you like ribs you have to go the 17th Street Bar and Grill in Murphysboro (a few miles west of Carbondale- they also have a new one just east of Carbondale but I haven't eaten at that one). The ribs are great and they have won many awards. Another place I would suggest eating in Carbondale is The Giant City Lodge. It is about 10 miles south of town, but the Chicken is great and so are all of the fixins. It is all you can eat for about $10. The food is absolutely wonderful and you can't beat the price. And the place is pretty nice, kind of a country club type setting.

Missouri State- The old Hammons student center was a dump, the new place is kind of nice. My favorite place to eat in Springfield is Ebbet's field. It is a bar with very good food and is in walking distance of the baseball stadium and not too far from the basketball arena. Lambert's is another good place to eat. They serve huge portions of homestyle food and they actually throw rolls at you. But bring plenty of cash, unless they have changed, they don't accept credit cards. I also like Ruby Tuesday's (I love their salad bar) and they have one in Springfield. If you like the Brazilian style steakhouses they have one of those in Springfield too. They also have a huge Bass Pro Shop.

Terre Haute- Not much there. There is a decent mexican restaurant just north of campus (I can't remember the name of it right now, but if you drive north on Highway 41 just north of the campus it is on the right side of the road. There is also a great homestyle type food restaurant called something like Country Cafe (I don't remember the name exactly) but it is located on Margaret Ave, just east of Highway 41, across the street from the Econo Lodge and the Cracker Barrell (it is located on the north side of the street). The breakfast and dinner food was great and the prices were very reasonable.

Evansville- Downtown isn't bad. If you were a fan of the Grandy's fast food chicken, they still have one there. They also have a casino nearby if you are into that.

UNI- I havn't been to Cedar Falls since they dropped baseball. I do remember eating at a Texas Roadhouse there once. I also remember eating at a wonderful local pizza place but I can't remember the name of it. For some reason I am not remembering much else about Cedar Falls. It seems like most of the time when I was there, the weather was very lousy. It was usually snowing or raining. I am sure if I think hard enough some other memories will come back to me.

[SHOXSHOX]

I'm headed to Springfield for work and plan on catching the game. Is there a local pub that Shocker fans will be gathering at before the game?

[Ta town]

Bradley-Downtown Peoria is very nice for a city of 150,000. It feels like a much bigger city.

Peoria has a metro population of 380,000 so thats probably why it feels much larger than 150,000.

[shocker3]

Peoria has a metro population of 380,000 so thats probably why it feels much larger than 150,000.

I just looked it up in wikipedia and Peoria itself is actually smaller than I thought, they list it at 115,000. The Metro population includes a 5 county area, but most of those people must rely on Peoria which would explain the bigger feel it has.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria,_Illinois

[Ta town]

I just looked it up in wikipedia and Peoria itself is actually smaller than I thought, they list it at 115,000. The Metro population includes a 5 county area, but most of those people must rely on Peoria which would explain the bigger feel it has.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria,_Illinois

Yes an MSA will usually include the population of the surrounding area with close economic ties. That 380,000 doesn't however include the other 175K in the Bloomington/Normal area right down the road.

Oddly enough Wichita's MSA of 630K doesn't include Hutchinson. Being a west sider I see plenty of traditional mennonites (who I assume come from near Hutch) shopping/dinning in the New Market square area on a regular basis.

[rrshock]

Yes an MSA will usually include the population of the surrounding area with close economic ties. That 380,000 doesn't however include the other 175K in the Bloomington/Normal area right down the road.

Oddly enough Wichita's MSA of 630K doesn't include Hutchinson. Being a west sider I see plenty of traditional mennonites (who I assume come from near Hutch) shopping/dinning in the New Market square area on a regular basis.

Doesn't the metro of Wichita only include Sumner, Butler and Harvey counties? Which I would figure Reno should be included. Some have tried to argue Cowley should be instead of Harvey, which I believe is just idiotic.

[Ta town]

Doesn't the metro of Wichita only include Sumner, Butler and Harvey counties? Which I would figure Reno should be included. Some have tried to argue Cowley should be instead of Harvey, which I believe is just idiotic.

Wichita MSA includes: Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, Sumner and is roughly 630K

Wichita/Winfield CSA (combined statistical) would add Cowley and I believe thats around 665K total

If you added Reno county to all that it comes out to around 725K I believe

[rrshock]

Wichita MSA includes: Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, Sumner and is roughly 630K

Wichita/Winfield CSA (combined statistical) would add Cowley and I believe thats around 665K total

If you added Reno county to all that it comes out to around 725K I believe

I forgot Sedgwick. To me it was assumed since Wichita takes up almost 2/3s of the county. Thank you correcting my brain fart.

[Ta town]

I forgot Sedgwick. To me it was assumed since Wichita takes up almost 2/3s of the county. Thank you correcting my brain fart.

Oh no I was't trying to correct you, I was simply listing what all was included.

Sorry for taking this topic off track BTW

[rrshock]

Oh no I was't trying to correct you, I was simply listing what all was included.

Sorry for taking this topic off track BTW

That is what happens to threads here normally.

Isn't there supposed to be a first class, top notch gentleman's club in Peoria?

[ShockerPrez]

After or before you watch the Braves in Peoria, you can boat down the river and have carp jump in your boat. Can't find that type of entertainment just anywhere.