MVC tourney announcement

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

Question..

I know this board represents a very small faction of the Shocker fanbase. i would definitely call us (well most of us) die-hards. But how many of you will "actually" not attend STL in an effort to stick it to the MVC?

Me personally, I have never been. Its either a money thing or another commitment thing. I do however want to go and would obviously be more inclined to do so should it have been moved to KC (at that point the money hting goes out the window for multiple reasons)

Outside of Creightons last year our fanbase represents the largest tier that shows up. We showed in record numbers Greggs first year when we for lack of a better term sucked. We showed up in record numbers when we were for lack of a better term amazing.

[Wuzee]

Well, as if to prove that JH4P is really me, too, I'll offer a post that sounds like one of his: for the Valley, the choice of St. Louis over Kansas City was pretty much a no-brainer (unless KC pretty much offered the moon, which apparently was not the case).

Now that the Creighton Drinking Society has moved on, the only two schools and fan bases for whom KC is all that much closer than St. Louis are WSU, which is likely to be represented by more fans than anyone else (maybe any two other schools combined) anyway, and Drake, which won't have more than a skeleton crew in either place. But for those on the east side of the Mississippi -- the ones who can stand a little encouragement to show up -- St. Louis is at least three hours closer.

So why NOT take WSU for granted and try to maximize the attendance from the East? The Shocks aren't likely to have as many folks there in 2015 and beyond as last year regardless, if only because the odds are against WSU's being undefeated and playing for a regional #1 seed every year. But they'll still have the largest representation. And meanwhile, some of the eastern crew might actually step up enough to give their fans an incentive to attend, especially if they don't have to go all the way across Missouri to get there. Add in the presence of the league office in St. Louis, and this is an easy choice -- annoying, no question, but perfectly logical in terms of dollars and cents.

And sorry, guys, but Las Vegas was never more than a pipe dream for Shockernetters looking for a chance to behave badly. Seriously, a host city well over a thousand miles from the nearest midwestern school in a league whose profile isn't exactly the highest even in its own part of the country -- and people are supposed to show up in meaningful numbers? That's Twilight Zone stuff.

This ^^^

The buildup made the MVC look foolish, but, taking off my Shocker glasses, it's the right move for the conference. Plus the St. Louis drive is very doable. Good food, good beer, good basketball. See y'all at the Majestic for a Greek Omelette.

[Kung Wu]

This ^^^

The buildup made the MVC look foolish, but, taking off my Shocker glasses, it's the right move for the conference. Plus the St. Louis drive is very doable. Good food, good beer, good basketball. See y'all at the Majestic for a Greek Omelette.

Fine. But it's still a lot more fun to complain and ***** and moan, so I would recommend you go ahead and throw in some MVC and Elgin disses. It's sort of good therapy. Think of Elgin like a human version of those squishy stress reliever balls. You really don't have anything against the squishy ball, but it's fun to squeeze the heck out of it.

[capnkirk]

If the MVC would have just put out a press release saying the contract for St Louis has been extended for 3 more years I would not have thought twice about it. No big deal, business as usual.

But, when you call a press conference and invite people to attend and reserve an hour after the announcement for a Q&A and to present it as a historic announcement, that would imply a major change.

Congrats on the historic announcement doug Elgin and the mvc.

Signed,
The final 4 team, the undefeated team and the nit champions....... :/

[thunderkwb]

Even taking the proximity of WSU to KC out of consideration, KC facilities are way better, the MVC should have learned from all the repeated mishaps from St. Louis and used this as an opportunity to upgrade. I am by know means a KC fan but that city knows how to host a basketball tourney, unless St. Louis just blew the socks of financially, I am stunned by this.

[RoyalShock]

If the STL Sports Commission is publicly asking for more local support, then the MVC tourney has run it's course in that city. It's time to move and expand the brand. The article in the KC Star indicated they really wanted the tournament. Just because the STL bid was worth more in the short term, doesn't mean it's best in the long term.

I suppose it's possible, with KC being a long established Big 12 town, the MVC was afraid their tournament would get greatly overshadowed by the Big 12 tourney hype.

I wonder if either KC or STL was open to being alternating sites, or if it was all or none.

[Kung Wu]

I suppose it's possible, with KC being a long established Big 12 town, the MVC was afraid their tournament would get greatly overshadowed by the Big 12 tourney hype.

Think that will happen anyway with the SEC tourney now being played in the same barn?

[Cdizzle]

I suppose it's possible, with KC being a long established Big 12 town, the MVC was afraid their tournament would get greatly overshadowed by the Big 12 tourney hype.

Better to have a well-attended MVC tourney overshadowed by a highly successful Big12 tournament than a sparsely-attended MVC tourney overshadowed by the Ice Capades.

[RoyalShock]

Think that will happen anyway with the SEC tourney now being played in the same barn?

We're sure to find out in 2018. Isn't that the first year the SEC tourney will be held in STL?

[ShockTalk]

We're sure to find out in 2018. Isn't that the first year the SEC tourney will be held in STL?

Curse You! How dare you think we'll still be around to find out!

[WSUwatcher]

By the way, KW, I'm no fan of Elgin or the Valley either, and I enjoy making fun of them as much as anyone. I'm hoping WSU can become a basketball, or even complete non-football, member of the AAC.

But it was an easy and obvious decision for them to favor St. Louis over KC. As far as the overblown, unduly hyped announcement is concerned, though, you and everyone else are right: calling it historic was downright embarrassing, and thus perfectly in character. One might even call it mid-majorish.

[Kung Wu]

By the way, KW, I'm no fan of Elgin or the Valley either, and I enjoy making fun of them as much as anyone. I'm hoping WSU can become a basketball, or even complete non-football, member of the AAC.

But it was an easy and obvious decision for them to favor St. Louis over KC. As far as the overblown, unduly hyped announcement is concerned, though, you and everyone else are right: calling it historic was downright embarrassing, and thus perfectly in character. One might even call it mid-majorish.

To be honest, most of my bagging on Elgin is lighthearted. We definitely owe him big for Marshall, but his time with the MVC has really run it's course because he's not the visionary that the MVC needs at this important moment in time with all of the conference realignment. I think he can maintain a conference well enough -- he could even manage a power conference -- but this is a pivotal moment in time and the conference desperately needs an entrepreneur more than a facilitator.

[RoyalShock]

Curse You! How dare you think we'll still be around to find out!

Of course I meant "we" in the collective college basketball sense! :)

[MadaboutWu]

I felt annoyed at the "historic" gaffe too, but in the context of the press release it was just typical PR puffing to get reporters butts in the seats and hope they would not be too irritated and still want to report what they heard while Elgin wasted an hour of their time. Fans weren't its intended audience.

[Cdizzle]

Fans weren't its intended audience.

This is basically the MVC's mantra at this point.