Tweet
Sorry I'm way late on this and won't spend much time on Evansville since I wrote a pretty detailed AAR on the trip last year, but here goes:
The trip: Cheap, cheap flights to Chicago are abundant either from Wichita or KC when you book early. Just don't book the last flight out for the evening for two reasons: game times are subject to change(which can lead one to driving like Elwood and Jake through the streets of Chicago to get to their gate) and flights in and out of both Midway and O'Hare get weathered out in Dec-Feb as often as Zelton Sneed makes the wrong call...lots. Also unless you are going to visit a great Aunt outside the metro, don't rent a car IMHO. It costs a fortune to park at most downtown hotels and the L, Buses and cabs can get you anywhere you want to go without the albatross of traffic and liability hanging over your head. Also, tons of great hotel deals to be had even on the Magnificient Mile during the Winter....rooms are vacant and plentiful and Priceline, Expedia, Hotwire all have some decent bidding wars going on. If that doesn't fit your modus operandi, call the hotel direct and tell them what you want to pay and you just never know. Much to do there obviously and just a really fun place. Good roadie to take the spouse or family, can't run of out sights to see or places to eat. For deep dish pizza I recommend either Genos East or Lou Malnatis, both were phenomenal with good service and respectable prices.
The venue: Gentile Arena (hooked onto the Student Union) is a very new, cozy (slightly over 4,000 capacity) setting that has all the makings of a damn tough place for visitors to play....if the fans would show up. There were probably 400-500 empty seats which isn't too impressive considering a top 15 team was in town to play the best team your school has produced in many years. Couple that with the fact that there were probably 800-1000 Shocker fans there and it really makes you wonder what would sell the place out. Students were decent and it looks like there is a core fanbase that has weathered the storm of bad years, but until the Ramblers figure out how they are going to compete and win over the sports dollar in a city with lots of options, not sure how much better the crowds will be. Too bad, because I like this choice for the Valley, I like Coach Moser, and I think the potential is there for this program to have an annual top 75-100 program. The academic reputation of the school is fantastic, the alumni appear loaded, and the talent pool of players is never ending in the area. Oh and they serve beer and wine and the concessions are cheap, so that rocks as well.
The game: Started off with a prayer where the Sister asked God for the ability for the Ramblers to jump hire than the Shockers and win the battle of the boards. All I could think of was Block Out Jesus, a variation of the Notre Dame football icon. An A Capella student group sang the national anthem and not sure I have ever heard a better rendition in my many years of sporting events.
The game has already been dissected like an 8th grade biology class earthworm, but I will point out a couple of things. FVV has a locked in competitive gear I saw up close that almost says out loud, "Here I am Chicago, here is my team and program, and you need to understand that this is what we do, what I do and as much as I love this area, this is what college basketball is about and I have it and you don't". Evan made a three late in the game on a shot clock play and Fred just looked at the bench like a proud grandpa adoringly looks over his successful family. Wish I had a picture of that because it would be up on my wall in my office forever scriptwriting the fruits of leadership in a single photo. :untroubled: The other unique (at least to me) observation I derived from the game is the genuine respect the other teams seemed to have for Tekele not only defensively but his character as well. They just seem to enjoy playing against him because his game is not trash talk, grabbing and holding, and whining to the refs-it's just athleticism, hard work, and intuition. Damned if I didn't post this too late because DJ Balentine said the exact same thing yesterday I was thinking last Sunday.
A couple of quick notes on Evansville: I cannot believe they had the upper sections blocked off. That is from a program that once could get 10k average per game for six straight seasons. I get it that they are not the top 1-2 in the league, but they are good enough that they should be drawing what they had yesterday for us on a regular basis and at least 9k for a ranked team. I mean WTF else is there to do there? That's the argument people make about Wichita isn't it? Also, great experience going on road trips. I almost, in fact sometimes do, enjoy the road attendance as much as the home games. You feel more like a part of the program sans the corporate fat cats and the Splurge crowd you get at Koch. I truly, truly recommend you Netters to go to at least one road game a year and you will see what I mean.
The trip: Cheap, cheap flights to Chicago are abundant either from Wichita or KC when you book early. Just don't book the last flight out for the evening for two reasons: game times are subject to change(which can lead one to driving like Elwood and Jake through the streets of Chicago to get to their gate) and flights in and out of both Midway and O'Hare get weathered out in Dec-Feb as often as Zelton Sneed makes the wrong call...lots. Also unless you are going to visit a great Aunt outside the metro, don't rent a car IMHO. It costs a fortune to park at most downtown hotels and the L, Buses and cabs can get you anywhere you want to go without the albatross of traffic and liability hanging over your head. Also, tons of great hotel deals to be had even on the Magnificient Mile during the Winter....rooms are vacant and plentiful and Priceline, Expedia, Hotwire all have some decent bidding wars going on. If that doesn't fit your modus operandi, call the hotel direct and tell them what you want to pay and you just never know. Much to do there obviously and just a really fun place. Good roadie to take the spouse or family, can't run of out sights to see or places to eat. For deep dish pizza I recommend either Genos East or Lou Malnatis, both were phenomenal with good service and respectable prices.
The venue: Gentile Arena (hooked onto the Student Union) is a very new, cozy (slightly over 4,000 capacity) setting that has all the makings of a damn tough place for visitors to play....if the fans would show up. There were probably 400-500 empty seats which isn't too impressive considering a top 15 team was in town to play the best team your school has produced in many years. Couple that with the fact that there were probably 800-1000 Shocker fans there and it really makes you wonder what would sell the place out. Students were decent and it looks like there is a core fanbase that has weathered the storm of bad years, but until the Ramblers figure out how they are going to compete and win over the sports dollar in a city with lots of options, not sure how much better the crowds will be. Too bad, because I like this choice for the Valley, I like Coach Moser, and I think the potential is there for this program to have an annual top 75-100 program. The academic reputation of the school is fantastic, the alumni appear loaded, and the talent pool of players is never ending in the area. Oh and they serve beer and wine and the concessions are cheap, so that rocks as well.
The game: Started off with a prayer where the Sister asked God for the ability for the Ramblers to jump hire than the Shockers and win the battle of the boards. All I could think of was Block Out Jesus, a variation of the Notre Dame football icon. An A Capella student group sang the national anthem and not sure I have ever heard a better rendition in my many years of sporting events.
The game has already been dissected like an 8th grade biology class earthworm, but I will point out a couple of things. FVV has a locked in competitive gear I saw up close that almost says out loud, "Here I am Chicago, here is my team and program, and you need to understand that this is what we do, what I do and as much as I love this area, this is what college basketball is about and I have it and you don't". Evan made a three late in the game on a shot clock play and Fred just looked at the bench like a proud grandpa adoringly looks over his successful family. Wish I had a picture of that because it would be up on my wall in my office forever scriptwriting the fruits of leadership in a single photo. :untroubled: The other unique (at least to me) observation I derived from the game is the genuine respect the other teams seemed to have for Tekele not only defensively but his character as well. They just seem to enjoy playing against him because his game is not trash talk, grabbing and holding, and whining to the refs-it's just athleticism, hard work, and intuition. Damned if I didn't post this too late because DJ Balentine said the exact same thing yesterday I was thinking last Sunday.
A couple of quick notes on Evansville: I cannot believe they had the upper sections blocked off. That is from a program that once could get 10k average per game for six straight seasons. I get it that they are not the top 1-2 in the league, but they are good enough that they should be drawing what they had yesterday for us on a regular basis and at least 9k for a ranked team. I mean WTF else is there to do there? That's the argument people make about Wichita isn't it? Also, great experience going on road trips. I almost, in fact sometimes do, enjoy the road attendance as much as the home games. You feel more like a part of the program sans the corporate fat cats and the Splurge crowd you get at Koch. I truly, truly recommend you Netters to go to at least one road game a year and you will see what I mean.
Comment