vuweathernerd

congrats on your victory. i'll be pulling for you guys next weekend.

It's nice to have confirmation from a Horizon League fan that we are not just imagining what we see on a regular basis from MAC refs. Sorry you folks had to suffer through it on your home floor. But at least you got to leave the floor happy with a win. Valpo has a good young core of players to go with a strong recruiting class, while the Zips only get one new player next season. So the battle in Akron next year won't be any easier for the Zips. The best thing about next year's game may be the Horizon League refs!there was actually some debate on our board about the quality of the officiating. mostly because i expect a foul called when a guy gets pulled out of the air, and from my vantage point, it looked like that's what happened to little, causing him to leave for a bit. but hey, that's life sometimes. the zips played a very good press last night, which enabled them that big lead in the first half. the problem was that when we started to break it, there wasn't much of a switch to keep our guards off balance. depending on the date of the game in akron next year, i may drive out for it.

i see why you all hate those refs. that was a nightmare. thanks for a thrilling game, and hopefully those who were there enjoyed a (mostly) good atmosphere, minus the tech on homer and the foul immediately preceding it. hopefully the return game next year is just as good so you all can have some fun at your place. best of luck on the rest of your season.

i'd say talk to the athletic department and see if they can't do something to gauge interest conference wide. if it's a popular idea, then take it to the commissioner's office and see if they can't do something about it.

we actually had that very same problem last sunday ourselves. one ref in particular who was calling things from the other end of the baseline with 4 or 5 big bodies in the way between him and the action. hopefully he's not a double-dipping official. b/c i don't want to see him ever again.

www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv however, you do have to register, but it is free.

Those stats are a little misleading because Valpo has a much higher strength of schedule than the Zips. This is likely to be a close game unless one team catches fire or the refs really stink.Since the game is at Valpo, dont we get our MAC refs....... (I thought that's the way the Bracketbuster handled assigning referees for these games. It's supposed to be an equalizer to home court advantage!!! )More like the kiss of death. I've never seen another league officiated like the MAC. It's odd, because refs are regionalized. These same refs don't pull that crap when they're doing Horizon league games or the Big Ten games. It's a huge disadvantage, because we have to force our teams to play according to the style that the refs dictate, where when you breath on certain players (never the "star" players, either. It's always some guy who averages 4ppg) you will be called for an offensive foul while others can get punched below the belt and then get called for fouling the puncher.Then, when we go out and play a team who doesn't have to worry about that bullcrap, teams who simply play the games and the refs go along with the flow of the game instead of creating their own, it appears that the refs favor them because we're so used to wildly inconsistant no-calls and touch-fouls.every conference has some bad ones. we actually just had a crew last weekend that were pretty bad. as long as they're consistent, i won't complain too much.

the mac doesn't have any kind of equivalent to that, do they?No. Much to the dismay of many out-of-towners on this board, myself included. I keep dreaming we'll have something like that . . . someday . . . someday . . .i feel for you there. it's definitely something that i wish more conferences would have. it makes following teams so much easier for out-of-towners. i hope that more conferences, including the mac, can jump on the bandwagon.

the mac doesn't have any kind of equivalent to that, do they?

one of the keys to playing at the arc is the crowd, especially the students. if we get loud and obnoxious, it's basically like have 6 or 7 players on the court. we're trying to pack the place tonight, as this is homer drew's first home attempt at his 600th career win. so tune in for an entertaining game.

hopefully you're not considering the bracketbuster game among them, although i can't say i'd blame you if you are.

even so, that's still quite a career. i'm impressed just reading about him, and can't wait to see him here next weekend.

sounds like our big guys are going to have their hands full. should be quite the matchup down low.

that's really an impressive feat. it's hard enough to reach 1 or 2, but to reach all 4? wow! makes me look forward to seeing him play here in a couple weeks.

actually, brewskis is no longer open. we came back for fall classes and it had closed, supposedly for renovations. but it's still not open. other than that, you're right about the rest of them. the country inn and suites is the closest to campus. it'd be about a 25 minute walk depending on how the sidewalks are (currently under 2 feet of snow). but it definitely beats not having to deal with parking. parking at vu is less than stellar.

as has been said many times on our board, that's why we play the game. i'm looking forward to it. but at least i'm now no longer the only valpo fan on here.

thank you for the hospitality dave. i'll be checking in on here throughout the next few weeks at least.just don't piss us off... don't worry. i'm not a jackass like some people. i'll play nice. i don't like playground bullies either.

thank you for the hospitality dave. i'll be checking in on here throughout the next few weeks at least.

If 6-7 is "almost 7 feet," the Zips have a number of almost 7-footers, too. ok. fair point. to somebody that's just about 5'7" that extra foot seems like a whole lot more.

i do know how it feels to have less intelligent posters on a board. i've seen some pretty stupid stuff come out that way. but it happens everywhere, so at least it's not targeting any single team. it sounds like you guys have quite a catch in this incoming center. i also hope that the rematch comes towards the end of december. it does seem like it could be quite a battle inside if that does happen. but if not, then vu always has cory johnson, who's almost 7 feet. either way, i'm excited.

Not better than I think! No matter how lightly some Zips fans may take Valpo, I'm certain that the Zips coaching staff will do a more detailed analysis and realize that both games will be challenging. Valpo was leading 13th-ranked Butler with 6 minutes to go, Butler scored 11 straight points, then Valpo fought back to trail by 2 with 90 seconds left before losing by 8. This is no MAC West cupcake.Next season will be an especially interesting game. Zips fans are counting a lot on the quick emergence of Zeke Marshall to make up for the loss of Nate Linhart. But Valpo's older, more experienced Beas Hamga could be a tough matchup. Consider that while Zeke is rated the 8th best center and 37th best player in the high school class of 2009, Hamga was rated the 5th best center and 28th best player in the class of 2007. Hamga was originally heavily recruited by the University of Kentucky and other major programs before signing with UNLV. He redshirted there, and played little this year before transferring to Valpo. Once considered a potential NBA prospect out of high school (he's listed on www.nbadraft.net ), his slow development in college makes him more of a project. He will be a good test for Zeke. Consider when these two teams tip off next year how many NBA games do not feature two 7-footers jumping for the ball.I would also not underestimate the potential of Ryan Broekhoff, who was "only" voted the Junior National Player of the Year for the entire country of Australia.Inexperienced freshmen players are one thing. But Hamga isn't the only new Valpo player for next year to already have some college experience:Brandon Wood, a 6’3”, 195 lb. guard from Kokomo, Ind., is playing this season at Highland [ill.] Community College. Wood transferred to Highland from Southern Illinois, where he appeared in six games for the Salukis, averaging 3.7 points per game, before suffering a season-ending injury. He stood out in the Salukis’ opener last year against Northern Illinois, pouring in 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes off the bench. Wood was a three-year letterwinner at Kokomo H.S., where he was honored as an Indiana All-Star. A two-time All-Conference honoree, he was an All-County pick after a senior year in which he averaged 21.0 points per game. Wood is projected to be the top incoming point guard next year in the Horizon League according to Rivals.com.Cory Johnson, a 6'7", 230 lb. forward, will be eligible to play at Valparaiso after transferring from Iowa State, where he played for two seasons. He was ranked No. 78 in the HoopScoop class of 2006.well done. i see somebody's done some research. and everything you put up is accurate. it would seem that the key for both teams is going to be how quickly the new players adapt to each system. a note on hamga: due to eligibility, he will not be able to play until after our semester ends, so if it's an early-season game (like our return game at miami this year), he will not be eligible. it's going to be an interesting pair of games. good luck up till the 21st, and after. hopefully you guys reach your 20 win season that you're shooting for. i just hope that the 20th win doesn't come at valpo.

valpo lost 3 seniors last year. we're only losing 2 this year, with a medical redshirt. one of the two that's graduating is still going to be around as a grad. assistant. there's a lot more talent coming in next year than we're losing. so that return game is going to be better than you think.

as a vu student, and a poster on the vu board, i know exactly who you're talking about. just ignore him. he's kinda cranky in his old age. as for the arc, don't underestimate it's power. it was listed as one of the 10 hardest places to play for a reason. there's going to be plenty of vu students at this game hopefully, and when it's loud, it's a nightmare for the opposition.

eguins is right. it's going to be a much better game than you all realize. look forward to it. and the rematch is going to also be dangerous because of our incoming recruits. it'll make for an excellent series.

it'll be a good game, trust me. valpo plays better than we have let on over the course of the season. we ran with butler at hinkle on friday night, and this is going to be a home game for both teams. as for the rematch next year, we're going to be very dangerous. we have currently the highest-rated incoming class in the conference. the rematch could be dangerous.