October 2008 Archives

I was talking to a co-worker over IM on Tuesday, and as I am the foremost Creighton Hoops expert within the walls of our office, he wanted to ask me about the Open House. Before you ask, there's only 34 people in our office, so possessing the title of Foremost Expert about Creighton Hoops is not exactly the sort of thing one brags about owning.

I also own the title of Foremost Expert about Jack Welch's Management Techniques, which stems entirely from reading his column on the inside back page of Business Week in the company bathroom. So it goes without saying that these titles are not exactly hard to attain. My goal is to one day become the Foremost Expert on Getting Candy out of the Vending Machine without having the wrapper get caught on the claw inside the machine. Hey, we all gotta have goals, don't judge me because mine are more modest than yours. It will be a great day when I spend 50 cents on a Three Musketeers bar and it doesn't dangle perilously from the metal slinky-like mechanism that dispenses the candy. And frankly, I'm tired of yelling lines from the Kiefer Sutherland version of The Three Musketeers from 1991 every time the candy gets stuck, so this goal needs to be attained ASAP.

Nonetheless, this co-worker wanted to know about the Open House, because he was under the impression it would be a lot like college football "Spring Games". While I agree it would be dominant to see a two-hour "Blue-White Scrimmage", that's not what the Open House is about. Near as I can tell, its about allowing the 500 Super Hard Core Die-Hard Fans to attend a practice. Equally important, its practice for us, too: not just anyone can fork over $6 for a beer without practicing handing over that money. It takes practice so that your game face is ready, and you don't revile in horror when the cashier asks for the money. This is important stuff.

Hearing that the Open House was really just practice, the co-worker replied, "Practice? We're talking about Practice? Practice!" I said, "Oh, are you trying to be clever by dropping an Iverson reference? Yeah, you are not The Answer."

I digress.

Yesterday, I published Part II of my three-part MVC Preview with the teams I envision will be looking to make a move for the top of the standings -- teams 6-3 in the final standings. Today, I'll look at the teams I think will be fighting for Valley Supremacy come March.

After the jump...The Big Two.

Yesterday, I kicked off my three-part MVC Preview with the teams I envision will be playing the play-in games on Thursday night in St. Louis -- teams 7-10 in the final standings. Today, I'll look at the teams looking to make a move in the conference, those that I predict will finish 4-6 come March.

After the jump...The Barry Hinson Memorial Division for 2008-09.

After years of unprecedented stability and growth, last year half of the Valley schools hired new coaches (Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State and Wichita State) and almost added a sixth to the list when the Creighton job sat vacant for 24 hours. Once the season started, two teams that had been the conference bellwethers -- Creighton and Southern Illinois -- struggled to earn NIT bids. Meanwhile, perennial doormat Drake had a once-in-a-generation year and won the league.

Like it or not, the league took a public relations hit last year. That's a heckuva lot of turnover in the coaching ranks, although anyone who took more than a cursory glance would notice that only one of the departing coaches left of his own volition. Royce Waltman had a good run at Indiana State but had struggled in recent years. Steve Merfeld was never able to turn around Evansville after replacing longtime coach Jim Crews. Porter Moser ran out of time in Normal before reaping the benefits of his solid recruiting. And Dr. Tom Davis retired at Drake after breathing life back into a lifeless program. Only Mark Turgeon at Wichita State left to take a "better" job.

So while the league had five new coaches, four of the five were in the bottom half of the conference. The perception was much worse than the reality.

And while Drake winning big was a nice story, having them dominate the league while stalwarts Creighton and SIU struggled gave national pundits an easy excuse to write off the league. If Drake -- DRAKE! -- dominated the league, obviously the talent level must be down. And come March, the league got just one NCAA bid, the first time the Valley wasn't a multi-bid league in almost a decade. But the league still had talent and numerous good teams, it was just young. Illinois State had a great year, and although they weren't dominant as in years past, Creighton and Southern both had nice years. Again, the perception was worse than the reality.

This year, the conference breaks in two more new coaches (Drake again, Missouri State), but the traditional powers look to be again favored. Will that help bring the Valley to the top of the non-football conferences? Or will the damage from one "down" year hamper the league's reputation in 2008-09?

Over the next three days, I'll break down the conference team by team. Thursday, I'll cover the contenders. Wednesday, I'll look at the teams looking to make a move. But first up, a look at the teams that will be playing the "Play-In" games in St. Louis -- or simply put, the teams that will be in the bottom of the standings come March.

When Arnold said "I'll be back" in Terminator, it took him seven years to return in a sequel. When I said it, it took me four months. Except for the obvious body size differences and my lack of a discernible accent, we're the same guy, really. I mean, he starred in Demolition Man and leaned to eat at Taco Bell every day because it was the only restaurant still around, and I eat at Taco Bell once in a while, so that gives us tons in common!

OK, not so much. It would be nice if you'd humor me once in a while and let me tell my ridiculous untrue stories without laughing. At least, save your laughter and ridicule at my expense until the end.

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That's right, with my book done its now time for more uninformed outsider jackassery. I offer you my apologies in advance...both for introducing silly words like jackassery into the English lexicon, and for all the stories I'm about to tell throughout the course of the season.

Here's a quick rundown of the summer's developments, with quick-hit thoughts. As you read this, imagine me with bad hair and a cheap suit sitting at a shiny-yet-flimsy desk on a television set with bright lights that are teh dope on HDTV. Trust me, context is everything.