Braves to play at Northern Illinois this season

[SFP]

BTW I do not see KK all over this deal. I do not remember when we ever scheduled a road game (not neutral folks) to a 300 rpi team. I'm sure he may have been working on something with them but the lack of an astute AD I would bet led to this deal. I have to hand it to the NIU AD for landing this. This is great for them no matter how you slice it. BTW I'm done with this subject. Most of you know where I stand on this.

Any news on our AD situation?

[squirrelgotdead]

BTW I do not see KK all over this deal. I do not remember when we ever scheduled a road game (not neutral folks) to a 300 rpi team. I'm sure he may have been working on something with them but the lack of an astute AD I would bet led to this deal. I have to hand it to the NIU AD for landing this. This is great for them no matter how you slice it. BTW I'm done with this subject. Most of you know where I stand on this.

Any news on our AD situation?

The lack of AD, again, had nothing to do with this.

We have a coaching staff, who is ultimately responsible for the schedule, who wants a game in the greater Chicago area every year, if possible.

[SFP]

The lack of AD, again, had nothing to do with this.

We have a coaching staff, who is ultimately responsible for the schedule, who wants a game in the greater Chicago area every year, if possible.

Really???? I thought that the AD was ultimately responsible for all things in the athletic department. It would be like saying Steve Ballmer has nothing to do with the strategy of the next Microsoft Windows OS release. Sorry Squirrel if this is the case then we are definitely in trouble when it is a coach that control the schedule. I like Les but he is human and he like any other coach likes to rack up Ws for their resume. It is an AD that oversees this to make sure that the schools best interest is taken into account.

[squirrelgotdead]

I would hope any credible DI college basketball coach should have autonomy of the program, including scheduling.

Certainly the AD has some input and say into what games are acceptable and which are not. . .but ultimately the coaches are the ones placing the calls and making the deals, with maybe a couple exceptions where intervention is necessary in a given year.

But I think it's fair to say that the previous AD, KK, catered to and allowed JL to pursue his desires to have the Chicago-area game every year at whatever cost. . .that was never a standard practice or priority until JL was here.

So if the AD or lack thereof is to blame, that should ultimately be considered.

We also don't know all the details about this series. . .it's possible that this is a game that we had to cave on due to arena conflicts.

I'm not really in disagreement with you, that this is an underwhelming game this year. . .but I think this could end up being a positive series, if a two year deal with the home game next year.

[wizard1]

Chicago Scheduling

Squirrel---Sorry to take issue with you BUT, the coach should NEVER have autonomy over the scheduling process! The potential for a non-con schedule of crips would be very high. We had this several years ago and our non-conf. schedules were a disaster. Most coaches want w's on their record and will schedule less competitive teams, scheduling is very time consuming and they simply don't have the time, and scheduling involves negotiations and monitary/budget concerns that are not really the province of the coach. The AD is RESPONSIBLE for scheduling and if we have issues with the schedule, your concerns should be directed at the AD.
Regarding Past history of Chicago games, I guess youare too young to remember the old Chicago Satdium double headers which usually always involved Bradley and other top ranked schools. We also had continuous H & H series with Loyola and DePaul. It may not have been mandated, but we played in Chicago almost every year in past seasons.
I'm not advocating that we should continue this unless the Chicago game can be against a BCS or upper Mid school---certainly No. Ill. does not fall into this catagory. We should always endeavor to play road games against top competition.

[squirrelgotdead]

I am certainly too young to remember the Chicago Stadium doubleheaders, but I know all about them. . .

My father often attended them while he was earning his DDS at Loyola.

But to suggest we played in Chicago historically every year, is inaccurate.

If we did, it was because it was a can't-miss opportunity. . .not to appease alumni.

[tornado]

BU played a lot of years during a stretch in the late 50's-70's..
We played at the Stadium in 56-57, 57-58, 59-60, 60-61, 61-62, 62-63, 63-64, 64-65, 65-66, 66-67, 67-68, 69-70, 70-71, and 72-73 & 73-74, then it ended....

I can't recall how we got the tickets, but I was right at courtside in the Stadium for the game BU played as part of a Chicago Stadium DH.
BU faced Jacksonville on Feb 13, 1971 and Jacksonville was #6 rated nationally with twin towers Artis Gilmore and Pembrook Burroughs...two monster 7-footers one of whom would go on to a fine pro career and a still-standing NCAA record of 22.7 rebounds per game over his entire college career.

All I recall of the 87-79 BU loss was that Bradley was massively undersized but made the game close. The two Jacksonville guys were huge by 1971 standards and even by today's standards (Gilmore was 7-2 and muscular).
I don't recall the 2nd game very well except it was Notre Dame vs. DePaul...and Notre Dame beat DePaul 107-76 (but I had to look that one up!).

[wizard1]

Chicago Scheduling

Squirrel- I said "we played in Chicago ALMOST every year"---Not every year. Also, In those days, the Chicago alum situation was a major influence in scheduling Chicago games which were usually on weekends and made for a terrific weekend for students and Peoria area fans. The DePaul and Loyola programs were much stronger than they are now and Notre Dame and a Big Ten team were also usually involved.

[tornado]

yup-- BU played 15 out of an 18 year stretch as I noted above..probably more than any other team which included Loyola, Illinois, DePaul, Iowa, and many other top teams

[squirrelgotdead]

Squirrel- I said "we played in Chicago ALMOST every year"---Not every year. Also, In those days, the Chicago alum situation was a major influence in scheduling Chicago games which were usually on weekends and made for a terrific weekend for students and Peoria area fans. The DePaul and Loyola programs were much stronger than they are now and Notre Dame and a Big Ten team were also usually involved.

Bradley was also more of a "name" program from the 50's-60's too. . .it used to be said: "You could throw a Bradley jacket on any floor and 5000 people would show up just to see what would happen."

I'm not discounting that it was a tremendous opportunity for the fans and alumni in the Chicago area, but Bradley controlled economy in those days too. Make no mistake that opened opportunities for the school that otherwise would not have been there. . .the other priorities are secondary.

But as tornado points out. . .we also weren't playing UIC, NIU, or Gustavus Adolphus up there. . .we were playing major independents such as DePaul and Marquette, Illinois and other Big Tens, and East Coast and West Coast powers. . .

Look, I'm not opposed to playing in Chicago, but I think we can limit ourselves to only pursue "golden" opportunities.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Squirrel---Sorry to take issue with you BUT, the coach should NEVER have autonomy over the scheduling process! The potential for a non-con schedule of crips would be very high. We had this several years ago and our non-conf. schedules were a disaster. Most coaches want w's on their record and will schedule less competitive teams, scheduling is very time consuming and they simply don't have the time, and scheduling involves negotiations and monitary/budget concerns that are not really the province of the coach. The AD is RESPONSIBLE for scheduling and if we have issues with the schedule, your concerns should be directed at the AD.

Pretty much every coach at a top tier program has scheduling authority. While they may have ADs and various assistants help in lining up opponents, don't for one minute think that head coaches don't ultimately call the shots. Granted, they may have to work within certain predesigned criteria (X number of home games required for revenue purposes, etc), or league rules requiring a particular SOS (like the MVC used to have) but they certainly have veto power on the selection of opponents. The exceptions, of course, are league mandated challenge opponents (e.g., MVC/MWC challenge, TV bracketbuster games, etc.)

[tornado]

here are the 16 teams teams we played in those 15 years at the Stadium..
(we played there twice in 65-66)
Loyola Marymount, Notre Dame (ten times), Indiana, #1 ranked UCLA, #6 ranked Jacksonville, Iowa, Illinois (73-74).

Pretty amazing that #1 ranked UCLA came to Chicago to play Bradley!

[wizard1]

Chicago Scheduling

Tornado--- Thanks very much for the history of those great Chicago double headers at Chi. Stadium! They were great weekends. I remember being asked to do the radio color by my friend the late, great Mort Cantor for one of those games.
Of course, Basketball in Chi. has really changed, mostly for the worse. Recruiting in Chi. is sleazy, academics are almost non-existant, and the level of college BB competition has gone down. The Bulls are great but other than that, there is little reason to go to Chi. for BB or for BU to schedule Chi games unless it's against a top program. Thanks again.

[tornado]

I enjoy waxing nostalgic

[Chico]

here are the 16 teams teams we played in those 15 years at the Stadium..
(we played there twice in 65-66)
Loyola Marymount, Notre Dame (ten times), Indiana, #1 ranked UCLA, #6 ranked Jacksonville, Iowa, Illinois (73-74).

Pretty amazing that #1 ranked UCLA came to Chicago to play Bradley!

I do remember BU played Notre Dame more than any other team in those doubleheaders. Remember seeing ND in the Fieldhouse during the Bob Carney era. BU and ND would be a good home and home.