BU Preseason Gala dinner Nov. 12 at Embassy Suites, East Peoria

[Da Coach]

The annual Bradley basketball Preseason Gala dinner event is Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at the East Peoria Embassy Suites. This will be the first year for the event at the Embassy Suites. It was always held at the Pere Marquette in the past, but it may have outgrown that venue.

Call the Bradley Braves Club to register to attend- (309) 677-2667.

Here is more information--

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=1608181

The marquee event on the Bradley Basketball preseason calendar is the annual Pre-Season Gala Nov. 12 at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria. Once again emceed by Snell, the men??™s and women??™s basketball teams will be introduced to the crowd, both Les and Buscher will address the audience and Snell will unveil his popular preseason videos. Doors at the Embassy Suites ballroom will open at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 for a cocktail reception and the dinner program will begin at 7 o??™clock. Tickets for the Bradley Basketball Pre-Season Gala are $60 and may be purchased in advance by contacting the Bradley Braves Club Office at (309) 677-2667.

[BUBraves04]

The wife and I are looking forward to the Gala tomorrow. It will be our first one and we've heard it's always a fun evening. Anything we should know?

[Da Coach]

You will have a lot of fun! The food will be great, and the program is top notch.

Hint- this is the first year with open seating. In past years seats were assigned by the Braves Club, and you might not have had a great chance of sitting near the front table. But this year I advise getting there early, and secure your seat at a table near the head table (look for the microphone and podium). The best tables will still be saved for members who reserved entire tables, but most of the seats will be open, including a lot of good seats.

[BUBraves04]

Hint- this is the first year with open seating. In past years seats were assigned by the Braves Club, and you might not have had a great chance of sitting near the front table. But this year I advise getting there early, and secure your seat at a table near the head table (look for the microphone and podium). The best tables will still be saved for members who reserved entire tables, but most of the seats will be open, including a lot of good seats.

Thanks Coach for the "hint". We will probably grab a couple drinks at the Embassy bar before the cocktail hour.

[Biff]

In addition to sitting close to the head table, you will want to grab a seat that has a good view of one of the video screens that will probably be located at both ends of the hall. I think the video pieces are the highlight of the event.

[hudsosj]

Gala - Video

Does anyone know if the video from the Gala will be posted anywhere for others to view?

[shaunguth]

Comcast will air a special, hour-long season-preview show Thursday at 7 p.m. on channel 74. The season preview show was taped Monday night in front of a live audience at the Wingate by Wyndham and will feature a look back at the two preseason games, question-and-answer sessions with the audience and two of the videos to be shown during Wednesday’s Bradley Basketball Preseason Gala.

Not sure about them being posted online anywhere, but they will be included in tomorrow night's preview show.

[Da Coach]

Just got back from the BU Gala. Nice food, and a great program. Men's and women's videos were shown, and they were pretty good.

The men's video had game highlights, a team rap song set to the music of the Bears Super Bowl Shuffle but called the MVC Shuffle, and a stand-up comedy duo with Coach Les and Andrew Warren. The womens video showcased non-basketballl talents of each of the players.

There was no mention of the new players signed today.

[BU Fever]

There was an order form for the gala video on the table for $10 and the proceeds went to the Danny Dahlquist Memorial fund. I'm sure if you call the Braves Club office they can point you in the right direction.

[Da Coach]

Report from the Gala by Dave Reynolds

Braves shuffle off to season openers

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x776443203/Braves-shuffle-off-to-season-openers

One interesting thing is that none of the Braves players are old enough to remember the 1985 Bears Super Bowl Shuffle video, and only 3 were barely born before that season was over (Sam Singh 11/27/85, David Collins 7/6/85, and Brian Lavin 12/4/86). But the had the actions and mannerisms of the real Chicago Bears players down pretty good as they acted out their version of the Shuffle. So they must have reviewed the video a couple times to prepare for this one.

For those who didn't see it, there was nothing in it that was too presumptuous.
The tag line was "We're just here to do the MVC shuffle", instead of "the Super Bowl Shuffle". The lyrics and actions did not suggest that this team thinks they are better than any other team in the MVC or that they expect to win the MVC. It was obviously just done for fun.