Note to the JS: 2 hours, 37 minutes

[BBFran]

Per Google maps that's how long it takes to get from the JS building on State Street to the ARC at Valpo. An easy drive. Panther fans have made it many times.

Our most important game of the year is this Thursday evening. According to Gary D'Amato "the Panthers are a team worth watching."

There are no Packers, Bucks, Badgers or Geagles games this Thursday.

Will the JS send a reporter or was that D'Amato column just a bullsh*t attempt to mollify the 150,000+ alums, students, faculty, staff and friends of Milwaukee's great public University whose D1 team the JS sports desk
pretends doesn't exist while it covers speed skating and high school volleyball?

Is there a D1 team anywhere in the country -- much less a team that has been to the tournament 4 times in 13 years and is currently fighting for a title -- that is ignored and belittled by its supposed hometown newspaper like ours?

Cover the Panthers! WE are Milwaukee's team!

[jhart05]

Hell, I'm sure there are a few people right on the board who might have an open seat in their car for him.

Seriously, someone should call and offer. Fran? Jimmy?

Don't think we want to send him with SRT thou.

[mcdadenets50]

Jan 10, 2016 18:03:17 GMT -6 BBFran said:

Is there a D1 team anywhere in the country -- much less a team that has been to the tournament 4 times in 13 years and is currently fighting for a title -- that is ignored and belittled by its supposed hometown newspaper like ours?

Northwestern has a tough time getting any coverage in the Tribune despite branding itself as Chicago's Big Ten Team. They play second fiddle to a school in another state, Notre Dame, and their coverage lags behind Illinois and De Paul.

I've embraced the fact that my two schools, Milwaukee and Northwestern (football especially), are the ultimate underdogs in terms of coverage and fan support. I often wonder what it is like to be a fan of UW or some school that has a huge fan base. Then I remind myself how easy that would be and that makes every victory for the Panthers and Wildcats so much sweeter.

I'm not saying I don't want more coverage or more fans in the seats for my schools but it doesn't bother me anymore.  I'm used to empty seats at the Panther Arena and and a 50/50 fan split for the Northwestern games.

Go Panthers and 'Cats!

[PantherU]

Jan 10, 2016 20:37:24 GMT -6 jhart05 said:

Hell, I'm sure there are a few people right on the board who might have an open seat in their car for him.

Seriously, someone should call and offer. Fran? Jimmy?

Don't think we want to send him with SRT thou.

I suspect that if SRT were driving Todd, the JS would get dinged for an insurance spike.

[ghostofdylan]

Maybe a little trip with SRT would be a good thing for us. You know, get Todd to talk. Like in those 70s cop shows.

[DunneDeal]

Hey, give SRT credit. He can drive a Ford Fusion out of a mud field just outside of the ARC.

[icelandreliant]

Drake in Des Moines doesn't get a whole lot of coverage as there are a bazillion more fans and alumni of Iowa and Iowa State, though they probably do get more coverage than the Panthers. There are a ton of D1 teams in the Philadelphia area. I can't imagine LaSalle or St. Joseph's regularly get much coverage in the Inquirer, but they might. Does Cleveland State get much publicity in their area? I don't think we are all that unique in that regard, but I would love to see more coverage! The Packers continuing to play insures there will be four pages of Packer stuff, although that is pretty much the case year round regardless.

[PantherU]

Jan 11, 2016 13:33:20 GMT -6 icelandreliant said:

Drake in Des Moines doesn't get a whole lot of coverage as there are a bazillion more fans and alumni of Iowa and Iowa State, though they probably do get more coverage than the Panthers. There are a ton of D1 teams in the Philadelphia area. I can't imagine LaSalle or St. Joseph's regularly get much coverage in the Inquirer, but they might. Does Cleveland State get much publicity in their area? I don't think we are all that unique in that regard, but I would love to see more coverage! The Packers continuing to play insures there will be four pages of Packer stuff, although that is pretty much the case year round regardless.

If Aaron Rodgers scratches himself the JS will run a 12-inch column with sidebar.

Funny thing about Cleveland State, it came out while recording the second half of our HoriZone Roundtable podcast (first half out today, second out Thursday) that CSU's "local" affiliate for the American Sports Network was actually in Canton, not Cleveland. So while we get the Horizon League Game of the Week on WCGV every week in Milwaukee, people in Cleveland don't even get to see the HL Game of the Week even if their team is in it.

If that's not a joke I don't know what is.

I expect Todd will be at the game Thursday. Now that Valpo is receiving votes in the polls, they are more on the radar of local media - as much as mid-major hoops can be on their radar.

[ghostofdylan]

I'm not convinced that Todd will be sent to the game.

So far, the J-S has covered seven out of 17 contests, six home games and the one in Madison.

[SRT4driver]

I suggest letting them know your thoughts, if you haven't yet. Here are the JS sports dept emails:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

And regarding my otherwordly ability to drive an automobile, I will say this... the greatest artists were never truly appreciated in their time. Lol

[Super King]

Jan 11, 2016 13:33:20 GMT -6 icelandreliant said:

Drake in Des Moines doesn't get a whole lot of coverage as there are a bazillion more fans and alumni of Iowa and Iowa State, though they probably do get more coverage than the Panthers.

Funny thing about the Register is that even though it's the biggest newspaper in the state it has FAR more Iowa State coverage than U of I coverage. It's in closer proximity to Ames than Iowa City, and even though Ames is still 30 miles away they feel it's more worth it to cover the Cyclones first.

[mrpantherfan]

The DM Register HAS to cover Iowa and Iowa State evenly. Fans of both bases scream if either program get more than the other. Drake gets about 3". Northern Iowa gets ripped off from the newspaper Iowa depends on. And to take it one step further, Iowa High Schools have lost so much space in the paper it's insane. That sports page is going downhill fast.

The dead tree editions of all newspapers stink.

[skrapheap]

Jan 11, 2016 13:54:10 GMT -6 PantherU said:

If Aaron Rodgers scratches himself the JS will run a 12-inch column with sidebar.

With the story of Rodgers's engagement to Olivia Munn trending, I guess the Panthers are outta luck

[BBFran]

Interesting examples offered in NU and Drake. But there are some very substantial differences. Both are private. Both are much smaller Universities than Milwaukee although NU is certainly far more prestigious. But Northwestern has never been to the NCAA tournament (although I think they finally have a fighting chance this year and I hope they make it). Drake has been there only once in the last 14 years, and in most of the other years has been terrible. Put plainly, neither NU nor DU has a modern D1 basketball history remotely as good as Milwaukee's.

So what if we restrict the question to major public universities? (As I have often pointed out, Milwaukee is larger by enrollment than many of the members of the Southeast Conference!) I don't know what kind of press UN-Omaha gets compared to Creighton, but UNO has no basketball history to speak of and is about half
Milwaukee's size.

The bottom line is that I believe it is exceedingly rare and very possibly unique for a local paper to essentially ignore its own major public University's successful D1 basketball program,

The question is why.

[Hack]

2015-16 home attendance (paid) thus far:
1724
2028
1813
2034
2802
1813