I’ve only been in Terre Haute for five years, but I’ve heard “it” a million times. “It” is the time-honored reason why ISU’s sports programs struggle at the gate. It goes something like this …
“I don’t go out to see Indiana State’s [fill in the blank with appropriate ISU’s sports program] because they don’t win. When they start winning, I’ll go out and watch them.”
As ISU fans know all too well, it’s a theory that’s rarely tested. Since 2004, only the 2006 women’s conference championship basketball team has really put Sycamore fans’ feet to the fire, and to their credit, attendance was very good in 2006 and beyond.
Now … it’s baseball’s turn. Are ISU fans up to the test?
From a purely baseball standpoint, there’s plenty of reasons to spend a few bucks to see the Sycamores play. The most obvious that they’re in the middle of a Missouri Valley Conference pennant race.
Second-place ISU is 1 1/2 games behind first-place Creighton, though ISU must pass the Bluejays to win the league title as Creighton won a series against ISU in March. This weekend’s three-game series with Evansville, which begins tonight, is ISU’s last home conference series.
Creighton, however, doesn’t have an easy road. The Bluejays play host to third-place Missouri State this weekend, then travel to Wichita State next weekend. ISU finishes at Missouri State, and if things break right, the Sycamores could be playing for a conference title.
ISU (30-14) does have the best RPI in the conference, ranked between 70 and 75 in the various online RPI prediction web sites, though in a down year for the conference (the Valley is ranked 17th on one web site), a NCAA at-large bid is unlikely unless ISU wins out and loses in the MVC championship game … and even that’s a long shot.
Nevertheless, ISU is chasing historical standards. If it maintains its .750 conference winning percentage, it would be its best since 1985. If ISU maintains its overall winning percentage of .682, it would be its best mark since 1989. If it wins the series with Evansville this weekend, it would be the fifth series win of the season, its best since 1998.
Even if ISU falls short of those marks, the Sycamores are fun to watch. ISU leads the conference with a .315 batting average and are second with 42 home runs. There are Sycamores ranked 2-3-4 in the Valley batting race. Brazil’s Brady Shoemaker (.384) and Terre Haute’s Nick Ciolli (.380) are joined by versatile junior college transfer Luke Fieser (.373, see related story) among the leaders. Center fielder-second baseman Ryan Strausborger (.344) is also in the top 10.
In other words, there’s really no reason why ISU fans’ butts shouldn’t be in Sycamore Field bleachers. As an added bonus, you won’t have to sit in those bleachers long … this is the last home series ever in Sycamore Field’s present incarnation. Ground will be broken on Bob Warn Field tonight.
ISU’s attendance has been up this season from the last few years — ISU’s attendance figures are always taken with a truck-full of salt, but the 405 announced for the April 29 game wasn’t that inflated.
Still, there should be more at Sycamore Field this weekend. A lot more.
It won’t be easy. ISU was not given the luck of the scheduling draw. Despite its groundbreaking festivities today, the ISU game is up against the 7 p.m. Terre Haute North-Terre Haute South baseball rematch.
Saturday is worse. The 1 p.m. game will go on in the teeth of ISU commencement, all three Big Four events at Terre Haute North, and Indy qualifying. If ISU wants a crowd, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to move the game time to 6 p.m. If it’s not too late, ISU should make this change immediately, as all but Big Four softball will be over by then.
Sunday is Mother’s Day, but that’s the day where little else is going on. It’s the most logical day to pack Sycamore Field for one last time. ISU’s last home game is Tuesday against Xavier, though that game doesn’t have anywhere near as much meaning as this weekend’s conference series does, when fan support could make a big difference.
This team is a potential MVC champion. The ISU fans who say they’ll support a winner need to put their money where their mouth is.
I would like to see a legitimate 1,000 fans at one game this weekend. Do I think it could be done? Definitely. Do I think it will be done? Well …
Prove me wrong Sycamore fans. Your winning team awaits you at the diamond.
• Prospect League representatives to visit — Multiple sources have confirmed to me that among the luminaries present for today’s groundbreaking ceremony will be representatives from the Prospect League, a Chillicothe, Ohio-based collegiate baseball league. It was formerly known as the Central Illinois Collegiate League.
The visit does not portend a Terre Haute franchise — no announcement of that will be made. However, presuming the Prospect League is interested, it’s something Terre Haute baseball fans should get excited about.
I’ve written before that a collegiate league is the best option for a potential Terre Haute baseball franchise. There is no scheduling overlap with ISU, plus, four ISU players and an ISU coach could/would be part of the franchise as per NCAA rules. It’s a perfect way to cross-promote both.
It’s preferable to non-affiliated league like the Frontier League, where there’s little to no connection with the community and the players.
The season ends by Aug. 15, just in time for fans to turn their attention to football.
The Prospect League itself is keen to grow as it has franchises stretching from Butler, Pa., to Hannibal, Mo., growing from its traditional base in Illinois.
Presuming ownership would be sound, costs are much lower for a collegiate league franchise as players are not paid, I think it’s very encouraging that there’s interest on their part.
Terre Haute needs a baseball team to serve as a summer sports anchor and entertainment option for the entire Wabash Valley. Hopefully, that day is close at hand.
Todd Golden is sports editor of the Tribune-Star. He can be reached at (812) 231-4272 or todd.golden@tribstar.com. Please check out Golden’s blog at blogs.tribstar.com/downinthevalley
From the Press Box
From the Press Box: ISU fans put to the test by winning baseball
- From the Press Box
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
When Indiana State was crowned as the regular season baseball champion of the Missouri Valley Conference last Thursday, it marked the fifth different regular season champion the league has had since 2005.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU has done enough to be in NCAAs
When you get older, you’re supposed to get wiser. I don’t know if I qualify, but I’m trying.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: TH’s Murans back in the Derby … this time with favorite
When Terre Haute native Paul Murans experienced his first Triple Crown horse racing run as part-owner of Mucho Macho Man in 2011, the experience was — to borrow a phrase from one-time Marquette coach Al McGuire — seashells and balloons.
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TODD GOLDEN: IHSAA debate interrupts more pressing issues
State Senator Mike Delph has sowed a 15-year-old wind and put the emotional class basketball debate back on the public’s mind.
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TODD GOLDEN: ISU eyes prize one game at a time
Most baseball fans know that the baseball season — even a college baseball season — is a marathon, not a sprint.
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TODD GOLDEN: Grass is green enough for Indiana State in Missouri Valley
Take a look around the Missouri Valley Conference landscape and it would be easy to assume that a significant portion of the league membership is searching for perceived greener pastures.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamores are Odum’s team now
Soooo … who wants to talk about the 2012 Indiana State men’s basketball season?
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU will face uphill climb in MVC in 2013
The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals are always scintillating. No more so than Saturday when Illinois State upset 15th-ranked Wichita State 65-64 and when No. 25 Creighton took care of business with a 99-71 victory over Evansville.
Arch Madness indeed. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Effort, heart, concentration are fleeting for ISU
Every time Indiana State’s men’s basketball wins a game, you think to yourself, OK, now is when these Sycamores live up to their potential.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Peyton’s place belongs to Eli
The good people of Indianapolis justifiably puffed out their chests throughout Super Bowl week as the city received deserved rave reviews for the job it did as hosts of Super Bowl XLVI.
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TODD GOLDEN: Teammates, colleagues express their loyalty to Weatherford
Sometimes you worry whether someone is stopping to smell the roses when they smell rosiest.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Does melted ice reveal Belichick's heart of gold?
If you’re into Youtube — and who isn’t these days? — there’s a vintage television profile of then-Cleveland Browns coach Bill Belichick posted on the popular site.
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TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State men caught between expectation, reality
The Missouri Valley Conference is hush-hush on how it puts together its matchups for the annual conference schedule.
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TODD GOLDEN: Accentuating the positive with ISU's Odum
There’s something to be said for being your own worst critic, especially when it comes to sports.
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TODD GOLDEN: Loss hurts, but national exposure is ... priceless
Trying to advance the philosophy that any publicity is good publicity is probably an effort wasted on a losing team less than 10 minutes removed from a disappointing defeat where victory had been oh so close to fruition.
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TODD GOLDEN: The great playoff race is on for Indiana State football
The great race is on.
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TODD GOLDEN: Fans owe ISU seniors 10,000
I have covered Indiana State football since the 2004 season.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Indiana State has used up its playoff mulligan
It’s been a glass half-full kind of season for the Indiana State football team, so it was easy — and exciting — to get caught up in looking ahead to scenarios that placed ISU in the FCS playoffs, even if ISU didn’t win out.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Not a coulda, shoulda for Sycamores
Indiana State's football team is getting tired of being graded on the curve of its own past futility.
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TODD GOLDEN: Supernatural Shakir was a sight to behold
I’ve often heard it said when a player has a big statistical day that he’s racking up “video game numbers.”
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TODD GOLDEN: Sycamore defense absorbs lesson
A win is a win, they say. And for Indiana State, none of the Sycamores are going to take back or put an asterisk next to their 48-34 victory over Butler on Saturday.
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TODD GOLDEN: And now on to the normal part of the schedule
The Steve Miller Band would’ve appreciated Indiana State’s trip to Penn State.
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TODD GOLDEN: Sabermetrics has changed love of baseball
I turned 40 this summer. No problem.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: No debate about quality of Vigo baseball
It’s standard practice for losing high school coaches — especially coaches who led teams on a deep postseason run — to heap praise on their seniors one last time. It’s even more so when one of those seniors was the rock of a given team for a four-year period.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Season dies down, but ISU’s plate not empty
With coaching changes having mostly sorted themselves out and with recruiting having just entered its quiet period today, college basketball has settled into its more relaxed offseason mode.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Winning spring more important than winning the spring game
Indiana State football coach Trent Miles has been involved in collegiate coaching since 1987. He knows better than anyone that there’s no one-size-fits-all way to approach the annual spring football game.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Friday wait was worth it for Indiana State
Many have seen the famous Salvador Dali painting, “Persistence of Memory.” The most memorable images in the surreal painting are unquestionably the pocket watches that are drooped over a ledge, a tree branch, etc.
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Many Sycamores, past and present, to remember
The minute it became apparent Indiana State had punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 60-56 victory over Missouri State on Sunday, I reflected on all of the moments in the previous seven years of covering the Sycamores that led to this.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamore AD Ron Prettyman explains Cal Poly interest
Editor’s note: Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman interviewed and participated in a public open forum for the same position at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo last week.
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