USD is better than Centenary because . . .

[filbert]

OK, enough USD-bashing for a while!

Let's rag on an institution that really deserves it: Centenary. I realize that smacking on Centenary is a bit like kicking a small, blind, three-legged dog with an asthmatic, nasty-sounding cough, but . . . well . . .

Anyway . . .

We should take up a collection and pay their exit fee for them to get rid of them, and bring USD in a year early.

Why, you ask?

Simple. Centenary's basketball teams truly, deeply suck, in a way that even SDSU's men's team a couple of years ago couldn't dream of matching.

Let's look at this year:

Men's basketball:
USD: Sagarin # 229, Rating 66.88
Centenary: Sagarin #318, Rating 59.02

Women's basketball
USD: Sagarin # 266, Rating 59.88
Centenary: Sagarin # 344, Rating 42.16

Replacing Centenary with USD this year increases the Summit League's overall Sagarin ranking as follows:

Men:
Simple Average: from 66.66 to 67.39, moving the league to within .01 of a tie for 22nd with the Atlantic Sun.
Central Mean: from 67.00 to 67.72, moving the league two spots from #23 to #21.

Women:
Central Mean: from 61.41 to 62.87, moving the league one spot, from #24 to #23.
Simple Average: from 60.75 to 62.52, moving the league from #24 to #23.

Plus, The Gold Dome makes the DakotaDome look like a basketball palace. No, really. I've been there. Trust me on this one.

And while we have plenty of fun with USD fans on the Internet . . . at least there ARE USD fans on the internet.

Anyway, the floor is open for Why USD Is Better Than Centenary in this thread.

I hereby decree it a No-USD-Smack Zone, as well. Let's leave The Rivalry at the door for just this little while, and broaden our intellectual/smackish horizons a bit . . .

And, if smacking on Centenary is too much like clubbing a baby seal or something, go ahead and invest in some good-natured ribbing of some of our other conference rivals (i.e. USD Is Better Than Oral Roberts/IUPUI/Oakland/whoever Because . . .)

For instance: USD is better than IPFW because I hate IPFW, and I don't hate USD--I just want to beat them bad whenever our athletic teams meet.

(I'd do the same exercise with Southern Utah, except that I've actually got a bit of a soft spot in my heart for the T-Birds . . . nice little arena, Cedar City's a nice, picturesque town, etc., etc. . .) and I'd probably have to plug in UND to replace them, and I'm just not ready to bring myself to do that yet. Especially because I'll observe that as bad as SUU was in men's basketball this year, the Sioux were quite a bit worse . . .

Do I have way too much time on my hands? No, not really, I'm just avoiding doing some other stuff I probably should be doing . . .

[rabidrabbit]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

You have a better chance to see a woman at USD than at Centenary.

At USD, you can at least see the Shrine to Music.

At USD there's a fresh smell in the air (pig farm isn't far away as I remember), rather than dead fish smell oil refinery smell of Shreveport.

Should be another 100+ USD athletes participating in sports relative to Centenary participation levels.

Seeable road games for the Jacks with USD, not so with Centenary.

Centenary has a guy (or gal) for a mascot. USD has a critter, who always loses to a roadrunner.

Indoor track meets will be better at USD than Centenary.

At Usd, can go swimming in the "hole" (lowest part of the DakotaDome). Very pleased that Doc got that included at the last possible moment.

[NorCalJack]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

Well just from a logistic stand point, USD will be better than Centenary. All of the SDSU teams can bus to USD instead of flying to Louisiana. USD can also increase the attendance for the league in BB.

But SDSU and probably NDSU will benefit in increased attendance for the two home games with USD.

The Summit League tourney will also benefit from increased attendance and probably can gain some more sponsorships money too.

[filbert]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

I'm going to give everybody here and in Yoteland whiplash with this one:

USD is better than Centenary because they have guys like Coyote_Fan.

Yes, he occasionally goes over the top in a lot of people's minds with some of his more . . . uh . . . controversial posts, but if you look at the USD board you find that he posts more good, informative stuff about USD athletics there than anyone else.

If Centenary had one or two guys with the sheer passion of Coyote_Fan, their departure from D-I might have been delayed a few years. Not that that would have been a good thing, IMHO--D-III is where they really should be.

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

I'm going to give everybody here and in Yoteland whiplash with this one:

USD is better than Centenary because they have guys like Coyote_Fan.

Yes, he occasionally goes over the top in a lot of people's minds with some of his more . . . uh . . . controversial posts, but if you look at the USD board you find that he posts more good, informative stuff about USD athletics there than anyone else.

If Centenary had one or two guys with the sheer passion of Coyote_Fan, their departure from D-I might have been delayed a few years. Not that that would have been a good thing, IMHO--D-III is where they really should be.

Ocasionally??

[filbert]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

Ocasionally??

Now, now . . . I think he's suffered enough for a while, don't you?

[MaddogJack]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

Only thing I can think of..........it's easier to spell usd!

[Roy]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

My Mother taught me that if you can't say something nice about an institution, than don't say any thing at all!

My comments follow!

&-----------------------.

[90Jackrabbit]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

Downtown Vermillion is more fun than downtown Shreveport, although i've never been to Shreveport. Gotta admit I've always had fun in the bars in Vermillion after games, of course since the student body is something like 60-40 women to men the scenery is generally pleasing. I've heard that Shreveport has rampant gambling and prostitution, so maybe I should say that Vermillion has more wholesome fun than Shreveport.

[filbert]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

Downtown Vermillion is more fun than downtown Shreveport, although i've never been to Shreveport. Gotta admit I've always had fun in the bars in Vermillion after games, of course since the student body is something like 60-40 women to men the scenery is generally pleasing. I've heard that Shreveport has rampant gambling and prostitution, so maybe I should say that Vermillion has more wholesome fun than Shreveport.

I had a couple of seven dollar beers in downtown Shreveport, so I'd say another USD-better-than-Centenary thing would be cheaper beer in Vermillion . . .

[JackJD]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

Downtown Vermillion is more fun than downtown Shreveport, although i've never been to Shreveport. Gotta admit I've always had fun in the bars in Vermillion after games, of course since the student body is something like 60-40 women to men the scenery is generally pleasing. I've heard that Shreveport has rampant gambling and prostitution, so maybe I should say that Vermillion has more wholesome fun than Shreveport.

I went to Shreveport in the Fall of 2008 to watch the Summit League Cross Country Championship (Rabbit women won!). Although I was in Shreveport for not more than 24 hours, I have to tell you that what I saw was nice. The people I ran into were very nice. I understand there's a tough side of town...didn't see it.

Shreveport and its next-door neighbor, Bossier City, have staked their futures on gambling. I did not enter a gambling casino (big river-boat gambling places) but they appeared to be well done. There's an attractive, new shopping area that is essentially an up-scale outlet mall (does that make sense?) with lots of families milling around. There are a few above-average restaurants, a very good medical community with a top-notch cancer treatment center.

But poor little Centenary is just too darned small to hang in D-I. I met some of the Centenary students (volunteers at the X-Country meet). They were baseball and softball players, soccer players and just plain students. All were nice, intelligent people. There just aren't enough of them. It's always seem odd to me that people go to colleges that are considerably smaller than the high school I attended.

I've never been one to bash Vermillion. It's not Brookings but it's a unique little place and I had a nice time for two and a half years in Vermillion. Carey's Bar ranks right up there with any good-time college bar. Vermillion has a couple of outstanding restaurants including an Italian restaurant that has never disappointed me.

And there are a lot more 'Yotes then there are Centenarians. USD will be a significant improvement over Centenary for the Summit League.

[90Jackrabbit]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

I had a couple of seven dollar beers in downtown Shreveport, so I'd say another USD-better-than-Centenary thing would be cheaper beer in Vermillion . . .

I remember one night at the Char Bar (unfortunantely after a Jackrabbit loss) they had something like 4 beers for five bucks. Plus we ordered a pizza, and the bartender didn't bring us a bill, so we didn't pay. Cheap beer and free pizza can't beat that.

[Coyote_Fan]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

I'm going to give everybody here and in Yoteland whiplash with this one:

USD is better than Centenary because they have guys like Coyote_Fan.

Yes, he occasionally goes over the top in a lot of people's minds with some of his more . . . uh . . . controversial posts, but if you look at the USD board you find that he posts more good, informative stuff about USD athletics there than anyone else.

If Centenary had one or two guys with the sheer passion of Coyote_Fan, their departure from D-I might have been delayed a few years. Not that that would have been a good thing, IMHO--D-III is where they really should be.

I gotta give you credit for that Filbert because almost no one acknowledges that. I can go a span of 2 or 3 weeks and post 90% positive thoughts but you can take it to the bank that the 10% negative (which often times is just my perspective on the truth) that I post is going to be scrutinized 90% of the time. It just goes to show that people respond to the negative. Why else do shows like CSI and so fourth do so well on television. Sometimes I need to write something controversial just to get people to talk. If I don't everyone goes away. People get disinterested with the status quo at least on the USD board.

[zooropa]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

(which often times is just my perspective on the truth)

Almost certainly, you're thinking of your little observations on women's basketball and pig wrestling.

Don't flatter yourself.

---

And for cryin' out loud, would you get yourself a sense of humor? Please?

[Coyote_Fan]

Re: USD is better than Centenary because . . .

I will say that I like SDSU people alot better in person. When I met Filbert I thought we had a nice conversation. I haven't actually been to Brookings since about 2004 since USD last played a doubleheader up there. It would be interesting to see what has changed since then.

As far as Vermillion it has actually gotten a bit better since I left almost 11 years ago. They used to have nothing but Burger King for fast food but at least they have McDonalds. If anyone makes a trip down there which inevitably there will be several fans from this board down there I recommend a couple of good restaurants. I used to never like Chinese food but one day I tried Chae's in downtown Vermillion and to this day it's still my favorite Chinese place and I still eat their often when in town. I have tried at least 20 other Chinese places but none is as good as Chae's. A fairly good Mexican place to eat is also downtown, Recuerdo's. It's not my all time favorite but a pretty good place to eat.

The USD campus has improved alot recently and there is a very nice appartment complex just to the south of the dome that kind of stands out in a positive light instead of the trailors that were there previously. Vermillion still has aways to go but it's on the right track now. In South Dakota the growing process can be painfully slow often times.