We had a great evening....
Likewise, plus a couple other thoughts
- great crowd, place was packed, extremely few empty seats. I'm guessing 400 or more there,
- I got to meet and talk to all but one of the newcomers and most of the returnees. All very pleasant, well spoken, optimistic and "ready to rumble". Every player & coach was there, unlike some years when some had evening classes. And they all intermingled unlike the Covid years when they stayed separate to avoid exposure.
- Very discouraging how little media attention. What gives? Used to be there were 2 or 3 from the PJSTAR plus Mattson & others there to get video and the story. But this year I did not see a single member of any news organization & no reporters. The WMBD guys were there to do the live broadcast
but even so they don't have a mention anywhere on their site. That's sad, given Bradley basketball is the biggest sports draw and top sports event in Peoria for the last 80 years.
- on the upside, tho, it was announced that this team had met or broken every strength & conditioning target and record of any prior Wardle team.
- btw, spaghetti was great, chicken good, Avanti's bread awesome, and lots of new apparel on display with the popular script logo.
I haven't heard much on the "Smoker" other than a posting some time ago that it would be held Oct. 19, 2023 at the Warehouse on State and that tickets were not available, but probably there will be media that are interested if the Illinois coach is there.
