I hate this. I hate how certain people within the Valley try to portray this person or that school as <insert negative trait here>. So many times do I hear Bradley or people associated with Bradley as some villain they've concocted in their head. "Oh Bradley hates us, they are always mean to us when they come here". Not just Bradley, I've heard this occasionally about every school in the Valley. "I really hate the fans from Drake, every time we play them they show up and...." blah blah blah.
The only negativity or bullying I've ever seen around the Valley has always been from the individual spewing accusations. And in this instance, that person would be Gregg Doyel. But even with his slinging of accusations, I don't hate Gregg. I don't even dislike him. But I hate how he's doing the Valley a huge disservice. And I hate how anyone who spews allegations like this is also doing the Valley a huge disservice.
As a Bradley fan, I am so proud of all of the teams in the Valley who represent us during the postseason. I genuinely love to see Indiana State get ranked and talked about most of the season. I genuinely love seeing Loyola have huge postseason success, and absolutely hate it when they leave the conference because they represented the Valley successfully. I genuinely love all of the fans, for every team, because they are the ones who ultimately are the reason schools have sports programs.
So Gregg, despite your childish antics and disservice to the Valley, I don't hate you. I don't dislike you. But I do think you can do better. I think you're a capable individual at understanding the current state of college athletics and the challenges that lie ahead for mid majors like Indiana State and Bradley University. I think that you're qualified enough in your position to come to the same conclusion I have. Indiana State's success is Bradley's success. Bradley's success is Indiana State's success. Tearing either of them down hurts the team we root for.
Do better.
