He left for a better job, for a better team, in a better conferance to a better city in a better geographical area of the U.S., for more money. Dude is out of the midwest and a 15 minute flight from Boston, no brainer! Unless your from the midwest, you would never hear of the MVC nor attend Drake. Its a school for the kids that didn't get into better public schools and that extends to the basketball program. Local glory no national contention, that is Drake - dont forget they got their @$$ handed to them playing smaller CA teams, aka St. Mary's.
As soon as Drake cracks at least tier II in the college rankings and can make back to back NCAA tourny apperances, than I think I am right. Additionally, how many pro players desire and seek to play in the midwest? Didn't KG love it? oh yea, he wanted out to the east coast, just like KENO.
Swinger........................you are an idiot. Congratulations!! Providence has been bad for a long time. If I remember correctly, Bradley even spanked their ass last year! Wow, surprise there, huh? I would bet that most, not all, but most of the MVC would lay a smack down on them. You obviously are not up to speed with the MVC or else you would not talk smack like that.
Swinger06 - Are you freaking kidding me? Drake is widely known as one of the best private schools in the midwest, with one of the lowest acceptance rates of any school - public or private. Moron, you probably don't receive information on schools like Drake in the course of your studiesat your local JUCO.........give me a break.
I would put Drake's 07-08 team up against Providence's squad any day....they were terrible for a reason and it had nothing to do w/ playing in the Big East. Drake lost to St. Mary's by 6 in the second week of the season (at St. Mary's mid you). St. Mary's was ranked at the time, so they couldn't have been that bad.
If you haven't heard of the MVC on the east coast, then I suggest you crawl out your hole. It's been one of the most widely discussed Non-BCS conferences over the past 5 years.......
New Jersey is such a great place to live? Alot of players would like to avoid the media hype of th big city, and concentrate on playing ball, and studies!
As for Drake being a poor school, do your homework Genius, Drake has been considered an elite educational institution for years!
As for athletes from outside the midwest not being aware of Drake, you have obviously never heard of the Drake Relays? Olympic calibur athletes from all over the world come here to compete! I'm sorry your knowledge of sports is limited to the East Coast, there is alot going on West of New Jersey, you should open your eyes once in a while!
Your tripping, my sports perspective is not narrow, nor limited to the "east coast' bias. I went to undergrad at UCLA and Law school at Boalt in Berkeley. I grew up on west coast sports. Got my LLM at UPENN and now live on the Jersey waterfront overlooking Philadelphia w/ season tickets to Eagles. Don't think my sports perspective is limited. It may be somewhat limited to the coasts, but every major sports team/money-maker flocks to the east/west coast - aka the most populated area in the United States. Its the best places to live with the best sports teams. No one really cares about the midwest {except the military}. Ask KG what he thought about the midwest. When Lebron is a free agent lets see what he thinks about the midwest as well. I am sure you only approve b/c you have been limited in your travels. The midwest is cool if you like to hook up with your cousin or milk cows, but the real world, aka technology and commerce is everywhere, but stems from the Coasts, whether east or west. So I dont really see what your point is. Your from the midwest and I'm from CA - PHI, so are you trying to tell me your public restroom is nicer than my private bathroom? I dont know of anyone that moved to the midwest to be around great sports teams or find great jobs. Its more or less they grew up and weren't fortunate enough to get out. Its known for a fact the smartest and brightest of the midwest leave and that includes sports stars. U Kansas wrote an article about how tough it is to keep the brighest high school students and best high school athletes local or even in the region. Basically, if most people growing up near Drake or the dreaded midwest had an opportunity to go to LA, SF, NY, PHI, CHI, they would take it in a heartbreat. More diversity, more women, more money, more things to do, and most importantly more opportunities. Any point you make about Drake was resolved when "local dominant" Drake got pounced and bounced in the NCAA tourney by another small school - W. Kentucky. Thank God you didnt' go up against UNC, UCLA, or Duke or you would have been slaughtered. Scoreboard, St. Mary's -- who couldn't beat ANY big school destroyed Drake. Nuff said. You can't compete nationally - academically or athletically aka, your simple answer why KENO LEFT. He went to Providence, not a powerhouse but better than the public restroom Drake is.
I was going to let this go because its an obvious attempt at substance- free trolling, but I just don't understand one thing... why do you keep bringing up Kevin Garnett? It just shows that you clearly have no idea what you're talking about and either don't know the first thing about that situation or are hoping none of us do. Kevin's problem was that his loyalty ended up getting him trouble. He was actually so determined to stay in Minnesota that he refused to allow the front office to shop him before the '06- '07 season, and again at the trade deadline in '07. He said publicly as well as privately that he didn't understand why he should be the one to lose his job in the rebuilding process, and that maybe it was the front office that should undergo changes. Before the draft last year, Kevin again stated publicly that he would not accept a trade out of Minnesota. But when he learned that the team had been actively shopping him around the league behind his back, he felt betrayed by the front office and accepted the second version of the Celtics trade (remember, KG rejected the initial trade before the draft). This may have had to do with Boston adding Ray Allen on draft day, and also could have been due to the C's getting rid of nemesis Wally Szczerbiak, but it certainly had nothing to do with Kevin wanting out of Minnesota. He never once demanded or asked to be traded. He only relinqushed his demand to NOT be traded.
Basically, Swinger, it just comes down to personal preference. Some people love it here in the midwest. I love it here. I enjoy going to places like New York or Boston for a short vacation, but there's no way I could ever live there. I'd rather live here than anywhere else. Some people are like me, and others are like you and couldn't live here if their life depended on it. That's fine. I can totally respect that. But not everyone thinks like you. You have to get over this superiority complex where you assume that everyone who lives here does because they are stuck here. I had job offers in Wilmington and Baltimore when I graduated last year (can you believe it? East coast interest with my crappy, good- for- nothing degree from that Drake place!) but I took one in Minneapolis instead. It's my preference, and I happen to know for a fact that I'm not the only one.
Even though I can't believe I took the bait and hate myself for even taking the time to respond to this thread... I thought Swinger might enjoy this link. It shows the 55 worldwide cities that qualify as Global Cities based on social and economic contributions to the world. Minneapolis, out of that wasteland midwest that nobody cares about, made the cut (albiet in the lowest classification, but it made the cut nonetheless). Your beloved Philly couldn't quite crack the list. Chicago, noticably absent from all of your midwest bashing, sits in the second- highest class behind only London, New York, Paris and Tokyo. This is why people around here can't stand some people on the coasts. Always believing the world revolves around you, even when the world tells you it doesn't.
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/citylist.html
Again, not trying to change your mind, you are free to hate the midwest if that's your thing. It's just more evidence that the entire world doesn't see it as being as worthless as you do.
As for an elite institution I never heard of Drake before this year. Princeton Review doesn't even list Drake in its list of 200+ colleges, meaning your are non-existent to that Committee. U.S. News doesn't even rank, except against "regional" schools - meaning you dont compete nationally. So get out of your shell and realize Drake means nothing outside of the state its in. And what state is Drake in anyway?
It's a very good school, with a great reputation. Regardless of what you say and/or think.
For what its worth, when you were in law school, you probably used West Law Publishing text books. The former CEO of West Law Dwight Opperman is a Drake graduate. I can guarantee that even UPENN uses those books.
