The plan at The Victory Bell is to host a weekly Q&A that will consist of five questions with a member of the Valparaiso athletics community. What better person to start off this segment than Valparaiso’s outgoing athletic director, Mark LaBarbera? I conducted this interview with Mark in his office several hours after he announced his retirement.

1. Mark, you announced your retirement today. Why now? What is it about now that makes this the right decision? There’s a couple reasons.