Oakville Tim

Missouri basketball, especially, has earned for itself extreme scrutiny by the Post-Dispatch, for as long as Snyder is the head coach. I scarcely think a walk-on could quit the team and not have it appear on Page 1 of Sports. This goes back, by the way, to the Stewart days. Some of you might remember the three-part series by Tom Wheatley in the mid-1980s on all the transfers out, and the 'Boone County Bunker Mentality' that surrounds the program to this day. There aren't many Missouri fans who were warm and fuzzy about the P-D's coverage of the (heinous) Ricky Clemons episode, laughable and ludicrous as it made their program and university look. I don't know that 'those' Mizzou fans will EVER welcome the Post-Dispatch writing even something positive about the program -- the 'Memories of Hearnes' story in Sunday's edition included. I don't mean to digress from the topic of this thread. Namely, why doesn't SLU get Page 1 coverage in its hometown Sports section? It's a puzzle to which I have no answer. I suspect it'd take a higher-up at the Post to provide one, and who knows how 'good' that answer would be anyway?

This doesn't add anything intelligent to the dialogue, but no, I'm not the host of 'The Sandbox.' We share only the same first name.

I'm a fan of any team, any gender, any sport, that PLAYS HARD and PLAYS SMART from start to finish. One that you can tell obviously is COACHED WELL. And the Billikens wear all those adjectives, deservedly. I'll save comments on other teams for other boards. This SLU team is something special. I wish them all the luck, now and in the future!! BTW, have Liddell and Polk qualified? I hope so -- in Sloan and Fisher, some huge shoes are graduating.

What a THRILL, watching these undermanned kids battle back!! I just wanted to congratulate Coach Soderberg and the players, the seniors especially. I follow Missouri primarily, have for years and years. I follow these Tigers in truth because I'm a glutton for punishment, I suppose. This was my first Billikens game in-person in probably five seasons. If you believe in kids busting their tails and playing with heart and grit each possession, even when it's a scuffle to get on the scoreboard, then you'll very quickly fall in love with the Billikens. To Brad's credit, this is a team that is COACHED WELL! I am told that Philip Hunt plays not much, and yet at the end of regulation there he is, in the right position to follow-in Fisher's NBA-range 3. That's a kid who's COACHED WELL! My true hope for the C-USA tournament is that Bryant's father is well enough that he can rejoin the team, and that Frericks can patch and paste himself together well enough. This team ought to be something dangerous if it can be intact and healthy starting next Wednesday. Good luck, Billikens!!