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Jimmy Bell coming back to SLU after his JUCO year definitely has legs to it... I'll leave you all with that.

@Midtown Madnesslooking forward to weekly updates on the Marquette basketball team this winter!

Thanks for listening, truly. Also, thanks for letting us know we're welcome to post and interact here, which I've been doing for 15 years and Zac - @billikenfan05 - even longer. We both plan to continue doing so. At a high level, the aim of our show is to be a fun, welcoming, positive, and informative place for all SLU sports fans. We could make it men's basketball-only, as that is unquestionably the largest draw of the athletic department in general interest, attendance, traffic here, and our show/Twitter feed. But covering the other sports has given us another dimension and we've gained traction especially with soccer fans. The Katie Shields interview, for example, was by far our most successful show until we had Travis Ford on. We got word that a lot of players and their families listened to it and enjoyed it, which was great for us to hear. I don't want to get into the weeds by addressing every individual item in your post, but want to address them in a more general sense by saying this: We've only been doing this together for 7 months. It's new, it's early, and it's a work in progress. We're learning and always trying to improve. We make mistakes. We have an outline but we're covering a lot of topics in a relatively short time and some things get overlooked or mixed up. We don't have a producer. There are two of us, which means sometimes things get said/posted that might contradict (or correct) something that was said/posted previously. I think our chemistry continues to get better but we're still two minds. We're also two busy people with full-time jobs. Mine also happens to be in the busiest time of the year. I also have a 5- and 2-year-old and between them and work, this show is the bulk of my vanishingly small amount of free time. I would love to be able to get deeper into the details of everything we cover to improve my knowledge but it just isn't possible. And it means we also can't watch or attend every single event. We have a finite amount of time on every show. If we were to cover every game with the level of detail put into your posts on individual soccer games, each show would be longer than a Marvel movie - something we neither have the time or desire to do, and something that would also alienate listeners because we have to give them something they can digest. A lot of our commentary is the result of reading this board, the official site, social media, and whatever else we come across. We will try to do a better job of attribution moving forward (not necessarily a standard all of sports media is held to, but still). If you think we've stolen individual ideas from your posts, it's not our intention. We love having guests on, but we don't just have an open line to every SLU sports-affiliated person at any time. We're not credentialed media members and there are certain unofficial barriers between those employed by the AD/school and an unofficial podcast by and for fans. Guests come on our show out of pure graciousness on their part - we can't pay, and we only have so much reach to promote what they do. This is a labor of love and takes a lot of time and energy, and we don't make a dime from it. We see covering the non-revenue sports as a value add for SLU fans, most of whom are more casual when it comes to those sports. As we've picked up more soccer, volleyball, and other fans along the way, we're continuing to work to get better. The basketball season is really our bread and butter and the thing we follow closest all year long - and keep in mind, we only started toward the end of last basketball season. Your soccer posts show a level of detail that we just can't realistically manage. It's also not what we're shooting for. But hopefully this gives you a better idea of who we are and what we're trying to do.

I don't think @Midtown Madness really needs to be defended and I also can't claim to have read all of the above posts (which I'm sure are fascinating) but I think these threads are automatically posted as a billikens.com feature. This same account makes similar posts for several SLU podcasts (which I appreciate). Secondly, they are very obviously creating this content as fans. They are not paid journalists, nor do they ever pretend to be. Frankly, I encourage them to use more wild speculation and non credited information. Nobody is gaining or losing anything from it.

My comments were not Specific to me but a commentary on your approach to how you view your responsibility to society in general. You seem to view your actions as only impacting you and not how it impacts others. I understand that you have made a decision based on whatever you chose to factor in but as a society we have to act not solely as individuals but as a collective group at times. Telling a person who is concerned about their child’s health that that is his problem not yours is a perfect example of how you view your relationship in society.

I was trying to be polite before. I don't read your full posts. I have skimmed them before. We generally record on Sunday nights. I don't read the board much if at all on weekends. If you think I'm stealing, I'll go ahead and put you on the ignore list to make it impossible. The bottom line is: When you post every single possible detail about a game and then two guys talk about that game for a few minutes and make a few points about it, the odds are pretty high that one or more of those few points are going to sound similar to the exhaustive list of thoughts shared previously.

Any "where winners migrate" shirts or sweaters?

The collection is like my McDonalds order, 10 piece.

i disagree. while i was greatly excited and intrigued about the potential of jimmy, it was obvious the coaching staff had passed him by with linssen and the floor time was going to be even less. if the both in foul trouble scenario comes up then throw this traore or lorentson into the fire. i like taj's idea of sending jimmy to the minors for increased playing time and experience and then bringing him back. who knows maybe it was Ford's idea to stash him there a year.

This is wild. @Pistol creates an insane amount of NEW content with his recruiting work. I guess you could make an (incorrect, IMO) argument that he is just compiling things you could find yourself on Twitter or elsewhere. That's totally wrong though because he's the one putting in the work to find & compile all that stuff.

I just want to say that I really appreciate what @billikenfan05 and @Pistol do with the Podcast. It can be a little rough around the edge at times compared to professionally produced sports Podcasts that we're likely used to. However, for a couple MBMs, it is fantasic. I also really appreciate what @courtside does with the soccer threads here on the board. I don't follow soccer that closely, so detailed recaps are nice. I've listened to all the Podcasts and read most of the soccer stuff and have never once thought that the Midtown Madness guys were ripping, you off @courtside. I think you're being a little paranoid. There also isn't some kind of struggle for attention between the Podcast and this message board. People who read the board can/will listen to the Podcast and vice versa. You can do both. Having both is a good thing.

It's a fan podcast. You can't please everybody. Taking MBM commentary too seriously will turn your labor of love into plain old labor. Don't do it. We already have offline life for that.

httpBs://twitter.com/SLUWSoccer/status/1434589990827212802?s=2The SLU women's soccer twitter account posted both goals. After closely watching them it was determined both were back post headers. This is insane. This kind of stuff is why Ben Wiexelmann and Nate Latsch quit doing Billiken Report(besides the lack of monetary compensation).

Put me in the camp that Bell played reasonably well for the minutes he got. Linssen just took his minutes. I think the coaches could have done a better job with his time. A little less French.

I know this is a bit of a tongue in cheek post but in all seriousness this really does make me smile. -Z

That depends on whether there is a third guy. I think Jimmy Bell Jr. playing center in a pinch is better than TJ Hargrove or Javonte Perkins having to play center in a pinch. I doubt Traore will be ready to play those minutes but who knows. Hopefully it never comes up and we never find out.

As far as the bolded, we're in big trouble if those two guys are on the bench regardless of who the third guy is. Bell averaged 1.9 ppg and 1.8 rpg in 9 mpg. Do we really expect that much of a drop off from whoever the third guy is this year?

well it appears rich and cheese arent going on that fall camping trip together this year.

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Yep. Packed houses at football games mean the pandemic is over. Nothing to see here: https://apnews.com/article/health-public-health-coronavirus-pandemic-idaho-a0729894b42af1c3dadeccaffeabea0c Just because there are a lot of people okay acting like the pandemic is over doesn't mean it actually is.

Post your new swag here Hope everyone on the board picks something up. Don't forget promo code MIDTOWNMADNESS to get 15% off your order.

Transfers count on the roster limit,Perkins doesn’t because he was not a transfer

@courtside I appreciate your soccer breakdowns, but for my U13s this weekend if I say "But if you keep pressing and forcing corners and free kicks, you create more opportunities for yourself" to them do I have to credit you? An opinion like this is pretty common across the game.

Does anyone have the logo or picture of Ekker's Billie Lou?

That’s fine. And I don’t necessarily disagree. But the cold callousness of saying “That's a you problem, not an us problem” in response to someone showing concern about their unvaccinated, high-risk, asthmatic children is just really uncalled for and unnecessary.

What retro logo is everyone most excited about getting on a T-shirt? I know there are some others in addition to the ones below, but here is a sampling: I'm personally hoping for something that's really cool with the 1971 logo. My dad used to have a sweatshirt he always wore with that logo on it, so it holds kind of a sentimental value for me.

Did you think freshman Jimmy Bell was ready to play rotation minutes after being a bench player for his prep team? Traore has a similar resume.

Linssen happened

Coachspeak 101 from Tate

It's all about rational risk management. If I thought my child was safer in the car ride to school than at school, I'd be an idiot. If my child had a severe peanut allergy, I'd probably keep him home rather than asking the rest of the world be peanut free. We all have to decide what is a tolerable risk. At this point everyone can spread covid be they vaxxed or not so I've given up despising the unvaccinated. Mask theater is the price of coming to work and shopping each day so I do that too. I'm resigned to everyone getting covid in some, hopefully mild, way. I hope everybody lives through this. There is nothing I can do about it, one way or another........

Ford has said on multiple occasions that Bell is really good and just needs to get playing minutes so that he can make the leap to a higher level player. Bell did not play much at that prep school. I definitely could see Ford sending him down to develop, knowing that he could lose him, instead of having him slowly develop 5 minutes per game again. It is in Bell’s best interests, and Bell probably would transfer next year if he felt the coaching staff was just using him for their own interests (see Okoro in Oregon).

Because Jimmy leaving hurts our team for this current year, even if he wouldn’t have played much. If Okoro/Linssen get hurt or in foul trouble, we’re in big trouble right now. Or if we play a team and think we need two big men to match up, our options are limited. No coaching staff is sending a player away if they think they can use that player this season, especially when we did not need the scholarship. Not to mention in Corey Tate’s interview with Frank Cusamano he indicated that Jimmy leaving was sudden / a surprise.

From Perk to Park. Let’s hope he has what it takes to make Chaifetz into Park Place.

This is coming directly from his JUCO coach "Big-time shooter/scorer. Can create his own shot. Deep range. Good athlete"

No inside info, but I’m guessing a juco player. I’m going off the board (I think). Sincere Parker, Moberly CC.

Except that he has never pointed this out. That’s my only problem. There should be somebody in the local media putting pressure on Mizzou to play SLU straight up. Unfortunately BenFred joins the long list of local commentators who decide not to do so.

I don’t think Chris May cares if we play Mizzou. I don’t care. Look at our schedule this year. I’d rather play UAB than Mizzou. @Boise St, Belmont, Drake, Memphis, Auburn, even maybe BC with Mizzou undoubtedly regressing this year after losing all those seniors. We don’t need to play Mizzou. Sure, it would be nice for fans. But if I’m Chris May, I’m not going to grovel or use the schedules of our teams as bargaining chips to try to negotiate playing a team that would most likely be a quad 3 home game for us this year. F Mizzou.

I’m sure we’d give Mizzou a 2 for 1 with 2 in St.Louis therefore isn’t it Mizzou that doesn’t really want to play

I think the biggest jump will be the team as a whole. If this group can play as a team with different people stepping up as needed per game this eill be a very special season. With people keying even more than usual on Perkins he will need help from others to allow him to do his thing. This team has a very good roster that will require a team attitude to be really successful.

Perkins. Most believe he can be A10 POY but I think he can have an Obi Toppin type season and be in National POY conversation if we can be a top 20 team

Coachspeak? What the hell is that, Hossier Pal? @ 3star --- Bell went from 31 games, 14,5 mpg, 3.8 ppg, and 3.1 rpg his freshman year to the numbers you stated along with 19 games played, and 8.8 mpg his sophomore year. Now a dear old friend of mine who shall remain nameless used to tell me guys got better by just being in the system longer. But not here. Still, what happened? What massive transgression befell Jimmy to see his number drop so significantly from year One to year Two? I don't know but am just curious. Linssen? Linssen took 11.9 mpg and that plus Bell's brings it back to Jimmy's freshman year numbers. The roster was essentially the same. There's a question that should be asked of the staff if they podcast or interview or whatever. What happened in the grand disappearance of Jimmy Bell, Jr. Not that it matters but curious minds would like to know. COVID? Malcontent? Development? Attitude? Injury? Matchups? Don't know.

That’s a lot of words to say you take other people’s info (not just mine) sometimes word for word, and not credit where you received the information. Your response is what someone would say whose hand was caught in the cookie jar. It’s one thing to post “your” podcasts on social media. It takes pretty big onions to come here, self promote frequently, copying lots of material of the same people here, and re-posting it to them as if to say come listen to us talk about the information you provided as if it were our own. I could have been much more harsh about it and I could have reached out much sooner about it. All you had to do was say this info from xyz etc…. That’s why I politely suggested limiting your podcasts to interviewing a SLU guest and leaving it at that. Between using non credited information elsewhere and incorrect wild speculation of other things, that may be a better fit. Respectfully, this is Billikens Dot Com not Peter and Zac Dot com.

No. Pistol has copied, often times word for word things I’ve written in the Soccer threads as if it were his own material in his podcasts. That isn’t really ethical to me. Again, any sort of friendly Billikens Dot Com reference in general would suffice. If I take the time to watch the games and post about them, that’s the least I would ask.

Respectfully, it happens every podcast. I will give you a new example from this week’s podcast. I wrote on this board the other day, “Fortunate play for SLU to get the handball in the box. But if you keep pressing and forcing corners and free kicks, you create more opportunities for yourself.” Here’s what Peter said at 41:40 of your most recent podcast about the same game topic: “Lucky handball in the box. If you keep getting the ball in the box and keep giving yourself corner kicks (he mixed up corners and free kicks and blended them together) a little luck is going to go your way.” I have lots and lots of other examples from your podcasts. I’m not trying to embarrass you guys but at some point I think It’s important to say something because there may be people out there that listen to your podcasts and think this is your own material. It isn’t some of the time, and I’m not the only person whose information was used as if it was your own.