billiken_roy

i love tommie liddell, but i dont think he will be as effective on both ends of the court as lisch. just my opinion. we are opening up an argument that would be like arguing whether you would rather have bonds or puhols at the plate. i.e. they are both pretty darn good and imo the best in the area since hughes.

it was my belief from the info i got that siu was next year again. i.e. we would finish our contract with the saluki's then we would be free to negotiate a deal with sms following that. however the belief is that brad doesnt want to play both at the same time, so if we sign with sms, then the salukis would be out. i wasnt told the above scenario specifically, but reading between the lines that is the way i read it. i think it sucks.

tseugnekillib said, "fans are no longer allowed to watch recruits play in on-campus pick-up games. That would now be a violation." that is about as good of a reason to keep visits secret that i have ever heard. thanks.

i am more disappointed to let my mind think he has nothing going on. i would just as soon see our name being included with recruits that we sometimes dont get. imo, it helps show the rest of the college basketball world st louis university is a player as well. but to each their own system or belief. at this point i am pretty satisfied with coach brad's success so i deal with the anxiety.

hawaii also has a previously high ranking high school all american in julian sensley i believe. a reason to come and watch anyway.

i agree with your thinking kshoe. and i agree with your concerns on oakland and uw-milwaukee. obviously the hawaii series is for the players benefit. i know that the first thing kevin lisch was bragging about at school was that his first "trip" was going to be to hawaii. thus, the recruiting advantage that series provides. also, i am thinking there is a kid on the hawaii roster that is from this area. not sure but something tells me that is the case. thus hawaii probably wanted an area game for him.

yes and no. yes she hasnt been on the job long, but in the same sense, i still get the stealth operations feelings that has long confused me. it would seem that could be corrected by one internal memo and would have nothing to do with formal programs and such. i.e. "hey everyone, feel free to talk about our billikens and anything associated with the billikens."

iowa is not to be returned according to my source. and apparently you are right that slu is afraid to play sms and siu in the same year. that is terrible imo. if i ever hear a slu official complain about mi$$ouri being afraid to play us i will be sure to throw this in their face. so i guess as long as we have a contract with siu we wont play sms. ugly.

no argument from me bonwich. i had hoped we would start seeing a "difference" from a marketing and publicity front with ms levrick in charge by now. so far we have not seen a difference imo. i guess she is too busy raising money for the biondi dome.

actually with wisconsin-milwaukee, oakland, and hawaii all being home and home games, i assume we dont have other home "buy games this year" other than semo, oral roberts and fort wayne. the other normal buy game i guess would be iowa since it appears we are their buy.

After an internet discussion with parties to be nameless, it is my belief that Hawaii, Iowa, Gonzaga, Oakland, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Southern Illinois will all be flip games for next year. Thicks is right on SMS and Southern Illinois (GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) and they will not play the same year. Iowa is not a return game (i.e. we are the buy). Oral Roberts, SEMO and IUPUI are all buy home games for this season.

i am talking about the buy games. you know, games which now consist of teams that vashon can beat, but granted are teams from all over the country. i say take those 4 games and limit those to midwest teams that are of a higher caliber than the b.s. that we play now each year. as to the rest of the non-conference schedule, i too want to play the best teams in the country for those other 7 games or so. anyone and everyone that is at least a top 100 team on most counts.

that brings up a thought. there is no doubt that doug woolard wanted to create the "papal conference" or at least a midwest version of such. a true visionary a.d. would say, ok, that big least will explode in a few years and when it does we want to be in position to make it happen then. now by next year we will already be playing dayton and xaiver annually. but we should work like crazy to continue to play depaul and marquette add creighton, and whomever else we think would make up that conference. and play those teams each year or at least as often as possible.

if the variety was in the 100-200 rpi range i would be better with it, but i just hate the buy games vs the 200+ rpi teams. i have no interest in watching grambling, savanaugh state etc. i cant even tell you the teams that we are "buying" this season and i have looked at the schedule numerous times. i find it hard to believe they are revenue generators. they are always the lowest attended games of the year. imo, the only purpose they serve is a "W". we are basically talking about the 4 buy games. what would be wrong with rotating them with other midwest teams in the 100-200 rpi range? we dont have to play illinois state, semo, bradley, and western illinois every year, but add in austin peay, murray state, eastern illinois, drake, etc to the mix and now the games become a little more meaningful. second, if you would get in a habit of scheduling some of the same schools every couple of years or so, maybe a little rivalry develops which brings out a few more fans. plus, it wouldnt surprise me if this could be worked out whereby these schools become a 2-1 deal (with slu getting the one) and we save the cost of the buy fee? i.e. the idea could generate more revenue, become more interesting, add rpi strength to our schedule, and save money. the only downside is the thought of losing those games. well if we cant beat them, then we shouldnt be in the damn post season anyway.

the non conference article has been deleted at stltoday.com. maybe i heard it at the cheryl levrick coming out party. i sent stu an e-mail to try to clear it up for us. i doubt anyone at slu would shed any light on it. my gosh, next year's schedule would without a doubt be one of those secrets that they couldnt possibly share with their fans.

i thought it was said when the game was initially announced.

it was my understanding slu just wanted to get back on a schedule that one would be home and one away thus the excuse they couldnt play sms this season. i dont know. but i do think we should be playing both every year. i also still maintain that we should be playing other area schools each year as well. semo, bradley, illinois state, etc. i would gladly dump the worthless buy games.

bonwich said, "He values his job and his family over posting on the Billiken board(s)." there is no reason he cant do both! :-) we need that strong voice of reason back on the other board to combat our liberal friends there.

the problem is that to get a big name school to come in typically takes an away game first. the home schedule is being carried with our very good conference home schedule this year. keep in mind that gonzaga, siu and iowa will return games next year when we start playing in the weaker a-10 (weaker that is than the current cusa, not the future cusa). so we got that to look forward to. and hopefully the kitten$ will finally realize that pretty q $nyder is ducking a game that needs to be played as well and put that back in place. strangely, i believe the schedule makers somehow look at hawaii as a "big" game. however that game will set up as a nice reward for our recruits next year as it is my understanding that a return game to hawaii will be the first road game next season. the game that should be on the schedule but isnt is sms. there is no excuse for dropping that game. we are no better than mi$$ouri ducking us by us ducking sms.

in fact we havent heard from alumnifan for awhile now on either board. i consider him the godfather of the offseason board. where is alumnifan?

by rereading the thread, i get -"Big Bertha" Billiken Roy -Joe Bonwich a/k/a "the Polish Putter" -Sheltie "To-be-feared-on-his-good-days" Dave -"Hole-in-One" Willie -Box and Won a/k/a "Slicin Spell" -"9-Hole" Nark -"the ringer" iggy -"the worst day of golf is better than selling cars" slufanskip it is my understanding that unca cant play on the 16th of october which is our tenative date. still need time of day and course.

for those of you off the board last week, david nark is organizing the event and we need to know if you want to play. it appears that none of us are much good, so dont worry about sucking. we all do.

ironically, i believe the key to running up and down the floor is as much a strong inside game as it is a bunch of track star wings. someone has to be able to clean the boards and throw outlets on a consistent basis without everyone having to help. as of the last few seasons, if you look at our rebounding numbers, our guards get an unusually high number of bounds. this is a result of everyone crashing the boards, especially on the defensive end. now if everyone is crashing the boards, who is left to get out and go? so again, i contend the key to how this upcoming team will play and perform lies in the hands of izik and newborne more than anyone else. we know frericks is a player, we know bryant, drejaj and polk are players.

no point guard, but title only. francisco garcia can do it all. he is the penny hardaway/scottie pippen of the country imo. if the team is pressured, garcia will take over.

it is my opinion that louisville will be in another class by themselves. then you will have memphis and uab and maybe charlotte. after that it will be a dogfight and our billikens can compete with all of them if healthy. no way i concede anything to marquette or depaul or anyone else. you want to look for the league surprise, i would be looking at southern miss. ole larry e will be anxious to show iowa state what a grand mistake they made.