Taj79

Oh joy. Oh rapture. I am going to go out on a limb and predict good and gentlemanly behavior ad infinitum ....

Coming for next year .... http://76classic.com/home/component/content/article/45-main/149-2011-teams-announced

No one knows anything yet? Why is that? A player is suspended/ineligible/whatever "until second semester" and that usually means once classes are over they can get back on the court. But not here at SLU? How come? Seems to me that semester would have been over around December 17th or so. While I understand it would be tough sledding to take them to Mexico, I am somewhat appalled that no one has heard or said anything about any "progress to date." Seems this should be of interest or at least some sort of "news" in the St. Louis area. And we got nothing? Plus, why is it that our school seems to have some sort of death grip on January 3rd being a re-enroll date? I remember applying for admission in the summer before I came, why is it that these teo have to wait until January 3rd? Or is that because they couldn't get all their condition down until then? Or is that because this is some arbitrary date the school set due to the precedent-setting event that this was? ".... you guys have do do X and Y and Z and because of that, we won't look at you doing that and accomplishing it until oh, let's say January 3rd and we'll call it even ...." Silence in Midtown seems to be par for the SLU course. Again, Mickey Mouse isn't even a proper adjective ......

I thought they looked pretty good, played well (someone noted bad fouls), and shot decently. This team will never be mistaken for a rebounding juggernaut. They are all sporting two fouls. Cassity's beard looks awful. Cody seems to have found a little something. Jett can take anyone but needs to curb the youthful enthusiasm as he loses things at times. McCall looks very smooth --- two threes and a drive that he looked really impressive on. Seoncd half: need to maintain the shooting percentgaes --- SoMiss looks more athletic than anything we got. They could take it one-on-one and takeover, or they can disintegrate playing schoolyard stuff. We need to defend and help like we did on their last possession of the half. All in all, som enice points to take out of this half.

Just win and all things will correct themsleves over time. Imagine: you are a local, high- to mid-major player and are offered by SLU. Do you accept/ Straight up? If you say your answer would be "yes" I'd say you are a "liar!" Okay, mayb eone or two of you aren't lying but you catch my drift. All of us would say "yes" -- I mean, we're on this board for a reason, mostly becuase of our love and support of the U. Th enormal basketball kid good enough to get those kid of offers. No way --- 98% of the time.

Amen.

St. Louis has not shown a proven track record as a developmental hot bed of consistent basketball talent. We've had numerous locals who went away, some who stayed and some who went away and came back. People forget that when we landed Hughes, we also landed other St. Loui shotshots like Tatum and Baniak. Dwayne Polk and Luke Meyer and Lisch and Liddell under Sodie. We've also lost talenst like White, Upchurch, Carrawell, Miles, Lee and so on. But I believe that because the talent level of St. Loui sis low, those that get away and do shine shine even brighter in our minds because they got away. A couple of things also ... if I were young and that talented, I would want to go away as well. See the world. Plus, if I am that talented, I want to go to the best available program out there that wants me. Historically, thst also isn't SLU. Plus I likely believe I am destined for the show, so I want a program that develops players in a winning atmosphere to advance. That ain't SLU --- our drafted NBAers were journeymen at best (Bonner, Hughes, Jeffers). And I want to play for a winner who is on TV and in the Dance all the time. Again, not SLU. Kids in Memphis stay home and Memphis is perennially good. Kids don't reall ystay home in NY or Chicago --- or St. John's and DePaul and Fordham and Loyola would be unrreal. I agree with the adage that in the college game, the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back. It doesn't matter where they come from, once they don the blue, they are our boys and girls.

Props to them. Frankly, I don't care. The universes are not the same. Men versus women. The seventies versus the 2000s. The athleticism. The speed and physicality of the game. Longest winning streak in a collegaite team sport. I hop ethey get to triple digits. But I don't care. As an option for my disposable entertainemnt dollar --- not even on the horizon. Maybe we hire Geno to replace Rick???? I'm kidding but I'd love to see what he could do moving over to the men's gamne. Just curious.

Crime? What about the morals of the deal????? Aren;'t those the greater good?

Tough gig. I would venture to say that most JUCOs are there for a grades-related issue. Couldn't qualify, bad test scores, low GPA, etc. Now if I'm one of those kids, am I going to John A. Logan and majoring in chemistry? Biology? Mathematics? Or am I taking (no sh*t -- from their on-line web site) auto collision? Tooling manufacturing? Or Welding? Now let's figure how that translates into a degree at SLU. So you have to find the right fit. And as some pointed out, JUCOs don't seem to be in RM's makeup. So now you and a school and a coach who really don't line up with that role model. There is where it goes Joey. The greatest hyped JUCO class ever was Grawer's Jackson Wheeler-led group of Tadysak, Ivester and Manual. Flop. Flop. Flop. Dick Fosberry should have been the team mascot instead of a Billiken. Best combo: Henderson & Burns. Best solo: Love & Dobbs (tie). Jeffers was also up there so maybe a three-way. But in almost each good case the first year of the transfer was nothing to write home about. The rules of general basketball physics do NOT apply at SLU makin git even harder to be a Billiken fan. I have always believed in the Parcells analogy of bringing the goods to the table and I've always thought four-year players were a better route to go. JUCOs seem to be reall yone-and-dones as well, not seeing a real return on your investment until year two, their senior year. Then you are back where you started.

Wow! What happened to the outrage for this poor, violated young lady whose life was ruined much worse than anything these protected, pampered basketball players are going through?????

Why taking so long? Two reasons ..... #1) SLU is a Jesuit institution with MORALS, and #2) SLU is an institution that has no clue how to play in the world of big-time athletics. On #1, that is a no-brainer. How can you complain about anything if you don't set the standard, no matter what that standard may be? And on #2, think about all the crap other shcools have been through and how things were/are handled --- the U, LaceDarius Webb, HuggyBear and UC, Notre Dame and so on --- if practice does indeed make perfect, getting repeat situations allows for precedent to be set and knowledge gained with lessons learned applied. This is SLU's first experience with this and the response was virgin to say the least (no pun intended). Lots of rookies makes lots of mistakes .... what did Notre Dame do with the football player accusedof sexually assaulitng the St. Mary's of the Woods girl? I'm just sayin .....

WOW! Four pages of responses and short of, I think Kshoe and bk18 and maybe one other, no one addressed the question. Rather, this was turned into a skyjacked "Cancel the Duke game" thread. That was not the intent but do-do happens. So we get the usual vote for Porter and an out-of-left-field suggestion about Booby Kninght. Graveyard of coaches, folks --- Booby Knight ain't coming here that's for sure. Biondi and the Booby. I don't think so. Someone acknowledged my point about the eccentricity of our boy Rick. Point taken and that's what I was trying to suggest. Roy made a good point about the Duke game being a teaching tool. Another good point. But this was not meant to be a "we-just-lost-to-Duke-the-sky-is-falling" post. All I'm saying once again or asking is "are we prepared?" The program wasn't prepared for the shocker that was the Kangeroo Court, as some describe it. Rick has endured multiple issues some inside the program, some not: the charter plane issue, the radio show issue, the abortion and the Bishop in the media issue, the girlfriend issue, the Kangeroo issue, the transfer issue, and so on. All I'm saying is when does he say "enough" and what happens then? The Duke fiasco, and it was to the casual observer as the rest of us will rationalize it away, was just another possibility altho I missed the teaching tool opp pointed out earlier. Sure, there are easy transitions as some pointed out. Other coaches-in-waiting have included the Maryland football situation, Jimbo Fisher at Florida State, Booby's boy Pat, Jay Spoonhour, and Tom Bradley for JoPa at Penn State. Not everything goes as expected. Not everyone announce at the beginning of the season "this is it and so-so is in." That would suggest our Athletic Department has a clue. OUR ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT, the one some of you question w/o end as to their operational abilities. Maybe Richard Chaifetz would be prepared but Biondi and the AD? I don't know. And while Bay Area defended me (thanks) the truth is I don't know basketball. But this thread wasn't talking basketball, it was talking about human reactions, emotions, stress and strategic planning. I am less stressed about being 2 and 4 right now (I am not counting Rockhurst). I know that it is going to be incredibly difficult to win, given that the college game runs through the point guard and our all-conference point is not enrolled at this time. I know it is going to be difficult to win given the lack of depth on our front line and the fact that our best front line player is not enrolled at this time. Saying that, I am a lot more distressed that our third year players have shown little in the way of productive developmentat this point, talking Conklin and Remuken at this point. In my dream world, even with a bad game, we crush Peay at home and beat Georgia. We win at Portland and are competitive against Duke, likely losing in the 4th quarter of the game. Score is immaterial in that one. I think I'm looking past the tree here and there and seeing the forest. Folks can disagree and thats fine.

A couple of disclaimers ..... First, and most importantly, I have no insider information. Second, if you will recall, I was not in favor of getting rid of Soderberg, especially after a 20-win season. Third, despite the second, I was all for the hiring of Majerus, figuring such a Hall-of-Fame coach was about the only real thing the program could do to rise up from the doldrums. I thought that back as far as Al McGuire doing a game in St. Lous and begging him not only not to leave the broadcast but the city itself and make us rise up from our ashes. That didn't go over well, obviously. Now, the question: regardless the recent Duke fiasco, what do you do if you have to replace Majerus? We all know Majerus has a self-specified shelf life. We all know or believe he was hoping to leave his mark on the college landscape by taking a long-dormant program, taking it to success, and walking away content that his legacy and reputation was intact, if not further glorified. But what do you do if, for whatever reason (mother is suddenly really ill, disgusted with the student court, can't get Reed and/or Mitchell reenrolled, bad health crops up,etc.), you are faced with the prospect of the program without a coach? Some have annointed Porter Moser as the likely successor. Is that Lorenzo-to-Brad part two? I don't know, I'm just saying. I've called Saint Louis U. a graveyard for coaches. Is Majerus the next? C'mon, he is just eccentric enough to toss it in, you know he is. This could be his first-ever losing season ... like Joaquin used to say "youneverknow." I am not saying we/the school/Biondi should but asking "what if?" Thoughts?

I appreciate all the replies to the thread .... Seriously .. I expected to get blown out. I am not naive enoguh to think this team, even with a healthy Cassity and a 2009 version of Ellis could have competed missing Reed and Mitchell. Heck, even with Mitchell and Reed, I knew the best I could hope for was a "game" that we would eventually lose but maybe we could be competitive in. There were good points as I mentioned in kicking this thread off but I am very weary of hearing all these "nice try" and "good effort" comments that we always get in games like this. It is embarrassing to me to have my 80-year-old father make pointed but correct comments on the game we played on antional TV. While he also then proceeded to question how Duke "always gets the calls" or how "the refs give Duke whatever they want." While I agree with those sentiments, it is extremely hard to take those kind go things away as par tof our few compliments. You know its bad when CBS goes to commercial break and the cut-shots are all Duke, with the exception of Majerus and Coach K shaking hands at the start of the game. Hell of a highlight! I am growing weary of "the youngest team in the nation" crap as well. Majerus himself said it would take four or five years and cautioned against us making too much out of last year's unexpected season. I agreed, but this was supposed to be the breaktrhough year, according to the man himself. Now, I know he had no idea the Reed/Mitchell fiasco would derail us as it has, but I guess I need to understand that life as a mid-major is such that you can't recover from the loss of one let alone two starting players unexpectanntly, like a Memphis or a Kentucky or a North Carolina can. I just learned the hard way that umpteen "diamonds-in-the-rough" can't hold water against one Mickey D All-American, let alone ten! Its just frustrating that this program is the same old song and dance ..... oh, we're getting there, we really are. Like the state motto, I'm, getting to the "show me" point of all this. I don't mind losing because its all we really know save four exceptions (my standard is to make the Dance) so that is no tthe problem here. Its just frustrating that th enever-ending pattern can't seem to be overcome.

.... I am starting to side with the guy wanting to toss his eight tickets. How many years do we have to endure this? Why are we even bothering? Are we even bothering? If I had to watch one more CBS-Duke promo .... all the breaks were Duke highlight reels with the exception of the pre-game shake of hands with K and Majerus. Even get to see little Dukies in the making. Wonderful. Who was that team? What happened to Cassity? Bum ankle? Ellis? Is the sickness from the summer that debilitating? Maybe it is. Has Salescich ever stepped onto a basketball court before? Remekun must still be a large work in progress. Conklin? Hey --- he looked better built. Good notes: Keep McCall, Jett and Evans. Evans needs more mintues. Loe? Don't know --- too early to call. Seriously ---- we looked respectable in some terms but those guys ate us up like we were standing still. Who is going to beat that team? I can't see it happening. And Irving was/is out and they still don't lose a beat. Frankly, it was another embarrassment. Nothing else to say other than maybe even hoping for this program is futile. Our lineup looked no different than guys named Entwhistle, Seyfert, Latimore, Barantine, Caswell, Varner, Newborne and all the other well-liked gentlemen and scholars that came before today. Its hard to say ths but ..... so it goes.

I think we can all agree that Rick is a dinosaur ---- what he does is what all the old school coaches have done in the past --- do things "their" way, take care of "their" programs, only do what is required of them and understand that they set the requirements. Interviews are done by shills for the program. Even like NBC doing Notre Dame football --- NBC is unlikely to ask the hard question or play rogue journalist. Booby Knight;'s treatment of the media and so on. But that is yesterday's media. As is there a huge difference with today's player. Kids want to be wooed, catered to. Rumor has it that Joe Paterno doesn't even bother to recruit anymore. Which is hurting Penn State in the long run. I see Rick along similar lines ---- which is rare in today's world and can be counterproductive. Rammer might love SLU the program, not SLU Rick Majerus. That happens as well.

Thanks folks. Appreciate the sentiments --- in the words of one of the Phi Kap frat brothers "Y'know, we never really thought we'd live this long. Who knew? Who'd a thunk it? All of us. We're 50 and who'd have thought we'd make 25 back in 1979." Okay that was a few years ago but you get the idea.

Any debate on anything subjective is a battle that can't be won. What's "great" to one is not to another. I'll agree to disagree, save keystrokes, and move on. May 10, 1979 .... the sex was wild and carefree and to this day, that woman remains a goddess in my mind's eye!

Brief blurbs here in Bal'mer today ... Jameel McLean senior forward for Xavier will miss first six weeks with broken bone near eye socket. National college basketball beat writer Shannon Ryan has Richmond, Temple, Dayton and Xavier going to Dance with Temple winning the auto-bid. Other predictions include Duke as national champs, CUSA (Memphis) and the Mo Valley as a Juan-bid leagues (Wichita State), and CBI foe Old Dominion in from the Colonial. The only ranked A-10 team is Temple (#20) and Mizzou is in the dance and ranked at #13. And Legends Classic at Boardwalk Hall in AC has Syracuse - Michigan and Georgia Tech - UTEP this year. (Dry run for A-10 tourney).

Here's a little twist to rhe WR situation .... if the rule is as b. hayes says (and I have no reason to doubt that) and if WR is enrolled at a JUCO, is he indeed meeting the "until the student has fulfilled a residence requirement of one full academic year (two full semesters or three full quarters) at the certifying institution" as stated in the b. hayes citation? And if that isn't enough, how about the "after the 12th class day" part of the citation? WR is in SLU until mid-October. Meaning he missed that 12th day of this semester being at KState. Semester lost, as I read it. So, if he does enroll at KState in January, he won't be eligible until the following January at KState, January 2013. JUCO play countd against your five-years-to-play-four limitation so if he is enrolled at this JUCO, he won't be on their team this year or he'll lose that year in his overall NCAA standing. So he is essentially just going to class and being another student. Forgive me but I can't see that lasting for WR or turning into much. Still leaning to the belief that WR won't see another day on a Division 1 basketball court. Ever.

This is like a bad joke that keeps on gaining mileage .... and the more times its in the paper, the more truth it seems to hold. Temple is 7 and 2, yes, and they gave a down Penn State team a good tussle in Happy Valley before succumbing to superior numbers. But they are a MAC-level football school. Not that the MAC is "bad" football but it isn't hard to win the MAC as opposed to the SEC or Big Ten. Temple went this MAC route because they were very bad playing a sub-par BCS schedule only a few years ago. 'Nova is supposed to make its Division I decision somewhere around the turn of the new year. Even so, ramp up to a full Division I school will take a little time. I personally can't see the Texas schools picking up stakes and moving to esentially a northeast, Atlantic coast dominated league. And Central Florida? East Carolina would seem a more likely candidate for the Big East unless they are trying to pair up South Florida with a local and potential rival. Once again, Big East football is crap and relatively inconsequential right now. The only pro I see to a move like this for TCU is getting in the BCS door. Not being a deeply religious football man --- I don't care and I can't fathom any other reason why they'd do this.

Out two months so maybe they can lay claim to a jinx/curse as well.

He's our beat writer, not our cheerleader. Calls them as he sees them. Lose your objectivity and lose your credibility. No complaints from me.

All this tells me is what many have already said ..... that our "little engine that could" program/institution is NOT readily prepared for the big time. There are so many flat tires in this process that it shames me to watch it all unfold. The main thing is this: no synergized coordination between all moving parts (Athletics, Admin, Student Life, Marketing, Sales, etc.) and hiding behind this privacy act crap. Yes --- the actual dealing with people are private, but SLU could have defined the process, what it is, how it happens, who is no it (no names) and unfortunately, how many times its been administered in the past (rarely I'm betting). Remember when Steinbrenner first took over the Yankees? He didn't win until he got good people in the right places and sat his fat ass in the luxury box. Apply here? I've got inside information ---- amd what Willie is saying ain't lining up with my sources' info. Not to say I don't believe Willie. I do know that the info floating on the other side involves two-on-one forcibly at the same time while another blocked the door and escape route. Someone is lying big time.