Bill_Ken R

I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a bottle of water for about what a decent meal would cost and it was awful. The burger was so cold the cheese was not even melted and the taste was not good; the fries were also cold. Very disappointing. They really need to get this corrected. I didn't want or buy one but the candy bars were $3.25 I think.

I am a proud veteran having served two years in the Army following graduation from SLU, in 1969, during the Vietnam War. I was fortunate to have spent one year at Fort Bragg, NC and one year in Seoul, South Korea. My education got me a nice easy office job and was I ever happy that I didn't get orders for Vietnam. Reading the list of the killed in Stars and Stripes and seeing people I knew from home, college or from basic training was a weekly thing and not a pleasant one. My appreciation to everyone who has served or is serving now.

100,000 watts should work. I should be able to hear the games in Sullivan, Mo.

The announcement of the anticipated radio contract on 101.1 FM has been made. Sounds pretty good to me. Good job Mr. May.

What genius came up with that name? I think it sounds stupid.

I am curious as to the justification for what seems like a very odd start time. I live a little over an hour away from the Chaifetz and a 9:00 start time during the week is not so appealing. But as I look at the schedule, there are a lot of games that don't seem worth the drive. I am very disappointed in the schedule. I am embarrassed to offer my extra tickets to some of the games to clients, employees, or friends, unless they don't know anything nor care anything at all about basketball. Maybe there is a reasonable and justifiable explanation.

That is a pretty weak schedule. Doesn't make me feel that good about paying $850 a seat for much worse seats.

The school is 190 years old. The Billiken, as mascot of the school, is 100. I think.

Section 115, Row L, seats 17 through 20 and Row M seats 17 through 20.

I hope that is right. I was under the impression that only those who buy tickets at the $3,500 or $2,500 gift level are given access. I saw the menu and prices. They may have even fewer people then I expected or quickly change their approach. I drive over an hour to the games and have enjoyed being able to make it an event with a nice meal and then the game. I have taken both clients and employees and they have all enjoyed it. I will be eating elsewhere before going to the game more than likely. It really it a wonderful facility, something we have needed for a long time, and many of us will have to adjust a little. That is life.

I did seat selection this afternoon at 3:28. I got 8 seats in section 115 some 15 rows from the court and off to the side in the gold section. They are reasonably good seats but no where close to my first permanent row seats behind the Billiken bench at the Scottrade. I will give it a year and see. I may move to cheaper seats or give up my tickets entirely. There was some, but not a lot , of difference between the seats I picked and the red seats just across the isle, but a cost difference of $2,000. There were a lot of untaken seats in the Loyal Blue section for the $2,500 donation seats. A guess is that about half of them were reserved. It will be interesting to see what they do if they end up with a lot of unsold seats in that section. It will also be interesting to see how many patrons they will have in the club because of restricting it only to the top donors, of which there may not be sufficient numbers. I thought the whole process was very well handled and went smoothly. I was pleased that Kevin Lisch and Koshay Irby were our helpers. That was nice. Kevin is such a nice kid. Great ambassador for the University. I met Chris May and he seemed very nice.

I agree with you thicks. And he needs to be an experienced recruiter.

With that loyalty I think you should have received a phone call prior to the deadline to make sure of your intention given the severe consequences. If they had been careful enough to review the list of non renewals they could have avoided you being in this situation. Not saying you don't bear a responsibility but a well run business would have looked things over before they finalized it. They should think about what they are doing and be more careful in taking care of business. I won't give details but I have personally experienced several situations where the athletic department just failed to get the job done. My clients would be long gone if I failed them in such an elementary way, and they should be.

I received my letter today. I slipped from 96 to 123 after adding 96 points.

Chris May has his work cut out for him. He would be wise to carefully evaluate Mark Wright. He has apparently offended a number of loyal fans and does not enjoy the trust of many. Not a good position for a person charged with fundraising for an athletic department at a Catholic university that needs to dramatically increase gifts. People giving large amounts of money are easily offended. Personally the whole situation with the required donations for the better seats has caused me to lose a lot of my enthusiasm for Billiken basketball. The university established the point system to get themselves out of a very difficult situation when the AD staff totally screwed up a previous seat selection process. It promised fairness and a reward for loyalty that could not be bought. The new system rewards loyalty IF you give enough money. There are a number of previously prominent Billiken fans who are giving up their season tickets after many, many years. I understand the need to raise more funds. I don't think a heavy lug on seats for a largely unsuccessful team is the way to do it. A smaller required donation to start, which could have been increased as the team became more successful under a quality coach, may have yielded a better result over the long haul. I have always been quite impressed that SLU had such a strong following for a team that didn't achieve much success. I think we should try to keep all those fans, but am not surprised that season ticket reservations are down significantly. I hate to say it but I don't have confidence that the selection process will be done fairly.

While I am disappointed, how can you be upset with the kid for accepting an opportunity to play for Kentucky. I wish him well and hope he has a great career. Keep this in perspective, just a couple of weeks ago Harrelson was only a remote possibility for us. We already had a very nice recruiting class without him. We still do. He would have given us valuable experience at his position to relieve the pressure on the freshmen but I am thrilled with our class and really doubt that Rick is finished adding new players for next year. It is difficult for us die-hards to be objective about Josh's decision but it is not hard to understand.

Who has committed but hasn't signed?

My contribution is on its way. Thanks for what you do. Ken

Congratulations Steve. No doubt a lot of hard work to be in a position to select from among the very top schools. I appreciate what you do for this board, which is very important to many of us. Also that you have remained a loyal Billiken fan despite other loyalties. You are a good man and you make us proud.

Thanks Nate. You do a great job of providing early and accurate information on you site. It is well worth the small cost. I also appreciate your thoughtful contributions here on Billikens.com.

Not all rumors are true. I haven't seen anything credible to support this one. I think he is staying. Maybe I am wrong.

Just shocking. What is this world coming to? I barely remember my Junior year and the delta sig parties.

Yes he did. He operated serveral restaurants in the area after Rossinos. His wife Rose, and possibly their children, ran them after his death. I am not sure if it is still there but they did operate Del Pietros on Hampton Ave.

Are you thinking of Mike DelPietro?