kevinfootes

If the school was willing to allow WR the option to reapply, they should have also addressed his academic situation.

The fall semester had more than begun before the decision came down. If WR had academic problems in the summer, it should have been handled before the fall semester started or at least very early on. I'm wondering why there wasn't much talk about WR's acedemic issues last fall.

I guess I don't follow how that all works. I thought it was based on his grades at the end of the prior semester. I didn't realize you could become academically ineligible during a semester, unless there was some sort of incident. If WR was indeed going to be ineligible, all of our "what ifs" about this season didn't matter. Sure we'd be better if KM had been playing the full season, but I don't see this as a "big dance" lineup without both KM AND WR.

Again, wasn't he practicing with the team? I don't recall reading anything about Willie being ineligible, but maybe I missed something.

I thought he was practing with this team, was he not? Or is the story that he would have been inelgible after the first semester?

I think he'd be better off getting a degree as well, but many kids his age see dollar signs and can't resist the temptation. Besides, going to play professionally doesn't mean that he'd never get a degree. That part is up to him. I have no idea what the contracts in Europe are worth, and if he has anything to gain financially by playing an extra year here. I guess it could mean the difference between Italy and Bulgaria. I appreciate the fact that KM is hungry and wants to get out there. I just hope he uses his head and makes the decision that is better for him. He's the only one who can make that decision.

KM wouldn't be leaving "early", he'd be leaving on time. That's a big difference, IMO. Do you think KM has anything to gain financially by redshirting this season (beyond maybe getting a diploma)? I'm just trying to understand your position here.

roy, is that really the rule? It seems like there are football teams that play games before classes start every year. If that was the rule, then no freshmen could play in a football game before classes started.

I'm always hopeful, but this team is a long way off from postseason consideration. IMO, the first goal ought to be making a run at a .500 record.

I had the same questions during RM's first season, and it wasn't a 20 loss season. RM doesn't seem to adjust his style of play to the skill set of his roster. However, you could see that he was building something. If it were up to me, I'd make some adjustments. That said, you can't knock RM's history. Based on what we've seen so far, our best hope for this year is to somehow sneak into the A10 tourney. I'm as disappointed as anyone and hate to see us lose. However, I also see this as a one year deal. If we're struggling to win under RM's system next year, I'll be among the first to question his approach.

I question some of what RM does, but I'm willing to defer to his judgment for the time being. If we're struggling next year then RM will have a lot of questions to answer based on the level of talent and the experience of his roster.

At least it doesn't look like Biondi paid for these. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_32467cae-1f56-11e0-89fb-0017a4a78c22.html

Apologies in these situations are essentially worthless. If the league relly thinks the refs screwed up they ought to be be cut loose or at least suspended for a few games. Funny how the focus of all this has switched to Willie's academics. I don't doubt that he was on shakey ground, but he WAS eligible going into this season...correct? It seems to me that Willie was being punished for other things, as he obviously had much less involvement in the incident than Mitchell.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. This team doesn't have the experience or leadership YET. It is developing, and I do think this year is a blip. We'll be back to where we were (at least) next barring some unforeseen personnel moves. This reminds me of the year that Frericks and Bryant got hurt and or missed many games, except that team was in a much better league.

Unless there are some unforeseen personnel changes, I think you can take AC to the bank in 2012.

I agree that we are in danger of missing out on Atlantic City.

but is he from Australia or New Zealand?

We have a communications program that housed some players when I was at SLU.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2010-12-17-663265298_x.htm Sorry if this has already been posted, but Akron's soccer coach has signed an extension through 2020. Are we still operating under 1-year deals?

I thought maybe it was the 20th anniversary of Stewart punching John Duff at practice and then running out the building.

Last year KC had only 22 attempts from the FT line in 30+ games. To me, that's an indication that a guy isn't mixing it up very much. This year, KC already has 22 attempts in roughly half a season. That's better, but it's still 6th on the team and he leads the group in minutes played. Most of us are hoping that KC will become more aggressive.

roy, if we were winning games and scoring more points I'd be more inclined to agree with you. Last year RM himself complained about KC not shooting enough. He's on the floor this year because he has talent and experience. We're hoping he comes out of his comfort zone a little bit and takes off the training wheels. IMO, he's a good enough player that the shots will find there way into the basket. There are lots of things to improve on this team, as you mentioned.

Wait a minute!!! Last season when I made posts that KC got too many minutes without contributing enough scoring I was widely criticized. I was told by many that it was okay to give 30+ minutes to a guy who would only shoot the ball 3-4 or times per game, even though we were a low-scoring team and he was one of our best shooters. RM expressed the same frustration a few times. Today he played 34 minutes and took 4 shots.

I think you're predictions are a little presumptuous...especially the average crowd of 2500 for next year.

If Willie can't hack it then he doesn't belong in school. If he doesn't have the incentive he should go home and tweet. If he doesn't want to be treated like a 9 year old then he should start to behave like a 3rd year student at a pretty good school. RM himself claimed that Willie was the only one on the team who needed to be motivated by coaches. IMO, I don't think it would break RM's heart if Willie washed out. It's up to Willie to act like a man now. Let's hope he steps up.