Box and Won

That's what I've been saying all along - make the place smaller. We may draw 15,000+ in the good years, but even with that many fans in the house, was the atmosphere really that great? With the exception of some of the bigger games, I would say no. I would rather a smaller facility with the right fans (the fans who really care about the team) in attendance. We're a college basketball program - it's not our responsibility to provide enough seats so that everyone in the St. Louis area can get tickets whenever they want. Screw the bandwagon folks. We'll never get an NCAA event at our new arena, I just don't understand that thinking. If we were to build the arena with around 8,000 seats, I would guess that it could be designed so that it has no upper deck, and that has got to be a major cost saving.

That is a great idea!

The band has definitely kicked (butt) this year, as we've come to expect. I hate to ask more of the band than it already gives, but maybe a way of generating more support would be to ask each student band member to bring a non-band friend or two to the next home game.

I know! Although we non-students need to do our part as well. I try to wear my royal blue polo shirt whenever possible.

You are dead on with that post. Pricey apparel is fine for those of us who are out of school, but students, the people who are MOST likely to wear SLU t-shirts, hats, etc. get priced out. College students go ape sh!t over the crappy t-shirts that credit card companies give out at their little booths on campus - why not give away SLU Basketball t-shirts at the start of the season to help get people excited. Also, the SLU gear that the bookstore sells really isn't all that good, but has been getting better. There still is too much navy blue and not enough ROYAL blue. I visited Xavier's bookstore last year, and just about everything there was stylish and was consistent in color, branding, etc. I notice on Soderberg's show on Charter that he wears great SLU gear, which I'm sure was provided by Nike (or whoever our shoe deal is with) - why can't we buy the same stuff that he wears??

Why wouldn't we just practice on the same court that we'll be playing on? Having a modern weight room in the new arena is huge, so I'm glad that it is part of the plans.

Man, that's unfortunate. We may have to develop some non-verbals - signs, props, etc. - if we keep getting these good crowds. I've always been a big fan of the giant glasses that one particular fan holds up after bad calls.

- Didn't it seem like there was more than 8,500 people in attendance? I can't remember the last time there were so many people sitting in the end of the arena opposite the band. Did Bonwich bring his entire family or something? - I liked the new PA guy. He might have been a little slow in calling fouls, but hey, it was his first game. He had great energy and got the fans pumped up several times. We could have used him at last year's DePaul game. Bring him back, spare us from Guy. - Great energy from the Blue Crew, and it looked like they had a good turnout. Unfortunately, they seemed to be the only students in attendance. I thought a Saturday night game would have attracted a greater number of students. - I hope we see a return of the Chicken Man. - I'm considering building a giant set of spinning hands that I can hold up for every travelling call that the refs miss. I'm sick of making the motion myself and think that the mechanical hands would save me a lot of energy. - I liked the bobblehead dance, but then again, I was also pretty drunk when it came on (nothing like drinking free beer in a party box!) - The last three home games have been an absolute blast, even though we've lost all three. Who knew a 6-16 team could be so exciting?

Hey, if they don't call it on Dave Laito, they can't call it on our coaches!

AF, Do you know how the 27% by '07 project is coming along? I think that's a huge project as our percentage of donating alumni affects our standing in the U.S. News rankings.

I thought hearing Ian sing "Let's Get It Started" during halftime of the Marquette game was pretty damn funny as well.

I just checked the postcard that the SLU ticket office sent me a few weeks back, and it has the start time listed as 7:30.

But the old billiken is a more accurate representation of what a billiken really is. Billikens don't wear turtleneck sweaters and bell-bottoms, for pete's sake!

slubillikens.com says 7:30. Hmmm...

Yep, 7:30. And don't forget, the IUPFW game is also Suck-eue Barentine bobblehead night!!

I wish they'd go back to that old logo - it's "tougher" looking, if that makes any sense.

Clarke - if we ever see him again.

That was a weird play by Brown - it struck me like he couldn't decide whether to dunk or lay it in since the defender was all over him. Had he committed one way or the other, I think he would have scored. There's no doubt in my mind that if he really wanted to dunk it, he could have easily done it - he's got hops.

Another thing that stood out to me in last night's game was our passing. Besides Ian's tip pass, Clarke and Polk made some great passes. It was great to see DC step up last night - when USF looked like they were going to cut into our lead and Dennis hit a 3-pointer, DC hit a 3 of his own to answer. I can't remember the last time that's happened for us. Danny Brown seems to be regressing somewhat, missing easy shots, making mistakes and committing turnovers - I hope he's able to pull out of his funk soon.

I may have been wrong about when he was at SLU, but I do know that he went to Ritenour.

Bring us a winner - we need this one!

I noticed Buzz Peterson on the list - he was one of the coaches we considered when we hired Romar.

I'm pretty sure that Bickel was still around during my freshman year - 93-94.

St. Mary's is LaSallian.

The weird thing is, I can't remember a time when I was so encouraged after a loss. The kids really played hard out there, and I liked what I saw. I was a little worried about Luke's release though. It looked really slow to me. Still, I thought he played a very good game and hope that we see more of him in the future. Polk really got the crowd charged up. He appears to be emerging as a fan favorite. There was great energy from the team, and the fans responded. Even though we lost, it might have been the most fun I've had at a game all year. Good job by the Blue Crew as well, especially considering that the game was being played the day after Mardi Gras. I was nursing a bad hangover, so I'm sure the students were probably feeling even worse than I was.