Kahok

I have been in Memphis this week, they are televising their "Midnight Madness"

Did you happen to find an awning from my company's building while you were driving through Clearwater?

I think that a lot of talk shows have broached the subject of the players that did not go and the feelings seemed to be that the people felt like the players that could and should have gone let the American public down for not going. This may or may not be true, but I think their is some legitmacy to that feeling. The feeling that they are paying the salaries in one way or another and the players didn't feel the need to represent them. Those players that did go need to be commended and still might bring home the Gold. I was just pointing out that the article by Whitlock seemed to say it was because of the tats and comrolls that people didn't care if they won or lost didn't have a lot of validity.

This guy is way off base. I believe there are several factors that have made a lot of people feel this way. The fact the the very best snubbed the Olympics and we didn't field the best we could is a factor. The fact that most of these guys should still be playing college basketball. These guys have not honed their skills in college. The fact that every team is looking for the next Michael Jordan, someone that is a dribble drive player and a take over the game person. The teams seem to think there is one in each draft. The big reason however is the fact that people feel like by snubbing the olympic team, they themselves have been snubbed and by rooting for the team to lose they feel that the NBA will then step in and make the very best participate. Semper Fi

The coach is innocent. You are only guilty if you proposition a prostitute for sex. Everyone knows that oral sex is not really sex, so he has got to be innocent.

There is nothing wrong with a University offering a PE degree. My oldest son is a local high school football coach. Time wise he makes about $2.00 an hour and is at the whims of booster clubs to provide any bonus. The point is he does this because he likes working with kids and enjoys teaching. He is able to do this because he was able to get a PE degree. There are many kids including basketball players that because of their backgrounds in atletics want to get into the coaching profession. These kids will choose a school that provides them with that opportunity, so recruiting wise, yes it would help, but it is still an honorable profession and I will tell you if you are going to be a high school coach you will never get rich and the amount you earn will never equate to the hours you put in.

Memphis, because of the New FEDEX Forum and Beale Street. Within driving distance for both schools and their program will help boost our SOS and RPI.

Those are names out of the past.

You are right, coaches should use contacts to help the kids with their Pro dreams. Kids also realize that contacts as well as high profile schools will help them. That is one reason that a coach with pro experience (even if their pro records are not good) has a leg up in the recruiting battles, the kids know that he has contacts that will help them. If you have that pro coach, you can still recruit in a less then high profile school and be a success. But never be surprised when one of the kids you are recruiting decides to go with a coach like kruger, it's not personal it is for those contacts.

What you say might have some merit if each of those three have not been around for a long time. The schools that they attended might have gotten them the initial chance, but talent has kept them there.

I don't disagree we have had better coaches since he was let go. But look where the program was when he was hired. I never want to go back to where we were when he arrived. We now play a good schedule, we have a chance of winning almost every time we hit the floor. I will always believe that had not he began winning basketball games, we would be playing SIUE and Mckendree college. I believe that he had the greatest impact on this program of any of the coaches on the list.

I can't believe Rich Grawer is not a runaway. Think back a few years, the program was in the pits. We were in a conference that was basically a laughing stock. Ther first year we went to the NIT under Grawer we had the most wins in the country that year and still only made the NIT. The Uni's were really sad looking and we always looked like a second rate school. Grawer brought in the good local talent and at least made us respectable. We talk about playing Duke now, then we played the UMSL and SIUE and had problems with them. Grawer made it possible for SLU to get Spoon and Romar. Without the job that Grawer did we would not of had Spoon, Romar and would not of had Brad.

Don't forget Kevin Stallings. I believe he would be the next coach of Purdue.

Bill Laurie was a high school basketball coach at Christian Brothers High School in memphis when he married into the Walmart money.

There is an old saying,"What goes around Comes around". We can expect to here the Missouri fight song several times next year. I hope our fans love to hear it, because it is coming. I guess the fact that the band played the fight songs from their hated rivals didn't bother anyone but me. I can't stand the thought of having the Missouri fight song played while we are palying but that's just me.

I graduated in 61'. Try the wasabi on the side, it will spice everything up.

I have a branch in Clearwater and have spent a week a month for the past six months in your area. I wanted to tell you about a place called Backwaters. It has the best blackened grouper you will find. it is in a strip mall just before you cross the bridge on Clearwater Beach. You need to try it.

Marketing was also good during Grawer's tenure.

My last post, but I wanted to clarify. I am not dissing any of our recruits. I like what we got. I guess I am the only one who is tired of seeing a Brent, Morris, Stepanovich, thru a White, Woods, Mckinney, Lee, leave the area and help make other teams better. Am I the only one that wants to see young kids in this area wearing Bills tee shirts instead of Missouri and Illinois shirts. My original post said that we needed to have, 1. Bills games on local stations not Cable. 2. Need summer internships. 3. Could use degrees in Phy. Ed. and Sports management. No we will not get everyone, but by creating a desire to play for the Bills at an early age will help us recruit the best of area players. Yes I go to high school games, and yes I have season tickets to Bills game. yes I still have my Grawer power painters hat. I will leave your website to the best Bills fans and not the unknowledgable fans like myself.

I didn't mean to intrude on your private domain, it won't happen again.

I was not being critical of the recruits, read the entire post I was saying we need to find ways of keeping the best players here. I offered my opinion on how we might keep the best here. 3Star didn't read the entire post either, if he had he would have seen I wasn't critical of our recruits but of the ones that got away and a possible solution for keeping them. And keep your criticism to your self unless you can make suggestion on how we can keep the best from leaving.

You are right, we didn't need anybody on the inside. We had all of the scoring we needed from our inside people. And you are right we didn't need the scoring that Mckinney would have given us.

I always hesitate to post,but here goes. We are always optomistic about our team, but the fact is until we get the Woods, Whites, and Lees from the area we will always struggle. What would this team look like this year with Lee and Mckinney? We are putting a lot of pressure on Liddell but remember he is barely a top 100 player and that is only in some magazines. We say well the gurus are wrong alot of times, if that is the case the Dukes,Arizonas, of the world would never have a final four team. We think Brad is a good recruiter, looking at this team tell me who is good. We have local recruits coming in that's a start, but remember not many teams win with a point guard that is 5'7" or 5'8". And every team in the country has athletic wing players. We lost out on Price and I don't care what Mr. Roy says he was the best local player and Grimes is the second best. If we want to attract the best local players then we have to do one major thing. We have to televise every game to the local communities and I don't mean through cable, not everyone we want to recruit has the availability of cable. We need to televise on a local station that reaches all of the local communities. All kids want there friends a family to watch them perform. We need the local big businesses to step up and provide internships for the kids during summer. We have the Alumni to do this. We need to have a Phys. Ed. degree program or sports management degrees. Contrary to many here that believes that coaching is not a worth while endeavor, many of the athletes that are being recruited would like to make coaching or athletic management a career. Ok Mr. Roy tell how far off base I am.