huzzah

Thicks I agree w/ you. This was a good game. I thought Brad coached a great game, maybe one of his best. This is a value judgment, so who knows for sure. We pulled in a very good crowd and it shows the potential to come back attendance wise is there. We need a go to guy, but Brad appears to be an honest recruiter and on that basis it takes time to fill in of the pieces. He has done a remarkable job recruiting. Remember his first year he came in late and had to pick from what had been picked over. We were beat by a candidate for player of the year. His shots in the second half were spectacular. I thought we defended well. I also must add that IV, on our side, made a tremendous effort in the second half to keep us in the game. IV brought us back to within striking distance. This was the best game I have seen the Bills play in quite a while.

There has been some questioning of our road record. In looking at yesterday's scores, 93 games were played. The home team won 74 of those games for an 80% win advantage. Our road record is 1 out of 5, so it appears we are right on target. One of the road wins yesterday was Memphis @ Mississippi. Score 72 - 49. Our home record is @ 100%, but the Gonzaga game may get us back to the average 80%. On another note, Tom Timmerman has a nice article on the Bill's game yesterday, but there was one important statistic he left out. In the second half both teams shot 64% We were saved by our rebounding edge. While UB did not make negative comments on the defensive effort, it appears he will have to continue to work on this.

Here is the address for an article on Romar and Washington, ranked #11. Take note of the comments on the schedule. Article @http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=AgwKEbkRV28Vo0GVl4yMCCLevbYF?slug=ap-t25-washingtonrises&prov=ap&type=lgns This address does not seem to work, but what Romar did was schedule soft with all but one game at home. The "away" game was at a neutral site. The lone challenge game scheduled was w/ Gonzaga at home. Washinton is 8-0. Brad might want to look in to scheduling. This last stretch, travel combines with the number of games and the games occuring right at finals time seems tough. Brad might want to pull up some of Spoon's old schedules.

Where is Clayton Farmer's Market and what are the hours for the omlet?

go to: www.chartertv.com/sluhoops.htm for the complete list of televised games by charter.

Yes you are correct. I did not mean it was authored by the Post, but that if you went to the Post site you could find a summary. I only posted the Hawaii site, not the Post site, for that reason. Sorry. I thought a more telling gaff in the pursuit of excelence occurred in the business section. It features an article on billboards and the come back of neon. Handy tid bits, but....

If you look @ the box scores we shot almost 43% from 3 pt and over 41% from the field. Defense left us down and I attribute this to travel fatigue, not coaching, not to player effort, not to player abilities or the lack of. We started the game well, but faded out on defense. Defense takes the most energy and this is where travel fatigue hit. It appears we have a center and we will see about the rest of things when we start playing games back here. I hope the players had a good time. They earned it. The Post now has a game summary on line.

game summary @ http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbc.../511270382/1032

box score and game summary ://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051127/SPORTS0204/511270382/1032

This is a guess, but I think Brad will not go w/ a 4 guard line-up because Hawaii will then play zone, as they did against UNLV, to block penetration by quicker guards. In the 2nd half of the UNLV game Hawaii went to a 2-3zone to stop penetration by the quicker UNLV guards. This defense by Hawaii will force us into a perimeter game, which we have not displayed an aptitude for yet. Our lack of 3 pt shooting forces Brad to go w/ the bigger lineup. On another subject, several Michigan State players cramped up in the Hawaii game. Some blame heat and humidity, but if you look at the paper, temperatures at nite are in the low 70's, so the problem is probably dehydration incurred during the 9-10 hr plane ride. Hopefully Brad will have the team drink plenty of water on the flight. Then we only have to contend w/ jet lag and travel stress. Time difference is 4 hrs. Right or wrong, I discount the vacation distraction.

I think this game will be a loss for SLU. I travel and play tennis in Hawaii at a 3.5 level. On arriving I am beaten by 2.0 to 3.0 players. After 1 week I become competitive at my level. I attribute my lower competitiveness to jet lag and the stress of travel. Its the combination of the two that do me in. I am guessing we scheduled a 1 and 1 because we do not play a tournament this year. Hawaii's season will be dependent on road record not home record. You are off to a slow start, but good luck. I love the schools Lyon Park and you made a remarkable recovery from the flood that struck your school. Mahalo

The bb games are broadcast via radio on KKEA in "Paradise". It appears to me they are on stream and free. Go to Radio Locator and proceed. I think we may be going to Hawaii for recruiting purposes, since we are not in a pre-season tournament. Hawaii is playing UNLV and Lon Krueger Tues @ UNLV. Hawaii, is dominated by jucos(8) and trsfrs(2). The week end edition of the Wall Street Journal ( Pursuits ) has an article on the new rules of recruiting. Schools will be graded on graduation rates. As a consequence juco recruiting is on the wane because they are high risk accademically. Louisville and Oklahoma have announced a change away from jucos. Falling graduation rates = loss of scholarships. Juco was the alternative for students w/ low grades and scores. Now if grades is a problem, prep school is the option used. Prep school can also be used to increase scores and not use up 2 yrs eligibility. Anyway the Warriors seem to be bucking this new trend. Jackson Wheeler(remember him) is doing much of the juco recruiting. The WSJ site is subscription. We have played the Warriors previously in Hawaii and the results were not good, the refs even worse.

An article similar to this was also in the Riverfront Times last week. With the St. Louis alum base what the bb team does is relevant. It will be even of more interest this year because more of the team talent is from this area.

In defense of the Post, they were just crediting the Biz Journal for breaking the story, but they had new information also. Naming rights to the arena is being pursued. Therefore, the Post, as I see it, credited another paper for breaking the story, then added new information. This appears to be honest journalism.

At this point I don't see a need to rush into a new arena, not withstanding BM's day counting. The proposed site is not readily accesible from Hwy 64. The Grand Ave exit, from 64, is a hairpin turn. It clogs up w/ traffic rapidly for Fox and symphony events and they do not have the attendance numbers the SLU Arena has the potential for. The other pertinent 64 exit is Market St., which occurs just prior to the Grand exit. It is a curvy, dark, dank, dismal, and depressing affair. You enter the exit and would then left turn off of Market onto Compton. These two exits. Grand and Market, seem legitimate obstacles. Hwy 64 is to improve these exits, but that seems still a couple of years off. Hopefully a Compton exit will be built and I seem to recall a PD article indicating this. Given the highway situation I think SLU can take its time. Savvis is reportedly for sale. Therefore, the situation there may improve, but my guess is it will not get worse. Given the highway situation, the Savvis dynamics, and the changes occuring in the arena neighborhood, I am satisfied with the pace of events regarding construction. The area adjacent to the proposed site continues to improve and the longer SLU waits the more desirable the arena location becomes as a place we want to commute to.

Following is what I read on the A-10 earlier this month as I recall. The A-10 was concerned because only one team made the NCAA tournament, but of even more concern, was that Dayton and Xavier did not make the NIT not withstanding their long histories with the NIT. There was to be a conference meeting in April. Two main questions were to be asked. First, was the league commisioner aggressive and active enough in league presentation, including media coverage. Second, the lower tier of programs were going to be questioned regarding commitment to Div 1 bb. It was felt these programs were dragging down the conference and these programs may not have plans for improvement. Given this scenario, Charlotte and SLU appear to be very positive additions for the A-10.

Charter is a good choice. You can get Charter cable, including music, DSL, and Vonage, a separate transaction using the cable,and gives you unlimited long distance calling in the US + cheap overseas rates for less than $80. You also get to watch the Bills. All for less than $80. Quite complaining and hop on board.

Some comments about the A=10 @ http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylc=X3...v=tsn&type=lgns

In the first game Illinois played they looked sluggish and not all that impressive. Hopefully tonight they will crank it up. Iowa looked slow and may have been a poor selection. Vitalle went off on UAB being included, but they seem to have acquitted themselves. Drunken Cinci fans almost get in a fight w/ Iowa fans. Security has to settle everyone down. A challenge for the NCAA is officiating. There seens to be a bias against the lower seed, but they can still win. From watching TV the Rajun Cajuns look real. Downtown Naptown is booming. The Final Four should be a major business boost for Downtown St. Lou. I paid $7 for a Soda and pretzel @ the game. Not too bad. Farleigh Dickinson and Texas do not travel. I saw 1 FD shirt and about 20 Texas shirts. Texas had the best looking and best performing cheerleaders, Iowa the worse cheerleaders, the worse band. Ky, Cinci, and Illinois are out strong with the Illini dominating. Ky & Cinci fans both seem obnoxious. They must both be drinking Ohio River water. Sight lines at the RCA Dome seem better than at Jones Dome. However, they are slated to tear down the RCA Dome, replacing it with a stadium w/ a retractable roof. The Colts threatened to leave if this was not done. Dungey(sp), the defensive genius in Tampa is regarded as offensive minded here. Go figure. Downtown Naptown looks cleaner, more prosperous, safer, more active, and more desirable than our downtown. They have about 1.6 million here, but seem even more spread out than we are w/ 2.6 million. Tickets are readily available on the street. Cincy vs Ky: I am wearing my hardhat and raincoat(just in case beer starts flying). Bucknell, Vermont, Wisc-Milw., there go my brackets. There go my picks. Nevada has a chance for an upset tonight. If they win I toss my selection sheet in the can and wait until next year. Its maddening - its March.

I think a critic should be able to show to his editor that he is objective, that he has no prior commitment of friendship, or enmity for the subject he is commenting on. In the world of reviewing this is proper, basic, and necessary. With Bernie the objectivity does not appear to be present. The sports editor should meet with Bernie and invigorate the need for objectivity as opposed to using the column to display, in this case, enmity. The SID can meet w/ Bernie, but should not become servile to this type of personality.

I think we have to step back a little bit. First, earlier in the year the Post failed to do a game day article and also ceased sending Stu to road games. I posted articles critical of the paper, but since then the Post has done game day articles, without fail, and they have sent Stu out to our road games. We should quit complaining. I think the Post's sports section is good, compared to other papers I read when I am on the road. I also criticized the paper for stopping the week-end WSJ, but I see the WSJ is going to print a Sat edition beginning in the fall, so you can understand the Post's position. I thought the Post covered SLU better w/ Stu then they did Mizzou w/ Bill Coats. For an area approx 20 in size, and according to the last data, losing population, which is suspected of being of the upper income class, the Post is doing a good job. Bernies journalism was cancelled out today by the excellent Eric Mink article in the editorial section. In addition Stu covered the Bills and Reggie's return quite well today.

The complete box score for this game is available @ Yahoo, NCAA, Feb 2. It is not printed in the Post. I did not see the game. IO played 15 min, had 2 TO's and was 0-1. Polk played 19 min had 4 TO's and 0 stl's. Brown, listed by AP as our star of game, played 31 min, had 3TO's, 3 stls, 3-8 shooting, 4 reb, and 3 assts. FT % was 53 for the team. OffReb = 3. The Houston Paper describes out play as sloppy. Houston got 22 pts from our TO's according to the AP. Notwithstanding other factors, our FT shooting and TO's had a lot to do w/ the lop sided score. Coverage of the game by the Post is abysmal. They are cutting expenses so they can pay top management a bonus of 14 million to consumate a sale. To earn this money management hired Goldman Sach's to auction off the commpany. To boost payout to the Pulitzers the dividend was raised. This helped boost per share price. The bonus to management may be a form of severance pay to them. However, we get stuck with inferior coverage of the Bills, a cost cutting endeavor pursued in light of the above payouts. Back to the Bills, this year is tough and next year will be more of the same because our best players will be FR and SO. Patience is required because the coach inheirited a tough situation. Second guessing him on strategy, given palyers w/ limited ability is not fuitfull. Brad should be retained.

Following the Billikens is like following an old lady.....there are pauses.

Roy, I agree w/ you and will e-mail today. I am including additional info which I obtained from the Wall Street Journal today. First the sale of the Post is not a given at this point, but is considered probable because of the following: If a transaction was consummated top executives(7) will be eligible to split a bonus pool of $4,000,000. Members of lower management will be eligible for a similar program valued at up to $6.2 million. For the full fiscal year net climbed to 44.1 million. In addition this company has raised the dividend. However, they cannot allow the salaried beat reporter to do a game day story because they are cutting back on expenses. Comparing the expense of the game day story to the over all corporate financial picture makess the decision ludicrous. The Post cannot send the beat reporter to the game in Mississippi because of a scale back. Again, the cost of the trip compared to the over-all corporate picture makes you wonder. There is local interest in the Bills. Our last game attracted over 8.300. Lets see how the East Carolina game is handled. In the mean time I urge everyone to send an e-mail. Covering the local team makes the Post stronger and is consistent with their stated corporate strategy of emphasising local sports to make the paper an attractive alternative to the inter net.

Thank you for your comments. I consulted Webster and I believe I am correct. Therefore, I stand by my prior comments. Regarding the trip, I think it can be made for $600. I just flew to Lafayette LA for $185 RT. Southwest flies to NO, as do other airlines, so I think the trip can be made for $200. Throw in a hotel, which I assume would be in NO, and that is an additional $135-150. It will include breakfast, so Stu has plenty of wiggle room prior to reaching $600. In terms of overall expenditures made by the Post, this is a practical trip. If the Post can raise their dividend, they can afford this trip. The point of my prior post was that the trip was feasible. Whether the trip is free on not may be relevant in terms of journalistic ethics, but this is not germane to the conversation. My point is Stu should have went on the trip and the Post can afford the trip. The WSJ ran an article today and it sounds like a sale is in the works, but not necessarily to Gannet. It seems like the Pulitzers wish to retain some form of ownership. Since this is a Billiken Board, not a PD board, I will refrain from further comments. Its only ethical.