Bay Area Billiken

I just checked out this Chris Wright of Dayton- 6'8" 214 lb. freshman. Wright had 22 points and 11 rebounds in Dayton's opening 78-74 home court win over East Tennessee State. So yes, it looks like Wright will be a force.

It is probably way too early for the RPI to have much use, but hey, SLU is at #24 this morning per kenpom.com. The Houston Baptist win did not count in the RPI. Of course, Air Force is tied with Iowa state for #1, so I don't know how much stock to put in this, if any. The A-10, despite an 11-6 record for RPI purposes, is only #22 in Conference RPI, which is a bit of an early concern. The Southern Conference, despite a 2-6 record, is #1 in RPI. Obviously, significant changes in these numbers are forthcoming. SLU's next opponent, Detroit, beat another SLU opponent, Kent State, 61-60 at Detroit.

I share some of these concerns re the bigs, the 4 and 5 positions. I think Eberhardt will prove to be ok at the 4 in the A-10. The biggest question mark is the 5, the Center position. This being said, I disagree that SLU is about to have a losing season. I think SLU will have a winning season and be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. SLU is strong at guard, and Tommie Liddell will eventually get his game going. Kevin Lisch is obviously a fine ballplayer, as is Luke Meyer. And Paul Eckerle looks to be a keeper coming off the bench, small in stature, but a fine shooter. I may be in the minority, but I still think Liddell is more valuable playing the wing as a slashing 2 or 3, as opposed to the point guard. The A-10 is a guard's league. I know that Fordham has a big horse at Center in 6'8" Bryant Dunston and saw him before a practice recently. He will be a load with which to deal. Xavier has some people. But as far as I know, only Dunston would be anything like what Pitt had yesterday. I'm pretty sure that Pitt will prove to be the best team SLU plays this season. And SLU was right in that game with Pitt yesterday for 2/3 of that game on Pitt's home floor, where Pitt virtually never loses.

SLU gave up 8 offensive rebounds in the first half. After I put away the Kool-Aid, I had concern at the bigs. SLU cannot afford to lose this game. Hopefully, the second half will be better.

Clearly, the Kentucky loss is all Tubby Smith's fault (LOL, even though the new coach took full blame). My, oh my, how have the mighty fallen. What was on the post-game spread at Wildcat Lodge? Was Ashley Judd in the house? Gardner-Webb used to be an NAIA school.

This household would also buy some copies. Frankly, I've looked for them (that evidently don't exist) in the past. Would it be feasible to record at Powell Hall? As for the songs, I always liked the way the Band serenaded DePaul with "Sweet Home Chicago," as the Blue Demons left the court. The Band received publicity for greeting Rick Pitino's Louisville teams with the Kentucky fight song. And, of course, the Band was in the rarest of rare form for that first Mizzou game at The Dome. The Band sung "Hey Baby," as follows: "Hey, hey Tigers. I want to know, can I fly first class?"

Yes, some of those Rich Grawer coached teams deserved to go to the NCAA. One team was 27-10 and was 24-9 on Selection Sunday. I think that team's RPI was 47, and it was unjustly snubbed. Another team was 25-10. But SLU was in the MCC (now Horizon League) then, could never seem to get past Xavier, and the MCC was perceived then as a one bid league. That leads to the Craig Upchurch fiasco and how many NCAA bids that cost SLU. Xavier always had 2 big men; SLU had the great Anthony Bonner, but could have had Upchurch to go with Bonner. Two of those Grawer teams were NIT runner-ups. I loved going to games at old Kiel Auditorium. IMO, it was a great setting for college basketball, especially in the lower deck. The upper deck still had the old wooden seats. I still remember my first game there sitting on the ramp coming down from the stage with the SLU students. The Band played Three Blind Mice to serenade the refs after bad calls. SLU also had some very good teams under Coach Bob Polk in the early 1970's. But at that time, the NCAA did not have nearly as many bids. There was no Field of 64. One SLU team lost a famous MVC playoff game against Louisville that was played at Roberston Fieldhouse in Peoria.

I also agree that Coach Majerus would be best served by keeping these types of quotes out of the press.

Tommie Liddell is the star, the best and most talented player on the SLU team. I've shown a fellow basketball fan the YouTube of Liddell's slam last year. That was flat out awesome. Tommie has NBA caliber ability. We are darn lucky to have him wearing the Blue and White. Larry Hughes had that natural talent too. Those two, Hughes and Liddell, are the most talented Billikens in my three plus decades following the team. I am concerned about this situation and hope it works out for all involved. I sincerely hope that Coach Majerus knows what he is doing. This is an approach that I would not have taken. But I have not won over 400 games coaching college hoops either. So far, it seems like Tommie Liddell has taken the high road, and here's hoping that continues.

Yes, 7 years are 7 too many. But what about the drought from 1957 to 1994? When I told the late Father Barry McGannon at an alumni function out here that I was present for SLU's NCAA win over Minnesota in 1995, he asked me if I realized that I had witnessed SLU's first NCAA Tournament win in 43 years. 1952 was 8 years before my birth, but being a double SLU alumnus, one of the principal restorers of the Billiken mascot, and a big Billiken fan, I was fully aware of that time period. Hopefully, the current 7 year drought is about to end under the tutelage of Coach Rick Majerus.

We (myself and several fellow alumni from the Old Cellblock 6 Gries) were there. SLU lost a 48-45 squeaker largely because SLU was something like 9-22 at the free throw line. There was freezing rain in Cleveland, and we were out of there the next day asap. After seeing SLU first round NCAA wins in the previous two SLU NCAA appearances, this one was a bitter pill to swallow.

Absolutely. That's what I witnessed Saturday at Fordham, and what moved me to start this thread. Right there in the Bronx were old alumni, Jesuits, students, cheerleaders, and the Band. We had a great time Saturday. We got to see 2 Jesuit schools battling for the Patriot League championship and automatic playoff bid on a nippy, football weather afternoon, with the wind blowing the colorful fall leaves and the smoke from the bar-b-que in the air. I couldn't help but think why can't we have this at St. Louis U.?

Club football might be a place to start, not end, but why shy away from the Patriot League model? Note, I say the Patriot League, not the Ivy League model. SLU is not Yale or Harvard. But SLU is a Jesuit school like Fordham, except with a much bigger endowment, nearly double. As for hockey, that would be great too, although I would favor college football over college hockey. I would like hockey too. SLU's last varsity hockey season was played in my Freshman year at SLU. SLU had some very good hockey players. Chris Valentine was a fellow freshman at SLU who went on to play in the NHL. But I think college football would really round out the college experience at SLU. I missed having it when I was at SLU. That's the one thing I really missed.

Are Falker and Shaw that good they can carry them to a 7 seed? Answer: No. SIU is overrated, as is the MVC, and both will regress this year. SIU may get an NCAA bid by virtue of doing something in a conference that will be weaker. There is no way that SIU can replace Tatum, who ran the show and was their #1 guy. I'm looking for a SLU "upset" that really won't be an upset when SIU comes to STL.

In the late '70's, Ernie Hays played the organ at SLU basketball and hockey games at the old Checkerdome (Arena) on Oakland Avenue. In 1979, Ernie cranked up the organ to play "When the Saints Go Marching In" in drowning out the Marquette band.

Absolutely fantastic news comes from SLU. I hope this gets the positive publicity nationally that it deserves.

IMO, the biggest key of all to the upcoming season is that SLU must protect the home court and win at home. If SLU can do that, the NCAA gravy comes from winning a handfull of road games. There are some tough, but winnable road games on SLU's schedule. SLU has always had problems in Springfield, MO, and with the right side of my brain, I have that one down as an L. I hope I am wrong there, believe me. It would be great if SLU under Rick Majerus could grab control of that series once and for all. I have SLU splitting the road games at Charlotte (W) and Duquesne (L). Both could be SLU wins. And who is to say that SLU cannot win at Dayton and at GW, where I have SLU going down? I have the road game at St. Joe's down as an L too, but SLU won there last year, and I see no reason why SLU cannot win there again. It's just that it is so hard to win on the road. And please, no more devastating upsets like that fatal first week of conference play last year on the road against the Bonnies and at home to Duquesne. My crystal ball does not see something like that happening under Coach Majerus. Those were just RPI killers right out of the shoot. Is there some type of dark cloud hovering over STL and raining down injuries on the STL teams? Good grief, first the Cardinals fought injuries all year. Then the Rams have been completely destroyed by the injury bug. And the Billikens keep having their share of injuries too. SLU, wih such little depth in terms of numbers alone, can ill afford more injuries. Injuries hurt last year big time. I hope for once that SLU can get through a season without more of these injuries rearing their ugly heads. It is hard enough as is to win on the road in college basketball, much less when your best players are not in the lineup.

24-11 overall; 21-9 regular season, 10-4 nonconference, including big home court win over SIU; 11-5 A-10, including big home court win over Xavier; 2-1 A-10 Tournament; Majerus Magic puts SLU on the right side of the NCAA Tournament Bubble on Selection Sunday, but we have to sweat it out. Win 1st round, lose 2nd round of NCAA Tournament. Let us all hope (and dream) for this good of a season. My only real concerns are at the Center position and the depth, but both are significant concerns. As usual, I have high hopes for SLU. I'm looking forward to seeing SLU in person against IUPUI on 12/29.

Go Spiders! It's never too early to pick up some RPI points for the A-10.

Thus, you could have been a Culver-Stockton Wildcat, possibly playing the Quincy University Hawks for the Old Mississippi Bucket.

St. Mary's tried to survive after its arch-rival, Santa Clara, dropped football. I think the real problem for St. Mary's was that so many California schools and Western schools dropped football, one right after another. That led to travel cost problems. In addition to neighboring Santa Clara, a Jesuit school, Cal State schools like Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton dropped football. Long Beach State turned out some fine players like the Big Red's Terry Metcalf. And Pacific in Stockton also dropped football, despite having a 30,000 seat football stadium. It is truly a shame. St. Mary's is a LaSallian Christian Brothers school. One of the top high school football teams in the country is DeLaSalle in Concord, a Christian Brothers school, which is in the same county (Contra Costa) as St. Mary's. There are a number of good football players that have come from DeLaSalle that are now at local junior colleges because there is a dearth of the just below D-1 programs in California. I am truly amazed that no DeLaSalle Spartan is on the Cal Bears roster. That is just ridiculous. The dropping of football at SMC and Santa Clara is a sore spot, especially with Santa Clara alumni. I have heard that at virtually every Santa Clara Board meeting, someone brings up bringing back football. As it stands, San Diego (USD) still has a football team, but has to travel far and wide to play games. Stqnford's new coach, Jim Harbaugh, came from USD.

I've also heard from an old hometown (Quincy, IL) source, that smaller schools, Quincy and Culver-Stockton, across the River in Canton, MO, are actually using football as a recruiting carrot to attract students, who play on the football team. Now SLU has no problem attracting students, but Quincy is an example of football not being seen as a cash drainer. There are creative ways to make SLU Football work. I am intrigued by this Patriot League buy out the student loans concept. If SLU were to have a football team, we would want it to be a good one. And that means providing some type of financial aid to the core players.

Thanks. Now, who pays for buying out the student loans? Is that done by the university, private donors, some combination of the two, etc.? Can private donors directly buy out the student loans, or do they make contributions to the university that are used to buy out the loans? Either way, it is an interesting concept. Fordham had a lot of players dressed out on Saturday, a lot more than visiting Holy Cross. Re Fordham, in addition to losing at home to Dayton, Fordham also lost at home to Albany from the Northeast Conference. But Fordham beat a fully funded FCS school in Rhode Island on the road. Go figure. If Fordham beats Bucknell this Saturday, Fordham will finish the regular season undefeated in Patriot League play and 9-2 overall. Fordham and Holy Cross seem to be ahead of Georgetown in football.

Yes. See www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_League I'm pretty sure that Holy Cross now gives athletic scholarships in basketball. At one time, HC didn't, but I'm pretty sure that has changed. The mystery is these football teams and how they are funded. It was a big deal at Fordham when Fordham beat fully funded Rhode Island in this season's football opener, and on the road no less.

I was told this summer by a Jesuit priest from another Jesuit school that the A-10 will not be big enough for SLU with Rick Majerus at the helm. He cited the A-10's lack of television revenue and SLU's commitment to its basketball program, as evidenced by the Majerus hire, his salary, and the new arena. I don't know where SLU could go. The Jesuit priest thought SLU would eventually be looking at the Big East. But the Big East already has 16 teams. He also thought the Vatican/Papal Conference will never happen. I guess the point here is that what is happening at SLU has not gone unnoticed. SLU is going to be on the map. SLU is going to be a player. So when we get on that roll, why not continue the roll further, by adding Billiken Football? I can continue to dream, can't I? Remember, like Billiken Roy and Taj, I am an Ekker survivor. What has already happened is just amazing. It is only going to get better.