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Did anyone see Bernie's column today (if not see below for his comment)? Again he deicded to take a cheap shot at the Billikens. It is obvious that he doesn't like the Bills or want to see them be successful. Hopefully sooner or later he will give up writing about them as he hasn't got a clue and stick to what he knows better (Rams, Cards, etc) >What's a Billiken?: That's the nickname, and the mascot, for the St. Louis University sports teams. What it represents is open to interpretation, but recent studies suggest that the Billiken symbolizes hopelessly mediocre college basketball.

My Final 4 was: Illinois Wake Forest North Carolina Syracuse

That would be interesing. Roy Williams, both at KU and I guess also at UNC, always tries to let his players play a game close to home. Let's hope the Bills can pull one out vs UNC like they did against Roy Williams and Kansas the last time he visited Savvis back in 1998, I think it was.

What year did you graduate from North. I graduated from there in 1996.

OK we can obviously tell billiken_roy (who I agree with more often than not) is in bed with Fr. Biondi by defending him whenever possible. There is no doubt in my mind that Biondi doesn't care a bit about SLU athletics and has no interest in them succeeding. Let me make it clear, overall what Biondi has done from an academic standpoint and a campus standpoint since his arrival in 1987 is great and it has definitely made SLU a better place to attend school. Yes there are a few too many naked statues, etc but it is much better than what the campus was in the 80s and before. But he has not made Billiken athletics succeeding anywhere on his radar since stepping foot on campus. Also Tee you are right, West Pine should have been torn down years ago and those is the facilities that our athletes use. Serious upgrade needed. Also Biondi was extremely against the idea of a new arena until many others recognized what it would do 1) for our campus 2) for student morale and hopefully some students will actually attend games on a regular basis and 3) for our programs. Having such a venue would greatly help recruiting and would give SLU a true home court advantage which is something we definitely have not had since playing at Savvis Center. I agree with most of what Tee wrote but also even though overall I am a big Bernie fan, his ideas on SLU basketball are complete hogwash. When is the last time you have seen him at a game, almost never happens but then again he thinks he can tell us how our program needs to be run. The following comment from his column proves to me that he truly does not like SLU basketball and it will take a lot for him to write something positive about program. In his Press Box on stltoday.com about 2 weeks back he called SLU's program an embarrassment. I say Bernie should stick to talking what he actually knows about. He also started out by saying "It is with some reluctance that I raise the topic of St. Louis University's men's basketball team in today's column." It was with reluctance that I read it after seeing that start. Bernies column: There's little interest in SLU basketball. The program is, at this time, largely irrelevant. Attendance for home games dwindled, and the Billikens are dragging at No. 211 in the national RPI ratings - trailing such basketball powerhouses as Lipscomb, Hampton, Fairfield and Robert Morris. SLU has made only four NCAA Tournament appearances since the field expanded to 64 in 1985.

I completely agree with Roy that the student support is greatly lacking. I had season tickets each year during school a few rows from the court and the student section most nights was dead. Hopefully whenever we get an on-campus arena, the student support will greatly increase since they will just have to cross the street. Also after we join the A-10 there will be greater East Coast exposure to the school and thus a higher percentage of students will be coming from out of town and staying on campus so hopefully that will help the school spirit if more stay on campus.

I second the Louisville game as well (that was great). I also loved in 1998 the upset of Kansas at the Savvis Center.

Hey I am just trying to stay optimistic.

I agree that we should not have lost four games so far. I believe that whenever we move into the new on-campus arena in 2 years and have a true home court advantage, we would not have lost to teams such as Oral Roberts and Hawaii. I am remaining optimistic about the team this year and all true Billikens fans have to do the same. I agree with Roy that we should still finish above .500 this year.

Taj79 I saw the same piece on Comcast Sports Net. Excellent story. What area of DC do you live in? I am in Arlington and I am also a Wizards season ticket holder so I get to see Hughes quite often. I have suffered for 2 seasons now so it is good they have a solid team for once.

I will be curious to see who we develop a rivalry with once we go to the Big East. It'll be interesting to see if we keep the CUSA and become a rival of UNC-Charlotte or of we develop another one.

Has anyone who lives outside the St. Louis area, purchased the national college basketball plan on digital cable or directv? If so, how many Billiken games come on throughout the year? I am trying to decide whether to purchase the package for this year or not. Thanks in advance.

Both sounds excellent. I just wish I lived in St. Louis and could attend those. Worse yet when I am back in St. Louis over the holiday's there is not a game I could see. At least I will be able to see more when they start playing on the East Coast next season.

I completely agree. This program seems like it is definitely on the way up and as the program gets better it should start not worrying one bit about JUCO transfers.

Not a surprise that he became the coach. It will be interesting to see if he can keep them at their competitive level like Montgomery did.

Steve I echo your feelings. I live in Arlington, VA right outside Washington and I was hoping to see them more than just once in 3 years. I guess I will have to go up to Philly to see the Bills up there. At least they are finally coming to the East Coast!!

This confirms my opinion ever since I went to SLU starting in 1997 that Biondi doesn't care in teh least about SLU sports. He always has some kind of excuse. This announcement does not surprise me though however it is disappointing because I feel that for the Billikens to reach the next level (which they have a chance to do with their recent recruits) we need a better homecourt atmosphere and now that won't be until 2006.