JMM28

>I am pretty sure that you and Putz and Hardball and other >like you are in your 20s and probably drink a lot so your >brain cells have had serious damage. > Be sensitive to their feelings, jeez... >I think it is an incredible insult to SLU that you guys >claim to be graduates, if you did graduate. Your annointment >of yourselves as the all knowing and dictatorial leaders who >want to destroy the coach and the program is an insult to >every person who ever got a diploma. > Kinda like the pot calling the kettle black isn't this? >I try to live my life under the credo "do unto others". I >would just like to ask you the question--if you personally >or a close family member was in difficulty how would you >like to be treated? Maybe you have be so incredibly lucky in >life that everything has been perfect. Let me give you a >clue, it will not always be that way and when you are having >problems you will hope that someone is there for you and >that person has a more caring and supportive attitude than >what you are demonstrating in this situation This is why you're not a college basketball coach. This is why you aren't paid 6 figures. In a job as high profile as a midmajor division 1 program, the criticism is constant. Thats why 20-30 coaches lose their job each year. I just hope that these patriot fans signs won't get in the way of the old blue hairs that don't do anything except write a check. It is about time something about this program gets mean. We've got a nice guy coach, a nice guy center, a nice guy SG, and a bunch of pussyfooting fans. Brad hasn't done his job. Period. Bad recruiting, poor results. No NCAA. NITwhat? Who cares. After this year, who is playing center? Anyone? Anyone? Soderberg? Sodergberg? Does this scare anyone else that we have no recruits this year? And one of our recruits from this year is already on his way out... But we do have an extra scholarship just in case! State of the program. Mediocre.

Looks like it's time to start looking around. Unless Soderberg pulls a Jim Les at the end of this year, he gone. This team has to win the conference tourney to get in the NCAA. For sure. There aren't enough decent teams in teh conference to justify an at large bid now. Sometimes nice guys finish last. I don't really care about the class of 2008. Bring in a "name" type coach and youll get those types anyways.

Anytime that you shoot 20something percent, score 36 points, and get beat by 30+ you should be very alarmed. Embarassing. Time for Brad to whip these boys into shape.

> I'm still proud of Carmelo. He >really showed the world something. He has to be the 1st >player to make 3rd team all-nba and not make the all-star >game the same season. How can you be a top 15 guy in the >league and not make the all-star team. Are you proud of his videotape with known thugs/drugdealers/pimps/whathaveyou? And then he thought there was nothing wrong with being in it! And then he said he surrounds himself with good people! What is wrong with him? Stop snitchin! Oh yeah, he said he threw his bronze medal in a lake in that video too. Good for him, the loser. I wouldn't let him sniff another US team. Bad news.

>I dont think Bruce Bowen would've helped. There was no one >player who killed us at any point in the tournament. Yeah, defense is so overrated. >Everyone played team ball and Bruce Bowen wouldn't have >valuable as he couldnt score, coudlnt keep up with the >transition game of his teammates and Greece had no >individual star for him to shut down. Do you realize that EVERY SINGLE OTHER PLAYER ON THE TEAM CAN SCORE? They don't need more scoring. They could have used a Ben Wallace type as well. GREECE PLAYED THE >GAME OF THEIR LIVES, shooting 62.5%. Or the US played AllStar Game defense, led by YA BOY Melo. >Greece shot >the ball incredibly and had to do so to win as every team in >the Olympics would have to do against USA. Thats why we haven't won gold in how long? >Melo, Brand, >James, Wade, and Howard should all be back on the next 2 >teams. Everyone else was way too inconsistent. Those 5 >brought it every game and Brand, Wade, and Anthony were the >most dependable. Did you even watch the game? Brand had 0 points, 2 fouls, 2 blocks, and 2 rebounds and played a whole 12 minutes. He got worked in the post by some NBA wannabe. Get serious. I'd keep Wade, Lebron, Hinrich, and Bosh and get some role players on the team. Or better yet, let the NBA champs go play in the olympics.

Oh no, they know how to shoot. They alll looooooove to shoot. Their problem is that most of them don't play defense. That is part of the reason Bruce Bowen should have been on the team over Shane Battier or Joe Johnson. As goofy as he is, Ron Artest should have been on the team as well. Another example of Coach K coming up just a bit short. As usual. For all his preaching of defense, ha. Greece shot 60%. Thats pathetic. The US team shot 50% and lost. Don't see that very often. Especially when Greece took 10 fewer shots. Oh wait, another fundamental that these so called stars haven't mastered. The FREE THROW. 60%. Wonderful. There will never be a US team as good as the original dream team. That was the best team that will ever be assembled. Its a shame Bird couldn't play all that much on that team, or maybe they would have beat those guys by 60 instead of just 40.

>Logged onto slubillikens.com to check the time for the >groundbreaking. Try it -- it's an eye-opening experience! In all the years, I have never once been impressed with the athletic department. There has never been a single thing I can remember that I said "wow thats a great/novel/noble/etc idea". Success starts at the top. Breed an attitude of winning, not of incompetence. Maybe it is time to start hiring some new fresh people?

>Box and FGWL are both right: SLU's students are not into it >at all. I don't know what can be done to reverse this >trend, but I felt like one of the few students there who >actually considered SLU my team. Agreed. >All of my friends from >outside of St. Louis carried whatever team loyalties they >had coming into school, and laughed when SLU lost. That is a big problem. The Cinci people root for XU or UC, the Milwaukee people root for the devil, i mean Marquette, and the guys from KC just think theyre way too cool for everyone. > >While winning is the best cure to this, the marketing >department could do more to manufacture some fan interest, >both among the students and the city. Might I suggest sending out an email announcing upcoming games/on game days? Last year, when playing UNC on ESPN2, 90% of my friends at school had no idea that game was going on. I wound up going to Humphreys with oh...10 other people. I mean its a nice effort to put a dry erase board out in front of the gym, but many people dont walk by there. Try email, try newsletters, try putting things around the coronado and lindell towers area. Come on. Get on the ball.

>First of all, how is Bradley going to continue its upswing >after losing its top 2 players? They had a lackluster first >half of the season last year, got hot late, tore through the >Valley tournament, and carried it over into the tournament. >Now they lose their top two, and this upswing is going to >continue? I don't see it. > Well, an upswing means they will continue to be better than they have been in the past. The 10 years before this past year, they were horrid. They are taking their first steps to returning to their former glory. Just like any good program, when you recruit talent you're going to lose a lot of it unexpectedly. The team will continue to be strong this next season, and the season after next(07-08) will be even better than last year. >However, I don't see the >league being as strong as it was last year or potentially >could be this year for more than another season or two. I'm >not rooting against it, but I don't see it happening. > Why not? I just gave you 8 reasons why it will continue. Continuity in coaching, strong and smart scheduling, basketball cities, solid recruiting bases which can be coupled to the continuity in coaching as well as past/recent successes. This past year the MVC was the "darling" of some media. Theres no such thing as bad publicity. >The scheduling done by the MVC last season was smarter than >it was strong, and I think people realize that. Missouri >State had an RPI of 21 heading into the tournament, and >Arkansas was the toughest non-conference team on its >schedule, a game it lost. They didn't play a hard schedule, >but they didn't play Savannah St. This year they have plenty of teams going to/bring in solid opponents. Bradley is goin to Michigan State, and has something working with UCLA for a 3 year deal starting next year. Wichita is going to Syracuse and signed a 3 year deal with LSU. Just to name a few off the top of my head. > >The Valley schools do play in basketball-crazed cities, but >most of them are tiny compared to the A-10 markets. Sure, >St. Louis is the geographic center and headquarters of the >MVC, but does the biggest program in St. Louis want to play >in the same conference with traditionally smaller programs >who recruit the players we pass on? It's just not a good >situation from SLU's standpoint, and the conference has to >be playing out of its mind to matter to anyone outside of >the immediate region. > Who cares if we play in Pittsburgh in front of 500 people? When was the last time we were recruiting the east coast? Drejaj was a bottom of the barrel addition. We are more likely to recruit someone from Peoria, Wichita, or Omaha then we are to recruit someone from Rhode Island, Philadelphia, and/or Boston. You say biggest program in St Louis like...there are any others? I mean besides Harris Stowe's powerhouse. >Now we're in a conference with huge markets (the largest >market in the Valley is #60 in the US: Omaha-Council Bluffs, >which happens to lie 2 spots below Dayton), more similar >schools, stronger academic schools (go ahead with the St. >Bonaventure jokes, but the Valley schools are not impressive >as a whole), and we're in a stronger position than we would >be in the Valley when and if the conferences realign again >(and they will, eventually). > The only advantage I can dream of with the "huge" markets is the exposure to random potential students in those cities. I am not sure about the stronger academic schools. The Valley has 6 state schools and 4 private schools. The A10 has more catholic schools, but still has the 4 public schools. How are we in a stronger position for realignment? I can only think that we are in a stronger position because we don't make sense in the A10. Conferences would see us as an easy addition. It is not like we have a higher profile now. CUSA we were in a major conference. We chose between 2 mid majors. One doesnt make any geographical sense, and another did. This way we don't have to tear away from the good fit, just the bad fit. I hope someday we wind up in some sort of realigned conference more similar to the old MVC or even the GreatMidwest/Metro days. >I'm sick of this discussion because I think it's asinine >that people wanted to settle for the Valley. It would have >been a dead-end move, and the administration, athletic >department, and Brad's coaching staff all know that and like >where we are now. Thats your opinion.

>I agree, I think the A-10 was a better long-term choice for >basketball. Whether or not the other sports were a major >factor in the decision, I don't know, but you have to do >what's best for your money sport(s). > >I would have been pretty disappointed to wind up in the MVC. > Sure, it's up lately and the A-10 has been down, but I >think the MVC is kind of stuck in that mid-major hell- the >kind of conference programs don't really work their way out >of. That said, they sure know how to put together an >RPI-friendly schedule, and they're the preseason darling >conference this year. Theyre preseason darlings because they had 2 teams in the sweet 16, 4 teams in the tourney, and plenty of returning stars on the top teams. SIU, WSU, Creigton, UNI, and SMS should challenge for the tourney this year. SIU has proven they can stay strong through multiple coaching changes. Turgeon and Altman have committed to their programs long term. There is no reason to think these 3 teams will be down anytime soon. UNI lost their coach to another instate team, but had the replacement waiting in the office next door. Bradley should continue on the upswing, although losing their top 2 players will hurt. Les is re-signed/goingto for a long long time. There is no reason to think that the MVC will fall anytime soon. This wasn't just a 1 year luck thing, it was the first season their longterm plan took effect. Strong conference leadership, strong/smart scheduling, solid base of veteran coaches, and basketball crazy cities. I hate to tell you, but the A10 is a midmajor. Any conference that lacks major football is going to be considered as such nowadays. At least the MVC is getting some positive press lately. And noone is playing in front of 300 people.

I still wish we would have joined the MVC. We could have scheduled Xavier or Dayton nonconference instead of SIU and SMS. There are many more natural/existing rivals in the MVC. The a10 switch never made sense to me, and it still doesn't.

So we should go 9-4 in non conference. Is Quincy a real game or exhibition? If its real, 10-4. So we need to go about 12-4 in conference and/or win the conference regular season.

>The good news is that there are two new places that should >open soon -- not necessarily bars, but new places >nonetheless. The Tuxedo Room is a swanky nightclub and >restaurant opening up in Grand Center in early September; >and Santo Bento is being built just west of Compton on >Olive. And you've also got the Loft Jazz Club (which isn't a >jazz club) in essentially the same building. Is Dante's back to being Dante's again or what is the deal with that building? I remember going there a few times back before it switched, but never really after. It wasn't all that much of a college type crowd if I recall. and pistol, go be pc somewhere else.

>Rumor has it that a developer has purchased the Laclede >Street Bar & Grill (formerly known as Caleco's) and the old >BBC building and has plans to demolish both in favor of some >sort of new development. > >This is not good news. SLU needs more bars nearby, not >less. Pretty soon, Humphrey's will be the only bar left. >Joe Boccardi's and Vito's are nice to have in the >neighborhood, but they're not full-fledged bars. Agreed. The problem comes is that BiondiSLU has all/most of the votes on liquor licensing. They kept Boccardi's from being more of a bar type atmosphere. They will do the same to anyone else. At least we have the Pasta House....oh wait...Quotations..oh wait..

>Where is the money going? > >Tuition at SLU has at least tripled in the past 15 years, >but the salaries of the faculty has not kept up with that >pace. Is the student/teacher ratio down? According to Dr. >B it isn't. Is there extra non-teaching staff that has been >added? > Well I know for sure it isn't going to add more business school faculty...

>- if >something were to happen to Fr. Biondi, who would replace >him? Maybe I've just been spending too much time on this >board, and now I speculate about everything. my nomination is Justin Johnson

>Bonner and Mel Robinson both played in the NBA. Both made >you guys proud too. Thats it? "Multiple players" turns into... Bonner and Mel Robinson? Did Melvin Robinson ever participate in an NBA game? I know he had a few training camp looks, but I am not sure if he ever got a uniform with his name on it. >The auditor >ruled that he was not guilty. No, the initial audit couldnt decipher his "bookkeeping". The independent firm found... --------------------------------------- Other findings include: Floyd Irons failed to make full and accurate disclosures and passed off blame to subordinates. In one instance, Irons told Linda McKnight that an expense report for a basketball players' reception, dated December 2003, was authorized by Dorothy Ludgood — deceased nine months by that time. Vashon principals Ludgood and Irons,[h4] without school-board authorization[/h4], purchased a $50,000 scoreboard, $106,002 worth of athletic uniforms, a $6,995 piano and a $5,994 gymnasium floor. Demetrious Johnson, a former professional football player and confidant of Irons, organized a Super Bowl party and fundraiser for the basketball team at the Adam's Mark Hotel. Johnson did not get district approval, nor did he turn over the event's proceeds to the school. Irons never asked permission to host the fundraiser, as required by district policy. Nike has a contract with Floyd Irons to provide uniforms and equipment to the boys' basketball team, but Vashon made its own "significant similar purchases" of apparel and equipment in 2003 and 2004, according to the audit. ("The last time we had new uniforms through the school was 2000 or 2001," Irons says. "We've gotten new uniforms since then, but not through the school." Irons adds that he purchased the uniforms: "I came up with the money.") Auditors reported dozens of "questionable expenses," including CD players, radios and TVs used as Christmas presents. Jeannette Franks, Vashon's bookkeeper, issued $8,000 in travel advances without ever collecting receipts after the trips. Some of the money funded basketball travel. Irons told auditors he lost receipts in the process of moving his office. Inspectors found no paperwork proving that cash proceeds from ticket sales for non-league basketball games and other events were ever deposited. ------http://www.riverfronttimes.com/Issues/2005-11-16/news/news.html But I guess that's not guilty. Hey, whatever. Guy is a crook. Hope he enjoyed that loss that Peoria Notre Dame hung on him.

Whatever they didnt like about what >was going on at Vashon, he was the only reason people were >talking about Vashon or had anything positive to say about >Vashon at all. and he also was the focus of a lot of negative attention too...

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...2D?OpenDocument

>These off court issues that several people have mentioned on >this board (beating up fellow classmates, both male and >female) have never been proven. I doubt if there is any >truth to them. However, they are being talked about as if >they are fact. These are all rumors. Mayo was never charged >or arrested for anything. Yeah getting expelled for a school is a daily occurence..

, >and all the beautiful girls he can handle. Or all the beautiful women he can beat up.

>Wrong since Bush has got into office, it is now illegal to >receive a scholarship based on race. His proposal said that >it discriminated against whites. Maybe at the federal level, but not at the school level. St Louis University has programs designed for the minorities in mind. Now in need whites can apply to. Whats so wrong with that? There are plenty of black/white that are paying full tuition at SLU, and there are plenty of both that are on some sort of aid. Needy people on every end of the color rainbow should be afforded the same opportunities. The supreme court also ruled against the U of Michigan undergrad that race can only be a tiebreaking issue between applicants, not a main factor. That goes along the same lines as this. Also, a large amount of minority programs like that were at the level of the NAACP, ACLU, UNCF, etc. Those programs still exist.

>the student loan thing doesnt affect me as I'm on >scholarship, but it will affect many starting this fall. >July 1st was the last day to consolidate the loans. Yet again, your facts of this entire post are way way way off base. 1. Student loan interest rates are based on the interest rate set by the fed. While these rates have stayed pretty level as the prime rate has goneup, they cannot do so anymore. (bush was the one responsible for keeping it at the steady rate for so long) The rate is going from around 4.5% to somewhere in the mid 6 range. 2. Consolidation after July 1st just means you wouldn't lock in the rate of around 4.5%. Anyone can consolidate loans at anytime. 3. You claim Bush cut minority loan opportunities? That is just ignorant. Since Bush has taken office, he has increased funding for higher education across the board. Heres just a lil snipet... "President Bush's 2005 budget request includes $419 million--an $18.8 million or 4.7 percent increase--to assist higher education institutions with a large proportion of minority and disadvantaged students, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Historically Black Graduate Institutions. The president also has proposed $96 million--a $1.9 million increase--to maintain support for institutions that serve large percentages of Hispanic students; $104 million to develop expertise in foreign languages and international studies, which will help meet the nation's security and economic needs; and $833 million for additional educational outreach and support services to disadvantaged students. " 4. Student loans should be carefully thought out. If you plan on going to a school like SLU, paying 100% of it through loans (no scholarships, which is rare at SLU), and majoring in something like social work; you should really go somewhere else. One would come out of SLU 100k+ in debt under that scenario. You think someone majoring in social work is going to have enough to pay that back?

>Congrats to former St. Louis U. basketball player Justin >Love and his wife, SLU grad Kate Walter, who were married at >St. Francis Xavier College Church on Friday. Former Billiken >Carlos Sharlow was a member of the wedding party. > >Congrats to Justin but who was Carlso Sharlow? Ya know, some people marry out of neccessity...and some people are kinda in love. But these two, they are Justin Love.

>If I read in the >newspaper that someone had said he called and apologized to >me yet I had never received such a call you'd damn well >better believe I'd call that person a liar. It turned out >later that the paper misquoted Ozzie but how was Duncan to >know that? Well the thing was that Dave Duncan prefaced everything he said by "I never lie." That's the funny part. And then he and Larussa take this holy roler thats not part of the game approach. Gimme a break. I like Ozzie, but he does like to put his foot in his mouth quite a bit. Just another example of winning > everything