Pistol

No, you must be mistaken- I wasn't trying to get through the drive-thru at Del Taco, we were in line at the Good Pie and also considered Vito's, Triumph, and Buffalo Brewing. I think I saw some Larry the Cable Guy fans eating fried chicken in the back of a truck and chasing down a stray dog.

I wasn't trying to sway anyone's opinion with the anecdote about his driving around the gate to get into that lot. I was just telling what I thought was a funny little story. If anyone takes it to be an extra insight into his complex character, that's fine, I don't care either way. I'll put it this way- I'd rather have a good coach who makes the occasional jerk move like that instead of a mediocre coach and poor recruiter who doesn't.

Possibly, but the commenter on Timmerman's blog pointed out that we don't have a natural backup for Mitchell next year. I love Mitchell's game and want him to play as many minutes as possible, but who gets the PG job done if he goes down with an injury? That would have been Cotto but now looks to be a backup-PG-by-committee deal.

Did anyone else have trouble getting a table at any of the restaurants close to the arena? We showed up at the Good Pie at 6:30 expecting a relatively smooth meal with plenty of time to get to the game, but they had a 45 minute wait. So I told my family to wait while I checked out the other places; Buffalo Brewing had at least a 45 minute wait, Vito's was 40 minutes, and Triumph was an astounding 90 minutes. I guess this is good for the area, but it was damn frustrating when we've never had to get to the dinner spot more than 90 minutes before tip. Anyway, after waiting for three older couples to sit and talk for a half hour after finishing their food (some people can look so nice and be such jerks), we sat down about 7:25 and got to the arena with 19:20 left in the first half. I never thought I'd miss the tip.

I don't think it was made clear that it is a different person from the official scoreboard operator. I know the guys that run it and they get tired of people criticizing them for something that they're not even doing.

I posted this a couple weeks ago when people were unjustly going after the scoreboard and shot clock guys for this, but the scoreboard operator does not do the lineup changes or points/fouls for each player. The official scoreboard operator only handles the clock, team points, team fouls, time outs remaining, and horn. There is a separate person who does lineups, and whoever it is hasn't been very good this year.

I had this conversation with a few friends after the game- what exactly happens if that had occurred? We agreed that it would not count, but would the ball be live since it would be in the court of play after going through the hoop? That was my guess- I don't think it would be dead. We speculated what would take place if it happened, and there would be a lot of chaos since it's late in a close game. A SLU player might see it go in, then take it out under the hoop to inbound it, in which case he would have taken a live ball out and therefore turned it over (just a guess).

I'll give you that. And p diddy, thanks for listing the guys Romar had waiting in the wings. I forgot about Jamaal Tatum. He and Grimes had some off-court issues in college but since we're playing a game of 'what if' anyway, you never know how those kids turn out differently with a different coach in a different school. His player relationships were so good that I'd be surprised to see guys act up to a serious degree on his watch.

I thought Holder did a decent job, which is all you need from a PA guy. I can't think of other places where the PA guy tries to make it his own show, like Guy does. Fans don't want an obnoxious PA guy telling them what to do; it comes off as bush league when he tries to pump people up. A good product on the floor and good attendance in the new arena will help build a good atmosphere, and we'll get there. It's one of those jobs where if you don't notice him, he's doing well. It was Holder's first time doing it, and he had 2 'corrections' that I can remember, which is a lot less than Guy has each game even though he's been doing it for years. I hope the rest of you season ticket holders out there who got an online survey from SLU's athletic department last week used the opportunity to voice an opinion about the PA announcer- there were a few questions to rate him. I gave Guy the lowest score possible and said he's the worst of anyone I've heard in any arena I've been to.

Splendid in the classroom? You must have him mixed up with someone else. Tatum was a nightmare in the classroom. His last year there he was still taking a freshman math class, and on the rare occasions he showed up, he spent the whole class hitting on the young grad student teacher in front of the whole class. His attitude and poor work ethic caused issues with Romar, a guy who could keep a lot of other less-than-perfect students at least somewhat in line.

They are each about 6-0 and north of 200. They're looking like a ready-made offensive line for Chaminade in a couple years. I laughed when I saw you write 'butterballs' because that is not the least bit inaccurate. It's unlikely they'll be basketball players unless the freshman coach just wants some big bodies in there next year.

I don't appreciate the sarcasm when I choose to disagree with you on something and feel I am fairly arguing my point. Check your PM.

Taj Gray was supposedly going to walk on his freshman year and have three years on scholarship after that. Had Romar stayed and Kern likely wouldn't have been admitted, Gray would have gotten his scholarship. In hindsight, it's amazing that Romar had an arrangement like this with a guy who turned out to be an absolute stud in the Big 12.

Nothing's a guarantee. I'm just surprised that so many on here have such dismissive attitudes about Romar, especially a lot of the same people who defended Brad for so long. I obviously can't state that it is a fact that Romar would have brought a lot of success to SLU because he left and we'll never know. But I strongly believe that he was the right guy and would have gotten it done. We had 5 stagnant years after him, and Brad's most loyal supporters can't argue that.

Okay, so your definition of "Winning Big" is 30 wins or 3 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. It's settled. There are very few coaches that "Win Big" if that's the case.

His records did get worse as he was at SLU, but that second and third year dip happens to a lot of coaches inheriting a program- the older guys are products of the old coach, his recruits are young or not there yet, and there is generally some attrition. Keep in mind that his 2001-2002 team had exactly zero seniors on the roster. I have no doubt that the 2002-2003 team would have posted a better record than his 15-16 last year or the 16-14 record that Brad had with them. Is "left the cupboard bare" a fair argument? He didn't sabotage SLU's program; those guys left on their own, and he had discussions with each of them encouraging them to stay. Some did, but a lot didn't. Floyd McClain actually did stay, and 2002-2003 was his second straight medical redshirt season. His frustration and poor relationship with Brad led to his departure. And like I said before, Edwin would have stayed but probably had a semester of ineligibility, Pulley also would have been academically ineligible, Seyfert got homesick, Kern may have never been admitted, and Ryan Hollins was never going to play for Brad. Is it Romar's fault that the cupboard was bare when he built strong relationships with his players and recruits? Why should they stay when their coming to SLU was based on him? Marque Perry, Drew Diener, and Chris Braun were the guys on the 2001-2002 team who Spoon recruited (he told Romar when he took over, "You're gonna like the little fella.") and Romar got them all to stay and honor their commitments. Fisher, Sloan, and Brown were all Romar's recruits. Soderberg's first year would have been an unmitigated disaster without them and his second year would have been a lot harder without Fisher, Varner, Hunt, and Sloan. Also, you are all ignoring the inroads that Romar was making with the local high school players while he was at SLU. Soderberg may have been his top assistant, but he was there for the X's and O's, not to be the pitch man for these kids. Liddell was the one guy who had a relationship with Romar who came to play for Brad (when they were all underclassmen trying out for the 2002 Eagles squad in the WPG, Romar told me Liddell would be the best of what looked to be a big class for the area- Grimes, Jackson, etc.- and that he was confident he liked SLU. Tommie wasn't trying out because ESL was in the playoffs). A lot of the area high school kids at the time loved Romar, and when he left SLU was out of the picture for them. Sure, he might have not had a 20-win season in 2002-03 or 2003-04 (then again, he may have), but he was only going to come in second on those big recruits for so long before it started to pay off. I'm confident that with two more seasons, we would have been a totally different program with a totally different caliber of talent. The other thing to remember is that he actually went after the big boys- Brad didn't even bother with the top area players and took too long on the next tier.

Those Sweet 16 years were back-to-back 29-win seasons. Romar has won big, and in consecutive years. I have never met a SLU fan who doesn't consider 29 wins "winning big." I also can't imagine a SLU fan who wouldn't have wanted Hollins. Are you serious? A 7-footer who started on a UCLA team that went to the NCAA finals? A third-year NBA player? I've never heard anyone use the term "second coming" to describe him (and second coming of whom? Ed McCauley?), but I would have been happy to have him. You're also forgetting that the two freshmen from 2001-02 left: Pulley, who only stayed for Romar and whose grades were going to be an issue, and Seyfert, who claimed homesickness. McClain's back issues and consecutive medical redshirt seasons were no one's fault. Edwin may have been ineligible one semester but would have been worth keeping, and he would have stayed for Romar. You also say "He wouldn't have done as well as RM" about Romar. Really? He went 19-14 and got us in the tournament his first year, went 17-14 his second year, and 15-16 his third year. Majerus went 16-15 in his first year and is 10-6 now against a bad schedule, and both of those records include a win against a D-II team. So I can only presume that your statement is based on how you feel Majerus will do, because he certainly hasn't done it yet.

I know it's not easy for me to make this argument when he left before anything happened. I guess you and cheeseman never met him. His recruits and the players who left had close relationships with him; for most of them, there was no reason to be at SLU if he wasn't there and Soderberg certainly wasn't the same type of guy or coach. He was handcuffed by a limited budget, a terrible practice facility, an oversized off-campus arena, a poor AD and antagonist associate AD (Flanagan). In spite of all of this, Romar is a guy I had full faith in and his players would do anything for him. Why do you think there was an exodus once he left? Those guys had no relationship with Brad and didn't want to play for him. One or two may have missed the first semester of play for academic reasons, but we wouldn't have lost entire consecutive classes. By the way, this freshman class at Washington is a top 20 class (on a very young team overall) and he has another nice one on the way, including one of the top point guards in the country.

So when I'm in town for Saturday night's game, can I walk up with the 4 extra people and hand that voucher to the ticket office for 4 tickets on the spot? Also, who's name is supposed to go on the form- mine or a guest's?

Got it- I misunderstood. He's certainly a mixed bag as a coach, a lot of things I love about him, and some others I don't feel great about. Couldn't agree more about Romar, and no matter what Skip says in his comments above, Romar was very much on the verge of putting together a special program here. I guess you can either believe that or not, but anyone close enough to the program knows it. I just wish he had been here long enough for everyone to see it happen.

It had to be lower down the top 10 than Derrick Brown's alley-oop that night, right? Still cool that we made it.

I wrote that with tongue placed firmly in cheek. However, the Romar example works, as I think he could have won big or was on the verge of winning big (if by SLU standards). He was squeaky clean, treated every person he met with the utmost respect and kindness, built incredible relationships with his players, and knew how to recruit. I was talking with a buddy recently about what Washington would be like if he didn't have so many players leave early- the blessing/curse of getting the one-and-done guys. Oh, and Dollar acted on his own (even though, I know, the head coach is in charge and will be at least partially blamed).

I don't think the comment is a huge deal. However, tact is not one of the strong suits of Majerus, as we've all seen to some extent by now. He does seem like a guy that would not be fun to work for or with, but that people are willing to take the bad with the good because of his knowledge and abilities. A quick anecdote: I heard that he has a habit of ignoring cars ahead of his waiting at the gate to get in that new lot adjacent to the arena. He apparently just drives over the curb, sidewalk, and through the grass to get into the lot before any of them without using the key card entry. I guess a few people complained and he recently got a $100 fine for it. Of course, he gave his pal Larry a call and told him (I'm sure in the nicest way possible) that he would not be paying the fine.

Roth seems to be basically Indiana's version of Brad Redford. I'll never feel sorry for Tom Crean. He was always a jerk and I wish more SLU fans realized that. He's never been as dirty as Sampson, but he knew what he was getting into. That program has to start from scratch with personnel, and he's got to recruit his butt off over the next few years. He's fortunate in that he has one of the best programs in history, a nice school, and great facilities to sell kids on. As impatient as fans are at programs like that, I think they realize he needs at least 4 years before they can start scrutinizing his job security.

Brad Soderberg?