Pistol

I can only speculate at the numbers, but it says the Jesuits are down to 19,000 from 36,000 in 1965- I would guess it's worse for Archdiocese or whole Church numbers. I guess I have to consider the source, but this article took an interesting issue and put a terrible reactionary spin on it. The author makes the Jesuits out to be rogue Marxists without taking in to account the context of their role within the Church as a whole. The guy takes any attempt by the Jesuits to help the poor as "radical left-wing activism." The laziest form of reporting is to throw an easy label (e.g. Liberal!/Conservative!) on something you don't care to understand or discuss, and hope that's enough to sway your audience. This author seems to have the same mindset that dominates the Vatican these days; hold fast to a set of aged ideals while the World around you changes rapidly and don't bother trying to learn from or change with it. The Jesuits understand that. That's why their universities are thriving in environments of academic and religious freedom despite dwindling numbers in their ranks. They embrace different viewpoints and all kinds of people (including the impoverished in Latin America), and demand for education at Jesuit schools continues to rise, which fuels the mission of a teaching order.

What is the timetable for Sampson? How soon will he get canned, assuming that's what's going to happen? Will any assistants get the ax along with Sampson? I would bet those guys are calling the incoming class frequently to tell them not to worry and stick with IU. Hopefully they seek and get releases, though.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...8F?OpenDocument If anyone hasn't seen Timmerman's article today, it's an entertaining one. I would feel foolish to make a score prediction for tonight's game, but I'll make one guess: win or lose, high or low scoring, this will be an ugly game to watch.

Excellent article. Bonner is everything an inner-city HS coach could and should be. He's exactly what the city's school system needs, only they need a lot more like him. Gone are the days of accounting fraud, enrollment fraud, and some real estate fraud on the side. Also, another great write-up in the RFT (remember the Majerus article a few months back?). Too bad they also had that Keegan character's blog because they've otherwise done some awesome basketball features this year.

The problem with this is that the majority of students still aren't interested in going to the games, so if everyone is charged even the smallest amount for a general student ticket fee, you can bet there will be an uproar. I got so sick of the student apathy at SLU, but the one thing that could get students riled up was money. I can't tell you how many times I heard the annoying "$40,000 a year and all we get is more flowers and statues" argument. The best part, as I would point out to people saying things like this, is that most of the students' parents are paying for the tuition anyway so they should just shut up and enjoy the fact they're getting a great education for little or no debt upon graduation. In addition, the money the school has poured into having a nice campus in the middle of a city was a huge selling point for a lot of students and parents alike. But I digress...

I would never argue that St. Louis takes care of its own and rewards loyalty. I just didn't agree with the other points of your argument. I wanted Lance to come here as much as anyone else (and I hate Sampson a lot), but it's hard to argue he made the wrong choice- he's playing for a true contender his senior season. The other thing is that he's from a small town outside of St. Louis- I bet if he came back there, he's a celebrity regardless of where he played. Look at Hansbrough and Poplar Bluff. Lance is from the area, but enough outside to make the small town claim.

Roy, the thing you're ignoring is that Stemler is not riding the end of the bench at IU- he is starting for them. His choice wasn't 'be a star at SLU or be a benchwarmer at IU,' it was 'start at SLU or start at IU.' He is a smaller fish in a bigger pond at IU, but still not lost in the shuffle by any means. No one goes to IU for the Bloomington job market unless they want to stay in academia and teach. If Lance comes back to St. Louis after playing basketball at IU and earning a degree there, he will not have a problem finding a job, nor will he face longer odds than if he went to SLU. Employers here are not ignorant; they have access to the same rankings that all of us do, and IU is still ranked higher (75 to 82, remember?). It shouldn't make much of a difference one way or the other. If he goes somewhere other than St. Louis, the IU degree is more widely recognized, especially if he is a business major. Their business school is ranked 18th for both MBA and undergrad by Business Week and 24th by US News. SLU is not in the top 50 on either. I can't look up what his major is- sports sites are blocked here- but I remember him looking at the business schools. You keep saying that SLU is better academically- how? Just because of the student-teacher ratio? US News and all the other rankings don't think agree with you. There is more that goes into rating academics than that ratio. If it was just that, primarily small liberal arts schools would be the top ranked schools in the country. There is more to a 'campus feel' than the size of classes. Have you been to the campus in Bloomington? It's a pretty cool place. I've been there about 6 times and never once set foot in a classroom. So what if he doesn't get to know his teachers by name? I never knew half my teachers at SLU in small classrooms, and I don't care. Every student is different. I went to SLU and never applied to IU. SLU was better for me, which should be the most important factor for anyone- is the school the best fit for the student? If it wasn't the best fit for Lance, that's his choice. He also happened to choose a slightly higher ranked school than SLU. Your argument that SLU is better academically just seems to be based on your opinion and how it fit for you- you can't apply that to everyone. As for his legacy being a joke because he plays for a cheater, would he have been more remembered here? I am not so sure about that. At this point, SLU has a smaller base of fans that follow the team closely and remember former players. Lance wasn't going to be a superstar anywhere and would have shared the spotlight here with Kevin and Tommie. At best, Lance would have been remembered in the Waldman-Clagget-Highmark kind of way with those two, and by a smaller fan base than what is at IU. My point was that I don't think his decision was based on what kind of legacy he'd have as an individual.

It's all in what the student wants. Some kids like lecture halls and the anonymity they offer. Some prefer smaller, more intimate classroom settings. While I prefer the latter and liked that about SLU (I had one lecture hall class in 4 years), I don't fault anyone for their personal preference. Do you think Lance is that concerned about his legacy? Do you think he would have been a bigger hometown star than Tommie or Kevin, both of whom are 4-year players while he's a 2-year guy? How much legacy can a 2-year player have? He wouldn't have been a bigger factor than Love or Jeffers, both of which are about the best you can hope for out of juco transfers. Do you think IU grads have that much trouble finding jobs? Keep in mind the school is higher ranked than SLU. I lived in Chicago for two years, and everyone hires IU grads there- employers absolutely love the Kelley School of Business grads. I would be willing to bet that he can look around at the national championship banners, the pervasive basketball culture in Bloomington (basketball players are rockstars there), the packed arena, the TV exposure, the 20 wins they already have, the NCAA Tournament (they're a lock) and the chance to go deep this year, the future NBA players on the roster, the gorgeous coeds (the quality and quantity at IU is better than SLU), and I don't think he's worried about his legacy or the student-teacher ratio.

I'd love to see more of the big Jesuit schools on the schedule. Speaking of Georgetown, I was having a conversation with a guy at work yesterday who said the Jesuits were stepping back a bit there. They're the first Jesuit school with a lay president, and he also suggested that they were devoting less personnel and attention to Georgetown, gradually letting it run more like a non-denominational school. He doubted their influence would ever be gone completely- the tradition there is too deep- but said they wanted to devote their diminishing numbers more in other places. It sounded to me like they felt they had accomplished so much at Georgetown, now it was time to improve the national reputation of some of their other schools. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

I thought his argument was on academics, not campus atmosphere. The schools are drastically different in campus atmosphere, but if you go by the (flawed but authoritative) US News rankings, IU is 75 and SLU is 82- pretty close. Stemler is playing on a 13th-ranked team and one of the most storied programs in college basketball history. He is logging big minutes and is certainly considered a contributor. I don't think he's second-guessing his decision, no matter how much we attribute the decision to Sampson's recruiting tactics at the 11th hour.

Was Wash U an option for him? If I were going to play D-III, had a good academic background, and wanted to stay relatively local, I would get a world class education in addition.

That's pretty much the arrangement I'm looking for, too. I'm sending in my Billikens Club membership form and $ on Monday, then I'll ask around to see if someone wants to buy seats for a couple seasons as long as they're in my name and going to my Club points. If nothing materializes, I'll probably wait this year out. I'll probably also call the Billiken Club office to get their advice (which will probably be to buy tickets). Thanks everybody for your help.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...28?OpenDocument It looks like Roy's defense of Timmerman was legit. He had a nice article about Kevin's spectacular finish today. I had to put this in a new thread rather than the previous P-D Game Article thread in order to avoid the bickering.

Vandy is the 100% exception to the rule in the SEC. I have a lot of respect for Vanderbilt as a school and how they realigned athletics to show they mean business with academics. And they're a top 25 school in the academic rankings.

What does a guy named Keegan know about sports? If he wants guys to jump around like fools in the tunnel, and then pull out the name on their jerseys while standing on a table taunting opposing teams' fans after a win, that's his choice. His argument is that SLU isn't intense because Xavier's players taunted us before the game and SLU showed a little more class. As for watching the highlights during a timeout, I've seen guys from every team in every sport do that. The coach will yell, they turn back, not a big deal. I guarantee Stanley Burrell has spent a career's worth of timeouts glancing at himself on the big board.

So do you put each set of game tix up online (craigslist or somewhere like that), or do you have an arrangement with someone? I wouldn't be opposed to getting season tickets for next year, eating the seat license cost, and finding someone who just wants the season tickets for a couple years. That way, I don't eat the games and have a spot waiting for me when I return. Also, this may be a dumb question, but the seat license is an every year cost, right? If it's one and done, that would be great, but I'm not counting on it. I was leaning toward Box and Roy's advice, but you're making me nervous. I don't want to be stuck on some waiting list like a hopeless Green Bay Packer fan, waiting for people to give up seats or die off (though I don't think it would ever be close to that situation).

Just another example of ridiculously high, unreasonable expectations at SEC schools. The fans down there have to be the most reactionary people on the planet. It's a frightening culture that they normally reserve for football, but a recent taste of success across the board in basketball, and the win-at-all-costs-right-now-or-else mindset spills over into the gyms, too. Sorry for the rant, but the SEC is my least favorite conference (football and basketball first, partying second, academics a distant last).

Yeah, and with the scheduling the A10 has committed itself to plus the incoming recruiting classes, it's going to be a while before the Valley is at the same level as the A10. No disrespect to a good conference, I just don't think in the long term it's as good. 2005-2007 were more of an exception to the rule than a natural turn in the cycle.

So I'm living in Cincinnati until my gf finishes law school (May 2010), but I'm already pushing her to come back to St. Louis when she finishes. My first order of business when and if I get back to St. Louis is SLU season tickets in the new Arena. To the season ticket holders and/or Billiken Club members out there, what would your advice for me be? Should I join the Billiken Club now? Do I need to jump in on season tickets for next season and take the hit for 2 seasons just to secure them for the future? If I don't pour my money into season tickets I can only use a few times a year now, will any be available for the 2010-2011 season?

Stanley is not popular here in Cincinnati (and I can say that- without a doubt- after only living here 2 1/2 months). He was apparently highly-touted out of HS, had a big freshman year with some "NBA potential" comments thrown around, and hasn't gotten any better. I started watching him more sophomore year, where he was completely erratic (24 points one night, 3 the next), and it was the same story last year. He's as streaky as any player in college, only shoots off balance (probably because he can't hit a squared-up jumper), a solid defender when he tries but has lapses, and probably his best attribute is that he's a great FT shooter. He's buried himself in Miller's doghouse, especially last season, and the higher level of play out of Raymond and Anderson this year to complement Lavender, Brown, and Duncan has made him the player that will probably be missed the least when these seniors graduate. With XU's great incoming class, they aren't losing anything special in Burrell. It doesn't surprise me that he was the one talking smack to Lisch after he just scored 11 points on him in 61 seconds (before laughing it off and burying #12) and that he was running back and forth on the table. What a classless fool and a wasted promising career (although his promise was really just hype). He might be the most overrated player in A10 history, to borrow a line from my buddy last night.

That's why I hate to see two timeouts called in the first half. Also, any interference on Brown between the perimeter and the basket could have prevented the tip. I would have loved to see someone step in his way, grab his jersey (they wouldn't have called it), just break his momentum in any way. He had about an 18-20 foot straight shot at the rim- anything in his way would have worked.

Has anyone sent emails to the Athletic Department about this? We should start a campaign. Main points: 1. New Arena, new era of Billiken basketball, therefore new PA guy 2. No Guy "Correction" Phillips under any circumstances 3. This is a basketball game, not an annoying morning commuter radio show. He adds to the perception of our beloved program as a dog and pony show. 4. Suggestion for replacement, if any (anyone but Guy will do)

But dagnabbit, I've been wearing this same knit logo sweater to Billiken games since 1946, and no perky little marketing gal can tell me what to wear! On TV, I could tell that a lot of our season ticket holders weren't cooperating with the Blue Out, so it looked kind of weak. I understand how sacred certain habits can be to older generations (like alumni sweaters with a small logo worn over oxford shirts), but come on, be a fan! I have always wanted the average age of our fan base to drop dramatically (and I'm not suggesting I want the older generation to die off), and I think that's probably what we all want. It makes the games too quiet when most of the fan base are alums from the mid-twentieth century. I love the loyal support, but I want to see all those empty seats in between theirs to be filled with loud, enthusiastic young people who aren't afraid to have a beer or two at the games and participate in fan events.

So what's the verdict? I don't get the print version of the P-D here in Cincinnati. Where is the SLU game story on the sports page this morning? Was it pushed back to page 3 because of new info about the criminal-athletes at Mizzou, or did we get some justice for a good game (in town) with a good crowd?

The refs weren't that bad. Made some odd calls, but they were fair.