Adman

Thanks, guys.

what's the score?!? i'm on plane and the live streaming from espn3 does not work (nor radio feed from rammer)

Also want the ranking for the help it'll bring in the recruiting battles.

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player click on the boston/saint louis game

Two airlines serve Detroit non-stop: Delta and Southwest. Still plenty of options.

So true. The one thing people forget is that while some of the corporate headquarters have moved, many of the operational bases are still here. That means the work stays here. For example, Ralston was bought by Nestle. But the dog/cat food biz is still here as is the marketing. Ditto with Anheuser-Busch. While Belgians own the company and budget cutting has brought a shock to the local ad community, a huge chunk of the ad/promo biz is still here. Reshaped.

Joe, brings back a couple of memories. First, your dad was a great guy. Was my promotional marketing prof and helped inspire my career. One of the two best classes I had in the biz school. Lots of great insights. Plus, he always wore great ad-guy sport coats and pants to class. Definitely stood out from the rest of the marketing dept! Second, he organized a tour of D'Arcy for the SLU class. The tour was hosted by one of his former D'Arcy co-workers who many years later became one of my best friends in the business. So whenever I think of him -- I always think of your dad who introduced us. Finally, while the ad biz in this town is dramatically different than when I was in college (no D'Arcy, no Gardner,) and many corporate headquarters have moved, there is still a very vibrant community -- particularly in non-traditional/new mediums. Anyway, really enjoyed your dad. Always gave me my best grades, too!

Agree. If it hasn't become a recruiting issue already, it will very shortly. No way top recruits will sign without knowing who the coach will be. Current high school juniors -- our top recruiting focus -- will not see Rick as HC unless he is extended. And if I was the recruit, it would be the first or second question I'd ask.

This is your opinion? Or you've spoken to him and know this for a fact? Or you've spoken to the good Father and he's given you his word?

Absurd, it was great meeting you today. Waldo, too. You are right about Ellis -- he was the best player today. Hardest worker, too. Won every sprint. Must have been a dozen of them. If he plays in the reg season like this, it will be some fun. Really liked Glaze, too. Yea -- he has some catching up to do. Has some conditioning work to do, too. But is further along than Conk was at this time. Nice touch around basket. A couple nice moves, too. Will be lots of fun to watch him progress!

Thanks to everyone for these practice reports. Been on vacation the last week and haven't been able to join the fun. Back late Friday night...are there any additional open practices this weekend?

Brian, I agree. Very happy RM is our coach. Undoubtedly has built the best roster in last 40 years. Really like his recruiting. But have to say it is a real head-scratcher if Berry has not been officially offered. Have no idea is he has or has not. But if he has not been offered, would LOVE to know why that makes sense.

+1

Clock, All good points. The process is complicated and our choices can be thrown back at us by competition. However, I'll add: 1) Schools that show early interest and offer early -- everything else equal -- would seem to have some leg up. I think most of us in all walks of life like being recognized, appreciated by our bosses or friends. Part of human nature. We generally are a bit skeptical of Johnny-come-latelys. Certainly latecomers can win in this battle, too. We see it every spring recruiting session. But everything else equal -- it is nice and should be beneficial if we have interest -- and it comes down to us and one or two others. 2) RM shouldn't be worried about making a commitment to an early offer. He can make an offer and cast off someone else. 3) In the specific case of Nolan Berry (because of his lineage,) I believe the lack of an offer (if Bills have interest) is an embarrassment. If I'm Nolan Berry and/or his parents and/or his grandpa and know that their likely Top 50 kid doesn't have an offer from Easy Ed's alma mater, I would be offended and wonder who is asleep at the wheel. Not only did Easy Ed attend the U, so did his wife (just deceased), many if not all of his kids and some of the other grandkids, too. Many that didn't attend SLU went to other Jesuit schools. Many attended SLUH or DeSmet. There has been a very close relationship between this family and the Jesuits for nearly 7 decades. If this kid is the real deal and there is interest from SLU, an offer seems simple courtesy. A no brainer. 4) That said, I am very concerned about being strung along. One of the things I like best about RM is the apparent discussion he has with kids early in their recruitment: be honest with me...better to tell me immediately if you have no interest and I won't waste my time. Nothing worse than finishing 2nd in a 3-year recruiting battle. Rick obviously needs to have same discussion with Nolan. If Nolan isn't really interested -- either now or by some point next season -- he needs to move on. 5) Coaches always make more offers than they have slots -- knowing not everyone is going to say yes. So I'm not overly worried about the competition using an offer to Berry against us. But the offer can't stay out forever...RM will have to move on if no go. There seems little risk in making an offer now -- and hopefully endearing yourself to the family. That's one of the potential advantages you have in this battle. At least you'll have a fighting chance if next season ends up the way a lot of us think it will. It is certainly possible that when RM talks to Berry next week he says "We're not going to offer you now. We're going to wait until after our upcoming season. Perhaps you'll have a better idea then of your interest in us. Then we'll offer you." At least there would be communication and the family connection not burned. But i still think there is more upside to offering now. Would show him our seriousness -- and a deal of respect. I would rather say "We're offering right now. You are exactly what we need...(and rest of reasons)...and while you can't commit yet and might not be ready to say yes anyway, you just watch us next year. I'm so confident in our team -- and your part in this in the years ahead..."

And where do you think SLU will fall in this list? As close as the Macauley family has been to the U over the years, and with grandpa Ed the most famous Billiken Hall-of-Famer of all, will SLU be in his consideration set? Would be a great story. Also, anyone know if we've offered?

And interesting that he had Missouri in the second group of "next four out" -- after us.

Speaking of Nolan Berry, does anyone know if we have offered him yet? Also, will anyone from STL in his class (currently Soph) be more hotly recruited than him?

Delusional? Top 23 according to Pat Forde writing at ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=5181110 43rd according to CollegeHoops: http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/2011-mid-summer-preseason-top-50-ranking-168655 38th according to Andy Katz at ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=5060752 The Bills may not have done anything this year. Who knows. But delusional? Go back to trolling.

Add me as a third to chime in on this. Shoulder separations can be nasty -- even mild ones that don't require surgery. I wouldn't be surprised if Cody is out for a month. On other hand, maybe they'll shoot him with steroids and send him back out.

Hey, can anyone give a summary of the 3 technicals? I was at the game but did not see any of the three actual events. Were the first two related to mouthing off at the referees? Or were they unsportsmanlike issues against the Bills? The third one was a flagrant foul and ejection. I saw Salesich on the ground (away from the ball) but didn't see what actually happened. When any team has 3 technicals called against them, reflects very poorly on the coach. Did he sit the guys with the first 2 technicals afterwards?

+1000 Even if Roy won't bet.

Of course there are plenty of local grads and of course they don't show up. They know enough about basketball. Why should they show up? Just because they are grads? Meh...A mediocre program for a zillion years. Once the product gets fixed, they'll be there. we just have to give them a reason to come other than blind faith.

C'mon, Roy. Bet me a beer there will be scalping for at least some game in the next two years. I didn't say every game! One other thing to take in consideration. Chaifetz was originally planned as a bigger building. I don't recall the exact number but think it was in the 13,500-14,500 range. SLU had every intention of building it bigger. The original architectural plans were built this way. While I don't know this for a fact, I'd guess the reason was because they felt demand justified it. As I understand it, the reason it was downsized was because they forgot to budget the attached training facility and there were some issues with the ground underneath Chaifetz being able to support another deck. So part money, part engineering issues. Bottom line as dufffman says, putting more than 10,000 in a market with 3million -- no brainer.

Roy, I nearly always agree with you. But have to say I disagree here. There is some truth to what you say. Less competition for the sports dollar always helps. But the reason those sports dollars dropped into the Bills laps is that they got the product right. Grawer recruited a couple guys name Clags and Highmark. Charlie took them, added a few pieces and built a winner. Trust me: there would not have been 16,000 in Scottrade watching a 5-23 team. They would have found other things to do with their money. And the reason why we only draw 6-8000 now? It's not because the Rams came to town. It's because we haven't been back to the NCAAs in forever. We just need to get the product right again, build some tradition. Bills tickets aren't that expensive. If there's a great movie or concert or other entertainment product in town, people will find money for it. But you've got to have great product. We have not had it. This market is plenty big for reasonably-priced Div 1 basketball tickets in a no-NBA town. In many ways, our Bills are similar to the old Football Cardinals. Lack of on-field success. Average to less than average. No winning tradition -- 1948 is a long time ago. Knuckle-headed management decisions. Lack of commitment. We don't have the tradition to pack the house year in and year out. But I still believe we are on the cusp of a change. A strategy was created for change. A building. A coach. Recruits. One thing at a time. And if we play it right -- particularly(as someone said) in the coach that follows Rick -- we have the chance to join the Cards, Blues and Rams as a real sports "franchise". So Roy, whether we play again at Scottrade or EddyDome, I don't know. But I'll bet you a beer (or two) that scalpers will be selling Billiken tickets above face value in the next 2 years. Bet?

Uaj, disagree. St. Louis is not a front-running sports town. Obviously, there is a correlation to wins/losses and attendance in this town. There is a limit to what the fan will endure. But this is a fabulous sports town. To wit: - In 25 years in STL, the Football Cardinals played a grand total of ZERO home playoff games. Never won a playoff game in their history. Way under .500 record. Yet, week in and week out played in front of good crowds. In the last few years, the attendance dwindled a bit because of Bill Bidwill's threat to move the team if he didn't get a new stadium. The inherent trust required between ownership and fans became broken. It is incredible in my mind that any town could support the notoriously worst-run franchise in professional sports. But this market did. - Through a 6-42 record over the last 3 seasons, the Rams were the worst team (or tied for worst) in the NFL. While attendance did shrink somewhat in the Dome, somehow or other, Rams fans have largely stuck with the team. With the absolutely wretched play on the field, inept drafts and laughable front office soap operas, it is amazing even 20,000 people showed up. But this market did. - The Blues, winners of zero Stanley Cups in their history, and floating around .500 since Mr. Checkits and Co came to town, average 19,150 -- sell outs -- at Scottrade. Blues fans are an amazingly loyal group. The only time in recent memory this wasn't the case was after Mr. Laurie sold off the best parts of the team before selling to Checkits. Again, the inherent trust between ownership and fans had been broken. Mr. Checkits has largely repaired this to his great credit. - The Cardinals have always drawn well but of course this has been tremendously true since Whitey emerged on the scene. Nuff said. So, yes, the Cardinals have a great winning tradition and it shows at the turnstile. But the Blues, Rams (1 Super Bowl and 1 Super Bowl loss) and Football Cardinals -- not so much. This market has been tremendously loyal. One of the best -- if not the best -- sports towns in the US. Sporting News even named us this.