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I think SLU has made a big mistake with how they've set up admission policy. I've eaten there once and it was 10% occupied -- if that. Lorenzini's should be THE place to gather before games. Full of pre-game excitement. Video showing recent Billiken highlights. Pictures of all Billiken greats. Video highlights from previous years. Coming to fever pitch as game time approaches. Much like the feel during the Chaifetz Open House. The place to be. It is none of that. It has the mood of a dreary funeral home. It's too bad because it has a modern layout, the bar area is trendy, Anheuser-Busch dropped north of six figures into the beer/tap equipment -- all state of the art. It has the potential to burst with Billiken energy -- if they'd only let it. My position isn't that every tom, dick and harry should walk right in. But any season ticket holder should have access. There should be pre-game promotions there. Eventually, you'll have to call a week ahead of time for reservations. Excitement should spill out to the seats as the pre-game intros are made. Ramsey and Earl could do post-game show from there. Stays open for a couple hours post-game to revel in another win.

I did a little research on the 1997 victory at Carbondale and Larry's performance. Amazing... - Salukis still leading by 8 -- 76-68 -- with 2 1/2 minutes left - Billikens finish with 17-0 run to win 85-76 Larry's line: - 35 points - 15 in last 10 minutes - 4 assists - 7 rebounds - 3 steals - Named C-USA Player of the Week for that performance - His 35-point game tied him (at that time) for the 12th best single-game Billiken performance in history - Later that season he twice beat that performance with 37 vs. UAB and 40 vs. Marquette

My favorite -- surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet -- was the amazing road win at Carbondale during Larry Hughes' year at SLU. The Bills were down by 12-15 points in the second half. Loud, raucous crowd, as usual. Larry put the Bills on his back and pulled a victory from jaws of defeat. Just an unbelievable performance. I'll have to go to the books for Larry's game stats. But still the most thrilling Bills game I've witnessed. For a freshman to do that in a hostile environment, just wow. It made the 2-hour drive back to STL seem like 30 minutes!

Taj, Since you asked, the spelling of Larry's last name is Baricevic. Very good guy, passed away 8-10 years ago. His son John is still in town and runs his own recording studio/production company. The nun you mentioned was sister Alene. Great gal, taught a public speaking course I took. Not sure if she's still among us. Thanks for sharing some great memories.

The actual link is: http://www.channelsurfing.net/watch-st-louis.html Someone's on the court now shooting warm-ups.

One of the best national anthem performances I've heard -- anywhere in any sport. I recall Guy Phillips introducing him as a Nashville recording artist. My question -- besides who is he -- is what did SLU have to pay him?

Yes, it is the Carrie Underwood concert. Coach K did not seem to be upset about this. Since the Bills didn't make the tourney last year, it seemed a bit of a stretch to hold open home dates as far out as is necessary to secure first round games. I posted this already a few weeks back. But I'll say it again...this is a very good team. Killer instinct. And flat out fun to watch. I'm going to look into travel to KY.

A friend of mine at the U gave me a heads up on SLU activities at Carbondale tomorrow: 1. Billikens Pre-game reception Cambira Room of the SIUC Student Center - 5 p.m. (Game - 7 p.m.) Open to all Billiken fans. Need not be an alum or Billiken Club member (though many will be there!) Beer/soda/burgers/brats Game ticket and reception - $25 Reception only - $10 Register by 12 Noon Tuesday (day of game) - https://billikenalumni.slu.edu/siuc08 or (314) 977-2250 2. Billiken Club Bus Trip -- there are still some seats left $65 -- includes game ticket and transportation to game Billiken Club members only. To register, contact Margo at (314) 977-8180 Let's bring home a winner and put the UDM game behind!

You know, this Lady Bills team gets little attention on this board. But let me tell you. This is an outstanding team. And like the mens basketball team, very entertaining. Flat out fun. They have big time talent. Tremendous competitors. Over 20 wins. Ranked 21st in the country; #9 in RPI. I had never seen them play but have now seen two games in recent weeks. If you have a chance to watch them either in the NCAA tourney or in one of their warm ups in the next few weeks, don't miss the chance.

What in the world was the University thinking when they decided to announce this with only 24 hours notice? Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy they did it. Need to do more of it... But were they intentionally trying to keep it secret? Did the Athlectic Department forget to let anyone know until last minute? Was Rick late in confirming that he'd do it? In any case, this is bush league. Not the way major events are produced.

I've heard the same thing...October 30 event, details forthcoming.

What did Dukes pull after the home run? I was sitting behind the plate and didn't notice anything. Of course, I wasn't paying much attention to him after the ball left the park.

Indeed, he will be missed. Beyond never aging a day and having that great memory, he had the wonderful talent of making freshman feel at ease in the big high school world. That great memory helped make kids feel like they were somebody, important to the larger school. He helped me through quite a personal crisis -- I'll never forget him.

Billikan, completely agree with you. I've been around him twice -- at the MAC event and right before the season at his Busch Center event on campus. If someone wouldn't have stopped him, he probably would have stayed all afternoon and night talking hoops, talking politics, talking recruiting (if he could have gotten away with it!)...just talking. I don't recall Claiborne being at either event. Wonder why. Also, to set the record straight, the Busch Center event he hosted was HIS idea. I was standing there when he suggested it, unsolicated, after the MAC event. Originally he wanted it held at West Pine Gym during last 30 minutes of practice -- then food and refreshments and talk. It was moved to Busch Center for reasons unknown. But it was his idea either way. He was entertaining to put it mildly. And he was not put off in the least that he had to be there. He loves to hold court. I agree that he could do the local media rounds more often. Roy, like you, I agree he's said a few things about the team that were better said in the locker room. And to small degree, Claiborne had a few good points as to boorish behavior. But otherwise, Claiborne's comments were nuts as earlier posters noted. Also, I disagree on Claiborne's comment that he hasn't taken any of the blame for some of the losses. At the time he gave up the plan of completely putting his system in, he said he'd made a mistake, that his assistants suggested some adjustments and that he did it. In related interviews (in print and on radio), he also said he needed to install a zone defense, had no idea how to install one and was thankful his assistants could do it for him. Also saw him quoted in the Post-Dispatch the morning after a loss, taking blame for a tactical coaching decision that contributed to a loss. Can't remember exactly what it was any longer. But I made a mental note at the time. Would I like to hear him more often on radio, in paper, etc? YES. Once a week with Rammer and the occasional sit down with Bernie isn't enough. Rickma is a great interview. Highly intelligent, funny...interesting. Heck, would love for him to be on the Sports Plus couch on Sunday nights and with Savard. Would love to hear him post-game but with his overmatched team last year, his time was better spent in locker room. He also came in very late last year, was way behind in recruiting and had his work cut out. And as we all know, the job isn't done yet -- even for this year. He's got 2 very big recruit slots to fill that have potential to make next year a very good year and future years even better. Actually, I'm glad that he is prioritizing. That's what a good chief has to do. He's way better off hitting the recruiting trail, building a winner -- than entertaining me (and building Claiborne's ego.) Plenty of time for that later. Sorry Mike. No sale.

Why is it highly unlikely? For moderately good Billiken teams under Spoon, the average was over 16,000. When the product is there, people will come. It is a proven fact. Most of those big crowds weren't Rams fans...they were alums and students and general basketball fans awakened from a multi-decade Billiken slumber. That was accomplished without the major University commitment in place today; top fight coach and facility. Now with a chance to capitalize on our market size, lack of NBA team, Rickma and facility, we underbuild. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall and reviewed the financials. Obviously, there was a budget. And it was crucial that the offices and workout facility be attached -- no question about it. But was the overall budget built based on projected demand and resulting revenue? My guess is that it wasn't...it probably was based on what CL thought she could raise from various sources. If it was based on projected demand and revenue, either the incremental construction cost exceeded the incremental revenue ... or someone was seriously underestimating revenue. What would the debt service have been on another 3,000 seats? But hey, I love the new building. In fact, I think the concourse is better than Scottrade. The bar downstairs - Lorenzini's - reminds me of the Busch Stadium club. Very nice. Anheuser-Busch made a major equipment investment there (as well as a significant cash investment overall.) I'm pumped. In a couple of years, the Bills will be the toughest ticket in town... But have to admit I spent 10 minutes yesterday trying to figure out how to hang a mezzanine over the suites on each side Hate leaving money on the table. Congrats to the U for making what seemed like the impossible 10 years ago -- possible.

Lots of good comments, guys. And before I respond, please know that I'm thrilled we have a new building that it is, by all accounts, one of the finest facilities in the country. But here's where I differ: 1) the building was originally going to hold at least 13,500. the reason it was reduced had nothing to do with coziness. it was money. attaching the practice facility had to be fit into budget. 2) there is a pent-up demand for basketball in this city. we are a borderline NBA city. with the lower cost of fielding a top flight D1 college team (compared to NBA team), i think there is no reason the billikens couldn't be built into a very popular, big-selling -- and profitable -- property here. why? we've already done it 10 years ago with minimal marketing. spoon built the product. and they came. 3) yes, smaller building will keep the competition's riff raff out to some degree. but per A10 rules, a portion of the tickets still have to be held out for other team anyway. as i understand it, home team cannot completely cut other school out. 4) yes, the new baseball stadiums have gotten smaller. their luxury suites, however, have increased. the cardinals, for example, have twice the number of luxury suites as old Busch did. that money is kept by the home team, not shared as the rest of the ticket revenue is. but hockey and basketball arenas, like Scottrade, have not gotten smaller. the name of the game is building the facility to maximize revenue. the more fans in the building, the more concessions, the more parking, the more licensed merchandise and the higher the fees that can be charged for corporate sponsorship and in-arena signage. we already know (roughly) the demand in st. louis for a moderately successful D1 program. the billikens are leaving way too much money on the table. 5) yes, cards and rams (and now blues again) have influenced the spend of the local sports dollar. however, i ask you: regardless of how the cardinals finish this year or the blues or rams start next year, if RM goes 10-0 to start the season next year, what kind of buzz do you imagine would occur? i don't say this to predict that the bills will go 10-0. only saying: just win. if the entertainment product is there, people will hang from rafters and find a way to pay for it. it'll probably affect local movie theatres more than other teams' ticket sales. in the past, success was hard to maintain. charlie finally wore out trying to recruit without the commitment necessary. slu has finally committed to a big name coach, their own facility. as predicted, this allows us to build better product via better recruits. now with a chance to capitalize on the size of our market and product demand, we go backwards. the former powers-that-be lack the vision to dream...or at least remember... i'm not a finance person and have never looked at the numbers. so quite possible that the bean counters looked at it and said for anything 15,000 and over, it would never pay for itself in ongoing operation (even with fundraising in place for a good piece of the construction costs.) but i can say that there would be demand for the product, a more imposing facility for the competition to play in, an even more impressive facility for high school prospects to tour...and more revenue.

This is one of my favorite, pet-peeve subjects. Yes, the ticket prices are going up. Yes, a small building will be loud. But a 10,700-capacity arena is much too small. Here's why. 1) Our current average attendance is around 9500. So we're only adding about 1,000 in capacity to the lackluster current attendance. 2) We are the only college basketball game in town with no NBA team 3) We are the #18 market in population in the US with a heavy Catholic population and others with fondness to the University 4) In the Spoonhour regime, with a team ranked roughly from 32-45 in USAToday poll, we were the #4 college basketball team in attendance in all of US, with a per game average of approximately 16,500. Yes, relative ticket prices were cheaper. 5) Again, in the same regime, we drew over 32,000 for Illinois and 25,000 for Missouri at the TWA Dome 6) A bigger arena with more people will be louder than a smaller arena with fewer people 7) While more expensive, the tickets will still be a value vs. Blues, Rams, etc. Now we have Rick. Our own building. The best recruiting class in our history. The future is up. Are we so lacking in confidence in our future that we build a building 6,000 seats SMALLER than our average attendance 10 years ago? If we were a small college town, I'd say OK with 10,000. But few other universities can match the population size of St. Louis, single D-1 in town, no NBA team...and a PROVEN demand for the product (during spoon regime.) Are we saying that Rick can't at least develop the same excitement that Charlie did? Very counterintuitive to me.

A friend just sent this to me and I thought a number of posters might be interested. Diane, perhaps a good job for you? Haven't spoken to you in a while so I don't know if you've landed a first gig yet. I don't work for the U thus don't have any particular insight. But for anyone with half a warm marketing brain cell -- and a soft spot for our favorite team -- this could be tailor-made. MARKETING COORDINATOR - Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University (St. Louis, MO) http://comcast-spectacor.teamworkonline.co...k/r.cfm?i=17601

Couple thoughts: 1) Guess which university in St. Louis has the most Catholic students...Not SLU. Not Fontbonne. It's UMSL. It's the biggest Catholic school in town. Kids without the money for out-of-town Mizzou or in-town SLU opt for UMSL. Chances are just as good that UMSL fans are Billikens fans as Mizzou fans. 2) Brian's earlier post: "My problem with Bernie (I think many other's problem too) was the undeserved shots that Bernie would take at Billiken fans. All of Bernie's points about the way the program was run were brought up by many on this board consistently. In fact many people on this board were as hard or harder on Biondi. None of us owe Bernie a thanks. The thanks should be saved for Chaifetz and Novelly. Bernie had nothing to do with Biondi's new found commitment to hoops. Also, remember to thank yourself when you are making out the checks for season tickets next year and the following years. Average Billiken season ticket holders will be footing a large chunk of this new commitment." Disagree and agree. Agree, of course, we all owe a ton of thanks to Chaifetz and Novelly. They contributed mightily to the financial side. And of course I'm not saying (never did say) that we owe more to Bernie than the others. I just said within the P-D sports department, Bernie is the best. Disagree otherwise. I don't believe that Bernie's shots at fans were undeserved. While Bernie knows that there is a very passionate group of Billikens fans (including many on this Board, specifically mentioning Roy to me) who wanted and pushed for the best, he was calling out a larger group of Billikens fans that were too satisfied with mediocrity. His message was: Billikens Fans -- you're too soft. Hold Biondi accountable. Don't be satisfied with the CYC mentality. Don't defend the "they're our cute little Billikens" mentality. Don't accept losing. Don't accept the old St. Louis Browns mantra: "maybe next year". Face it, folks. This Board is the minority. To the rest: Wake Up. If you really want a top program, go the hell after it. Demand more. I was, in fact, happy he took his shots. I never took it personally because I knew he wasn't referring to passionate nuts like me and others on this Board. His shots were the equivalent of Message Board "bumps", continually raising the issue, challenging the status quo and, yes, challenging the soft and protective "don't criticize my Billikens" fans. Bernie also was willing to go on record with those shots -- unlike other media gladhanders -- who talk (or laugh) behind SLU's back. Exactly how much did any of this have to do with the dramatic changes that have occured in SLU basketball over the last few years? Did his constant harping for a new Arena (promised/discussed for over a decade) and other upgrades cause enough grumblings from alums and doners to get Biondi's and the University Board's attention? Or at least move the priority a little higher on the agenda? Hard to say exactly. But I remain firmly convinced that it played a rather large role in creating discussion and the agitation to act. You know, sometimes the best prize fighters don't fight their best until their opponent lands the perfect right hook.

I completely agree with earlier thoughts on the poor article in today's P-D. As I read it, almost thought I hadn't attended the same game. Kevin's performance last night was the best example of "carrying a team on your back" that I've witnessed since Larry Hughes did something very similar on the road against SIU-Carbondale long ago. While I didn't see Burrell's post-game antics along the sideline, I DID see the free throw line nose-to-nose initimidation with Kevin seconds before he took his free throw. Never in my life have I seen that before. Why a technical was not called, I have no idea. I literally came out of my seat when I saw it. Could 3 refs have completely missed it? Even after Burrell took his spot along the lane, he actually continued to talk trash to Kevin as he took the free throw. I didn't know that trashing free throw shooter while shooting was legal. Is it? Grounds for technical? Or just a re-shoot? In any case, amazing game, despite the loss.

Wow, right you are! Didn't even think to check whether the feed would be in HD. While the cost of HD production has come way down over the last few years, it is still quite a bit more expensive to produce HD games. It is not just a function of needing HD cameras which are obviously more expensive. The bigger expense is the all-digital HD production. The production trucks (the ones that sit outside the arena) must be all digital HD switching, editing, slo-mo, etc.

PLUS, those of you with high-definition, the game will be broadcast on ESPN2-HD. The Billikens in HD! Is this a first? Or were they broadcast somewhere in HD last year? I'm TiVoing the game in HD to watch when I get home from the real thing.

Postcard, You are right on this subject -- for the most part. The Post doesn't really care about who is local, who isn't, who is having better season, who isn't. I doubt Dan Caeser is right about triple the ratings. But he is more right than wrong. The Post just is all about delivering what the reader wants. At its core, what is more newsworthy. Is it newsworthy that the Billikens are trudging through yet another lackluster season? NO. Is it newsworthy that they knocked off a high RPI team? Not really. Why? Their history is that they'll lose the next game. Up, down, snooze, boring. Is it newsworthy that Rickma gets more attention for his political views than his basketball team? Absolutely. It is unusual. It creates talk, interest. Sells papers. Gets tons of clicks at STLToday.com. Who cares about the Billikens when their coach is getting Biondi and Burke in a wrestling match. That's a story. Is it newsworthy that 4 guys get kicked off Mizzou's team in some mysterious event? Hell YES. Is it newsworthy that basically that same team knocked off a top team, a rival, on the road? Hell YES. Would it be newsworthy next year if the Billikens started 10-0? Absolutely. This market is craving for a winning Billiken basketball team. People talk about looking back to the Spoon days. I say look back to Grawer days. Just a lousy NIT invite had this town going nuts. Being in finals of NIT two years in a row was like being in the World Series, media-wise. Crazy when you think about it. But shows the good feelings / hope they do well mentality the casual sports fan in this town has for the Bills. Just win, baby. Then there'll be more press coverage than we know what to do with. We need to EARN our coverage. Having said all that...there is some bias in the Sports Dept. There have been numerous questionable coverage decisions over the years. Kind of hard not to be -- with many of the writers J School grads. Like it or not, historically Mizzou basketball has made more news, more trips to post-season, etc. They deserve most of the press they get -- both good and bad. Now to end this post with what will seem really crazy, is seemingly counter to paragraph above and will get me lambasted by most everyone on this Board: I believe the best media person in St. Louis as it relates to the Billikens is none other than the P-D's Bernie Miklasz. While he has taken a few shots over the years that may have been over the line (he's trying to sell newspapers, too), NO ONE has tried harder, pushed, cujoled, dragged-them-kicking-and-screaming, pleaded, or guilted SLU and Fr. Biondi into committing to a REAL basketball program, into committing to what Biondi said he wanted -- a top 50 program -- like our friend Bernie. I know Bernie makes some of us mad. He "outs" our beloved U. Says things we don't like to hear. But generally, Bernie is fair and honestly wants nothing better for our city and University than a big-time, successful program. Since the decision to build the Chaifetz Arena and hire Rickma, Bernie has been one of our biggest supporters. Great, supportive columns. Who was one of the first people to take Rick to dinner, introduce him to the City, take him on a guided tour of city historic landmarks -- make Rick feel welcomed?? Bernie Miklasz. Who was able to take Rick to dinner again after the stem cell story broke? Bernie. He likes our city. Sure, Bernie has to cultivate newsmakers. But believe it or not, he wants the best for SLU. Next time you run into Bernie on the street, thank him for his persistent, dogged (sometimes brutal) efforts to get our program upgraded. In a couple years when we should be on a different basketball stage, thank him again.

Skip, You're preaching to the choir! We simply need some kind of post game. Your line-up puts our 3, 4 and 5 in their natural positions -- at the same time. Playing Barry as a 5 makes no sense. Plus, playing him with Bryce should keep opponent's post defense honest. Playing Luke at 4 -- except where needed to give Barry a break -- also makes no sense. Kevin and/or Tommie are athletic enough to handle the ball. Agreed -- not as good as Dwayne -- but not signficantly worse. The result: more or less 5 on 5 in the half court. Much better than the 3 on 5 we usually see. Now the question: can you sell it to Rickma?

Thanks, Roy. I can't believe we don't at least try this. If Knollmeyer and Relphorde aren't ready to get a couple minutes here and there each half, jeez, we could call an extra time out to give Bryce and Barry and extra breather if we had to. There always seems to be a time out or two left unused -- at least in the first half. Mike Martz used to make a living off this Since neither Bryce or Barry are picture perfect at their respective natural positions, we handcuff each of them MORE by not playing them together. Much rather see Barry making nice post moves at the 4, drawing some attention away from Bryce. Free up Luke at wing. Then you'd have our 2 guards actually guarded -- and everyone set up to succeed as much as they can. Before anyone thinks I'm bashing Rickma, I'm not. I'm the happiest guy in the world he's at the U. That said, he's not 100% right all the time. No one is. Plus, I was actually hoping anyone on the board could poke holes in my strategy. Agree that there is some risk if the bench can't be extended a bit. Worth a try, though, IMO.