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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.

One of my pet peeves is that our starting 5 does not put us in best position to win...regardless of what "system" Rickma wants to run. Aren't we a better team with Bryce at 5, Barry at 4, Luke at 3 and either Kevin/Tommie at 1/2? I like Dwayne. He brings us energy and defense. Hate to say it, but with him in the game: - Barry tries to play 5. He's not a five and we're all wondering why he's disappeared - Luke tries to play 4. For all his moxie, not gonna work. Hasn't worked for years. - Dwayne goes o-fer. Defense cheats off him, bringing more attention to our guards and Barry And when Bryce IS in the game, without Barry at his side at 4, we limit HIS ability to succeed. I'm not convinced our defense or ball-handling would take enough of a hit without Dwayne in the game. Is it simply lack of depth that prevents playing people where they belong? Can't we get Knollmeyer into the rotation -- at least briefly -- to give Bryce and Barry a breather? Someone tell me: wouldn't we have a better chance to win getting our best 2 bigs in the game at the same time. Dwayne comes off bench to give us energy boost and breather for Kevin/Tommie.

Agree that Eckerle has had decent year, especially for freshman. But having Polk getting so many minutes doesn't give us good chance to win. He should come in off bench occasionally for high energy defense. RM should be playing KL, TL, LM, BH and BE. BE has nice touch around basket. Can handle the 4, not the 5. When you have too many guys getting minutes that can't hit broad side of barn, you don't give yourself a chance.

Roy, Agree. Eberhardt and Husak need to play together, in proper positions. Polk doesn't do enough to justify his minutes. Another o-fer. 3-16 over last 3 games (.1875). At some point, we need someone to knock down a shot. Last night Polk, Eckerle, Eberhardt, Brown and Luke shot a combined 2-25 (.08). I wasn't at the game and don't know if they were good looks or not. But judging by Majerus' post-game comments... Do we have anyone that can shoot?

Actually, everyone here is right. But here's the real key: Revenue in the sports business is built on product. It drives everything. Product in the sports business is built largely on the players. Coaches and other things, too. Mostly players. In the college game -- since players aren't paid -- the excitement derived from playing in a winning environment and TV exposure are the currencies of recruiting. If you want to build revenue, you can take a smaller check now from CSTV. Or keep the games on the tube and take a bigger check later when your better recruiting, better product, better attendance, better TV money... drive real revenue. The schools that take the short term cash have a different objective. Low-risk, non-commitment, pay down costs. Status quo. The schools that take the long view have a different objective. Commitment to excellence, investment in product. Bigger pot. Sad to say, the U had the short term view for way too many years. Now that they're moving to the long view, A10 deal goes the wrong way. But I find it a bit disingenuous that Cheryl was furious about the deal. Couldn't she have underwritten the TV fees by taking her CSTV check and sending it to a local broadcast carrier, cancelling the rights fee? I'm guessing some variation of that plan is what the A10 announced this year, the day before she resigned.

Don't remember that quote. A good one it is, though! Also don't think he coached varsity basketball. But he did coach varsity baseball at the Uhigh.

I am not as astute in the Xs and Os of the game as some of you, but... it looks like they are beginning to understand the offensive system. Over the last 2 games (1 win, 1 loss -- both admittedly ugly), the Bills have consistently gotten good looks at the basket. The shots are just not falling. The coach may be contributing to a lack of confidence by being too frank in the media. But in general, the system is beginning to take hold. Even Pujols can slump with the bat. I remain confident that shooters will be shooters and short term success is not too far away.

How many of these guys are still living? Most would be in their early 80s by now. Miller, Macauley are still alive. Tony Rubich has passed away. Not 100% about the others.

I agree that the attendance was pretty poor Saturday. People who saw me at the game wondered why I was there. Like it or not, a national TV game for #1 spot in college football land is an outstanding entertainment event. Hard for Bills -- or anyone else in St. Louis sports -- to compete with it. The Blues were off. If they were playing at home Saturday, their attendance would have been way down, too. I'm not too worried about Bills attendance or Rick's ability to charm. In the days of Spoonball, the U was in the TOP 5 in all college basketball attendance, averaging around 16,000. That was for a team in the top 35-45 range and no recent basketball heritage to speak of. While the U ran a nice Spoonball campaign, the basketball product put butts in seats. Exciting, partially home-grown, in the NCAAs, etc. Charlie's image helped it. Our market is large. There is no NBA team. A lot of local alums. But it is the product that's important. While not as smooth as Charlie, Rick is a very engaging speaker. His passion and humor hits you in the face. His speech at the MAC a few months back was outstanding and very funny. His speech for the Alums at Busch Center was passionate if not quite as funny. Seemed a little tired, honestly. Joe, you mentioned the good job the Blues are doing. Right you are. The key difference is that the Blues invested in product/players that could have an immediate impact. Once they did that, the "Whatever It Takes" campaign became credible...and provided lots of customer-friendly areas for in-game events, ticket promotions, etc. Without the product, a campaign like that would have been DOA. But the important thing is to get the Billiken product fixed. That's what Rick is busy doing. Around the time the U gets around to hiring an AD and the staff has the money and bandwidth to actually think about marketing, Rick will be well on his way to fixing the product. Then you'll see our Chaifetz Arena was built too small.

For those traveling to tonight's Mo State game, I just found out that the University is helping to throw a pre-game bash at JBucks Springfield location. Time: 5-6:30 Open to all Billiken fans. 2825 S. Glenstone...in the Battlefield Mall. Wish I was going.

I'm not sure why this isn't being picked up by someone. While I'm not an expert in telecast rights and what $$ ESPN-regional is asking FSN-Pittsburgh and other regional sports channels to show it, it seems like Fox Sports Midwest could sell it to sponsors. They're airing basically nothing at that time. Of course, they have little to no cost in what they're currently airing -- which is good for them. But no revenue upside either. To make a go of airing the Bills, they'd have to make more bottom line $ in advertising revenue after subtracting additional telecast costs. I'd like to know what that rights fee is. And if it isn't too much -- at this late date -- seems like something SLU might pay for itself or go 50/50 with the station. Getting a top game on the tube is probably a better marketing spend than other marketing budget items. Channel 5, who is sometimes more aggressive in picking up these games, has the Sunday Night NFL package with pre-game. Pre-empting NBC and the NFL is not gonna happen. Channel 11 is also possible. Plus Charter channel. Maybe someone will pull the trigger but I suspect it is too late. Wonder why a deal didn't get done. If the economics work for Pitt for home game in Pittsburgh, why wouldn't they work for a road game against top-ranked team back to St. Louis at the start of the Majerus Era? Head scratcher.

I did a quick search of our opponents' TV schedules. The only games games scheduled to be televised to the home market of our opponent -- and not currently on the Billikens TV schedule -- are the two games with Dayton (1/12 and 1/30) and Charlotte (2/23.) All else equal, these games are the easiest to add to the schedule since TV production crews and financials are already in place. Have no idea if any of these make it to the final TV schedule but it is possible. Will be interesting to see if any other games are added.

Agree that Athletic Department and Alumni Relations deserve kudos. Coach, too. This event was actually his idea. Since he doesn't like open practices or Midnight Madness, he thought this kind of format would be nice for alums and fans of the program. He is a great asset to the U. Basketball-wise, I thought the most interesting subject was Tommie. RM said he's playing "too back" or something similar. Said he's not going to play until he plays better defense and takes better care of ball. While I'm sure there are mind games involved, it sounded like he was serious about making him a better player. He also talked about how crucial his D was to "team" defense effort, how it will help shore up other match-up problems we might have under the basket. Very nice event.

Agree! When I asked if I could bring a guest, answer was "the more the merrier." I think they're looking for a nice crowd.

Actually, can't believe no one is talking about this yet. Tonight's the night. Rickma live at Busch Student Center. Here's the line-up: - 6:30 p.m. - Bratwurst, Hot Dogs and soft drinks (while supplies last) in the tailgate tent near Busch Center - Doors open 6:45 p.m. to the Busch Center Ballroom - Participate in Q&A with Coach Majerus ... (wonder if he'll answer any Memphis questions) - Take virtual tour of Chaifetz Arena - Get player autographs - Register for Billiken prizes I got answers to a couple of other questions I had from the Alumni office... 1) Is this FREE? YESSSSS! 2) Do I have to make a reservation? NO. 3) Do I have to be an alum to attend? NO. 4) Can I bring a guest (or two or three)? YES! The Alumni Relations Department, SLU Athletics Department and The Billiken Club are sponsoring this shindig. If this is anything like Rick's appearance at the MAC a month ago, this should be a VERY good time! I'll be there.

The closest hotel is the Sheraton, caddycorner to the ScotTrade Center. If you want to spend a little more the Westin is also close. About 4 or 5 blocks away.

Hate to say it but I disagree. V's post is newsworthy to Billikens fans. We know Rick has put very big priority on recruiting local kids. He has one, perhaps two schollies to hand out still and seems intent on doing it. If a St. Louis kid makes a decision to de-commit, I want to know about it. This is news. While the Roundtree news was bigger news, information of this type is appropriate and interesting for Billikens.com. Whether or not Rick and Co decide to recruit him (and ethics of doing so) are other subjects and not the point, of course. V is not spamming the site any more than Nate posting articles he believes are of interest to Billikens fans. Thanks, V for posting this new info.

You're correct. Rick mentioned " I have ideas I'll share with Fr. Biondi..." about what conference he'd like to see the Billikens play in. But then he elaborated, "...I'd really like to see us in the Big East."

BRoy, To your point about a night at humps with the Coach and it being a dream night for any sports nut... After the luncheon, he offered the following: -host an alumni night on agreeable date in October -starts 1/2 hour before practice ends -alums invited into the closed practice -party continues after practice in WPG While I don't work for the U, if they were smart, they'd take this and run. Beer, wine, cheese...maybe ravioli for Rick. Keep it easy. But lots of opportunities to chat with the coach over a beer on his home turf -- the gym. There is no better front man for us with alums than RickMa. He offered this up without being asked. WOW. Since there will be no midnight practice event when practice season officially opens, this kind of event will easily make up for it. Has potential to be even better.

I read it over vacation last month. Good, quick read. I like his approach on recruiting -- putting full court press on -- but not getting overinvested in a kid who has no real interest in playing for him. He'll be great for us. Already is.