MB73

This is much better than the Grinch mascot, a weird, goofy thing, or the original, pudgy, Buddah type Billiken. The new one is strong, smiles at you while he kicks your ass. It is tough to win a game when your uniform has something on it that looks like it would be pushed around, bullied. I like it.

Missouri University will suffer for many years because of spineless leadership backing off from the agitators intimidation and threats.

Significantly better than previous.

Yes, I am aware, but do not find it to be believable, nor should you. The 30 AA football players strike for Butler? What a coincidence. When they said that I laughed. Pinkels ruse, for appearance sake.

Nope. The list of demands are all race based. Nothing about healthcare subsidies. The football players on the tweet are all AA.

Summary: two random instances, the forbidden N word allegedly used by unknown individuals, in Sept and October, it is early November. SO what? mystery organizations on campus go berserk... where did they come from? Are they funded? Why would they make an issue of two small incidents? Why would they demand Wolfe be fired, to ruin his career, he has been professional about it, what do they think he should have done in a short time, not knowing if or who made these statements? 30 or so brainless football team members, a team very very well known the last 5+ years for violence against women, drug abuse, DUI's, other offenses, jump in with a strike, are being used and they do not even know it the University is faced with the threat of damaging national attention, Reverend Al, the DOJ looking through their emails, you name it. Whoa! so they make Wolfe the scapegoat... pay him a few years severance (over/under = $ 1M) but make him sign confidentiality agreement or it is returned; hurry up get this done ASAP so the kids can practice and the media cools off and we can fend this off Now MU can play football, Pinkel gets his $4M a year, the team gets the SEC big bucks for the University, the players will mostly graduate with no useful skills or knowledge Is this all a coincidence? Will other campuses coincidentally erupt with fabricated racial tensions? What if the N word is shouted out at SLU, twice, do you lefties think our President needs to be forced out if he doesn't do something in 2 months? If so what should he do? The race card wins these days..... plenty of air cover. This is not over. (try to get BYU - 4 while you still can)

So in September N word yelled out of car. Again in October. So some radical activists demand that Wolfe resign and the black members of the football team strike. Less than 2 days, he's forced out. What did Wolfe do? Why is his career ruined? Does this sound appropriate to have him pushed out? Sickening to me.

All of the six (6) 2014 recruits were ESPN 3* and 2*, one (1) this year was 3*, one (1) 2*, the one (1) from Canada (Neufield) is not rated. So 8 of 9 recruits that Crews is responsible for are either 3* or 2*, + Neufield from Canada. Going back 40 years, we pretty much never, ever, ever get 4*-5* other than the Hughes fluke and a few that are arguable. So 2 yrs, eight (8) recruits that are all 3* & 2* + Neufield from Canada who seems to be a quality talent but who's rating might have not been captured. So tell me when we have done better... sure we do not know if these nine will develop into top notch players... but coming in, that is damn good recruiting by Crews and staff.

Pitchers today are significantly bigger and stronger than 30-40 years ago, most all lift weights and go through other strength programs, stuff creatine in their face, and many use HGH... and then of course throw harder than ever. Good? For many, yes, but it often backfires because the extra bulk/muscle, and strength puts too much pressure on elbows, joints, shoulders, etcetera, and and injury occurs. It is a risk for starters to consistently go > 100 pitches or they are on the DL. To boot, since their pay has increased 10,000% (whatever) since Gibby* and Sandy pitched, their agents realize it is wise to play the stats game and make sure they do not overextend themselves "for the team". (* I played 18 holes with Gibby, same cart, about 10 years ago, he was a good guy, but do NOT ask him about pitching inside, every assh*le he meets, that is the first thing they bring up)

The ball was flying out of Wrigley both days; it happens there a lot. The Cubs are built for that. Baez's fluke Wrigley homer made it over that foo foo basket contraption over the cheap ivy wall, another Chicago wind blown HR. Cubs will choke. They cannot help it. It is in their nature. The Cardinals didn't come through, won't win their 12th World Series this year.

MB73 absolute facts: 9 homers in two games at tiny, windy Wrigley field by the 'lil Cubs: IMO only 3 would have been out of Busch or most grown up real man baseball parks we had 7 key players OUT or playing hurt after long layoffs: Molina-Martinez-Walden-Holliday-Adams-Grichuk-Wainwright, then Garcia only went 2 innings (stomach virus???) ... this all finally caught up with us unfortunately Holliday was not right, not 100% ready, and should not have played in the playoffs, we should have played 5 tool Grichuk in every game for his HR power and Piscotty in the OF with Heyward, Moss to 1B injuries are killing pro sports, these creatine-swallowing-HGH-using-weigh-lifting freaks are going too far... Holliday is at least 70 pounds heavier than Stan The Man... with all that extra muscle, what could go wrong? the Cardinals biggest future problem is the aging of four top players, especially Molina and Peralta, who are not replaceable with current roster players, and Holliday and Wainwright who are; there will be some tough decisions ahead we should offer Heyward 5 yrs/$20M/yr, tops, then walk. I expect some team will offer him 7 yrs/$22M. He is an outstanding, 4-5 tool player, wins games in ways that do not show up on box scores or WAR, but so much of his game is based on top end speed and a big man like him will likely lose a step in a few years, 7 years is big liability and throws our salary structure out of wack. There is a chance he will refine his swing and increase his HR production, but IMO 7 yrs/$22M is too much. Lackey is a warrior, but is gone... several teams will out bid us, and we do not want to pay him for 2 years, we have Waino-Martinez-Wacha-Garcia (we'll offer him an option year)-Lynn (he's way better than you think)-Lyons-Gonzales-Cooney coming back to start Piscotty could be a 5 tool star, is a strong hitter and a plus fielding outfielder, hate to see him have to play 1B, I think we will see Adams back and we'll move proven MLB power hitter Moss to be a platoon / backup OF and pinch hitter Pham is a 9 year minor league player for a reason, is talented but inconsistent at the plate, mistake prone in the OF, is not the long term solution in CF, nor of course is one tool slap hitter Jay who was a wasted spot on the playoff roster Carpenter is solid, Wong is 5 tool potential but needs to not to try to hit a 450 ft homer every time, hit the ball to all fields and the HR's will come Cardinals are a top tier club, one of the best organizations in professional sports, we didn't get it done, too bad, do not second guess Matheny, he is a solid manager

Are you an MD who has examined him? Do you have his medical record for this injury in front of you? There are valid reasons why they would keep him out of practice to strengthen him before making all of the necessary cuts and movements required in a D-1 basketball practice. It's early October. As usual, just ragging Crews.

18 wins. I think most posters here have figured out that last season's rotation approach of 12 men was an unfortunate anomaly. Our very young, inexperienced players most of whom were playing significant minutes in D-1 for the first time were hot and cold, there were some locker room issues, there was an unfortunate distribution of upperclassmen vs. underclassmen, and likely in some instances some kids did not do as they were told so they had to sit even when they appeared to hit a hot streak. So questionable opinions regarding the rationale for the rotation last year (over and over and over again) should cease, it is a new season, let's see how it goes this year.

We definitely need a fierce looking Billiken mascot.

I was fortunate to meet Yogi several times, there was a family connection. He knew my SLU background and always asked about the latest SLU scuttlebutt with true interest. As a local Catholic University, back in his day, before mass media, SLU was a much more formidable local topic of interest. He was a great ballplayer and a truly good man, the real deal, humble, polite, and genuine.

Most knowledgeable posters here did not really expect us to land Tatum, thus no real meltdown. Tatum is not an issue. The issue is whether or not the team improves after our super-young teams disappointing season last year. Are the 6 sophs Crews recruited talented? The new freshmen? Can the three upperclassmen step up with Crew's development and leadership? Can Crews coach them back to respectability, say, 18 victories? It is premature, immature, and unfair to decide and declare now that our new talent is sub par and everything is Crews fault and clutter this board repeatedly on this matter.

The same handful of loons that want a guy like Monson here, NOW, would have wanted Monson fired after his first year at Long Beach. Crew's first recruits were the freshmen from last year, it was a tough situation for many reasons, he deserves to run the show at least two more years before you throw your fits. How about the genius on here who already knows the talent (4: 3*'s and 2: 2*'s) of last year's freshmen is sub par. And do not forget how many on this board were calling for Majerus's scalp after his first year...

Backhand cites 1* and 2*'s, yet we are all 3* and 2*, of our six sophs, four are 3* and two are 2* according to ESPN. As for our freshmen, Welmer is 3*, Bishop 2*, Nuefield N/A from Canada. I know not everyone here will support ESPN, there are other credible ratings entities, I get it. To you: yes, The Fetz is a plus, but not a true decision point for the recruits, and our campus is nice for a city school, but not top notch, either, enough to impact a top recruit's decision. Sure, 3*-4*-5* players want to play for a top coach* and a winning program, but also important for them is to play in a power conference against the very best competition, and on TV regularly. (we badly need to get into the new Big East) SO, you cannot merely pin all recruiting issues on the coaching staff, alone... five 3*s and three 2*'s in two years + Neufield, not bad. *Majerus was a gift, a magical fluke of luck... we are hard pressed to get anyone who is "big time" like some here think: be realistic.

You never said it was purely financial... but the issue is many of your lil pals are saying it was purely financial and ignore that you said it was whether or not Tatum committed. And yes I quit my season tickets the last couple seasons... had them on and off for a total of about 18 years back to the 80's not sure exactly.

Old guy is correct. So if we signed Tatum, season tickets: yes. That does not change The Chosen One's financial resources. So TCO is full of ca ca.

OK, then, I am a 2.25, closer to a 2 than 3. Sure I am concerned, and though I reek of urine I do not slime the coach or our players on a personal level. We had an incredibly young team and things went badly last year. No reason to panic and throw hissy fits. And I went "over" the 15 that the blogger used, it does not mean I expect 15 wins. If the blogger said 13 I would go over. I'm sticking with 18 for now.

We have a frustrated lil poster who long ago posted his delight, his enthusiasm, for most every player when we announced the six 2014-2015 freshman recruits... Crew's first true 100% recruiting class... four 3*'s and two 2*'s. That's pretty good. Now he says they have no talent. Rips them. Posts over and over on numerous threads. And blasts the coach. Better off retired, he says. I know Crews credentials, and IMO he is better than 95% of the men we could bring in for his slot. The six played with no real senior or junior support yet he compares them to freshmen who did. To boot, they had too-young and inexperienced bigs, and deep experienced bigs are the key at our level, as we learned from Majerus (BC, CE, RL, CR, DE). And none of the freshmen PG's settled into their roles, but I think with a season under their belt and a summer to think about it (and weights), we will be OK at the PG slot. It is embarrassing the words he has used to describe one of the 2014-2015 5's from last year... berates him. It is personal. I say, by his junior year, he will contribute. I say, we really cannot go by last year's transition Perfect Storm year results and throw fits and rip our players and coach, with cheap shots galore. Yes, on Skip's scale, I am a 2.5. I am concerned about last year, concerned that the six kids couldn't show consistency, wondered why the rotation could not be solidified, and even the Bahamas performance makes me cringe. AND I understand team dynamics, how a team can jell, or not... how bad apples can get into other youngster's heads on a team ("you're getting f*cked, you should start, coach is an assh*ole..."). And how last year we might have been a lot better than our record. So I am looking to see how they do next season, they will still be very young (3 FR, 6 SOPH, 2 JR, 1 SR). I like the OVER with the whatever-he-is-whoever- blogger who says 15 wins. But I realize we really do not know if the kids will really step up. The six will need help from the three upperclassmen and maybe a freshman, we have a rather well known big, a freshman who I think is ready to contribute down low. I refuse to contribute any more to a "JC Hot Seat" thread. It is inappropriate. He is not on the hot seat. And meanwhile, constructive criticism is welcome as you see fit, go ahead and wonder, ask questions, but please no cheap personal shots from the doomsday death spiral 9; damn, try to show some class.

PISTOL: "I couldn't disagree more about the level of talent between the Romar-Soderberg teams and this current roster. We have way less talent right now, and I don't think it's even close." There are plenty more; so many of 'lil Pistol's cheap shot posts have trashed the team and the coach and still, he denies it, he hides behind the wording of one post. Our six sophs are Crews only true recruits, they show a lot of promise. In their circumstance with no real SR or JR leadership it was impossible for them to thrive. None of us know if they will succeed. Nor that they will not. So smearing the coach and berating the team's talent over and over and over because of one "Perfect Storm" year is despicable for a so called Billiken fan.

Yes, the 3 Bahamas performances are of concern and yes a bigger worry is the PG spot. But I believe a serviceable or even good PG or two will emerge this year, one will make a big jump, one or two will move up and contribute.

Pistol, on 31 Aug 2015 - 2:27 PM, said: Two starting posters on the Crews-hating 9 man "rotation" slime the coach and the team again. Your claims are weak, unfounded. Nobody knows about the bottom line of the issues cited on this inappropriate thread started by 'lil mm. We do not know the talent level for sure of the 6 freshmen, they are all 3* and 2* and most all had flashes of brilliance, though very little consistency. We will know a lot more, maybe be able to make intelligent assessments mid late season. Until then attacks like this are balderdash. Unfounded. The product of weak men who live in fear. I think 3 of the 6 sophomores will play very well, another one or two will contribute; Crawford will be a scorer and Reggie will have some big games scoring and be a consistent rebounder. And Ash will play good D and will contribute some points. Freshmen? I bet one of the bigs jells ASAP and provides some rim protection and garbage points. I say 18 wins, very possibly 20, I'll firm that up on the prediction thread. I say Crews is a much better coach than the 9 trolls suggest. We shall see.