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ThomasCrone

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    Tommie Liddell

    in Billikens.com Main Board

    Posted

    2 hours ago, RiseAndGrind said:

    I don’t know if you can/will answer this, but how did you decide to write about Tommie? Awsome you did. Just curious how a story like this goes from idea to paper.

    Hello. Let me take a stab at an answer here. When Tommie was a freshman, I wrote a story about him for St. Louis Magazine. This was in 2005 and I actually quoted from that piece in the current one, specifically the bit about Hargrave. It was probably the single, most-frustrating story I've ever worked on, and only about a third of the piece is actually mine; the rest was rewritten, including interviews I didn't conduct. In some respects, I always wanted a "do-over" on that piece and it gnawed on me for about a decade. ("Problems letting go of something?" "Yeah, maybe.") Anyway...

    About two years ago, I'd heard that Tommie and some friends/MC's were cutting tracks at Jupiter Studios, just around the corner from the Field House on Locust. I thought it would make for an interesting story, to talk about a former basketball star at the school now recording music just a few blocks away from his old arena. At the time, he was more-removed from the program than he is today, obviously. I was greenlit for the piece, but the few times we got together, Tommie didn't seem especially into it. He moved. There was a phone number change. FB messages went nowhere. Not completing the assigned piece landed me in my editor's doghouse for a bit (she's generally super-supportive, but I didn't deliver a finished draft, so... my bad) and I always had this sense that it was an potentially-interesting story. And, as a freelancer, these were sunk costs, in terms of time and energy, too. So, moving ahead to 2018... 

    I'd heard that Tommie was about to take classes again. So I approached my editor and asked about a restart on the piece, which would now be a different, and likely better, article. She okayed it, with the caveat that I had to have a sit-down with him before she'd put it on the editorial calendar. Janet Oberle arranged for me to meet with Tommie at a restaurant near SLU, after he finished some paperwork on campus that afternoon. We spoke and he seemed a really different person, somehow. More engaged and seemingly down for the piece, which he hadn't been 100% into before. With that meeting in-hand, I got the okay and went to work. From that pizza meeting to the piece running, about five weeks passed. It came together pretty quickly, but I'd actually had the roots of the piece growing for years. And that's the story behind the story. 

    Sorry to ramble, but I'm a rambler.

    Thomas

    JMM28, NextYearBill, Zink and 6 others like this

    Top 10 Moments on Current Court

    in Billikens.com Main Board

    Posted

    Friday marks the installation of a new court and branding effort at the Chaifetz.

    Let's say someone was making a list of the Top Ten moments on this court...

    That list could include:

    ... Kwamain Mitchell's "the shot" vs. Dayton.

    ... the Bills beating Washington and former coach Lorenzo Romar.

    ... a handful of games against VCU.

    Non-MBB events qualify, too, ala the volleyball team's win over Stanford.

    List could include great wins, or wins with meaning, or even losses of stature.

    Let's say someone was making this list tonight, tomorrow and Thursday. What should he include?

    TC

    -30-

    Media Coverage

    in Billikens.com Main Board

    Posted

    A list, okay?

    1. It's been a while. How are you?

    2. I'm good, but who am I? And I am I talking to you today? Well: http://www.billikenextra.com.

    4. So that I can dedicate real time to this, I need some cash: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/billiken-extra/x/655084#/comments.

    5. Why contribute if the thing's already up-and-running? Good question and I can't answer that for you. I would think, though, that a SLU fanbase always looking for a little more media sugar, would want to crowdfund a journalist to make this a part-time job. Or so I'm betting. The more money I can crowdfund, the more time I'll spend on this. It's the honor-system and I'll bring honor to your dollars.

    6. Also, I'm writing a weekly feature for the department, over at slubillikens.com. The first installment will run today. It's a look at how Billiken athletes, coaches, administrators and alumni take part in the Special Needs Soccer Association (SPENSA). The video accompanying the piece, "Billikens at SPENSA" is already live and the feature will be shortly; just go to slubillikens.com and scroll down to the video section. Even as some of you have the cold, dark hearts of the Voldemort variety, you will appreciate the basic humanity of the piece and will likely shed a tear. Seriously. I warn you. What's happening at SPENSA is beautiful.

    That's all. Flame away.

    Thomas

    Bills Memorabilia

    in Billikens.com Main Board

    Posted

    Thanks. After a few days of only one response, I heard from two people today and some interesting items are popping up.

    I have scored a single Billiken shoe, from the last-generation Billiken outfit. Not exactly sure how that factors in our future. But it's an overstuffed starter...

    Thomas

    Bills Memorabilia

    in Billikens.com Main Board

    Posted

    Hello,

    Some of you know me, many of you don't. I've written about the Bills in the past, for a variety of local media outlets. Anyway, hello. In the next couple of months, I'm opening a bar with some friends in South City, one block east of Tower Grove Park, called the Tick Tock Tavern. Our neighbor will be Steve's Hot Dogs, run by Steve Ewing of The Urge. We feel pretty good about most things, but I'm troubled by a singular thing: a lack of ready-to-hang Bills memorabilia.

    I've started out by doing what everyone else in the Billiken Universe does, namely aggravating Janet with requests for some stuff. But since she only has 25-hours-day to think Billiken sports, I come in peace to you: the faithful.

    As we'll play Billiken games (with sound) and wish to be a SLU-friendly environment, we want to locate a bit of nice, Bills-branded stuff. But only old-school merch, since the Tock has an old-school interior. As I personally date back to the watching games in the Ron Ekker-David Burns-Metro Conference days, I'd love to find some authentic, or at least quality replica gear, signage, promo materials, etc. from the '70s-'90s. My understanding is that when the old West Pine Gym was emptied, some gems were unearthed, but all of that got distributed/parceled out during the move to Chaifetz. Checks of eBay and Craiglist have been fruitless.

    If anybody out there has something of interest, lemme know. (And I'll go ahead and say that if a game-worn Isiah Singletary jersey found its way into my life, it'll have been a complete life.) Thanks in advance. E-mail addy's below.

    Peace,

    Thomas

    (thomascrone at yahoo)

    Dwayne Evans @ stlmag.com

    in Billikens.com Main Board

    Posted

    Greetings. Linked here is a feature on Dwayne Evans. Should you read it, you'll notice that there aren't a lot of quotes from the subject, himself, but there's still plenty to read, thanks to the words of Tanner Bronson, Jake Barnett and any reporter's best friend, Grandy Glaze. Here's the link:

    http://www.stlmag.com/Blogs/SLM-Daily/March-2014/SLU-Senior-Dwayne-Evans-Leads-the-Billikens-Down-the-Home-Stretch/

    I hope you enjoy it. If not, I'm sure you'll let me know.

    Regards,

    Thomas

    Jordair @ stlmag.com

    in Billikens.com Main Board

    Posted

    I'd guess is that it would play along the lines of "Coach Majerus predicted excellence for this group, but he wasn't able to see that come to fruition." Again, that's an educated guess. In a lot of respects, that kind of story works well for short-form television, with a storyline that has evident, built-in emotional tugs.

    That said, for all I know, it could wind up "A Day in the Life of Royce Simpson."

    TC

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