WUH

Thanks! That is awesome.

Out of curiosity, when did you first register Billikens.com? I am guessing the athletics department was using something like http://athletics.slu.edu at the time.

And Riverwomen. It did not work for UMSL so...

I think you have to if you are Travis Ford and SLU, but for sure, they can opt out if they choose to.

SLU has to play in the NIT if the NCAA is not an option. Also, I think SLU should schedule Missouri State if they can find no better team. Both Fords are looking so why not?

I may be wrong, but I do not think this is how it works.

A lot of people talked themselves in to a two-bid Valley after Drake went 1-1 against Loyola, but between the weak SOS and the fact that Drake has lost two more games and will be without two starters... Hard to imagine the committee picks Drake or SLU over another Big 10 team.

At the behest of the City of St. Louis.

The Division II GLVC lost a lot of games due to Covid-19 protocols with schools located in major metropolises such as Bolivar, Kirksville, Lebanon, Quincy, Rolla, Romeoville and so on. Chalk it up to bad luck, not geography.

You do not want to see a loss to an NAIA school, but they are always very good. Columbia College is coached by John Klein, a SLU graduate and former Ambush player back in the day.

I am reading that right...the first games are played in Richmond and the championship in Dayton?

67-44 with just over 6 minutes left. Drake has scored just 10 second half points. Drake definitely needs to win tomorrow, and without their leading scorer...

At a time when most colleges and universities partnered with Spencer Advertising or Leder, Street and Zeus to produce souvenir football and basketball programs, SLU created many of their own program covers. Many are hand drawn or hand painted. Just one of a few reasons why there are many versions of the Saint Louis University Billiken, official or otherwise. Here is a great, but way overpriced example from 1949, a game against the Missouri Tigers: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Feb-26-1949-St-Louis-Billikens-Basketball-Program-Easy-Ed-MaCauley-Final/254495293643?hash=item3b411a00cb:g:sVgAAOSw~EReL6fJ You might be able to find one of the more obscure versions. How would Marcom even now?

I am sure I only remember her name because of the documentary. I definitely think the documentary was worth the watch for anyone interested in SLU or women's basketball. Jill Pizzotti is not a name I have heard in a long time. It looks like she is still the associate coach at DePaul. That is a good gig.

Shimmy Gray-Something... There is a good documentary on Shimmy Gray-Miller and her time as head coach. I say good, as the documentary is compelling, but it is very sympathetic of Coach Gray, going in to detail on every stroke of bad luck she had (e.g. player injuries, departures, etc).

Go Bills!

It seems crazy to me that they will not have fans. They could bring in badly needed revenue with no additional risk to anyone involved.

A Bonnie is a nickname, referring to a student at St. Bonaventure. I am not sure how Bonnies won out over Bonas but both were used going back since the beginning of St. Bona football.

The games are open to spectators, yes? Are we allowed to buy tickets at the gate?

In 1998, I brought a friend to a SLU game. I believe it was SLU vs. Memphis but I am not sure. SLU lost and as we were walking out of the Saavis Center, my friend, who is a Mizzou alum and a big Tigers basketball fan said something to the effect of Memphis should take the bus up I-70 and play a real school. Mizzou also lost that day, a game against Kansas State that they lost 110-120 or something to 55. That was the single most lopsided loss in Mizzou history.

In the early days, athletic programs were funded almost entirely by ticket sales so overselling the stadium was common. Teams often divided the ticket sales 50-50 so both schools had an incentive to do so. Admission to the games cost $30-50 per person (inflation adjusted) and both schools had seasons in which they cancelled basketball games because they did not sell enough tickets to the football games and therefore did not have the money. The history of SLU football is interesting, including the age-old legend that SLU invented the forward pass. Reportedly, Coach Cochems claimed to have invented the forward pass, but there is more than enough evidence to the contrary. It is true though that SLU threw the first legal forward pass, an incomplete pass in a game against Carroll College. SLU played this game in September, weeks before most programs began their season. The Post-Dispatch described the game against Carroll as "played mostly for practice" with the first "real game" being played in October against Missouri Mines. For this reason and others, the SLU story was largely ignored as the reportage focused on Cornell and Harvard and Michigan and others using the forward pass in preseason practices. Yale using the forward pass to score in a scrimmage against the junior varsity was national news at the time. A lot of schools used the forward pass in 1906 and some even blamed the pass for the loss. For example, Arkansas used the forward pass 5-times against Kansas, losing 37-5, and said the pass play was partially to blame (though coaches were even more prone to excuse-making at the time). At the time, an incomplete pass resulted in a turnover with the other team taking possession at the spot of the ball. If that legend continues with the undergrads though, that is fine with me.

As an aside, SLU should retire the jersey of DC Wilcutt, the second best player on the 1948 NIT championship team and a high school coaching legend.

It has been an incredible turn-around. I happen to be looking at the Massey Ratings and for the heck of it... SLU is ranked No. 18 with an SOS rated at No. 54. This does not include the 0-0 tie with Missouri State, a team that is 11-0 and rated at No. 7. This includes a loss against No. 22 Notre Dame, a team that SLU maybe should have defeated and No. 1 SMU. No. 3 rated Virginia will be a good test. Is the A-10 tournament ever coming back to campus?

Well, Webster University baseball plays at GCS Credit Union Ballpark so the upgrade is probably part of a larger facility upgrade and probably sponsored. You should go see Grant Gymnasium for perspective. I like the Webster campus but SLU is better facilities-wise in nearly ever way.

You are the man! That program had been out on Ebay for a while. I am glad to see it going to a Billikens fan and one that will likely keep in the family for a while.