cgeldmacher

Can we start some sort of a petition for the NBA to give St. Louis a preseason exhibition game between the Suns and the Celtics?

Walsh is a pure shooter. He will have high percentages in all categories. When my daughter was in 7th grade, Luke was in 6th grade and they both participated in this free throw shooting competition that the Knights of Columbus run throughout the State of Missouri. I think it is for kids in 5th through 8th grades. They start at their school, then go to a district competition, then a regional competition, and then to the State finals in Columbia. Both Luke and my daughter made it to State that year. They ask for volunteers to shag the balls for kids as they take their shots. I was randomly assigned to help the 6th grade boys, so myself and another dad ended up collecting the basketballs when Luke was shooting. They get three warm up tosses and then take 25 shots. When it was his turn, he made all three warm-ups and then made 24 out of 25 of his official shots. So, basically, he made 27 out of 28 shots as a 6th grader with the pressure of competition and a championship on the line.

They'll get much less money if they get relegated. This idea, while interesting, would result in much more money being forced toward football than before. Right now, Vanderbilt probably puts a decent amout of money into its very successful baseball program. However, if giving baseball money that could be going to football might get them relegated, their baseball program will suffer and football will be elevated even more above the already too high pedestal it is on.

I was always told that it was a time saver. The ref could signal the call from across the court to the scorers table and this allowed the game to continue much more quickly. Now, refs will have to be practically leaning over the scorers table every time they call a foul. I suppose that the NCAA isn't as concerned about keeping the game flowing as it used to be.

Yes, Vanderbilt baseball has been champions of the SEC 10 times. Should they be relegated just because their football team sucks?

Can anyone give a breakdown?

Looks like Ole Miss according to Stu Durando

Sorry, that's just not the way it works. Every college basketball team plays their stars in the exhibition games to get them ready for the season. That's the purpose of those games. We don't need to get the bench players ready for the season, we need to get the starters ready for the season. If college teams should sit their starters in exhibition games, then why have them.

Two St. Louis kids at the same workout.

Agree. I just don't think they are going out of their way, like every other D1 school, to recruit and push for victories. They recruit leaders for the military first. If those chosen few happen to be athletes that help their sports teams, that is very much secondary.

Chris Heinrich - I know he wasn't a star at the end, but he was looking like an uncoordinated, dud of a big when he arrived, and then finished his career with a spectacular performance against Kentucky in the tournament.

They don't want to have high level D1 athletics. They just want to train the next generation of heros to defend our country. West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy have sports just to liven the mood. Not a person at those institutions is worried about producing high level teams.

I have had that same thought and wonder what it means overall for our program. Ford is very close with his players (invites them to his house, pushes the concept of Team Blue). This, I believe, has resulted in very few defections to the portal from our core players (Jimerson returning this year, Yuri returning last year, Perkins coming back, etc.). However, the other side of the coin of being uber close with your players is that he is also extra loyal to guys who stick with the program. Loyalty is, in general, a good attribute, but sometimes fans wish he wasn't so loyal. It is definitely a trade off.

I guarantee, you were happy when he announced he was returning. To now throw the coaches under the bus for somehow ruining his pro career is very disingenuous. He had no shot at a pro career after his injury. Returning gave him a shot. That didn't pan out. So, he's back in the same place he was before deciding to come back. The coaches convincing him to return for a 5th season did not change anything.

Based on what? Again, I admit, I am basing my conclusion on the chart that was posted showing that a top 50 NIL player would garner about $250,000. You could get two of those guys for 500K and then have no one else on your team, because they all transfer because your aren't paying them anything. My statements are based on the twitter post above. Regardless, it doesn't matter what then numbers are. If you say 500K should by an A10 championship team every year, that's just not true if we cannot get guys to come here because Power 5 schools all have a million to spend. It's all relative to what they other guys have.

Again, I heard it somewhere. It might have been the golf tournament. Also, based on the numbers shown in the text about how players are costing under NIL, $500k would not build you much of a team. This is probably because power conference teams have much more to spend.

Didn't someone say that the BVF was anticipating having $450,000 to spread around. If that is the case, these numbers explain the downfall of the A-10 and, sadly, SLU. If it costs $50,000 to get a top 100-150 transfer, how does SLU make a competitive team on that? Also, how do we keep good players based on those numbers? Where would GJ have fallen on that list? Would he have been a top 50 transfer? Maybe. That means it may have cost us $250,000 to keep him. These numbers don't bode well for us.

The idea that he should come back one more year to (try to) improve draft stock was not incorrect. Do you think it was? Do you think he was going to be drafted into the NBA if he did not come back? The concept was correct. He just didn't excute. If he didn't execute because of his injury, that's just what it was, but don't blame the coaches for somehow ruining his pro career.

I get it. My take is that I think we should all continue to support the program in whatever way we have and let the chips fall where they may. Whether that money helps Ford get us where we want to be or the next coach, it still helps the program overall.

The crazy thing about this argument that is happening is how insanely inaccurate both sides are in characterizing each other's opinions. As someone pointed out, no one who thinks Ford should be gone actually hates Ford. On the opposite side, it's getting very old hearing that people who think Ford should be retained (for now) are happy with 20 win seasons. We are not fine with 20 wins if that means not winning the A-10 and not making the tournament. NoCoBillsFan's post was dead on. Neither side can disagree with anything he posted. I, personally, thought Ford should get one more chance. That doesn't mean I'm happy with the state of the team. I see everything NoCoBillsFan wrote and say "yes, we need to be better than that." The team under Ford has not met the university's and fans' expectations. There have been some extenuating circumstances, but those cannot be used as excuses indefinitely. I think that most "Ford Supporters" will say its time for him to go if this season doesn't prove that we are on track with the expectations. Can't we just cheer for our team and know that we're all, nearly, in the same place about being upset with not being better right now, without the stupidity that has made this board nearly unreadable for several months?

But what if all of the power conference schools have three or four times as much money every year to use to hire their guns?

Couldn't, sadly, agree more. I really fear that free agency and NIL means that SLU is facing an uphill and maybe impossible battle. I've never been so worried about the future of our program and that has nothing to do with Ford or May. My concerns have to do with forces beyond anyone at SLU's control. Not sure how anyone can think that we can be the next Gonzaga when literally no one in the A-10 can keep its good players. The players A-10 teams are getting to replace the players leaving aren't replacing the quality of the players it is losing. I'm not sure that Gonzaga is going to be able to continue to be Gonzaga in a few years under the current rules.

That's not what the tweet says. Just because they say they are prioritizing returners on pace to graduate does not mean they are still paying former players. I would argue that their philosophy might be why GJ stuck around one more year.

Inglorious Basterds - I know it's not historically accurate and alters history at the the end, but it's still fantastic.

Wow. 23-7. Fogarty is 5 for 5 with 6 runs scored. Has a walk, three singles, a double, and a home run. Also, throw in a stolen base. That's a heck of a day.