According to BM cell phones are a issue for RM

[brianstl]

http://www.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.p...450132&start=48

[brianstl]

I guess RM agrees with me that this has been a problem at SLU.

[MusicCityBilliken]

You would think a cell phone bill would be the least of Fr. Biondi's concerns.

[brianstl]

As he is told the Fetz won't in and of its self fix all the problems. That almost everything he has done in the last 20 years has been wrong and short sighted. That you have to have a professional athletic department and you can't worry about every last penny.

[davidnark]

Surely Biondi and/or his key boosters are smart enough to concede on this point. It doesn't cost much more than $100/month for practically unlimited cell phone minutes and text messages.

[NashvilleBilliken]

I can't believe a word this guy writes anymore. You can't tell what is his opinion and what he has actually investigated. The guy will RIP SLU, Biondi, Soderberg, A-10, what have you at any chance he gets.

All that being said, it is nothing short of bush league not to pay for it's staffs cell phones. Regardless if it is the provost or the basketball coach. Hell, half of my department have black berries paid for by Vanderbilt. And we're just programmers.

[Bay Area Billiken]

Cell phones for recruiting are a business expense, which should be borne by SLU. That is a no brainer.

Cell phone bills are the 2006-2007 version of Spoon's ice cream cone.

These are the kinds of minor, trivial things that SLU needs to be straightened out to avoid this type of ridicule. SLU paying for coaches' cell phones so something like this does not reach Bernie Miklasz's keyboard is well worth the limited, almost trivial investment in the big picture.

SLU needs to think macro, the big picture.

[Box and Won]

And isn't U.S. Cellular one of our sponsors? Christ, work out a deal with them - how hard could it be?

[kshoe]

I've always felt that there must be something more to the cellphone thing then meets the eye. There is no way the school would care enough about a $200 bill to not give the coaches the phones unless there was something else behind it.

One theory I've had was that someone (probably an over-anal lawyer -- sorry Nark) advised Biondi that legally or from an NCAA standpoint SLU is less liable if the coaches have their own phones and committed a violation on that phone (i.e. they were not supplied the means to commit such violation by the university). Probably wouldn't really hold any water but most of what compliance lawyers do is worry about things that make no sense in the real world. (anybody that works in an office with a compliance officer knows what I mean). Just a theory.

Either way, I've never understood the fascination with this issue. If I worked in a job where most of my competitors had a benefit of $200 but I didn't receive the same benefit I'd just require an extra $200 in my paycheck. Problem solved.

[billiken_roy]

i have long said that i wouldnt want the school to supply me the phone. i would want the school to reimburse me for the phone via my expense report, no questions asked, but i would want to retain ownership.

if a coach moves on, that coach has spent a lot of time making sure that aau, high school and juco coaches know that number. if the school owns that phone, that departing coach has to re-setablish that with all those contacts.

[BleacherBum593]

I have to agree with you Kshoe. It's an accounting issue.

If you know going in that you have to pay for the cell phone out of your own pocket - you ask for add'l compensation to pay for it. $2,500 should cover it per annum.

Plus, you (the coach) retain the number in the future, no matter what school you're at.

[Sheltiedave]

David, Biondi is a micromanaging control freak when he casts his eye on a situation.

To wit - he has decreed that there shall be no other ceremony that is to be conducted in the same month as graduation. While this does not seem to be a big thing, it has abruptly cancelled the accelerated nursing students traditional pinning ceremony, a ceremony that has happened for every single previous accelerated nursing class at SLU.

While not a huge thing, it is a tradition that honors the students, brings extended families INTO St. Louis, and gives the administration another chance to honor past alumni and recruit future students. Instead, it is another opportunity to piss off the students/families who pay $40K for the privelege of being snubbed(yet again) by Beyond Me.

I have money riding on FB to pull a fumblerooski.

[knight_rider]

As I have stated before, the cell phone has been a big issue; along with paying for parking, reimbursement for travel, etc. Both Shimmy and Brad have requested compensation for their staff's cell phones, only to be shot down. What message are you sending to your coaches when every other staff in the country is getting their bills paid for the most important recruiting tool you need?

[slu72]

Yeah, but Martha Ingramm's on your board. That's one very rich widow, Nashville.