To ALL of those who doubted the GREAT biondi

[MrKnowItAll]

ok, lets go over your rational... slu sports has been a failure over the past 20 yrs?? maybe, but not entirely so... mens/womens soccer teams are always good, womens vball made the tourney last season, baseball made the tourney two years ago, and mens bball has been ok. now, biondi's bad infuence on... fundraising, are you kidding me? facilities, we are building a new arena (that takes time). i mean, geez... sometimes i get the impression that some people on this board type aimlessly..

[courtside]

>ok, lets go over your rational... slu sports has been a

>failure over the past 20 yrs?? maybe, but not entirely

>so... mens/womens soccer teams are always good, womens vball

>made the tourney last season, baseball made the tourney two

>years ago, and mens bball has been ok. now, biondi's bad

>infuence on... fundraising, are you kidding me? facilities,

>we are building a new arena (that takes time). i mean,

>geez... sometimes i get the impression that some people on

>this board type aimlessly..

REVENUE sports are what matter from a business point of view, and men's hoops in particular is what matters at SLU. I have been a SLU non-revenue booster for a long time. Men's hoops is what creates opportunities for other non-revenue sports.

Men's soccer only a few years back paid their first ever full time assistant coach. His name was Danny Donigan. Heard of him? Many big programs have multiple paid assistants. Top coaches make $125-$150k.

SLU has played in weaker conferences for the past 20 years. And the A10 is extremely weak in many non-revenue sports. Much easier than C-USA.

Basbeball? LOL....coach was fired for having a couple winning seasons out of 18. Ask any former player(some of whom post here on occasion) what they think of him. Where is the press box, lockerrooms, grandstand, etc...for baseball? It's a mom and pop store....AND its current state is WAY better than it used to be and it still is not good enough.

SLU's non-revenue sports have so much less $$ to work with than at other schools.

Men's hoops drives a lot of things.

Pardon me if I don't dance in the streets for Larry Biondi after 20 years.

Again, you do not take the time to go see other places. What kind of work have those other Presidents have been doing in different areas?

I won't be throwing the parade down market for Larry after 20 years. And I thought Billikan was the biggest kool-aid drinker here. Who knew?

BTW how many times previously did womens V-Ball make NCAA's...oh...ever? How many times has men's hoops done it in 20 years?

SLU is getting some new facilities, good. It is about time. It now merely puts them in the game with other schools, not ahead. And it took over 20 years. And you want a big hug and applause and parade down market street for Larry?

How about upgrades to all non-revenue sports and their facilities that need them. How about increased salaries, assistant salaries etc...budgets....understaffed and under-paid Athletic Dept....on and on for 20 years and you have been pleased for the past 20 years?

I suggest getting out of STL a little more for some persepctive.

[MrKnowItAll]

errr... i have only lived in stl, muchless the midwest during my time at slu..... so, i think i have a pretty good perspective. you dont understand that slu as an university was in shambles when biondi took over, he had to fix ALOT of things before he could truly concentrate on athletics. lets not forget that slu is an educational institution first, before anything else. sorry i respect a job well done, and i look at the school; my beloved alma mater as a whole, not just the budgets of the athletic depts.. regardless, whatever, lets agree to disagree on this matter

[courtside]

>errr... i have only lived in stl, muchless the midwest

>during my time at slu..... so, i think i have a pretty good

>perspective. you dont understand that slu as an university

>was in shambles when biondi took over, he had to fix ALOT of

>things before he could truly concentrate on athletics. lets

>not forget that slu is an educational institution first,

>before anything else. sorry i respect a job well done, and

>i look at the school; my beloved alma mater as a whole, not

>just the budgets of the athletic depts.. regardless,

>whatever, lets agree to disagree on this matter

Last time I checked, other schools have had hardships and problems etc...and are excellent academic schools and have done just fine in athletics.

There are other schools who have accomplished more in athletics while also succeeding in academics and in other areas.

again, SLU was in shambles etc...

Biondi, 20 years, and the athletic department speaks for itself in that time. People can talk of the next 20 years and compare and contrast all they like, but those 20 years are gone, finsished and speak for themselevs.

He has been a disaster in Athletics(thankfully here and there some teams have overcome his shortcomings)

I understand SLU quite well. Past and Present.

I didn't start this I told you so thread. I responded because I obviously disagree with the 100% psositive thoughts regarding Biondi regarding Athletics(not even getting into other areas yet) because it is a sports board.

We can agree to disagree, that's fine.

[Larry the Legend]

the ticket prices would have been nearly the same price if Soderberg was still coach. Whatever info you have is wrong. SLU is underfunded on the arena by somewhere near $5 - $10 million and they had to raise season ticket prices. Now what % was raised when Majerus was hired is anyone's guess. However, to say that the new ticket plan is solely based on the increased expenses from Majerus and his staff is complete BS! An $80 million arena, season ticket prices that have been embarassing low for years, and increased interest in a team finally playing at a basketball facility all contributed to the Arena's ticket prices going higher. Everyone expected it. You are simply not looking at all the facts.

And please stop bashing Biondi!!! This is for everyone. Have you seen the campus grow in the last 20 years? Or are you too comfortable out in the suburbs and scared to visit the city? What Biondi and Co. have done to this U is simply amazing. Yeah, his PR job with the firing was awful but come on, aren't we all happy right now.

[kevinfootes]

Seriously, 20 years later it's looking like SLU MIGHT get over the hump. I love the RM hiring and I think he'll get us there. However, I think you can give Lary Biondi a C+ for the past 20 years when it cmes to SLU athletics.

[slu72 fan]

Don't mean to diagree with you, but you're not correct. I didn't say that RM's hiring caused the type of ticket plan which was introducted this week. All I said was that the amounts changed. If you check previous posts of mine, you will find that for months I indicated this type of plan was forthcoming. The original plan, which I saw twice prior to BS's firing, and had two additional private meetings with the athletic department to discuss it, had donations per seat less than the plan which was distributed this week. If you had the information, you would see, the change, assuming each seat with a required donation is taken, exceeds the reported cost increase of the new head coach's salary.

I don't have a problem with this, the fans and the university wanted a change, the fans usually pay for it. All I was stating was that the University actually is paying very little additional, the fans are. That's the way it is in sports.

You are absolutely correct about the cost of the season ticket, it did not change from that disclosed last winter and this spring.

I have little problem with the new plan, other than some long time supporters will find it difficult to maintain their seat location. I agree that the sight lines throughout the Arena will be much improved.

If you believe the end justifies the means, that's OK. As an alum, I think the good father needlessly embarrassed my university and that disappoints me. I visit the city regularly, my company is among the largest supporters of the athletic department, and he has done a great job improving the school.

I don't mean to tick you off by posting what I know to be the truth. If you want to send me a pm, I can share with you the original donation levels that were disclosed to me and others.

I think the new Arena is going to be fantastic, the coach has made an immediate impact, and the team is shaping up to be outstanding in the coming years.

[MrKnowItAll]

as i recall, you were one of the biggest soderberg supporters.... and now you are complaining about the overall history of our programs??? if anything, you are a freaking hypocrite for saying that stuff while you were crying yourself to sleep over us canning that horrible coach baldy soderberg..