bonwich Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 This board seems to represent the only knowledgeable and passionate fan base we have, and I think we need to spend the rest of the season doing what the casual fans won't and what the athletic department doesn't seem to have a clue how to generate. Operational issues: Was there yet another bus screw-up last night? There appeared to be several dozen students coming in about 2-3 minutes into the game. Drejaj comes back into the game, and the without-a-clue P.A. announcer says "Now entering the game for the first time..." And how in God's name can the only "promotion" that they advertise (the Big Shark bike giveaway) lack a BASKETBALL? Anyway, as for the battle plan -- Learn these names: Rick Randall, Eddie Jackson and Gerry Pollard. Learn the other refs' names too. Ride them mercilessly from the opening tipoff. You guys who sit behind the opponents' bench: Tell the refs, constantly, that there's a coaching box. Remind the coach, too. (And perhaps an alternative tactic: Next time a coach spends that much time on the floor while time is in, Josh should take the inbounds and run up that side and run right at him -- or maybe even throw him a rifle pass. The most astounding part of Leitao's behavior last night was that the refs were TALKING to him as they came down court and he was standing ON the court.) There's one guy, with reddish hair and a moustache, who's been coming to games for years and performing this role, but he needs some reinforcements. We didn't lose last night because of the refs, but the refs did play an unacceptable role in the loss, and this kind of crap in our own house, game in and game out, year in and year out, is unacceptable. (It was encouraging to hear the host on Sports Open Line last night basically saying that Sloan was fouled, no doubt about it. Now it would be nice if Cusumano or someone would put together a collage of the egregiously bad calls we've seen this year, and demand better.) It would be a nice touch if the athletic department would teach the cheerleaders to hold up their "stand up" signs and wave their arms at key moments like the end of last night's game, but that would take planning and foresight. Meanwhile, if we really want a home-court advantage, we're going to have to create one. And that, in part, means creating at least a perceived price for the flagrant incompetence we've seen from the C-USA officials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trich Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I agree 100% with the comments about the officiating. I agree with the other comments as well but I do not feel as strongly about those as I do about the referees. The CUSA officials will not be missed when we change conferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I am pretty sure the students that came in late were the student athletes honored at halftime and probably all came together. Who knows, maybe they were waiting for all of the students to show up to leave together in the bus. Shame we lost because here was a chance to show all these students how much fun Billiken basketball can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I think we need to install devices in the seats that will generate a small electric shock to get people off their butts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 >I am pretty sure the students that came in late were the >student athletes honored at halftime and probably all came >together. Who knows, maybe they were waiting for all of the >students to show up to leave together in the bus. Shame we >lost because here was a chance to show all these students >how much fun Billiken basketball can be. You are correct, most of the students coming late were athletes who were being honored and they came as a team. Unfortunately, many of them left after halftime too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Bonwich - you are correct on everything you said - the problem last night with the refs might have been the issue that DePaul is going to the Big East and the refs might have wanted to make sure that DePaul remembers them when it comes time to help select refs for the expanded league. I know some might think this perspective is jaded but the truth is refs do try to influence others so they can either get or stay in big name conferences. So with CUSA falling backwards we can probably expect more of this from the refs when we are playing those who are going to the Big East over the next two seasons. I also do not believe the refs costs us the game specifically but their calls did not help and could have easily gone our way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 ... can be C-All refs. I don't think there is an "exclusivity" clause in any one refs contract. I know I've seen Steve Welmer do games in the ACC, Big Ten and others. Ed Hightower is the same. So are others who's names I don't know. The black guy that teed Knight ... Washington or whatever ... gets around. The best might have six or seven choices a night and pick from there. The rest come down the line in some pecking order. I may be wrong but I don't thik so. I suspect that leaving C-Who won't mean leaving C-Who refs behind. Maybe Leitao knew these guys from UConn days. The coaching box is a joke ..... its not a rule, its more like general guidelines. Kind of like the intentional foul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 CUSA shares refs with the Big Ten so I don't think their job security is at risk in a few years. Also, Leitao was really working the refs during TO's. In fact, he was usually too busy talking with them, complaining about "missed calls" and wasn't even coaching his team in the huddle. Maybe Brad needs to work them more during stoppages of play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 I think it's possible that the somnambulence of the garden-variety Bills fan -- and St. Louis fans in general -- may be the result of not getting similar rewards at home. Hence such shocks may have the unintended effect of keeping people in their seats -- because they like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmolina Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 "You guys who sit behind the opponents' bench: Tell the refs, constantly, that there's a coaching box." You are so correct. It's an absolute joke. Leitao damn near walked out to the free throw line a couple of times. Do your job refs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 i was extremely embarrassed by the bike giveaway. someone should have been fired last nite for that one. the hamburger deal is also bad. did anyone else see leito throw the water bottle when he didnt get an over the back call he wanted on a billiken. if that didnt deserve a tech in dont know what would. as billiken law stated, a lot of the student athletes left after halftime. now that is sad. question though, why didnt father biondi also go out and shake the students hands? btw father, nice tan. another guyism. he was reading scores of "other cusa games" i looked up at the out of town scores and most all the scores he was reading were scores from halftime that the games were either over already or nearly over. i.e. he wasted everyone's time on that one. hey at least all the clocks worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 You may be right about that. How about this: the cheerleaders could throw sample packs of Cialis into the crowd? Anything to help our fans "get up", right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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