ITD Morning After

[cheesycow]

I was listening to the ITD Morning After on 1380 this morning on my way into work, and Jim Hayes brought up going to the Bills game against Rockhurst. Started a discussion asking why the bills don't shout their product from the mountaintop (young team, marquee coach, nice new arena, exciting product). Vaughn talks about Majerus not letting the media do interviews with the players and closing all the practices as being a reason that more stories aren't written or presented in the media.

Overall an interesting piece (though as per usual with the show a lot of comedic hyperbole and exaggeration). You can listen by following this link:

http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTL/RadioSh...Show-Audio.aspx

It's segment 7.

[Majerus Magic]

I was listening to the ITD Morning After on 1380 this morning on my way into work, and Jim Hayes brought up going to the Bills game against Rockhurst. Started a discussion asking why the bills don't shout their product from the mountaintop (young team, marquee coach, nice new arena, exciting product). Vaughn talks about Majerus not letting the media do interviews with the players and closing all the practices as being a reason that more stories aren't written or presented in the media.

Overall an interesting piece (though as per usual with the show a lot of comedic hyperbole and exaggeration). You can listen by following this link:

http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTL/RadioSh...Show-Audio.aspx

It's segment 7.

While I don't agree with all of it...i basically agree with what was said. They said very nice things about SLU.

Jim Hayes is literally GUSHING about how much he loved Willie Reed, Mitchell, and the arena.

[SLUDrew]

While I don't agree with all of it...i basically agree with what was said. They said very nice things about SLU.

The Cat was very complimentary and I do understand their point about SLU missing a great opportunity to basically be "St. Louis' basketball team."

Willie Reed, for example, is not only an exciting young talent, but he is a very engaging young man and I think St. Louisans would love to root for this kid if they could get to know him.

[cheesycow]

The Cat was very complimentary and I do understand their point about SLU missing a great opportunity to basically be "St. Louis' basketball team."

Willie Reed, for example, is not only an exciting young talent, but he is a very engaging young man and I think St. Louisans would love to root for this kid if they could get to know him.

I feel like I see less billboards specifically for the basketball team now than I did before they moved to Chaifetz. It seems like a no-brainer that there should be a massive marketing push to fill every seat in that stadium.

[Box and Won]

I feel like I see less billboards specifically for the basketball team now than I did before they moved to Chaifetz. It seems like a no-brainer that there should be a massive marketing push to fill every seat in that stadium.

Really? There are actually quite a few of them.

I know that a few of the ones I've seen are the "rotating" billboards that also feature other advertisers, so maybe that plays into it.

[billikenfan05]

This is why you don't let freshman do interviews.

[cheesycow]

Really? There are actually quite a few of them.

I know that a few of the ones I've seen are the "rotating" billboards that also feature other advertisers, so maybe that plays into it.

And perhaps it's just that my drive doesn't take me by them, but I just don't see em around anymore.

[Pistol]

Really? There are actually quite a few of them.

I know that a few of the ones I've seen are the "rotating" billboards that also feature other advertisers, so maybe that plays into it.

I've seen the "Let Your Billiken Roar" ads each time I've been in St. Louis in the past several months. I either drive in from I-64 or I-70/55 or fly in and head downtown one of a couple different ways, and I've always been impressed by the billboard blitz. In addition to those I've seen a lot of "Be A Billiken" billboards around town.

I also saw a "Be A Billiken" ad in the weirdest place- the AMC 20 movie theater in Newport, Kentucky. Newport has a big commercial development called Newport on the Levee right across from downtown Cincinnati and I've been there a number of times for movies. Sure enough, one of the on-screen ads before Zombieland (awesome, fun movie- rent it, trust me) was "Be A Billiken: Saint Louis University" and it had the admissions website and phone number information. I know there are a number of Cincinnati kids in every class, but I couldn't believe it.

[eskimo]

I really enjoyed listening to this segment. They raise some extremely valid points about SLU failing to capitalize on some very valuable commondities with regard to their current team and publicity opportunities. I also appreciate the manner in which they do so, by saying "I went down to a game and really enjoyed my experience" as opposed to just complaining. They seem to be ready and willing to give the team some nice coverage.

Also, with regard to the billboards...the Billiken Roar signs are pretty prevelant around town in my opinion. I actually think they've done a pretty nice job with placement. Also, on my Thanksgiving trip to Chicago, I noticed a "Be A Billiken" billboard along I-55 on the way into downtown...nice job there too.

[bauman]

I was listening to the ITD Morning After on 1380 this morning on my way into work, and Jim Hayes brought up going to the Bills game against Rockhurst. Started a discussion asking why the bills don't shout their product from the mountaintop (young team, marquee coach, nice new arena, exciting product). Vaughn talks about Majerus not letting the media do interviews with the players and closing all the practices as being a reason that more stories aren't written or presented in the media.

Overall an interesting piece (though as per usual with the show a lot of comedic hyperbole and exaggeration). You can listen by following this link:

http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTL/RadioSh...Show-Audio.aspx

It's segment 7.

Do you have to register with the little, bald guy's internet site to listen to the segment? I won't do that or anything else to help out the little sex maniac.

[Majerus Magic]

Do you have to register with the little, bald guy's internet site to listen to the segment? I won't do that or anything else to help out the little sex maniac.

uh.... no.....

Tiger Woods has nothing to do with this Bauman.

[SluSignGuy]

That was a good segment, thanks for sharing cheesy

[bleedtheblue]

At least he said he is coming back to see them as a fan...

[slu72]

At least he said he is coming back to see them as a fan...

These two guys were definitely showing the Bills some much needed love. We should return the favor. If RM won't go on the air, May ought to order him to send Porter, WR, and KM to do an early morning visit to promote the program. RM's got to know his job is not only X's and O's. There's some PR functions in there as well. Here in Charleston, Cremmins is on the air with a player or two every two weeks or so hyping the CofC.

[Clock_Tower]

These two guys were definitely showing the Bills some much needed love. We should return the favor. If RM won't go on the air, May ought to order him to send Porter, WR, and KM to do an early morning visit to promote the program. RM's got to know his job is not only X's and O's. There's some PR functions in there as well. Here in Charleston, Cremmins is on the air with a player or two every two weeks or so hyping the CofC.

I agree with you and wish that RM would be different. He isn't though and he isn't going to change. A few small gestures would go a long way and don't seem unreasonable but otherwise I've accepted it. Some in the media, as well as others, though haven't. Some of these same guys in the media are probably just noticing what RM does or does not do. So what if there is grumbling among some locals. Add some shooting and ballhandling (McCall) and extra depth at the bigs (additional recruit) and let our young guys mature another year and we will be the talk of the town and beyond.

Also, and in response to another thread, if Brad had recruited J Smith, he would be Brad's best power forward recruit over Brad's entire 5 years and we'd all be excited about him and his potential. If JS played 20 minutes per game, his stats would be much better than that of Sloan and Luke Meyer. Instead, he is skinny (which we knew), he is learning to play with his back to the basket (which we knew) and he is RM's last choice at the 4. Under Brad and Romar, there were almost no posts about redshirting and none about balancing the classes so we don't have too many Frosh, Sophs, Jrs or Srs. Local media and others, ***** all you want about RM. I'm enoying the talent and product on the floor.

[bauman]

I agree with you and wish that RM would be different. He isn't though and he isn't going to change. A few small gestures would go a long way and don't seem unreasonable but otherwise I've accepted it. Some in the media, as well as others, though haven't. Some of these same guys in the media are probably just noticing what RM does or does not do. So what if there is grumbling among some locals. Add some shooting and ballhandling (McCall) and extra depth at the bigs (additional recruit) and let our young guys mature another year and we will be the talk of the town and beyond.

Also, and in response to another thread, if Brad had recruited J Smith, he would be Brad's best power forward recruit over Brad's entire 5 years and we'd all be excited about him and his potential. If JS played 20 minutes per game, his stats would be much better than that of Sloan and Luke Meyer. Instead, he is skinny (which we knew), he is learning to play with his back to the basket (which we knew) and he is RM's last choice at the 4. Under Brad and Romar, there were almost no posts about redshirting and none about balancing the classes so we don't have too many Frosh, Sophs, Jrs or Srs. Local media and others, ***** all you want about RM. I'm enoying the talent and product on the floor.

CT, I agree with just about everything in the above post, BUT just because you are doing a part (yes, main part) of your job well doesn't mean that you can't improve in areas where you are lacking.

I, for one am extremely disappointed at the attendance in the new palace on campus. This facility, coupled with a "brand name" coach and some exciting young players should be producing more than 7-8000 fans per game. As the radio boys were trying to point out, it's a good product, but not enough people know (or think much) about it when deciding where to spend their entertainment dollars. While I appreciate the new, upward direction of the program, RM can and should be doing more to promote the product. By the way, I am not saying I want to hear him give any more long-winded speeches, name dropping players/coaches he has known in the past. I would much prefer freeing up Porter Moser and some limited access to a few players. How about just opening up practice for an hour or so for the media, once a week or every other week. If he doesn't want fans there, I can understand that, but the media is our only source of Billiken information---thanks, TT, EA, Rammer and Nate!

If RM would follow some of these suggestions it would result in free advertising for the program and likely lead to increased attendance now, not just in a few years as the team improves.

[StlBills]

These two guys were definitely showing the Bills some much needed love. We should return the favor. If RM won't go on the air, May ought to order him to send Porter, WR, and KM to do an early morning visit to promote the program. RM's got to know his job is not only X's and O's. There's some PR functions in there as well. Here in Charleston, Cremmins is on the air with a player or two every two weeks or so hyping the CofC.

The main host of this show Tim McKernan was out of town while they talked about SLU but I know he prolly wouldnt allow anyone other than RM on the show. He has let it known that he isn't really on board with SLU sports and he will joke about SLU basketball or just throw them to the side whenever they talk local college sports. I will say I do like the show a lot and like Tim McKernan but thats how SLU sports are usually talked about on that show.

[Postcard]

The main host of this show Tim McKernan was out of town while they talked about SLU but I know he prolly wouldnt allow anyone other than RM on the show. He has let it known that he isn't really on board with SLU sports and he will joke about SLU basketball or just throw them to the side whenever they talk local college sports. I will say I do like the show a lot and like Tim McKernan but thats how SLU sports are usually talked about on that show.

His sister plays soccer for SLU. Now while he did go to Mizzou, I think he would be much more on board with SLU if given the opportunity.

[cheesycow]

These two guys were definitely showing the Bills some much needed love. We should return the favor. If RM won't go on the air, May ought to order him to send Porter, WR, and KM to do an early morning visit to promote the program. RM's got to know his job is not only X's and O's. There's some PR functions in there as well. Here in Charleston, Cremmins is on the air with a player or two every two weeks or so hyping the CofC.

I found what Producer Joe said about Tom Izzo to be really interesting as well: no matter the interview, no matter who's reading it, he'll respond to questions. You never know when some freshman or sophomore in high school is going to be reading the local paper and say to themselves, "I really like this guy." It's a really simple way to help out your recruiting indirectly, and more coaches would do well to follow that example.

[dlarry]

Just a quick update.

Vaughn was at the game again tonight with what looked like his son.

So he was there as a fan again and not as a media member.

Also say Brian Burwell at the press table and he seemed to be taking notes so I wouldnt not be suprised if he has an article about the Bills in the coming days

[GoBills]

Just a quick update.

Vaughn was at the game again tonight with what looked like his son.

So he was there as a fan again and not as a media member.

Also say Brian Burwell at the press table and he seemed to be taking notes so I wouldnt not be suprised if he has an article about the Bills in the coming days

Vaughn said he was there to see the Hanlen kid from Webster.

[thetorch]

Vaughn said he was there to see the Hanlen kid from Webster.

John Marecek tweeted from the game as well. He was there to watch Hanlen as well.

[Clock_Tower]

CT, I agree with just about everything in the above post, BUT just because you are doing a part (yes, main part) of your job well doesn't mean that you can't improve in areas where you are lacking.

I, for one am extremely disappointed at the attendance in the new palace on campus. This facility, coupled with a "brand name" coach and some exciting young players should be producing more than 7-8000 fans per game. As the radio boys were trying to point out, it's a good product, but not enough people know (or think much) about it when deciding where to spend their entertainment dollars. While I appreciate the new, upward direction of the program, RM can and should be doing more to promote the product. By the way, I am not saying I want to hear him give any more long-winded speeches, name dropping players/coaches he has known in the past. I would much prefer freeing up Porter Moser and some limited access to a few players. How about just opening up practice for an hour or so for the media, once a week or every other week. If he doesn't want fans there, I can understand that, but the media is our only source of Billiken information---thanks, TT, EA, Rammer and Nate!

If RM would follow some of these suggestions it would result in free advertising for the program and likely lead to increased attendance now, not just in a few years as the team improves.

I fully agree. Attendance is lower than what I expected too. Then again, prices are much higher than I expected too. I would guess that 1000 to 2000 tickets were probably lost/not sold due the ticket policy/pricing/point system. Truly believe that many people simply supported SLU sports by buying more tickets than they really needed for most games but were glad they had for the handful of big games and/or when their kids came back in town, etc. Some have left b/c of the parking and some even b/c of RM. Some have also left b/c of our poor record and the bad economy.

I knew that RM would turn SLU around but I did think things would improve sooner than they did. In short, I truly expected RM to have brought in some transfers/JUCOs to play with KL and TL and I did not expect their Sr season to be a complete rebuilding year. Now, the product on the court is young, talented and improving and will soon start selling seats. If SLU beats MSU, the local scribes/media types will start jumping on the SLU bandwagon and we will finally experience that buzz we have been waiting for. If we lose to MSU, the buzz may not start until next year. Wins over UD and X will not do locally what wins over both SIUC and MSU will do.

[cheeseman]

I fully agree. Attendance is lower than what I expected too. Then again, prices are much higher than I expected too. I would guess that 1000 to 2000 tickets were probably lost/not sold due the ticket policy/pricing/point system. Truly believe that many people simply supported SLU sports by buying more tickets than they really needed for most games but were glad they had for the handful of big games and/or when their kids came back in town, etc. Some have left b/c of the parking and some even b/c of RM. Some have also left b/c of our poor record and the bad economy.

I knew that RM would turn SLU around but I did think things would improve sooner than they did. In short, I truly expected RM to have brought in some transfers/JUCOs to play with KL and TL and I did not expect their Sr season to be a complete rebuilding year. Now, the product on the court is young, talented and improving and will soon start selling seats. If SLU beats MSU, the local scribes/media types will start jumping on the SLU bandwagon and we will finally experience that buzz we have been waiting for. If we lose to MSU, the buzz may not start until next year. Wins over UD and X will not do locally what wins over both SIUC and MSU will do.

You may be right about the tix buying habits of past fans at Scott Trade. The moving to the new arena simply gave people the chance to rethink what they were doing so it did result in lower numbers being renewed. I guess there were holiday things going on because I can not figure out why the game did not have more people there - tickets must have gone unused.

After reading RM's book, any thought I might have had that he would bring in JUCOs was quickly gone. He did not have a track record in that area nor does he believe that that is best for the program. The problem that KL and TL had was that after their sophomore year, RM was hired and he really did not get a chance to recruit at all given the lateness of his inking the contract. So, their junior year was going to be a water treading year. Even if he had brought in JUCOs the next year, they would have not had a big impact either because by the time they picked up on what was expected, the year would have already been half over. Unfortunately, timing is what caught those two.

You might be right about the SMS game - that just shows you how uniformed some of the media are in this town. A win over SMS would be great but to get wins over X and Dayton would help our RPI much more. I just hope KM can play and at full speed or else I am not sure what will happen in that game Sat.

[ACE]

You may be right about the tix buying habits of past fans at Scott Trade. The moving to the new arena simply gave people the chance to rethink what they were doing so it did result in lower numbers being renewed. I guess there were holiday things going on because I can not figure out why the game did not have more people there - tickets must have gone unused.

After reading RM's book, any thought I might have had that he would bring in JUCOs was quickly gone. He did not have a track record in that area nor does he believe that that is best for the program. The problem that KL and TL had was that after their sophomore year, RM was hired and he really did not get a chance to recruit at all given the lateness of his inking the contract. So, their junior year was going to be a water treading year. Even if he had brought in JUCOs the next year, they would have not had a big impact either because by the time they picked up on what was expected, the year would have already been half over. Unfortunately, timing is what caught those two.

You might be right about the SMS game - that just shows you how uniformed some of the media are in this town. A win over SMS would be great but to get wins over X and Dayton would help our RPI much more. I just hope KM can play and at full speed or else I am not sure what will happen in that game Sat.

That's a key point. The Sodie firing, Majerus hiring should have happened at least a month earlier. It would have allowed Majerus to put together a semblance of a recruiting class, which I believe would have sped up the building process.