RM/Biondi airways

[kmbilliken]

Anyone have any insight into the supposed rift that has developed between RM and Biondi over charter flights?

I thought that was one of the things RM insisted on when he signed up.

That makes me wonder if they let RM order desert on the road or are do they give him the Spoon treatment?

[Bleacherbutt]

Anyone have any insight into the supposed rift that has developed between RM and Biondi over charter flights?

I thought that was one of the things RM insisted on when he signed up.

That makes me wonder if they let RM order desert on the road or are do they give him the Spoon treatment?

Are charter flights common in Division 1 basketball? Seems like a luxury when most universities are having budget cuts.

Sorry RM...it might be inconvenient to travel like the normal folks, but times have changed. Sorry you might have to stand

in the security line or sit in an airport for a layover but charter flights in this economy are not necessary.

[davidlee]

Are charter flights common in Division 1 basketball? Seems like a luxury when most universities are having budget cuts.

Sorry RM...it might be inconvenient to travel like the normal folks, but times have changed. Sorry you might have to stand

in the security line or sit in an airport for a layover but charter flights in this economy are not necessary.

I believe it is stardard for BCS type schools to fly charter. I may be wrong but that is my understanding of how things work.

[dneuner]

I don't have any scoop here, but here's my understanding of it:

Majerus asked for a private charter jet when he signed on here. The University agreed to pick up the tab. However, since the University (and the NCAA as a whole) have been cutting back, especially on travel fees, when possible, the team is strongly encouraged to bus, which they do. However, I think there are games (perhaps like last night) when charting would be more convenient for the STUDENT athlete.

[Pistol]

I don't have any scoop here, but here's my understanding of it:

Majerus asked for a private charter jet when he signed on here. The University agreed to pick up the tab. However, since the University (and the NCAA as a whole) have been cutting back, especially on travel fees, when possible, the team is strongly encouraged to bus, which they do. However, I think there are games (perhaps like last night) when charting would be more convenient for the STUDENT athlete.

Chartering flights was not unheard of prior to the Majerus days. What they do now, I can't be sure, but I think Rick's hope was that they were going to charter most, if not all, of the road games where flying was necessary.

In the Romar and Soderberg eras, it was pretty simple. If the road game was within about 4 1/2 hours or so, the team took a bus. If it was a bit farther, the team took a commercial flight unless it was more cost effective to charter a plane for that trip. For instance, Cincinnati is a very expensive airport and between 5 and 6 hours by bus, so that was always a chartered flight. Some of the smaller C-USA cities in the south that were a good distance from a major airport required charter flights. Memphis was a bus ride, but Chicago, Milwaukee, Charlotte, New Orleans, and a lot of others in that conference were inexpensive commercial flights. Conference tournaments (Cincinnati, Louisville, and Memphis when I was there) were bus rides, even if they took a little longer to get to because they'd have the bus for a longer time anyway and had to get there sooner than for typical road games.

Granted, this was before the economy tanked and energy prices shot through the roof, so if SLU has a whole has imposed cost-cutting measures on travel, I imagine a lot of those old C-USA opponents (and now Dayton and Xavier) would have become bus trips instead of commercial or charter flights.

I would guess that since most A10 schools (with just a couple exceptions) are in cities served by major airports and just about every opponent is outside of the bus trip radius for a single game, commercial flights would be the way to go. But my understanding was that Rick had gotten the school to agree to pay for chartered flights for just about every trip. This isn't actually prohibitively more expensive than flying commercial when you consider the number of people going every time. We only have a couple conference opponents anymore that are in realistic bus trip sites.

[cheeseman]

Anyone have any insight into the supposed rift that has developed between RM and Biondi over charter flights?

I thought that was one of the things RM insisted on when he signed up.

That makes me wonder if they let RM order desert on the road or are do they give him the Spoon treatment?

Funny you should choose the word "rift" - why can it not simply be RM asked to charter and the man who has the purse strings said no - fly commercial. End of story - you never asked your boss for something and he or she said no - did it cause a rift - probably not - disappoint but not the end of the world.

[Hawk]

Funny you should choose the word "rift" - why can it not simply be RM asked to charter and the man who has the purse strings said no - fly commercial. End of story - you never asked your boss for something and he or she said no - did it cause a rift - probably not - disappoint but not the end of the world.

Except for two things: It's built into his contract, and RM actually cares about his athletes academics and takes great pride in them doing well. If there was a way for him to schedule games for the kids to not miss any class time, he would do it. Which is why he wants to travel charter and not miss any time more than necessary.

[slu72]

Except for two things: It's built into his contract, and RM actually cares about his athletes academics and takes great pride in them doing well. If there was a way for him to schedule games for the kids to not miss any class time, he would do it. Which is why he wants to travel charter and not miss any time more than necessary.

Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill here. RM, with his working class background, should easily understand that times are tough and cuts have to be made. If he doesn't, shame on him. The whole world does not revolve around his basketball team. Sometimes there are bigger issues involved. I'm sure the school's endowment has taken a bit of a hit during the market downturn and donations have likely fallen as well. Applaud his concern for the academic issues but hey we're all suffering through this to some degree.

[Bleacherbutt]

I think it is great that RM wants his players to do well academically. I am sure all the coaches at SLU would like their students to do well academically. Juggling athletics and academics is a challenge. It's part of being a student athlete. Do any of the other teams at SLU fly charter? I doubt it.

[DeSmetBilliken]

Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill here. RM, with his working class background, should easily understand that times are tough and cuts have to be made. If he doesn't, shame on him. The whole world does not revolve around his basketball team. Sometimes there are bigger issues involved. I'm sure the school's endowment has taken a bit of a hit during the market downturn and donations have likely fallen as well. Applaud his concern for the academic issues but hey we're all suffering through this to some degree.

I think Majerus probably does understand this. I listened to his hour plus interview with Mike Claiborne on KTRS from last week, and when a caller asked about whether Rick thought that collegiate athletes should be paid, and how it could be done, he said that it wouldn't happen from an economic standpoint. He referenced Title 9 because if football players get a stipend, then schools would have to find the same amount of expenditures to spend on women's sports. More related to this topic, though, he said that schools are being forced to cut back on some sports, whether partially or entirely, so such greater expenditures wouldn't be possible. He also mentioned that the team took a bus earlier this year, which he was more than happy to do, as he is not one to waste money.

[cheeseman]

Except for two things: It's built into his contract, and RM actually cares about his athletes academics and takes great pride in them doing well. If there was a way for him to schedule games for the kids to not miss any class time, he would do it. Which is why he wants to travel charter and not miss any time more than necessary.

So you have seen the actual contract - interesting. From what I remember it was reported that charter flights would be used when there were not any other legitimate alternatives. Now, how you define legitimate is open to interpretations. I have no idea how much a charter flight costs in lieu of commercial flying but I am sure everything must be measured ultimately by a cost benefit review.

[TheChosenOne]

So you have seen the actual contract - interesting. From what I remember it was reported that charter flights would be used when there were not any other legitimate alternatives. Now, how you define legitimate is open to interpretations. I have no idea how much a charter flight costs in lieu of commercial flying but I am sure everything must be measured ultimately by a cost benefit review.

I know earlier in the season they chartered a flight for the Georgia game. I was told it was $25,000 for the flight. I know this because the basketball team was stuck waiting for the University to wire the money. Not surprising that the athletic department would leave a team stuck on the road because they did not arrange such a minor detail as the payment for a flight. So if anyone is curious of the price, there you go.

[slu72]

I know earlier in the season they chartered a flight for the Georgia game. I was told it was $25,000 for the flight. I know this because the basketball team was stuck waiting for the University to wire the money. Not surprising that the athletic department would leave a team stuck on the road because they did not arrange such a minor detail as the payment for a flight. So if anyone is curious of the price, there you go.

Wonder even if the GA money for that game covered $25k. Anyone have any idea what kind of $ we'd be guaranteed from a BCS school.

[MusicCityBilliken]

I know earlier in the season they chartered a flight for the Georgia game. I was told it was $25,000 for the flight. I know this because the basketball team was stuck waiting for the University to wire the money. Not surprising that the athletic department would leave a team stuck on the road because they did not arrange such a minor detail as the payment for a flight. So if anyone is curious of the price, there you go.

Similar to Nebraska, don't we get Georgia at home next year? Unless we are a Georgia buy game, why would they pay us?

[slu72]

Similar to Nebraska, don't we get Georgia at home next year? Unless we are a Georgia buy game, why would they pay us?

Even if not a buy game, there's always a split in gate receipts, correct? I don't know anything about how college baskeball teams split up game by game revenues.... if someone does it'd be nice to have it explained.

[cheeseman]

Wonder even if the GA money for that game covered $25k. Anyone have any idea what kind of $ we'd be guaranteed from a BCS school.

This was not a buy game - my understanding is that GA is coming to SLU next year.

[cheeseman]

Even if not a buy game, there's always a split in gate receipts, correct? I don't know anything about how college baskeball teams split up game by game revenues.... if someone does it'd be nice to have it explained.

I am not sure that there is a split of gate receipts if the contract calls for a home and home series. Both teams simply keep their own receipts. I am also not sure that there is any payment for the visiting team to travel - once again each school in a home and home would be responsible for their own travel. Why keep exchanging money that has to simply be given back the next year.