Majerus on the radio now

[Cowboy]

...an emphatic + 1!

JJ, it's hard for me to see how even the biggest RM fans could disagree with what you said. Add this to the top of RM's "I need to get over this or at least shut up about it, list."

Trying to always make sure that a post is balanced, a positive is that from all reports it doesn't seem like he dropped any Utah or NBA names into the show during his "I'm a very busy man so I can't stay for the entire scheduled time" shortened appearance. Baby steps!

It's a good thing the guy can recruit and coach which are the only things that distinguish him from one of my all-time favorite SLU coaches, the famous Buddy Brehmer (sp?).

-actually he did mention the players he coached that have gone onto the nba, so he got two of your dislikes in one point!!!

-rick speaks his mind, has a very limited filter or not one at all, so you know where he stands on whatever issue, to me refreshing in this pc world

-for me the show is about learning things about the program, the games, the players, the coaches and the opponents i did not know, is not for me promoting the program but i can see where for some it could be

-bauman glad you did not listen, keep it up, you will be happier!!!

[billiken_roy]

So the standard for the right to comment is that have been an ESPN analyst or D1 player? Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Rick knew the conference we were in when he took the job. He should have known the air travel that entailed. It's three years now and he is still bitching about the conference travel schedule on his own radio program? That's beyond stupid. Sorry no excuse.

It's fine if he holds that opinion. I won't debate it with him. Keep it internal. The radio show is for promoting the program. Continually bashing the conference in public helps nothing. In fact, it's a hindrance. The idea of media is to put the best face forward. SLU is in the A10. The public perception of the A10 directly effects our program. There is NO arguing that point. I'm very much tired of hearing our coach bash our conference. It's not helpful. I don't even care if he is saying that it's a great conference but not good for SLU. He needs to stop churning that pot in the media.

since the positives of being in the A-10 vs the MVC outweigh the negatives by a mile, the only thought i can come up as to why rickma keeps bringing this stale argument to the forefront is that rickma wants to be in a lesser conference competition wise in hopes of again being the only fish in the pond like he was at utah. that is the one view point that we really havent kicked around much in our discussions. and there is no doubt that in the a-10 there will always be 10- 12 teams that can compete for the title each year.

in the mvc typically you have one or two decent teams a year. the mvc has been a dream for creighton. and i am sure rickma sees that slu can become creighton. maybe that is his angle?

[MB73]

So the standard for the right to comment is that have been an ESPN analyst or D1 player? Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Rick knew the conference we were in when he took the job. He should have known the air travel that entailed. It's three years now and he is still bitching about the conference travel schedule on his own radio program? That's beyond stupid. Sorry no excuse.

It's fine if he holds that opinion. I won't debate it with him. Keep it internal. The radio show is for promoting the program. Continually bashing the conference in public helps nothing. In fact, it's a hindrance. The idea of media is to put the best face forward. SLU is in the A10. The public perception of the A10 directly effects our program. There is NO arguing that point. I'm very much tired of hearing our coach bash our conference. It's not helpful. I don't even care if he is saying that it's a great conference but not good for SLU. He needs to stop churning that pot in the media.

No, I was referring to Rick Majerus and his many, many years (20?) as head coach in three different conferences plus his extensive travel and national exposure to other players, coaches, AD's, etc when he worked for ESPN. And I might add that he has been very, very successful.

As opposed to your experience.

I like to listen to proven winners, those who have accomplished something over a significant period of time. Good policy IMO.

AND he is OUR head coach.

Good try, though, nice spin.

[bsheldon]

-i wish 101.1 would put the show and the postgame analysis on their website, heck many fans can't get from their seat to their car to hear the postgame stuff which is typically great info and others could hear the show/postgame on their time

You don't have a radio in your house? Radio reception works indoors, too.

As far as Rick bashing the A-10, I think that is really a dumb thing to do. It is a very good conference and it is getting a lot of hype this year in the national press--mostly for (big surprise) its performance against other big time prgrams. ie Dayton beating GT, Richmond over Mizzou and Florida, Charlotte over Louisville, Temple over Villanova...etc. I don't see that level of play in the MVC. I used to hold the opinion that we should be in the valley, but hopefully rick is going to take us to a level of play that is above that. I am now fully behind the A-10--it was a slow transition, I hated it at first. If Xavier, Dayton, RI, Richmond, Temple, and hoepfully SLU continue to improve their programs and up their talent levels, the A-10 may be a top 3 or 4 basketball conference in a few years. I don't see that happening with MVC. We are consistently the top 1 or 2 non-big-six conferences now. I can foresee the league regularly getting 4 bids to the dance (we usually only get 2-3.) Barring a new conference forming (which doesn't seem very likely) I think the A-10 is SLU's best bet at raising it's program's level in the national picture. Again, rick saying anything other than good things about the conference is ill advised in my opinion.

I did not hear the show, so I am not sure exactly Rick said.

Rick is bringing in talent, I think that is pretty obvious. I think most all of us will agree that the next 2 years are looking real good with the current level of talent we have. If Rick can get SLU to consistently put up W's, most of the rest of this really won't matter too much. A winning program has a way of ignoring trivial stuff. It is amazing what winning will do.

[Cowboy]

since the positives of being in the A-10 vs the MVC outweigh the negatives by a mile, the only thought i can come up as to why rickma keeps bringing this stale argument to the forefront is that rickma wants to be in a lesser conference competition wise in hopes of again being the only fish in the pond like he was at utah. that is the one view point that we really havent kicked around much in our discussions. and there is no doubt that in the a-10 there will always be 10- 12 teams that can compete for the title each year.

in the mvc typically you have one or two decent teams a year. the mvc has been a dream for creighton. and i am sure rickma sees that slu can become creighton. maybe that is his angle?

-could be his thought, gonz is in a situation like that as well

-that is not how i would think about it

-we need huntsman to let rick and the team use his plane like i think he did in utah or a similar local situation

[Cowboy]

-i wish 101.1 would put the show and the postgame analysis on their website, heck many fans can't get from their seat to their car to hear the postgame stuff which is typically great info and others could hear the show/postgame on their time

You don't have a radio in your house? Radio reception works indoors, too.

-i do have a radio, a transistor from radio shack circa 1974, sometimes the timing can be an issue

[bonwich]

Geez, I wish he'd get off the MVC vs A-10 deal. The only better solution than the A-10 is some midwest schools getting together and starting a new conference. I know we're all waiting for the Big Easy to sink like the Titanic but you can't count on that. Now maybe DePaul gets fed up and just quits. However, that depends on how much revenue they're getting from the BE. The admin there probably could give a hoot how competitive they are if they're a part of a major conf revenue stream. It's always follow the money. In any event the only schools that make sense for a new MW conf would be SLU, X, Dayton, Butler, Creighton, Loyola Chi, Det Mercy, Drake. All private, all in major or semi major metros, all w/ strong academics. 8 schools however may not be enough as it would really limit NCAA bids. There'd be a lot of teams with 7-7 conf records. You'd need to add at least 2- 4 others to make it a go. And you're not going to get FB schools to join it. If it made economic sense for DePaul to jump there's one. ND? forget it, those pompous a**es would see it as a major step down. Marquette, highly unlikely as their admin is firmly behind a strong hoops program and they compete well in the Big East. Other possibles are Valpo and who????

You beat me to Loyola. It's a stretch to say that Valparaiso is in a metro area; I guess you could fudge and say Chicago since lots of people commute from NW Indiana -- but for access, unless Gary still has low-budget airlines, the nearest airport is 1.5-2 hrs away in traffic.

If you're going to take Dayton, do you go a bit further east and take Duquesne? On the west side, do you suppose Tulsa or Rice would split off football (and, for that matter, what's going to happen to CUSA?) Or maybe Oral Roberts?

[slufanskip]

I agree that his constant bitching about the A10 is getting old. Maybe if we the fans flood the AD's office with complaints about it they might talk to him. If you do, be sure to mention how long you've had your season tickets. They need to know that there is a huge group of long time fans that have given a lot of money to the program over the years think he needs to drop it.

[MB73]

I agree that his constant bitching about the A10 is getting old. Maybe if we the fans flood the AD's office with complaints about it they might talk to him. If you do, be sure to mention how long you've had your season tickets. They need to know that there is a huge group of long time fans that have given a lot of money to the program over the years think he needs to drop it.

We finally have a big time coach, proven long term winner, bringing in excellent time talent, developing big men right in front of our eyes (Reed, Jon Smith) and some of you are nit picking him to death.

Another couple years of this and SLU could be a "player".

And you are organizing to have people call the AD's office over his A-10 statements?

[bills10]

I agree that his constant bitching about the A10 is getting old. Maybe if we the fans flood the AD's office with complaints about it they might talk to him. If you do, be sure to mention how long you've had your season tickets. They need to know that there is a huge group of long time fans that have given a lot of money to the program over the years think he needs to drop it.

At the same time, anyone who does contact the office on this issue should include the fact that the AD needs to be a mover and a shaker in forming a new conference down the line!

[billiken_roy]

At the same time, anyone who does contact the office on this issue should include the fact that the AD needs to be a mover and a shaker in forming a new conference down the line!

+++

[Majerus Magic]

+++

Majerus' constant harping on being in the MVC really pisses me off. Get over it.

Does he need to have someone sit him down and explain to him why the A-10 is better? He sounds like an idiot when he constantly talks about a conference he isn't currently or ever will be a part of.

[slufanskip]

We finally have a big time coach, proven long term winner, bringing in excellent time talent, developing big men right in front of our eyes (Reed, Jon Smith) and some of you are nit picking him to death.

Another couple years of this and SLU could be a "player".

And you are organizing to have people call the AD's office over his A-10 statements?

It's not his A10 statements as if it's a few. It's constant, non stop jibberish. He needs to stop. I didn't say call the AD to have him fired, but maybe if the fans speak up RM will realize it's enough. I don't consider it nitpicking. It's a big issue.

[Clock_Tower]

It's not his A10 statements as if it's a few. It's constant, non stop jibberish. He needs to stop. I didn't say call the AD to have him fired, but maybe if the fans speak up RM will realize it's enough. I don't consider it nitpicking. It's a big issue.

Again, it's not like like the A10 is the perfect fit for SLU. All the negatives RM mentions are, in fact, true. At the same time, the alternative (Valley) has numerous issues of its own. RM never talks of these issues. If the Valley had similar schools to that A10 schools, SLU would have been in that conference years ago. It doesn't.

[willie]

It's not his A10 statements as if it's a few. It's constant, non stop jibberish. He needs to stop. I didn't say call the AD to have him fired, but maybe if the fans speak up RM will realize it's enough. I don't consider it nitpicking. It's a big issue.

For what it's worth at the last Billiken Club meeting I spoke with May about the A-10. I told him I thought it was far superior to the MVC and would help us when and if a new confrence was formed. He said he agreed with me and said we were going nowhere. That said he needs to tell Majereus to keep his coments private, Rick can and will believe anything he wants but it doesn't do anybody good for him to blast the A-10.

[bonwich]

I'm pretty sure that "loose cannon" was written into Rick's contract.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Geez, I wish he'd get off the MVC vs A-10 deal. The only better solution than the A-10 is some midwest schools getting together and starting a new conference. I know we're all waiting for the Big Easy to sink like the Titanic but you can't count on that. Now maybe DePaul gets fed up and just quits. However, that depends on how much revenue they're getting from the BE. The admin there probably could give a hoot how competitive they are if they're a part of a major conf revenue stream. It's always follow the money. In any event the only schools that make sense for a new MW conf would be SLU, X, Dayton, Butler, Creighton, Loyola Chi, Det Mercy, Drake. All private, all in major or semi major metros, all w/ strong academics. 8 schools however may not be enough as it would really limit NCAA bids. There'd be a lot of teams with 7-7 conf records. You'd need to add at least 2- 4 others to make it a go. And you're not going to get FB schools to join it. If it made economic sense for DePaul to jump there's one. ND? forget it, those pompous a**es would see it as a major step down. Marquette, highly unlikely as their admin is firmly behind a strong hoops program and they compete well in the Big East. Other possibles are Valpo and who????

What would be advantageous for Xavier and Dayton to leave the Atlantic 10 for that sorry (err, disrespected) mid-major mix? I'd rather for SLU to stay in the A-10, too, than be a part of such a conference. It would be like the Juan Bid MCC all over again.

[Quality Is Job 1]

So the standard for the right to comment is that have been an ESPN analyst or D1 player? Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Rick knew the conference we were in when he took the job. He should have known the air travel that entailed. It's three years now and he is still bitching about the conference travel schedule on his own radio program? That's beyond stupid. Sorry no excuse.

It's fine if he holds that opinion. I won't debate it with him. Keep it internal. The radio show is for promoting the program. Continually bashing the conference in public helps nothing. In fact, it's a hindrance. The idea of media is to put the best face forward. SLU is in the A10. The public perception of the A10 directly effects our program. There is NO arguing that point. I'm very much tired of hearing our coach bash our conference. It's not helpful. I don't even care if he is saying that it's a great conference but not good for SLU. He needs to stop churning that pot in the media.

The problem is that people (MVC fans, perhaps) keep calling into the show and asking his opinion, and he gives his honest (and drawn-out) thoughts about it, rather than the company line.

[Quality Is Job 1]

-i wish 101.1 would put the show and the postgame analysis on their website, heck many fans can't get from their seat to their car to hear the postgame stuff which is typically great info and others could hear the show/postgame on their time

You don't have a radio in your house? Radio reception works indoors, too.

As far as Rick bashing the A-10, I think that is really a dumb thing to do. It is a very good conference and it is getting a lot of hype this year in the national press--mostly for (big surprise) its performance against other big time prgrams. ie Dayton beating GT, Richmond over Mizzou and Florida, Charlotte over Louisville, Temple over Villanova...etc. I don't see that level of play in the MVC. I used to hold the opinion that we should be in the valley, but hopefully rick is going to take us to a level of play that is above that. I am now fully behind the A-10--it was a slow transition, I hated it at first. If Xavier, Dayton, RI, Richmond, Temple, and hoepfully SLU continue to improve their programs and up their talent levels, the A-10 may be a top 3 or 4 basketball conference in a few years. I don't see that happening with MVC. We are consistently the top 1 or 2 non-big-six conferences now. I can foresee the league regularly getting 4 bids to the dance (we usually only get 2-3.) Barring a new conference forming (which doesn't seem very likely) I think the A-10 is SLU's best bet at raising it's program's level in the national picture. Again, rick saying anything other than good things about the conference is ill advised in my opinion.

I did not hear the show, so I am not sure exactly Rick said.

Rick is bringing in talent, I think that is pretty obvious. I think most all of us will agree that the next 2 years are looking real good with the current level of talent we have. If Rick can get SLU to consistently put up W's, most of the rest of this really won't matter too much. A winning program has a way of ignoring trivial stuff. It is amazing what winning will do.

In no way did Coach Majerus bash the A-10 or say anything negative about it. What he dislikes is SLU's membership in the conference because of the travel concerns.

[SLUDrew]

Put me in the camp of those that could care less about Coach's gripes with the conference we are in. Like someone said earlier in this thread, we have a level of talent on this team that, at least in terms of quality depth, might exceed any Billiken team in my lifetime (I am 35 for the record). Next year's team with the addition of McCall and Evans definitely will.

A couple of years ago we were watching players that had no business being on a DI team (Knollmeyer, Maguire, Mitchell, Husak) just to name a few. That's nothing against those kids, but the inability to analyze/recruit division 1 talent by the then coaching staff. Now we have a team, that happens to be the youngest in the country, that was an eyelash away from being 12-5 and 3-0 in conference.

By the way, you are worried about the poor PR Coach is providing for the conference on his radio show? How many casual fans do you think listen to that show?? Walk up to another college basketball fan in your office and ask him if he heard what Majerus said about the A-10 last night. I can GUARANTEE you he will have no idea. He will know, however, when the Bills win 24 games and are back in the tournament which is exactly the projection this program is on.

[NH]

Geez, I wish he'd get off the MVC vs A-10 deal. The only better solution than the A-10 is some midwest schools getting together and starting a new conference. I know we're all waiting for the Big Easy to sink like the Titanic but you can't count on that. Now maybe DePaul gets fed up and just quits. However, that depends on how much revenue they're getting from the BE. The admin there probably could give a hoot how competitive they are if they're a part of a major conf revenue stream. It's always follow the money. In any event the only schools that make sense for a new MW conf would be SLU, X, Dayton, Butler, Creighton, Loyola Chi, Det Mercy, Drake. All private, all in major or semi major metros, all w/ strong academics. 8 schools however may not be enough as it would really limit NCAA bids. There'd be a lot of teams with 7-7 conf records. You'd need to add at least 2- 4 others to make it a go. And you're not going to get FB schools to join it. If it made economic sense for DePaul to jump there's one. ND? forget it, those pompous a**es would see it as a major step down. Marquette, highly unlikely as their admin is firmly behind a strong hoops program and they compete well in the Big East. Other possibles are Valpo and who????

What about Marquette?

SLU

Xavier

Dayton

Creighton

Drake

Marquette

DePaul

Butler

Detroit

Loyola Chicago

You play each other team twice, for an 18 game league schedule. Honestly, which team in that league wouldn't draw more fans that evansville or Fordham.

[Clock_Tower]

In no way did Coach Majerus bash the A-10 or say anything negative about it. What he dislikes is SLU's membership in the conference because of the travel concerns.

Sure he bashed the A-10 - not saying they don't need some bashing or are deserving of some - but he did say imply the A-10 is not well run. For instance, he said that the A-10 choose for SLU to play the same teams (twice) as we did last for no apparent reason other than we played them last year. He also said it is unfair for SLU to play UD twice (which some picked to win the conference), Richmond twice (who was picked to place 3rd) and Duquesne twice (which was picked to place 5th while other teams will play the lesser projected rank teams twice - implication that the A-10 is bush league. Also, he mentioned that A-10 is an "East Coast league" will all teams from another time zone and which is full of teams that the "casual fan from Wentzville" (his words not mine) does not cares about - implication being that this same Wentzville fan cares about Illinois State, Indiana State... - and that the media and A-10 press doesn't get the word out/doesn't reach this same fan that, for instance, Richmond beat Mizzou and that we beat Richmond.

[Majerus Magic]

I don't think Majerus can complain about the local media. I think the guys from that radio station ( 590 maybe?) did the best job describing Majerus' attitude towards the local media.

He has a good product, and people are interested, but he basically takes a dump on their requests for interviews.

He is not local media friendly, yet he ******* that the local media doesn't give a sh*t about who SLU beat.

If people could see Majerus on TV and hear him talk about SLU basketball, people aren't going to care about what conference we are in. He needs to stop blaming the A-10 for the local media's indifference and start reaching out to change their perception.

PS- On a side note, I think the discussions that take place on the board in regards to "a dream Midwestern conference" are some of the most annoying on here. It's never gonna happen.

[billiken_roy]

He also said it is unfair for SLU to play UD twice (which some picked to win the conference), Richmond twice (who was picked to place 3rd) and Duquesne twice (which was picked to place 5th while other teams will play the lesser projected rank teams twice - implication that the A-10 is bush league.

maybe someone needs to sit down and explain to rickma how the rpi works and why we dont want to play fordham, st bonnie and umass twice this year.

[MB73]

maybe someone needs to sit down and explain to rickma how the rpi works and why we dont want to play fordham, st bonnie and umass twice this year.

I would think RM knows about RPI's.

He would rather take the likely wins playing Ford-St. Bonnie-U Mass twice than the likely losses having to play UD-Richmond-Duq twice, including on the road.

3 wins vs 3 losses, 6 game swing, depending upon your assumptions, I assume win at home lose on the road vs the 3 good teams, win all 6 vs bad teams.