Dan Caesar Article

[Billikan]

I've never seen more examples of people wanting to "kill the messenger." All these charges of "Ceasar has it in for RM", and "the Post is out to get SLU" just make you look petty and insecure. One of these days you'll understand that the Post is not a PR arm of SLU. I know a lot of you think it should be but that is not their function. Dan Ceasar writes media related columns for the Post. So giving readers some background on RM's past dealings in the media, with the media etc are completely relevant. I swear, the Post could write a 3 page article on the Bills with 99% of the stuff being positive but if they mentioned that "this was the Bills best year in a decade" that people on here would ***** and moan that they brough up the past.

Why don't you go away? I will never understand why you come to this message board. You hate the Bills and you want to hurt the program. You cheer for anyone who criticizes the program. Isn't there another blog or web page you could visit?

[TheChosenOne]

Could he do both? Possibly, but do any of us know how much time he currently puts in? I'd bet it's more than most of us. Maybe he only has so much time, and to give the media 2 hours a week, would take away from his watching game film and developing practice plans, or writing letters to recruits like Brian Conklin outlining his current game and what he could do to help him improve.

The answer should be absolutely. Rick Majerus coaches basketball, he is not in a lab finding a cure for AIDS. He can sacrifice an hour or two a week to sit down with the local media.

[Billikan]

I guess I question just how visible Majerus is to the national media and how he is a great "ambassador" of the school throughout the country. We don't play any games on national television and I have never seen Majerus on ESPN or the like. The biggest national story I saw was the article in Sports Illustrated and I did not take away a lot of positives from that. I live in St. Louis and could be missing these things though so I could be wrong on this. Here is the headline of an article from SI.com concerning the Billikens from yesterday "Majerus wants out of Atlantic-10."

I assume you don't watch much basketball because I have heard announcers refer to RM on various occasions this year. Just last week during the Pitt/UConn game the announcer was talking about how Jamie is such a good friend of RM and how he took his advice as to how to approach building a winning program in the Big East--start with defense and intensity.

[TheChosenOne]

The Post is about 20493rd on the list of places I would be looking to please, right below any st louis radio stations.

You do realize that the readers of the Post Dispatch and listeners of the local sports radio programs are the people that either come to the games or could be coming to the games?

[slufanskip]

The answer should be absolutely. Rick Majerus coaches basketball, he is not in a lab finding a cure for AIDS. He can sacrifice an hour or two a week to sit down with the local media.

Is there a limit to how many hours he should spend doing his job? Is 50 a reasonable number? 55? maybe 60? What if he already puts in the number you determine is right? What if he already puts that number in plus more and still doesn't get the things he believes need to be done finished? What tasks that he currently doing should he drop?

RM is good at recruiting, coaching, game planning etc .... He hasn't shown that he's good at dealing with the media. I'm fine with that. Let him do what he's good at, which imo will have more impact on our becoming the program we all want it to be. However, I do believe RM and Chris May should do a better job of making the program more media friendly, even if that means Porter and the Asst's. have to do interviews more often.

[TheChosenOne]

I assume you don't watch much basketball because I have heard announcers refer to RM on various occasions this year. Just last week during the Pitt/UConn game the announcer was talking about how Jamie is such a good friend of RM and how he took his advice as to how to approach building a winning program in the Big East--start with defense and intensity.

I agree that Majerus is a nationally respected basketball coach, but having your name mentioned during a basketball game does not constitute being a great ambassador of the University. Mentions here and there are nice don't get me wrong, but it is not like he is on the national circuit continually discussing the merits of Saint Louis University and the basketball program like one poster implied. I struggle to see how he has really increased the University's national exposure.

[Westy03]

You do realize that the readers of the Post Dispatch and listeners of the local sports radio programs are the people that either come to the games or could be coming to the games?

If they are the ones going to the games then they can see what a great young team we are putting on the court. Having a good product on the floor will be the most important factor for fans to show up. As far as I can tell Rick is doing a great job in doing that. Will appearing on a radio show for an hour a week help? Probably, but the way people are getting so bent out of shape over this is comical I think.

[Postcard]

Why don't you go away? I will never understand why you come to this message board. You hate the Bills and you want to hurt the program. You cheer for anyone who criticizes the program. Isn't there another blog or web page you could visit?

I love the Bills. I'm sorry if I disagree with the mob mentality and the Post witchhunt. I'm not sure how I would go about "hurting the program" even if I wanted to. I cheer for noone that criticizes the program yet I can understand an "opposing' point of view. Perhaps you need to step away from the fire. YOu seem to be a little to close to the subject to remain objective.

Go Bills!!

[billiken_roy]

OK first of all - maybe it is just me - when you refer to the Chey - it should be spelled Chay - there is no "e" in the name up front - sorry just a personal thing.

If RM insists on going 2 days before a game how does belonging to another conf change the overall costs and lost academic time - I got news for everybody, RM is not taking a bus to Omaha or any place in Kansas or N. Iowa. If it was in his contract that he got charter flights then Biondi would not have stopped or curtailed the practice. What was probably said was something like this - I need charter flights - ok we will do charter flights whenever possible, fair enough - yes fair enough. Now who interprets the "whenever possible" will determine when charter flights are taken and not. I still say, Chris May needs to show some leadership in this situation - maybe he is trying I don't know - but there are ways to work through this problem and not in public.

what we are missing here is time changes. being in the a-10 rickma loses that hour flying east. even if he was flying to omaha he would still be in central time zone so he isnt losing any time and doesnt need that extra day.

is anyone really swallowing the travel causes an extra day thing? my gosh.

[TheChosenOne]

Is there a limit to how many hours he should spend doing his job? Is 50 a reasonable number? 55? maybe 60? What if he already puts in the number you determine is right? What if he already puts that number in plus more and still doesn't get the things he believes need to be done finished? What tasks that he currently doing should he drop?

RM is good at recruiting, coaching, game planning etc .... He hasn't shown that he's good at dealing with the media. I'm fine with that. Let him do what he's good at, which imo will have more impact on our becoming the program we all want it to be. However, I do believe RM and Chris May should do a better job of making the program more media friendly, even if that means Porter and the Asst's. have to do interviews more often.

If you are contractually obligated to do a radio program then that should be one of the hours in your work week. I think he would come across as likeable if he were on the radio or television, look at the brash Rex Ryan and how the media adores him. Obviously he does not like to deal with the media, but an hour or two a week is not a lot and it would go a long way. I agree that I will take winning over a highly likeable and media friendly coach, but I struggle to see why it is so difficult to at least make some effort. That is all I am saying, make some effort. Winning will cure all, but we can still ***** and moan when we see things being done that we do not like until we get there.

[MB73]

The answer should be absolutely. Rick Majerus coaches basketball, he is not in a lab finding a cure for AIDS. He can sacrifice an hour or two a week to sit down with the local media.

Quit your bellyaching about this.

You do not know his schedule.

He is proving to be the great coach we had hoped for... turning the program around.

Now you want a personality to deal with media people like weasel-boy Dan Caesar?

People who gripe about Majerus on this issue are strange.

[slufanskip]

If you are contractually obligated to do a radio program then that should be one of the hours in your work week. I think he would come across as likeable if he were on the radio or television, look at the brash Rex Ryan and how the media adores him. Obviously he does not like to deal with the media, but an hour or two a week is not a lot and it would go a long way. I agree that I will take winning over a highly likeable and media friendly coach, but I struggle to see why it is so difficult to at least make some effort. That is all I am saying, make some effort. Winning will cure all, but we can still ***** and moan when we see things being done that we do not like until we get there.

I agree that if he was contractually obligated he should have done it, or negotiated another solution in advance. I don't think he comes accross as likeable though. Imo he comes accross as if he's mumbling and incoherent. I'd seriously rather listen to Porter. I think he could be better though if he wanted, he certainly came across ok at espn.

[TheChosenOne]

If they are the ones going to the games then they can see what a great young team we are putting on the court. Having a good product on the floor will be the most important factor for fans to show up. As far as I can tell Rick is doing a great job in doing that. Will appearing on a radio show for an hour a week help? Probably, but the way people are getting so bent out of shape over this is comical I think.

You are right, in the big picture this is extremely minor, but isn't that what fan message boards are for? We have a good young team that is getting better every day and the future is extremely bright, but the casual St. Louis sports fan does not really know that and certainly is not aware of it enough to start going to games if they don't already do so. This program has so little media exposure and it is frustrating to me as Billiken fan. If we win big in the coming seasons these discussions will be laughable because the attention will be there in spades. I just wish we would see Majerus, Willie, and Mitchell all over the local stations building that excitement. Winning will cure all....

[Westy03]

You are right, in the big picture this is extremely minor, but isn't that what fan message boards are for? We have a good young team that is getting better every day and the future is extremely bright, but the casual St. Louis sports fan does not really know that and certainly is not aware of it enough to start going to games if they don't already do so. This program has so little media exposure and it is frustrating to me as Billiken fan. If we win big in the coming seasons these discussions will be laughable because the attention will be there in spades. I just wish we would see Majerus, Willie, and Mitchell all over the local stations building that excitement. Winning will cure all....

The casual sports fan wouldnt be listening to Rick ramble for an hour on a monday night anyway. The only people who would listen would be the people on here. Having the players on during the day is a pretty good idea but with the schedule they already have you dont want to ask to much of them.

[TheChosenOne]

The casual sports fan wouldnt be listening to Rick ramble for an hour on a monday night anyway. The only people who would listen would be the people on here. Having the players on during the day is a pretty good idea but with the schedule they already have you dont want to ask to much of them.

I was not speaking specifically to the hour radio program (you are right that the casual fan is not going to tune into a coach's program), but more like once a week tell all the local media that Coach Majerus and his players will be available for an hour after practice so come on down (which from the media complaints I have heard, the lack of any access is what frustrates them). Then all the local media outlets have their clips and can run reports on the team. When I worked for the team the players were never too busy to speak to the media after practices for a couple of minutes. Student athletes have a lot on their schedule, but it is not like they are running from practice to the library. I am not saying do it every day, but once a week or every two weeks would seem to go a long way. I reread my posts and I would have thought it was my mom nitpicking me, so I will stop complaining. I just wish we could have discussions where things did not always become so black and white. You can have issues with the program that you do not like and can complain about and still be extremely pleased with the overall direction of the program and with Coach Majerus. This message board turns every discussion into you either hate Majerus and the team or love Majerus and the team and if you have something you don't like about the program you are a troll or Brad Soderberg's pool boy before he was fired.

[SLUGRAD'76]

If there is any truth that SLU had to cut back on Team Charters because of $$$ maybe RM feels he can cut back on services too.

Attendance might be improved with greater media exposure from RM promoting the Team. If we had more $$$ from greater attendance then maybe we could afford Team Charters.

Is this a case of the proverbial "cut your nose off to spite your face?"

[slufanskip]

I was not speaking specifically to the hour radio program (you are right that the casual fan is not going to tune into a coach's program), but more like once a week tell all the local media that Coach Majerus and his players will be available for an hour after practice so come on down (which from the media complaints I have heard, the lack of any access is what frustrates them). Then all the local media outlets have their clips and can run reports on the team. When I worked for the team the players were never too busy to speak to the media after practices for a couple of minutes. Student athletes have a lot on their schedule, but it is not like they are running from practice to the library. I am not saying do it every day, but once a week or every two weeks would seem to go a long way. I reread my posts and I would have thought it was my mom nitpicking me, so I will stop complaining. I just wish we could have discussions where things did not always become so black and white. You can have issues with the program that you do not like and can complain about and still be extremely pleased with the overall direction of the program and with Coach Majerus. This message board turns every discussion into you either hate Majerus and the team or love Majerus and the team and if you have something you don't like about the program you are a troll or Brad Soderberg's pool boy before he was fired.

Hey, My barber's sister's postman's daughter's nephew actually was UB's pool boy. Why are you picking on him? There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a pool boy? I also heard that people that hate pool boy's dislike fat men who show the crack's of their a$$ in public, what's wrong with fat guys displaying a little skin? You need to stop being so aggresive and try being a little more diverse.

[willie]

I love the Bills. I'm sorry if I disagree with the mob mentality and the Post witchhunt. I'm not sure how I would go about "hurting the program" even if I wanted to. I cheer for noone that criticizes the program yet I can understand an "opposing' point of view. Perhaps you need to step away from the fire. YOu seem to be a little to close to the subject to remain objective.

Go Bills!!

Ceasar was doing his job. There was nothing in there that I would call a hatchet job. Rick is what he is. May or Porter need to become the public face. The department needs to do a better job,it doesn't have to be Rick.

[slufanskip]

Ceasar was doing his job. There was nothing in there that I would call a hatchet job. Rick is what he is. May or Porter need to become the public face. The department needs to do a better job,it doesn't have to be Rick.

exactly

[Quality Is Job 1]

I feel all educators should have to do home checks on their students and give family counseling to any kids with problems. I also feel that if a parent can't get their kid from school on time the teacher should wait until whatever time that parent arises. I know it's not in their contract, but hey it's my opinion and I feel they should.

Having worked in education, I hope you don't really feel this way, though there are certainly a lot of people who really do believe this.

(Yeah, I recognize this is off topic.)

[slufanskip]

Having worked in education, I hope you don't really feel this way, though there are certainly a lot of people who really do believe this.

(Yeah, I recognize this is off topic.)

no, just making the point that we can all think whatever we want. We can decide that for a mil, RM should talk to the press and do this and do that .... but unless he's contractually obligated to he doesn't have to. What difference does our opinion make, just like I can think the above about educators, it doesn't however make it right.

[billikenfan05]

I think majerus' problem is that theses writers don't want to come to games and get in the trenches for post game press conference but they think they are entitled to one on one interviews with him. Guys like Ceasar and Strickland to my knowledge haven't attended any games. If they want Majerus to respect them and grant them an interview than they need to respect Majerus.

[NH]

I think majerus' problem is that theses writers don't want to come to games and get in the trenches for post game press conference but they think they are entitled to one on one interviews with him. Guys like Ceasar and Strickland to my knowledge haven't attended any games. If they want Majerus to respect them and grant them an interview than they need to respect Majerus.

Caesar shoudn't have to go to games. He doesn't report on sports, but rather sports media. Everything he said in this article appeard to be fairly accurate to me.

[billikenfan05]

Caesar shoudn't have to go to games. He doesn't report on sports, but rather sports media. Everything he said in this article appeard to be fairly accurate to me.

If he wants Majerus to give him the time of day he does.

[dneuner]

Caesar shoudn't have to go to games. He doesn't report on sports, but rather sports media. Everything he said in this article appeard to be fairly accurate to me.

A true point, but, let's face it, except for TLR, most St. Louis sports figures are not quite as brass as Majerus. And frankly, I have no problem with it being "The Billikens Show." Let Porter be on there, too, and maybe the sophomores can have recorded pieces and they can talk to other SLU media folks. I have the utmost respect for Majerus, but he does ramble a lot and often you just sit there and wonder "why?" So I see no negative in retooling the show: maybe Rick has a 10 minute piece and then the rest is Porter and other features spotlighting SLU basketball and other sports.