Taj79 Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 ... at halftime, we turned and looked at each other and said "hey , we're down by four, we've got the pace we want, and we're hanging around." And we had hung around without JFisher. Then the second half came. I think we hung for as long as we could. Yes, we lost what we do best but Cincy seemed to be making threes every time we turned around. And a lid appeared over the basket for us in the second half. Drejaj hit the trey to open it up and we looked at each other and thought ... "who knows." Could it happen again? We ran out of gas. RB couldn't seem to find the bottom of the net despite trying; CS seems to have lost his shot completely and he had a lot of open threes but he was still the defensive warrior, trying to take on Maxiell; and once we went down, IV became a non-factor. When DC hit his trey we thought he might carry the load or become a star for the night like Hunt two nights earlier but no dice. I don't know and can't say it was three games in three nights but it had to have an effect. I'm glad for the Meeker kid, I just wish it wasn't against us. I've come over to the glass is half full side of the house. There is no doubting that these guys don't leave it all on the court each night out. I think there is some silver linings here ..... RB will be back, Drejaj is certainly a player (albeit with some limitations), IV and IO both show hopes of being far above Yugo standards, and despite not getting a lot of time, both JJ and DC seem to have a hop in theri games that has to go up ..... both are technically freshmen and the best thing about them is that they become sophomores. Same with IV. Add a healthy Frericks to that along with the redshirt 7-footer and the incoming and it is looking up. I am still concerned about having a true freshman run the show at the point but you go with the flow. There might be some growing pains again as next season starts out. C'mon Tommy! Once again, I leave this town with is a bad, bad, bad taste for some of their fans. I met gruehls and he is not included and UCTom and Naticat don't get this way but what an obnoxious group. I told one elderly gentleman wearing a Bills hat before the game about how nice it will be afterwards if only a handful of people left the building laughing and smiling ... as opposed to the tens of thousand drunkard UC fans. I know I'm generalizing and I apologize to the UC fans I like but the rest can go to h*ll. I looking forward in about three or four years when UC ain't dominating the Big East as they have with us. I can't wait until they have to go to Madison Square Garden each and every year and get thumped by UConn or Syracuse .... no more first round byes ... no more first round matchups against the SoMisses of the world. They'll compete I'm sure but they wont' get my vote. I guess its sour grapes because of the fact they win so much but enough is enough already. IF ... and its a big IF ... all these clowns in the stands are shining examples of UC graduates ..... I'm still prouder of our group than them. I asked a MU fan if he was selling his tickets alst night and he said no. I asked why he was hanging around and he said "to see if there's another team in this conference that can at least make it to the sweet sixteen." He was about my age, maybe a little older. I hated to tell him that he had seen the last MU Final Four appearance of his lifetime just last year. The Big East ought to like them too. How long do you give it until the UC and UofL fans start b*tching about having to go to NYC each year for that tournament. Hope they enjoy it. Waiting for the NIT bids now ...... wish you were here! P.S. Thanks, SignKid, for keeping me company for the ride out. Anytime .... you just call! Go RuPaul! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 were a bunch of a$$es if you ask me. Up by 20 and they are still taunting us fans, yelling nasty stuff to Sloan, etc. Obviously they all aren't ###### but when SShoe and KShoe almost get in a fight with some of them then they have issues. Its fine by me if the Bills never play there again. I told them to think of me tomorrow when Depaul beats them down and next year when they visit the Savvis one last time next year for a game that we will win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alameda bob Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 You saw a lot of good hoops the last few days except for the last 20 minutes. Thanks for the first hand reports, especially to those of us who could not even see it on TV. We should have a good run in the NIT, and I agree the future looks better. Out west, Stanford won a tough game against the Beavers, and it looks like the Huskies own the Wildcats so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alameda bob Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 First time in Lute Olson's 21 years at Zona anyone beat him 3 times in a year. Romar gives Montgomery a chance for revenge a week later. Tune in at 3 PM our time on CBS for a war. Justin Davis could be the difference this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 i feel your pain taj. can you believe this freaking boat doesnt have a set with espn on it? they do have a cbs station from nashville tennessee though, so we might get to watch some games today. picked up the score late last night. saw where we were close for a half. i have to wonder if frericks could have played what would have happened. this billiken team surprised me. i didnt expect frericks or bryant to be the players they were. i figured barely 500 would be a good season. so to win 18 and go to the semi's of the cusa tourney is a nice season imo. gotta have good feelings about next year. even with the rock, josh leaving, i think we might really be getting close to some good stuff. the keys are this last scholarship and tommie making it. heading out. i only got 100 minutes for the week, so i gotta conserve it. i will say we go on the road for the first game but if we win and the tigers win their charity game at home they will be granted, the walmart boys will line up the game we want to see. and it will be in st louis. just a feeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 I thought the Bills would be a solid NIT squad and that is what transpired. Would be nice to elevate those predictions in the future. Cinci fans...I have had my share of problems with Cinci fans....but you will get bad apples all over. ....I have some good friends who are Louisville fans for instance...and have seen their positives....but I have also seen their negatives too. I have witnessed it at Savvis too....especially during Larry Hughes era....some of those walk up redneck nation picking fights fans with others among the 17000 were pretty ignorant too. take the good with the bad....and never judge a school by their message board(not SLU's, other schools) because you really have to dig through the garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 I actually have a greater respect for Cincy fans after last night. But I was thousands of miles away. I had been watching games at the Sports Grille in Boston (down by the Fleet Center) and props to them for giving me sound on Wednesday. Last night, I noticed noises whenever Cincy hit a 3, but assumed that it was coincidence with other games at first. It turned out there were two different groups of Cincy fans there to watch the game and while one guy was real hardcore, they were generally very nice (I told them about the Cincy prof that was a big Billiken expert). I wished them luck in the tourney. I do not think Cincy, Marquette, Louisville, or DePaul will have a much different time competing in the Big East than in C-USA. It is not that different but may be a bit harder. Anyway, the schools are going to ebb and flow based on their recruits and development and all the schools going to the Big East feel they will recruit better based on more TV exposure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mobile-iken Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 DePaul is having a pretty good year with (Mejia) a true freshmen running the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Speaking of DePaul....where are all of those boo hoo's on DePaul this year??? SLU72 leading that pack about the conferences etc...how about giving them credit where it is do? And they will be good for a while. I'll give them their due props. It is much easier for DePaul to get better and on track more quickly than other schools. Their rich local talent, money, market, etc...and they have gotten finally a coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Mejia is a terrific freshman guard and 6-6 to boot! He was born on 2-7-83 making him a 21 year old freshman. Sammy spent last year at a NY prep school. Picture him as a 24 year old senior guard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Wow!!! A 21 yr old Frosh...heck, I was graduating from SLU when I was 21. Perhaps, Sammy has had some problems with the studies in the past??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 imo, Cincinnati proved you can win with strong, athletic perimeter players who take pride in their defense. Louisville shot 19-53(36%)from the field, only 6-25(24%)from 3pt land, but made 18-22(82%)of their free throws. Cincinnati won 64-62. Saint Louis shot 14-51(28%)from the field, only 4-23(17%)from 3pt, but made 14-20(70%)of their free throws. Cincinnati won 66-46. DePaul shot 18-51(35%) from the field, only 1-12(8%)from 3pt land, but made 13-16(81%)of their free throws. Cincinnati won 55-50. In their C-USA tournament win, Cincinnati's opponents made only 11 of 60 three point attempts (18%). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 14, 2004 Author Share Posted March 14, 2004 Hey! I spoke to Trich a couple of times .. if I had known you were there I would have said hello and covered your back! For about the last 5/8's of the game, we moved down to some seats vacated by the UAB fans. Lucky us as no sooner did we settle in when the Cincinati relatives of the Beverly Hills Clampetts starting moving in en masse. One guy, drunk on his a$$, found discarded ticket stubs by the seats and started calling his buddies down. When one guy wouldn't move, they had the audacity to call for the ushers. Now .. I don't know if the woman that got involved was this twit's "babe" but I heard her screaming to the ushers something about this was not right "because they paid good money for those seats!" About four people from UAB still next to and talking to me puked and left. Class, baby, class. I think it was Jethro and Ellie because they didn't seem old enough to be Jed and Gramma. But maybe they got a great deal on the trailer park rental and saved some money for the botox shots. Bad news: the next two A10 tourneys are in Cincinnati at the US Bank Arena hosted by Xavier. Good News: X fans are somewhat more civil than UC's trailer park denizens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 14, 2004 Author Share Posted March 14, 2004 Good points all. Sitting where I was last night, it certainly helped UC in its case agaisnt us that their guards are 6'7" (White), 6'7" (Kirkland) and 6'5" (Bobbitt). Other than the Williams' boys, that's some pretty good height to deal with when RB and JF are both 6'2" and AD and PHunt goe considerably smaller. I thought DC was equal in the height category ..... hopefully his talent will develop over time to where that can be exploited. I think you were sitting in my row at the A10 Thursday ... behind the X second half basket? Or I was occupying space in your row .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Yes, at Thursday's early session I sat in row D seat 9 behind the basket where Xavier's bench was located. A Dayton fan, whose's wife was ill, gave me her ticket while we were waiting for the doors to open. To my right, near the end of my row there was a 40ish guy with a white shirt that had SLU on it. Perhaps that was you. I'm sure we seen St. Joe's on a bad day, but they looked more than a bit overrated, especially when they were down by 37 points early in the second half!. I thought the tournament attendance and environment was excellent for all three sessions I attended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SluSignGuy Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 >Once again, I leave this town with is a bad, bad, bad taste >for some of their fans. I met gruehls and he is not >included and UCTom and Naticat don't get this way but what >an obnoxious group. I told one elderly gentleman wearing a >Bills hat before the game about how nice it will be >afterwards if only a handful of people left the building >laughing and smiling ... as opposed to the tens of thousand >drunkard UC fans. I know I'm generalizing and I apologize >to the UC fans I like but the rest can go to h*ll. I >looking forward in about three or four years when UC ain't >dominating the Big East as they have with us. I can't wait >until they have to go to Madison Square Garden each and >every year and get thumped by UConn or Syracuse .... no more >first round byes ... no more first round matchups against >the SoMisses of the world. They'll compete I'm sure but >they wont' get my vote. Meeting gruehls and others was a highlight of my trip. Hopefully I see him next year in Memphis. But way too many other fans were complete A-Holes. And I got a lot of crap as being the SignGuy. I personally would like to every Cincy fan that yelled at me SLU Sucks on my way out of Bank One to know that I am looking forward to your choking in the Tourney. Steve PS Gruehls you are a fantastic guy, and I hate to wish ill on your team because you were extremely kind to ours. And your niceness almost outweighed 1000's of Cincinnatians. But boy, the two times I have been in Cincy have been no fun when Cincy fans are around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 I have a renewed hatred for Cincinnati fans after this weekend. A lot of jerks in the crowd and K-Shoe and myself were fairly close to actually stepping in the ring with a few of them. Supposingly, some Cinci fans stole and tore up a Blue Crew sign while 60 year old woman saying we deserve the ridicule while we're down by 20. Isn't that deserving enough. After the game a few fans came up to us and apologized for the behavior of the other fans. There were some fans who were nice, but there were just as many of those who weren't. Watching them mess with Steve also pissed me off. Fans were just about as classy as their coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trich Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Just returned from Cincy. The good part of the trip and tourney was that we went three games this year. The team played with heart and emotion but against Cincy they needed more athletic and physical talents. Whatever you can say about Cincy and their program and their is plenty to say in a negative way, they play hard. They also play with a chippy style. I don't know how many people saw the Cincy/DePaul game but the officials were letting Cincy get away with the chippy style and then DePaul started retaliating. There were a couple of warnings but no action by the officials and then Seals gave Bobbitt a shot in the groin and he went down. At first the officials did not call a foul but when Bobbitt did not get up immediately, they called Seals for an intentional foul and threw him out of the game. Regarding Cincy fans, they have some good people there but based on 12 years of conference tournaments, they seem to have more than their fair share of bad apples. Finallyl, I don't know how many people heard, Vashon won the Mo. state title again and Polk scored 38 points. Twenty-one came in the third quarter after Vashon was down two at half time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 On Jan. 17th St. Joes beat XU at the Cintas Gym 81-73. IMHO this was a game that meant everything to XU...remember most of the talking heads did not have them in the NCAA Tourney, and it meant zero to St. Joes. The only thing it may have affected was a No. 1 seed but as of yesterday their RPI was still No. 3 so even that looks good going into selection Sunday. XU ended up winning the A10 beating Dayton on their home floor and thus assuring themselves that they will be dancing. St. Joes will go as far in the NCAA as Jameer Nelson and Delonte West can take them as their front court players are definitely their weakness. Now if you were to tell me that neither looked good VS XU then they just had a bad game...so be it better to have the bad game in the A10 than the NCAA. I saw them last year in the NCAA and was thoroughly impressed with both of them. I don't think that they have the team to win it all, but if Nelson and West were to get hot in their bracket, then they could have enough to make it to the Final Four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 14, 2004 Author Share Posted March 14, 2004 .... that was my buddy the Freighttrain. The larger guy next to him was the old Gem City Fan. He had the You-Dee hat on, dark blue with Rudy the Flyer looking like a Grateful Dead symbol. I was in the blue Billikens.com shirt. The atmosphere at any You-Dee event will always be that way. We joke about it but it is true to ask "what else is there to do in Dayton?" The NCAA knew this quite well when they booked the 64/65 game into that place. At least 7K will show up ...... Gem City is a You-Dee season ticket holder and he gets a notice each and every year that says they will host it and you "should" buy tickets. He doesn't but I think there is an undercurrent whereby You-Dee fans think their support for that game somehow gets them other events and regionals and A10 tourneys as well. I don't know that it does or it doesn't but it can't hurt. I have a problem with a somewhat difficuly "Catch-22" that is what you are describing ... and its not endemic to Dayton only. Its what we see with Louisville, Cincy, Memphis and what the A10 will see next year with X. Namely, you give the host team a somewhat unfair advantage when they get to host these things. But the tourneys are not fools and are following the almight buck as well .... the A10 was moved out of Philly because no one really came. Despite the fact that St. Joes, Lasalle and Temple are all in Philly. You'd think that would give it a chance for greater attendance. But, much like our plight in the state of Missouri, the three schools mentioned above play second fiddle to Nova in their own town and Penn State (in football vs. Temple) in their own state. So attendance was dismal. Plus it was played at the old Spectrum ... not an on-campus venue like the You-Dee arena. But an on-campus or in town place (read US Bank Arena) in a town that is fanatical about its team (read: UC, UofL, Memphis) gives, to me, that unfair advantage. yes, the theory doesn't hold water what with X beating You-Dee last night, but nine times out of ten ... that home team should win. Which seems to give maybe an undeserving team a greater than average chance at advancing. But isn't that what makes this college thing great? Like I said, a tough Catch-22. If you play at a neutral site, you pay rent, and you don't get the crowds. What kind of kills me about the You-Dee fans is how very, very, VERY old some of those in the red and blue Dayton sweaters really are. Kindof like Redskin season ticket holders here in DC .... season tickets are left to deserving relatives in wills. They are one very senior bunch. I went to the You-Dee arena for the old MCC tourneys ..... what are now sky boxes above the end zone and a bar/club on the other used to be a restaurant and offices. And the concession areas have gotten better as well. But you are right when you say the atmosphere at that place is top notch. It has to be one of the best venues with one of the best crowds at any site in the country ... bar none. But I do believe it gives the home team one heck of an unfair advantage at times ... enough to put a middlin' team over the top and into a dance where they might not belong. Those are old feelings going a long way back .... but money talks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 The Dayton fan that I sat next to claimed any school wanting to host the A-10 tournament had to guarantee the league $500k. Dayton agreed to that, plus Dayton also expected to clear another $300k for themselves. Definitely an advantage for Dayton, but they are also gambling on generating the first $500k. The thousands of older/senior fans attending Dayton games are no different than any other college game that I have attended, be it Georgia Tech, SEMO, Carbondale, Illinois, or SLU. Those who think that college crowds are students and the 25-35 age group aren't in touch with the real world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 14, 2004 Author Share Posted March 14, 2004 ... I did not intend to. I was merely commenting on how loyal a group they seem to have. Some could argue that college sports are not for the kids but for the alumni and on any given day, the argument would be a valid one. These folks write the checks no doubt about it. The kids didn't buy the UD Arena and they won't be the ones buying the Biondi Dome. As I said in another post, it was nice to see about a dozen or two SLU students at the C-WHO tourney. I can understand missing the SoMiss game, but we should always have more as we progress. The number in attendance at the Cincy game were the same number (and same folks) at the SoMiss game. No caravans. No buses. No influx or increase whatsoever. That should be a no-brainer kind of drive ... same with Memphis next year, Louisville last year, and any time the A10 is in Dayton or Cincy. While I for one can't wait for the new arena and the advantages I think it will bring, there is no doubting that SLU has a long way to go before it can achieve the status that You-Dee and its fans already have. The lack of alumni support, coupled with the lack of marketing and lack of student attendance, points to some serious roadblocks our program has to overcome. But it can't be based all on wins and losses ... the You-Dee folks are there through thick and thin; you keep coming providing your support as one ingredient to the overall program. It sure would be cool to see SLU start to establish some of those building blocks as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Taj, I was not refering to you specifcally. regarding the older/senior/gray haired folks that fill most college bball stands. I was thinking of some posters on this board who complain about the older set that take up much of the lower bowl at the Savvis Center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 14, 2004 Author Share Posted March 14, 2004 .. just clarifying my point. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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