Uh-oh, P-D article

[AB34]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...D5?OpenDocument

Someone needs to put a muzzle on him.

First, I admire his desire to have his athletes in class. However, most of us know that basketball players have a pampered life on campus. Tutors, sharing tests, taking the same classes. They get cut some slack too because of the travel for assignments.

Second, I believe there is a limit of 20 hours of practice time each week. I put that in on the UNews every week easy back in the day. Several other student-leaders of organizations do the same. Do they travel as much? No, but they get the aforementioned slack.

Third, what league can we go to? This has been discussed at length and is ridiculous for Majerus to bring this up in the middle of the season. If we played Evansville in the MVC tonight, we'd probably be stranded there because of the storm.

Sorry, just really annoyed to read this as our "game story" right before bed.

[mcglotherirvin]

AB34- I think you're off in your attempt to compare your work with the unews to the work of a d1 basketball player. 20 hours of typing is completely different than 20 hours of basketball practice, plus workouts, plus games, plus travel, etc. Playing a sport is much more time consuming and physically draining.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...D5?OpenDocument

Someone needs to put a muzzle on him.

First, I admire his desire to have his athletes in class. However, most of us know that basketball players have a pampered life on campus. Tutors, sharing tests, taking the same classes. They get cut some slack too because of the travel for assignments.

Second, I believe there is a limit of 20 hours of practice time each week. I put that in on the UNews every week easy back in the day. Several other student-leaders of organizations do the same. Do they travel as much? No, but they get the aforementioned slack.

Third, what league can we go to? This has been discussed at length and is ridiculous for Majerus to bring this up in the middle of the season. If we played Evansville in the MVC tonight, we'd probably be stranded there because of the storm.

Sorry, just really annoyed to read this as our "game story" right before bed.

[Quality Is Job 1]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...D5?OpenDocument

Someone needs to put a muzzle on him.

First, I admire his desire to have his athletes in class. However, most of us know that basketball players have a pampered life on campus. Tutors, sharing tests, taking the same classes. They get cut some slack too because of the travel for assignments.

Second, I believe there is a limit of 20 hours of practice time each week. I put that in on the UNews every week easy back in the day. Several other student-leaders of organizations do the same. Do they travel as much? No, but they get the aforementioned slack.

Third, what league can we go to? This has been discussed at length and is ridiculous for Majerus to bring this up in the middle of the season. If we played Evansville in the MVC tonight, we'd probably be stranded there because of the storm.

Sorry, just really annoyed to read this as our "game story" right before bed.

Re the underlined portion: They do or don't?

[AB34]

thicks, I meant basketball players get the aforementioned slack to compensate for their extracurricular as basketball players. I was unclear on the "they." Apologies.

Mc, I guess what I was trying to say was that many students put in similar amounts of time for their extracurricular activities. I think basketball players are held to a different academic standard at SLU than "regular students." What's the big deal about missing class? It's for 10-12 days/semester. They have a tutor and plenty of time in hotel rooms to catch up on studying.

The point is: Majerus is running his mouth off about missing class because of travel. The team gets a lot of special treatment already to make up for that. And this was just a bad week for travel. Two of the largest snowstorms on record hit the areas we just happen to be playing in twice in three weeks. Any team traveling to those cities would have been stuck.

Plus, I'm just tired of the A-10 rants from our head coach, especially in the middle of the season.

[AlumniFan]

AB34- I think you're off in your attempt to compare your work with the unews to the work of a d1 basketball player. 20 hours of typing is completely different than 20 hours of basketball practice, plus workouts, plus games, plus travel, etc. Playing a sport is much more time consuming and physically draining.

I have to agree with AB34 on this. There are students (I was one of them) that work 30+ hours a week, sometimes at more than one job, take more than 15 hours a semester, often times in demanding majors and/or honors programs, find time to hit the gym/run/bike etc. but do NOT have access to tutors, special arrangements for tests, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for the team, but for those of us who toiled away with similar schedules, but without the full ride athletic scholarship, this b.s. is REALLY getting old from Majerus. He is alienating an entire segment of the fan base and to what end? Here is his statement that was the final straw for me:

""The answer is, first, get the hell out of the league," a calm but clearly annoyed Majerus said afterward. "Most successful people in life make mistakes and say, 'You know what, I made a mistake and I'm not going to let that happen again.' So, the school is afraid to say they made a mistake, that's all.""

I love the team, I love the school, I have been a very big supporter of Majerus and the program, but this last little diatribe has just cost them one donor. And, in this economic environment, that is just plain stupid business.

[Billi from Philly]

I have to agree with AB34 on this. There are students (I was one of them) that work 30+ hours a week, sometimes at more than one job, take more than 15 hours a semester, often times in demanding majors and/or honors programs, find time to hit the gym/run/bike etc. but do NOT have access to tutors, special arrangements for tests, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for the team, but for those of us who toiled away with similar schedules, but without the full ride athletic scholarship, this b.s. is REALLY getting old from Majerus. He is alienating an entire segment of the fan base and to what end? Here is his statement that was the final straw for me:

""The answer is, first, get the hell out of the league," a calm but clearly annoyed Majerus said afterward. "Most successful people in life make mistakes and say, 'You know what, I made a mistake and I'm not going to let that happen again.' So, the school is afraid to say they made a mistake, that's all.""

I love the team, I love the school, I have been a very big supporter of Majerus and the program, but this last little diatribe has just cost them one donor. And, in this economic environment, that is just plain stupid business.

Being from Philadelphia, and seeing this young team pick up two hard earned victories, I was really looking forward to the articles coming out to see what the coach and media made of what seemed to be a great accomplishment for the Billikesns

Instead, unlike the complimentary story on the Bills on Philly.com (Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News), STLToday comes out with this diatribe from Majerus on a myriad of topics ranging from his opinion on travel, his opinion on academic rigor, his opinion on the league, his opinion on the character and sensibility of the institution that pays him. All he left out was stem cell research and the right to choose--and he would have covered the waterfront

I'm not saying that these statements lacked validity, but they rang of immaturity and unnecessary bravado on the part of a seasoned, successful coach who certainly has had innumerable opportunities to talk to his supervisors about the situation in private before airing the lalundry in the press.

So, hurray for the Bills on two really nice, character driven, well played defensively wins away from home....wish the coach could have led with that,,,,can't imagine Coach K or Jim Boeheim or Jim Calhoun, as emotional as they are, getting caught behaving this way.....now, to fight through the tough home stretch for a possible NIT bid

[slu72]

""The answer is, first, get the hell out of the league," a calm but clearly annoyed Majerus said afterward. "Most successful people in life make mistakes and say, 'You know what, I made a mistake and I'm not going to let that happen again.' So, the school is afraid to say they made a mistake, that's all.""

I love the team, I love the school, I have been a very big supporter of Majerus and the program, but this last little diatribe has just cost them one donor. And, in this economic environment, that is just plain stupid business.

Man, it sure sounds like he and Biondi are setting the stage for a match of true heavyweights.... make that the super heavyweight division. That comment about learning from your mistakes can't be going down easy for Fr. Larry. I don't get it, since bad weather around the country has probably socked in a lot of teams. And when he was HC at Utah was he complaining about all the class time missed when the UTES went to the NCAA's? I don't know what to make of his constant rants against travel re us being in the A-10. Yeah, it's a pain to be stuck in Philadelphia for a whole week, remember WC Fields' epitath, "I'd rather be here than in Philadelphia", but is the weather Fr. Biondi's fault? Heck, if we were in the MVC we're more likely to get stuck in Des Moines for a week after playing just one game. I just hope all this hoopla is rolling off the players backs like excess sweat. C'mon, RM, you got these kids playing good ball and finally giving Bills' fans some hope for a bright future, please lay off this stuff until the end of the season. And correct me if I'm wrong, aren't we under some sort of contract w/ the A-10 and would have to pay a pretty large amount to get out of it? That right there should make this point moot. One more thing, I still think what may be behind all this is he thinks he'd have a team that could dominate the MVC, whereas that's gonna be a lot tougher to achieve in the A-10. Just a theory.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Man, it sure sounds like he and Biondi are setting the stage for a match of true heavyweights.... make that the super heavyweight division. That comment about learning from your mistakes can't be going down easy for Fr. Larry. I don't get it, since bad weather around the country has probably socked in a lot of teams. And when he was HC at Utah was he complaining about all the class time missed when the UTES went to the NCAA's? I don't know what to make of his constant rants against travel re us being in the A-10. Yeah, it's a pain to be stuck in Philadelphia for a whole week, remember WC Fields' epitath, "I'd rather be here than in Philadelphia", but is the weather Fr. Biondi's fault? Heck, if we were in the MVC we're more likely to get stuck in Des Moines for a week after playing just one game. I just hope all this hoopla is rolling off the players backs like excess sweat. C'mon, RM, you got these kids playing good ball and finally giving Bills' fans some hope for a bright future, please lay off this stuff until the end of the season. And correct me if I'm wrong, aren't we under some sort of contract w/ the A-10 and would have to pay a pretty large amount to get out of it? That right there should make this point moot. One more thing, I still think what may be behind all this is he thinks he'd have a team that could dominate the MVC, whereas that's gonna be a lot tougher to achieve in the A-10. Just a theory.

You know with Rick, the more he wins the more insufferable he is going to get. Let him rant, so what

As I recall, when Rick first came to Utah they played in the WAC. That was a conference had 18+ teams from Texas to Hawaii. Then Utah split with the 'cream' of the league to the Mountain West. I don't recall how that transpired but maybe he's hoping for something like that.

[kshoe]

I have to agree with AB34 on this. There are students (I was one of them) that work 30+ hours a week, sometimes at more than one job, take more than 15 hours a semester, often times in demanding majors and/or honors programs, find time to hit the gym/run/bike etc. but do NOT have access to tutors, special arrangements for tests, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for the team, but for those of us who toiled away with similar schedules, but without the full ride athletic scholarship, this b.s. is REALLY getting old from Majerus. He is alienating an entire segment of the fan base and to what end? Here is his statement that was the final straw for me:

""The answer is, first, get the hell out of the league," a calm but clearly annoyed Majerus said afterward. "Most successful people in life make mistakes and say, 'You know what, I made a mistake and I'm not going to let that happen again.' So, the school is afraid to say they made a mistake, that's all.""

I love the team, I love the school, I have been a very big supporter of Majerus and the program, but this last little diatribe has just cost them one donor. And, in this economic environment, that is just plain stupid business.

You would stop donating to SLU because Majerus doesn't like our conference affiliation? That is really odd.

[GOSLU68]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...D5?OpenDocument

Someone needs to put a muzzle on him.

First, I admire his desire to have his athletes in class. However, most of us know that basketball players have a pampered life on campus. Tutors, sharing tests, taking the same classes. They get cut some slack too because of the travel for assignments.

Second, I believe there is a limit of 20 hours of practice time each week. I put that in on the UNews every week easy back in the day. Several other student-leaders of organizations do the same. Do they travel as much? No, but they get the aforementioned slack.

Third, what league can we go to? This has been discussed at length and is ridiculous for Majerus to bring this up in the middle of the season. If we played Evansville in the MVC tonight, we'd probably be stranded there because of the storm.

Sorry, just really annoyed to read this as our "game story" right before bed.

Who is Aaron Bracy? Sounds like a rehash of other complaints attributed to RM

Who wouldn't be bitching? If we were in Des Moines, N Iowa, Omaha, Chicago,

Southbend, Milwaukee, Peoria, etc. We would have

similar problems some people ###### others just offer their

misery on silence

RM is .500 against two middling MVC

teams and highways 44 and 3 or 64 can present their

own challenges didn't 6000 planes just

get cancelled ?

[billiken_roy]

rick, rick, rick. dont make yourself sick over this. you should just walk away for your own sanity. let someone else deal with this problem rick.

[GOSLU68]

You left in "bitching" but edited "######"

Do you have your editing done electronically

instead of by a human?

[AlumniFan]

You would stop donating to SLU because Majerus doesn't like our conference affiliation? That is really odd.

I know you are smarter than that - you know exactly what I mean (i.e. it has nothing to do with Majerus feelings about our conference affiliation). I will stop donating to SLU athletics based on the fact that the most well-known representative of the school cannot stop saying inappropriate things - this was just one more straw, in my case, the last straw.

Now, I am stuck with current ticket policy, but all of the rest of my donations are going to continue to go to another part of the University and the money that was earmarked for SLU athletics will be very well received by the other charities that I support. Life is too short to spend my money on people who espouse views which are inconsistent with my value system.

He is supposed to be teaching these kids to do the right thing. Instead, he is teaching them that when they get a job and do not like the way things are, just shoot their mouth off as much as they can to anyone who will listen. That will get them fired. Nice lesson, Rick.

[GOSLU68]

Can you say botch with an I in it?

[GOSLU68]

I believe this is arbitrary and caprcious

editing

[Band Legend]

I'm going to cut Rick a little slack on this one. We all know he runs at the mouth, it's nothing we haven't heard before, and I think any one of us would be extremely frustrated at the prospect of sitting in a hotel during two blizzards waiting to get home. Maybe when he calms down a little bit he will realize that these are incredibly unusual circumstances, but this has been the travel season from hell. Blizzards follow them wherever they go. The good news is that the hard part of the travel is over, unless they get stuck in an avalanche in Amherst.

[brianstl]

I'm going to cut Rick a little slack on this one. We all know he runs at the mouth, it's nothing we haven't heard before, and I think any one of us would be extremely frustrated at the prospect of sitting in a hotel during two blizzards waiting to get home. Maybe when he calms down a little bit he will realize that these are incredibly unusual circumstances, but this has been the travel season from hell. Blizzards follow them wherever they go. The good news is that the hard part of the travel is over, unless they get stuck in an avalanche in Amherst.

+1

One of the first thing Rickma was probably told after the game was the snow had started and they were probably going to be stranded in Philly for to more days. I would be pissed to if I was the one ultimately held responsible for the academic progress for the kids on the team. It isn't like the team will be able to do anything besides stay in their hotel rooms while their. It is pretty hard to get around when their is over 3 feet of snow on the ground. Cabin fever has to be getting to them all.

[DirtyRican]

This is becoming like that old classmate you found on facebook that you now deem the most annoying person in the world.

So I am handling this the same way, ignore. I don't really care what he says just as long as he wins and makes us a better program. I realize we can't control what goes in or out of his mouth so no need to lose sleep.

[kshoe]

I know you are smarter than that - you know exactly what I mean (i.e. it has nothing to do with Majerus feelings about our conference affiliation). I will stop donating to SLU athletics based on the fact that the most well-known representative of the school cannot stop saying inappropriate things - this was just one more straw, in my case, the last straw.

Now, I am stuck with current ticket policy, but all of the rest of my donations are going to continue to go to another part of the University and the money that was earmarked for SLU athletics will be very well received by the other charities that I support. Life is too short to spend my money on people who espouse views which are inconsistent with my value system.

He is supposed to be teaching these kids to do the right thing. Instead, he is teaching them that when they get a job and do not like the way things are, just shoot their mouth off as much as they can to anyone who will listen. That will get them fired. Nice lesson, Rick.

I haven't heard the entire interview from last night but I have a hard time seeing how him saying the A-10 is not a good geographical fit is really saying anything all that "inappropriate."

I know the MVC-A-10 debate is an emotional one for some people but its not like he called someone's mom a ######.

Look people, its obvious RM is trying to force Biondi's hand on this one. "Give me my charter flights and I'll shut-up, otherwise I'll never stop talking about this A-10 thing"

[kappy96]

I haven't heard the entire interview from last night but I have a hard time seeing how him saying the A-10 is not a good geographical fit is really saying anything all that "inappropriate."

I know the MVC-A-10 debate is an emotional one for some people but its not like he called someone's mom a ######.

Look people, its obvious RM is trying to force Biondi's hand on this one. "Give me my charter flights and I'll shut-up, otherwise I'll never stop talking about this A-10 thing"

I agree on him trying to force Biondi's hand in regards to the charter flights. He may also be trying to push the A-10 to come up with a more favorable schedule for SLU. Perhaps splitting into two divisions based on geography or at least letting SLU, UD and X play home and home each year.

[rhagolf]

Part of Coach's frustration may come from the abysmal state of air travel in St. Louis today. Not that long ago, St. Louis was a "hub city," meaning that direct flights to Philadelphia, Rochester, New York, etc. were available to the traveler. Now, unless one is going on Southwest, that isn't the case. So, in many cases, travel is - fly to O'Hare, change planes, and go on to the East Coast.

The worst example is St. Bonaventure - fly to Chicago, then change planes to Rochester, and take a bus ride for 1-1/2 hours. It wasn't good before, because you could fly US Air to Rochester, direct, but that isn't possible any more.

Whether we are experiencing a blizzard of Biblical proportions, or not, that doesn't have an impact on the availability of direct flights.

[SShoe]

rick, rick, rick. dont make yourself sick over this. you should just walk away for your own sanity. let someone else deal with this problem rick.

I'd much rather have Rick Majerus as our coach for the next five years and play in the MVC than play in the A-10 and take our chances with someone else...even Moser.

[willie]

I'd much rather have Rick Majerus as our coach for the next five years and play in the MVC than play in the A-10 and take our chances with someone else...even Moser.

I think you just proposed a good question. I'm not sure how I would answer it. I really think a move to the MVC would be a huge mistake for the long term potential of our program,but Rick sure has us moving in the right direction.

[billiken_roy]

I'd much rather have Rick Majerus as our coach for the next five years and play in the MVC than play in the A-10 and take our chances with someone else...even Moser.

the mvc would be the death of the program. we might as well have lady gaga as our coach if we are going to be sentenced to the mvc.

[slu72]

Part of Coach's frustration may come from the abysmal state of air travel in St. Louis today. Not that long ago, St. Louis was a "hub city," meaning that direct flights to Philadelphia, Rochester, New York, etc. were available to the traveler. Now, unless one is going on Southwest, that isn't the case. So, in many cases, travel is - fly to O'Hare, change planes, and go on to the East Coast.

The worst example is St. Bonaventure - fly to Chicago, then change planes to Rochester, and take a bus ride for 1-1/2 hours. It wasn't good before, because you could fly US Air to Rochester, direct, but that isn't possible any more.

Whether we are experiencing a blizzard of Biblical proportions, or not, that doesn't have an impact on the availability of direct flights.

As I understand it the Philly A/P is closed to all traffic. Why would a charter flight be allowed to fly if commercial aircraft can't?