"Culture of losing that permeates …..everything…."

[Basketbill]

I throw out for discussion this RM quote, granted it is taken out of context but something bothered me about reaction to the game by media and many fans….and I think this is the underlying cause.

I agree there is a culture of losing at SLU, that makes people happy with a half full glass, willing to settle for a local TV contract that does not guarantee the game is shown live, willing to be happy with playing well in a losing effort. Now I am not sure the team feels that way, as Willie stated about looking at film and getting better. I have to be honest it permeates my rabid fan perspective as well. I am disappointed in the loss, this team played well, but some players did not. Yes I admired their efforts, it was a fun game to watch, however I want more. I want them to beat Duq. and Temple at home and rip through the Gregory team like never before.

No this is not the little team that could, this is an NCAA Division I program that is rising and will be a force for years to come, unlike any team SLU has seen before. Biondi you need to buck up and pay for the demands of big time basketball. Chris May, you need to demand better exposure in St. Louis, it needs to be live and in most households. If a station offers something less, do not settle, move on. Do not go for a package of a game here a game there…...Business as usual is not acceptable anymore, we are a winning program, let's act like it.

[xfactor9600]

I have seen SLU play three times this year, including last night. I came away impressed each time. Your program is developing and is already a force to be reckoned with in the A-10. Think of what the team can accomplish next season. The future is bright for SLU from this outsider's perspective.

[Taj79]

There is a culture ==== I don't know that its a culture of losng but it is one that is rather small-time and small-minded. When I am witrh the members of the athletic department in AC, I like the fact that they are nice and we're all kind and Chris and Doug will talk to anyone and everyone. And while I like that and hate to lose it, it is obviously going to take a whole lot more to get to the top of the mountain. Charter flights. Hard-ass negotiating. Eat em up, chew them hard, spit them out kinds of mentalities.

I always remember Cincinnati fans, not X but UC. They seemed to be about the dumbest group I had ever seen. How could they have ever got into college let alone graduate. But I don't think they were all grads but just Cincy denizens and Cincy FANS! I find X fans to be different -- but not too distant. They seem to be smug and condescending, providing they are winning. They turn mean at a loss as well. But they are FANS. Both travel well and bring it with them. We see the same with Dayton. Louisville and Memphis traveled well in old CUSA days. These are/were full programs ---- we are not.

In the halycon days of the Billiken Board, nark and roy and sign kid and tseugnekillib and gister were staples. All the same old farts, me included. Now its grown and its grat to see some curently enrolled youth in here. Maybe the hiring of Majerus is/was the key but I fear this is a temporary fix. We all know that Rick has an expiration date ---- i figured five or six years from hire. He gets his kids in and raises the program up, ala Claggs & Co., Spoon and the Legend. And retires. Is it another guy handing us a fish to eat again or do we finally leanr how to fish? I don't know that answer.

I do know that this is excitement not seen around these here parts for over a decade. I love it. But the real question to me is sustainability ==== do we continue from here or again whither on th evine when this latest episode is done? Do this program have the totla commitment from all it needs to grow more and then, most imprtantly, sustain?

I don't know. What I do know is I don't want to be a sweater-vest crowd either.

[Bay Area Billiken]

I think what Coach is saying is that there can be no more moral victories for SLU. It is time to take the next step.

[joe_davola]

I think what Coach is saying is that there can be no more moral victories for SLU. It is time to take the next step.

Yep..and I love to hear/see that. Surprised? Yeah a little considering when asked by Cusamano if he had told coach before the season started they'd be 9-3 in conference, coach said he would ask that Frank get drug tested. But, I think even Rick is surprised by how fast these kids have grown up and he wants to push it. I like it.

[pooch1918]

My quick two cents: the missed FT's drove me bananas...but I watched a very good game between two strong teams..who could score and defend...in front of a big, on-campus crowd with loud students. If Mitchell's 3 had gone in at the end....we'd be talking about at large bids and maybe being pre-season top 25 next year...I was proud of them last night.

[joe_davola]

My quick two cents: the missed FT's drove me bananas...but I watched a very good game between two strong teams..who could score and defend...in front of a big, on-campus crowd with loud students. If Mitchell's 3 had gone in at the end....we'd be talking about at large bids and maybe being pre-season top 25 next year...I was proud of them last night.

If Mitchell's shot went in, I think I would have ripped my bolted seat out of the floor and thrown it through the roof.

[jjray]

If Mitchell's shot went in, I think I would have ripped my bolted seat out of the floor and thrown it through the roof.

Sweet cross-over, breaks the ankles of the X defender, steps back for a 3 ... honestly I assumed it was going in. How could the basketball gods not have allowed that shot to fall? BTW, Majerus is a jack@ss for riping SLU in the post-game press conference. The fans were there in force going crazy, awesome atmosphere, and he rips the school in the post game. Just an ignorant comment. There is a time and a place to air whatever grievances he has against SLU. That was not the time to do it. He's an unbelievably talented coach but I refuse to listen to any interview he gives.

[joe_davola]

Sweet cross-over, breaks the ankles of the X defender, steps back for a 3 ... honestly I assumed it was going in. How could the basketball gods not have allowed that shot to fall? BTW, Majerus is a jack@ss for riping SLU in the post-game press conference. The fans were there in force going crazy, awesome atmosphere, and he rips the school in the post game. Just an ignorant comment. There is a time and a place to air whatever grievances he has against SLU. That was not the time to do it. He's an unbelievably talented coach but I refuse to listen to any interview he gives.

I was already going through the defensive schemes in my head when the shot left KMs hand assuming it was going in. I was shocked when it didn't. Honestly I was. What did Majerus say in the press conference? I didn't hear anything about that. Thanks.

[Bay Area Billiken]

My quick two cents: the missed FT's drove me bananas...but I watched a very good game between two strong teams..who could score and defend...in front of a big, on-campus crowd with loud students. If Mitchell's 3 had gone in at the end....we'd be talking about at large bids and maybe being pre-season top 25 next year...I was proud of them last night.

Agreed, and same thoughts here. I was also proud of the team and the way they played against a very good Xavier team. My friend, a Cal season ticket holder, was impressed. I told him that I thought Xavier was better than anyone in the Pac-10, and he tended to agree. SLU is almost there.

[Schasz]

If we are talking about the comment he made mentioned by the OP then I would 110% agree with Coach Majerus sentiment. We have been not been relevant for quite some time and moral victories mean zip for a program wanting to become big time. Coach has us very close with this group and with the recruits coming in and I hope Loe will be one of them...the future looks very bright.

[Bay Area Billiken]

Sweet cross-over, breaks the ankles of the X defender, steps back for a 3 ... honestly I assumed it was going in. How could the basketball gods not have allowed that shot to fall? BTW, Majerus is a jack@ss for riping SLU in the post-game press conference. The fans were there in force going crazy, awesome atmosphere, and he rips the school in the post game. Just an ignorant comment. There is a time and a place to air whatever grievances he has against SLU. That was not the time to do it. He's an unbelievably talented coach but I refuse to listen to any interview he gives.

I'm not a psychiatrist or psychologist and my info is coming from Burwell's column, but I think Coach was just frustrated with the tantalizingly close loss. Burwell made it seem to me like Majerus was starting to talk about a moral victory, and then he seemed to catch himself. I think Coach realizes this team is close to being there. We don't want any more near misses. We want wins and NCAA bids. We want to beat very good teams like Xavier, not lose by 2 points.

[Bill_Ken R]

I watched the interview video and was not at all put off by coach's comments. He is right, we do not have a culture of winning. We have a culture of expecting a poor outcome and basically accepting that for decade after decade. I don't have many decades left, if even a full one, and I want to see this come to fruition. Majerus, with the support of the University is delivering on our long suffering hopes and dreams. We are almost there. Rick was very, very disappointed with this loss as we all were. He doesn't want to accept that outcome. I don't either. I think he has the right attitude and we need to adopt it.

[jjray]

I watched the interview video and was not at all put off by coach's comments. He is right, we do not have a culture of winning. We have a culture of expecting a poor outcome and basically accepting that for decade after decade.

Everyone in the basketball universe knows SLU has not gone to the NCAA tourney in a decade. Old news. There was absolutely no, none, nada reason to bash the "culture" at SLU after that game. To serve what purpose? My take is Rick was trying to tell the press what a hard job he has here at SLU because of our backward ways. I don't care if it's true. Majerus is paid by our basketball program so he should stop pissing on SLU. Who is "the SLU culture"? It's the administration but, also, the students, the booster, the fans, the city. Those comments are for behind closed doors.

The only slack I'll cut Majerus is apparently he realized he was saying something inappropriate mid-sentence and cut it short.

[Quality Is Job 1]

My quick two cents: the missed FT's drove me bananas...but I watched a very good game between two strong teams..who could score and defend...in front of a big, on-campus crowd with loud students. If Mitchell's 3 had gone in at the end....we'd be talking about at large bids and maybe being pre-season top 25 next year...I was proud of them last night.

I think preseason Top 25 next year (or at least some votes) is still a possibility. It depends on whether SLU gets any postseason invitation and how far they go in that tournament.

[p diddy]

If he wants to see the "culture" at SLU, let his team be 7-6 and in sixth or seventh place in the A-10 at this time next year in league play when everyone will be picking us to be near the top. I doubt that the Billiken faithful will be so accepting. All you have to do is look at 2007 when we won 20 and we were all up in arms because we failed to live up to expectations.

bad boyz for life

[Basketbill]

I would agree RM does not want the team to feel like they have accomplished something yet, but I also think it applies to the media, to the athletic department, those who negotiate the contracts for TV etc…. I have to admit I was concerned that we would get blown out like the UNC a few years ago.

[thetorch]

Majerus' comments are the truth. We have a fan base that accepts losing and can't even wear a white shirt to a game. We have a local media that treats us like a step child. Burwell has written two great columns about us in the last week but they both had the same message. We aren't as good as Mizzou and Illinois and never will be.

Thank God for Majerus. He gets it. We will win and win big with him here. When he leaves I fear it will go back to business as usual.

[RB2.0]

Majerus' comments are the truth. We have a fan base that accepts losing and can't even wear a white shirt to a game. We have a local media that treats us like a step child. Burwell has written two great columns about us in the last week but they both had the same message. We aren't as good as Mizzou and Illinois and never will be.

Thank God for Majerus. He gets it. We will win and win big with him here. When he leaves I fear it will go back to business as usual.

Without a doubt he is right on. It permeates this board. Just look at some of these posters who I will not call out by name but abolutely love any "good effort" by SLU. That worked in middle school, but this is a D-1 program trying to climb the ladder.

But in all reality, look at the situation. SLU has been a culture of losing for decades. We are finally starting to change that culture. It will take us realistic billiken fans to help usher in a culture of winning from the old time Billiken fans who love a "Solid effort by our billikids". We all love the Billikens but it's time to stop accepting losing.

We finally have a team, a coach, a stadium, and a future to be proud of as SLU fans. Let's start to demand winning. We are well on our way.

[jjray]

If he wants to see the "culture" at SLU, let his team be 7-6 and in sixth or seventh place in the A-10 at this time next year in league play when everyone will be picking us to be near the top. I doubt that the Billiken faithful will be so accepting. All you have to do is look at 2007 when we won 20 and we were all up in arms because we failed to live up to expectations.

bad boyz for life

Right on brother. We fired a coach (Soderberg) at the conclusion of a 20 win season because our program aspired to a higher place. Yet we are bashed and pissed on by our own coach for a culture of losing. The same culture that built a state of the art $85 million on campus arena and found the resources to hire a $1 mill per year coach. The whole argument is infantile. What's the point of continuing it? Why continue the harping about how uncultured in the basketball world is the lowly SLU program? And to hear it repeated from our own coach to the media is disgusting.

[Bills71]

Truth hurts.

we are all excited because we haven't seen Billiken basketball like this in forever, if ever.

and in truth, we want more

not just moral victorys.

Rm is right, aonder why i didn't notice it before, or maybe i'm just to much a fan.

GO BILLS

win out!

[thetorch]

Right on brother. We fired a coach (Soderberg) at the conclusion of a 20 win season because our program aspired to a higher place. Yet we are bashed and pissed on by our own coach for a culture of losing. The same culture that built a state of the art $85 million on campus arena and found the resources to hire a $1 mill per year coach. The whole argument is infantile. What's the point of continuing it? Why continue the harping about how uncultured in the basketball world is the lowly SLU program? And to hear it repeated from our own coach to the media is disgusting.

Despite the fact that we have a new arena and a million dollar coach we are still playing the cheap in the athletic department and we have boosters and fans who still want us to go to the Valley.

Like it or not despite the improvements we have a mediocre athletic department and a bunch of stagnant geezers supporting them. I know these old timers, when I criticize them they tell me we wouldn't have a program without them. That is true, but we haven't had a good program with them either. The people sitting on their hands could have changed this 20 years ago. They didn't and their small time thinking has led to a mediocre program. It has taken Rick to wake them from their slumber. Hopefully it continues like this long after Majerus is gone.

[Basketbill]

I actually took his comment as attempting to expose the medias thinking that is part of this as well. A six game win streak and a loss to Xavier at home "is not awe they tried hard, looks like they will make the NIT isn't that great." it is " damn close but no cigar we have to get better…….we start by beating Duque…..then Temple…….then dayton at home……. I was not digusted by RM

[slu72]

Despite the fact that we have a new arena and a million dollar coach we are still playing the cheap in the athletic department and we have boosters and fans who still want us to go to the Valley.

Like it or not despite the improvements we have a mediocre athletic department and a bunch of stagnant geezers supporting them. I know these old timers, when I criticize them they tell me we wouldn't have a program without them. That is true, but we haven't had a good program with them either. The people sitting on their hands could have changed this 20 years ago. They didn't and their small time thinking has led to a mediocre program. It has taken Rick to wake them from their slumber. Hopefully it continues like this long after Majerus is gone.

I didn't understand RM's reasoning for the comment other than he saw X as an over the hump game, ie a statement game that said we can beat the best, and was frustrated we didn't quite make it. But RM is RM. When you knock on his door you don't know who's going to greet you, Grandma or the Big Bad Wolf. I don't accept there is a losing culture at SLU. Losers don't go out and build an $85 mm arena and hire a $1mm coach. That would be akin to buying a $2mm thorobred and hiring Shaq to be your jockey. If anything scares me it's that the power that be, Fr. Larry, doesn't get what's happening here, as he didn't back in 94 and 95, and starts nickleing and diming the program back to mediocrity. I don't think that will happen this time and the reason is the Good DR. C. The guy's taking time from what has to be a busy schedule and flying into St. L for every game. He's excited. And it's good to have $12mm donors excited, because Fr. B has to listen to him. What we've seen at SLU over the past 3 weeks can't be ignored this go around. The buzz, in spite of the X loss, is still there and shouldn't be quieted if we don't make the dance. The key here is sustainability and building on the momentum. RM's doing his part, ie putting a good product on the floor. It's now up to the AD and the power behind him to make sure this isn't a one coach and done chapter, ala Spoonball.

[billiken_roy]

I think what Coach is saying is that there can be no more moral victories for SLU. It is time to take the next step.

then he should say that, or like taj says say "small time minded", but not losing. the truth is we have had few losing seasons (where we lost more games than we won) in the last 30 years.