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Burwell Article in PD


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If you get a chance take a look at the Burwell article in the PD today. He has really become a fan of SLU lately but he gives you another view into this Biondi charter flight issue. Sorry, I am not techno savvy enough to show the link - perhaps another poster would be kind of enough to do that - thanks in advance.

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If you get a chance take a look at the Burwell article in the PD today. He has really become a fan of SLU lately but he gives you another view into this Biondi charter flight issue. Sorry, I am not techno savvy enough to show the link - perhaps another poster would be kind of enough to do that - thanks in advance.

Can't find it- his last couple articles are about Butler.

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I respectfully disagree. As I said elsewhere, Butler is only the next in a long line of programs that get to this point. They are rare, yes, because money runs the golden rule and the top tier conferences will always be here. Outside of mighty Butler, the other three final four guys were royalty conferences --- Big Ten, Big East and ACC. The four losers in the Elite Eight were two Big Twelves and two SECs. The Horizon was a nice aberration.

We've seen this act before --- Indiana State with Larry Bird, the column-mentioned George Mason, Rick Majerus' Utah squad, Seton Hall against Rice's Michigan squad, Houston's Cougars, Pennsylvania, and others. Nice shooting star stories --- high glitz and gloss burning itself out in a short itme.

I think Butler is at its pinnacle, as is Xavier, Gonzaga and some of the other "little programs that could" teams --- at a level whereby they can and will sustain for years down the road. An off year or three out of a typical decade. The real burn-outs are the Mason's and the Davidson's and the Cornell's and the ISUs --- one shining moment etched in lore, remembered with nostalga, repeated nevermore. Wad shot, check please. Can you say "Larry Hughes?"

Much like the perfect storm and stars aligniing, a low-budget, small conference team can do what the Butler did. But such a feat, while doable, will be rare. If the tournament goes to 96 teams, the cases of a Butler coming out will be further impeded ---- the non-bye teams will have to play two more games to get to what is today's starting block. And I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the new 32 teams will be BCS schools all the same. The rich get richer.

As for the Bills, I would like to get to the level we now see Butler --- who can believe earlier in my tenure wiht SLU they were a laughing stock team in the MCC --- and Gonzaga and Xavier. Where getting to the NCAA becomes more of a reality and the quesion on Selection Sundy is not "are we in" but rather "what's our rank and who do we play?" or "did we get a bye?"

A good leader is said to be three or four steps planning ahead in the future. Don't know if I believe that crap all the time but a lot of sentiment on here is "boy, i can't wait for next year While I agree, I certainly hope someone is looking down the road two, three, four steps and gameplanning that.

Do we want to be Mason? Dpo we want to be Indiana State? Better question yet is will we be Butler and Xavier whne Majerus leaves or will we be the next coming of Utah? Sure we need to get there first but living in the moment doesn't discount planning for the future.

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Butler was also an incredible solider of fortune... Playing Syracuse without one of their studs...playing K-State after they went 2OT against Xavier in the high altitude of SLC...playing MSU without Kalin Lucas....they were almost knocked out in the round of 32 by Murray State.

That's why we love college basketball. Last night's game was watching history. We will probably never see a run like Butler's ever again. A lot of bounces went their way.

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Butler was also an incredible solider of fortune... Playing Syracuse without one of their studs...playing K-State after they went 2OT against Xavier in the high altitude of SLC...playing MSU without Kalin Lucas....they were almost knocked out in the round of 32 by Murray State.

That's why we love college basketball. Last night's game was watching history. We will probably never see a run like Butler's ever again. A lot of bounces went their way.

Ummmm....Saint. Louis. University. 2011-12 Final Four.
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I see no reason why SLU can't reach the pinnacle and stay there like X, Butler, Zaga. We have the resources now to compete with them. Will we ever become a UNC, Duke, KY... no. But with realignment certainly coming and if we figure into some sort of non FB powerhouse basketball conference, which is what the A-10 is, we can attain a higher status than just being an occasional blip on the radar progra. I don't think Butler, X, Zaga look at themselves anymore as the little engine that could type of program. They've had long term success and continue to build on it. Which is exactly what we need to do after RM departs. That takes a commitment from above. I can't imagine Fr. B is immune or ignorant as to how important this type of hype and publicity is for the School... he's got to keep the budget up there so we can stay up there. Andy Katz mentioned this morning on ESPN that Butler will now probably have to dig deeper to keep the ball rolling. More money for their young HC, who will certainly be wooed by the BCS'ers, and he even mentioned, "they'll probably fly charter from here on out." I'm pretty sure Fr. B will cave on the charter issue next season as well.

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I see no reason why SLU can't reach the pinnacle and stay there like X, Butler, Zaga. We have the resources now to compete with them. Will we ever become a UNC, Duke, KY... no. But with realignment certainly coming and if we figure into some sort of non FB powerhouse basketball conference, which is what the A-10 is, we can attain a higher status than just being an occasional blip on the radar progra. I don't think Butler, X, Zaga look at themselves anymore as the little engine that could type of program. They've had long term success and continue to build on it. Which is exactly what we need to do after RM departs. That takes a commitment from above. I can't imagine Fr. B is immune or ignorant as to how important this type of hype and publicity is for the School... he's got to keep the budget up there so we can stay up there. Andy Katz mentioned this morning on ESPN that Butler will now probably have to dig deeper to keep the ball rolling. More money for their young HC, who will certainly be wooed by the BCS'ers, and he even mentioned, "they'll probably fly charter from here on out." I'm pretty sure Fr. B will cave on the charter issue next season as well.

I'm pretty sure Butler's coffers will be overflowing after all the revenue earned in merchandising, etc. Plus, they only had to pay for hotels and bus trips to and from Lucas Oil....compared to what Duke, MSU and WVU spent on travel, Butler spent a cup of coffee.

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Butler is not a shooting star, they are a good basketball program. This was not five seniors playing their hearts out. This is a team which is the result of hard work. A few years ago there was an article about Butler and how they had managed to get into the top 25 and how they did it. My recollection is they built facilities, renovated Hinckle field house and tried to schedule well. They play a brand of basketball that keeps the game close, like SLU. They making it into the final four and the finals is not a fluke but they way the ball bounced, had X beaten K. State, given X's game against Butler earlier in the year we may very wll have been talking about X in the finals.....Only four teams of the 330 teams make it to the final four so the Odds that a small school will get in every year is small, but the fact that no Big 12 or SEC team made it into the finals does not mean the suck and will forever not make it. The problem is the media signs TV contracts and we are fed an endless stream of how good the big east etc si that the average Bbal fan does not recognize how goo a team like butler is. Butler 's achievement over the past five years shows that if you recruit well, play sound well coached basketball , you can play with the best, because you become one of the best.

Here is hoping SLU follows that path!!

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Butler is not a shooting star, they are a good basketball program. This was not five seniors playing their hearts out. This is a team which is the result of hard work. A few years ago there was an article about Butler and how they had managed to get into the top 25 and how they did it. My recollection is they built facilities, renovated Hinckle field house and tried to schedule well. They play a brand of basketball that keeps the game close, like SLU. They making it into the final four and the finals is not a fluke but they way the ball bounced, had X beaten K. State, given X's game against Butler earlier in the year we may very wll have been talking about X in the finals.....Only four teams of the 330 teams make it to the final four so the Odds that a small school will get in every year is small, but the fact that no Big 12 or SEC team made it into the finals does not mean the suck and will forever not make it. The problem is the media signs TV contracts and we are fed an endless stream of how good the big east etc si that the average Bbal fan does not recognize how goo a team like butler is. Butler 's achievement over the past five years shows that if you recruit well, play sound well coached basketball , you can play with the best, because you become one of the best.

Here is hoping SLU follows that path!!

Take a look at Butlers record and coaches they had for the past 10 years or so. They've had solid teams and coaches. Barry Collier, Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter. Stevens is a hell of a coach, which is saying something considering his age and experience. They've been building towards this for 10 years or so. This appearance should surprise no one.

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I'm pretty sure Butler's coffers will be overflowing after all the revenue earned in merchandising, etc. Plus, they only had to pay for hotels and bus trips to and from Lucas Oil....compared to what Duke, MSU and WVU spent on travel, Butler spent a cup of coffee.

Good Point. They (and the Horizon League) are clearly are going to reap the benefits of a deep run into the tournament although it wasn't as if they didn't have to travel at all. Yes, having the MF4 in Indy cut down some minimal hotel costs but they still had to travel for the first 4 rounds and the locations weren't close. I believe they were in Salt Lake for the Regionals.

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You can build all you want for years and years but you still need a whole lot of luck as a mid-major to get there. I agree with the statement that the Butler got a little lucky --- Onuaku being out for Syracuse, Lucas gone for Michigan State, some stories focused on the refs further impeding MSU, KState palying at altitude after a two overtime game, and so on. Good players can help sure but sometimes, the stars have to line up.

The Butler is the lord of the manor in the Horizon, much like Gonzaga is the cream of their conference. The Colonial is a hellova a conference but outside of the toruney winner, its rare they get a second. I also like to offer the state of Indiana as part of th ehotbed as we all know the Hoosiers all play ball. Of course, identifying them and recruiting them is a talent, one our previous coiaches did not seem to possess. I've been to Butler and like the campus. I've been to Hinkle and LOVE it. But c'mon ---- an aberration at best with lcuk ridin ghigh.

It could happen again. I'm not saying no but there is no guarantee the same mojo and chemistry is there next year, even is all players and coaches return. Maybe Hayward realizes he needs to dominate to get to the NBA and changes hhis game. Maybe Mack's shot goes south. Maybe Howard gets rapped in the head in the first game and not the next-to-last and that concussion goes the route of Reid's.

last night was a great story and i wish it would have ended even better but to predict the future and where Butler goes from here is ludicrous. End of chapter. End of book. Put the romance novel down. Maybe move on to a horro story. Maybe read a sequel. Sequel's are never as good as the original it seems. Time will only tell.

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If, as kappy says, the Butler saved tons of money with reduced travel expenses, and put it in their coffers, so what? They going to reconstruct Hinkle? Add to benes given to their players? Increase chsarter flights for a year or two? The Butler also plays football -- same league with Dayton I think ---- I'll bet financing that sport and all their non-revenue others will more than eat up realized travel expenses.

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Good Point. They (and the Horizon League) are clearly are going to reap the benefits of a deep run into the tournament although it wasn't as if they didn't have to travel at all. Yes, having the MF4 in Indy cut down some minimal hotel costs but they still had to travel for the first 4 rounds and the locations weren't close. I believe they were in Salt Lake for the Regionals.

The direct traveling costs borne by the teams in the dance are paid by the NCAA. The NCAA -- I fail to recall the company -- Could be Coach USA or Fun Travel etc -- has a contract with a national transportation company that arranges the "CHARTERS" for all teams. My understanding is that it like a chines fire drill putting together the cartage for the teams.

When we qualify next year -- a charter will be provided -- bus or air -- depending on distance from campus

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