kshoe Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 of why we should do it: last off-season Charlotte was looking to fill out its schedule and was offered a shot at the defending national champs on their home court with no return game. I believe they were also offered one of those neutral court 1 game tourneys against what was expected to be a decent team. They chose the opportunity to play Syracuse and that win was absolutely huge. I haven't read the quote yet but is certainly hard to argue that Duke isn't the top basketball program (regardless of what happens this weekend) in America so I certainly wouldn't criticize a columnist for that statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 not a home and home. Just a guess though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 I am also with the home and home or no play folks. Our goal is to make the NCAA tourney on a yearly basis ... there are many other schools that can help us accomplish the same thing that would probably give us a home and home series. From the looks of things this year you can get a pretty good SOS without having to play top 10 calliber teams ... just don't play any really bad ones either ... I think we should try not to play any teams with RPI's over 150 out of conference. Then play a couple of top 25's and a couple of top 50's. Now of course being a used car guy ... if the money is huge .... Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Please note that I never said we shouldn't do it. First, I would have prefered that the athletic department spin it as a return to an emphasis on strength of schedule, rather than the "oooh, oooh, oooh, little SLU gets to play someone *way* above their class" way that it came out. Second, I'm a bit of a stickler about superlatives. I'd never cite anyone as the "best restaurant in St. Louis," because there are at least three or four that could earn that title on any given evening (and because I think St. Louis as a whole suffers from the "Highlander Syndrome," but that's a rant for another board). On the basketball front, I bet, for example, that Kansas might have something to say about the "most prestigious" title, as might Maryland or even (on the "scholar-athlete" scale) Stanford. And then there's the Ashley Judd scale. Anyway, it's equally disturbing from a professional standpoint if, in fact, this isn't yet a done deal. It'll be interesting to see whether that's actually or semantically true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 I think you make a number of good points. I like playing Duke for personal reasons but think SLU should work on 1-1 and at worst 2-1. I cringed at the tone of the article. I think getting on ESPN has to be factored in as a positive with this deal. For the record, I posted earlier about informing a Duke fan about the game and then him thinking it was a joke. That is the arrogance I was referring to earlier, the arrogance of a nice Duke fan thinking even the possibility of playing SLU was a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesycow Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 you've piqued my interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Examining the text of the article: BIG GAME: SLU students, faculty, alumni and honcho the Rev. Larry Biondi will be beaming next year when the St. Louis University men's basketball team heads to North Carolina to take on the nation's most prestigious basketball team, the Duke Blue Devils. ESPN has signed on to carry the game, which will give the Billikens and Coach Brad Soderberg a chance to take down the powerful Blue Devils and Coach K (aka Mike Krzyzewski - pronounced Sha-SHEF-skee) on national TV ...I don't see anything that says there wouldn't be a return game in St. Louis the following year. Nothing there confirms it is a guarantee game. I don't think we dare presume that Deb Peterson is savvy enough about college sports to mention or even pursue the possibility that Duke could be coming to St. Louis the following season. I think what Deb is doing here is trying to picque interest among casual fans, and the angle of this rumor ("nation's most prestigious basketball team," "chance to take down the powerful Blue Devils," and "...beaming...") would certainly do that. Besides all that, it appears Deb's information is premature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Go read Dan Wetzel's column on yahoo! sports. It's pretty interesting. I look at Duke as the NY Yankees of college basketball. ...and I hate them both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 >Go read Dan Wetzel's column on yahoo! sports. It's pretty >interesting. I look at Duke as the NY Yankees of college >basketball. ...and I hate them both. Even better, check out this site: www.truthaboutduke.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 told me "my sources say yes" when I asked it if it was a one-time deal. I have heard from multiple good sources that it is a one and done scenario. You can believe that or not but that is my understanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Brad Soderberg has said on more than one occassion that he'll play anyone in the country as long as they'll return to play on his team's home court, so it seems doubtful that he would willingly accept a deal to play Duke at Cameron without the Blue Devils coming the following year to play on SLU's home court. Perhaps it's a decision Doug Woolard made, but I have trouble imagining that Doug would do that without Brad consent, particularly not after the fuss Brad made about Southern Miss's selling a home game to a promoter who put the game in Green Bay and his concerns about the subsequent resignation of his friend Jerry Green because the administration didn't support him. I could see SLU playing Duke one time on a "neutral" court near Duke's campus (i.e., not Cameron) as part of a made-for-television event. I could also see SLU playing at Duke (even at Cameron) as part of a "classic" four-team tournament (remember a few years back when Alabama and a couple of teams played at Savvis and the same two pairings were guaranteed regardless of who won the first day?). But I can't see SLU just playing an ordinary non-conference game at Duke without bringing that money-making draw back to St. Louis the next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 According to two D1 assistant coaches (neither from SLU) the current cost of a typical D1 "buy-game" can run from $30k to $60k. SLU would not be a typical "buy-game". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Cheesy, Mizzou has been a #5 team in the Big 12 for, mmm, the last five years. That means there are four teams better than MU in their own conference that are more attractive re RPI in their own conference. The same can be said for the top half of the Big 10,averaged over the last five years. Syracuse - much higher profile than SLU, and better positioned out east to aid in our A10 profile to be. Gonzaga - a fellow Jesuit university with a new basketball arena and a willingness to play a home and away series for three cycles, from a chat I had with their asst. AD last fall. Part of scheduling is working with schools that want to get a deal done with the minimum of hassle, which certainly MU does not meet. Not arrogance, just good business sense. Rather than expend massive amounts of energy trying to broker a home and away with MU, why shouldn't SLU chase after the obtainable? Drop a 300 RPI buy in, and slide a second MVC team in, ie Creightan or SIU, on an annual basis. We could swap Belmont with the second 275+ RPI buy in, and SLU suddenly jumps 10 RPI notches just due to scheduling. I personally could care less about SLU playing MU any more. The last three games I attended where MU played, I witnessed fights where MU student(s) started the fight. Whether it is KU, UI, or SLU, Tiger fans always are the biggest mouths and least knowledgable bball fans. But as a few of your Mizzou brethren succinctly put it, "Everyone cheats. You have to cheat unless you want to have SLU's talent level." Arrogance defined, penalties forthcoming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 just so everyone knows, sheltie dave and i are not the same person. but i like his thinking!!! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 how can slu, be considered a "buy game" for anyone? this game makes no sense to me from either perspective if it indeed is a one and done deal in durham. it is a dangerous home game actually for duke. i say we go to durham and kick their a$$. then when they scream for a rematch let em come to the biondi dome for opening night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 "it is a dangerous home game actually for duke." Sure, if Bryant goes off for 40 points. Otherwise, it's a 30 point blowout for the Dookies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 ESPN were the 4 most important letters in the blurb. Agree with 3Star. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 What if Duke rolls over the Billikens, led by a freshman point guard, to the tune of a 30 point victory as they celebrate a National Championship, complete with a banner-raising ceremony? I'm not saying that would happen, but it's a nightmare. I would think that such an occurence would hurt, not help, SLU's image in the eyes of casual basketball fans and national recruits. (I hope Duke loses to UConn tomorrow to eliminate part of my possible nightmare-come-true.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Someone said that there is no such thing as bad publicity but I'm sure Tanya Harding and, more recently, Janet Jackson have proved that premise false. Yes, if we got rolled from the opening tip it would be bad. It's a risk so I'm not too crazy about this one shot deal. The only redeeming thing about it is playing on ESPN which adds to our exposure. How much you are on TV is a huge deal to recruits. If we hang with Duke for most of the game such that the announcers have time to say a few semi-encouraging words about our Billikens before the rape, then it helps. If it's rape from the start ... maybe not a positive at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 at Cameron. If (when) we lose people will simply shrug their shoulders and say thats Duke. Its not going to be an embarassment to SLU if we go in there and get hammered. If it is then we'll be in very good company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 I also have enjoyed his recent posts...welcome aboard mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 It was reported here by others that it is not a home and home series. Therefore, we are a buy game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Where have you been - MU will not play SLU. It is not us that won't negotiate with MU but the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 >I personally could care less about SLU playing MU any more. >The last three games I attended where MU played, I witnessed >fights where MU student(s) started the fight. Whether it is >KU, UI, or SLU, Tiger fans always are the biggest mouths and >least knowledgable bball fans. But as a few of your Mizzou >brethren succinctly put it, "Everyone cheats. You have to >cheat unless you want to have SLU's talent level." Arrogance >defined, penalties forthcoming. Just as an FYI, I have witnessed my fellow SLU students also starting fights with opposing fans - many times instigating altercations with older fans. In fact, a jesuit friend of mine watched a SLU student punch out a 50-something Arizona fan who was trying to leave the game this past December. Let's not go down the holier than thou path here. Let's face it too, Mizzou is going to be a much bigger draw and much more important game than a game against any other Big 12 team. If anything it is for in-state supremacy. Illinois is the only other game that might rival a Mizzou game just because of the media presence and attention the Illini have. We need to be playing Mizzou, and Mizzou knows it and that is why they won't play SLU. Let's not go down the road of denial when it comes to playing Mizzou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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