Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I assume that they had the news conference earlier in the day to accept the A10 invite. Can someone local give us out of town fans a synopsis of what Woolard has to say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentFLBilliken Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Woolard laid out SLUs situation very well. No surpises at all. Claiborne was borderline rude, bringing up regional rivalries again and again. Ramsey was clearly in favor of the move. Someone must have turned him around on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I also thought Claiborne was an idiot. He kept harping on the inability to drive to away games. How many fans were regularly traveling to our conference games in CUSA? When was the last time he attended an out of town SLU game? When was the last time he attended a SLU game period? He told Woolard that it will take something big for this move to "make a believer out of him." I wish Woolard would have told him that he didn't give a {expletive} whether he was a believer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj_arete Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 without namecalling. While I disagree with Mike on this issue, his sports knowledge is one of the best in town. He's very underrated in my opinion. Sure, Mike isn't an expert on college sports, but his exceptional command of pro hockey and pro football make up for any other deficiency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 yeah i just think the "drive to the games" argument is hillarious. at away games i have been to, i dont remember claybird sitting next to me. he is either an idiot or about the meanest pr!ck on the airwaves. i tend to think the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 and Mike C. isn't willing to say I don't know enough about the subject (conference realignment details) to have a valid opinion. I will listen to Mike on hockey and boxing topics, but it ends there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 aj, surely you dont really believe clayborne's "sports knowledge is one of the best in town"? i might agree on hockey, at least he has me fooled on hockey, but i admit to being a hockey idiot. as to baseball, football and basketball, i would guess half the people on this board are more researched and knowledgeable than he is. i shudder at some of his opinions. i had quit listening, but started again to track ramsey on the billikens stuff about a month ago. now i think ramsey is the underated guy. my only b!tch with ramsey is his lack of obvious billiken homeritis 24/7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 12, 2003 Author Share Posted November 12, 2003 Mike Claiborne did his very best to undermine Saint Louis U. while Doug Woolard was on, and Woolard made Claibs look like a bitter {insert "politically correct" synonym for "moron" here -- note: I'm not saying that he IS one, just that he came off looking that way}. Woolard said that the A-10 is inviting because it provides the best opportunity for similar institutions. It consists of schools that, primarily, don't play football; there are 10 other private schools; and its exposure provides SLU with great opportunities outside of athletics (i.e., recruiting students from the eastern seaboard). Claiborne asked if there were any concerns SLU had regarding moving to the A-10. His intent was to find out if the SLU administration felt there were any drawbacks to the A-10, but Woolard answered the question in a way that the A-10 fits SLU's needs perfectly. The four areas of "concern" Woolard mentioned were: academics, athletics, finances, and exposure. Woolard painted the television picture tantalyzingly. The A-10 has the best national contract for non-Div. I football conferences, but with the departure of seven schools from C-USA, the C-USA contract should change negatively. The A-10 contract could improve with the two additions. The conference produces 40 games for t.v. In response to Claiborne's doubts about rivalries in the A-10 and whether or not fans will travel to away games, Woolard said that fans will enjoy the conference matchups in the A-10 and that SLU will maintain its current regional non-conference rivalries (SIUC, SMS) and continue to pursue strong national non-conference games. Basically, Claiborne had to concede that regional rivalries isn't a focus of conference construction and Woolard planted the suggestion that SLU's conference affiliation will not prevent SLU from having rivalries. Woolard also said that travel costs may be less in the A-10 than it was in Conference USA. He also repeatedly mentioned how good it will be that the folks sitting around the table will look more alike (have similar missions philosphically, academically, and athletically). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Claiborne has not been a friend of SLU's since before I left St. Louis for good and that was 1996. I did not hear the interview and thanks for the recaps...I am picking up vibes that he was argumentative on the conference shift. Why? It served no purpose other than to make him look like an A-Hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Bernie tonight on KMOX hit that argument directly. He wondered how many Bills fans actually travel to away games. He said he wasn't trying to insult anyone. I wonder if he heard Mike this afternoon. Interesting. Overall, Bernie was very supportive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Claiborne obviously has some beef with the SLU brass still smarting from his firing over ten years ago. Woolard should've told him off or just hung up the phone on him. Claiborne knows hockey pretty well and boxing but that is it. He is the laziest sports guy in the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 You may not be saying Mike is an idiot ... I am though. On his show either he is right or he ridicules you and cuts you off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws26 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 slufanskip-- I couldn't agree more. I didn't listen to a lot of talk radio back in my Saint Louis days. However, the few times I heard Claiborne take calls all he would do is cut people off and repeat his opinion over and over again. I guess he thought people could hear him better if he got them on the phone. My question is, what does this guy do in the sports community in STL besides host a bad radio show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quickdraw Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I've heard it suggested that Tuna is lazier. We all know he's more obnoxious as well, worse than Kevin Slaten? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Before I moved from St. Louis supposedly he was a sports agent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Maybe I am reading things wrong as that definitely could be the case. After a while a lot of the threads start running together in my head. It seems like a lot of people are supporting this A10 move. Is that because of all the options that we had you guys felt that was the best option? Because, that is how I feel. Or, do you guys believe the A10 is a better move than where we are today in the current Conf USA, not the Conf USA that it is going to be? Because that is not how I feel. I am so fired up about the A10 because of what was happening to our Conference USA in the future. But, it seems like some people seem to think the A10 is better for us than the Conference we are in as it stands today. Just curious for your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 While I am going to miss playing Louisville Cin. and Memphis I feel the A-10 is a better fit for our University. I believe that our chances of competing with like minded schools is more important than seeing Huggins Pitino and Calapari. If the A-10 can dump a couple of bottom feeders the A-10 is the next best thing to the elusive papal confrence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 But without the Big East traitors CUSA is a joke. Long term the A10 may be a better instutional fit (like schools not driven by football etc) but I couldn't care less about anything other than the BBall connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I couldn't agree more, Rich. At this point in time and with the current mix, I'd much rather be in Conference USA than the A-10. Given the future of CUSA, well of course I'd rather be in the A-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I may be in the minority here, but I think I would have supported a move to the Atlantic 10 even if CUSA existed in its prior form. The following is my comparison of the pre-expansion/merger versions of the two conferences. Over the last eight seaons, the two conferences were neck and neck in terms of conference RPIs and NCAA tournament appearances. CUSA had a better year last year, but historically the conferences are comparable. QUALITY OF COMPETITION: TIE Geographically, both conferences were spread large distances. CUSA was spread a little farther, but included a few more schools in the Midwest. If you concede that SLU must reside in a spread out conferece, the I would prefer an east coast conference to a deep south conference. GEOGRAPHY: TIE In terms of media exposure, as I understand it, the Atlantic 10 has a better TV deal than CUSA. TV CONTRACTS: ADVANTAGE A-10 CUSA is loaded with a large number of public, second-tier commuter state schools (e.g., Lousiville, Southern Miss, South Florida, etc.). These schools take a different philosophical approach to academics and athletics and have a signficantly different set of resources. The A-10, by contrast, is primarily comprised of private universities with similar philosophies and resources as SLU. CONFERENCE MAKEUP: ADVANTAGE A-10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 offers the ability to play 2 or 3 top ten teams once or twice a year. The watered down "Calipari Schedule" does make your argument more persuasive. I don't see the A10 as a bigstep down, just lacking the luster of Marquette(currently) Cincy, and Louisville. Given the current realities this is absolutely the best option for us. The lack of domination by football is worth the price of admission by itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I believe that over the course of the last two seasons, both St. Joseph's and Xavier have cracked the top 10. During those same two seasons, only two CUSA teams--Marquette and Louisville--cracked the top 10. Just because we don't hear about the top teams in the A-10, doesn't mean they don't exist. I will concede that outside of John Chaney the A-10 doesn't have as many high profile coaches as the former/current CUSA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 however the facts are that CUSA today is a good conference that IS Going to break up!! Therefore The A10 is the best available conference for us to join, and accomplishes all the things we want, media exposure, academics, high RPI etc.... IF CUSA was to stay together, it would be a tough choice. I think everyone involved was reading the writing on the wall about CUSA two years ago....ie it would not continue to be a good home for BBall only schools!! What would have happend had SLU risen to the top 25 in the last two year?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Ouside of Dayton and Xavier, I'd have been hard pressed to tell you the make up of the A10 before we were hoping to move there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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