Burwell: SLU hits it big, as in 'new' Big East?

[Aquinas]

Burwell: SLU hits it big, as in 'new' Big East?

Burwell’s article is very sloppy. First he leaves one of the original C7 teams Providence out of the 12 teams in the expanded C7, adding both Richmond and Siena. Then later in the article when he counts ranked teams in the expanded C7 he adds another team VCU. So Burwell lists 13 teams in his 12 team league and when Providence is added back in, he actually has 14 teams in his 12 team league. I guess sports writers don’t have to do much math to write for the Post.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bryan-burwell/burwell-slu-hits-it-big-as-in-new-big-east/article_6d4fe8de-8267-55bc-98bb-0f7f7d7f89a4.html

[kshoe]

To me the biggest problem with this article is he acts like John Feinstein's speculative article that has largely been debunked by those that closely follow these things is the word of god. "Several well-placed sources told Washington Post columnist John Feinstein..."

I'd love nothing more than for it to be true but its far from a done deal and when Burwell and Jeff Gordon a week ago go rehashing and article that is just plain wrong it gives the wrong impression to the casual fan. I like our chances but anybody that calls us a lock at this point is crazy.

[BillikenFriar]

All the talk around here has dried up like crazy. Seems like someone got tired of all the Providence based rumors and made a point to shut people up. It is night and day around here.

[Taj79]

Yeah, some sloppy journalism by Burwell. He throws Siena and Richmond in there but totally discounts Providence as one of the original C7 while somewhere pulling Siena out of his hat. I am counting nothing like kshoe.

Providence, St. John's and Seton Hall are still lower levels of the equation. The C7 foundation keeps getting stronger, however, with every notable Villanova win. Jay Wright is no longer on the hot seat in Philly. Newest burning lard in the City of Brotherly Love is Phil Martelli and his underachieving Hawks.

And another columnist join the ranks of the "Hire Jim Now" crew. Weak effort by Burwell. Based on the headline alone, I thought the deal was done and reading this column was going to announce it.

[SShoe]

Yeah, some sloppy journalism by Burwell. He throws Siena and Richmond in there but totally discounts Providence as one of the original C7 while somewhere pulling Siena out of his hat. I am counting nothing like kshoe.

Providence, St. John's and Seton Hall are still lower levels of the equation. The C7 foundation keeps getting stronger, however, with every notable Villanova win. Jay Wright is no longer on the hot seat in Philly. Newest burning lard in the City of Brotherly Love is Phil Martelli and his underachieving Hawks.

And another columnist join the ranks of the "Hire Jim Now" crew. Weak effort by Burwell. Based on the headline alone, I thought the deal was done and reading this column was going to announce it.

I initially had the same thought, but then I saw that Burwell wrote it and knew there was no way he was going to be the one to break this story.

[Bobby Metzinger]

He's a poor man's Jason Whitlock...

[kshoe]

I initially had the same thought, but then I saw that Burwell wrote it and knew there was no way he was going to be the one to break this story.

Exactly, the chances of anyone in the St. Louis media breaking a Big East realignment story are nil. The best we can hope for is they just repeat reputable articles from other sources. They are failing on that mark too.

[Cowboy]

-there was a question mark after the headline, but still the headline was bad

-I read the comments section after the article and folks are being pretty nice to Burwell, considering the lack of quality of that piece

-the announcement of the members of the conference will not come via STL media, I agree with that

[WestCoastBilliken]

Check out the Xavier board -- Post starts at #99

http://www.xavierhoops.com/showthread.php?24535-Catholic-7-News/page10

[BACKHANDtheRICAN]

He's a poor man's Jason Whitlock...

Why exactly do you use Jason Whitlock as a comparison???

[spoonie_love]

Wow! Worst. Column. Ever. From one of the worst columnists I've ever seen. When will the post fire that guy? What an embarrassment. And the editors should be ashamed of themselves for this.

I'm gonna say it: Token!

[slu72]

He didn't even go to a SLU source and even ask the most basic questions. 1) Has anyone from the C7 contacted SLU? 2.) Has SLU contacted the C7? Granted, both questions would receive "no comment" answers or some other politically correct response like "we're happy in the A-10", but they should have at least been asked.

This is an example of either a slow newsday or lazy journalism. Heck he didn't even bother to call Feinberg and question his sources.

He would have been better off doing a column on Haith's future w/ Mizzery.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Wow! Worst. Column. Ever. From one of the worst columnists I've ever seen. When will the post fire that guy? What an embarrassment. And the editors should be ashamed of themselves for this. I'm gonna say it: Token!

Please tell me you are not a SLU grad?

[Pistol]

Why exactly do you use Jason Whitlock as a comparison???

Burwell's writing is nothing like Whitlock's. Couldn't be more dissimilar tonally. About 180 degrees personality-wise, too.

I don't think the article is particularly great, but I also don't understand why people are coming down on it so hard. Shouldn't we be happy that the local press is speculating about this? We've relied on rumors and hearsay from East Coast writers for months. This one isn't much different from any of theirs. The "several well-placed sources" line is weak, but come on, we want these guys on our side.

Also, Burwell doesn't write his own headlines. Nor would he be the one to break that story, in all likelihood.

[Box and Won]

I'm gonna say it: Token!

Don't go there.

[slu72]

Check out the Xavier board -- Post starts at #99http://www.xavierhoops.com/showthread.php?24535-Catholic-7-News/page10

Good to hear, but still all hearsay. The one item tat makes sense is it's all about tv markets. I think the biggest thing we've got going for us is Fox MW needs content and SLUs a natural.

[Pistol]

Please tell me you are not a SLU grad?

Hopefully not, but he appears to be the kind of person who typically comments on a Burwell article.

[Cowboy]

Burwell's writing is nothing like Whitlock's. Couldn't be more dissimilar tonally. About 180 degrees personality-wise, too.

I don't think the article is particularly great, but I also don't understand why people are coming down on it so hard. Shouldn't we be happy that the local press is speculating about this? We've relied on rumors and hearsay from East Coast writers for months. This one isn't much different from any of theirs. The "several well-placed sources" line is weak, but come on, we want these guys on our side.

Also, Burwell doesn't write his own headlines. Nor would he be the one to break that story, in all likelihood.

-one problem I have with it is he talks about the teams projected in the league and then where they are ranked and they are not the same schools

[TRN]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="BillikenFriar" data-cid="346555" data-time="1361886970"><p>

All the talk around here has dried up like crazy. Seems like someone got tired of all the Providence based rumors and made a point to shut people up. It is night and day around here.</p></blockquote>

Either that, or the Billikens are on a 9 game winning streak, rated the highest in 19 years. People may have decided to enjoy this season instead of wading through the myriad of sources to figure out whether we are in the new conference or not.

Speculating on that can be fun. But, I think many people have put that off to the side to watch a once in a generation success story for SLU.

[Pistol]

-one problem I have with it is he talks about the teams projected in the league and then where they are ranked and they are not the same schools

Yeah, it's not the greatest article, but it's not for us. There's nothing new for billikens.com posters or readers. We've read more speculation about this conference than any other group who'd read the P-D. We know all the possibilities and where the speculation is coming from. We know everything about the schools in the Big East 7 and the schools that want in. This article is for casual fans, readers of the P-D who might not be big SLU fans, and I don't see how it can be a bad thing.

[ACE]

Wow! Worst. Column. Ever. From one of the worst columnists I've ever seen. When will the post fire that guy? What an embarrassment. And the editors should be ashamed of themselves for this. I'm gonna say it: Token!

-1,000 Worst post ever.

Not saying the column really added anything new, but at least Burwell has consistently taken an interest in SLU the last few years. We hear so much whining about the P-D and lack of coverage and that the local media ignores us, blah, blah, blah... so we got a reporter who does cover us and shows our program respect, yet the response from this idiot "spoonie love" is to trash the guy. spoonie has beeen officially added to the troll watch list. Give him warning points and put this puppy on a short leash.

[kshoe]

Good to hear, but still all hearsay. The one item tat makes sense is it's all about tv markets. I think the biggest thing we've got going for us is Fox MW needs content and SLUs a natural.

I didn't take much positive from that thread. Their general consensus was we won't be in the first 10 and only if they go to 12 do we have a pretty good shot.

[SShoe]

Yeah, it's not the greatest article, but it's not for us. There's nothing new for billikens.com posters or readers. We've read more speculation about this conference than any other group who'd read the P-D. We know all the possibilities and where the speculation is coming from. We know everything about the schools in the Big East 7 and the schools that want in. This article is for casual fans, readers of the P-D who might not be big SLU fans, and I don't see how it can be a bad thing.

You're right in that its for the average sports fan, but the problem is that he quotes the Feinstein article as gospel. The average fan is now going to think SLU is a "lock" to be in the new conference, which we know is not the case.

Otherwise yeah, I enjoyed more positive SLU pub.

By the way, there is only one similarity between Burwell and Whitlock, and it's definitely not the writing.

[BACKHANDtheRICAN]

-1,000 Worst post ever.

Not saying the column really added anything new, but at least Burwell has consistently taken an interest in SLU the last few years. We hear so much whining about the P-D and lack of coverage and that the local media ignores us, blah, blah, blah... so we got a reporter who does cover us and shows our program respect, yet the response from this idiot "spoonie love" is to trash the guy. spoonie has beeen officially added to the troll watch list. Give him warning points and put this puppy on a short leash.

agreed. ACE always finds the trolls.

Remember back when he would spot Metz' new alias after 1 post? God, he dominated Metz back in the day!

[ACE]

Check out the Xavier board -- Post starts at #99

http://www.xavierhoops.com/showthread.php?24535-Catholic-7-News/page10

I really hate this idea of going to 10 and then waiting before going to 12. Under that scenario, I'm afraid we are going to miss the first round and be forced to wait and then eventually get screwed in the end. If this league wants to go 12 teams, just do it from the beginning and be done with it. As long as the tv folks are very involved, that would figure to serve us well, but you never know.

Just announce it now, 12 teams, 2 divisions

West - SLU, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette, Xavier and Butler

East - St. John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Villanova, Providence and I don't care about the last one (VCU or Richmond or if the tv folks start meddling, maybe a darkhorse like Detroit)

I said from the beginning, I would not be surprised if the sweatervests get left out.

BTW, interesting to note that of all the teams in the C7 plus the schools under consideration, only Georgetown is currently ranked higher than SLU.