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i had a couple of hours between appts today, so i dropped down to the busch center to take in the cheryl levick press conference. first off, let me tell you all, WOW. cheryl levick is impressive. as you all know, i was a doug woolard defender. but folks, ms levick is an upgrade in people power. i have no doubt we have just elevated saint louis university sports tremendously. this lady comes across as a doer. her enthusiasm and professionalism were exhibited to the nth degree. i am excited. anyone that doesnt think saint louis university is not on the way up needs to open their eyes.

both father biondi and ms levick both emphatically stated that the two things that will not be lost in our mission of billiken athletics are academics and integrity. there will be no compromise and we will succeed.

a great turnout. i would assume the 5 pm news on every tv and radio station will carry excerpts. they were all there. it was a who's who of st louis sports media.

btw, big thanks to slu for the wonderful reception for us. i cant think of anything that wasnt done right today.

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If the press conference had been in the afternoon, I would have definitely been there. I don't get off work until around 12:30, so 11:00 was out of the question. I considered making a quick run over to the reception afterwards, but in the end decided against it.

I'm glad Levick was impressive. It's also great to see that the St. Louis sports media flocked to this press conference where they could see in person just how impressive Levick was.

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coach pizzotti was at my table at lunch and i didnt get the feeling she was scared. in fact she seemed enthused more than i have ever seen coach jill.

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The SLU athletic department really doesn't have anywhere to go but up. As long as our new AD recognizes our strengths (soccer, basketball, arena, band - had to throw that in...)we'll be fine in the long run.

Let me be the first today to say... Good Riddance, Woolard!

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Babysitting duties kept me from attending today's press conference; however, I did listen to Ms. Levick on the Ramsey-Claibourne radio show. She sounded terrific, great personality, impressive thoughts and comments. (Claibourne continues to be a knucklehead on the old A10 vs the MVC decision.)

Thanks to former ADs Debbie Yow and Doug Woolard for getting/leaving the SLU athletic department in good shape, so that an exciting, top professional like Ms. Levick would leave a good job AD job at Santa Clara and come to SLU.

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Claiborne said that he disagreed with the decision to move to the A10. Cheryl said that she had researched the decision to move based on four criteria: academics, exposure, rpi/team strength, and something else (sorry), and she determined that the A10 was the best fit for us and that Woolard had made the right decision. I'll trust her judgement before Claiborne's any day.

My girlfriend was in the car with me, so I didn't get to hear the entire interview, but some other things that she said that stood out in my mind were:

- She's concerned about the weak soccer programs in the A10, but says that we will be playing a very tough non-conference schedule to make up for it

- She was also concerned about the budget for the athletic department. She was a little vague, but said that there were certain things that did not make sense to her, and she is going to meet with the provost to discuss.

I think that she is going to do a great job at SLU. She is extremely sharp and charismatic, and she gives the impression that she does her homework.

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Ms. Levick had to explain to Mike why SLU went the A10 route versus the MVC. She used the standard key points; the majority of the A10 scools are private, similar academic entrance requirements, similar athletic budgets, large market schools involved, competitive bball conference etc., etc. Mike has probably heard or read about SLU's decision making points at least a dozen times. In the end, Mike stated he's still not sure about the A10 and will take a wait and see attitude. Mike did, however, remember Woolard's saying that another conference shuffle is likely in 3-5 years.

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Clairborne, like most of the local media, has his own agenda and biases. When he was fired from the color job at SLU years ago, he publicly rationalized it by claiming that SLU was and always will be a minor league D1 program. His position regarding the A-10 switch is consistent with his agenda regarding SLU.

The decision was a no-brainer and can be summarized with one word: money. The A-10 has much more money (through broadcast, ticket sales, and NCAA revenue) than the MVC to share among its members. The A-10 will also indirectly create much more money for its schools through exposure to larger markets and greater media outlets. For example, it will be a lot easier for the admissions office at SLU to recruit students from the east coast if SLU's name is seen in the Philly, Cincy, Boston, D.C., and New York newspapers and heard on the local sports stations several times or more a year.

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i totally agree with davidnark. anyone that is still singing "shoulda been in the mvc" song, is not stating what is best for the billikens, but stating that they wish the billikens would be smalltime. sorry claibs, you continue to look stupid by playing that game. get over it.

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I have talked to many college coaches around the country, big 12, 10, Big east. Even A10 coaches, they said SLU should of went to the MO Valley Conf. One reason they would attract more talent since they are in a big city, most kids would choose slu over say springfield, etc because there would be more things to do in stl than say springfield.

I workfor the ncaa so I thought I would share some insight. Personally I do not thinkk slu will ever make the ncaas consistently, basketball has changed so much and slu has not changed with the times

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the majority said, "I have talked to many college coaches around the country, big 12, 10, Big east. Even A10 coaches, they said SLU should of went to the MO Valley Conf. One reason they would attract more talent since they are in a big city"

if you did talk to "many college coaches" in the big conferences you mention, i would think it would not behoove those coaches to admit that slu is gaining on them. and your statement about attracting more "talent" since they are in a big city, is very confusing. does that mean that slu has now moved out of a "big city"? i assume you mean that the recruits we would have been able to settle for would be mvc quality players from small rural high schools that have no better choice than mvclike schools. to agree with that line of thinking is believing that slu cant recruit with the likes of an a-10 school. amazingly slu has competed well in conference usa which is a better conference right now than the a-10 so why is it that now they are going to a currently less conference they will lose that competitive ability?

everything that has happened as of late screams of slu moving up the ladder. not down. so you need to provide some facts that back up your logic. i for one am not following.

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>should of went to the MO Valley Conf.

>I workfor the ncaa

Perhaps we now see why admitting a student with 24 hours earned in a single summer is not de facto evidence of "lack of institutional control" to the NCAA.

Or perhaps we have the same de facto evidence that, on the Internet, no one knows you're a dog. :)

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but you don't know a hell of a lot about basketball either. Do you mop the floors for the NCAA? The MVC is a great conference for small state schools in tiny markets with lower mid-major programs. NOT SLU! We'll be in the NCAA's more than ANY team in the MVC other than their tourney winner.

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majority said, "basketball has changed so much and slu has not changed with the times"

please educate us on this statement. give us some facts.

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