Great opportunity for SLU

[slufanskip]

2 hours ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

I'd say 3 years from now, the only certainties at SP are: Leake (unless someone wants his contract), Reyes, and Martinez. Of course they have an overabundance of SP options but as we know, you can never have too much SP and it doesn't always work out. Not sold on Gonzalez, Lynn (health), Garcia (health), Wacha (health) or Weaver yet.

The Cards starting pitching outlook in the next 5 years far outweighs the Cubs. The Cubs position players outlook over the next 5 years far outweighs the Cards. I didn't mind the Cubs winning the Series as now maybe the hype will die down and they'll be treated like every other team by the media. However, damn lucky for them the Indians lost 2 of their top 3 starters in Sept.

[Quality Is Job 1]

1 hour ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

I wasn't suggesting there were any correlations. I'm not saying: "Now that the Rams are gone and the Cardinals are entering their demise (I kid KSHOE), It will have a direct impact on  SLU and every game will be sold out!" If Ford continues to attract top recruits and it translates to not just winning basketball but entertaining basketball, Chaifetz will sell out and be rocking! That will take care of itself.

What I'm asking, is if people think the there is an opportunity for SLU to take advantage of a few things:

1) the NFL leaving town - I'm not saying Rams fans will now all of a sudden attend SLU games. There is space in the sports section to fill now that the NFL is gone.

2) The possibility (not certainty) that the Cardinals have a few off years. Again, I'm not saying the Cardinals will or that it will have an impact on their attendance. Yes, the Cardinals will always be the media darlings of STL and their attendance won't suffer terribly if they have an off year or two.

When I say take advantage, I mostly mean in terms of media coverage and general excitement in the STL metro, (especially with top area recruits staying home to play for the Billikens) not in terms of attendance. I'm asking if there is an opportunity for the Billikens to parlay this potentially exciting and successful style of basketball into more exposure with the local media and people. Instead of the top Post story in January being "Ranking the Cardinals Bullpen", it is "High-flying Bills top Dayton in match up of two top 15 teams", or something corny like that.

It sounds like many don't see and connection, either direct or indirect, between SLU and the Cardinals and I get that. I was just looking for people's thoughts. Lesson learned!

I don't think the absence or slump of other franchises will have any bearing on SLU's media exposure.  If they win, they'll get plenty of favorable publicity.  If they don't, then they won't, and it won't have anything to do with external factors.

[JMM28]

On 11/4/2016 at 5:46 PM, slufanskip said:

The Cards starting pitching outlook in the next 5 years far outweighs the Cubs. The Cubs position players outlook over the next 5 years far outweighs the Cards. I didn't mind the Cubs winning the Series as now maybe the hype will die down and they'll be treated like every other team by the media. However, damn lucky for them the Indians lost 2 of their top 3 starters in Sept.

I mean the Indians did damn near sweep through the AL playoffs. And the Cubs won 114 games this year. 

But one of the last great sports stories is over. The national media will have to stop regurgitating lazy goat, curse, and other silly stories. 

[kshoe]

On 11/4/2016 at 6:49 PM, Quality Is Job 1 said:

I don't think the absence or slump of other franchises will have any bearing on SLU's media exposure.  If they win, they'll get plenty of favorable publicity.  If they don't, then they won't, and it won't have anything to do with external factors.

So you are suggesting that if the Cards and Blues didn't exist the media coverage would be the exact same for the Billikens?

[Quality Is Job 1]

25 minutes ago, kshoe said:

So you are suggesting that if the Cards and Blues didn't exist the media coverage would be the exact same for the Billikens?

Well, no, but the chances of The Cardinals and Blues following the Rams and Benedict Kroenke out of town are slimmer than my chances of dunking on a regulation rim.

"Absence" = Rams; "slump" = Cards, Blues.

[JMM28]

The media game is so changing right now that it's impossible to say what type of coverage should even be expected - let alone in hypotheticals. The post dispatch is shriveling up into what may or may not become a sustainable model. Is St Louis still a 3 news station market or did ABC come back? The tv model is changing significantly too. Apparently there's plenty of folks that will always dump money into sports talk radio though. 

What would be nice is a serious blog by some students that are interested in getting into a sports journalism type field. That might gain some traction with the right mix. 

[TheBand]

The AD really needs to take the other sports (Blues) into account when scheduling home games.  My mom has both Blues and SLU season tix and she is miffed that SLU booked so many (I think she told me 5) home games on nights when the Blues had a home game scheduled.  She really enjoys both sports, and has been a longtime season ticket holder for both but hates to miss games.  That Blues schedule is out well early enough for SLU to avoid playing opposite of them.

If you already have 18-19000 downtown at the Blues game...AND you are a struggling program (as we have been for a couple of years and will be this year)  doesn't it just make sense NOT to compete AGAINST the team that always draws?  I think there is crossover between the two markets (SLU and Blues).

My mom just thinks that the SLU AD is just unaware of anything else going on in town at times. 

just some $.02

 

[slufan13]

SLU doesn't set their own A10 schedule 

[slu72 fan]

2 hours ago, TheBand said:

The AD really needs to take the other sports (Blues) into account when scheduling home games.  My mom has both Blues and SLU season tix and she is miffed that SLU booked so many (I think she told me 5) home games on nights when the Blues had a home game scheduled.  She really enjoys both sports, and has been a longtime season ticket holder for both but hates to miss games.  That Blues schedule is out well early enough for SLU to avoid playing opposite of them.

If you already have 18-19000 downtown at the Blues game...AND you are a struggling program (as we have been for a couple of years and will be this year)  doesn't it just make sense NOT to compete AGAINST the team that always draws?  I think there is crossover between the two markets (SLU and Blues).

My mom just thinks that the SLU AD is just unaware of anything else going on in town at times. 

just some $.02

 

It should be so simple!

[JMM28]

We've finally found the drawback of not playing at Savvis! No possible way of overlapping with the Blues when playing there.

The A10 sets the conference schedule with some input from SLU. Overall there isn't much choice as they play usually on the same days of the week throughout the season for travel purposes. With the tons of factors in scheduling those games, NHL schedule would be probably 40-50th on the list, if it got that far.

Noncon SLU has a bit more control over, but it also takes two to tango. Is it better to have an overlapping Blues game vs a better opponent or settle for a worse opponent or road game?

But it does seem the athletic department has a knack for scheduling "events" during times of other large events in town. 

[Old guy]

I think the answer is more complex than that. For example when we played at Savis, we could not (of course) be scheduled to play the same night the Blues do, but the Chaifetz is an independent facility with no relation to the Savis. As far as I know the scheduling of a game requires negotiation between the two teams playing, one team has to travel away from home, the other hosts. There are a lot of moving pieces that need to be fitted in place in order to fix the schedule. Finally, the Chaifetz does serve as a place for public and private events with various groups and venues from music groups to the occasional circus. These events are extra money coming in and it taken into consideration and booked well in advance to avoid conflicts. There are also women's basketball games and other private functions held in the Chaifetz. I doubt they lose sleep worrying about the Blues schedule when they set dates for games and events. The two facilities ( Savis and Chaifetz) book independently of one another.

[cgeldmacher]

On ‎11‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 3:19 PM, Slu let the dogs out? said:

The Cardinals had over 130 different line ups this past year and only missed the wild card by 1 spot. You see, 3-5 years means 3 to 5 years. So, over the next 3-5 years, they will need to find: a CF, a LF, at least 2-3 SPs, a 1B and a closer. And if Wong continues his current trend, a 2B.  That is almost half of their starting line up and at least 40% of their starting pitching.  Pray tell, in what universe would this not be considered to be a rebuild? What is missing from that quote, is where I say the Cardinals will be bottom dwellers during this time. Also missing...where I say this will occur in 1 off season. 

What you are describing above has occurred with the Cardinals every 3-5 years during the run of the past 15 years.  They have always retooled in that fashion to stay in contention.  Doesn't mean they will again, but don't call that rebuilding.  Rebuilding is doing what the Astros did a few years ago.  Retooling is what clubs that are already in contention do to stay in contention.  Look at any of the Cardinal teams from 2000 to 2016 and you will see that sort of turnover 3-5 years later.

[cgeldmacher]

Also, I totally disagree with the idea that St. Louis not having a football team won't affect SLU attendance or general support in the community.  One of my business partners had Rams season tickets the entire time that the Rams were here.  He also has gone to every Mizzou-Illini bragging rights game for like the past 20 years.  He has no connection with SLU other than living in St. Louis.  He went out of state for undergrad and to Mizzou for graduate school.  Obviously, his Rams tickets are done and that money is sitting in his pocket.  He's also down on the Mizzou-Illinois game.  How could you not be.

He has approached me about possibly getting season tickets to the Billikens next season.  He's heard the hype Ford has created.  For what he paid for two Rams tickets, he could probably buy six or eight Billiken season tickets.  There are currently a lot of St. Louisans in the same boat as him.  They're not going to spend that extra money on a loser (had too much of that with the Rams).  If SLU starts to win, those folks are going to start buying tickets at SLU.  They have extra money and extra time now that the Rams are gone.

[hsmith19]

Nobody said it will not have any effect. I do think the effect tends to get overstated among the diehards who post here.

[Tilkowsky]

22 hours ago, cgeldmacher said:

Also, I totally disagree with the idea that St. Louis not having a football team won't affect SLU attendance or general support in the community.  One of my business partners had Rams season tickets the entire time that the Rams were here.  He also has gone to every Mizzou-Illini bragging rights game for like the past 20 years.  He has no connection with SLU other than living in St. Louis.  He went out of state for undergrad and to Mizzou for graduate school.  Obviously, his Rams tickets are done and that money is sitting in his pocket.  He's also down on the Mizzou-Illinois game.  How could you not be.

He has approached me about possibly getting season tickets to the Billikens next season.  He's heard the hype Ford has created.  For what he paid for two Rams tickets, he could probably buy six or eight Billiken season tickets.  There are currently a lot of St. Louisans in the same boat as him.  They're not going to spend that extra money on a loser (had too much of that with the Rams).  If SLU starts to win, those folks are going to start buying tickets at SLU.  They have extra money and extra time now that the Rams are gone.

Problem is there are other things to spend their money on like the Blues.

Not all of the people are interested in college basketball.

I have a couple of relatives who had Rams season tickets and they wouldn't even consider buying tickets to one Billikens game much less season tickets.

The NFL is a different animal than Billikens basketball. Much broader appeal for the NFL.

Not only that but because Chaifetz is so small you really can't accommodate that many ex Rams fans correct?

[billikenfan05]

28 minutes ago, Tilkowsky said:

Problem is there are other things to spend their money on like the Blues.

Not all of the people are interested in college basketball.

I have a couple of relatives who had Rams season tickets and they wouldn't even consider buying tickets to one Billikens game much less season tickets.

The NFL is a different animal than Billikens basketball. Much broader appeal for the NFL.

Not only that but because Chaifetz is so small you really can't accommodate that many ex Rams fans correct?

I just really enjoy your generalities and your anecdotal evidence. 

I would say most people interested in Rams football would identify more with the sport of Basketball than Hockey. 

 

[Tilkowsky]

11 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

I just really enjoy your generalities and your anecdotal evidence. 

I would say most people interested in Rams football would identify more with the sport of Basketball than Hockey. 

 

The Blues are in the NHL a professional league. The Billikens are a mid- major.

look at how many more Blues stories guys like Hochman and Ortiz write than Billikens stories.

Look at how many Blues questions are in their chats versus Billikens questions.

How many times did Bernie write about the Billikens? Or Strauss? Or Burwell?

How many Billikens games did Hochman go to last year? Or how many did Bernie go to?

Not very often.

 

 

[billikenfan05]

19 minutes ago, Tilkowsky said:

The Blues are in the NHL a professional league. The Billikens are a mid- major.

look at how many more Blues stories guys like Hochman and Ortiz write than Billikens stories.

Look at how many Blues questions are in their chats versus Billikens questions.

How many times did Bernie write about the Billikens? Or Strauss? Or Burwell?

How many Billikens games did Hochman go to last year? Or how many did Bernie go to?

Not very often.

 

 

We're talking about fans. Please try to stay with the conversation.

[hsmith19]

1 hour ago, hsmith19 said:

Nobody said it will not have any effect.

Correction: Tilkowski said it will have no effect, which is almost the same thing.

[Bobby Metzinger]

2 hours ago, hsmith19 said:

Correction: Tilkowski said it will have no effect, which is almost the same thing.

+100

[Tilkowsky]

2 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

We're talking about fans. Please try to stay with the conversation.

Agreed. But don't columnist's write about what they think people want to read?

[Box and Won]

32 minutes ago, Tilkowsky said:

Agreed. But don't columnist's write about what they think people want to read?

Ortiz doesn't.

[kshoe]

20 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

Ortiz doesn't.

We are due for a column on moves the Astros should make this offseason.

[Tilkowsky]

3 hours ago, Box and Won said:

Ortiz doesn't.

Well played. 

[brianstl]

6 hours ago, Box and Won said:

Ortiz doesn't.

But his wife is a big football fan.