Popular Post billiken_roy Posted March 11, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted March 11, 2018 http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-travis-ford-worked-wizardry-on-billikens/article_978ca21c-45b2-5809-890d-615f051a7eb0.html the above column by post dispatch columnist Benjamin Hochman might be the most positive billiken words we have read in the post since Rickma's teams graduated. a fantastic read giving us hope for the future and featuring all the good that our coach, travis ford, gives the program. first, i will remind all, i was one of the biggest naysayers of the ford hire. convinced he was a forever underachiever that would get by wherever he was coaching with great recruiting only. well coach ford continues to be a great recruiter. in my eyes he is the greatest recruiter ever to set foot on the saint louis university campus as a billiken coach. but he has shown he is definitely a better floor coach then i ever expected, and even more importantly he is the greatest motivator of young men since general patton. what he did with our magnificent seven the last few weeks was incredible. now that all said, the biggest takeaway from this column comes in the last 4-5 paragraphs when coach ford gushes about javon bess. javon bess is a warrior beyond what everyone expected. if we are to pick out just one player that demonstrated what the season was about, javon bess is the man. yes we are going to have more talent next year than we maybe have ever had on a roster, but the real reason for whatever heights we will reach next year will be javon bess. next year will be another step up. and it will be javon bess that is guiding the train down the tracks. i typically do not like to make predictions prior to seeing all the moving parts (call it the ricky cranford hesitantcy) but i will go on record saying we are the A10 champions to be next year. all that talent, two extremely big and strong and talented bigs in french and gordon along with the most rounded point guard that may be headed to the soon to be discussed "greatest billiken ever" in jordan goodwin with other highly touted freshmen, thatch, pearson and jacobs, joining johnson, foreman, santos and most important, leader by attitude, effort and ability javon bess. this team will have too much not to succeed (assuming the bot, pesty, krafty and stormy stay away) add ford's supreme ability to motivate and next year will be supreme fun and the reason to be part of a very proud billiken fandom next year. it is a great time to be a billiken even despite the efforts of the bot, pesty, krafty and stormy. they tried their best to send our world to hell and due to coach ford and the magnificient seven we were able to hold off what seemed like the inevitable complete disaster. yes i am still furious that they cost us a better season than most expected, but now it will be time for javon best to take his team to the levels that only coach ford envisioned before now. and who knows, with a great season on the horizon, maybe the illinois gatorade player of the year decides he wants to stay home and be a part of this upcoming monster billiken program. add another talented point guard to help goodwin and even after next year the program will get even better. oh the good days are coming. the trainwreck is behind us. yes indeed. it is time for everyone to start riding on the team blue train. dennis_w, RiseAndGrind, FromDaEastSide and 10 others like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majerus mojo Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 what a pleasant surprise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Roy, I'm glad to see you have your Billiken smile back on. I was worried about you a few days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon-Balls Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 If anything the past two seasons might have likely been the two most challenging seasons of Ford's career. He's worked his rear end off to prepare his team to compete every single game, despite having a roster handed to him by Crews last year and a roster gutted by Fred/Weathers this year. What a truly inspiring and uplifting coach we have here in Travis Ford. I truly believe that the past two seasons have vastly improved his floor coaching prowess, and when we have a full roster next year laden with talent, he's going to take us places we've been dreaming about returning to for 4 years now. Can't wait until next season! Schasz likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 13 minutes ago, bauman said: Roy, I'm glad to see you have your Billiken smile back on. I was worried about you a few days ago. I just tell it like I see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old guy Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Fully agree with what you say Roy and look forward to next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 I also have to admit a surprise when I opened the St. Louis P-D on line and read Hochman's very good article on CTF and the Bills. I am also extremely psyched up by the roster Coach Ford has recruited and I think we may see one or two more additions to that roster with one being a PG. With the graduation turnover of the top teams in the A-10 we should be in good position to make a run at winning the league and getting back to the Big Dance. The thing I like about Coach Ford is he doesn't automatically shy away from kids that the P-5 teams also target. That alone should give us some hope in the recruiting of EJ Liddell. After the disaster that was this year by the SLU Administration there is still hope and promise for Billiken fans. Heck from my FL home I can see a road trip to Chaifetz next year in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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