tseugnekillib Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 imo, public attendance at SLU's mens bball practice is a gift from the headcoach and is not a fan's right. The West Pine gym is Coach Soderberg's office, his research lab, his workshop, his doghouse, his medical wing and his family room. We are there as his guest. Comment 24 x 7 about Billiken games at the Savvis and on the road, but abide by the head coach's guidelines regarding open practices. Hopefully, an irregular visitor to West Pine won't make an inappropriate post and "screw" (being polite) things up for those very few people who have the opportunity to attend practice on a very regular basis. (Also, keep in mind that our coach may have had an unpleasant experience with some posters during his tenure at Wisconsin and doesn't want that same problem at SLU. Just guessing.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Open practice is a difficult situation. Rather than ***** foot aroung, just come out and tell any of us what he/she may have done wrong. In years past, I've watched practices at Illinois, Northwestern, PURDUE, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Bradley, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Indiana State, and quite a few smaller programs. I have been in scrimages at Illinois, Bradley, and SLU. I have seen zip posted on this board that would hurt the program, or a player, with an ounce of perspective. The press has a very distinct club of coaches they term paranoid, yet Keady, Knight, Henson, and others all knew they served at the whim of the AD, which was substantially funded by boosters. They were able to satisfy the boosters by winning and making nice with boosters. Eliminate the support of the vocal boosters - watch the door. If you want unpleasant posters, go see the civil wars ongoing at www.hawkeyenation.com or www.tigerboard.com. You will soon realize that Brad gets a total free pass here in St. Louis... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 whatever "negative" remarks are made here are very pale compared to the typical active message board. i read quite a few of them, and for one as active as ours or more, ours is a damn glee club. now a lot of that is the fact that we are hardcore fans. we'd be here and at every game we could be at regardless of the billiken record. but let's say that the billikens explode and get to the top 25 on a regular basis, any bets on how fast this board grows with it? new self proclaimed fans will be coming from everywhere. and with that, since they arent really the hardcore fans just bandwagon jumpers, will come more biting commentary and observations than we can imagine. now is that all bad? depends what we (the billikens program)wants. if you want to start filling the house and bringing in more dollars, imo you take that and in fact fan the flames and create as much day to day interest as you can. if everyone wants to continue to be "comfortable shoes" sure, go ahead and surpress it. but in the same sense, dont expect the time at the top to continue. if the billikens ever want to be a consistent top 25 program, they need to be taken forgranted as a winner. top programs win kids in recruiting battles just because of who they are. and that comes from the press, the internet, everyone talking about their team. as to the practice thing, my job doesnt let me get their every day anyway, so how coach soderberg handles his practice doesnt really concern me. however, i tend to agree for the time and place of that practice, it is his home and everyone better abide by his wishes. that said, if he does close it up, then the program owes it to the fans to showcase the team a time or two before the exhibition season starts. midnight madness would be nice. a lot of schools schedule an open scrimmage/introduction at some point during the opening few weeks of practice. but my gosh, i just dont see covert all the time and what it accomplishes. is the point to really take umsl and truman state by surprise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 I agree with Sheltie ... (even though he owes Box and I for the golf letdown. Bitburger at his next getogether will go a long way in mending fences;) ) Very little if anything is said on this board that would be a revalation to any opponent. I would think as long as we keep specifics out of it ie ... plays, schemes, and defenses. There should not be a problem. I think the bigger issue to Brad is probably someone getting to rough about a players performance or attitude, or maybe someone relaying a scolding a player got. General observances ... such as Polk looked incredibly quick today and seemed to be able to get to the hole and finish at will should be ok. There is not a coach that we play that doesn't already know that. Injuries are another thing that we should be careful about. What if Reg hurt his hand the day before a game and DC was going to play major minutes at the 2. That is something an opponent doesn't need to know until the game is underway. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Also ... I don't think UB gets a free pass. I think he has earned the respect of the fans. We trust in his decisions, so we generally go along with his thought process ... even if we think differently. We recognize he knows more than all of us and has shown that he knows what he is doing. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 I agree, I don't think it's so much of play by play postings for other teams to view, i think he knows players visit the board, and he doesn't want it to affect their performance etc, also that he doesn't want to give opponents the upper hand, on knowing too much about what's going on at SLU. I think we've (no one person in particular) have exaggerated what he may have meant, right now it's all speculation as to why he doesn't want info on the site....i'm thinking either we live with it or he'll close practices....bottom line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Brehms, I agree - but for the three or four dedicated practice visitors who also talk with Brad - what the hxxx are we supposed to avoid? Like Roy, my schedule allows for few visits to practice. Knowing in advance what NOT to post would allow for very easy editing. Closing practices would be detrimental for the fans, FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 billiken_roy said, "i am a huge mel brooks fan. if he was indeed made pope, i would convert and become a catholic." billiken_roy and church? wow i never thought i would see the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 brehms13, please check you private messages. Perhaps some of us may have exaggerated what Coach Soderberg meant, but I think I've figured out exactly what he meant and why. Brad doesn't want the statistical results of an in-house scrimmage made public because it could provide future opponents with valuable information they would not be able to find anywhere else. No, the stats don't contain plays and schemes -- and those things don't typically change from year to year, anyway, so the opponents already know them or can get them from watching game tape -- but they do show who the offensive weapons are. By looking at the box scores, coaches can figure out where to focus their defenses. Now, obviously every school publishes the box scores of its games, but the difference between an in-house scrimmage and a game against an opponent is that the scrimmage magnifies everything by nearly doubling the minutes that the players play. Players who would come off the bench and be something of a secret weapon during the season have to start and play major minutes in a scrimmage. Brad doesn't want future opponents to be able to use that information to identify possible trends and focus their defense. But even if I'm off-base on Brad's reasoning, I'll just abide by his wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Dave, what we're supposed to avoid is publishing detailed, proprietary information that could give opponents an advantage or erase a Billiken advantage. We can post general observations, but we should not give details on and reasons for which players aren't participating in drills or scrimmages, and we should not publish the stats from scrimmages. I've violated both of those tenets in the past (before I knew better); consequently, it may be a long time before Brad trusts me. I agree that it would be helpful if Brad or someone in his department would establish the ground rules, but perhaps it's a sore topic for Brad. Some people just dislike the Internet, period; when Brad sees me, all he sees is "Internet." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 I had to figure out how to check my private messages........but I responded.... so u can check yours now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 But keep in mind.....I'm not only talking about Reg, I'm making that statement in defense of all the players..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Mel Brooks would be superfluous. We already have a Pope in St. Louis according to the Bernie Miklasz. Dwayne Pope ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 1, 2004 Share Posted November 1, 2004 since mel is about as jewish as they come, i dont think you have too much to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted November 1, 2004 Share Posted November 1, 2004 I note that the Fighting Illini scrimmage was played to a full house, with reporters in attendance. This type of coverage is repeated all over the country. While I am a great admirer of UB, I think he's nuts to worry about whatever tiny exposure the Bills are subjected to on the web due to fanactic fans like us. The first time I have a chance to ask him, at the Tip-Off Club or whatever, I hope he will take the opportunity to elaborate on his thinking. While he may have sound reasons, none appear to me at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 1, 2004 Share Posted November 1, 2004 Reports like this are somewhat disturbing. Assertions that game tactics or incidents involving players will leak is bordering on the absurd. And as far as the players feelings, hey these guys are major college athletes, they are on TV, radio, newspapers, etc. They are They are exposed to all kinds of media that could be extremely harsh to them, this board and others like it are no different. Players can easily avoid it, but if they choose not to it really is not our problem. We have to endure criticism in different facets of our lives, if any of these guys wants to go to a higer level, coaches or players they will have to get used to it. I am not advocating verbal abuse of anyone but I will not temper my speech in any way, good or bad towards any player or coach. If Brad sees this as a huge problem than he should not have open practices. Maybe have a once weekly or bi-weekly open viewing but have the others closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted November 1, 2004 Share Posted November 1, 2004 Specially scheduled open scrimmages and a regular practice are two different things. Regular Illini practices are closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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