troy on 590 the fan

[billikenfan05]

7 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

i agree he has authority up to a point.  but 05 wants to blame everything on may.   and i say the big decisions that are true difference makers are beyond his authority and he has to get approval from above.   sure if he can justify the likes of the champion center by finding the whales to pay for it, they would go along with it, but if he just says i want to build it, the higher ups will stop him.   same with changing complete focus on day to day operations.   no quicker way to get fired than to take that on himself.   

May signs off on quite literally EVERYTHING substantial in that athletics department. If he wants to prioritize a plan, it gets priority. He prioritized staff working towards the opening of the champions center over the basketball preseason. 
 

He gets the blame and that’s why he gets paid what he gets paid. Same with CEOs, they don’t necessarily have “work load” commensurate with their salary but they get paid what they do because everything falls to them ultimately. 

[3star_recruit]

We'll be playing this game of blame of the Athletic Director/President until we go to the grave.  Because at the end of the day old money runs St. Louis.  And I don't see that changing anytime soon the whales don't want it to change. 

They like things the way they are.  They like having a spokesperson who takes all the slings and arrows intended for them.  When May's time is over they'll just replace him with another one.

[billiken_roy]

5 minutes ago, Pistol said:

The more funding he needs from the university, the longer it's going to take and the more hoops he's going to have to jump through. That's how it works at any school in the country. I don't think it makes the trustees enemies of the AD.

i agree.   and that is what i am trying to say.   to place total blame on the entire athletic department as 05 ALWAYS does is flat out wrong.  the big things that really matter are done at the top.  sure he has input, and you can bet if fund raising had flopped on the champion center, it would not have been built.   if it had been built and somehow that fund raising wasnt what was promised by May, he would have been in trouble rightfully so because he assured the BoT it would be raised.  thus THEIR decision to build it based on his input.

[billiken_roy]

Just now, 3star_recruit said:

We'll be playing this game of blame of the Athletic Director/President until we go to the grave.  Because at the end of the day old money runs St. Louis.  And I don't see that changing anytime soon the whales don't want it to change. 

They like things the way they are.  They like having a spokesperson who takes all the slings and arrows intended for them.  When May's time is over they'll just replace him with another one.

im not blaming the president.   he isnt impressive from my seat.   

[OkieBilliken]

I have no love for the NCAA.   They should eliminate the portal immediately so that transfers can’t have their own bidding wars.   But understand that it’s our idiot congresspeople of both parties that ushered in this chaos to severely damage college sports and then gave themselves all pats on the back for helping kids.  Nothing helps a kid more than playing a conference road game 3 time zones away.   The NCAA still doesn’t know how to respond.   We literally have a 2nd string freshmen QB making 8 figures.   I think things might have to get way worse before they get better.  

[Pistol]

Just now, billiken_roy said:

i agree.   and that is what i am trying to say.   to place total blame on the entire athletic department as 05 ALWAYS does is flat out wrong.  the big things that really matter are done at the top.  sure he has input, and you can bet if fund raising had flopped on the champion center, it would not have been built.   if it had been built and somehow that fund raising wasnt what was promised by May, he would have been in trouble rightfully so because he assured the BoT it would be raised.  thus THEIR decision to build it based on his input.

Of course it wouldn't have been built. If you're running a university, something like the Champions Center is squarely in the "bonus amenity" column and nowhere near the "essential" column. They are more worried about things like student housing and new medical school buildings. When fundraising for a non-essential item flops, it doesn't get built. That's life, not an indictment of the people at the top of the university.

[willie]

1 minute ago, Pistol said:

Of course it wouldn't have been built. If you're running a university, something like the Champions Center is squarely in the "bonus amenity" column and nowhere near the "essential" column. They are more worried about things like student housing and new medical school buildings. When fundraising for a non-essential item flops, it doesn't get built. That's life, not an indictment of the people at the top of the university.

Just so the Political Science Department gets they money they need. 

[Pistol]

1 minute ago, willie said:

Just so the Political Science Department gets they money they need. 

When @SluSignGuy says they need a new building, the BoT silently slides a blank check across the table before asking what block of Midtown needs to be cleared for him.

[DOC]

6 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

This is a well written post and argument. I don’t know if it has CMV or the off-season has. 

That post was filled with so many inaccuracies it was laughable. You haters sure stick together. 

[billikenfan05]

4 minutes ago, DOC said:

That post was filled with so many inaccuracies it was laughable. You haters sure stick together. 

Nothing more inaccurate than calling me a hater of Ford. Funny. 

[Brighton]

42 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

We'll be playing this game of blame of the Athletic Director/President until we go to the grave.  Because at the end of the day old money runs St. Louis.  And I don't see that changing anytime soon the whales don't want it to change. 

They like things the way they are.  They like having a spokesperson who takes all the slings and arrows intended for them.  When May's time is over they'll just replace him with another one.

Well, it doesn’t run St. Charles County, and as I’ve said multiple times, they’re making their presence known on pretty much ever sports radio station in the area while SLU is twiddling their thumbs. They’re comin’.

[brianstl]

My whole problem with May (you can add in Pestello, Conran, the whole BOT) is what is the vision for not just the basketball program, but the athletic department as whole? I don't know.  What is being done to sell that vision to the students, alumni, donors, fans and the general public to build interest in SLU athletics?  How will accomplishing this vision result in raising the national profile of Saint Louis University, assist the school in attracting top quality students in a country where the number of students attending college is rapidly decreasing and increase donations to the university proper (which at the end of the day those three are the most important things)?  What is the athletic department's long term plan to accomplish their vision in an environment that is totally different than three years ago?

We just seem to be constantly floating out there with no real vision only to be interrupted by an occasional big project and throwing a lot of money at a coach.  

People on here laugh at Lindenwood and their constant commercials have become torture, but you see the plan.  They are making sure everyone knows they have a D1 football program.  They are using that raise the profile of the university and attract students.  They are more than happy to burn money on the football program right now to accomplish those goals.

[DOC]

54 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

Nothing more inaccurate than calling me a hater of Ford. Funny. 

I didn't call you a hater of Ford. You and torch are on a negative SLU bender that only a true hater can appreciate.   

[billikenfan05]

39 minutes ago, DOC said:

I didn't call you a hater of Ford. You and torch are on a negative SLU bender that only a true hater can appreciate.   

We may have a 6’4 wing playing center to start the year(at least) because of institutional incompetence. I can’t imagine why anyone could be negative.

Honestly if Bruce and Ezewiro were confirmed eligible, I’d be actually interested to see where this season goes with a group playing as a team. But, no please tell me more about me. You seem to think you know a lot about me.

[Lord Elrond]

24 minutes ago, DOC said:

I didn't call you a hater of Ford. You and torch are on a negative SLU bender that only a true hater can appreciate.   

Are they haters, or Billiken fans who care so much about what happens that they are willing to give their honest opinions about what they think are problems that are keeping the Billikens from getting better?  I’m not saying their opinions are always right, but if they were true Billiken haters, they simply wouldn’t bother to ever post anything on here.

[SluSignGuy]

2 hours ago, Pistol said:

When @SluSignGuy says they need a new building, the BoT silently slides a blank check across the table before asking what block of Midtown needs to be cleared for him.

Ironically, I am probably the only one in my Department who does not want to move to a new building.  It is currently 10 minutes by foot from my front door to my office.

[thetorch]

10 hours ago, willie said:

Your original statement was that the next step down in donors don't want Ford. 

The next step down in donors is 1mil-30mil in personal wealth. No one on this board has that save Steve for a few days after he holds the Billikens.com before he jets off for vegas and bets it all on SLU making the final four.

[thetorch]

9 hours ago, Pistol said:

The athletic department was mostly ignored by Biondi during his entire tenure as president. He wouldn't have acted on Soderberg without pressure and financial commitments from donors. Soderberg had a small buyout, nowhere near what would be required to buy Ford out.

I watched the athletic department run like a D-III department for four years and Biondi didn't even seem aware, let alone interested in making moves. Biondi being president today would make no difference. They do what the donors want.

Biondi didn't want to open the new arena and end his tenure with a coach like Soderberg. He went end around on everyone. He had zero backing on firing Soderberg and didn't ask for any. This comes straight from one of the biggest donors to the university.

[Brighton]

14 hours ago, brianstl said:

 

People on here laugh at Lindenwood and their constant commercials have become torture, but you see the plan.  They are making sure everyone knows they have a D1 football program.  They are using that raise the profile of the university and attract students.  They are more than happy to burn money on the football program right now to accomplish those goals.

And D1 hockey. A hockey program that took a top 25 Ohio State team to OT and came away with a tie this previous weekend.

[wgstl]

Found this quote Interesting,  came across my Twitter feed from mizzous coach.

 

Dennis Gates: "This is the best class to recruit high school kids for the future of your program because the portal isn't going to look the same."

Interesting insight from Gates on future portal strategy, with one-time transfer rules incoming and many players having used that.

[Pistol]

13 hours ago, thetorch said:

Biondi didn't want to open the new arena and end his tenure with a coach like Soderberg. He went end around on everyone. He had zero backing on firing Soderberg and didn't ask for any. This comes straight from one of the biggest donors to the university.

Let's take this at face value and assume it's true. Biondi became president in 1987 and fired Soderberg in 2007. Your comment about him makes him sound like this tough guy who didn't tolerate underperformance but it took him 20 years to do something like going over the head of the AD to make a move. And if he only did it because he didn't want to open the new building with a mediocre coach, that wouldn't be a factor with Ford.

[TheChosenOne]

39 minutes ago, wgstl said:

Found this quote Interesting,  came across my Twitter feed from mizzous coach.

Dennis Gates: "This is the best class to recruit high school kids for the future of your program because the portal isn't going to look the same."

Interesting insight from Gates on future portal strategy, with one-time transfer rules incoming and many players having used that.

I saw a quote on another fan message board that Calipari talked about supporting a return to the five years to play four seasons rule that was in place prior to COVID saying something about 28 year olds playing 18 year olds which I found amusing. I have been quite surprised to see the age of some of the guys playing on Saturdays this fall and was this past March Madness as well. It certainly would seem like this will have to normalize with the COVID year filtering out and the enforcement of the one time transfer.

[brianstl]

19 minutes ago, Pistol said:

Let's take this at face value and assume it's true. Biondi became president in 1987 and fired Soderberg in 2007. Your comment about him makes him sound like this tough guy who didn't tolerate underperformance but it took him 20 years to do something like going over the head of the AD to make a move. And if he only did it because he didn't want to open the new building with a mediocre coach, that wouldn't be a factor with Ford.

One thing I know for sure is that Novelly was never a fan of hiring Brad.  He wanted and offered to pay a large portion of what it would have cost to hire Bobby Knight at the time instead.  He, also, paid a big portion of Rick's salary.  So Biondi wouldn't have had to hide what he was doing from Novelly.  Novelly would have been all for getting rid of Brad.

[Pistol]

7 minutes ago, brianstl said:

One thing I know for sure is that Novelly was never a fan of hiring Brad.  He wanted and offered to pay a large portion of what it would have cost to hire Bobby Knight at the time instead.  He, also, paid a big portion of Rick's salary.  So Biondi wouldn't have had to hide what he was doing from Novelly.  Novelly would have been all for getting rid of Brad.

Yikes.

[AGB91]

Biondi vs. Knight would have been really entertaining.