slu92 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 “Your win loss record comes into play and when you’re playing games. We’re looking at non conference and how to do better….you have to keep selling your strengths, and it’s not easy when your team is struggling from a wins perspective.” 2-3k more fans were expected for VCU game until bad weather? Maybe they meant 2-300???? $7.6 million spent on mbb in 21-22 academic year, most ever. SMH. Blame only having 4 weekend home conference games after having 7 last season? Ok. To sum all this up with a big beautiful blue bow….when the team sucks, nobody cares or wants to spend time or money attending games regardless if it’s on a weekend or week night. The excuses and misuse of funds going into this program are so apparent. Anybody that believes this nonsense should give May a hug next time you see him and tell him he’s great at his job. Keep up the good work! Profoundly stupid. I had no idea win/loses matter when it comes to attendance? Riveting. Look up the game on 1/31/13 it was on a Thursday. Maybe if it was on a weekend date slu would’ve had a better crowd? Hmmmmm…..again this guy has every excuse in the book and it’s a sin if he’s not fired with Ford. Fired for just being a moron is justifiable enough. Biggest wiener in town right now. TaLBErt likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soderball Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 14 minutes ago, slu92 said: “Your win loss record comes into play and when you’re playing games. We’re looking at non conference and how to do better….you have to keep selling your strengths, and it’s not easy when your team is struggling from a wins perspective.” 2-3k more fans were expected for VCU game until bad weather? Maybe they meant 2-300???? $7.6 million spent on mbb in 21-22 academic year, most ever. SMH. Blame only having 4 weekend home conference games after having 7 last season? Ok. To sum all this up with a big beautiful blue bow….when the team sucks, nobody cares or wants to spend time or money attending games regardless if it’s on a weekend or week night. The excuses and misuse of funds going into this program are so apparent. Anybody that believes this nonsense should give May a hug next time you see him and tell him he’s great at his job. Keep up the good work! Profoundly stupid. I had no idea win/loses matter when it comes to attendance? Riveting. Look up the game on 1/31/13 it was on a Thursday. Maybe if it was on a weekend date slu would’ve had a better crowd? Hmmmmm…..again this guy has every excuse in the book and it’s a sin if he’s not fired with Ford. Fired for just being a moron is justifiable enough. Biggest wiener in town right now. Slu let the dogs out?, slu92 and longtimelistenerfirsttimec like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu92 Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Anyone that doesn’t want to come off stupid or a huge ***** cat would say something like “I don’t like watching basketball this bad, so I get it and I’m paid to be at the games. It’s not acceptable and we are going to do our best to get it fixed.” Not this guy. Again, ALL AD speak and excuses. I still can’t believe another big football school hasn’t swooped him up away from slu after all these years. We are so lucky to have such a fearless leader at slu. Guy is afraid of his own shadow. Good work Fred! 2010andBeyond likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu92 Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 “As long as I’m AD at SLU, Travis Ford will be coaching here for a long time.” That’s actually very true because that same moron gave away one of the dumbest coaching contracts in NCAA mbb history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lando Griffin Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 There was another post article which talked about Ford’s 6 year track record at Okie St and it was basically how the attendance tanked, during his time here. Basically follows the narrative going on at SLU. SLU needs butts in seats big time. I don’t know how many nails in the coffins Ford needs but this has to be about nail 1000 doesn’t it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenfan05 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Can someone legit copy and paste that stupid paywall article.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StLouBlue Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 SLU attendance has decreased amid team’s struggles on court Stu Durando 14 hrs ago 3 St. Louis University’s game against Virginia Commonwealth the desired look for the “Billiken blizzard” that was part of the night’s promotion. Most of those shirts were not worn by fans but rather draped and awaiting takers who never arrived for the men’s basketball game on Feb. 16. They were left unclaimed just as nearly half of seats have been this season. SLU is averaging 5,609 fans per game, the third-lowest total in arena history and a 16% drop from last season. The basketball program is operating with increasing expenses, but attendance has decreased, coinciding with the team’s worst Atlantic 10 Conference showing since the 2014-15 season. The Billikens are 3-11 in league play, tied for last place. The are 10-17 overall and have lost nine of their past 11 games. “A lot goes into that,” SLU athletics director Chris May said. “Your won-loss record comes into play and when you’re playing games. We’re looking at nonconference scheduling and how to do that better. ... You just have to keep selling your strengths, and it’s not easy when your team is struggling from a wins perspective.” SLU has employed a variety of ticket promotions, including a two-for-one offer for the VCU game. However, attendance still fell nearly 4,000 short of last season’s “Billiken blizzard” crowd of 9,230. May said 2,000 to 3,000 more fans were projected before snow hit the area the same day. The only other seasons in which attendance has been lower at Chaifetz were 2020-21, at 5,517, and 2016-17, at 5,593. The downward trend comes as the university is spending more on men’s basketball and a record amount on coach Travis Ford’s salary, which is believed to be more than $2.4 million. A look at the data SLU submitted to the U.S. Department of Education for the 2021-22 academic year shows that $7.6 million was spent on men’s basketball, more than any previous year. That followed the 2020-21 season, when COVID kept fans from attending. SLU spent $5.5 million on men’s basketball in Ford’s first season, eight years ago. That figure has increased more than $2 million. Recruiting expenses have doubled for all sports at SLU since the Billikens’ 2013 NCAA Tournament appearance. “Our revenues are tickets, donations and sponsorships,” May said. “It’s significant, and we’re obviously not where we want to be. Season tickets were solid again. In our world, it’s individual game tickets that are the variable. We’ve got a big game with Dayton coming up (on March 5), so that should be a big night.” On the positive side, a crowd of 7,239 showed up Saturday for a game against George Washington despite the team’s recent slide. And three other announced crowds on par with last season have come in January and February. Ford acknowledged the impact of the fans in SLU’s win Saturday. “What a great crowd with the noise,” Ford said after that game. “Our guys were even talking about it late in timeouts: ‘Feed off the crowd.’ It was getting loud, and you could feel it.” Still, attendance for conference games is down 10%. May said it didn’t help that the Billikens were given four weekend home conference games after playing seven last season. That made for a challenge after a lackluster home schedule in nonconference play produced four crowds smaller than 5,000. Historically, it is part of a trend that has seen attendance decline. SLU averaged 8,428 in the last of its three straight seasons in the NCAA Tournament, 2013-14. Chaifetz Arena has not come close to that figure since — 10 years with one tournament appearance. Once upon a time, SLU was one of the top draws in the country. The Billikens averaged 17,714 fans in their first season at the then-named Kiel Center (now Enterprise Center). Crowds slowly decreased after that peak. However, more than 10,000 attended for eight straight seasons, taking the program into a new century with vast support while playing in a facility that seats more than 20,000. Chaifetz, with its capacity of 10,600, moved games on campus and figured to create more demand. But in the first year, attendance fell to 7,627, which was a drop of 1,200 over the last year downtown. During the NCAA Tournament seasons from 2012 to ’14, averages ranged from 7,673 to 8,428. SLU spent $5.5 million on men’s basketball in Ford’s first season eight years ago. That figure has increased more than $2 million. Apologies if I wasn't supposed to do this. thatskablamo likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Elrond Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Your punishment for fiddling with the paywall is 5 minutes of feeling shame in the penalty box and 1000 lashes with a wet noodle. drkelsey55 likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 When I read this article, I had one takeaway: Ford is gone. I already thought Ford was gone, but this strengthened it. Even if it was covered up a bit with some spin, Chris May isn’t being quoted acknowledging that our record is terrible, or talking about lower attendance if he’s preparing to keep Ford around. This is about setting himself up to say that SLU had no choice. drkelsey55, Pistol, slu92 and 1 other like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soderball Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 6 hours ago, DeSmetBilliken said: When I read this article, I had one takeaway: Ford is gone. I already thought Ford was gone, but this strengthened it. Even if it was covered up a bit with some spin, Chris May isn’t being quoted acknowledging that our record is terrible, or talking about lower attendance if he’s preparing to keep Ford around. This is about setting himself up to say that SLU had no choice. Sure hope you're right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Ford is gone. Everyone knows it including him. Why do you think he never has a plan? He doesn't need a plan to turn it around here because he won't be here next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010andBeyond Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 5 hours ago, slufan13 said: Ford is gone. Everyone knows it including him. Why do you think he never has a plan? He doesn't need a plan to turn it around here because he won't be here next year They also appear to have essentially stopped recruiting. BLIKNS and gabriel like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Elrond Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 44 minutes ago, 2010andBeyond said: They also appear to have essentially stopped recruiting. Yeah, been wondering how the no recruiting is part of the plan to climb back up in the rankings… 2010andBeyond likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheA_Bomb Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 51 minutes ago, 2010andBeyond said: They also appear to have essentially stopped recruiting. Good point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 its my opinion with the crazy portal and the NiL scenario, recruiting high schoolers will only break your heart. if they dont live up to the potential that coach saw, they will fail and if they do, the players transfer to bigger and better. might as well get on the portal and NiL train as well rather than recruit as we have forever. those days appear to be over if you ask me. Soderball likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speyburn Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 That's what women's basketball did, all three of the new players came via the transfer portal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soderball Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 29 minutes ago, billiken_roy said: its my opinion with the crazy portal and the NiL scenario, recruiting high schoolers will only break your heart. if they dont live up to the potential that coach saw, they will fail and if they do, the players transfer to bigger and better. might as well get on the portal and NiL train as well rather than recruit as we have forever. those days appear to be over if you ask me. recruiting frosh is a waste of time IMO. There's also not as much out there in the Juco circles as there used to be, but there may be some D2/Juco guys that might warrant a look/interest. Foreign guys still require some connections and finding guys who can play, but the guys we have now do not look good and the last foreign player we got that i liked was Linssen Portal is the future of recruiting. longtimelistenerfirsttimec likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 39 minutes ago, billiken_roy said: its my opinion with the crazy portal and the NiL scenario, recruiting high schoolers will only break your heart. if they dont live up to the potential that coach saw, they will fail and if they do, the players transfer to bigger and better. might as well get on the portal and NiL train as well rather than recruit as we have forever. those days appear to be over if you ask me. Unfortunately I couldn't agree more. There are maybe 10 freshmen in the Atlantic 10 that are significant contributors to their teams. Maybe one or two have turned out to be difference makers. The Top 4 teams in the league rely primarily on transfers and hold overs. Having one or two freshmen is fine.....someone needs to ride the bench. But if you get the portal wrong, your chances of success are minimized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu92 Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 21 hours ago, DeSmetBilliken said: When I read this article, I had one takeaway: Ford is gone. I already thought Ford was gone, but this strengthened it. Even if it was covered up a bit with some spin, Chris May isn’t being quoted acknowledging that our record is terrible, or talking about lower attendance if he’s preparing to keep Ford around. This is about setting himself up to say that SLU had no choice. I agree and my issue is May won’t fire himself. He tied his wagon to Ford when he doubled down last year hyping up 20 win seasons, Ford will be coach as long as he’s the AD, etc, etc….he needs and should be held accountable. Guy is a wiener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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