Tip Off Meeting

[willie]

Since nobody else has done this I'll try to give a recap,but please remember when your as old as I am it's hard to remember your own name. Cheryl was our lead off speaker and gave us a dept update. She is starting to put together a 5 year plan for the dept. She will meet with every coach and they must identify who they will recruit and bring into their program. It was a system that Stanford used. As far as the arena they hope to have 2 major gifts in the near future. A major gift was described as being a least 7 figures. Currently there will not be a practice floor but she hopes that all athletic offices would be housed there.. She did stay that a practice facility would someday be built.{this was music to my ears} She is fighting for the offices. Sport medecine-weight rooms would be there. I think she said it would have 6 locker rooms along with the Billiken Roy urinal. She stated that it was not imposible that construction could begin this year. When asked about seating in the new building she said some kind of group would be formed to address past issues. Next was a womans coach who nobody cared about. Chris Sloan was next. He did a very good job of describing his Job. Travel-food- lodging- game tapes etc. When asked about Tommies qualifying, he said he has received a passing ACT score if he can increase his GPA. {he has acheived the minimum.} Bob Ramsey finished the night with his witty style. Bob thinks about as much of the refs as Wayne Hoffman. In spite of Billiken Roy he things Ian is doing well, and will be a star in the A10. He was very upbeat about our future. I'm tired of typing. Mark your calenders for April 15th the night of the basketball banquet.

[billiken_roy]

great report willie! i wanted to be there, but 8th grade girls basketball comes first. sounds like some very good info from cheryl. especially interested in seeing how the 5 year plan progresses. that sounds like they want to start having some success from all programs, not just men's basketball.

i would think that tommie will increase his gpa. will it be enough is the question?

bob ramsey's basketball knowledge credibility has yet to recover from when he declared marque perry's team "the worst in 20 years". so my comments on his appearance is that i would have rather had wayne do the time discussing his evaluation of this year's officials. that would have been good.

[NashvilleBilliken]

Roy, I think you should give Ramsey a second chance. I agree with you that what he said was stupid and obviously wrong, but I think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill. I listen every broadcast of the games and thinks he does a great job. I also think that his passion for billiken basketball is pretty obvious. He gets very emotional during the games and I sometimes get the feeling he is more of a fan than just an announcer...which is how it should be. But that also means that when the team plays bad, it hurts and it causes you to make comments that aren't necessarily true. Just look at this board. This is by far the most die hard bunch of Billikens out there. But over the past few months, the posts have been extremely negative. Then we win a game and all of a sudden DC or IV are our saviors. I know you like to hold grudges, but I think it's time to let this one go.

[billiken_roy]

oh i would never argue bob ramsey's passion. but if you listen to his unprepared and uninformed show in the afternoon, he knows no more about college basketball than most of us. in fact, if i was not in attendance at a game myself, i know that i would rather hear about why we won or lost from a fairly sizeable number of posters on this board than bob ramsey. it isnt just that statement, it is everything he says.

too often the talking heads in sports get labeled as geniuses or experts. the fact is most are casual fans and couldnt tell the difference between a pack man to man and a matchup zone without a lucky flip of the coin.

[NashvilleBilliken]

I can see what you're saying. I guess since my only insight into billiken ball is this board or ramsey, I can't say much on the subject. Man, I wish I was able to WATCH the games.

[jjray]

I never listen to Ramsey's afternoon radio show (gave it two shots and decided it wasn't worth the time) so I'm not effected by his efforts to appear neutral on the subject of Billikens hoops. The Rammer calls a good game though, like the tempo of his voice, descriptions he gives, passion for the action, disgust at the bad calls ... entertaining. I know others (aka Roy) wish for our announcer to be a program promoter. That would be nice but if the announcer is a stiff on the air then I don't care how much of a homer the dude is, I don't want to listed to the guy. We could do much worse than Bob Ramsey. Check out a Mizzou radio broadcast sometime. Very average.

[slu72]

I'll second that Nashville. Last year wasn't too bad on Comcast South Sports, they were on about 3 times...this year nada.

[billiken_roy]

again, i am not saying i dont like ramsey as a play by play guy. i just dont think his knowledge of sports and in particular, billiken basketball is anything that approaches expert level. if he was questioned last night on his opinion of players, etc, i am saying i dont hold his opinion on such in very high regard. for example, i bet he has never seen kevin lisch or tommie liddell play. yet in the context of what we are talking now, do you want to ask him what he thinks about how they will fit into our team next year?

now earl austin jr is another story. earl does his homework, goes and sees outside games, and studies what the subject matter at hand is before commenting. i.e. he is an "expert". see the difference?

but as to play by play, i love bob ramsey. in fact, imo, bob ramsey should be the voice of the cardinals, not vin scully like wayne hagen. he never fails to inject his enthusiasm of the event in front and around him when he is describing the action. one time i ran across the national lumberjack competition on espn tv, and bob ramsey was hosting. i watched the whole thing mainly because bob ramsey did such an outstanding job describing what was being seen that i felt i was there. now that is a play by play guy.

[volfan]

Make one of the two male assistants the coach and we will all start caring! Either one will turn the program into an instant winner and make us all jump on the band-wagon.

[Tonka]

I like Ramsey and may be the minority on this. I think he is a good play by play guy and desoite what people think, I know his passion for Billiken basketball is there. I know he has his plate full doing different things as well. As far as his credibility and his comment about the MP team. Well, I consider many on this board to be credible, but go check out the contest where people picked what they thought would be our record this year. If we based credibility on that, many of us would have no credibility.

[gister]

I also was there but just too lazy to write anything till now. There are a few things I can add to Willie's report. The five year plan will provide a tool with which to evaluate a coach's recruiting effectiveness. Cheryl really wants the offices in the new facility and puts a higher priority on that than on the practice floor. In regard to scheduling, she works with Brad and the other coaches. She did say they hope to retain some CUSA rivalries. But the only team mentioned was DePaul. She said we will not play them next year, but should renew the series the year after. Tony Francis was the women's coach. He did say they have a transfer from Mizzou who can play next December. She adds much needed height to the team. She played high school at Duchesne. I missed the statement about Tommie passing the ACT. I did understand that his GPA is hurting him. It sounds like he is doing well at Hargrave. Ramsey said he can't wait to get out of CUSA. He believes IV will have a major impact in the A-10 and he is really looking forward to next year.

On a soccer note, the homecoming game next year will be against Michigan. Should be a good game.

[StLouBlue]

I saw that same lumberjack competition and stopped and watched most of it because I thought I recognized Ramsey's voice. I also used to listen to Ambush games and he always brought that same energy there.

[AlumniFan]

1. Other than the conflict with other events, why can the team not practice in the new arena? Wouldn't they want to practice shooting where they will play?

2. Isn't it important to have the coaches' offices within the practice facilities since that is where they spend the bulk of their time? I have made the walk from Grand Forest Apartments to the b-school (approximately the same walk from West Pine to the new arena site) in January when it was 10 degrees with a wind chill of about 2,503 below zero and it ain't fun.

3. Could West Pine be retrofitted for much improved practice facilities if the arena does not have practice facilities?

Any takers on these?

[billiken_roy]

of course they can shoot there when available. but since it becomes more and more apparent the arena will carry some sizeable debt, it also will become more and more necessary that the arena becomes a mini savvis and is booked as much as possible. the need to set the arena up for different configurations and the cost of switching those configurations will make it probable that there might be days that the basketball floor just wont be there even though there is no other event. plus, even when it is available, you can bet there will be competition from the other sports teams to utilize the floor for workouts as well.

[Lobo]

What is the plan for West Pine after the arena is a reality?

[billiken_roy]

as far as i know nothing has been announced. i would guess they would use it as a secondary practice facility.

[cheeseman]

Are they still using Tommies GPA from high school or did they mean his GPA still was not high enough at Hargrave?

[cheeseman]

I agree there will be times that events will prevent the practice being held at the new arena and there will be competition from other teams but setting up a volley ball net does not take that much time so I could easily see the mens and womens bb team using the space and the volleyball team able to also use it the same day. What other teams would be competing for us at the school? - baseball and soccer? I wonder if Cherly's hope is to build the practice facility by the new arena - would that not solve the problem? Also, I think if Brad is flexible with his times for practice, you could practice at the new arena more than you think - SMS does it all the time at the Hammonds Center.

[Iggy]

When our floor is unavailable for practice, why doesn't Brad load up a bus and take the team to Vashon, or DeSmet, or Althoff, or any number of high schools in the area that might have someone on their team we'd like to recruit. Hold a practice in their gym. This would impress the kids and build relationships with the coaches. It may even result in a few more Billiken fans. I think we should do this even if our floor is available.

[billiken_roy]

my guess is that such a practice would constitute "a visit" per ncaa guidelines. i believe those visits are limited.

[Box and Won]

Didn't Snyder have the Tigers practice at Vashon before one of the Braggin' Rights games?

[billiken_roy]

that's one time. iggy is proposing we do it all the time.

[Iggy]

That's why you could only visit each school once...

[gister]

Not sure. They did say he was really doing well at Hargrave. So they may mean his high school GPA needs to be offset by the ACT score, but it wasn't clear.