bonwich Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I wanted to amplify Roy's comments in another thread. So now we have our arena. Can we hire someone in the athletic department who has a concept of event management and promotions, and can we stop treating the program -- which has illustrated the folly of such -- as a private club for a very small group of well-connected donors? So Cheryl "went on the radio at halftime" to announce the new arena project? In other words, the relatively small group of armchair fans who were listening on the radio got to hear the good news, while the core group of a couple thousand faithful who have stood by the Billikens through thick and (mostly) thin got to watch a first-grade game????!!!! No, wait, not just a first-grade game -- we also got to watch a second dance program in which a Catholic, Jesuit school sponsored a bunch of young women doing a hooker routine (immediately after the program by the Generically Named SLU Dance Team, which is so named because some anonymous donor objected to the much-more-offensive-than-voulez-vous-coucher-avec-moi name of "Baby Blues," claiming it was "degrading to women.") And then SIXTY-FIVE YEARS of Billiken stars took the court, and we couldn't even show the respect to introduce them? Ms. Levick should be proud for finally getting the arena off the dime. But she ought to be ashamed of herself for facilitating the same old arrogance and incompetence that has been the hallmark of the athletic department for, oh, I don't know...forever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 it is my guess, that sadly what happened last night was a sell out for a few bucks. those first grade players all had ticket buying parents that likely most were only there to watch their sons play, and the same with the high school hooker dance routine. so if each kid was responsible for two parent tickets, we didnt get to meet our alumni players last night at the "benefit of" about 40 extra tickets sold. at $20 per ticket, that is $800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 Geez, guys, what did Roy say that Nark had to edit it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I screwed up and hit edit instead of reply and typed over Roy's post by mistake. I meant to say that it was City Employee night and CYC night. City employees could buy a ticket for $5, and CYC teams could get tickets for some reduced rate. I thought they were good promotions that seemed to work. I have to complain about the Savvis center last night. They weren't taking money at all of the garage openings. We got off the highway almost 15 minutes before the game but didn't get to our seats until halfway through the first half due to the garage mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 to be honest, i dont see what he changed. if he made a change it was a typo or something that i screwed up inadvertently and he likely did me a favor. the text there is what i wanted to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 my brother said he had the same problem last night parking. one of the reasons i try to get there at least a half an hour before the game. and david, i will say the very tall young man that apparently directs the game events stuff works his tail off at the games. all in all, he has done a much better job than what we have seen in the past imo. and the organization it takes to keep running those timeout and half time stuff is amazing. i hate to come down on him with this stuff as i am sure he is just doing his job to the nth degree. but at some point we got to think about what is being seen by the hardcores. btw, cant the timeout guy at least buy a pair of dress slacks that look presentable and tuck his freaking shirt in. i thought the stolen rented tux jacket was a different touch last night as well. that guy is horrible. what happened to using e-man? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 I'm serious. We gave him a 5-minute political commercial last night (but couldn't introduce our own former team members) -- with no small irony that his oversight of Savvis is among the hundreds of small details of city living that his administration utterly ignores. There are no pedestrian crossing signals on Market in front of the Savvis Center, but have you ever seen any cops ensuring pedestrian safety before and after any event there? (Ahh, but they do actually give [i}jaywalking[/i] tickets. Nothing like pay for play when it comes to safe streets, huh?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 At the risk of sounding positive - how it was announced was immaterial. People knew it was going to happen - was in the paper and on the airwaves already. So no big surprise. The details were easily available after the game and that is what we were all interested in. I do however agree that somebody could have come out and said - We have brought the billikens home! - nice touch but hardly the end of the world. Some of you have not really been behind this arena thing because you are afraid you will lose your primo tix or have to pay a PSL to keep them - that is understandable. I am not happy that - my guess only - the smaller arena will cause the price of tix to go up at least 1/3 but I will get over just like you will. So, CL hit a home run contary to some of you thinking she hit a double - Woolard never would have got us to this point. She got the practice courts and the offices all of which you said had to happen. I applaud her efforts and am happy for SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 As usual, there were way too few cops directing traffic and way too many cops standing around shooting the ###### with each other. The traffic was a NIGHTMARE last night. We arrived in the vicinity at about 15 til, but did not get to our seats until almost 7:30 PM!!!! Rammer stated at the start of the game that the crowd wasn't great - DUH! Because we were all sitting in traffic waiting for the cops to finish there donuts!!!!!!! I am really sick and tired of this B.S. St. Louis wants to be a big time city, but they cannot get the simple things right. They cannot even get traffic lights to cycle properly. It can take over 15 minutes to drive 20 city blocks (down 4th Street and west on Washington). Who wants to put in first floor retail knowing that your clients could jump on the highway and get to Clayton faster than they can go 20 blocks to your store!!?!!?!?!? Think about it. St. Louis hopes to be big time. St. Louis thinks and acts SMALL TIME, very small time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzzah Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I thought introduction of our past players was about as mishandled as it can get. During half time we watched an organized waste of time. Small kids trying to heave a bb around that was obviously too big and too heavy for them. However, in the second half we get momentum going and the game is stopped to leave former stars come on court. The flow of the game is stopped and the stars are not introduced. I can handle things this well and you don't have to pay me. On another topic, given the Blues situation, I think the NBA coming back here is a possibility. If that occurs a 10,000 seat arena is fine. However, the Blues and the NBA here simultaneously will not occur. This market is too small. The NHL seems to be getting weaker, so moving the Blues may happen down the road. I'm not sure about student participation at the on campus arena. For the Temple game students were given a free ticket, a free bus ride to Savis, and free food prior to the game at the Student Union Bldg. I have no figures on student attendance last night, but I thought it was not great. This was an important game. For SLU a possible NIT bid, for Temple a NCAA bid. Temple now appears destined to the NIT. Therefore, considering the game was against a famous coach, and a name school, and in light of the consequences of the game, and the student promotions, I thought student participation was not overwhelming and I don't see an on campus arena changing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 > how it was announced was immaterial. Yeah, sure it was. That's why the U. spent thousands of dollars putting together an ad that they've run at EVERY SINGLE GAME touting the impending announcement of a new arena. God forbid that Larry and Cheryl stand up in front of 10,000-13,000 screaming fans and announce that it's a done deal, and thank them for their support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 the tall skinny guy is the assistant director of marketing and sales...can't remember his name off the top of my head right now, but he isn't the event director. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 free food? I only wish...as for our free ride...it followed a free 30 min wait in the cold. We got their as the anthem singers were walking onto the court. And on the tail end, the FIRST bus back didn't come until about 30 mins post. The next one probably came 10 or 15 mins later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SluSignGuy Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Just out of Curiousity. What players made the trip. On the Radio rammer was in awe by it some, and I am sorry I missed it (whether it was poorly organized or not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 the irony is that the dance team refers to themselves as "the Baby Blues" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Well, since it was so poorly organized, the only way you could tell who was there was to read the scoreboard and just to notice the players. The ones I remember were Erwin Claggett, Scott Highmark, Monroe Douglass, Roland Gray, Chris Braun, Matt Baniak, Joe Wiley, and quite honestly that's all I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I wish I had the link, but there was a great article on Wake Forest basketball last year on how they went to Marquette and lost the previous season....and were so impressed by the atmosphere, they hired some of the same people to better "produce" their own home games. EVERYTHING is organized micromanaged.....from tthe head coach making the rounds at the big booster club bars pre-game at the arena, to the giveaway EVERY single game when entering...bobbleheads, t-shirts etc...it is MUCH more of pumped in music atmosphere, and a lot less student band. lights turned down pre-game, sort of like the old Michael Jordan Bulls intros....a lot of video scorebaord stuff...of the coach speaking to fans before the game, and players...and videos of old and current players with music blaring....honoring long time season ticket holders with gifts at timeouts and half time....clips of a quote from "Hoosiers" late in games of tight games...... There is a tremendous non-stop flow, it's like a raucous clap along dance party from techno, to Welcom e To The Jungle, Start me up type stuff. And all of it is done while honoring tradtion, past players, honoring other sports teams...you name it in high class way. At places, this becomes an event not to be missed. Not just a basketball game. There is absolutely no down town, or quiet time or lulls. All SLU has to do is visit some other places for ideas....apparently even the ideas folks are being shared at some schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOSLU68 Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 He has been sharing his tickets with his family but I did not see him on the floor; maybe he realized what a debacle this was going to be; I also did not see Rich Nieman, Bob Ferry, or Anthony Bonner some of our other NBA players. Ed Mc Cauley should be shown proper respect in our new home arena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pakapablo Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I also saw Todd Starks & Mike Ivester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I could have sworn I went to the game last night, parked for free, got there on time, had a great time, and went home. Maybe I was dreaming and it was really some sort of debacle. While I will agree that the alumni introduction should have been done at halftime and every player there should have been singled out, I don't think anyone had any evil intent. By the way, don't disrespect the band; they represent the best this athletic department has to offer, and they need to play more, not less. The college basketball experience does not have to be a copy from one place to the next. That would just be a bore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewprez Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 The guy you're talking about is the director of ticket sales and promotions and his name is Reggie Garrett. He is brand new and I've had the chance to meet with him. He is a very nice guy and he is going to do a great job, but we'll really have to wait until next year before we can judge him. Also, about E-Man: he hasn't been able to go to a lot of the Wednesday games over the past few weeks, so he hasn't been able to do his pre-game hype or time-out promotions. I'm not sure if we'll see him again this season, but hopefully we will. If not, he'll be the star of the show at Billiken Madness 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUWX Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Sounds artificial and NBA-like to me. Give me the SLU Band over all that other crap anyday. You want atmosphere? Give me a 10,000 seat arena with everyone on top of the action and the casual fans left out in the cold to watch Mizzou embarass themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzzah Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I live adjacent to the university and went to the student union building yesterday to use the ATM. A large banner proclaimed free food, free transportation, and free tickets to the Temple game, among other games, I believe 5 in all. The free food was at the Tex-Mex restuarant in the bldg. I am not a student, so I cannot verify the veracity of the banner. Are you proclaiming that the banner statements are false and that SLU is lying to the student body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenbooster Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 agree completely. I never park in the Savvis lot, always behind the Sheraton Condos, easy in and out, usually get to hear UB on the post game show, and I never leave early. The band is one of the high points of the Billiken home game experience. mhg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I cannot imagine a home Billikens game without our band!! They are really fantastic. I would love a more exciting atmosphere, maybe electric seat shockers to get the lame fans off their butts, but don't mess with the band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.