davidnark Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Doug Elgin, the MVC commissioner, wrote a letter to the editor responding to Burwell's colmunn. It is available at http://tinyurl.com/rqm0 I agree that the MVC is a good conference that has had a very good run over the last five years. Admittedly, several MVC programs have been better than SLU over the last five years. However, SLU will need to be in a higher profile conference in order to achieve its goals in the long-term. The A-10 is higher profile than the MVC in every meaninful category, e.g., RPI ratings, media makets, NCAA tournament appearances, gross and net revenue, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 I have known Doug for years and he is one of the good guys. He works hard and he is a terrific representative for the conference and for our city because he offices here. I have no problem with the MVC--it is a nice conference but it does not have the national recognition of an A-10 and I think the Bills should aspire to be in the highest rated conference possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Doug Elgin is doing what he should be doing ... defending his conference ... he had an opportunity to reply to a column that he felt did not portray the MVC in the best light and he took advantage of the opportunity to say good things about his conference. There have been many times I wish SLU's people would have had something to say. They did not have to run down the MVC ... to say we are not interested. Instead we on the Billiken Board had to flood a columnist with letters to get the Billikens point of view said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 slufanskip said, "There have been many times I wish SLU's people would have had something to say. They did not have to run down the MVC ... to say we are not interested. Instead we on the Billiken Board had to flood a columnist with letters to get the Billikens point of view said." it amazes me all the time that the typical media person in st louis knows less about slu than most of us on this messageboard. i would think the slu staff would constantly be working at least the key media guys and "selling" what is happening at slu. everyone likes to be an insider, but the fact that our own radio and tv guys originally took the mvc stance until they were educated should have pointed out to everyone that our sports information department hasnt been performing. i understand there are other issues that require confidentiality and being discreet. however, i see no reason that enough cant be communicated to at least keep the mvc fiasco from even happening. now we all look like snobs for having to paddle up stream and get public opinion where it should have been from day one had our own people had prepared the media accordingly. at least that is the way i see it. anyone see any reason that the mvc thing needed to happen in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Roy, you are right about the fact that somehow the St. Louis sports media knows less than it should about our Billikens. I think part of the problem is directly related to the fact that except for the Cardinals this is a fair weather fans town, including most of the reporters. You noticed that when we had some big wins a number of the local media, like Bernie, took an interest for the first time in many months. Also, most reporters want to concentrate on the pro sports because those sports will give them more credibility nationally and could provide them with the ability to "move up" the ladder in the profession. However, I am guardedly optimistic about the next few years. It seems like the local media has started to respect our coach and his accomplishments in a short time. the addition of at least 3 local players next year should help promote local "human interest" stories. that should also be true with our foreign players. Let's hope that our SI staff is up to the challange. Winning a few games early will go a long way in creating interest. If we can hold our own with Arizona on our home floor that would help as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 billikan, dont you think that slu's s.i.d. should take a more active role in pushing the information out? i mean someone explain to me what he sid's job is. is it just to run off stats at halftime? send the next opponent's media people information about the team? i would think the sid is working the media from a proactive standpoint all the time chumming up and wining and dining the media to insure they "want" to cover the billikens. am i missing something? if that isnt their job, who's job is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Just caught a part of that segment of Frank's show this morning and he raved about the potential of Ian. He said if Ian had gone to CBC or some other local school, he would not be playing for SLU right now because of the interest from other programs. He did not say if his feelings were based on personal observation or hearsay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 You are exactly right Roy When the subject of the MVC comes up Frank, Bob, Bernie, Bryan, etc Should send them to the floor laughing, or get them upset that something like that would even be broached. Instead it is given huge amounts of air time, because they don't know or don't care what SLU's feelings are on this matter or they think we are such a bush league program that we should be jumping up and down every time a mid major conference throws us a bone. Instead we have these fools really downgrading the program to the public and we the diehard fans have to flood them with letters and e-mails to change their minds. Still the damage has been done. Someone or something should ahve stopped this before it happened. Number 1 is perception, the media views our program as small time, especially compared to neighboring schools like Mizzou (where most of the media in this town went to school) and Illinois. Until SLU somehow shows them that we are on their level and deserve the same amount of respect things like the MVC fiasco will be commonplace. Number 2 we have to draw the media's interest into the program. This secretive BS has got to go, I realize we are a private institution but we have to let some guys be insiders, and not just Frank and Bob, Frank who gets made fun of by other media because he is a SLU backer and Bob who refuses to even mention the program. Until we have these things resolved SLU situation will remain the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Coach raved about Ian on KMOX the other night. I can't wait to get this guy on the floor for the Bills. He is really going to be special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Another approach... maybe SLU should begin a School of Journalism so in the future the local media boys and girls will be SLU grduates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 torch said, "we have to let some guys be insiders, and not just Frank and Bob, Frank who gets made fun of by other media because he is a SLU backer and Bob who refuses to even mention the program. Until we have these things resolved SLU situation will remain the same." i think the recent events such as the mvc debacle and the verbal of tommie liddell proved that even frank and bob are not insiders. it appears there are no slu insiders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 broy, it was only natural that SLU would be considered (by those who are only March Madness fans) to be a good fit in the MVC. SLU was a part of the MVC glory years, the MVC is headquartered within walking distance of the SLU campus, SLU and the MVC conference tournament both called the Savvis basketball court home, plus SLU and the MVC have partnered, along with the superb St. Louis Sports Commission, in a number of NCAA events. Furthermore, I'm confident Elgin and Woolard have a good professional relationship. I don't see a "fiasco", I just see a local sports media that spends 90%+ of their time on the NFL, MLB and the NHL and don't have a deep feel for SLU's academic and athletic missions. Imo, the internet crazies on both sides probably cause more ill-will than a one article media guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 SLU will earn (and deserve) the respect given to Missouri and Illinois only when they win and win big! When SLU basketball achieves the success level currently held by our Jesuit brethren at Gonzaga, Marquette and Xavier then the media respect and media interest will be shown. Last year, at the practice following SLU's last second upset of #2 Louisville, sports announcers from all the St. Louis TV outlets (2,4,5,11 and FoxMidwest)were in the gym with lights on and cameras rolling waiting for the players, particularly Marque Perry to come onto the West Pine gym floor. The sports page and coverage is all about winning. IMO, Coach Soderberg and his staff will get us there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 21, 2003 Author Share Posted October 21, 2003 >He said if Ian had gone to CBC or some other local school, he would >not be playing for SLU right now because of the interest from >other programs. I don't understand this kind of statement. Wasn't Hughes, Baniak, Heinrich, Tatum, Winfield, Liddell, Edwin, etc. recruited by many other top programs? Why do our local media guys--and ironically our biggest supporter in the local media--assume that top local players won't be interested in SLU? This attitude needs to change. I guess only consistent success will change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Agree with tseugnekillib's post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 While I agree with you that the SLU media relations department can certainly do a better job, I don't know if the MVC fiasco could have been avoided. Officially, we have not been invited anywhere yet. From the get go, we were all pretty sure the Big East would not invite us..or at least it was a long shot. But the one thing we were all certain on was that C-USA was not where we needed to be after all these splits came about. That would leave us in a vulnerable position and we would not want to burn any brideges. If the A-10 hadn't mentioned SLU's name, the MVC is probably where we would have to go (although we all know that's not where we WANT to be). I think this could have been handled differently, but to come out from the get go and say the MVC is not even an option would have been a little premature IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 His mind may have been on David Lee or Grimes. I agree with you, that it didn't come across very well. I think Frank's main emphasis here was how good this guy's potential is and what a find SLU has. I would like to believe he didn't mean it the way it sounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 i agree that we didnt want to burn bridges etc, but had the key media people been in the loop a little bit, maybe they wouldnt have started the open campaign that they did for the mvc. how tough would it have been for slu to have invited each or a few at a time to an informal lunch and kind laid out scenarios and asked for some descrepancy, etc. to not see that coming imo was naive. it was bound to be a question. heck we have been discussing it for months here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 I heard the comment. My dollar says Frank meant it exactly as he said it and as it sounded! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choice Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 earl austin jr. constantly said that slu should go to the a-10 if the invitation was extended. i heard him say it on kmox and kfns. he said how much he liked and enjoyed the valley as a conference, but he was in favor the a-10 all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 21, 2003 Author Share Posted October 21, 2003 According to the local media: -Fisher and Bryant would have never considered SLU if they hadn't been transferees. -Izik and Ian would have never considered SLU if they were American. -Clarke would have never considered SLU if he wasn't overshadowed by his high school teammates. -Hughes would have never considered SLU if it weren't for his brother. -Tatum and Baniak would have never considered SLU if it weren't for Hughes. -Perry would have never considered SLU if he was taller. -Polk would have never considered SLU if he didn't hurt his knee. -Liddell would have never considered SLU if he didn't have academic concerns. -Edwin would have never considered SLU if he didn't have to sit out his senior year of high school. I guess that means that only relatively slow white guys like Varner, Deiner, Sloan, and Meyer consider SLU for valid reasons. Of course there is the other theory (which is probably too absurd to even be considered): SLU actually has attractive qualities for top national recruits, such as good academics, a big fan base, a great coach, and a top conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentFLBilliken Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmolina Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 >>Also, most reporters want to concentrate on the pro sports because those sports will give them more credibility nationally and could provide them with the ability to "move up" the ladder in the profession.<< I would much rather cover a Bills bball game than Blues hockey. That's the God's honest truth. I'll continue to do so as long as the SLU Sports Dept. will allow it. They have been very cooperative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Do you write articles on the Bills games that you attend. If so, can we read them on the WWW? If not, the why don't you post them so us out of town fans can read another slant from Stu's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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