| Pattonville Pete: It seems like overall, there are a lot of quality men's hoops teams in the Atlantic 10 this season. Who do you think has a chance from the league to make it to the NCAAs? Now that the Missouri Valley is having another down year, has talk of moving conferences died down? |
| Chris May: The A-10 has several quality teams with a shot at the NCAA tournament. I believe Dayton and Xavier are a lock today. Several other teams have post season opportunities. With the inclusion of the NIT and CBI tournaments, there could be as many as 8 teams from the league play in the post season. We are spending all of our efforts building the Billikens into the very best we can be. We are not focussed on Conference realignment at this time. |
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Chicago Billiken: Mr. May,
What is going on with the media for men's Billiken's games. I don't lie in St. Louis but I am a pretty big Billiken fan. I even have seasont tickets to the Billikens. Last year I was able to listen to every game online, gametracker was reliable. This year, I can't listen to any games online. The gametracker feed is not reliable and I even hear that people who paid to watch the game through the Billikens All Access application were unable to do so for the Duquesne game.
I can understand a technical glitch here or there but the fact is internet radio isn't working and I thought you said that after the first of the year it was supposed to work.
How does this lack of media help us build the program we want to become? Why do I have to resort to listening to an out of town radio broadcast to hear the Billikens?
I want to know what your plan is to improve the media, specifically internet radio, for all of us fans who can't make it to the game so that we can follow the Billikens.
Thanks,
Chicago Billiken |
Chris May: Chicago Billiken,
There have been several technical issues that are being fixed with the gametracker system. On the road games, the gametracker is often questionable due to the fact that the system is primarily executed by the home team. We did experience an IT breakdown in Chaifetz Arena for the Duquesne game which caused the entire system to shut down. I believe that system has been restored and will run uninterupted for the rest of the season. WXOS ESPN radio 101.1fm has had difficulites with their satellite internet feed. We expect that system repair will be fixed by the Charlotte mens game. The new radio partner has delivered great exposure in the St. Louis market, and we expect the internet feed to be successful as well. Thank you for your support and patience. |
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Bo: Chris,
Thank you for taking my question. The student turnout has been great for men's basketball this season except for Wednesday night. What does the Athletic Department do to keep students informed of game times, promotions, help with Blue Crew, etc?
Also, what was the reason for the 6:00pm start time? The game was shown tape delayed in Pittsburgh last night at 10.
Thanks and GO BILLS! |
| Chris May: The SLU students have been very supportive of the program. We are working closely with the student leadership in communicating with the student body. Communication is done through regular e-mails, student paper, flyers, chalking the sidewalks, etc.... We are changing a culture with the students with Chaifetz Arena being on campus. The students are attending in record numbers and we anticipate very large student attendance for the Blizzard and Blue out games when the Billikens host St. Joes and Dayton....The 6pm start was for the television broadcast that was aired live on CCIN in St. Louis as well as tape delayed in Pittsburgh. |
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| LarryDavid: How many years do you think Willie Reed will stay in school before the scouts find out how good he is and try and get him in the NBA? |
| Chris May: Coach Majerus and his staff have done a great job with the development of a large freshman class. Willie Reed along with the other freshman have a great future as Billikens. We look forward to the class having a successful four years playing in Chaifetz Arena, and earning their degrees at Saint Louis University. |
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andyt: Mr. May,
First of all, let me tell you that I LOVE the arena. There's no question that it beats playing in the Scottrade Center. I was wondering why the price of the season tickets have gone up so much. I used to pay $150 with my young alumni discount and now I have to pay $450. I know you have to pay for the arena, but I thought that was a little high. Thanks for taking my question. |
| Chris May: The pricing for Chaifetz Arena was carefully studied and implemented before the building was opened. I appreciate your concern. We will take a close look at the pricing model and make adjustments after the season. We did make a change on single game prices which was very positively received in the market place. Thank you for your support as a SLU graduate. |
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| Greg G.: Has the attendance at the new Chaifetz Arena been a disappointment this year relative to pre-season expectations? |
| Chris May: The attendance has been very positive for the first year in Chaifetz Arena. The crowds have grown as the season has progressed. We hope to have the first sellout before the season concludes. We also anticipate a large crowd for the women's game vs. George Washington for the "Pink Zone" promotion on Saturday, February 14. We hope to see you at Chaifetz! |
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| Bills: Chris, I think I've exhausted just about every option, so I'm turning to you. I'm sure you're thrilled you're my last resort. Please fix the horns at Chaifetz. They are horribly loud. I know times are tough (so replacements might not make sense), but just shut them off and have students blow air horns or something. Cringing every 2 minutes knowing the horns coming is not the way I enjoy watching basketball. Thanks. And please don't run this by the Billiken Club, I think you'll find most of the participants at the weekday 5pm meetings think they need to be turned up. |
Chris May: Bills,
We are on the issue. The new horns do not have volume control. We had a contractor in the facility this week working on the horn sound. Please know that we are addressing the problem asap and are working hard to deliver the very best possible experience for all Billikens fans. Thank you for your understanding. |
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peroge: Is there anything that can be done to improve the coverage of the SLU games on the internet? When traveling last week I finally located the game with the Dayton broadcasters. Last night I believe your fans had to listen to the Duquene broadcast.
In the past the games were available on the internet live and several years ago you could even get an archive. The archive was nice for a ticket holder like mysel to hear what Bob and Earl thought at different times and to hear the post game show.
The Horizon league provides free internet for all games. While I did not enjoy the result of the Detroit game my wife and I were able to watch a very good picture on the computer.
It is my impression that the A-10 contract has really limited things with regard to over the air TV broadcasts of games. Is that impression correct?
I truly beleive improvements in these areas would help your loyal out of town fans and would help build even more local interest for your program.
peroge |
| Chris May: As I responded to an earlier question, the radio broadcast on WXOS 101.1fm espn has had some technical difficulties with the internet feed. As I am blogging, I just spoke with station manager John Kijowski of the Bonneville group. You can rest assured that the issue is being addressed and will be resolved very soon. The archiving issue is also being addressed. Thank you for your interest. |
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| VBFan: Last year's volleyball game against Stanford was one of the best I've ever seen. Will you be playing more games in Chaifetz Arena? Can you tell us about games next year? |
| Chris May: Coach Kordes and the women's volleyball team had a record breaking season. We are busy planning for a huge year in 2009 for the volleyball program. The 2007 and 2008 National Champions-Penn State are coming to Chaifetz Arena in September. This spring the entire schedule will be released which will include several NCAA tournament teams. I anticpate playing several matches in Chaifetz Arena and we anticipate setting some attendance records in doing so. |
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Chocolate Thunder: Chris,
With your school having strict academic standards for athletes, do you still think Majerus will be successful?
It's not easy finding a good bunch of kids that go to class and excel on the court.
SLU is a great place for higher learning but unfortunately getting to the sweet 16 is a pipe dream unless another Larry Hughes comes along.
I'm fine with that, it just gets annoying listening to Ramsey go on and on when there's no gas in the tank, I mean who's he kidding? Obviously, the mis-informed.
Thanks for taking my question and comments. |
Chris May: Dear Thunder,
Everything is in place for the men's basketball team to be successful at Saint Louis University. We have the best catholic-jesuit education in the country, a hall of fame coach, facilities that are second to none, and a great community that follows and supports college basketball. As the program evolves, you will see a team with enough numbers and depth to compete with the very best in the country. A SLU education is a selling point, not a deterrent in the recruiting process. We are all encouraged about the future of the Billiken men's basketbll program. |
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| dave: As a SLU alum who lives in Tucson, I am wondering if the basketball team has any plans to schedule a home/away series with Arizona or even Arizona State? (I moved here just a few weeks after the last time SLU played in Tucson.) |
| Chris May: We took a run at playing Arizona and they politely declined. We plan on making another inquiry after they make their coaching hire. Thank you for your long range support. |
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| billikenfan05: I am curious about the atmosphere at the games. It seems as though the crowds are becoming "Wine and Cheese" crowds. Is their a possibility of adding more animations to the video boards to get the crowd going late in the game? Maybe turn up the intro music!? Even adding some canned music coming out of timeouts like Welcome to the Jungle. Thank You Mr. May for taking the time to read and answer our questions. |
| Chris May: The fans are getting more and more involved in the games. We are tweaking the in arena atmosphere elements to get the right balance of music/graphics/videos as the season progresses. Coach Majerus and the team have been very much encouraged by the fan support this season. We look forward to the Billikens enjoying a major home court advantage for the remainder of the season. Thank you for being there and being loud! Go Billikens! |
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TylerDurden: Mr. May,
It's sounding like Coach Hendrickson is on the cusp of doing some great things with the baseball team. Are there plans to give him the resources he needs to make SLU competitive, both in the A-10 and against other local programs? Any planned facilities improvements? |
| Chris May: Coach Darin Hendrickson is doing a fantastic job. As we speak there are new duggouts being built and the infield is being re-done. We will continue to help Darin and the baseball program build a program that we can all be proud of. I believe that baseball can be a very successful program at SLU. I hope to see you at the games. |
