We need to punt the Braggin' Rights game ...

by mitch cumstein on Dec 23, 2008 8:10 PM CST

... this is not just sour grapes (it's mostly sour grapes, but hear me out). We need to get out of this series. Or at least not renew it whenever it comes up for renewal. Illinois is so far in our kitchen it's not funny. They are making breakfast, reading the paper, smacking our wife on the butt as she walks by. They are pwning us right now.

We need out of this game. If we're not going to win it more than once a decade, then this game doesn't do anything for us ... except dash our basketball hopes two days before Christmas.

I don't care who our coach is, Illinois just has our number. Norm couldn't win this game on a consistent basis. Jokey Smurf certainly couldn't and now it appears that Weber is going to clownsuit HCMA every December.

Unless this is just a huge revenue generator for us, then I see no reason why we play this series anymore. If you want to keep playing Illinois, I guess I could live with playing them home and home. But punt this game in the Lou. Tell me, are we really attracting recruits by these repeat performances (I believe we've lost the last three high-profile StL b-ball recruits ... thankfully only one of them to U of I).

I would much prefer a series with Tennessee or Kentucky or Iowa or Arkansas or any of the other 14 states we border with. Play that game in St Louis for all I care, but stop playing the Illini. It doesn't nothing for our program except depress the fanbase.

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Yeah...I am going to disagree...

This game is about keeping SOME grip on our STL fan base…which, need I remind you, is our largest fan base outside of Como. And yes, losing 8 in a row is terrible, but unlike the football game which while a nice event has no real roots in STL, this game is all about STL. It is made for TV and draws a national audience no matter what. I dont believe this game has ever really been about recruiting (especially considering how some in STL still believe Como to be not the nicest place and others still hold Norm to be somewhat responsible for some of those rumors/myths).

We lost, it hurts…but punting this game is not the answer. Figuring out how to properly motivate this team to play IS the answer. Stoops gets it against us in football, and Weber clearly gets it in basketball. But cutting this series (and God only knows when it is currently signed through anyway) would be like taking our ball and going home (as The Boy said to me this morning in an email) and I can guarantee you that doing that will bring far more bad press than losing this game 8 times has.

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." - Anonymous
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by The Beef on Dec 24, 2008 9:13 AM CST reply actions

Norm couldn't win it ...

… obviously Quin couldn’t win it and now Anderson is 0-fer. I’m just being a realist. It may be an event for our StL fanbase, but aren’t we really turning them off more than enticing them by putting a stinker out there every December 22nd? Play a game in St. Louis. I’m all for that. Play Illinois (but do it home and home). I’m down with that. Just quit playing Illinois in St. Louis. We are getting pwned. Call me a quitter, whatever. I’m just not down with building a schedule every year with one automatic L already penciled in.

Was once caught putting at night ... with the 15-year old daughter of the dean

by mitch cumstein on Dec 24, 2008 11:00 AM CST up reply actions

What sense does it make to keep playing Illinois

on campus if we are getting pwned? I mean…if you dont want to lose this game anymore, then you dont play it anymore…anywhere.

Scheduling the Boston Celtics is an automatic loss. Being that we have actually won this game before (12 times even) means that it is not automatic. But…you do need to understand that the alumni base in STL expects this event, as does development and alumni relations. Simply put, because we are losing the game is not enough to get it cancelled.

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." - Anonymous
Rock M Nation

by The Beef on Dec 24, 2008 11:27 AM CST up reply actions