Billiken Pride

Now that baseball season has concluded I trun my attention to college basketball and my alma mater, Saint Louis University. The Billikens who have a great basketball tradition have struggled in recent years. You wouldn't think that as the only major basketball team in St. Louis that the Billikens would lack for attention but not having an on-campus arena and poor playoff performances in the past few years have made SLU basketball an after thought in the minds of the residents of St. Louis. As an alum I take great pride in the Billikens. I generally drag Bif to some bar to watch Billiken games. With only 30 games over a four month span, I generally get a little too excited about games. I have been known to listen to games on the internet, curse at my computer and swear very loudly in bars. Being a sports fan who cheers for hopeless teams like the Cubs will do that to you.

In August, SLU unveiled its schedule including a home date with perennial powerhouse North Carolina. I knew I had to be there. A plane ticket and a couple of $9 tickets later I was at the Scottrade Center for its first sell out since my freshman year in 1998.

I had high hopes and felt a sense of pride listening to "When The Saints Come Marching in" and seeing the S-A-I-N-T L-O-U-I-S flags carried out followed by the Billiken players.

The Billikens played a great first half but ultimately, the Tar Heels proved too powerful and the Billikens dropped to 9-3 with a 69-48 defeat. While I wanted a Billiken win for Christmas just being there was a great experience.

Thankschristmasgiving

I have been told on numerous occassions that you are lucky to go through life with one or two really good friends. Friends know you inside and out, they are willing to do anything for you and always stand by you. I am very lucky because I have a lot of good friends and that point was reinforced this past weekend at Thankschristmasgiving.

Thankschristmasgiving is a holiday inspired by a fraternity brother of mine which is a potluck thanksgiving celebration for the guys. We get together, share a meal and reminisce about the old days, talk about our current lives and dream about our futures.

The past couple of years my friends and I have reuinted many times mostly at weddings. As we get older, our priorities change. Many of my married friends will begin to have children who will rightfully so become their main priority in their life. Some of my friends will decide that their careers are most important and will fall off the map. Other guys will determine that other priorities are most pressing and they will lapse as well. I guess my point is this. Friendship is very valuable besides family, who else do you have?

Every time I see the guys in St. Louis I am reminded of the time where I learned how valuable friendship was. I was sitting outside of an apartment in Richmond, Virginia. I had just started my job as a traveling consultant and was locked out of the apartment that I was staying in. The guys who I was working with had decided to go downtown and leave me stranded. After a few hours a call from a friend of mine came in. They were sitting at a bar on a Friday night just hanging out and calling to see how I was doing. As this was the beginning of my year on the road and this incident happened, I was very depressed. They took the time to talk with me and make me feel better. Friends do that, they call out of the blue when you least expect it but most need it. I was still stranded for a few more hours but I realized the value of friendship. From that point on I made a conscious choice to maintain and further develop my friendships which takes a lot of work.

Life will take my friends and I on wonderful journeys to all parts of the world but each year at Thankschristmasgiving we will once again realize how lucky we are.