Time to come together

[Jimmy Lemke]

Link: Braun needs to support @MKE_MBB as she hasn't done. But Panthers need to come together for the good of the program (http://wp.me/p3KoaX-1fu)

[TheDarkHawkReturns]

I am not so sure about "come together", Jimmy. I am no where near ready to do that....in fact, the pressure on Braun needs to be turned up. She is in year 3. Her performance needs to be evaluated. Is the Athletic Department better, worse or not changed from the day she started?

On the field/court:

Men's BB - Well documented 5 alarm dumpster fire that Tracy Webster will not extinguish...unless he takes this team to the Sweet 16....at which point he may be gone for greener pastures anyway.


Women's BB - The team is improving year over year with a WNIT appearance this season. However, Kyle is NOT AB's hire....she gets little to no credit for this.


Baseball - Again, Doffek is not "hers", so at most, she is a "custodian". SD has really produced, but I cannot and will not give AB any credit for this.


Men's Soccer - again, not her hire...not much more to say (see above).


Women's Soccer - Kelderman is her hire. Great regular season this year (finished first in the Horizon) but lost their first game in the Tournament. Plus for AB here so far.
Off the field:

This one is much tougher to evaluate, mostly because none of the information is readily available.

We have been told that the Panther Fund has "gifts and pledges" in excess of $1 million for 2015, but no one has provided details to anyone on that number. We have no clue how much of that was Admirals money for the Panther Arena, or how much was pledged and never donated, either because the donor retracted the pledge over AB's or for other reasons.
We DO know that there are many high profile donors who have disavowed the entire Athletic Department due specifically to AB's actions (and not just the public one's, either).
I have heard, but have no numbers to back this, that sponsorship revenue is down significantly, again due in large part to AB's abrasive demeanor. I would like the AD to produce some revenue figures publicly so we can determine if this is true, or just a rumor. Although if this was just a rumor, and revenues were up, they would have done a press release....that is one area AB seems to excel in....patting herself on the back, even if the success is tenuous.
To me, this last one is the most critical in evaluating AB's performance: Is she lying to people on a regular basis?

Did she lie to D'Amato about the Panther Fund? Did she lie to other members of the media? Did she lie to the players? Did she lie to donor's? Did she lie to the University administration?

There are a LOT of people claiming, in private for now mostly, that the were outright lied to. If this is in fact the case, NONE of the rest of this discussion matters to me. I WILL NOT DONATE OR OTHERWISE SUPPORT A LIAR. I have very few things that I deem to be "deal-breakers" in life, but lying is really, REALLY, high on my list. I would go so far as to say that if we won every single conference championship and made post season runs, I would STILL not want any part of a program run by an unabashed liar.
Maybe taking a stand like that is not typical anymore, but that is where I draw the line. I understand if others do not have the same line, or for some, a line at all. That is up to each of us.

So before I can convince myself to "rally 'round the new coach", I need to first know that I am not violating a pretty core principle of mine. I hope you can understand that.

[dylanrocks]

I feel the same as 'Hawk. It's pretty much what I articulated to Gary D'Amato.

One more thing: I appreciate everything that the athletes in other sports do for the university, but men's basketball is fairly or unfairly weighted by 10-fold over the next highest-profile sports.

If the point of this whole exercise wasn't to get better in the school's flagship sport, what WAS its purpose?

[BBF]

dylan, dylan, dylan...please. We know the purpose. Is the next coach named Rob Jeter? No? Success!

I'll never be able to wish ill on our players or coaches, but as far as supporting the program, absolutely not. I have asked this before and will ask it again: Why in heaven's name should I donate money that -- for years -- will have no purpose other than to bandage a self-inflicted wound? I supported this program for a decade as a season ticket holder and travelling fan, with my commitment, by volunteering my time and expertise to committees and special projects to assist the department, and with financial assistance that in relation to my means was substantial. And I wasn't alone. People like us were there for the program through thick and thin. And now, this. I've had it. I think the University knows when it can expect my next donation.

[Skrapheap]

If the point of this whole exercise wasn't to get better in the school's flagship sport, what WAS its purpose?

Braun no doubt thinks she's changing the program for the better. She doesn't seem to understand that, since she has done such a poor job of articulating to various stakeholders what her definition of bettering the program is, that those stakeholders may very easily hold a different view of what will better the program. Some of those stakeholders have publicly stated that they do have a different idea of what will better the program, and have expressed their disagreement in no uncertain terms. Her response to those differing opinions to my mind seems to consist entirely of circling the wagons. Amanda Braun has created this mess, and no one else is to blame.

i, for one, won't go so far as to say that if the new coach can't take the 2016-17 men's basketball team to the NCAA tournament, that the season will be a disappointment. But at the end of the next school year, Amanda Braun will have been Director of the department for four years, and her performance should be reviewed. And if her actions have not made the athletics programs appreciably better, she should be fired.

Based on her performance so far, i have little expectation that she will be considered, at the end of the next school year, as having improved the performance of the athletics programs. i would, therefore, prefer that she be fired now, which will come as a surprise to no one on this board. But no one in a position to fire her listens to me, particularly, so i suspect she will not lose her job now.