What the...!!!???

[BBF]

Okay, I just noticed that our women's team, which finished 20-11 overall and in FIFTH place in the HL, is playing in something called the "WBI," which sounds suspiciously like the CBI for men, doesn't it?

Obviously I have no problem with our young ladies getting to play in the post-season after a good, credible year, but the parallel here is eye-popping.

As if we didn't know it already let's just state the obvious: our AD's decision to punish our men's team last year by refusing to allow them to play in a similar tournament after a nearly identical season (and let's not forget -- a donor offered to PAY for the cost) had utterly nothing to do with the team's performance. That was a LIE.

She punished the team, including a group of seniors who were not just excellent players but excellent young men, because she was AFRAID they would be successful and that it would interfere with her plan to get rid of a man that she clearly disliked (and clearly resented) and that she painted as the scapegoat for her own profound failings and incompetence.

How ANYONE can abide her ru(i)ning our program is beyond me.

As long as she's around to screw everything up, the fans will vote with their feet again next year. How long do you think the chancellor's office and the legislators will allow the team to pay the rental cost of the Arena with nobody going to the games?

[Jimmy Lemke]

Not only is it LIKE the women's version of the CBI, it IS the women's version of the CBI.

Amanda Braun has lost any shred of credibility she had left.

I wrote about it over the weekend and posted this about 20 minutes after we announced the WBI bid:

http://pantheru.com/2017/03/the-boss-hypocrisy-knows-no-bounds/

[Jimmy Lemke]

Not only is it LIKE the women's version of the CBI, it IS the women's version of the CBI.

Amanda Braun has lost any shred of credibility she had left.

I wrote about it over the weekend and posted this about 20 minutes after we announced the WBI bid:

http://pantheru.com/2017/03/the-boss-hypocrisy-knows-no-bounds/

[BBF]

Jimmy, it worries me that I channeled you without ever having seen that column!

I swear to God my first thought upon learning today that the women's team was playing in this tournament was that she was deliberately trolling Rob Jeter, Chad Boudreau, Sharif Chambliss, Chris Hill, Matt Tiby, JJ Panoske, JR Lyle, Akeem Springs, Austin Arians, Jordy Johnson and all the others and their families.

We all knew she was a hypocrite, but this is off the charts. Btw, am I the only one who's noticed that she looks suspiciously like Kellyanne Conway?

[dylanrocks]

Sing it loud! Sing it proud!

She is a bald-faced liar and now everyone knows it!

If we had a sports columnist in this town with any gumption, he would have an absolute field day with this!

[Jimmy Lemke]

You and I weren't the only ones thinking about it.

http://pantheru.com/2017/03/anonymous-fan-weighs-in/

[Skrapheap]

Some of this discussion was part of the lost posts when the board moved to a new server.

There were postings from a couple of people warning Women's Coach Kyle Rechlicz to update her resume, since, after similar results to last year's men's team, she was going to lose her job, like Rob Jeter did. i pointed out that that wasn't going to happen, since the AD wasn't trying to find an excuse to fire Rechlicz like she was trying to do to fire Jeter. If required, somehow, to answer questions about the difference between the two situations, the AD would probably come up with some lame excuse, which would be instantly accepted by folks who don't care who is ru(i)n(n)ing the Athletics department.

i also suggested another reason that the AD would say yes this year where she said no last year: since the men's basketball program took a big step backward this year (with the exception of an HL tournament run that no one would have predicted), and especially since (as pointed out in this thread), attendance at men's games is tanking, Braun desparately needs to be able to point to success...any success...in the other sports, to distract from/offset the damage done to the department's flagship program.

Jimmy and i have exchanged tweets on this subject, too. The anonymous fan noted that Wright State and Detroit, who finished ahead of Milwaukee in the league standings and in RPI, were not in the WBI field, and assumed that that meant both schools had turned down an invitation. i pointed out that Wright State was in the WNIT, and therefore probably was not invited by the WBI, since WSU was known to have the league's auto-bid to the WNIT before either the NCAA or the full WNIT fields were announced. i have no information about Detroit's situation.

It's been pointed out on Twitter that UWM paid $10,000 to play in the WBI. i'm not sure how many the Klotsche Center seats in its current configuration for Women's Basketball, but attendance would have to be far above 1,000 even to come close to earning that money back, even adding in concessions. The highest turnout at a home game this season was nearly 1400, vs. Green Bay, which meant that at least a third of the folks in attendance were Green Bay fans who, obviously, won't be buying tickets for Wednesday night. The AD is selling group tickets (10 or more) at $2 per person, a discount which makes it less likely that the game will pay for itself.

For what it's worth, the anonymous fan neglected to mention Oakland (RPI 156), who also finished ahead of Milwaukee this season (ah, the ignominy of being a "fifth placer"); i have no idea whether or not Oakland was invited to the WBI.

[BBF]

I just posted this on the other board. I'm only reposting it here in case someone twists an arm over there to start censoring again.
_____________

A note is too short for what I have in mind.

And yes, eunuch board members. I'm back. After this spectacularly awful season it's time to wrest the character of this board back from the abyss.

Our program is DYING. Repeat: the D1 Milwaukee basketball program IS DYING RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES.
The devastating erosion of interest has INEVITABLE consequences. We need to change that inevitability -- or not complain when the program is gone for good. Everyone knows HOW that can change. It starts by the University applying accountability. Let's just say that if you compared the quality of the job our last coach got fired for even if you think it was time for him to go to the quality of the job our AD has done since her arrival -- well, it couldn't be more obvious that the wrong person was fired. And it's not just men's basketball. Remember when we used to be an all-sports power in the Horizon League? Hold that memory, because it's eroding fast. Can somebody tell me what this person has actually achieved to make the Milwaukee program better today than when she joined -- or even to get it in shouting distance of where Bud Haidet had it? Anyone? Bueller?

As Jimmy has pointed out repeatedly, this has nothing to do with Jordan or his staff. They have exactly as much control of this situation as Jeter and his staff had. Almost none. I can only feel bad for them, and worse for the players. Any player here under this athletic administration should expect to be kicked in the teeth by it eventually. Understand this well: an incompetent administrator is a one trick pony. If the team doesn't somehow magically achieve the impossible standards she set for it (yes of course I know she was lying; but once uttered, lies take on a life of their own), and the heat starts rising under her backside, she only has one play: she'll fire Jordan, chase away any good players who have the ability and belated good sense to transfer, and try to save her own position by blaming them (and their families) again for her failures. Hey -- it worked once! Of course, by then the drumbeat in the legislature (oh yes, it has started) may be so loud that we can start planning our wild road trips to Oshkosh and Platteville. I hear there's a great sports bar in Point!

So it's up to us -- the few remaining fans who appear to care enough any more even to talk about the program. That's what she has done more successfully than anything else: destroyed interest. She alienated so many. Infuriated people who supported this program since before she was in diapers. Acted so callously and deceitfully that it literally turns many of our stomachs to see what has happened to this program that we absolutely loved.

So brace yourself boys and trolls. I'm back.

[TheDarkHawkReturns]

I, too, have posted on the Eunuch Board. I expect to be kicked out shortly. Here is a link to the post, along with the text itself for reference when it is "accidentally deleted".

http://uwmfreak.proboards.com/post/131809

The decision to move back on campus was an awful decision but attendance was slipping well before that.

Frankly, you are over-estimating the number of people who care that Amanda did not let the team play in a 3rd tier postseason event last year. Maybe there are a couple hundred of you that did not attend games because of that? I think a couple hundred is being very generous.

The problem is that there is no atmosphere at the games. Because of that fewer and fewer "common" fans show up to games. My issue with Amanda and the Athletic department, is that they have not found a way to get more people into the arena.


Hmmm....a "couple hundred"....so, let's say 250 people? Fair enough?

250 / 1460 = 17%

So....using your numbers, which I believe are on the low side, Amanda Braun is personally responsible for a 17% drop in attendance, most of which is in season ticket holders who buy the more expensive seats, which generate the most revenue, and also therefore contribute to the Panther Fund (some in very large amounts). Furthermore, those people buy things like beer and soda.

Furthermore, those people probably also are more likely to be engaged with the University as a whole, and often can be counted on to lobby the state government on behalf of the University.

So, yeah, that 17% is kind of important, and they are gone, by your own admission, due to one thing: Amanda Braun.

As for me personally, I will not have any affiliation with the University, athletics or otherwise, until she is relieved of her duties. Amanda Braun is in charge of the single most public aspect of UW Milwaukee, and as such is one of the primary representatives of that institution. As such, I will not support either her, or the University, while she is paid to represent it. I have made my reasons clear many times, but I will restate them here again for the record.

1) She is a liar, and this is not open for debate. She lied to players, players families, coaches, University administrators, her employees, donors, fans, and the media. She did so on multiple occasions on a multitude of topics. These were not instances of needing to speak with care due to impending decisions. These were blatant, and in some cases vicious ad hominem, falsehoods that served only one purpose - preserving her own position and destroying any that disagreed with her.

2) She is incompetent. She was not qualified for the position when hired, and has shown absolutely no growth into the position in the time since. Each day under her leadership (and I use that term loosely) has been worse than the one that preceded it. Each decision has been worse than the last. She is simply in well over her head and does not deserve the job she has.

3) She is a vindictive, petty, and immature person who uses her official position to bully, intimidate, and exact revenge on her perceived "enemies". She is incapable of admitting a mistake, and has surrounded herself with "yes men/women" who will never challenge her on any decision, because they have very justified fear for their professional lives.

(Please note the lack of any mention of any specific coach {past or present} in the above, for those who believe all opposition to Ms Braun is due to a single decision - it is most clearly not, and is due almost exclusively to her behavior over a long period and numerous examples of deficient character traits, lack of basic understanding of her duties, and in all honesty, a stunning lack of intelligence.)

So now the "posters" (read: athletics department employees) can flame away at me, claim I am just another "Jeter Boy", have no facts to support any of my opinions, and conclude that "people like me" (you know - potential donors with a little bit of disposable income) don't matter anyway.

[Jimmy Lemke]

The people over there are tired. I don't blame them; when you just want to watch basketball, all the other stuff is getting in the way. They wanted to win, and all they wanted to see was the surface stuff: Rob Jeter wasn't getting the job done. The why was not their concern. The ends justify the means.

Well guys, I don't blame you if you don't want to fight. I blame you if you get in our way.

[Jimmy Lemke]

The people over there are tired. I don't blame them; when you just want to watch basketball, all the other stuff is getting in the way. They wanted to win, and all they wanted to see was the surface stuff: Rob Jeter wasn't getting the job done. The why was not their concern. The ends justify the means.

Well guys, I don't blame you if you don't want to fight. I blame you if you get in our way.

[Skrapheap]

Less than half an hour before the Women's game is to begin, there are, maybe, 30 people in the stands who bought a ticket, slightly more than the folks working in the arena tonight.

The Panthers may have a decent chance of success in the tournament. The team that won it the last two years, the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, turned down an invitation, citing player injuries. The two years before that, Detroit and UIC won.

[dylanrocks]

I'm pissed!

To think, one of the tournaments or buy games in which our men's team participated during the APR ban year paid for this debacle!

Good luck to the women! Good luck to us all!

[DKelly28]

Tremendous opportunity for the women's program as they had a good year. In fact, they defeated Southern Illinois tonight for their first ever postseason tournament win in the D1 era. Just wish that same opportunity for postseason play was granted to the men's program last year.

If anyone doesn't think that the AD is at the very least a damn hypocrite, well apparently nothing she will ever say or do will change their minds.

[TheDarkHawkReturns]

Cross posting a post from the Eunuch Board for visibility:

I complain because I want the program to succeed, and that does not equate to supporting which ever inept idiot is at the helm.

If you are unclear on my history, allow me to enlighten you:

Before we hired the first of 4 successive idiots (culminating with the supreme idiot in place today) I spent thousands of dollars on season tickets...buying more than I needed every season to bring new potential fans to the games with me in order to try to grow the fan base.

In addition, I donated as much as I could afford at the time to the Panther Fund, which some years was not much I will grant you, but I gave every cent I could.

I spent countless hours of my personal time trying to lobby the Athletic Department (specifically the Development Director at the time) to increase donor and fan engagement, building proposals for multiple programs, some of which were, and are, standard things successful programs do and we didn't then and don't to this day. I also worked with a few others to propose reasonable expansion plans for other programs (specifically baseball and soccer), and made every effort to get them to the attention of the administration.

I also took it upon myself to schedule and pay for and in home team event at my personal residence...at entirely my own expense. An event that I had to educate the Athletic Department on the legality of under NCAA rules, doing all the compliance research and providing the AD all the supporting documentation....mind you, the AD has a compliance department that had no idea that such a thing was allowed by the NCAA at all.

I made it a point to get to know the coaches and more importantly the players and some of their families as well, to make sure they felt supported and part of the Panther family. I count some of them as friends to this day.

So while I was doing all this, most of you were buying $5 tickets, and posting on the internet.....and some of you not even doing that on a regular basis.

I would love Coach Jordan to have all the tools he needs to succeed.
I would love to be able to see him recruit at a national level.
I would love for him to play in front of a packed Panther Arena, with a student section made up of more than the pep band and 4 people.
I would love to write checks to the Panther Fund to help make a lot of this happen.
I would love to host an annual team party again.
I would love to get to know the kids on the roster, and the coaches and staff.
I would love to see my team in the Big Dance every season, and become known nationally as a stellar program.
I would love to be able to tell people that I went to Milwaukee and have them not ask me if I mean Marquette or Madison.
I would love to have a program that instills pride and is seen as a winner, and not just in basketball.
I would love to see the baseball team, the only D1 program in the state, become a source of revenue that isn't forced to play in a Milwaukee County Park on the same field that the "over 40 baseball bar league" would use.
I would love to see the Women become a powerhouse along side the men.
I would love to have a soccer teams that are in the top tier of programs nationally (and I don't even like soccer at all).

None of this will happen with the AD we have, or her predecessors, for that matter. Sadly we are closer to leaving D1 than we are any of the things I just mentioned.

So....in short....do not dare tell me what I can and cannot do. Do not dare question my dedication to the program or the University.

Just because I am not a shameless suck up prostituting myself for the currently in power administrator does not make me less of a fan. In fact....it makes me a true fan - of the program, not the nob in charge. It makes me one of many who want better for the program than constant humiliation, failure, ineptitude, and floundering while other programs similarly situated 10 or 15 years ago have blossomed into major programs while we dabble in the land of High School Gym home games with High School level attendance.

[Skrapheap]

Dudes....you're really harshing their mellow over at the other board. :)

[dylanrocks]

I love the passion on this board ... for the program, not the standing (for now) administration.

[dylanrocks]

Does anyone know whatever happened to Nobertas Giga, our erstwhile top recruit for the Class of 2016? (If you guys don't have the stomach to discuss this right now, I completely understand.)

[Jimmy Lemke]

Norbertas Giga? Just the second of the trio Boudreau was close to signing when the axe came down: Tre'Darius McCallum (DePaul), Norbertas Giga (JSU), Clint Robinson (UIC). Brett Prahl could have pushed Robinson for floor time, but not the other two.

[dylanrocks]

Norbertas Giga? Just the second of the trio Boudreau was close to signing when the axe came down: Tre'Darius McCallum (DePaul), Norbertas Giga (JSU), Clint Robinson (UIC). Brett Prahl could have pushed Robinson for floor time, but not the other two.

I think I'm going to be sick ... again!

[Skrapheap]

Does anyone know whatever happened to Nobertas Giga, our erstwhile top recruit for the Class of 2016? (If you guys don't have the stomach to discuss this right now, I completely understand.)

Jacksonville State, where Mr. Giga ended up, was picked to finish last in their conference, won their conference tournament and made the NCAA tournament as a 15 seed, where they lost in the first round to Louisville.