Julie / Barci - Listen !!!!

[ruhudsonfan]

He may tailor his comments to the audience. When talking to faculty, knowing that there is a large anti-athletics group in the faculty, I would expect him not to be as rah-rah about athletics and comment that moving to big-time athletics was not his choice to make and isn't his option to undo. It's a way for him to kill the questions that he is likely to get asking for Rutgers to drop down in athletics.

But tailoring his comments is more difficult to do at something like the State of the University event which is a mix of faculty, administration, politicians, and donors. While parts of his speech were certainly directed to specific constituent groups (e.g., trying to sell naming rights to the pedestrian walkway over the Raritan was obviously directed to donors), all his comments were heard by all constituent groups. And during his long speech, he reiterated several times about the benefits of being in the Big Ten, and the need not just to be competitive, but to compete to win.

I respect that. And we share the same take on things. He tailors his message, while remaining somewhat true to a core belief, based on his audience.

Trust me, it wasn't easy sitting in those settings and listening to otherwise intelligent people talk out of their arse about athletics. I felt like a double agent. lol.

And as I've said here in this thread and many other places, I sorta like the guy. And when viewed holistically, it is hard to conclude that his tenure isn't wildly successful. In our world of sports, it's been rough. But overall, he's batting in the .700s in my view.

 

[RU31trap]

I'm sorry but I don't buy into Barchi supports athletics. I find his speeches carefully written and the back room chatter supports what I feel about him. Both he and faculty know full well that if a major investment is made in the football program, your going to start winning high profile games. Now here is the ultimate threat. If at that point in time the football program becomes obscenely lucrative the AD and coach become very powerful. I remember as if it were yesterday Jimmy Johnson verbally reprimanding Miami's University President at a press conference. My memory serves me right the president criticized the direction of the University and Johnson fired back "you should have expressed your discontent before taking 10 million from the athletic department. Which may I add was generated by the very athletes you are criticizing". During the early 2000's a woman named Donna Shalala (sp) had the same concerns as Wildknight and singlehandedly destroyed one of the most feared football programs in college football history.

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

I'm sorry but I don't buy into Barchi supports athletics. I find his speeches carefully written and the back room chatter supports what I feel about him. Both he and faculty know full well that if a major investment is made in the football program, your going to start winning high profile games. This will
demand additional funding to start threatening for a B10 championship and maybe a NC. Now here is the ultimate threat. If at that point in time the football program becomes obscenely lucrative the AD and coach become very powerful. I remember as if it were yesterday Jimmy Johnson verbally reprimanding Miami's University President at a press conference. My memory serves me right the president criticized the direction of the University and Johnson fired back "you should have expressed your discontent before taking 10 million from the athletic department. Which may I add was generated by the very athletes you are criticizing". During the early 2000's a woman named Donna Shalala (sp) had the same concerns as Wildknight and singlehandedly destroyed one of the most feared football programs in college football history.

So he is afraid that if he supported athletics, he would be too successful?

 

[RU31trap]

Absolutely! Which is why you'll
never see big time football at Rutgers. You seem to be a bright enough individual to understand that there's more than one issue here.
1) Most professor are adversarial toward the program, they have been for decades. It is a known fact that University Presidents (similar to Barchi) have keep the program in check by under funding it resulting in mediocre results (I'm being nice). Remember, it's easier to argue against a weak program that loses money rather than a revenue generating program. (See my comment about a press conference with Jimmy Johnson and Miami's President 1987'ish). Can you envision that exchange here at Rutgers?
2) Anothet crippling fact is that your fanbase and alumni are not unified on the idea of big time football.
3) Finally, you live in a pro market area. Your one hour away from seeing four different sports and 13 pro teams. So please forgive the average NJ taxpayer for not wanting to support a big time college football program via an increase in tax dollars.

 

[RUNYGDVLSFAN]

This is insane... we were fooling ourselves to think we were his game at one time.
The amount of additional tickets we sold because of the B1G completion will diminish now because of the team we have. Change has to come before end of season, and give fans something to look forward to. Change is GOOD in this case. I truly believe there are some very talented players on this team, but the coaching is terrible. Get rid of Flood and the rest of the staff at season's end. The booing, the poor attendance, the student section, and more importantly, the dejected attitude of the players... they don't want to go through this anymore. And what Flood put Laviano through is crazy... he is a good kid. Replace him for now, let the kid regain his confidence back.. There was no blocking for him at all yesterday. Nova rebounded pretty well after getting benched. BOG, listen to your fans for once, we might be right in this case.