http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/...ns_to.html

Quote:The documents show that public relations firm Sard Verbinnen & Co. prepared detailed plans for UAB to announce last September that it would eliminate the three programs, months before the school made the actual announcement.

The documents also show the school pushed back the announcement date until the conclusion of the football team's regular season on the advice of both Sard Verbinnen and CarrSports.

Quote:One "confidential draft" of a "Rollout Schedule Summary" and another of a "Full Rollout Schedule," both under Sard Verbinnen letterhead, include a detailed to-do list leading up to "Announcement Day - Wednesday September 17, 2014."

One of the items listed for that day: "B. Clark and/or B. Mackin to notify assistant football coaches and coaches of other cut teams, followed by football players and players of other cut teams."

Quote:Another item on that to-do list included this instruction for Tuesday Sept. 16: "R. Watts to host call with select key UA Board of Trustee members to notify them of final announcement plan."

Another document shows consideration of another September date to go public with the news that UAB would eliminate the three programs.

A "Task List" on Sard Verbinnen stationery includes a different timeline. It details a weekly list of initiatives starting with August 11, 2014. That week's initiative says, "Carr Consulting to send full summary of findings."

That task list leads to a Sept. 30 "Announcement day." That was Tuesday of the week UAB beat Western Kentucky to improve to 3-2.

Quote:Why did UAB not announce the elimination of football, rifle and women's bowling in September? An "Amended Confidential Memorandum" from Sard Verbinnen to UAB director of media relations Jim Bakken dated Sept. 5, 2014 recommends "a post-season announcement on Monday Dec. 1, 2014 or Tuesday Dec. 2, 2014, is the most suitable option to communicate the results of the athletic department's strategic review."

That memo offers "our basis for opposing a mid-season announcement." It suggests the potential for "a critical mass of immediate transfer requests ... where students refuse to finish out the season" or "a full team boycott."

"If not effectively managed," the memo says, "it is conceivable that UAB would not be able to field a competitive team - or any team."

The memo also suggests the possibility that UAB football players "may react very badly if an announcement is made during the season."

Juicy. The fix was in from the beginning.

And people wonder why UAB Football could never grow into what it should be.

The smoking gun:

Quote:The Carr report UAB made public Dec. 2 was dated Nov. 18. Among the documents AL.com obtained is a draft of that same Carr report dated Sept. 3. The two documents appear to be virtually identical, indicating that the data Watts said he relied upon to kill football had already been compiled by CarrSports by early September.

Quote:The documents as a group raise one significant question: If the decision to eliminate the three programs wasn't made until November, as Watts said on multiple occasions, why were such detailed plans, timelines and talking points designed to announce and gain support for that decision prepared in September?

This is why Watts nixed the football task force choice of firm (OKSR) to recheck the numbers published by the Carr Report. Watts knew that OKSR would uncover this. I'm going to stay calm but if this doesn't cause heads to roll then I don't know what will.

Signal boost. The trail of dominoes is reaching its end. Wait. Watch. Enjoy. For UAB.

Any reasoned reading of the Carr report makes it obvious the report was written to support a predetermined conclusion and was never a fact finding report designed to determine a course of action as claimed.

So basically, the decision was made prior to UAB going 6-6 on the season. In which case, at that time it was fairly easy to see past history of UAB lack of support in football and with nobody at the games and UAB having a dismal records to pull the plug.

(03-23-2015 09:56 AM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  And people wonder why UAB Football could never grow into what it should be.

This^^^^^^^^^

(03-23-2015 09:56 AM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  And people wonder why UAB Football could never grow into what it should be.

This^^^^^^^^^

(03-23-2015 10:18 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Any reasoned reading of the Carr report makes it obvious the report was written to support a predetermined conclusion and was never a fact finding report designed to determine a course of action as claimed.

I agree, but that has no bearing on whether or not the UAB football program was sustainable or in the best interest of the university or the state.

The UAB fans and supporters need to double down on their efforts to rid themselves of President Watts. No one in that position can be that duplicitous and think they can retain the support of their constituents.

(03-23-2015 11:09 AM)Eichorst Wrote:  

(03-23-2015 10:18 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Any reasoned reading of the Carr report makes it obvious the report was written to support a predetermined conclusion and was never a fact finding report designed to determine a course of action as claimed.

I agree, but that has no bearing on whether or not the UAB football program was sustainable or in the best interest of the university or the state.

IDK, it seems to me if you have to trump up a report to support closing the programs the truth has got to be less supportive of the move.

(03-23-2015 10:22 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  So basically, the decision was made prior to UAB going 6-6 on the season. In which case, at that time it was fairly easy to see past history of UAB lack of support in football and with nobody at the games and UAB having a dismal records to pull the plug.

And if that was the case why hire a new football coach? Why tell him their is a feasibility study taking place to determine how to go about making improvements for certain UAB depts to include athletics? Why be misleading if the administration truly believe they had the necessary information and data to shut the program down prior to the start of the 2014 season?

You can hire a consulting firm and tell them what you desire to gain from a report. It was obvious a consulting firm was brought in the determine the best way to eliminate the football, rifle, and bowling teams and to produce numbers (not factual by the way) that would support their decision to eliminate these sports.

(03-23-2015 11:43 AM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  

(03-23-2015 10:22 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  So basically, the decision was made prior to UAB going 6-6 on the season. In which case, at that time it was fairly easy to see past history of UAB lack of support in football and with nobody at the games and UAB having a dismal records to pull the plug.

And if that was the case why hire a new football coach? Why tell him their is a feasibility study taking place to determine how to go about making improvements for certain UAB depts to include athletics? Why be misleading if the administration truly believe they had the necessary information and data to shut the program down prior to the start of the 2014 season?

You can hire a consulting firm and tell them what you desire to gain from a report. It was obvious a consulting firm was brought in the determine the best way to eliminate the football, rifle, and bowling teams and to produce numbers (not factual by the way) that would support their decision to eliminate these sports.

Why? Because for the reasons stated. UAB player would instantly transfer and basically could have player not even field a team. That would be bad for the conference and other OOC teams that had them on the schedule. The season had to be played out.

I don't buy that Carr Sports Assoc. will purposefully destroy themselves by manipulating data to fit some clients criteria. If they did that, they would no longer be in business.

Having worked for a large corporation, this just has the feel of something that you should let go.

Even if you somehow get the leadership to reverse the decision for now, this is a fight you would end up having over and over until the football program is gone for good.

I'm still trying to figure out how on Earth is Ray Watts still employed

I have seen this at 2 different companies to
Hire a outside group to study something and
Have the result what management wanted.

Remember the school provides the consultants
The numbers.... The school conveniently forgot
To tell Carr about the 600,000 in annual football
Donations......

(03-23-2015 11:09 AM)Eichorst Wrote:  

(03-23-2015 10:18 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Any reasoned reading of the Carr report makes it obvious the report was written to support a predetermined conclusion and was never a fact finding report designed to determine a course of action as claimed.

I agree, but that has no bearing on whether or not the UAB football program was sustainable or in the best interest of the university or the state.

That was the ALLEDGED to be the purpose of the report. Instead of determining the answers to the those questions, Carr simply took one side of the argument and attempted to skew the facts to fit that view. Basically, it was like having a debate where the winner was predetermined and only one side was allowed to speak.

(03-23-2015 11:52 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(03-23-2015 11:43 AM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  

(03-23-2015 10:22 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  So basically, the decision was made prior to UAB going 6-6 on the season. In which case, at that time it was fairly easy to see past history of UAB lack of support in football and with nobody at the games and UAB having a dismal records to pull the plug.

And if that was the case why hire a new football coach? Why tell him their is a feasibility study taking place to determine how to go about making improvements for certain UAB depts to include athletics? Why be misleading if the administration truly believe they had the necessary information and data to shut the program down prior to the start of the 2014 season?

You can hire a consulting firm and tell them what you desire to gain from a report. It was obvious a consulting firm was brought in the determine the best way to eliminate the football, rifle, and bowling teams and to produce numbers (not factual by the way) that would support their decision to eliminate these sports.

Why? Because for the reasons stated. UAB player would instantly transfer and basically could have player not even field a team. That would be bad for the conference and other OOC teams that had them on the schedule. The season had to be played out.

I don't buy that Carr Sports Assoc. will purposefully destroy themselves by manipulating data to fit some clients criteria. If they did that, they would no longer be in business.

Why? Consultants present biased reports all the time (every seen an expert witness at a trial?). There are basically 2 kinds of consulting reports. One is a report that takes an objective unbiased view of the facts and then seeks to determine the best course of action based on these facts. The other, is more like a lawyer, where the consultant takes an advocacy role and attempts to support the clients desired outcome. Im not suggesting Carr lied. Im suggested Carr supplied the kind of report he was asked to develop. Im suggesting that the facts used were those that supported the case while the facts that didn't were either ignored, minimized, or somehow discredited. I AM suggesting that Watts lied about what type of report he asked for. I mean, the email trail at this point is basically telling exactly the story Im suggesting.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...-the-sport

Jon Solomon of CBS also weighs in with this sad piece from a proposed Q&A to players, should UAB have followed through with a mid-season shutdown:

Quote:Perhaps the saddest document released was one that appears to be a draft of UAB answering questions for players under the assumption football would get cut in September. The document said that UAB winning the rest of its games wouldn't change the decision, and UAB planned to accentuate the positives of killing the sport.

“Make History, Show Your Heart,” the document said. “This will be a difficult transition, but it will demonstrate your ability to deal with hard times and show heart, work ethic, loyalty and dedication. These are traits to be proud of and this is a story you will be able to share and benefit from in every job interview for the rest of your life. Take this opportunity to prove your ability to deal with a difficult situation and to help others through the same — something employers look for.”

That's like telling a worker who you are going to lay off "I'll write you a great recommendation."