My brothers, my sisters,
Not the header you expected, is it?
On Saturday, like all of you, I attended the UAB-Marshall game and, like all of you, had a wonderful time. I enjoyed a fiercely-fought game in the company of family, really enjoyed the flawless dancing of the exquisitely beautiful Golden Girls and the performance of the well-drilled, well-ordered Marching Blazers, and I got to see members of my Blazer family like Blazer4Life, Attalla and DoktyrX.
And then afterwards, who should I spot as I left the stadium but Athletics Director Brian Mackin. So I cornered him, quite literally. I have known Brian Mackin since we were undergraduates at UAB, and while he’s bigger than I am and I suppose could have made a break for it, he stood his ground and stood my questioning.
His responses were, as others have reported, utterly non-committal. This seems to enrage many of you, but I have great experience in putting questions to people who do not wish to answer. And so I can say with great confidence, Brian Mackin did not want to lie to me, or to any of you. And he could have done so easily. He could have just said, “of course there will be football next year, and you and I will have a beer and enjoy ourselves. Don’t be silly.”
He did not say that. He did not lie.
He could have asked me to end these screeds. He did not say that. I interpret that as a signal to continue this fight by whatever means necessary.
Brian Mackin is a flawed man and a flawed leader, there is no doubt. He is not forceful in public, and he has a propensity to hire and retain flocks of utterly useless clock-watchers and time-servers. The marketing and public relations arms of the Athletic Department are outright disasters; his sports information director’s twitter feed sports a picture of said SID at SEC Media Days. He is served by idiots, idiots he selected and promoted. Brian Mackin is not the finest leader of men and women.
Yet it is under his leadership that UAB Football has survived repeated attempts to destroy it. It was Brian Mackin who took over an athletic department run into the ground by first the imbecilic Herman Frazier and then the excremental Watson Brown, and restored it to functionality. He poured his heart and soul into funding the on-campus stadium, and did not allow that fiasco to undo UAB Football. He fired Neil Callaway, incompetent favorite of the System Board of Trustees President Pro Tem. He defied the UASBOT and hired Bill Clark.
UAB Football exists because of Brian Mackin. Do you think that marvelous atmosphere on Saturday simply appeared out of thin air, conjured by our wishes and delivered by Santa Claus like a toy train on Christmas morning? No. It was planned, it was built, it was created under the direction of Brian Mackin.
If Brian Mackin is dismissed, who do you imagine will replace him? E.J. Brophy, or some other fire-eating, experienced athletics administrator eager to build UAB into the sports powerhouse it can and should become? Of course not. It will be some minor functionary, probably currently employed by Bill Battle, charged with winding down operations and then returning to his or her “real job” in Tuscaloosa.
UAB Football faces the likelihood of becoming collateral damage in a fiendish attempt by a small cadre of partisans of the School of Medicine to re-direct funds from undergraduate education to their own ego enhancement. Unable to compete for grants, now that the best researchers have left for better schools and the UABSOM under the “leadership” of Ray Watts, M.D. has fallen to #43 per U.S. News, they now seek to cannibalize the very institution that gives them life. If they were good enough to deserve the cash taken from the undergraduate programs, they’d be good enough to compete for grants against the 42 medical schools judged more worthy than they. In the person of Ray Watts, M.D., these selfish, coddled prima donnas would put the exaltation of their own mediocrity above the excellence of the overall, comprehensive university.
Let me repeat that: UAB Football is not the central issue. The east (medical) side is attempting to castrate the west (undergraduate) side of campus, and crushing football is just a side benefit in their eyes. If they succeed, they will wreck this city and region’s economy and society for the remainder of this century. And that is not hyperbole. They may or may not realize this, but either way, in their pampered selfishness this small band of the foolish and vain simply does not care.
It’s common in American politics to say, “You can’t fix X by throwing money at it,” where X equals something the speaker doesn’t want fixed. Money is not the only problem at the UABSOM; were that so, they wouldn’t have dropped so precipitously in the rankings. Now that we’ve had a chance to see how Ray Watts, M.D. leads the university as a whole, I think we can hazard a guess as to why the UABSOM declined in status. There are still many outstanding professionals in the UABSOM, teaching and research physicians and staff who are appalled at what is being perpetrated in their name. With strong leadership, the UABSOM can regain its rankings without damaging the rest of UAB.
There is evil at work, a gross and disgusting evil, but it is not the doing of Brian Mackin. He is not the defender I would choose, but he is the defender that we have. I will stand with him until he gives me reason to believe otherwise.
My brothers, my sisters, the moment is here. Gene Bartow prepared us for this moment. We cannot allow Joseph Volker’s dream to be sodomized by the incompetent and the corrupt.
We fight.
(11-23-2014 01:16 PM)58-56 Wrote: [ -> ]UAB Football exists because of Brian Mackin. Do you think that marvelous atmosphere on Saturday simply appeared out of thin air, conjured by our wishes and delivered by Santa Claus like a toy train on Christmas morning? No. It was planned, it was built, it was created under the direction of Brian Mackin.
I, respectfully, disagree.
UAB Football STILL exists because of Carol Garrison. The atmosphere on Saturday was not planned or built by Brian Mackin...it was created by the UAB faithful who have become activists in the last few weeks, who have put their cause on their shoulders publicly and pushed through when our supposed leadership will not and it was enabled by a true leader who is our football coach and the players on that team who have given us ammunition with which to fight this year. People like the donor that paid for 30,000 tickets to be distributed or the businesses that made a point to attach themselves to UAB Football are who made that happen.
What is Brian Mackin's job? What does he do to earn is $300,000 salary? Lately it has been to hold game balls for sponsors and dodge questions about the program's future.
He has paid an outside consultant to select our last 3 head coaching hires and IMG Sports handles a lot of the fundraising with regards to sponsors.
How does he earn his $300,000 salary? Because it sure as hell isn't as a lobbyist for our programs.
Our brother is passionate and articulate, and never more so then in defense of something he believes in as strongly as UAB.
Thank you.
(11-23-2014 01:22 PM)demiveeman Wrote: [ -> ] (11-23-2014 01:16 PM)58-56 Wrote: [ -> ]UAB Football exists because of Brian Mackin. Do you think that marvelous atmosphere on Saturday simply appeared out of thin air, conjured by our wishes and delivered by Santa Claus like a toy train on Christmas morning? No. It was planned, it was built, it was created under the direction of Brian Mackin.
I, respectfully, disagree.
UAB Football STILL exists because of Carol Garrison. The atmosphere on Saturday was not planned or built by Brian Mackin...it was created by the UAB faithful who have become activists in the last few weeks, who have put their cause on their shoulders publicly and pushed through when our supposed leadership will not and it was enabled by a true leader who is our football coach and the players on that team who have given us ammunition with which to fight this year. People like the donor that paid for 30,000 tickets to be distributed or the businesses that made a point to attach themselves to UAB Football are who made that happen.
What is Brian Mackin's job? What does he do to earn is $300,000 salary? Lately it has been to hold game balls for sponsors and dodge questions about the program's future.
He has paid an outside consultant to select our last 3 head coaching hires and IMG Sports handles a lot of the fundraising with regards to sponsors.
How does he earn his $300,000 salary? Because it sure as hell isn't as a lobbyist for our programs.
And how do you know Brian is not lobbying for football? Is all lobbying done in the public's eye? Not only no, but hell no.
Based on the mis-information contained in your post, I really don't think you have any idea what he is doing and what his job is, at this time.
(11-23-2014 01:37 PM)backyardblazer Wrote: [ -> ]Based on the mis-information contained in your post, I really don't think you have any idea what he is doing and what his job is, at this time.
I asked three times in my post what he does to earn his $300,000 salary. Would you mind answering the question for me then, since I am misinformed?
(11-23-2014 01:37 PM)backyardblazer Wrote: [ -> ] (11-23-2014 01:22 PM)demiveeman Wrote: [ -> ] (11-23-2014 01:16 PM)58-56 Wrote: [ -> ]UAB Football exists because of Brian Mackin. Do you think that marvelous atmosphere on Saturday simply appeared out of thin air, conjured by our wishes and delivered by Santa Claus like a toy train on Christmas morning? No. It was planned, it was built, it was created under the direction of Brian Mackin.
I, respectfully, disagree.
UAB Football STILL exists because of Carol Garrison. The atmosphere on Saturday was not planned or built by Brian Mackin...it was created by the UAB faithful who have become activists in the last few weeks, who have put their cause on their shoulders publicly and pushed through when our supposed leadership will not and it was enabled by a true leader who is our football coach and the players on that team who have given us ammunition with which to fight this year. People like the donor that paid for 30,000 tickets to be distributed or the businesses that made a point to attach themselves to UAB Football are who made that happen.
What is Brian Mackin's job? What does he do to earn is $300,000 salary? Lately it has been to hold game balls for sponsors and dodge questions about the program's future.
He has paid an outside consultant to select our last 3 head coaching hires and IMG Sports handles a lot of the fundraising with regards to sponsors.
How does he earn his $300,000 salary? Because it sure as hell isn't as a lobbyist for our programs.
And how do you know Brian is not lobbying for football? Is all lobbying done in the public's eye? Not only no, but hell no.
Based on the mis-information contained in your post, I really don't think you have any idea what he is doing and what his job is, at this time.
Exactly, just because something isn't being done in public, doesn't mean it isn't being done. Blazer fans need to dial down the anti Mackin rhetoric, this coming from someone who has been anti Mackin long before it was fashionable.
58-56 is right. Mackin is a horrible leader and having him lead the fight most likely means doom, but there is no proof he is working against us.
Send Mackin an email TODAY. You can hammer him for what he has or has not done, but in the end leave him with this idea: Brian, if you will stand up for UAB Football publicly, we will all stand behind you!
(11-23-2014 01:16 PM)58-56 Wrote: [ -> ]My brothers, my sisters,
Not the header you expected, is it?
On Saturday, like all of you, I attended the UAB-Marshall game and, like all of you, had a wonderful time. I enjoyed a fiercely-fought game in the company of family, really enjoyed the flawless dancing of the exquisitely beautiful Golden Girls and the performance of the well-drilled, well-ordered Marching Blazers, and I got to see members of my Blazer family like Blazer4Life, Attalla and DoktyrX.
And then afterwards, who should I spot as I left the stadium but Athletics Director Brian Mackin. So I cornered him, quite literally. I have known Brian Mackin since we were undergraduates at UAB, and while he’s bigger than I am and I suppose could have made a break for it, he stood his ground and stood my questioning.
His responses were, as others have reported, utterly non-committal. This seems to enrage many of you, but I have great experience in putting questions to people who do not wish to answer. And so I can say with great confidence, Brian Mackin did not want to lie to me, or to any of you. And he could have done so easily. He could have just said, “of course there will be football next year, and you and I will have a beer and enjoy ourselves. Don’t be silly.”
He did not say that. He did not lie.
He could have asked me to end these screeds. He did not say that. I interpret that as a signal to continue this fight by whatever means necessary.
Brian Mackin is a flawed man and a flawed leader, there is no doubt. He is not forceful in public, and he has a propensity to hire and retain flocks of utterly useless clock-watchers and time-servers. The marketing and public relations arms of the Athletic Department are outright disasters; his sports information director’s twitter feed sports a picture of said SID at SEC Media Days. He is served by idiots, idiots he selected and promoted. Brian Mackin is not the finest leader of men and women.
Yet it is under his leadership that UAB Football has survived repeated attempts to destroy it. It was Brian Mackin who took over an athletic department run into the ground by first the imbecilic Herman Frazier and then the excremental Watson Brown, and restored it to functionality. He poured his heart and soul into funding the on-campus stadium, and did not allow that fiasco to undo UAB Football. He fired Neil Callaway, incompetent favorite of the System Board of Trustees President Pro Tem. He defied the UASBOT and hired Bill Clark.
UAB Football exists because of Brian Mackin. Do you think that marvelous atmosphere on Saturday simply appeared out of thin air, conjured by our wishes and delivered by Santa Claus like a toy train on Christmas morning? No. It was planned, it was built, it was created under the direction of Brian Mackin.
If Brian Mackin is dismissed, who do you imagine will replace him? E.J. Brophy, or some other fire-eating, experienced athletics administrator eager to build UAB into the sports powerhouse it can and should become? Of course not. It will be some minor functionary, probably currently employed by Bill Battle, charged with winding down operations and then returning to his or her “real job” in Tuscaloosa.
UAB Football faces the likelihood of becoming collateral damage in a fiendish attempt by a small cadre of partisans of the School of Medicine to re-direct funds from undergraduate education to their own ego enhancement. Unable to compete for grants, now that the best researchers have left for better schools and the UABSOM under the “leadership” of Ray Watts, M.D. has fallen to #43 per U.S. News, they now seek to cannibalize the very institution that gives them life. If they were good enough to deserve the cash taken from the undergraduate programs, they’d be good enough to compete for grants against the 42 medical schools judged more worthy than they. In the person of Ray Watts, M.D., these selfish, coddled prima donnas would put the exaltation of their own mediocrity above the excellence of the overall, comprehensive university.
Let me repeat that: UAB Football is not the central issue. The east (medical) side is attempting to castrate the west (undergraduate) side of campus, and crushing football is just a side benefit in their eyes. If they succeed, they will wreck this city and region’s economy and society for the remainder of this century. And that is not hyperbole. They may or may not realize this, but either way, in their pampered selfishness this small band of the foolish and vain simply does not care.
It’s common in American politics to say, “You can’t fix X by throwing money at it,” where X equals something the speaker doesn’t want fixed. Money is not the only problem at the UABSOM; were that so, they wouldn’t have dropped so precipitously in the rankings. Now that we’ve had a chance to see how Ray Watts, M.D. leads the university as a whole, I think we can hazard a guess as to why the UABSOM declined in status. There are still many outstanding professionals in the UABSOM, teaching and research physicians and staff who are appalled at what is being perpetrated in their name. With strong leadership, the UABSOM can regain its rankings without damaging the rest of UAB.
There is evil at work, a gross and disgusting evil, but it is not the doing of Brian Mackin. He is not the defender I would choose, but he is the defender that we have. I will stand with him until he gives me reason to believe otherwise.
My brothers, my sisters, the moment is here. Gene Bartow prepared us for this moment. We cannot allow Joseph Volker’s dream to be sodomized by the incompetent and the corrupt.
We fight.
You are wrong. Plain and simple. Brian is a good guy but when crunch time came, he is NOWHERE to be found. He has not "publicly" shown support since this mess became reality for us.
Of all the heels in this WWE drama Brian is by far the least culpable. Think about it. What possible benefit would it be to any of us if Brian came out strongly at this point in our favor only to have his head lopped off immediately ( and it would happen in a heartbeat ) ? We'd all have our feel good moment and that's about as long as it would last, a moment. He'd soon be replaced by someone that would very publicly do the bidding of those that we oppose and this would be done, over.
As far as ROI with Brian sure the department is probably bloated with personnel and hopefully that will be the sacrificial lamb in this whole mess. But there have been huge infrastructure changes for many of the non revenue sports that have made us competitive when before we simply weren't. Football is the last and biggest infrastructure challenge and when Clark came those were put on the table. Once something like an IPF is put in place it's permanent, there is no going back. That's why this battle is likely the final one in athletics. We win we move to a higher level of competitiveness. We lose we fall off the map. I can tell you from conversations I've had with Brian (well prior to this mess) he not only understands our position I feel certain he supports it.
Save the tar and feathers for those that really deserve it. There are plenty of candidates. Brian's just nowhere near the top of the list.
(11-23-2014 01:45 PM)demiveeman Wrote: [ -> ] (11-23-2014 01:37 PM)backyardblazer Wrote: [ -> ]Based on the mis-information contained in your post, I really don't think you have any idea what he is doing and what his job is, at this time.
I asked three times in my post what he does to earn his $300,000 salary. Would you mind answering the question for me then, since I am misinformed?
I have a better question for you. Since you don't know what he is doing or not doing, why do you condemn someone for things you do not know?
Now to your questions, I know Brian is doing what he has always done, acting in a manner he feels is in the best interest of his school's athletic department, within the limits his bosses and budget will allow.
I don't always agree with Brian, and in fact, I called for his head over the way he and Haas handled the basketball scandal. But for goodness sakes, be reasonable.
I condemn Mackin for what he is doing publicly. Which is nothing.
Watts needs to go. As was pointed out in the OP he oversaw the Medical School's decline in prestige, now he is doing his thing on the undergraduate side as well.
(11-23-2014 02:29 PM)biglizard Wrote: [ -> ]Of all the heels in this WWE drama Brian is by far the least culpable. Think about it. What possible benefit would it be to any of us if Brian came out strongly at this point in our favor only to have his head lopped off immediately ( and it would happen in a heartbeat ) ? We'd all have our feel good moment and that's about as long as it would last, a moment. He'd soon be replaced by someone that would very publicly do the bidding of those that we oppose and this would be done, over.
As far as ROI with Brian sure the department is probably bloated with personnel and hopefully that will be the sacrificial lamb in this whole mess. But there have been huge infrastructure changes for many of the non revenue sports that have made us competitive when before we simply weren't. Football is the last and biggest infrastructure challenge and when Clark came those were put on the table. Once something like an IPF is put in place it's permanent, there is no going back. That's why this battle is likely the final one in athletics. We win we move to a higher level of competitiveness. We lose we fall off the map. I can tell you from conversations I've had with Brian (well prior to this mess) he not only understands our position I feel certain he supports it.
Save the tar and feathers for those that really deserve it. There are plenty of candidates. Brian's just nowhere near the top of the list.
Brian is very near the top! He is complicit in this plan because he is looking out for himself and his job. While I get that, he is neglecting hundreds of student-athletes and thousands of donors, alumni, and fans. He is not doing his job for fear of losing it. He should do his job first, and if they try to fire him, the public eye is watching them.
If he sits back, his job is greatly diminished, and IF they honor whatever deal they've offered him, they will back stab him soon thereafter. Better to step up with your integrity and be a fired hero than a sour, bitter, fired villain.
Brian needs to speak up for football right now to salvage some of the thousands of relationships he has spent years building!
(11-23-2014 05:19 PM)the Dragon Wrote: [ -> ] (11-23-2014 02:29 PM)biglizard Wrote: [ -> ]Of all the heels in this WWE drama Brian is by far the least culpable. Think about it. What possible benefit would it be to any of us if Brian came out strongly at this point in our favor only to have his head lopped off immediately ( and it would happen in a heartbeat ) ? We'd all have our feel good moment and that's about as long as it would last, a moment. He'd soon be replaced by someone that would very publicly do the bidding of those that we oppose and this would be done, over.
As far as ROI with Brian sure the department is probably bloated with personnel and hopefully that will be the sacrificial lamb in this whole mess. But there have been huge infrastructure changes for many of the non revenue sports that have made us competitive when before we simply weren't. Football is the last and biggest infrastructure challenge and when Clark came those were put on the table. Once something like an IPF is put in place it's permanent, there is no going back. That's why this battle is likely the final one in athletics. We win we move to a higher level of competitiveness. We lose we fall off the map. I can tell you from conversations I've had with Brian (well prior to this mess) he not only understands our position I feel certain he supports it.
Save the tar and feathers for those that really deserve it. There are plenty of candidates. Brian's just nowhere near the top of the list.
Brian is very near the top! He is complicit in this plan because he is looking out for himself and his job. While I get that, he is neglecting hundreds of student-athletes and thousands of donors, alumni, and fans. He is not doing his job for fear of losing it. He should do his job first, and if they try to fire him, the public eye is watching them.
If he sits back, his job is greatly diminished, and IF they honor whatever deal they've offered him, they will back stab him soon thereafter. Better to step up with your integrity and be a fired hero than a sour, bitter, fired villain.
Brian needs to speak up for football right now to salvage some of the thousands of relationships he has spent years building!
You have said a lot of things as fact, but you have no way of knowing if they are fact. I don't either. If he is fighting like crazy behind the scenes and not speaking out publicly because he knows he will be gone if he does, how does that hurt the cause.
No one knows what he is doing. Just a lot of assumptions.
It is also an assumption to think he is fighting behind the seems in some sort of hypothetical chess match.
All we really know is what he does publicly. Which is, again, nothing. This entire thing would have never come out had it not been for the supporters of UAB doing their part and fighting this fight.
From the beginning, people have said..."It's not a big deal...this is overblown." Weeks have gone by, more and more the evidence showed what the true agenda was. Then, even as recently as Saturday during the game, people were saying "Clark hasn't said anything about this...I think it is probably overblown." Well, Clark finally spoke.
How much more needs to come out to realize the only thing driving this entire fight is pressure from the OUTSIDE. What can Brian Mackin possibly do on the inside that would have a greater impact than him publicly supporting his football program's future? What bargaining chips does he have? NONE.
I'm not saying he is fighting, and if he is, I don't like our chances. All I'm saying is no one knows what is going on, despite how many inside sources they have.
I don't know what to think of Mackin, but one thing I know about him is that he's pretty high on the list of people I'm glad I'm not.
I, for one, am glad that our brother 58-56 has returned with his sensible words. I have missed them tremendously during these troubling times...
It is pretty binary for me at this point. You either fighting for the football program or you aren't.
If you are on the inside and cant publicly support the "cause", then start leaking out info that can help change the direction this is going in.