The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

THE TRAVELING CIRCUS

As the winter season approaches, and the events posted on the WMU web site are continually listed, I'm sure we're all looking forward to the announcements
of the Annual World Winter Tour to warmer climates.
Speaking to a handful of Alumni in Florida, California, Arizona, Mexico?, and other exotic locations, certainly challenges the imagination.
Do you think that the donations obtained from the honored attendees even approach the travel costs "break even" point?
I'm sure, I don't know.
Who's in charge?

Many of us found it remarkable, that given this worldly view of the universe, that such a provincial view of the rest of the State of Michigan,
where the majority of Western Michigan University reside, still exists. We have concluded that this is consideres to be "bad form", at the very least.

How can these Winter Vacations to exotic locations be justified when top WMU Administration can't be bothered to travel throughout the State of Michigan,
where the majority of Western Michigan University Alumni reside. This seems especially questionable when enrollment and donations seem to be a concern.

Occasionally, an element of truth slips through on other thread postings subtly disguised, so not to directly accuse anyone of utter selfishness, or stupidity,
or both, as a hint of the DRAMA that really exists behind the scenes at WMU.
Who's in charge?

BTW, what ever happened to all the Alumni activity north in Grand Rapids, home of the "pilot study", that those of us in SE Michigan were informed of last fall?
Did someone cut off the gas to the pilot light, or was that a quickly conceived story to fool the Faithful Bronco Alumni in SE Michigan?
(Do you expect us to believe that, or anything else?)
Who's in charge?

We can almost hear the rudderless ship crashing on the "Rocks of Despair"!

Once again, the visits to this thread, since the last posting, have exceeded 500 views.

What do you think?


"Truth? You can't handle the truth!"
Col. Jessep, aka "Crazy Jack" Nicholson, in A Few Good Men

THE VIEW.........
from the other side of the moat.

On several occasions, in previous postings, I rhetorically asked, "Who's in charge?", Does anyone know, I don'r know.
Of course, as I recall, "Never ask a question you don't know the answer to......, was advice we've all heeded, as we've rolled down life's Rocky Road.

The recent firing of BC, whether we agree with it or not, probably has nothing to do with winning or losing, but how our Alma Mater is perceived by fans,
influential Alumni, school administration and the real world.

As a twenty year resident of Kalamazoo, as a student, then a taxpayer/homeowner, I had planned on living in Kalamazoo the rest of my life. Even now,
i have only good things to say about Kalamazoo.

However, many people do not share my lofty opinion of the community, which is viewed by many as the "end of the road".
Recently, I red that an assistant coach at Michigan pretty well trashed WMU in a commentary I may have read on BS.
Kalamazoo and WMU are not the center of the Universe.

In keeping with distorted views of reality, someone posted recently an attempt to credit themselves for BC's dismissal, because of his e-mails to the Prez. Sure.......
Reality check......
As many are engaged in discussions concerning who the next FB coach will be, they never seem to consider, "Who would want to come to WMU or Kalamazoo?" !
Of course, there are the ambitiously desperate.......Someone did hire Beatle Bailey.
Are the inmates running the asylum?

Chances are the new FB coach will be someone "on the way up", or "on the way out".
Both will eventually leave, either for "mo money", or termination, or retirement.
Chances are that one of the biggest elements in the equation will be the most influential, "Compatibility trumps Ability, every time."
Athletics at WMU and the MAC are cyclical not linear. A few good years in any sport is the best anyone should expect.
Now, there's a reality.

My co-conspirators and I have decided that "It will really never get any better than BC!", given what he had to work with.

Our Alma Mater's Administration, with it's Provincial Attitude towards the rest of the world is happy to sit on the other side of the moat
until they move on or retire.
Who the next FB coach is of little concern, as long as they can be controlled, are under control, and generate enough cash in keeping
with the current Collection Agency mentality.
Who's in charge?

What do you think?

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS.............
and we don't mean hockey pucks

We've just discovered an interesting parallel between the search for a new WMU FB coach, some goals stated, and the lack of stated goals with the demise of a functioning Alumni Association.

I suppose somewhere there's a mathematical genius that could develop a model to solve these issues, but it's obvious, to at least a few of us, that there are a few "fixed factors" in the over all equation.
Several comments have approached this dilemma by restating the obvious place that WMU belongs in the collection of schools in Michigan, the mid-west, and in the National Registry of Directional Schools.
Fifty States times four directions per state {some have more, some have less) equal two hundred possibilities? (50X4=200)
Kalamazoo? WMU?, never heard of it.

Other possible factors are the size of the school, number of alumni, average alumni income, number of professional schools, functioning Alumni Association, and various other factors to numerous to mention.
You can only wrest so much money out of telephone solicitation too.
Some of these factors are not going to change in the near future, if ever.
Simply stating that we need to do something about attendance at football games, so let's fire the FB coach, and hope everything works out, as a solution, does make one wonder about the decision making process,
and who's calling the shots?
Risk Management, anyone? Who's really in charge? Anybody?
Besides it's not about attendance, it's about the money.

The shortsightedness of only dealing with immediate concerns, short term goals, and not be concerned with mid-range and long-term goals, and effects, would seem to be the case as with the Collection Agency,
aka the non-functioning Alumni Association.
This does reflect a lack of Planning and Goal setting abilities beyond collecting money.
Is WMU simply unwilling or incapable of operating a functioning Alumni Association?
Maybe it would "pay" to look at other factors in the equation!
This Reactive Management style of governance certainly reflects a regressive retreat into mediocrity. OR, maybe things have always been Provincially Mediocre?

Perhaps, respecting all WMU Alumni by operating a functioning Alumni Association, instead of treating WMU Alumni as simply "CASH COWS" to be manipulated into parting
with their money, might play a significant role in filling those empty seats in Waldo Stadium. Attendance..........

This could be the beginning of overcoming the damage currently being done to Alumni Relations.

There have been over 550 visits to this thread since the last posting.

What do you think?


Has anyone here seen Sam Lowry?
-------------------Brazil (the movie)

Quote:its about the money

Worse, it's about the money for the fund to which they're attached.

Does anyone know what the administration and staff costs are for the approximately 43 employees? OR
How much did it cost for that stellar production of Dancing With the Stars ? (the fix is in)

(12-11-2012 10:23 PM)JHoover Wrote:  Who's really in charge? Anybody?

Dunn is in charge, surrounded by some questionable people. The director of alumni/development isn't making any friends in the administration, either. Whether that's because he wants to make changes but isn't allowed, or doesn't want to make changes but is told to is a question I don't know the answer to.

There are a lot of people that insist on doing their "old job",
because they don't want to do their new job,
or are incapable of doing their new job.

(12-14-2012 02:28 PM)JHoover Wrote:  There are a lot of people that insist on doing their "old job",
because they don't want to do their new job,
or are incapable of doing their new job.

Fascinating.

3:10 to Yuma, or
6 Hours to NOWHERE?

Will Coach Dunn and Monty Python be on the sidelines this fall trying to out-dance Ralphie Parkers friend, Coach Fleck?
(see Dancing with the Stars comment in an earlier posting)

Does this travel limitation apply to the Annual Winter Wold Tour to Florida, California, Arizona, Mexico, Malaysia, and other exotic places?

Perhaps, WMU should just sign-up the Kalamazoo Central Football Team so their family, relatives, and friends can pack Waldo Stadium?
This would certainly cut down on travel and save a lot of money!

How embarrassing!

It's become even more obvious, while we'd like to assume, that just because people are in responsible positions at WMU, that they are there because
they know what they're doing..............We've been fooled again.
Once more, given enough time and space, they've revealed their detachment from reality.
Apparently, "they" are beyond embarrassment.

Alumni? The eternal optimists? They're easily fooled.
We don't give a s**t about the Alumni, unless they're a major donor.

The disinterest by prospective head football coaches in WMU, because of it's financial limitations, in a competitive market for head coaches
and assistant coaches, is bad enough.
But whoever ordered the assassination of BC, also emphasized a toxic administrative culture
that exists at WMU. We'll see............
Sadly, Western Michigan University is what it is.........

Since the last posting, there have been over 500 views to this thread.

What do you think?


"Here Comes Santie Claus..."
.............Gene Autry, 1947

Would the GLI this weekend be a good time for WMU to reach out to it's alumni base on the East side of Michigan?

Reach Out, Reach Out........
I'll Be There...........not!

If it wasn't for an occasional appearance by WMU team, there would be absolutely no WMU presence in SE Michigan.
It's real comforting to see that UofT sign out in left field at Commerica Park too.
While this sounds like a good idea, not every Alumni is interested in sports.

I'm sure we're all familiar with being ignored, to the point of simply accepting the sadly obvious.

The former SE Michigan WMU Alumni Chapter President can't even find anyone who want's to go with him to the GLI.
Will there be a telephone call promotion to encourage attendance, (along with a request for cash)?

Perhaps the major donors will attend.

Maybe next time..........

So you wouldn't be please if the Alumni Association held a function during this weekend in the Detroit area...coinciding with the GLI?

Step in the right direction? Something is better than nothing?

A Great Big "THANKS" to the.......
Athletic Department and Hockey Team for making this possible,and

"No Thanks" to opportunistic, non functioning Alumni disAssociation.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!,
ready for more of the same?

Things have been fairly quiet over the last few weeks after the football purge, and world wide search for a new coach, that did seem to extend beyond a six hour drive.
But, maybe not.
The change in direction from head coaching experience, to no head coaching experience, and retaining some of the assistant coaches, and the six hour drive rule, again begs the question--
Were these conditions of employment thrust upon ambitiously desperate applicants, or afterthoughts created by some self-absorbed meddler outside of the Athletic Department?
The last time the number six came up with me was when my mother told me not to cross the street or to leave the block. I was six.

In my short employment with the WMU Administration, in the Administration Building many years ago, I was asked by friends, what it was like to work at WMU.
Well, I noted, while meeting a lot of nice people, and I did have some old friends in other departments, the closest thing I could think to compare he University to was
a Kingdom, consisting of a collection of Principalities.
Also, it was an unwritten rule not to let the people in the Castle (Ad Bldg.) know what was really going on. Always "Good News", never anything "Bad", or "Evil" going on, but behind the scenes,
DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA! (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil ?)
I doubt that things have changed much, only the cast of "characters".

I'm sure that some of our viewers would like to be optimistic, cautiously optimistic, or even pessimistically optimistic about the future.
I think the Old Alumni are in the later category.

Some of us have seen enough of this, enough times to understand that because of the fixed factors in the equation, WMU has painted itself in a corner.
If the football team is to provide a preponderance of the funding for all WMU athletic programs (?), and in order to generate money, teams are scheduled
that are inviting us to their stadiums and pay us a lot of money to lose, resulting in the chance for more loses than wins, affecting the ability to recruit quality
players, even within a six hour drive, WMU winds up in a "Catch 22" situation.
"They" could always claim insanity.
(Read the book, or rent the movie, if you don't know about "Catch 22")

There have been over 600 views to this thread since the last posting.

What do you think?


"Save the Bombardier!"
Cap't Yossarian, USAAF

I think schools similar to wmu have been scheduling bcs powers and taking pay days for a long time. This is nothing new.

JH, I think you have a point, but in regards to personalities, politics, and resultant drama - I doubt Western is much different than any similar organization.

That may be true in any sector Hoople, but it's been my observation that the org's that deal with it better are more effective.

What Do You Think?

My friends and I are tempted to weigh in on the FB coaching situation, but since we're over here
and most of the comments and info are over there, I guess we'll remain "concerned observers" for now.
Most of us usually are of the opinion, that its a good idea to give new-comers the benefit of the doubt.
I even gave Beatle Bailey the benefit of the doubt, when my colleagues did not.
That didn't last long.

However, as a reflection of the overall situation at Western Michigan University, as it relates to FB,
and a non-functioning association of Alumni, the pattern of meandering governance in search of direction,
seems to reflect a level of waywardness.
Having taken a couple of courses in Educational Leadership, apparently does not reflect very well on the WMU's
administration's ability to render decisions that instill confidence in the masses that "they" know what their doing.

Recent comments that bought to our attention things that we're aware of through life's journeys, at least reflects that someone is reading this.
But, as DB pointed out, it's how things are dealt with that is the concern, more than "it's like that everywhere".

Again, does Compatibility trump Ability, and /or does Enthusiasm trump Ability ?
Time will tell.

Oh yes, I do remember Merle Schlosser.

There have been over 500 views to this thread since the last posting.

Once again,
What do you think?


You boys owe me a lot of money
for all that beer you drank tonight.

---overheard at Bob's Country Bunker

We're a disenfranchised group of alumni, that's obvious, it takes effort to get involved, the "private club" mentality of silohs exist throughout the community, not just the athletic department.

I think the root cause is that the board is a group of appointed, disinterested individuals.

Thoughts?

(01-16-2013 10:54 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  We're a disenfranchised group of alumni, that's obvious, it takes effort to get involved, the "private club" mentality of silohs exist throughout the community, not just the athletic department.

I think the root cause is that the board is a group of appointed, disinterested individuals.

Thoughts?

And we are interested and disappointed.