Didn't see this anywhere. Sorry if already posted. If true, what the hell was he thinking

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-...ncaab.html

Just realized this was part of another thread. Would delete if I knew how.

See the Kazemi thread.

No prob. We can probably start a fresh thread just on this alone.

I have a question. What could be a bigger PR disaster than this?

(03-29-2013 05:25 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  No prob. We can probably start a fresh thread just on this alone.

I have a question. What could be a bigger PR disaster than this?

Actual proof of an attempt by the Rice Admin to cover this up.

(03-29-2013 05:25 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  No prob. We can probably start a fresh thread just on this alone.

I have a question. What could be a bigger PR disaster than this?

Us Baylor fans can assure you that it can be a lot worse. This is pretty bad.

In all seriousness, we have no one but ourselves to blame, because we hired an athletic director with an extremely checkered background. Even if he isn't the guilty party on this occasion, it is his reputation that is killing us here.

We should have known better. Put it this way: If Greenspan were a student with an academic record analogous to his professional one, he would have been rejected by Rice on character issues alone. I'm very, very disappointed in our school.

Honestly, we are infinitely smarter than the people who are running this circus. After all, we went to Rice. It is time for a hostile takeover of the athletic department.

(03-29-2013 05:31 PM)Converted Rice Wrote:  

(03-29-2013 05:25 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  No prob. We can probably start a fresh thread just on this alone.

I have a question. What could be a bigger PR disaster than this?

Us Baylor fans can assure you that it can be a lot worse. This is pretty bad.

Baylor survived. Penn State survived. Rice is TBD.

1560 was all over this today. Called for the heads of AD & Pres. Sad thing is the callers didn't say Greenslan. They said Rice. The brand is in for a real beating in the public arena. So much for the reputation for diversity.

(03-29-2013 05:54 PM)Da.Owl Wrote:  1560 was all over this today. Called for the heads of AD & Pres. Sad thing is the callers didn't say Greenslan. They said Rice. The brand is in for a real beating in the public arena. So much for the reputation for diversity.

I'm not so sure about this.

In every single thread I've read relating to this, there are a number of commenters that talk about how in characteristic this is for Rice, and that it sounds like it was just 1 guy.

When Internet posters are that level headed, you gotta think it means something.

Obviously, this is as I understand merely an allegation, and an allegation is not necessarily true. Nevertheless, when basically an entire team leaves the school, something is very very wrong. We had a huge hint that something very wrong was going on when they left. And the fact that Kazemi was given a hardship transfer is telling. He must have convinced the appropriate NCAA committee that this is true. Interesting that the NCAA seems to have taken no action.

(03-29-2013 06:13 PM)Ranger Wrote:  Obviously, this is as I understand merely an allegation, and an allegation is not necessarily true. Nevertheless, when basically an entire team leaves the school, something is very very wrong. We had a huge hint that something very wrong was going on when they left. And the fact that Kazemi was given a hardship transfer is telling. He must have convinced the appropriate NCAA committee that this is true. Interesting that the NCAA seems to have taken no action.

Something (Slick Rick) is wrong.

A friend of mine who left the Athletic Department not too long ago said it was because of how things were being run.

One of my cousins is the SID at another CUSA school. I saw his wife recently at a memorial service for my younger brother. She said that it is common knowledge among other CUSA schools that the Rice Athletic Department is dysfunctional. I do not know much more than that about the feeling. May be true, may not be, but it has appeared to me for a long time that something is not right. (And if there is indeed such a perception, no wonder why no conference wants us.)

I further believe that if an investigation demonstrates there was a cover up, Leebron should probably be released. At the end of the day he is responsible and accountable for everything that happens at the university. That is what command/leadership is all about. There must have been signs and suspicions and if he ignored them or covered them up, he failed in his responsibilities. Leadership is not for wimps.

I don't think a cover-up can be alleged. It seemed to me, that Kazemi was not unhappy at Rice. He transferred because he lost almost his entire team and was going to have what some would consider a wasted year as a senior. There is not denying that the allegations benefit Oraby and Kazemi in getting that sit-out year waived. Was that the reason Oraby transferred? Or was he upset about lack of playing time? I believe Rice and Leebron will stick to their position that they found nothing to back these claims. But still, how does Rick keep his job? It was a disaster of epic proportions no matter how you look at it. But now that this is out, and the allegation was specifically against the AD and not the head coach, Greenspan has to go right?

(03-29-2013 06:22 PM)Ranger Wrote:  One of my cousins is the SID at another CUSA school. I saw his wife recently at a memorial service for my younger brother. She said that it is common knowledge among other CUSA schools that the Rice Athletic Department is dysfunctional. I do not know much more than that about the feeling. May be true, may not be, but it has appeared to me for a long time that something is not right. (And if there is indeed such a perception, no wonder why no conference wants us.)

In defense of the current regime, it's not like it used to be functional and suddenly ceased to be so. You would have gotten the same comment from the other SWC schools (I know, I've gotten them), and probably from the other WAC schools (although I never heard it per se, but did hear pretty strong hints). I can tell you that throughout my 40 years of fairly close involvement, it was the most dysfunctional organization I have ever been around. And keep in mind that I did bankruptcy work for a number of years.

Bobby tried to work within the existing paradigm, because that's all he knew, and he did as well as could possibly be done within those constraints. CDC tried to change the paradigm, but there's only so much can be done in the length of time he was here. I think we have now regressed to a worse place than we were when Bobby took the reins.

I'm reminded that a friend of mine who worked on the plans for Desert Shield/Storm told me that they got very specific guidance from Schwartzkopf that if they were unsure how to handle something, figure out how it would have been done in Vietnam and do something different. Substitute Rice for Vietnam and that would be my advice to anyone trying to run an athletic program.

And yes, that does hurt our conference chances. I've mentioned an SEC offer several times, that was conditioned upon the proviso that we clean up our act. We did not want to.

And predictably there are comments of the "What else would you expect in Texas" variety. Stupid ignorant Northerners/Southerners/Easterners/Westerners/foreigners.

(03-29-2013 06:58 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Bobby tried to work within the existing paradigm, because that's all he knew, and he did as well as could possibly be done within those constraints. CDC tried to change the paradigm, but there's only so much can be done in the length of time he was here. I think we have now regressed to a worse place than we were when Bobby took the reins.

Yes we are back to 1987 with no SWC, less student support and much
less general fan support. Not to mention no press or pub of any kind.

And for those of who support with your money, I bet ur donations are down. For several reasons but mostly due to this whole conferencegreenspanbasketball disaster, I am canceling vb, wbskb, soccer, 1/2 of my 8bb tix since I seldom use them all, 2 of my 4 court side bskb tix, and 1/2 of my 8 fb tix as well as reducing my owl club donation. Why throw good money after bad? If they are not doing anything useful with this cash, why should I waste it by giving it to them?

The real problem with this kind of thing is that it hurts and brands so many innocent people. This stigma will last a long time. Rice, its employees and fans take the blame for what one jerk did. Even if this is not true and proved so, there are legions of people who will choose to believe that Rice is a bigoted and racist place, when in reality it is not even close to being either.

(03-29-2013 09:17 PM)Converted Rice Wrote:  The real problem with this kind of thing is that it hurts and brands so many innocent people. This stigma will last a long time. Rice, its employees and fans take the blame for what one jerk did. Even if this is not true and proved so, there are legions of people who will choose to believe that Rice is a bigoted and racist place, when in reality it is not even close to being either.

They need to let Greenspan resign or fire him, if nothing else to show that they do not tolerate this kind of behavior. As far as Leebron, what they are now paying Univ Presidents is roughly akin to overpaying for coaches. most of the time they dont produce. They usually get tenure and all the benefits that go w it, further running up the tab.

I would have hoped that our new board chair, w his obvious interest in athletics, would have taken an active role in righting this ship

(03-29-2013 06:58 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  I don't think a cover-up can be alleged. It seemed to me, that Kazemi was not unhappy at Rice. He transferred because he lost almost his entire team and was going to have what some would consider a wasted year as a senior. There is not denying that the allegations benefit Oraby and Kazemi in getting that sit-out year waived. Was that the reason Oraby transferred? Or was he upset about lack of playing time? I believe Rice and Leebron will stick to their position that they found nothing to back these claims. But still, how does Rick keep his job? It was a disaster of epic proportions no matter how you look at it. But now that this is out, and the allegation was specifically against the AD and not the head coach, Greenspan has to go right?

Neither Kazemi nor Oraby ever appeared anything less than content around campus. If the environment was truly as hostile as they allege, then they should have left at the conclusion of last season (as the specific examples given in the article refer almost exclusively to in-season transgressions) and not stolen two of our scholarships for this season. Unless I see strong evidence that something changed after last semester began, then I will think no more highly of either of them than I do of Rick.