(12-16-2022 10:49 AM)tigerfan39 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 10:35 AM)Unbreakable04 Wrote:  Hammer meet nail, uninspiring leadership from our new President, Milquetoast Reactionary AD & our head football coach who is Ruining the program, will continue to yield uninspiring results. Just more excuses for all of them to fall back on when it doesn't work out. Talk about the worst timing, ever, for all three to be a perfect storm of inadequacy.

You can see the fatigue in those words in the article and many others. NIL will destroy college athletics, it already has, and will continue to push fans away.

The fatigue is the from the negative nellies like yourself. if you're that unhappy, press on, bro. We'll be just fine.

Unless you think the OP is pure fiction what don't you understand about what was said?

Just goes to show the truth in the old adage, "I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you."

(12-16-2022 10:35 AM)Unbreakable04 Wrote:  You can see the fatigue in those words in the article and many others. NIL will destroy college athletics, it already has, and will continue to push fans away.

The fNCAA are some greedy SOBs and NIL was a terrible outcome to "fix" college sports. Instead of a 10-20% profit split for revenue sports and players. They essentially double dipped on fans and especially boosters. The expectation now is continue to donate your money to improve facilities but also give me an extra few hundred a month so we can get players here also and that is terrible.

High level college sports have always been dirty and the thought of amateurism hasn't existed for a while. Good players have been getting some form of extra benefits for years. But making NIL public has driven the price to get players up tremendously. My favorite comparison is it only took 100k to get Deandre Ayton to Arizona before NIL, meanwhile SMU is paying 36k to every bball and football player and Miami is paying basketball players 800k who will never be at Aytons level.

The outcome shouldve been the players get a cut of revenue and universities dial back on renovations ever 5 freaking years to things that dont matter.

I’m a nobody

And I have talked to the president on tiger lane and at basketball games

If the ambassador wants to talk to the president , then do it
Not hidden behind an Id and in the press

And how was rudd out of line, for standing up for the university

The killer here is the disconnect between realizing the need and having confidence in the way money is applied to the need.

Without that confidence, why should anyone give a dollar?

(12-16-2022 11:32 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:31 AM)snowtiger Wrote:  How many ambassadors who were present weren’t quoted in the article.
This is a stirring the pot op

From the article: "I [John Martin] reached out to five ambassadors I know to gauge their thoughts on where the Tigers are and where they might be headed."

I agree this is a ****-stirring bit of nonsense. I've come to expect it from the DM.

Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t read the full article.

(12-16-2022 11:29 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote:  Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

The only bus that basketball drives is the bus that drives the University off the cliff into the bottomless abyss of irrelevancy.

The best way to improve a basketball program? Create a successful football program. If you don't believe me, ask Alabama.

Gonzaga, Villanova, Xavier , UConn, Butler, Dayton etc seem to do pretty well without football

(12-16-2022 11:40 AM)Claw Wrote:  The killer here is the disconnect between realizing the need and having confidence in the way money is applied to the need.

Without that confidence, why should anyone give a dollar?

Welp.. who knows who is giving what? Martin only ‘reached out’ to the dudes he knew—ya know…just to write the article.

We should Click his link a lot! It will make Martin very happy!

The OP only included part of the article. There was one ambassador that was gushing over Veatch and Hardgrave.

Main takeaways:
-Outreach by those in charge is inconsistent. Some complain of no outreach while others say the admin has been very responsive. I think they cater to mega donors at the expense of other donors. Remember, there is huge variability in how much ambassadors donate— they’re not all created equally

-With the economy and current landscape, college sports are not a charity. Whether it be the NIL or a coach’s buyout, there are certainly more worthy causes for donations. Would you rather drop 20k on a petulant 18 year old athlete who may transfer out or donate that money to the Dorothy Day House?

-There are ambassadors that wanted a coaching change (maybe even the majority of ambassadors). This doesn’t really matter— changes don’t happen if the two or three whale donors don’t want change.

(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote:  Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

What do you mean it isn't anyone's fault? Running the athletic department is the job of the Athletic Director. It is directly his job to generate funds and allocate them to the correct places.

It most certainly IS someone's fault. Someone SHOULD be accountable.

I think this was pretty representative of our ambassadors, TBH. Again, read the whole article and not just the excerpt posted

The Ambassadors succeed in their endeavors. They know how to manage groups. They know how important funding is to success and they themselves know how to generate the funds they need. I'm sensing that they feel the ineptness of this leadership team to do those very things. Sad.

(12-16-2022 11:43 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:29 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote:  Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

The only bus that basketball drives is the bus that drives the University off the cliff into the bottomless abyss of irrelevancy.

The best way to improve a basketball program? Create a successful football program. If you don't believe me, ask Alabama.

Gonzaga, Villanova, Xavier , UConn, Butler, Dayton etc seem to do pretty well without football

They are not doing well at all! Their conference tv revenue is a tiny fraction of what ours currently is. They are far beneath us. These are the schools you aspire for us to become??? What in the world is wrong with basketball people.

Are you all just going to completely ignore this ambassador?

Ambassador C: “I really personally didn’t realize how important it was until (Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics) Laird (Veatch) came out and gave a talk before that video was released. They’re really on top of this. I won’t give anything unless I know where I’m giving it is good stewards of my money. I consider it a charity even though it’s a little more than that. They need this money badly. I got on board with it and got that email and got on board even more. I doubled what I was doing. I listened. Laird is a standup guy that impresses me. That’s why I did it. They need it badly. We’ve got to be competitive.”

Ambassador C: “I guarantee they’ll make the decision they want to make for the best of the program. Not because they can’t afford it. Those players believe in Ryan. They do. Has the staff made a couple bonehead decisions? Absolutely. If the team believes in him and play as hard as they have and got recruits coming in and not many guys in the portal — it’s in a great spot. Am I proud of the season? No, but nobody on that team is, either. I’m 100% on board with Ryan as our coach. I can’t wait until next season to see what we can do. I bet he’s got a few more in the pipeline we don’t even know about. It’s gonna be exciting.”

Ambassador C: “We’re in great hands with (President of the University of Memphis) Bill (Hardgrave) and Laird. They know where we need to be. I don’t know of anybody that could put us in a better position. That’s their goal for the future. Look at how we responded with the 901 Fund so quickly. I’m not in that industry. I feel like we were ahead of the curve, getting in position for the NIL. We need more NIL money. We heard that from Laird emphatically. We all know that. It’s just another thing. Are we Alabama? No. But we’re Memphis, and my thing — I wanna be relevant. Those two guys will keep us relevant into the future. Is that being in a Power 5 league? Being king of the B team in the Group of Five? I think the world of those guys. They’ve got all my confidence. If not, they wouldn’t have our money.”

(12-16-2022 11:01 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 10:50 AM)tigerfan39 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 10:47 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Hardgrave & Veatch might be perfect at a more traditional university which may not require the glad handing & face time with alumni & boosters, but at Memphis, right now, they are a disaster.

Are you saying we're not a traditional university. You guys are a freakin' trip with your negativity. Such downers... oh well, move on.

No, Memphis is not a traditional university.

Both may be fine at Auburn or Florida, but neither are getting it done here. Hardgrave is just getting started & may evolve in the role, though he seems rather meek. At this point, Veatch is who he is.

define a traditional university

(12-16-2022 11:01 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 10:50 AM)tigerfan39 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 10:47 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Hardgrave & Veatch might be perfect at a more traditional university which may not require the glad handing & face time with alumni & boosters, but at Memphis, right now, they are a disaster.

Are you saying we're not a traditional university. You guys are a freakin' trip with your negativity. Such downers... oh well, move on.

No, Memphis is not a traditional university.

Both may be fine at Auburn or Florida, but neither are getting it done here. Hardgrave is just getting started & may evolve in the role, though he seems rather meek. At this point, Veatch is who he is.

If you don't think the AD and Prez at SEC schools have to have relationships with boosters, then I don't know what else to tell you.

Most athletic office jobs are rinse and repeat tasks that have been done for YEARS. Personalities and skill sets of some are better suited for the job than others. We know Veatch isn't THAT guy.

NIL is the first major change in college athletics in quite some time. We'll see who the quality leaders are. The cream will rise to the top. Doesn't sound like we have 1 of those young stars. We'll see.

(12-16-2022 11:48 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:43 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:29 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote:  Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

The only bus that basketball drives is the bus that drives the University off the cliff into the bottomless abyss of irrelevancy.

The best way to improve a basketball program? Create a successful football program. If you don't believe me, ask Alabama.

Gonzaga, Villanova, Xavier , UConn, Butler, Dayton etc seem to do pretty well without football

They are not doing well at all! Their conference tv revenue is a tiny fraction of what ours currently is. They are far beneath us. These are the schools you aspire for us to become??? What in the world is wrong with basketball people.

I’m not a “basketball” person. You on the other hand have a “football fan” screen name. And whatever difference the tv money is with those schools is offset by not having 100 more mouths to feed in staff, scholarships, recruiting money etc. Have we ever broke even with football? Ask yourself that question.

We've gone for AD's who are strong in the industry and professionals in the field.
Laird was considered an up and coming AD talent with strong P5 ties.
Maybe what we need right now, if resources are the top priority like we're told, is a local fund raising type - someone who knows the money around town.

Did Ambassador A say anything?

(12-16-2022 11:46 AM)MtownTigers916 Wrote:  The OP only included part of the article. There was one ambassador that was gushing over Veatch and Hardgrave.

Main takeaways:
-Outreach by those in charge is inconsistent. Some complain of no outreach while others say the admin has been very responsive. I think they cater to mega donors at the expense of other donors. Remember, there is huge variability in how much ambassadors donate— they’re not all created equally

-With the economy and current landscape, college sports are not a charity. Whether it be the NIL or a coach’s buyout, there are certainly more worthy causes for donations. Would you rather drop 20k on a petulant 18 year old athlete who may transfer out or donate that money to the Dorothy Day House?

-There are ambassadors that wanted a coaching change (maybe even the majority of ambassadors). This doesn’t really matter— changes don’t happen if the two or three whale donors don’t want change.

One of the five gushed about Veatch & Hardgrave…1. And, honestly, that’s fine, if Veatch is aggressively out there landing more whales. Its not fine if the base is stagnant & shrinking.

What is the current total number of Ambassador-level donors & how does that compare to Veatch’s first year?