Pollard Addresses MBB

[Frak]

First of all, I could care less what he charges for tickets. I live on the West coast, so it is not likely I will be attending any games soon anyway.

I think the ones that support JP and what he said in the letter are the ones easily duped. To act like what has gone on with the ISU MBB program over the last four years in terms of players transferring is just normal and has gone on everywhere is just stupid.

Name one other school that lost a two-year all-conference starter, who actually put his career on hold for a year to get away from his first college, and then became a likely lotter pick in the NBA draft. Name another school that lost a starter who showed all sorts of potential, and received nothing but praise from the media and then decides to transfer and tells the lie that it is so he can be closer to home, then signs fairly quickly with a school that is even further away. Name another school that had a starter, whom the school and fans had bent over backwards to support, who decided to quit in the middle of the season and gave the reason that he had to quit then because otherwise an opportunity might not be available to him later, which of course turned out not to be true at all. If you really believe that what is happening at ISU is happening at other schools.....constantly over the last four years.......then give us all one example.

YOU need some help with reading comprehension. I've said over and over retention happens all over, BUT not at the extent it is happening at ISU. I've been as hard on GMac as anyone. I wish that we had the money to buy him out and start over. Evidently, we don't. Pollard sending that letter and trying to open peoples' eyes to the attrition problem across the country doesn't affect my feelings on GMac one bit. My response would be "Wow, it's a problem...but why is it a bigger problem here?"

 

[Dryburn]

YOU need some help with reading comprehension. I've said over and over retention happens all over, BUT not at the extent it is happening at ISU. I've been as hard on GMac as anyone. I wish that we had the money to buy him out and start over. Evidently, we don't. Pollard sending that letter and trying to open peoples' eyes to the attrition problem across the country doesn't affect my feelings on GMac one bit. My response would be "Wow, it's a problem...but why is it a bigger problem here?"

Wow.....saying I need help with comprehension huh? So now, retention is the problem and not attrition? Nice job.

 

[clonedude]

I agree with what JP said about the younger generation. There is a lack of accountability that is becoming much more prevalent in our society. It's not hard to understand why when you have teachers getting sued for disciplining their students.

That being said, I am seeing even less accountability from JP and Greg. Why couldn't Jamie have came out and just said, 'we are troubled by the recent string of transfers from our MBB program. From myself all the way down to the assistant coach level, we are working on fixing the situation. We thank Cyclone Nation for your continued support'.? Instead we got a big glass full of 'It's not our fault, kids suck these days.'

I also like how he conveniently left out the parts about us sucking the past 4 years, and the fact that we lead high major basketball in transfers over the past 4 years.

This whole thing really makes me question Jamie's ability to take the AD to where we all want it to be. I know he is doing well in increasing the budget. But what in his time here does he have to show for accomplishments in the big two sports, MBB and FB? One bowl victory. That's it. Don't get me wrong, I am still with JP, but I am shaken a bit.

Very well said snowcraig! JP is correct about today's players, but that's the hand your dealt with in today's society. It stinks, and I wish the younger generation was more mature, but they aren't.

So how are other head coaches getting their kids to stay? It's not like every school is having these amounts of transfers every single year... no way... not buying it! Yes, there are an increasingly higher amounts of transfers all over the country, but not to the extent that we're seeing here.

All JP had to say was that we understand there is a very serious problem with transfers and we are looking into all the reasons why and trying to solve them.... and we are taking it very serious.

But to let GMac completely off the hook on this is insane. It's not how you run an athletic department... or any kind of business for that matter.

JP has acted very childish lately IMO. This letter was childish, as was the previous one to someone that complained to him and JP replied back with the fact that this person doesn't donate any money to the program or get season tickets so they have no reason to complain. What? JP only wants people to be fans of ISU if they donate money or buy season tickets? That's no way to expand your market.

JP has been blaming the fans and athletes now for too long. It's time for him to step up.

 

[agrabes]

I was the poster who mentioned the riding lawn mower. I take full advantage of most of life luxuries and I agree that there is no reason to make life harder than it has to be.

I guess what I was trying to say is that you cannot expect kids to "want" to work hard the day they sign with you basketball team when they have not been forced to work hard at any point in their life up to this time. The culture today has driven kids (mainly because they have known no other way) to expect everything to be easy and if it isnt then I just wont do it anymore. The value of hard work is unknown to many kids under 18 today. How many kids under 14 have cell phones? How many of them do any sort of "work" to "earn" the right to have such a privlidge? Some do, many do not.

Yeah, I understand what you're saying here. It's true that a lot of people don't have to work hard as a kid. But then, how many people had to work hard as a kid in your day? If you lived on a farm I'm sure you did, as did any other kid past and present. If you lived in town? I mean, ok maybe you had to mow the lawn with push mower or do a bit more yardwork, but I can't see much difference. Young kids with cell phones and things like that are more parental issues as I see it. The kid can't get that cell phone for him/herself. You could say the same about whatever kinds of privileges were around during your childhood. Maybe parenting is going downhill, I don't know. It just bugs me to hear someone say that anyone under 25 is a spoiled brat who is incapable of work.

In the end it comes down to who you are. Some people will rise to the occasion when there's a challenge, others won't. I think you can find that across all generations.

 

[CycloneWarning]

JP has acted very childish lately IMO. This letter was childish, as was the previous one to someone that complained to him and JP replied back with the fact that this person doesn't donate any money to the program or get season tickets so they have no reason to complain.

I agree with this. I wouldn't say childish, but certainly unprofessional. We have two clear examples now of correspondence from our leader that causes you to ask the question, "what was the point of that?"

Seriously, if you step back from the situation, is ISU in better shape after these letters? No. Insulting our fans (even the cheap ones) and complaining about kids in today's society accomplishes nothing. In fact, as some have pointed out, what recruit or parent wants to read JP's opinion of the younger generation and say, "boy, I really want to attend Iowa State and play for that guy"?

I think his frustration with the situation (which he is highly responsible) is beginning to show through.

 

[HHWalters]

Personally I wonder how that generation is going to survive in the real world when mom or dad or AAU coach are not there for them during their first job interview or first job evaluation. The bottom line is life is not a video game, you can’t just hit reset if you do not like your initial score.

Let's try a more real-world analogy. If your boss is so incompetent that his key employees keep quitting, and the CEO ignores this year after year, you can quit and find a better company to work for.

Thanks again for your support. One way or the other, we will get basketball fixed.

Kudos --- you've successfully 'castrated' the MBB program.

 

[CYKOFAN]

Frak- I wasn't complaining about the ticket price increases, just pointing out it doesn't take a genius to raise revenue by raising ticket prices. But I doubt anybody would complain about the big price hikes if we were getting some good entertainment, and yes major college football and basketball is a lot about entertainment. The fact is we got waaay more entertainment for our money under BVD than we have under JP in both football and basketball, and it's not even close. Seriously, JP's only strengths appear to be blowing smoke and making excuses.

 

[Peter]

Let's try a more real-world analogy. If your boss is so incompetent that his key employees keep quitting, and the CEO ignores this year after year, you can quit and find a better company to work for.

Agree.

What is this "real world" Pollard references? McDermott certainly isn't held to this standard. If you consistantly underperform at your job and make work difficult for the employess under you...you get the ax. Not so for GMac; he's still living in the video game. Standards and accountabilty begin at the top. How can you complain about 19 year olds shirking their "responsibilties" when the man in charge can do whatever he want's without any consequences?

 

[Frak]

Frak- I wasn't complaining about the ticket price increases, just pointing out it doesn't take a genius to raise revenue by raising ticket prices. But I doubt anybody would complain about the big price hikes if we were getting some good entertainment, and yes major college football and basketball is a lot about entertainment. The fact is we got waaay more entertainment for our money under BVD than we have under JP in both football and basketball, and it's not even close. Seriously, JP's only strengths appear to be blowing smoke and making excuses.

What I am saying is that it takes a plan to raise ticket prices like that and get away with it. Otherwise, people just walk away. You need to sell a vision to the fanbase, which Pollard did. He basically said, you don't have to take a back seat to iowa, you don't have to just coward at the tough Big 12, but to do that, you need to step up and help fund the program. IMO that's something that BVDV didn't do. He didn't have a vision. He was fine with the status quo and the regular "woe is me" ISU attitude. Chizik was part of that in that he was a national name and ISU was trying to play with the big boys (no, it didn't work out). But my point is that people bought in to that attitude, and I don't know that that can be debated. There's a different mindset among fans, one that says that we CAN do something in Ames, IA. IMO Pollard has lead that charge.

 

[Frak]

Wow.....saying I need help with comprehension huh? So now, retention is the problem and not attrition? Nice job.

You are like talking to a brick wall. I'm not even trying to convince you of anything, just clarifying my point. Yet, you still don't get it. Oh well, just pull all your money (if you even donate) from the ISU AD until Jamie is gone. That will show 'em.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I agree with him. Having said that, it really doesn't matter. It isn't just our school. I do think it is far too easy for kids to transfer. I think, for one, you should not be able to use a redshirt on that year you sit out. I don't have any other good ideas to regulate this, but there has to be something. It just seems that instead of getting through tough times with the team or coach or whatever, kids just leave. There seems to be no work going into making the relationship work, similar to a lot of marriages nowadays. There just is not that toughness in kids today. As far as our situation, there is a problem. I have no idea what is causing all of this. I don't know if it is Mac or assistants or what but ultimately this is all on Mac.

 

[AirWalke]

I do agree with this. I went back to school after 4 years in the workforce and I've been amazed at the attitudes some take in their lives. I've seen people stumble into exams because they were out at the bars the night before. Personal responsibility needs to become a major focus again.

When I was in school previously, I had professors of small classes treat them as if they were a job. If you are not there, you had better send him an email ahead of time explaining why you were not there. Otherwise, you drop a letter grade each time. That was the best thing that happened to me. I found out how the real world worked before I got my first job and thus didn't have to make the mistakes a lot of young employees make.

I know this is kind of resurrecting an older post of a still relatively young thread, but you definitely got it. When I was choosing colleges out of high school, my parents faintly suggested that I take a year off from education and start working before I went to school -- at the very least, give an honest look at the military.

At the time, I was too focused on following friends and doing just "what everyone else does" and go to college, live the independent life, somehow make it through classes and get a degree.

I learned the hard way at how quickly I got burnt out and, as a result, have just been working at a couple of jobs the past couple years. The pay hasn't been great, but I feel I've learned a good deal more about the "real world" than four years through college would have ever taught me.

My girlfriend stopped just short at calling me a hypocrite when I explained the Lucca Staiger saga to her, and my frustrations with all these players picking up their toys and going home. And yes, it would be hypocritical had I just left school the past semester and then this all happens.

I look back with the new lens I look through in life wishing these players could learn the hard way how their actions have an impact on themselves and others.

 

[Cyclone42]

He's sidestepping the issue, saying "it's everybody's problem, not just ours, everybody deals with this". He points out there were over 500 transfers in D1. But there are 347 D1 schools. That's 1.5 players per school. But we lost, what, 5? Just this year.

 

[Frak]

Let's try a more real-world analogy. If your boss is so incompetent that his key employees keep quitting, and the CEO ignores this year after year, you can quit and find a better company to work for.


Kudos --- you've successfully 'castrated' the MBB program.

OK, here's where it doesn't equate to the real world. Say you are a manager in a department that is in the black, but not a big money maker. BUT, you have a five year contract on top of that. Does the CEO replace you if profits are down 20% knowing that he has to pay you more than he could possibly gain if things go great with the new guy?

Believe me, I'd love to see Pollard make the move. And I blame him for the bad hiring decision. But right now, the only decision is whether to buy out GMac or not. And it's obvious that we can't afford it at this point.

 

[Frak]

He's sidesteppitng the issue, saying "it's everybody's problem, not just ours, everybody deals with this". He points out there were over 500 transfers in D1. But there are 347 D1 schools. That's 1.5 players per school. But we lost, what, 5? Just this year.

To me, it depends on the audience. If it is a reply to people who are outraged at a couple players leaving, then I could see saying it's everybody's problem. If people drill down and wonder why there is a trend of players leaving, then they have a point. I do believe that there is a problem with GMac that needs to be addressed. But Pollard IMO is making a point that society has changed since the Johnny Orr days in that regard. I think that it is a valid point, but doesn't excuse the extremely high attrition at ISU lately.

 

[CYKOFAN]

Frak- Who are all of these clone fans that had a "woes is me" attitude? I wasn't one and know very few clone fans who were or are. I've always been proud to be a Clone fan and know we can do great things because we've done them in the past. I do think I've got realistic expectations for the football and basketball programs, and that does include occasionally competing for a conference title. Do you think JP was our first a.d to want to win conference titles or have a plan to do so? But being a salesman is one thing, having the brains and people skills to make your plan happen is another. JP is falling woefully short on the latter, and all we get from him is excuses.

 

[Frak]

I agree with him. Having said that, it really doesn't matter. It isn't just our school. I do think it is far too easy for kids to transfer. I think, for one, you should not be able to use a redshirt on that year you sit out. I don't have any other good ideas to regulate this, but there has to be something. It just seems that instead of getting through tough times with the team or coach or whatever, kids just leave. There seems to be no work going into making the relationship work, similar to a lot of marriages nowadays. There just is not that toughness in kids today. As far as our situation, there is a problem. I have no idea what is causing all of this. I don't know if it is Mac or assistants or what but ultimately this is all on Mac.

I agree with that. Players should have to lose a year of eligibility if they transfer between D1 schools. That would end what is obviously a problem.

 

[Frak]

Frak- Who are all of these clone fans that had a "woes is me" attitude? I wasn't one and know very few clone fans who were or are. I've always been proud to be a Clone fan and know we can do great things because we've done them in the past. I do think I've got realistic expectations for the football and basketball programs, and that does include occasionally competing for a conference title. Do you think JP was our first a.d to want to win conference titles or have a plan to do so? But being a salesman is one thing, having the brains and people skills to make your plan happen is another. JP is falling woefully short on the latter, and all we get from him is excuses.

Sure, we all would love ISU to be competitive in the Big 12. And all AD's want to win conference titles and have a plan to do it. What I'm saying is that it takes more than "want to" to do it. You have to have a plan and the abilty to get the fanbase to buy in to the plan. Unlike past ADs, Pollard has done that. His plan rallied the fanbase and I don't know that anyone can debate that. I don't buy at all that he doesn't have the brains or people skills. What I do believe is that we still don't have enough people on board to fund a buyout.

 

[alaskaguy]

If a coach wants to get rid of a player he can. Assistants and head coaches can move from one school to another with no restrictions. They can begin coaching immediately, with no waiting period. Student athletes should be be able to move as freely as other students and as coaches. It just doesn't make sense to make transferring harder because a student happens to play sports. There shouldn't be restrictions if a student athlete wants to transfer.

 

[StLouisClone]

Pollard didn't need any excuses to pull the trigger on Wayne Morgan. Now Pollard is full of excuses in defense of McDermott. They must be best buddies. This will not end well. I've lost all respect for both men.

McDermott should have the sense to step down on his own and take a nice "little" buyout package with him. ISU has been very good to him by giving him his first major college head coaching job at 5X the salary he was making at UNI.