So I'm late to the party. Just read the article. My summary on its content:
The article implies that Fred Hoiberg left Iowa State because
1. Jamie Pollard was cheap
2. Jamie Pollard was jealous of Fred Hoiberg
3. Jamie Pollard blamed rising ticket prices on Fred Hoiberg
4. Jamie Pollard approved paying for athletic department family members to attend a game, and didn't approve paying for some coach's family members to attend.
As a result of all these actions, Fred left Iowa State.
My thoughts:
1. Jamie has to be cheap. The athletic department must pay for itself, and newsflash, Iowa State doesn't have nearly as large of alumni base or gift giving as Iowa or many other power 5 programs. Also, is it cheap to ask the players to check out of their hotel in Hawaii by Noon on their scheduled checkout date to save the school another night of expenses for all the players and coaches? If he did approve another night, but the players only stayed another 3 hours or so until they had to leave for their flight, he'd get hammered for spending excessively. Good grief. Sounds like some overly entitled and spoiled players not living in reality. I'm glad he made them check out.
2. I'm jealous of Fred Hoiberg. Travis - you want to write a story about me? Fred's Mr. All-Everything. The dude hits hole in one's at charitable golf events. Enough said.
3. I do think Jamie calling out the success of the basketball program, and in turn the desire of Cyclone nation to keep Hoiberg (and hence pay him more) as the reason for ticket price increases was unnecessary. The fans/public aren't stupid. Calling it out does seem to me to be a power/negotiating move by Jamie. Pretty ****** move really.
4. This piece of the article is probably what made me disregard it the most. It was a final ditch smear tactic that wasn't necessary. None of us know what went into that decision, so drawing any type of conclusion, or using it to imply it was the reason Fred left, is just bad journalism.
Overall, this felt like an article I might read in the Globe or Enquirer. Gossip, rumors, unnamed anonymous sources, no real facts to speak of. Very disappointing. It seems as though Travis was given some information, spent a ton of time researching and trying to solidify what he was told, never could get anyone to go on record or provide proof, and was pressured to release a story so his time wasn't completely wasted.