Okay, I just noticed that our women's team, which finished 20-11 overall and in FIFTH place in the HL, is playing in something called the "WBI," which sounds suspiciously like the CBI for men, doesn't it?
Obviously I have no problem with our young ladies getting to play in the post-season after a good, credible year, but the parallel here is eye-popping.
As if we didn't know it already let's just state the obvious: our AD's decision to punish our men's team last year by refusing to allow them to play in a similar tournament after a nearly identical season (and let's not forget -- a donor offered to PAY for the cost) had utterly nothing to do with the team's performance. That was a LIE.
She punished the team, including a group of seniors who were not just excellent players but excellent young men, because she was AFRAID they would be successful and that it would interfere with her plan to get rid of a man that she clearly disliked (and clearly resented) and that she painted as the scapegoat for her own profound failings and incompetence.
How ANYONE can abide her ru(i)ning our program is beyond me.
As long as she's around to screw everything up, the fans will vote with their feet again next year. How long do you think the chancellor's office and the legislators will allow the team to pay the rental cost of the Arena with nobody going to the games?
"She would constantly try to throw [Coach Jeter] off and create distractions," said another source who worked in the athletic department and no longer is at UWM. "All the time. It was bad. I felt bad for him all the time. I told him, 'You're a bigger man than I am.' It was brutal. Sabotage was in the cards." -- From the JS story, March 17, 2016
"Baldwin! Get in here and grovel!" "Right away Ms. B!!"
Not only is it LIKE the women's version of the CBI, it IS the women's version of the CBI.
Amanda Braun has lost any shred of credibility she had left.
I wrote about it over the weekend and posted this about 20 minutes after we announced the WBI bid:
http://pantheru.com/2017/03/the-boss...ows-no-bounds/
Not only is it LIKE the women's version of the CBI, it IS the women's version of the CBI.
Amanda Braun has lost any shred of credibility she had left.
I wrote about it over the weekend and posted this about 20 minutes after we announced the WBI bid:
http://pantheru.com/2017/03/the-boss...ows-no-bounds/
Jimmy, it worries me that I channeled you without ever having seen that column!
I swear to God my first thought upon learning today that the women's team was playing in this tournament was that she was deliberately trolling Rob Jeter, Chad Boudreau, Sharif Chambliss, Chris Hill, Matt Tiby, JJ Panoske, JR Lyle, Akeem Springs, Austin Arians, Jordy Johnson and all the others and their families.
We all knew she was a hypocrite, but this is off the charts. Btw, am I the only one who's noticed that she looks suspiciously like Kellyanne Conway?
"She would constantly try to throw [Coach Jeter] off and create distractions," said another source who worked in the athletic department and no longer is at UWM. "All the time. It was bad. I felt bad for him all the time. I told him, 'You're a bigger man than I am.' It was brutal. Sabotage was in the cards." -- From the JS story, March 17, 2016
"Baldwin! Get in here and grovel!" "Right away Ms. B!!"
Sing it loud! Sing it proud!
She is a bald-faced liar and now everyone knows it!
If we had a sports columnist in this town with any gumption, he would have an absolute field day with this!
You and I weren't the only ones thinking about it.
http://pantheru.com/2017/03/anonymous-fan-weighs-in/
Some of this discussion was part of the lost posts when the board moved to a new server.
There were postings from a couple of people warning Women's Coach Kyle Rechlicz to update her resume, since, after similar results to last year's men's team, she was going to lose her job, like Rob Jeter did. i pointed out that that wasn't going to happen, since the AD wasn't trying to find an excuse to fire Rechlicz like she was trying to do to fire Jeter. If required, somehow, to answer questions about the difference between the two situations, the AD would probably come up with some lame excuse, which would be instantly accepted by folks who don't care who is ru(i)n(n)ing the Athletics department.
i also suggested another reason that the AD would say yes this year where she said no last year: since the men's basketball program took a big step backward this year (with the exception of an HL tournament run that no one would have predicted), and especially since (as pointed out in this thread), attendance at men's games is tanking, Braun desparately needs to be able to point to success...any success...in the other sports, to distract from/offset the damage done to the department's flagship program.
Jimmy and i have exchanged tweets on this subject, too. The anonymous fan noted that Wright State and Detroit, who finished ahead of Milwaukee in the league standings and in RPI, were not in the WBI field, and assumed that that meant both schools had turned down an invitation. i pointed out that Wright State was in the WNIT, and therefore probably was not invited by the WBI, since WSU was known to have the league's auto-bid to the WNIT before either the NCAA or the full WNIT fields were announced. i have no information about Detroit's situation.
It's been pointed out on Twitter that UWM paid $10,000 to play in the WBI. i'm not sure how many the Klotsche Center seats in its current configuration for Women's Basketball, but attendance would have to be far above 1,000 even to come close to earning that money back, even adding in concessions. The highest turnout at a home game this season was nearly 1400, vs. Green Bay, which meant that at least a third of the folks in attendance were Green Bay fans who, obviously, won't be buying tickets for Wednesday night. The AD is selling group tickets (10 or more) at $2 per person, a discount which makes it less likely that the game will pay for itself.
For what it's worth, the anonymous fan neglected to mention Oakland (RPI 156), who also finished ahead of Milwaukee this season (ah, the ignominy of being a "fifth placer"); i have no idea whether or not Oakland was invited to the WBI.
Last edited by Skrapheap; 03-14-2017 at 05:26 PM.
A panther is like a leopard. Except it hasn't been peppered.
Should you behold a panther crouch, prepare to say "ouch."
Better yet, if called by a panther...don't anther (Ogden Nash "The Panther")
Ceterum censo Amanda Braun debet esse accensa.
I just posted this on the other board. I'm only reposting it here in case someone twists an arm over there to start censoring again.
_____________
A note is too short for what I have in mind.
And yes, eunuch board members. I'm back. After this spectacularly awful season it's time to wrest the character of this board back from the abyss.
Our program is DYING. Repeat: the D1 Milwaukee basketball program IS DYING RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES.
The devastating erosion of interest has INEVITABLE consequences. We need to change that inevitability -- or not complain when the program is gone for good. Everyone knows HOW that can change. It starts by the University applying accountability. Let's just say that if you compared the quality of the job our last coach got fired for even if you think it was time for him to go to the quality of the job our AD has done since her arrival -- well, it couldn't be more obvious that the wrong person was fired. And it's not just men's basketball. Remember when we used to be an all-sports power in the Horizon League? Hold that memory, because it's eroding fast. Can somebody tell me what this person has actually achieved to make the Milwaukee program better today than when she joined -- or even to get it in shouting distance of where Bud Haidet had it? Anyone? Bueller?
As Jimmy has pointed out repeatedly, this has nothing to do with Jordan or his staff. They have exactly as much control of this situation as Jeter and his staff had. Almost none. I can only feel bad for them, and worse for the players. Any player here under this athletic administration should expect to be kicked in the teeth by it eventually. Understand this well: an incompetent administrator is a one trick pony. If the team doesn't somehow magically achieve the impossible standards she set for it (yes of course I know she was lying; but once uttered, lies take on a life of their own), and the heat starts rising under her backside, she only has one play: she'll fire Jordan, chase away any good players who have the ability and belated good sense to transfer, and try to save her own position by blaming them (and their families) again for her failures. Hey -- it worked once! Of course, by then the drumbeat in the legislature (oh yes, it has started) may be so loud that we can start planning our wild road trips to Oshkosh and Platteville. I hear there's a great sports bar in Point!
So it's up to us -- the few remaining fans who appear to care enough any more even to talk about the program. That's what she has done more successfully than anything else: destroyed interest. She alienated so many. Infuriated people who supported this program since before she was in diapers. Acted so callously and deceitfully that it literally turns many of our stomachs to see what has happened to this program that we absolutely loved.
So brace yourself boys and trolls. I'm back.
"She would constantly try to throw [Coach Jeter] off and create distractions," said another source who worked in the athletic department and no longer is at UWM. "All the time. It was bad. I felt bad for him all the time. I told him, 'You're a bigger man than I am.' It was brutal. Sabotage was in the cards." -- From the JS story, March 17, 2016
"Baldwin! Get in here and grovel!" "Right away Ms. B!!"
I, too, have posted on the Eunuch Board. I expect to be kicked out shortly. Here is a link to the post, along with the text itself for reference when it is "accidentally deleted".
http://uwmfreak.proboards.com/post/131809
The decision to move back on campus was an awful decision but attendance was slipping well before that.
Frankly, you are over-estimating the number of people who care that Amanda did not let the team play in a 3rd tier postseason event last year. Maybe there are a couple hundred of you that did not attend games because of that? I think a couple hundred is being very generous.
The problem is that there is no atmosphere at the games. Because of that fewer and fewer "common" fans show up to games. My issue with Amanda and the Athletic department, is that they have not found a way to get more people into the arena.
Hmmm....a "couple hundred"....so, let's say 250 people? Fair enough?
250 / 1460 = 17%
So....using your numbers, which I believe are on the low side, Amanda Braun is personally responsible for a 17% drop in attendance, most of which is in season ticket holders who buy the more expensive seats, which generate the most revenue, and also therefore contribute to the Panther Fund (some in very large amounts). Furthermore, those people buy things like beer and soda.
Furthermore, those people probably also are more likely to be engaged with the University as a whole, and often can be counted on to lobby the state government on behalf of the University.
So, yeah, that 17% is kind of important, and they are gone, by your own admission, due to one thing: Amanda Braun.
As for me personally, I will not have any affiliation with the University, athletics or otherwise, until she is relieved of her duties. Amanda Braun is in charge of the single most public aspect of UW Milwaukee, and as such is one of the primary representatives of that institution. As such, I will not support either her, or the University, while she is paid to represent it. I have made my reasons clear many times, but I will restate them here again for the record.
1) She is a liar, and this is not open for debate. She lied to players, players families, coaches, University administrators, her employees, donors, fans, and the media. She did so on multiple occasions on a multitude of topics. These were not instances of needing to speak with care due to impending decisions. These were blatant, and in some cases vicious ad hominem, falsehoods that served only one purpose - preserving her own position and destroying any that disagreed with her.
2) She is incompetent. She was not qualified for the position when hired, and has shown absolutely no growth into the position in the time since. Each day under her leadership (and I use that term loosely) has been worse than the one that preceded it. Each decision has been worse than the last. She is simply in well over her head and does not deserve the job she has.
3) She is a vindictive, petty, and immature person who uses her official position to bully, intimidate, and exact revenge on her perceived "enemies". She is incapable of admitting a mistake, and has surrounded herself with "yes men/women" who will never challenge her on any decision, because they have very justified fear for their professional lives.
(Please note the lack of any mention of any specific coach {past or present} in the above, for those who believe all opposition to Ms Braun is due to a single decision - it is most clearly not, and is due almost exclusively to her behavior over a long period and numerous examples of deficient character traits, lack of basic understanding of her duties, and in all honesty, a stunning lack of intelligence.)
So now the "posters" (read: athletics department employees) can flame away at me, claim I am just another "Jeter Boy", have no facts to support any of my opinions, and conclude that "people like me" (you know - potential donors with a little bit of disposable income) don't matter anyway.
Class of 1998
Lubar School of Business - BBA Management Information Systems
Formerly known as Nighthawk
The Dark Hawk arose in a time of great turmoil to fight for truth, justice and the Panther way.
The people over there are tired. I don't blame them; when you just want to watch basketball, all the other stuff is getting in the way. They wanted to win, and all they wanted to see was the surface stuff: Rob Jeter wasn't getting the job done. The why was not their concern. The ends justify the means.
Well guys, I don't blame you if you don't want to fight. I blame you if you get in our way.
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