(10-02-2020 08:25 AM)zablenoise Wrote:  

(10-02-2020 08:20 AM)Tribal Wrote:  Per the FireHuge Twitter account: Huge cut 30% of cross country roster spots yesterday, 7 days after promising an open dialogue and transparency.

That's unbelievable

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I see nothing to back the rumor so I'm not accepting it at this point.

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This guy also reporting it and he's followed by our T&F/XC coach.

7 days after resetting dialogue with athletes, faculty, & community, 30% of Cross Country slots are cut. @PresidentKARowe is this good faith? @WMTribeClub Is this keeping with the process? @jlittel01 @williamandmary @WMAlumni @TribeAthletics @SaveTheTribe7

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I've been operating on the theory that the only reason men's cross country wasn't cut with the original seven sports was because she forgot they were a separate team from track and field.

As has been noted, cutting T&F and keeping XC makes little sense. And every single person listed on the W&M men's cross country roster -- runners, coaches and staff -- is also listed on the men's T&F roster.

(The same men's T&F and XC coaches and staff are also listed on the women's T&F and XC rosters, so no savings there.)

Cuts to XC to comply with T9


https://wydaily.com/local-news/2020/10/0...kCWkOxnCdc

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(10-02-2020 09:11 AM)Tribal Wrote:  Cuts to XC to comply with T9


https://wydaily.com/local-news/2020/10/0...kCWkOxnCdc

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Reportedly they plan to "cap several of the men’s teams including the football to comply with Title IX.” These "caps" certainly could include roster cuts to cross country, but the article doesn't say so outright.

Seems like some non-travel fb players may get pinched.

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(10-02-2020 09:58 AM)Tribal Wrote:  Seems like some non-travel fb players may get pinched.

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So we want national championships and we tie one hand behind the team.

Great idea :<(

(10-01-2020 09:18 PM)Old tribe Wrote:  

(10-01-2020 11:27 AM)TribePride91 Wrote:  

(10-01-2020 10:44 AM)ScottyB757 Wrote:  On the Save Tribe Swimming Facebook page this morning...

https://616e0124-2790-47d0-96a7-e87abf76...index=true

That qualifies as an amazing rebuttal to my statement that I expect nothing to change. If nothing does, we are well beyond the massive dumpster fire on March 2019. I don't think anyone should want D.R. Hildebrand as an enemy. Wow.

The items described in this letter are not that unusual for the world of college athletics. Paradigm works with hundreds of colleges, including many P5s with very large athletics departments. It's clear that W&M has wanted to eliminate some teams for a number of years and it used the consultants to assist with that process.

This was my reaction to that open letter. I don't like consulting and would rather Tribe Athletics not use them, but the utilization of consultation groups is not a revelation.

Things have been trending this way for years now. The BOV hired Huge and Rowe to expand the College's profile and become a nationally recognized brand. How do you use athletics to pursue that goal? By using the big sports that the general public pays attention to (or, to use their words, "community-building") to become nationally known. This means, yes, focusing on making the NCAA basketball tournament.

Do I agree with the ways W&M has tried to reach that goal? Hell no. The best way to make the NCAA tourney at the mid/low-major level is to build a consistent winner, like Shaver did. I'm not even sure I agree with the overarching goal of becoming more nationally recognized. But this is a natural endpoint for that line of thinking.

Samantha Huge: A Shared Path Forward For William and Mary Athletics

October 2, 2020

From: [sympa]campus-request <campus-request@lists.wm.edu> on behalf of Ask W&M Athletics <askwmathletics@wm.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2020 11:47 AM
To: [sympa]campus <campus@lists.wm.edu>
Subject: A Shared Path Forward for W&M Athletics

Web Version

======================

Dear W&M Community,

Along with many others at William & Mary, I have heard clearly the concerns expressed by members of our community regarding the future of W&M Athletics. I am writing to underscore my commitment to delivering on the goals that Rector Littel and President Rowe outlined last week, and to share an update on some next steps. I am particularly committed to the student-athletes, coaches and alumni of the seven affected programs.

The most important individuals in this process are the student-athletes themselves. To ensure that they are able to ask questions and share their thoughts directly with me, I have invited the Student Athlete Advisory Committee representatives of the seven teams to meet with me as a group early next week, and have also asked to meet with each of the teams as soon as is most convenient for them, at the earliest possible time. Beyond these specific meetings, I will be available throughout the year should student-athletes wish to meet with me individually.

Working swiftly over the next month, Athletics will pursue the following principal approaches to the challenges we are facing. Many of you have asked us to reinstate sports while these efforts are underway. No further actions towards reclassification will occur until this process is complete.

Discussions with Tribe Club Executive Committee and Athletics Teams Representatives

As a basis for exploring how to meet the holistic challenges ahead, we will engage a core group from each of the seven teams to discuss finances and evaluate prospective financial scenarios. We will engage the Tribe Club Executive Committee in this work with us. All work is scheduled to be completed by November 11, which is the early signing period for letters of intent.

Opportunities for Expanded Dialogue about Excellence in William & Mary Athletics

During virtual Moderated Sessions at 7 p.m. ET on October 8 and in the following week, we will listen to and discuss our community’s different ideas regarding excellence in intercollegiate athletics at William & Mary. We also want to offer an opportunity to understand the many facets of our athletics budget and projections. Our goals during these events will be to engage as many diverse perspectives as possible, share information openly, and listen to and reflect on the opinions that are expressed — all as a means of finding a viable path forward.

We will begin gathering questions and comments in advance of these Moderated Sessions, and we ask that you share them here: http://www.TribeAthletics.com/AthleticsConversation.

We are at a pivotal moment, during which we must decide what we want the future to look like for William & Mary Athletics. Our sincere hope is that these approaches will result in a vital step forward in our efforts to open dialogue and rebuild trust, aligned with our core values, as we consider the path forward. It will take our entire William & Mary community coming together to find innovative solutions to the issues we must resolve, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with each of you in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,
Samantha K. Huge
Samantha K. Huge
Director of W&M Athletics

It's on the website now also:

https://tribeathletics.com/news/2020/10/...etics.aspx

Part of me likes the idea of opening a discussion. The other part doesn't trust the messenger, thinks this is delay tactic, and further reinforces my belief that Huge is wounded but will continue in her current role.

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(10-02-2020 07:42 AM)WMInTheBurg Wrote:  

(10-02-2020 12:44 AM)Zorch Wrote:  If you are right and the sports do get axed...

Small point of pedantry, the sports have been axed. At this point they would have to be brought back in a new action.

Well, no, not exactly. It has been announced that they will be axed at the end of the 20-21 school year. They have not been axed now. I believe some of those athletes already are (or were) practicing even though fall sports are not being played. So, if the administration changes their minds, then no actual playing time will have been lost and, in future, the newspaper articles would assuredly say that "back when W&M tried to cut 7 sports ....".

(10-02-2020 08:20 AM)Tribal Wrote:  Per the FireHuge Twitter account: Huge cut 30% of cross country roster spots yesterday, 7 days after promising an open dialogue and transparency.

A quick search and I found nothing to corroborate this claim.

(10-02-2020 08:30 AM)Tribal Wrote:  This guy also reporting it and he's followed by our T&F/XC coach.

7 days after resetting dialogue with athletes, faculty, & community, 30% of Cross Country slots are cut. @PresidentKARowe is this good faith? @WMTribeClub Is this keeping with the process? @jlittel01 @williamandmary @WMAlumni @TribeAthletics @SaveTheTribe7

My guess (and that is all it is) is that the XC cuts equate to the same athletes who are also on the T&F team. So, using Huge-math, she figures that since T&F is cut that that means that surely those athletes will leave the college, therefore she will have that many empty slots in XC that she can absorb and thus shrink the team. Of course, perhaps those scholarships are actually listed as XC schollies instead of T&F and therefore the athletes might choose to retain them and stay on the XC team (and simply not run track at all). Knowing Huge, though, she probably prepared for this 2 or 3 years ago and had every athlete who ran both track and XC get a "track" scholarship.

Also, again, it is just like that idiot to gut W&M's most competitive (championship winning) team. I can't wait to hear her announcement that she has changed her goal of winning 35 CAA championships in 5 years to a new goal of winning 5 championships in 35 years.

Another one bites the dust. Keir out. Thanked jusssssst about everyone. Ha ha

So for anyone who cares/is curious, today is my last day with @WMTribeFootball. After some consideration I've decided now is a good time for me to move on and focus on other projects.

First up: huge thanks to @CoachMikeLondon and his staff for the past two years. Having seen... https://t.co/mBclEYZNEz


up close how he goes about his business with his staff and players through good times and even tragedy with the passing of one of our athletes, he has been a true leader and man of character. Likewise to the staff for being open enough to listen to and learn from the "rugby guy"

Next my brother @scottkuehn88 who was a fantastic right hand man. He did nothing but work his balls off, add the detail I am less than fond of to our work, and explain that the safeties are actually a subset of the DBs, not a completely different position group

The fantastic staff we assembled in athletic performance was a pleasure to be a part of while it lasted. Thanks also to @CoachHeacockWM and Tim Doyle- working with both of you has been some of the most collaborative and open minded work I've done. https://t.co/B3WI9EWyTI

Lastly thank you to the athletes. I felt the weight every day of trying to keep guys healthy and fulfilling your potential. I appreciate the chance to be a small part of your careers and I wish you all luck for the future on the field and off it.

For now I am going to concentrate on spending time with my son, continuing to build @StrengthCoachN1, and finally being able to speak my mind on social media https://t.co/fBhLD3kcmy

For the future: I listened to a podcast recently where the CEO of Ring doorbells said he didn't want to be a mediocrity after 5 years. He was either going to be a massive success or leave a giant hole in the ground. That's my goal. Big projects planned for 2021. Watch this space.

Took a peak at Samantha's Linkedin page last night and stumbled upon this link:https://distinctionva.com/a-force-to-be-reckoned-with/

Couldn't help but chuckle at this passage:
Tribe 2025 is not without its critics, who see some of the priorities as out of line with the spirit of unity that has defined Tribe athletics for decades. The plan calls for significantly increasing annual funding of football, and men’s and women’s basketball as a means of raising the amount of capital the athletic department has to work with. Critics say this would support athletes who participate in the most popular sports at the expense of the others.

Not so, says Tim Doyle, head coach of the women’s volleyball team. “We don’t feel marginalized,” Doyle says. “There’s a finite amount of resources. What [Huge] is talking about is spending what we do have to generate the most revenue and have the most impact. That will help everyone out.”

(10-02-2020 02:30 PM)Swemster Wrote:  Took a peak at Samantha's Linkedin page last night and stumbled upon this link:https://distinctionva.com/a-force-to-be-reckoned-with/

Couldn't help but chuckle at this passage:
Tribe 2025 is not without its critics, who see some of the priorities as out of line with the spirit of unity that has defined Tribe athletics for decades. The plan calls for significantly increasing annual funding of football, and men’s and women’s basketball as a means of raising the amount of capital the athletic department has to work with. Critics say this would support athletes who participate in the most popular sports at the expense of the others.

Not so, says Tim Doyle, head coach of the women’s volleyball team. “We don’t feel marginalized,” Doyle says. “There’s a finite amount of resources. What [Huge] is talking about is spending what we do have to generate the most revenue and have the most impact. That will help everyone out.”

Remember, Huge hired Doyle. It would not surprise me to hear that she told him right up front that it would be a short-term proposition. Also, we have not heard a peep from volleyball about being cut.

The line that I thought was most hilarious was:

"When Huge (pronounced HYOO-ghee) took the helm in 2017, she let it be known that William & Mary was her ultimate destination".

Well, it didn't take long for that to go by the boards. Thing is, for what she wants to do, she would probably fit right in at Vanderbilt. They are already Power 5 and they already have the money .....

A good article by David Teel that summarizes a lot of what has been discussed here.

https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel...c.amp.html

(10-03-2020 11:39 AM)Tribe1693 Wrote:  A good article by David Teel that summarizes a lot of what has been discussed here.

https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel...c.amp.html

Scathing

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Teel’s piece provides confirmation of the rumored cross country cuts.

Interesting that those cuts were made with no public announcement a day before Ms. Huge’s latest commitment to “open dialogue and rebuild trust.”

I guess that got them done ahead of the “no further actions towards reclassification will occur” statement (whatever that may mean).

(10-03-2020 01:19 PM)Tribal Wrote:  

(10-03-2020 11:39 AM)Tribe1693 Wrote:  A good article by David Teel that summarizes a lot of what has been discussed here.

https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel...c.amp.html

Scathing

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Stunned that an academic institution with the history of William and Mary would tolerate an administrator who ignores obvious missteps with blind focus is egregious. This AD on the presidents executive board can not adequately move forward and be able to look at faculty and students who live by and pride the honor code. A student or professor plagiarizing a written document released to the nation would be expelled, terminated or at the least placed on administrative leave. These faults have gained national attention in academic media (Chronicle of Higher Education) yet the executive board and regents have stuck their head in the sand. This is a national embarrassment and egregious beyond the scope and perception of the academy.