(07-24-2014 12:59 PM)lou Wrote:  

(07-22-2014 07:11 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Yes, the Athletic Department HAS BEEN dysfunctional, with no management discipline, for decades; that's really not up for debate....but that is no longer the case.

It's not out of the weeds yet. There have been some key departures and will be some more due to the current dysfunctional management. K might know where he wants to go but seems to be in no hurry to get there.

edit: grammar

??? Please explain. The department is no longer dysfunctional. And who are these key departures who have left since Dr. K took office...and don't say Marc Laney, who left for strictly personal reasons.

Taking a quick stroll over to http://www.riceowls.com you find this:


Now all these vacancies might not be contributable to the new management, but some of them definitely can.

I will not bring up any more names, but to your comment about Marc, I dug up the thread from when he left and found this:

(04-02-2014 08:35 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Marc said weekends off and much less OT helped make it a deal too good to refuse. After all the time he and Kim had to spend at almost every FB, BSB, BB game during their tenure it is perfectly understandable.

If by a “strictly personal reason” you mean we did not have enough staff to let employees have time off and he was burned out, I will agree. However, I think most of us here can see the ridiculousness of this situation.

None of the individuals leaving want to burn any bridges on the way out. You’ll probably hear that their departure was for “strictly personal reasons” because they are polite. The fact that they were being overworked with only lip service to less hours, a concrete path for growth in the organization, or listening to the ideas they had to improve things around Rice Athletics will probably not be brought up.

As it is, I think we’ve lost some of the best assets in the department and will lose more soon.

(07-24-2014 08:01 PM)lou Wrote:  Taking a quick stroll over to http://www.riceowls.com you find this:


Now all these vacancies might not be contributable to the new management, but some of them definitely can.

I will not bring up any more names, but to your comment about Marc, I dug up the thread from when he left and found this:

(04-02-2014 08:35 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Marc said weekends off and much less OT helped make it a deal too good to refuse. After all the time he and Kim had to spend at almost every FB, BSB, BB game during their tenure it is perfectly understandable.

If by a “strictly personal reason” you mean we did not have enough staff to let employees have time off and he was burned out, I will agree. However, I think most of us here can see the ridiculousness of this situation.

None of the individuals leaving want to burn any bridges on the way out. You’ll probably hear that their departure was for “strictly personal reasons” because they are polite. The fact that they were being overworked with only lip service to less hours, a concrete path for growth in the organization, or listening to the ideas they had to improve things around Rice Athletics will probably not be brought up.

As it is, I think we’ve lost some of the best assets in the department and will lose more soon.

Do you know Marc? I do, and I spoke to him (and his wife) the week he resigned. News flash-- most athletic departments are overworked with long hours; it's the nature of the beast, as staff are expected to be in attendance at games and all public events (most of which occur after regular work week hours).

(07-24-2014 08:01 PM)lou Wrote:  Taking a quick stroll over to http://www.riceowls.com you find this:


Now all these vacancies might not be contributable to the new management, but some of them definitely can.

I will not bring up any more names, but to your comment about Marc, I dug up the thread from when he left and found this:

(04-02-2014 08:35 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Marc said weekends off and much less OT helped make it a deal too good to refuse. After all the time he and Kim had to spend at almost every FB, BSB, BB game during their tenure it is perfectly understandable.

If by a “strictly personal reason” you mean we did not have enough staff to let employees have time off and he was burned out, I will agree. However, I think most of us here can see the ridiculousness of this situation.

None of the individuals leaving want to burn any bridges on the way out. You’ll probably hear that their departure was for “strictly personal reasons” because they are polite. The fact that they were being overworked with only lip service to less hours, a concrete path for growth in the organization, or listening to the ideas they had to improve things around Rice Athletics will probably not be brought up.

As it is, I think we’ve lost some of the best assets in the department and will lose more soon.

There has been some turnover for sure. I do believe Dr. K will get things straightened out with the staff.

(07-24-2014 08:22 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Do you know Marc? I do, and I spoke to him (and his wife) the week he resigned. News flash-- most athletic departments are overworked with long hours; it's the nature of the beast, as staff are expected to be in attendance at games and all public events (most of which occur after regular work week hours).

I do know Marc, albeit not that well. I have shared a couple beers with him a number of times. My relationships with the staff are likely very different than yours. No one will ever question your dedication to the program, and your long tenured support is well respected amongst the staff and other supporters (myself certainly included). Due to your status as a traveling in, long term donor and supporter, your interactions with staff are going to be much more professional and political than what I might experience.

I know people who work or have worked for the Astros, Texans, Dynamo, Texas A&M, IMG, LSSE, Clippers, Sounders, Rapids, Aeros, and a couple minor league baseball teams, and all of them work long hours. This is not news. However these other programs have adequate staff to prevent all employees from working all events all year. At the end of last year we had neither marketing nor development staff. I called the ticket office during regular business hours a number of times and no one answered the phone. There are problems not being addressed and a big one of them is staffing.

(07-24-2014 09:42 PM)lou Wrote:  There are problems not being addressed and a big one of them is staffing.

And the pay is minuscule for someone with a family. I wondered if it was minimum wage when compared to the hours involved.