2200 days of Brad Edwards

[Washingtonian]

Amazing, by far my favorite Redskin.

This play probably helps: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap2000000149539/Darrell-Green-chases-down-Tony-Dorsett

 

[gmubrian]

I've never had to do fundraising (other than stuff for my kids), but I can't imagine it's easy when your marquee program is in the toilet and nobody is even coming to games.

Good point, but, while I think that might affect the casual fan, attendance and attracting new donors, I don't think that would keep a big donor that is already involved from giving.

 

[gmubrian]

Not to influence the discussion, but grabbing the low hanging fruit is part of the gig. On every job I've ever been to doing the stuff you're SUPPOSED to do is what makes you competent. Going above and beyond makes you excellent, and gets you promoted.

I'm fine with a competent AD.

I think we are basically saying the same thing. I said I think we are heading in the right direction, I just want to see some actual progress on fundraising before I am convinced we have our savior.

 

[gmubrian]

Brian pulling his yearly donation and not renewing his season tickets.

What I was referring to was over and above that. If I factor that in, it was even worse.

 

[gmubrian]

Let's face it - prior to Brad Edwards - the AD was a cluster f*ck being executed inside of a dumpster fire burning inside of a broken down clown car.

In two years - I see progress in areas that were totally ignored (an actual fund raising strategy) as well as low hanging fruit.

Brian - you are being a bit too sour here. We actually have a program. As Dave continues to repair the abused basketball program - it will only get better.

This is not easy - it takes time and Brad has done a lot in two years.

Pikapp, I don't see how my post was sour. I am not saying Brad isn't good, I just haven't seen the hard evidence I would have thought we would have seen by now on the fundraising front. Now, if you had talked to me about Mason last year or the year before, I would have definitely been sour. At this point, I have moved on (literally and figuratively). I have a lot more perspective on it now that I am not as emotionally tied up in Mason basketball. I no longer drink the Kool Aid. Granted, I don't have any "inside" information which might make me a little more convinced, pretty much just what I have read on here and my own personal experiences over the last two years. I am judging purely on actual, visible progress that has been made on fundraising for the basketball team.

On my own personal experience front, I had $200k allocated to donate to Mason, I had even reached out last year to try to reestablish a relationship with the basketball program and they completely dropped the ball. One person in the department finally reached back out to me, albeit a little too late. I indicated that there were long running concerns I had about the operation of the AD, and their complete mishandling of my season ticket request only reignited my concerns that the issues has not been addressed. I indicated that I would be glad to hear anyone out that wanted to convince me that things had changed. I was told it would be brought to Brad's attention. I never heard another word. Seems like the same type of stuff I saw under the previous regime. So, I am pretty much done with involvement in Mason in any significant fashion for the time being.

But, even if you discount my personal experience, I am trying to see what progress has been made from a fundraising perspective as it relates to the basketball program. Maybe you are privy to some inside information that shows the strategic progress, or actual progress (if so please share), but I just haven't seen it yet. I hope there is something, as I'd love for the program to get the funding to give coach Paulsen the best chance to thrive. The hiring of Darrel Green is great PR, and hopefully that moves the needle. Did it move the needle at his previous college position?

 

[Walter]

On my own personal experience front, I had $200k allocated to donate to Mason, I had even reached out last year to try to reestablish a relationship with the basketball program and they completely dropped the ball.

Unf*ckingbelievable!

 

[Five Two]

Pikapp, I don't see how my post was sour. I am not saying Brad isn't good, I just haven't seen the hard evidence I would have thought we would have seen by now on the fundraising front. Now, if you had talked to me about Mason last year or the year before, I would have definitely been sour. At this point, I have moved on (literally and figuratively). I have a lot more perspective on it now that I am not as emotionally tied up in Mason basketball. I no longer drink the Kool Aid. Granted, I don't have any "inside" information which might make me a little more convinced, pretty much just what I have read on here and my own personal experiences over the last two years. I am judging purely on actual, visible progress that has been made on fundraising for the basketball team.

On my own personal experience front, I had $200k allocated to donate to Mason, I had even reached out last year to try to reestablish a relationship with the basketball program and they completely dropped the ball. One person in the department finally reached back out to me, albeit a little too late. I indicated that there were long running concerns I had about the operation of the AD, and their complete mishandling of my season ticket request only reignited my concerns that the issues has not been addressed. I indicated that I would be glad to hear anyone out that wanted to convince me that things had changed. I was told it would be brought to Brad's attention. I never heard another word. Seems like the same type of stuff I saw under the previous regime. So, I am pretty much done with involvement in Mason in any significant fashion for the time being.

But, even if you discount my personal experience, I am trying to see what progress has been made from a fundraising perspective as it relates to the basketball program. Maybe you are privy to some inside information that shows the strategic progress, or actual progress (if so please share), but I just haven't seen it yet. I hope there is something, as I'd love for the program to get the funding to give coach Paulsen the best chance to thrive. The hiring of Darrel Green is great PR, and hopefully that moves the needle. Did it move the needle at his previous college position?

Brian's experience got me to think about GW's transition to a new AD a few years prior to ours. I had heard a lot of the same concerns there about mishandled tickets, promotions, media, etc. When Nero was hired, he cleaned house and brought in all new fundraising, marketing and media leadership. It rubbed a lot of people in the college industry the wrong way, but he wanted to change the culture of the dept. I've been part of a 'culture change' at a company. It sucks if you are on the wrong side of it (I got a job because of it), but this happens a lot when a new boss comes to town. Whether its right or wrong, I am surprised Brad didn't do the same.

 

[Herndon]

Unf*ckingbelievable!

It's staggering, actually.

Also, drinks are on Brian.

 

[Vurbel]

It's staggering, actually.

Also, drinks are on Brian.

Drinks? Shoot, new cars for all of us!

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

On my own personal experience front, I had $200k allocated to donate to Mason, I had even reached out last year to try to reestablish a relationship with the basketball program and they completely dropped the ball. One person in the department finally reached back out to me, albeit a little too late. I indicated that there were long running concerns I had about the operation of the AD, and their complete

Am I reading that correctly? $200,000.00 ????

Any donation should be taken seriously but an independent individual donation of $200,000.00 should be greeted with a freakin' green and gold carpet! That's inexcusable, whether it's Edwards or anyone else.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Am I reading that correctly? $200,000.00 ????

Any donation should be taken seriously but an independent individual donation of $200,000.00 should be greeted with a freakin' green and gold carpet! That's inexcusable, whether it's Edwards or anyone else.

For $200,000 I am thinking the champagne room stocked with hookers and blow.

 

[MasonFanatic]

... I had $200k allocated to donate to Mason ...

 

[Five Two]

Wasn't sure where to put this, so this thread seemed most appropriate.
For those who did not receive the 'Alliance' magazine highlighting Mason athletics, here are few bullet points I thought were interesting:

Faster-Farther Campaign will support athletics with funding for facilities and scholarships. The article did not specifically call out amounts being allocated to facilities or scholarships, it did say, "Our goal is to fill the gap between the currently funded scholarships in our 22 sports ($5.5M) and the maximum number allowed by the NCAA ($8M)."
That's the first time I've seen these numbers. Curious to know what sports are funded to the max the NCAA allows. Men's hoops, women's hoops, baseball are fully funded but I don't know about any of the other 19 sports.

Phase I of the Practice Facility will cost an estimated $1M for the renovations to the 'Cage Gym'. It did not give a timetable for completion of Phase I. Phase II will be an addition to the RAC, but no timetable or cost was mentioned.

They want to renovate the locker room for the men's team at EBA but need $500k in order to do so. Again, no timetable for when the $$ needs to be in order to begin construction.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Wasn't sure where to put this, so this thread seemed most appropriate.
For those who did not receive the 'Alliance' magazine highlighting Mason athletics, here are few bullet points I thought were interesting:

Faster-Farther Campaign will support athletics with funding for facilities and scholarships. The article did not specifically call out amounts being allocated to facilities or scholarships, it did say, "Our goal is to fill the gap between the currently funded scholarships in our 22 sports ($5.5M) and the maximum number allowed by the NCAA ($8M)."
That's the first time I've seen these numbers. Curious to know what sports are funded to the max the NCAA allows. Men's hoops, women's hoops, baseball are fully funded but I don't know about any of the other 19 sports.

Phase I of the Practice Facility will cost an estimated $1M for the renovations to the 'Cage Gym'. It did not give a timetable for completion of Phase I. Phase II will be an addition to the RAC, but no timetable or cost was mentioned.

They want to renovate the locker room for the men's team at EBA but need $500k in order to do so. Again, no timetable for when the $$ needs to be in order to begin construction.

I read somewhere they wanted to renovate the cage in 2017. Can't remember where though.

In terms of Faster, Farther isn't it that any large donation to the school just gets counted towards that 500 million goal regardless of what it's going towards? I was under the impression that it wasn't just them stockpiling money to dish out when they hit the mark.

 

[mkaufman1]

I read somewhere they wanted to renovate the cage in 2017. Can't remember where though.

In terms of Faster, Farther isn't it that any large donation to the school just gets counted towards that 500 million goal regardless of what it's going towards? I was under the impression that it wasn't just them stockpiling money to dish out when they hit the mark.

Probably the letter I sent you. Regardless, they want to do the Cage gym area in 2017 (1.5 million I believe) and then additional renovation for an expansion (forget the exact cost) and locker rooms.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Probably the letter I sent you. Regardless, they want to do the Cage gym area in 2017 (1.5 million I believe) and then additional renovation for an expansion (forget the exact cost) and locker rooms.

You're right, that is where I read it. I really hope we can get that 1.5 soon. It's such a low amount by collegiate athletic standards. I really fear for us being able to recruit if we can't at least get phase I going soon.

 

[Five Two]

Probably the letter I sent you. Regardless, they want to do the Cage gym area in 2017 (1.5 million I believe) and then additional renovation for an expansion (forget the exact cost) and locker rooms.

$1M to renovate the Cage
$500k for the locker room enhancements

 

[MasonSAE4]

$1M to renovate the Cage
$500k for the locker room enhancements

500k is 15 per student. Might just need to sack up and up student fees by 15 bucks. It's not like they'd be upping student fees for the tennis team, it's for a team Cabrera has singled out as being a front door to the university.

 

[psyclone]

500k is 15 per student. Might just need to sack up and up student fees by 15 bucks. It's not like they'd be upping student fees for the tennis team, it's for a team Cabrera has singled out as being a front door to the university.

Not happening. State has asked public universities to plan for a cut of 7.5%--so you can assume that tuition will be increased, maybe more than usual. And it's been mentioned before that the state is taking a very hard look at student fees for these sorts of things. Cabrera is on record as being against raising student fees. Also, I believe the initial announcement indicated that the plans were contingent on funding from private sources, i.e. donations.

 

[GSII]

Isnt that why hired Darrel Green?