GMU, Hewitt part ways

[GSII]

What if PH does not get the ax?

Then people will not buy the product (tickets), but may still support the student atheltes (patriot club donation).

 

[Walter]

In the meantime, I just printed out a picture of Hewitt that I am going to take a dump on and mail to Brad Edwards. How dare anybody accuse me of being "all talk."

You are such a copy cat. Every dump I take gets sent to Hewitt. He usually writes a nice letter thanking me for my support. I think he confuses my letters with AOs.

 

[wijg]

I've had season tix since the early 80's, I'm not going to dump all my priority points and great seats just to make a point.

Not trying to convince you of anything but FYI-the priority points formula from the website:

Current year Patriot Club unrestricted annual drive pledge x .012
Total cumulative donations for athletics (all annual drive, capital donations, sport-specific donations) x .008
Two points for each consecutive year of donating to the Patriot Club's annual drive
Three points for each year as a men's basketball season ticket holder

So, the only points you would lose would be the consecutive years donating to the patriot club. You could avoid that by giving a token amount or make up for it quickly with a decent donation the next year. You would lose 3 points for skipping one year of tickets. That is less than a $300 donation to make up for that.

 

[Pablo]

Everybody here including wijg knows Hewitt's getting the axe, which makes all this in-fighting and macho talk about pulling donations kind of silly. For the sake of everybody's sanity, we should probably table some of this until a final decision is made in the next few weeks.

I agree! In the meantime, why don't we just complain about Hewitt's longevity bonus?

 

[wijg]

Then people will not buy the product (tickets), but may still support the student atheltes (patriot club donation).

Let's dispense with this over hyped belief that giving to the patriot club is really helping the students. Most of our donations go to support things other than students. As I have said many times before, if your goal is to help the students, you would be better off donating to some sort of scholarship fund that does not have the overhead of running an athletic department.

 

[gmutom]

I agree! In the meantime, why don't we just complain about Hewitt's longevity bonus?

I don't see them cutting ties with him in the next 8 days, but it sure would send a strong message if they did. I'll just be happy if he's let go right after we lose in the A10 tourney.

 

[Dawgs99]

Yea the day after our inevitable 1st round (play in game) loss, dude better be packing up his office.

 

[disgruntled]

The site was clearly representing that the funds were going to a certified charity, i.e., the alumni association. This was certainly an improper representation given that these were neither charitable contributions for educational purposes, nor funds solicited by the alumni association. Frankly, I can't understand your logic.

As I said, if fundraising for the purpose of terminating Hewitt's contract is initiated, then it should be done legally and properly.

You've got it right. The moment I saw the site I thought it was a misguided attempt by someone having absolutely no understanding of what it was they were doing and more importantly the serious risks they were taking in doing it (read lawsuit).

 

[wijg]

I wish I had your guys confidence that he will be gone. I don't think I am the only one either since other people are starting funding campaigns to fire him. My gut still only says a little more than 50% chance he gets the ax. I guess I am weighing past school screw ups, the cost of a new coach while we are still paying Hewitt, and the odds he wins the A-10 tournament too highly.






That last one was a joke for those that did not catch it.

 

[disgruntled]

A10 was a no-brainer decision. Only Merten would have passed on it.

We will find out soon. I hope you all are right about AC and BE.

I have always found it interesting that Merten...a former florida state dean didn't seem to understand the importance of athletics in terms of helping establish an identity for a university...or did he understand it too well and deferred to the new president to make that decision?

 

[disgruntled]

KA, as a former pro athlete, I'm sure Edwards knows you can't expect the fan base to be active when the product on the floor is crap. You need to activate them by building a winning program and giving them something to embrace. Look how many of our fans came out of the woodwork after we went to the Final 4. Same thing with vcu. Build it, and they will come.

And for those questioning whether Cabrera believes in basketball or is even a fan, who gives a shit? As long as he understands business, he'll see it as the revenue-producing source it can be if we are consistently winning. I realize it's a huge leap of faith, but we have no choice as fans but to hope these two men get it right.

Why does everyone use cabrera and businessman in the same breath? He is an academic...no?

 

[psyclone]

Why does everyone use cabrera and businessman in the same breath? He is an academic...no?

Yes, but he was President of Thunderbird School of Global Management (prior to them being absorbed by Arizona State) before coming to Mason. Essentially his administrative background is running a business school only at a higher level. I think that his whole twitter thing is part of branding himself (and now Mason)--part of a marketing strategy that you don't see as much of in ivory-tower academics.

And, if you were at his inauguration, his Steve Jobs approach to the event certainly smacked more of a CEO addressing stockholders at a product launch than someone clothed in academic robes doing the "pomp and circumstance" thing.

 

[GMUgemini]

I have no doubt that almost everyone on here is talking to the AD in some manner. It can't just be talk forever, though. At some point, there has to be action behind the talk or else the talk just becomes background noise, especially with our ADs track record. And if you promise action, you have to take it. If the AD has no fear of losing your donations or ticket sales, they have that much less incentive do anything.

And you did it again, going to my point. You insult anyone that does not take action that you approve of. You say that I, and Brian (and by implication others like Jim, Fro and Smurf and I am sure there are others that have done the same or announced they will be) are taking our ball and going home, which is, by convention, a derogatory phrasing. I say Kudos to those that have promised they would go away and have. They are making the promises from people like me that are promising to do so after this year that much more effective. I applaud anyone that is taking any action or promising to take action if Hewitt is not relieved of his duties.

Since we are the "taking our ball and going home" crowd, I'll refer to those that just complain about Hewitt but never take any action the "All talk and no action" crowd. Different from, but overlapping with, the "do nothing" crowd that criticizes any and every possible action another fan takes to get the message across to the AD.

I apologize ahead of time if you have a relative that has lost their voice recently and you find the phrase "all talk" offensive.

Why is the action to do nothing wrong? Perhaps they love their alma mater, have been through much worse times and want to support it no matter what? They are making your potential choice that much easier. because of them you will have something to come back to.

 

[GSII]

Why is the action to do nothing wrong? Perhaps they love their alma mater, have been through much worse times and want to support it no matter what? They are making your potential choice that much easier. because of them you will have something to come back to.

Each supporter is free to do as they wish. I would venture a guess those of us who stopped giving money, will give once a change is made. And then some. Those of us continued to give, will keep on giving and maybe increase. Point is, less supoort will come with crap product. Thats a fact.

 

[wijg]

Why is the action to do nothing wrong? Perhaps they love their alma mater, have been through much worse times and want to support it no matter what? They are making your potential choice that much easier. because of them you will have something to come back to.

So I was not sure I understood the highlighted sentence. I'll assume your intent was not along the lines of "why should we not do wrong actions" and more along the lines of "why is it wrong to do nothing ".

First, the action of doing nothing is the very definition of inaction. But, I'll ignore the contradiction as I think I get your gist. I still think it answers itself. But I'll still address it. I did not say it was wrong in a moral sense, but it is not helping the situation and therefore I think it is the wrong approach if you care about improving school. It is not encouraging the school to take the proper course of action. So, in your example, what I would come back to could be potentially much worse then what I had left. If they keep getting the same revenue or more while making bad decisions it would be an organization that consumes even more money for the same or less results. In other words, a more wasteful organization.

 

[GMUgemini]

This is your opinion, it does not make it true.

It is Tom's opinion that such "bandwagon" behavior by Mason's fans hurts Mason in the short to medium-term, this also does not make Tom's opinion true.

I do not think we hold enough power as donors (we don't give enough in my opinion) for it to make that much of a difference. I think the incentive structure built into the A10 revenue sharing agreement is plenty motivation to do what is best for men's basketball (imagine, three, maybe three, teams will share 75 percent of the tournament's payout this year -- vcu being one of them -- given enough seasons of mediocrity, this difference in revenue makes our donations look like the spare change rattling around in a child's piggy bank). This doesn't make my opinion true either.

In other words, everyone needs to stop arguing from these positions of superiority.

 

[Washingtonian]

I disagree with the way they handle that in the first place. It is one of the things I hope BE changes. It is part of the TOC way of doing things. So all the more reason to stop donating, not less reason.

Just curious, do you know how other colleges handle their donations?

 

[TwoFootTackle]

For those who want to make a statement with their donations and/or season ticket purchases in the event that Hewitt isn't fired, you could donate instead to the Green Machine. That's a program with a commitment to excellence that supports deserving students and that we can all agree represents the best of the university.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

You guys are such cowards. Set. One. Of Yourselves. On fire. You'll get the press you need. Or buy some sort of arctic animal suit online for $800 and then hold up a sign at a game that alleges Hewitt causes global warming or something.

I would contact Snowflake but the absurd cold temperatures have allowed him to visit Key West for the first time. He's there now.

Look, I'm 42 and have a three year old. Am I going to have to do this myself?

 

[99 Patriot]

There is a way to be agreeably disagreeable when expressing your displeasure on this. think most people have done their part to express their disappointment and frustration while at the same time making sure they don't have an asterisk next to their name in the Mason database after the Hewitt era is over.

Making it personal, holding your breath standing in the corner or losing your cool is in my opinion not the way to go. If people want to go that way, have at it, but realize even those who agree with your end goal are not going to go along with your approach.

That said, if someone is willing to set themselves on fire I'd gladly help generate a crowd to watch. It's cold outside, so you'd cool down quick.