Gazette series Pt 2

[FreddyBrown]

Still not much substance there, though there are a couple of candid quotes, most notably from Tom Davis about what he thought when told his contract would not be extended.

I thought the best piece was in the comments, by someone who posed the question of how supportive Barta would be of Lick if told that his job depended on it: Would he still support Lick if told he knew that if Iowa ended up near the bottom of the Big Ten standings again next year, both of them would be out of work.

Good question!

The Coaches: Tom Davis, Steve Alford, Todd Lickliter|GazetteOnline.com

 

[JHHawk]

Mr. Davis must have been in a bubble if he really was that shocked about not having his contract renewed. There was much discussion of his job status around the state.
Personally, I was not surprised. There was just a feeling in some element of the fan base that Tom was easing toward retirement and it was time for new energy in the program. Similar to SA, while on the surface the record was acceptable, the fan sentiment was very mixed. That 97-98 season was the final straw...but, the shock was that the Administrators were going to let him have the lame duck year. As I always said, it was handled horribly. You either fire him on the spot,give him the buyout and thank him, or never say word one, let him continue to recruit,and then assess it after his last year. Never has an admin handled a situation so poorly,at any school,ever...

 

[FreddyBrown]

Mr. Davis must have been in a bubble if he really was that shocked about not having his contract renewed. There was much discussion of his job status around the state.
Personally, I was not surprised. There was just a feeling in some short sighted element of the fan base that Tom was easing toward retirement and it was time for new energy in the program. Similar to SA, while on the surface the record was acceptable, the fan sentiment was very mixed. That 97-98 season was the final straw...but, the shock was that the Administrators were going to let him have the lame duck year. As I always said, it was handled horribly. You either fire him on the spot,give him the buyout and thank him, or never say word one, let him continue to recruit,and then assess it after his last year. Never has an admin handled a situation so poorly,at any school,ever...

Fixed part of that for you. Just because many of the fans were yapping about it didn't mean the AD had to be dumb enough to act on it. By comparison to what many of us are yapping about now, Tom Davis was John R. Wooden incarnate.

However, totally agree that if it was going to be done, they found the worst possible way to do it. Supposedly the admin vetoed BB's request to terminate, but agreed with non-renewal. They had it half right, should have vetoed the whole thing. However, if BB was convinced a change was in order (rightly or wrongly), he absolutely should have fallen on his sword--"I can't do it this way"--rather than go forward with the lame duck announcement. Worst combination of decisions in the history of Iowa basketball (though handling of PP under same AD was a close second), and the karmic payback is still under way.

 

[JDeMoney]

“I think everybody now knows he never should have fired Tom Davis,â€￾ said a person close to Iowa’s program on condition of anonymity."

The "We landed on the moon!" scene from Dumb and Dumber popped into my mind when I read that quote.

I believe at least somewhat in the concept of karma.

Iowa basketball is still getting what it deserves for letting Davis, the most successful coach in the history of the program (in terms of total wins -- he was second by .01 points to Bucky O'Connor in terms of winning percentage), go without justification.

 

[busabus114]

“I think everybody now knows he never should have fired Tom Davis,â€￾ said a person close to Iowa’s program on condition of anonymity."

The "We landed on the moon!" scene from Dumb and Dumber popped into my mind when I read that quote.

I believe at least somewhat in the concept of karma.

Iowa basketball is still getting what it deserves for letting Davis, the most successful coach in the history of the program (in terms of total wins -- he was second by .01 points to Bucky O'Connor in terms of winning percentage), go without justification.

Without justification? We wanted to get to the next level!

 

[JDeMoney]

Without justification? We wanted to get to the next level!

And, with fairness to Mr. Bowlsby, we DID get to the next level ... and then the next level after that.

 

[JHHawk]

“I think everybody now knows he never should have fired Tom Davis,â€￾ said a person close to Iowa’s program on condition of anonymity."

The "We landed on the moon!" scene from Dumb and Dumber popped into my mind when I read that quote.

I believe at least somewhat in the concept of karma.

Iowa basketball is still getting what it deserves for letting Davis, the most successful coach in the history of the program (in terms of total wins -- he was second by .01 points to Bucky O'Connor in terms of winning percentage), go without justification.

I go back to what many say now...just because we hired the wrong guy,it does not mean letting the prior coach go was the wrong move.

 

[HawkFantastic]

“I think everybody now knows he never should have fired Tom Davis,â€￾ said a person close to Iowa’s program on condition of anonymity."

The "We landed on the moon!" scene from Dumb and Dumber popped into my mind when I read that quote.

I believe at least somewhat in the concept of karma.

Iowa basketball is still getting what it deserves for letting Davis, the most successful coach in the history of the program (in terms of total wins -- he was second by .01 points to Bucky O'Connor in terms of winning percentage), go without justification.

Karma is the correct word. TD was a nice guy. A classy guy. He was successful. People may take issue in my use of the word successful, but......

 

[storminspank]

Part 4 might cause a stir.

 

[busabus114]

Part 4 might cause a stir.

Whats part 4 about?

 

[JHHawk]

Whats part 4 about?

part 4- Iowa's perception as a football school and its inability to draw fans to BB games...

Rick Klatt '' it is hard to change perceptions when people do not want to believe''

Here is the deal,Rick: you have to give people hope that things will change before they will open their minds. Lick had his chance to sell this program,just like SA did...lick failed,SA succeeded,until his 5th year.

 

[busabus114]

Blaming attendance on Iowa being a football school is lazy and ridiculous.

Just cant believe that anyone really believes that is the reason no one comes to the games

 

[iowaoutlaw99]

Well I guess since Iowa is a football school they better stop with the upgrades to CHA. Buldoze CHA build more practice and weight room facilities for football and be done with it.

 

[NewMexHawk]

Perhaps Iowa should just layoff the entire marketing department starting with Klatt and save themselves some money.

They sit around and collect paychecks when the going is good and when things get tough have no idea what to do...NONE, except make excuses. Lickliter must teach a class in "Excuse making 101 for Adminisitrators" -- Klatt, the rest of the marketing dept., and Barta have taken the class twice now and have learned from a pro.

 

[hasbro64]

If you fire the marketing dept. you need to hire the marketing department behind the 'Pet Rock'. The hardcores will always be faithful but they don't fill 10,000 seats. The public is pretty smart. The product needs much help.

 

[joemc1]

If Klatt would spend more time actually marketing and less on those boring email news releases he sends me everydy; we might get somewhere.

 

[DodgerHawki]

You raise an interesting point...

Perhaps Iowa should just layoff the entire marketing department starting with Klatt and save themselves some money.

They sit around and collect paychecks when the going is good and when things get tough have no idea what to do...NONE, except make excuses. Lickliter must teach a class in "Excuse making 101 for Adminisitrators" -- Klatt, the rest of the marketing dept., and Barta have taken the class twice now and have learned from a pro.

about the marketing of the program. In traditional marketing, one of the challenges is making your potential customers aware of your product/offer. Big-time sports is different. Your target market (basketball/sports fans) are already acutely aware of your product, thanks to it being featured in the local newspaper nearly every day and featured on TV every time you play and on a national network for every conference game. To say nothing of Web sites. So in a sense, the target audience is all too aware of what you are offering - and has decided they want nothing to do with the product (in this case Iowa basketball).

I suppose they could do more with the game "experience," with non-stop promos at timeouts and music blaring every spare second. But I seriously doubt that would do much if anything to put fannies in the seats. At this point I suppose they could offer season tickets next year for $75 for the whole season and individual game tickets for $5, but if you do that you so de-value your product that you run the risk of getting no one to buy tickets if they know they can just get one later on.

The formula is simple: start winning/giving people a reason to come back once you get them in the door, and they will do so.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Re: You raise an interesting point...

about the marketing of the program. In traditional marketing, one of the challenges is making your potential customers aware of your product/offer. Big-time sports is different. Your target market (basketball/sports fans) are already acutely aware of your product, thanks to it being featured in the local newspaper nearly every day and featured on TV every time you play and on a national network for every conference game. To say nothing of Web sites. So in a sense, the target audience is all too aware of what you are offering - and has decided they want nothing to do with the product (in this case Iowa basketball).

I suppose they could do more with the game "experience," with non-stop promos at timeouts and music blaring every spare second. But I seriously doubt that would do much if anything to put fannies in the seats. At this point I suppose they could offer season tickets next year for $75 for the whole season and individual game tickets for $5, but if you do that you so de-value your product that you run the risk of getting no one to buy tickets if they know they can just get one later on.

The formula is simple: start winning/giving people a reason to come back once you get them in the door, and they will do so.

You made that really complicated to say win and people will come back.

 

[HeneryHawk]

It seems those who work there buy totally into the giant obstacles in front of them, so how do they ever succeed when they already have surrendered to those obstacles? Flush it out, get someone who is willing to sell himself, his vision, his program and generate excitement and back it up with wins, and fans will come. When you sell it as fun as a choleric, then expect the support of those in need(or want) of one.

 

[edgyhawk]

They wanted to fire him, but the president at the time (Mary Sue)? told them that we don't pay people at Iowa not to coach there, so that's how he actually ended up with the lame duck yr.