You Know The Iowa Athletic Dept. Messed Up When....................

MelroseHawkins

MelroseHawkins

Well-Known Member
Ok. I live smack dab in the Iowa City/North Liberty corridor and work in academia at the University of Iowa. I now am going on my 26 year. I think most can say Iowa City has a certain political landscape and is quite diverse and liberal, as are most universities. It just dawned on me yesterday, even in this most liberal arena, I have NOT come across 1 individual who has stuck up for the University of Iowa or paralleled his/her beliefs/opinion with the university. I have not found 1 individual who has not supported Gary Dolphin during this railroad attempt. Even in Iowa City I haven't come across one individual who stated what Gary Dolphin said was unacceptable. Chew on that for a little bit.

There may be some who really do not appreciate him as a broadcaster or can take him or leave him, as far as broadcasting goes, but, I think most everyone disagrees with how he is being treated and railroaded and knows it is wrong.

Why is the U of I PR dept. such a train wreck anyway?
 
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MelroseHawkins said:
Ok. I live smack dab in the Iowa City/North Liberty corridor and work in academia at the University of Iowa. I now am going on my 26 year. I think most can say Iowa City has a certain political landscape and is quite diverse and liberal, as are most universities. It just dawned on me yesterday. Even in this most liberal arena, I have NOT come across 1 individual who has stuck up for the University of Iowa or paralleled his/her beliefs/opinion with the university. I have not found 1 individual who has not supported Gary Dolphin during this railroad attempt. Even in Iowa City I haven't come across one individual who stated what Gary Dolphin said was unacceptable. Chew on that for a little bit.

There may be some who really do not appreciate him as a broadcaster or can take him or leave him, as far as broadcasting goes. But, I think most everyone disagrees with how he is being treated and railroaded and knows it is wrong.

Why is the U of I PR dept. such a train wreck anyway?
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That seems to be the prevailing train of thought on all this in a nutshell... It is weird as all get out that amongst the circles you're walking in there isn't anyone taking Bartas side. If anyone would be that's the ball park you'd find em in. Their sure doesn't seem to be any on the internet anyway either.. Which explains why Barta continues to hide under his desk about it all to this day.
 
Yeah, i mean even as a liberal soy boy commie, I think he messed up in what he said, but I dont see any need to punish him.

Barta in the wrong here, 100%
 
Hawkfnntn said:
That seems to be the prevailing train of thought on all this in a nutshell... It is weird as all get out that amongst the circles you're walking in there isn't anyone taking Bartas side. If anyone would be that's the ball park you'd find em in. Their sure doesn't seem to be any on the internet anyway either.. Which explains why Barta continues to hide under his desk about it all to this day.
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I don't think its weird that nobody is sticking up for Barta. He has universally shown himself to be a poor leader in crisis management and as Steve and Jon pointed out in their podcast, he even finds a way to make bad situations worse. Now he's showing that he's not only a poor leader as the face of Iowa's athletic department but he's also showing he's a bad person.

No intelligent person is going to associate themselves with a guy like that.
 
Xerxes said:
I don't think its weird that nobody is sticking up for Barta. He has universally shown himself to be a poor leader in crisis management and as Steve and Jon pointed out in their podcast, he even finds a way to make bad situations worse. Now he's showing that he's not only a poor leader as the face of Iowa's athletic department but he's also showing he's a bad person.

No intelligent person is going to associate themselves with a guy like that.
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Silver lining ...

https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...ommittee-ncaa-gene-smith-hawkeyes/2829726002/

The role means more traveling, and Barta feels good about leaving his day-to-day duties to a senior staff he’s worked to assemble over the past few years.
 
Xerxes said:
I don't think its weird that nobody is sticking up for Barta. He has universally shown himself to be a poor leader in crisis management and as Steve and Jon pointed out in their podcast, he even finds a way to make bad situations worse. Now he's showing that he's not only a poor leader as the face of Iowa's athletic department but he's also showing he's a bad person.

No intelligent person is going to associate themselves with a guy like that.
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I would think so as well. That's as logical as it gets. But if ever there'd be that one person or small group it'd be right where he's at there at ground zero. So the fact there isn't just goes to show us how small of an island Barta has put himself on. I don't know how he kept his job after the whole lawsuit thing. What other school after that does nothing to him and just goes on like normal?
 
Xerxes said:
I don't think its weird that nobody is sticking up for Barta. He has universally shown himself to be a poor leader in crisis management and as Steve and Jon pointed out in their podcast, he even finds a way to make bad situations worse. Now he's showing that he's not only a poor leader as the face of Iowa's athletic department but he's also showing he's a bad person.

No intelligent person is going to associate themselves with a guy like that.
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I think what Hawkfnntn was referring to is that I am in the bowels of Iowa City and the university and he was pointing out even being in these circles, there still isn't anybody siding with Iowa on this. This is just strange living amongst the tree huggers and all the civil rights activists. I have not talked with one person who thinks the university is right in this. NOT ONE.
 
My guess is Gary sues - he is absolutely being railroaded and the court of public opinion is majorly on his side. I can take Dolph or leave him, but he's as Black and Gold as it is and doesn't deserve to go out like this.

My major issue is how Fran is being lumped into this because of the previous incident... in which, IMO, he had every right to be upset about. I still don't think that instance was a huge deal, but you could see where Fran would want to protect his guys. But I think it's a stretch to blame it on him when we have dozens of instances and proof of the Iowa Athletic department bumbling public affairs over the years. This happened and now suddenly it's opened the door for Fran haters and given them bullets to shoot at a new target. He already had silenced them with his teams performance so they don't have that and now they are clinging to this.
 
theboat said:
Can we please stop saying he is a great fundraiser as well? He is riding the BTN cash cow, of which he has 0% to do with
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I honestly don't know that, but from what others who would know say, he is a great fundraiser. So, we don't really have to say things that are untrue to build a case against this guy.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
I think what Hawkfnntn was referring to is that I am in the bowels of Iowa City and the university and he was pointing out even being in these circles, there still isn't anybody siding with Iowa on this. This is just strange living amongst the tree huggers and all the civil rights activists. I have not talked with one person who thinks the university is right in this. NOT ONE.
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Yeah I'm seeing your point. That is a very liberal area to live in.

But lets look on the bright side. This situation has driven a wedge in the fan base that should be very excited right now and brought politics, which is the most divisive thing in our society, into Iowa sports.

At least it appears that most if not all of us are united on one thing. We don't like Gary Barta as the AD of the University of Iowa and we don't support him being in that position.
 
Xerxes said:
I don't think its weird that nobody is sticking up for Barta. He has universally shown himself to be a poor leader in crisis management and as Steve and Jon pointed out in their podcast, he even finds a way to make bad situations worse. Now he's showing that he's not only a poor leader as the face of Iowa's athletic department but he's also showing he's a bad person.

No intelligent person is going to associate themselves with a guy like that.
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That is what I found so amazing about the podcast. Jon flat-out said he always found Barta to be a great person...and now must reevaluate that. Pretty damn bold on the part of JDM. I find myself liking Deace more the past year, as well.
 
InGoodCo said:
My guess is Gary sues - he is absolutely being railroaded and the court of public opinion is majorly on his side. I can take Dolph or leave him, but he's as Black and Gold as it is and doesn't deserve to go out like this.

My major issue is how Fran is being lumped into this because of the previous incident... in which, IMO, he had every right to be upset about. I still don't think that instance was a huge deal, but you could see where Fran would want to protect his guys. But I think it's a stretch to blame it on him when we have dozens of instances and proof of the Iowa Athletic department bumbling public affairs over the years. This happened and now suddenly it's opened the door for Fran haters and given them bullets to shoot at a new target. He already had silenced them with his teams performance so they don't have that and now they are clinging to this.
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Well, if Fran is all concerned about being a stand-up guy, he might do what's right in this instance. That would include saying his team doesn't need such distraction and maybe this discussion happens quietly AFTER the season.
 
Xerxes said:
Yeah I'm seeing your point. That is a very liberal area to live in.

But lets look on the bright side. This situation has driven a wedge in the fan base that should be very excited right now and brought politics, which is the most divisive thing in our society, into Iowa sports.

At least it appears that most if not all of us are united on one thing. We don't like Gary Barta as the AD of the University of Iowa and we don't support him being in that position.
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It may not even be so much the liberal atmosphere that surprises me that much, it is that, there are people down here who have and always will be blinded by Black and Gold, and who will or have supported the university no matter what. That is what is surprising. It's been crickets on campus.

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hawkeyebob62 said:
Well, if Fran is all concerned about being a stand-up guy, he might do what's right in this instance. That would include saying his team doesn't need such distraction and maybe this discussion happens quietly AFTER the season.
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I expect Fran to do nothing. Which he has done. Why would he row a different direction than that of the place that signs his checks? No one does that. He should be concentrated on winning basketball games. That is what he is paid to do.

That said - I agree - quietly after the season would have been ideal for the U of I, Learfield and Barta to do this, but they chose a route that is "blow it the f up in our faces" route.
 
InGoodCo said:
I expect Fran to do nothing. Which he has done. Why would he row a different direction than that of the place that signs his checks? No one does that. He should be concentrated on winning basketball games. That is what he is paid to do.

That said - I agree - quietly after the season would have been ideal for the U of I, Learfield and Barta to do this, but they chose a route that is "blow it the f up in our faces" route.
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After seeing the tweet from a recruit's father in another thread, it's pretty clear Fran is between a rock and a hard place. His only recourse is to try being invisible in a highly visible job. Not easy to do
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
After seeing the tweet from a recruit's father in another thread, it's pretty clear Fran is between a rock and a hard place. His only recourse is to try being invisible in a highly visible job. Not easy to do
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to be completely honest, the U of I is in that place now and to outside recruits (even one's father in our own state who probably follow the Hawks closer than most) that may be African American and considering Iowa - you now see this RUSH of support for a guy who was just suspended for making a "racist" comment. If you're a black athlete and have options, why would you pick Iowa right now? This is the cluster F that the Gary Barta has created.
 
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