Chris Reynolds Appreciation Thread

[tornado]

I thought this deserved a column of its own...

just well-wishes for our new guy...

Chris - so happy you chose to be our next Athletic Director - I am totally impressed by your accomplishments and your reputation in such a short time since you wowed us with your play in high school!

You have no idea how much Bradley's large & loyal fan base appreciates you and it happy to have you as our new leader in the Athletics Department.
We wish you the greatest success - and we have confidence in your leadership to take us back to the top in all athletics - but most notably basketball.

MVC Championships, NCCA Tourneys & wins, front pages of SI, and enjoyable winning basketball AT HE CIVIC CENTER in front of crowds of 11-12,000 wild fans...
then once all that's accomplished - go up from there!!!

God Bless and GO Braves & Go Chris!

[bradleyfan124]

Welcome back Chris! Build it and they will come!

[basketball nut]

Welcome home Chris.
From everything I have heard and read about you, I know that BU has brought the right guy back to Peoria & Bradley to lead them into the future.


Let the good times rise again on the hilltop (and downtown at the CC)

[lefty]

I'm sure Chris will do a fine job...but usually you appreciate someone after they have done something....

[Tommy]

Welcome to the BU family, Chris. We are all very excited to have you aboard!

[Canton BU fan]

I have the feeling he will be successful because he probably has a passion for Peoria and the job that MC doesn't have.

[wizard1]

Chris Reynolds Appreciation Thread

To coin an old phrase.....A SLEEPING GIANT AWAKENS!....With the marvelous appointment of Chris Reynolds as AD, Bradley is back on track for a great future that will include exciting winning basketball in front of sell-out crowds, competing for MVC championships, skilled players who are fun to watch, post season tournaments, Etc., Etc.
The introduction of Chris went very well and an atmosphere of great enthusiasm prevailed.
Wiz

[lefty]

I have the feeling he will be successful because he probably has a passion for Peoria and the job that MC doesn't have.

He may have a better understanding of Peoria although the area has changed and I don't know how much Reynolds has been back.....


But how do you know MC didn't have a passion for Peoria and the job here?.....he may have done things differently but I don't know that it means he wasn't passionate....

[Canton BU fan]

He may have a better understanding of Peoria although the area has changed and I don't know how much Reynolds has been back.....


But how do you know MC didn't have a passion for Peoria and the job here?.....he may have done things differently but I don't know that it means he wasn't passionate....

Because he is a New Yorker and Princeton educated. I don't think he ever quite got us Midwestern folks. Even though Reynolds maybe doesn't have the same credentials as MC did coming into the position I think the intangibles will more than make up for that. I think that goes for any job. Being an Ohio guy is what also makes GF seem to fit in here personality wise. He seems like a very likeable guy. Just not a good college coach.

[lefty]

Because he is a New Yorker and Princeton educated. I don't think he ever quite got us Midwestern folks. Even though Reynolds maybe doesn't have the same credentials as MC did coming into the position I think the intangibles will more than make up for that. I think that goes for any job. Being an Ohio guy is what also makes GF seem to fit in here personality wise. He seems like a very likeable guy. Just not a good college coach.

yeah...I get that.....I looked at that as understanding more than passion....but I tend to agree with you

[Tommy]

He may have a better understanding of Peoria although the area has changed and I don't know how much Reynolds has been back.....


But how do you know MC didn't have a passion for Peoria and the job here?.....he may have done things differently but I don't know that it means he wasn't passionate....

If you watched the intro video and compare them to any interviews ever done with Michael Cross, you will not ever have to ask that question again.

[lefty]

If you watched the intro video and compare them to any interviews ever done with Michael Cross, you will not ever have to ask that question again.

I doubt that

[tornado]

you are in the minority - there's a reason he's being ushered out unceremoniously in the middle of his contract

Here's a great quote from Chris Reynolds

"Reynolds says he hopes to use his hometown roots to boost interest in Bradley sports:
“I don’t have to fake being a Bradley person. I love Bradley University, I love Peoria, Illinois.
And I can relate to the people here because I’m one of them.”

http://peoriapublicradio.org/post/chris-reynolds-joins-bradley-university-new-athletics-director

One more quote indicates he is going to really be out to meet the fans, ticketholders, and boosters...

"We'll be inviting everyone to be part of our plans. We'll be inviting them to purchase tickets,
attend our outings and to consider our fund-raising needs."

..now like it or not the singular criticism I heard literally dozens of times about our top personnel over the past few years - is that they were friendly to and schmoozed the big wigs and big donors, but that they never made eye contact with the large majority of fans - even making those statements about the upper bowl fans as if they didn't giva darn about their attendance.
Don't blame me if you disagree with that statement but I can give you plenty of names and they can tell you themselves that our admin has been friendly but only in a very selective way and has remained quite distant from the average fan.

[lefty]

my point is don't confuse passion with understanding and enthusiasm??¦..

I really doubt we are that far off in our thinking here

[tornado]

there's a hard-to-describe quality a person does develop over time - the ability to read other people...
to know if they are sincere, to see past their words and cut the BS

Some people have that "quality" and some do not - some are even so far towards the opposite end they fall for the BS all the time...
I think many people have been drenched in the BS, actually thinking we have been good the past 4 years when we have been historically bad.
....and some have been eating up the BS like it's going out of style...and have thus proven they can't read people very well.
They're still entitled to an opinion but it's kinda easy to see sometimes when others were so badly duped ....

That said - I think the people who were NOT fooled the past few years can read Chris Reynolds plain & clear - he is the real deal...

In fact - someone even tipped off Kirk Wessler and now, weeks after many of the rest of us, suddenly he is Chris Reynolds' biggest fan...glad to have him on board!!!

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150318/NEWS/150319091/11130/SPORTS?rssfeed=true&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter