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Great Article on Coach Stowell's double firing from BU

Buesch N Chips said:
Everyone seems to be falling right into place on which side of this issue they fall on. Like clockwork.

I just read the article for the first time. I don't have much of an opinion, because I really do see all sides. New regime needs to put their own stamp on things, I get it. Employer X is an institution at work, I get it. This is not at all a new problem in terms of the general workplace, except in this case articles get written about it. Usually what happens is the new regime feels trapped by the past, and flexes their muscles a little too much, then sees that error and relaxes a bit, then everyone is fine.

I remember my dad's boss coming to the house after they had kept him on much longer than they needed to, and that conversation was very difficult for both, even though they both knew that it was what was best for the company. I think they probably wished he would have retired on his own, but it wasn't happening, and they kept him on a very long time. At some point, though, you have to move on. I do not agree with the "until mentally impaired" philosophy.

I am the furthest thing from a KW defender, but this article is pretty tame when compared to his usual passive-aggressive daggers. He puts the JL thing out there so no one can accuse him of using this as a way to get at the coach again. I loved listening to Coach Stowell and will miss him on the broadcasts.

So, 4 paragraphs later, I do not really have an opinion. ;)
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Where do I fall? I'd say I go back and forth between "sides" quite a bit... As does Shaunguth and SFP at least...
 
Da Coach said:
I have the highest respect for the leaders at Bradley, and I respect and support what they are doing, and I will likely support whatever changes they make in the future, as long as I believe they are good for the university. I am a fan of Bradley University, not just a sports team, and I am not into this for my own gratification, like some fans are.

And again I will ask- how many people here had ever even heard of this Hall of Fame committee before the column by Kirk Wessler? IMO, this whole thing is a minor issue, and my only criticism was the attempt by the PJS to make it into a much biggger deal than it warrants.
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Da Coach---I actually have heard about the Hall of Fame committee. Quite a bit in fact. I also knew of Coach Stowell being released of his duties on the committee. IMO, this hurt Coach Stowell more than the radio thing. I guess, again, IMO, what would it have hurt to keep him in there?

I agree 100% with you about new regimes trying to put their "stamp" on things. It really happens in college athletics. However, the HOF thing isn't really something Cross needs to put his "stamp" on does he? As you say, if its not a big deal and no one knows about it why make it a big deal and dismiss Stowell? I think Cross made a mountain out of a molehill, not Kirk Wessler for reporting it or others for commenting on it. Just my two cents.

There are those who were in the Athletic Department that were made uncomfortable when Ken Kavanagh and Co. took over. Then Ken Kavanagh was made uncomfortable and asked to leave when his new boss came in. Now it is happening again with a new AD.

No one knows this more than Jim Les. He and Cross do not get along. He and Glasser do not get along. There is nothing more Glasser would love to put her "stamp on" than naming a new basketball coach. And, let's understand, Michael Cross has no power in that decision and hiring. He has very little power anyway.

That is not to say I think Jim Les should be fired or dismissed. I'm just agreeing with Da Coach that this is how things work. When a new president, AD, CEO, CFO, Superintendent, etc. gets hired then everyone is on alert.
 
I'll be honest. When I heard about Coach being removed from the radio, didn't really bother me. I honestly did ask the person if JL or the school didn't want him on their anymore, because of how critical he could be. But the person, who many on here think is anti-JL/BU, explained that the article stated that JL had no idea about it. After reading the article, that is how I took it. KW was not taking a shot at JL, but addressing an issue he knew would come up.

I have no problem with the powers that be making a change. I don't agree with it, but it is not my decision to make. Coach brought insight to the calling of the game that not many others are going to be able to. IMO, the broadcasts will have a large hole there.

As for the removal of Coach from the hall of fame committee/board, uhhhh....??????? I know I don't know the reasons for it, but it is a head scratcher. Coach is BU, plain and simple.

As for the idea of having DA be a draw for other athletes that may want to go into coaching or broadcasting after their time is up....Coach was the best example of how you are part of the family.

I have had the privilege of Coach instructing me as a player at camps and bouncing ideas off of him as a coach myself. There is no better instuctor of the game and how it should be played. BU is gonna miss his insight.
 
Da Coach said:
Since I am coming under attack for defending the administration (which is not exactly the case), let me state my position again-

Most people who have ever worked in any field of business have seen this phenomenon before- whenever a new CEO takes over, there are always major changes as they mold the business (in this case the university) into their own image. I have seen it with a number of businesses I have been associated with. There is usually no longer a deep loyalty to past employees as there might have been with previous administrators. So the changes at Bradley should not surprise anyone, and I expect there will be more. Recall that there were indeed many people here who called for and celebrated the change of adminstrators. I have said this before, and will reiterate it, "Be careful what you wish for".

I have the highest respect for the leaders at Bradley, and I respect and support what they are doing, and I will likely support whatever changes they make in the future, as long as I believe they are good for the university. I am a fan of Bradley University, not just a sports team, and I am not into this for my own gratification, like some fans are.

And again I will ask- how many people here had ever even heard of this Hall of Fame committee before the column by Kirk Wessler? IMO, this whole thing is a minor issue, and my only criticism was the attempt by the PJS to make it into a much biggger deal than it warrants.
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For the record here DC, you are not under attack for defending the admin. from me:!: I just get so tired of when anything goes wrong on the hill it's KW and the PJS fault:!: It's the same old song, they are at fault for reporting it or could of reported it a differently, (as to sweeted it):? It's a different story when, they report ALL the good things that happen there:? And they report a hell of a lot more good things (thank god) than bad:!:
Also why would you attack the intelligences of the some posters, by asking about if they knew/had heard of, a Hall of Fame committee:rolleyes: Do you think some believe the players put them selfs in it or the admin. does it or inductee's are pulled from a hat:!: Come On Man:roll:
 
amckillip said:
Where do I fall? I'd say I go back and forth between "sides" quite a bit... As does Shaunguth and SFP at least...
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Thanks.....as I would like to think as a fan of Bradley basketball I'm able to support the program without agreeing (or not) with every decision that's made.
 
Stowell being relieved of his on air duties was a bit overdue. As someone who pretty much listens to every game, his contributions have been significantly less in the last few years.

CB was in insiteful but his cheerleading and excuses were very old. But maybe he was told to be very all roses and balloons on the broadcasts.

Snell to me has also declined in recent years, his mistakes are often, calling out wrong names/numbers on fouls, not knowing if a shot is a 3 or not, just multipule mistakes virtually on a game by game basis. He is fine to listen too but he is not as strong as he once was.

Unless Stowell was missing meetings, beligerate with other members or was critical of the committe chairperson and we will likely never know the truth, if this decision was just to make a change to allow Robertson on the committe it seems like a very poor decison. Especailly if 2 others were not renewed. Why couldnt Robertson take one of those positioms?

BTW does anyone know who the other two people were?
 
tornado said:
Jim Les did give a comment regarding the Stowell firing....We have no way to know what all he said because he wasn't quoted directly but it went something like this...
"Les had no input on the decision and was genuinely surprised when he learned Stowell wouldn??™t be working men??™s games"
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Once again, T:?

Although I find it hard to believe that JL has made no comment about the issues of Coach Stowell (Even a thank you for all you done and wise you well) Maybe theres a gag order on JL or anyone in the Admin about coach
 
tornado said:
did anyone ask him?
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I don't think anybody knows one way or another do they? However, Jim Les makes himself "unavailable" to the PJ Star guys from time to time :)

Certainly his right. He isn't the only coach in the world to do such a thing.
 
seriously -- I see all this speculation on what Coach Les thinks and what he'd say or how he feels.
But -- has anyone actually asked him or did they simply note that he "has made no comment about the issues of Coach Stowell".
If he's not clearly spoken to the issue, then what's with a newspaper wildly speculating about what they guess he might think based on rumors of a "rift"
 
toddgak said:
I don't think anybody knows one way or another do they? However, Jim Les makes himself "unavailable" to the PJ Star guys from time to time :)

Certainly his right. He isn't the only coach in the world to do such a thing.
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When he was clearly available and a reporter was present, that reporter did not take the opportunity to ask JL even one question. I'm talking about the chat JL did on this very message board.
 
I enjoyed listening to Coach Stowell, he's one of my favorite coaches - how could he not be, my first glimpse of him was with the great Joe Allen & Co. which included Chuck Buescher, Al Smith and others I can still name. He was a great uptempo coach and with no shot clock and no three point line, his teams regularly scored points in the 80's & 90's, he really knows how to coach passing to the front court players. Then came along Dick Versace, what a great coach he was too, he could get the ball inside too.

I'm looking forward to listening to Danny Adams this season. Really, I only tune in to listen to Bradley Basketball to find out who wins and how good they played. Dave Snell is probably the one I most like and enjoyed what coach had to say, actually coach was not given the opportunity to talk as much as I would have liked to hear him talk - I would have liked to hear his opinions on our current offensive play making/structure/scheme/playing bigger. My gripe and I don't really have a gripe is that I would have actually liked to hear him talk about those things. Maybe he can start a blog ;)

I've heard of the HOF Committee, some group has to pick them, and I'm sure they've done a good job and will continue to do so.
 
tornado said:
did anyone ask him?
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Hell, don't ask me, I don't know:oops: All I am saying, surely, some comment from the present Head Coach about a legend and long time supporter of the school you are coaching at, would be in order and the right thing to do:?
This is not a hit aimed at Jim, as I believe he, the AD and everyone in the BU Admin. have been told to not comment on it:!:
 
Coach was not getting as much airtime on the BU games in recent years anyway. I do not think anyone will dispute that he and Jim did not see eye to eye.

The article stated Coach Stowell's view on "cheerleading" vs. analyzing. That is all good and well.

I agree with others that the HoF firing was odd to say the least.

I wonder if everyone here will support BU IF JL is eventually let go?
 
I have always been a big fan of the Coach and enjoyed listening to him on the radio broadcasts. I hope that the Hall of Fame decision was not as arbitrary as it seems in the article … in fact, there was a lot of information lacking in KW’s article regarding the Hall of Fame committee decision and it was clearly written to be sympathetic to the Coach.

Regarding the radio assignment, it sounds like a lot of accommodation had been made for Coach Stowell over the years. At 84, if he won’t step down on his own (quit is not in his DNA according to KW) then you’ve got to look bad by firing him. It would have been nice to have announced a final year so that he could have been appropriately honored … is it possible that that idea was suggested to Coach but he turned it down?


On the surface the Hall of Fame decision looks like it was handled poorly … but there is a lot left to be known:
  • How many committee members are there?
  • What do the bylaws stipulate regarding committee terms?
  • Who are the other two members whose terms expired that were not renewed?
  • Did Dr. Cross approach Coach Stowell before the decision was announced? If so, what are those details?
KW’s article addressed one side of the issue. I would like to know more before throwing the administration under the bus.
 
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