So what's up with Ollie? Did he ask for arbitration?

[Madmannsucks]

Everyone keeps mentioning "Optics".
So here what it looks like from here. And this is why I find this troubling.
While JC was cavorting with Hurley, UConn administration was starting their investigation and leaking it to the press. It also looks like this was all initiated by an insider. As the negative press continues, KO loses the team in the locker room, because let's not pretend it doesn't take a toll on the team.
Additionally the "I don't care how they did it, as long as Ollie is gone" approach is also troubling.
So here we are...what they did(fire Ollie), is part of life.
How they did it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Everyone keeps mentioning "Optics".
So here what it looks like from here. And this is why I find this troubling.
While JC was cavorting with Hurley, UConn administration was starting their investigation and leaking it to the press. It also looks like this was all initiated by an insider. As the negative press continues, KO loses the team in the locker room, because let's not pretend it doesn't take a toll on the team.
Additionally the "I don't care how they did it, as long as Ollie is gone" approach is also troubling.
So here we are...what they did(fire Ollie), is part of life.
How they did it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

No agency given to Ollie in your analysis to coach, motivate or impact the team & its play in any way. Plenty of people/coaches/teams have triumphed thru adversity INCLUDING UConn & Ollie in yrs 1 & 2. Granted this was with help from Calhoun, but he took this help. Yet somehow years later with far less adversity Ollie is unable to coach, can't motivate or develop his players AND refuses help and input from Calhoun but this is everyone else's fault?

Or Ollie wasn't doing his job. Everyone's eyes saw this that watched UConn. Your optics are behind the scenes. The far more obvious, direct and explanatory optics were that Ollie had given up and stopped doing his job as a coach.

 

[Stinger92860]

The point of a contract is money. The entire reason for including that clause in the contract was to provide insurance against a scandal that depleted revenue and hindered their ability to rebuild the program. That is obviously not what happened here. They fired him because he sucked as a coach. They know that, but they feel justified in doing this anyway because they believe he slacked on the job and took advantage of people.

Fine. If that's the argument, the school should come out and say it. Don't try to insult people with the bit on compliance. Compliance wasn't going to get you out of this hole. If anything, compliance helped put you in the hole. Ask Diamond Stone, Jordan Bell, Hamidou Diallo, Tremont Waters, and the Heron kid about that. We didn't sign David Onuorah because Ollie was breaking the rules.

I understand that it's convenient to blame Ollie for signing a dumb contract and forcing the school into playing this game. It genuinely makes sense to think that way, because let's face it, we're victims. We watched that putrid basketball. We dealt with the CR firestorm. We have endured attack after attack from the NCAA. We deserve to cut this corner, this one time, because sometimes fighting fair isn't an answer, even for fair people.

Long-term, we lose thinking like that. Long-term, this is the type of thinking that sinks the program. We as college sports fans have been baited into thinking a certain way, but it doesn't have to be like that.

So yes, we have the right to make this all go away because that's what the contract allows us to do, and morally speaking, it's only what everyone else has always done to us. I'd rather use that good will to back our own guy and call attention to all the other things that have actually held us back.

Another point of a contract is T&Cs. That’s why KO is in the position of fighting for money.

 

[CL82]

Everyone keeps mentioning "Optics".
So here what it looks like from here. And this is why I find this troubling.
While JC was cavorting with Hurley, UConn administration was starting their investigation and leaking it to the press. It also looks like this was all initiated by an insider. As the negative press continues, KO loses the team in the locker room, because let's not pretend it doesn't take a toll on the team.
Additionally the "I don't care how they did it, as long as Ollie is gone" approach is also troubling.
So here we are...what they did(fire Ollie), is part of life.
How they did it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Ha ha... cavorting? KO lost the team in the locker room because of Calhoun's "cavorting?"

SMH

We really need some kind of visual award for the current dumbest posts on the BY. As of late their have been a lot of potential nominees.

 

[Stinger92860]

One thing I am pretty sure of, KO will never actually take this the distance to trial.

But you have been saying he needs the money for the divorce payments. He probably also needs to pay legal fees now. Is the arbitration option still available to KO?

 

[ctchamps]

No agency given to Ollie in your analysis to coach, motivate or impact the team & its play in any way. Plenty of people/coaches/teams have triumphed thru adversity INCLUDING UConn & Ollie in yrs 1 & 2. Granted this was with help from Calhoun, but he took this help. Yet somehow years later with far less adversity Ollie is unable to coach, can't motivate or develop his players AND refuses help and input from Calhoun but this is everyone else's fault?

Or Ollie wasn't doing his job. Everyone's eyes saw this that watched UConn. Your optics are behind the scenes. The far more obvious, direct and explanatory optics were that Ollie had given up and stopped doing his job as a coach.

His optics are biased.
So is everyones's.

REMEMBER THE DYSON!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

His optics are biased.
So is everyones's.

I stand with everyones!

 

[Chief00]

But you have been saying he needs the money for the divorce payments. He probably also needs to pay legal fees now. Is the arbitration option still available to KO?

I am not the expert on legal timelines. But, I believe he had 15 days - if so arbitration would only be available to KO if he has already selected it.

 

[freescooter]

99&04 is likely related to Lt Huroo Onoda, who was the last Japanese soldier to surrender after WW II. He held out until 1974. 99 will still be posting in defense of Ollie at least that long. But at least there is hope. Onoda did eventually give up.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Ha ha... cavorting? KO lost the team in the locker room because of Calhoun's "cavorting?"

SMH

We really need some kind of visual award for the current dumbest posts on the BY. As of late their have been a lot of potential nominees.

As long as you keep posting, there will plenty of competition.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

99&04 is likely related to Lt Huroo Onoda, who was the last Japanese soldier to surrender after WW II. He held out until 1974. 99 will still be posting in defense of Ollie at least that long. But at least there is hope. Onoda did eventually give up.

I think you are misreading him, though, in partial fairness, he is not making it easy for any of us with his latest adventures in fanciful contrarian advocacy.
Then again, that's more or less your specialty.

 

[Yorkeez4]

Since 99&04 post often make me question what he is saying I checked google translate but alas there was no translation available.

 

[Deadrody]

These are precisely the stories that they (the media) exist for. Their job is to illuminate injustice and refine capitalism by merging public sentiment with business interest.

I absolutely appreciate your hilarious attempt to define for all of us, the driving force behind the journalism profession.

 

[Deadrody]

As long as you keep posting, there will plenty of competition.

So says a prime nominee.

 

[champs99and04]

What?

Calhoun built the program and to a lesser extent the school. Since his retirement, other people have taken the wheel. One of them has been Ollie, but he's not the only one. Benedict and Herbst have made plenty of decisions, as well.

You tell me what they've done. Stable conference? No. Stable basketball program? Can't blame them for Ollie, can blame them for this ugly buyout and NCAA investigation. Respectable football program? No. Sensible ticket pricing and marketing strategies? No.

Somehow they've managed to skirt responsibility on all that. Meanwhile, they're now lauded for making a hiring that exactly anyone could have made.

If people want to like them because they work at UConn, fine. But it's impossible to overlook how rigged the deck is in their favor. All things considered, Ollie has been 10x as valuable to the school in the last six years and yet he'll depart millions shy of what was owed to him and on the wrong side of public sentiment. It's disgusting.

 

[champs99and04]

The only thing imaginary here, is the belief that this contract is written in crayon, or is any different than the contract signed by every UConn coach, and probably every D1 basketball coach everywhere or that it has anything whatsoever to do with the NCAA, amateurism, and the overall farce that college sports has become. There is no connection there.

If you really want to go down that rabbit hole, there is zero chance that in a world of true amateur college athletics, Kevin Ollie would be paid more than a couple hundred thousand dollars a year or receive a guaranteed contract of any kind. These coaches are among the biggest beneficiaries of this system, certainly more so than the players are. Ollie is not a victim, he's a major beneficiary of the system you seem to despise.

This coupled with your previous post tells me all I need to know about where you come from on this.

 

[champs99and04]

[QUOTE="champs99and04, post: 2778707,p

Sorry, I can't swallow that. I can put up with a lot - I can put up with coaches pulling scholarships from players, future pros blowing their knee out, coaches getting fired in the middle of a plane ride...but not that.

Really? You are OK with coaches pulling scholarships and NBA prospects blowing out their knees but you draw the line when an administration utilizes the letter of a contract rather than good will to decide the pay out on a coach's contract?
Not me. This is a business dispute with two sides that each have some merit. It is not the moral crusade that either side on the boneyard wants to make it out to be.

Again, people continue to view business and morality as binary systems rather than competing lines that will inevitably converge.

The difference between players and coaches is that coaches generate the revenue. All of it. They recruit the players, they develop the players, and they prepare them to make money in their field. I don't like the idea that players receive no compensation, but it's at least reconcilable on the surface.

UConn is hiring a group of strippers to work in family entertainment, then pretending to be tricked once they realize the customers are dissatisfied. Except, they're not firing them because they're strippers, they're firing them because they're the wrong strippers. So they hire more strippers that they actually intend to pay this time while insisting that this is all family entertainment and you can tell your wife you're going there after work with no questions asked.

And the thing is, I don't give a damn about the strippers. I don't even give a damn about the false advertising. Just pay people the money they earned and quit trying to fool me with the nauseating commitment to compliance BS.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Everyone keeps mentioning "Optics".
So here what it looks like from here. And this is why I find this troubling.
While JC was cavorting with Hurley, UConn administration was starting their investigation and leaking it to the press. It also looks like this was all initiated by an insider. As the negative press continues, KO loses the team in the locker room, because let's not pretend it doesn't take a toll on the team.
Additionally the "I don't care how they did it, as long as Ollie is gone" approach is also troubling.
So here we are...what they did(fire Ollie), is part of life.
How they did it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Are you asserting that the negative press led to the team’s awful performance? Don’t forget the kids who stayed after watching four of their teammates (including one recruit) may have been only 5 toes in to begin with, wondering if they should have left too. I agree that things could have been handled better by the administration but desperation can lead to less than ideal tactics. Credit the admin and JC for realizing Hurley would be a huge upgrade over KO and seizing the opportunity, or there was a strong possibility of this program never being relevant again.

 

[CL82]

Again, people continue to view business and morality as binary systems rather than competing lines that will inevitably converge.

I don't. Honoring your agreements would be by most people considered moral. Trying to change an agreement after fact would not be considered moral. Under the terms of the Ollie's agreement with UConn, the agreement terminates, with no further payment obligation, if Kevin breaks NCAA rules. He did so. So it is amoral of him to now say "Well I am not entitled to this money but pay me anyway or I will do my best to embarrass the university?"

The difference between players and coaches is that coaches generate the revenue. All of it.

Absolutely not. There is a huge amount of effort that goes into monetizing college sports. The coach has a role, but your writing off the efforts of dozens of others is silly.

UConn is hiring a group of strippers to work in family entertainment, then pretending to be tricked once they realize the customers are dissatisfied.

I think you are confusing us with Lousiville.

And the thing is, I don't give a damn about the strippers.

You must because you are talking a lot about them in this post

Just pay people the money they earned and quit trying to fool me with the nauseating commitment to compliance BS.

Ollie is entitled to the money he earned as of the termination date. He's not entitled to a dollar more under the contract. Since that is the agreement of the parties, do you support that? If not is that an amoral position?

 

[Madmannsucks]

Are you asserting that the negative press led to the team’s awful performance? Don’t forget the kids who stayed after watching four of their teammates (including one recruit) may have been only 5 toes in to begin with, wondering if they should have left too. I agree that things could have been handled better by the administration but desperation can lead to less than ideal tactics. Credit the admin and JC for realizing Hurley would be a huge upgrade over KO and seizing the opportunity, or there was a strong possibility of this program never being relevant again.

I think the negative press contributed to the players throwing in the towel. Not like they are immune.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Again, people continue to view business and morality as binary systems rather than competing lines that will inevitably converge.

The difference between players and coaches is that coaches generate the revenue. All of it. They recruit the players, they develop the players, and they prepare them to make money in their field. I don't like the idea that players receive no compensation, but it's at least reconcilable on the surface.

UConn is hiring a group of strippers to work in family entertainment, then pretending to be tricked once they realize the customers are dissatisfied. Except, they're not firing them because they're strippers, they're firing them because they're the wrong strippers. So they hire more strippers that they actually intend to pay this time while insisting that this is all family entertainment and you can tell your wife you're going there after work with no questions asked.

And the thing is, I don't give a damn about the strippers. I don't even give a damn about the false advertising. Just pay people the money they earned and quit trying to fool me with the nauseating commitment to compliance BS.

Here, I don't even think I can say, "You might be right."

 

[freescooter]

Man. You are going beyond the beyond to justifying paying a terrible basketball coach $10 million. I suspect that Ollie is not going to be the last coach fired for cause nor is he the first. It is a new paradigm. Coaches want to get megabucks even if they fail. Schools are getting tired of paying them. I suspect in a while we will see more rational buyouts. Until that happens look for more for cause firings.

 

[Huskybass]

I think the negative press contributed to the players throwing in the towel. Not like they are immune.

If there is enough bad Juju that the negative press is pervasive enough to have an impact, then something is glaringly wrong with the way things are being run. There are only so many times you can sugarcoat the tale of a 20 something point thumpin' .

 

[HuskyHawk]

This coupled with your previous post tells me all I need to know about where you come from on this.

Interesting. I’m not sure what you’re extrapolating from that. It had nothing to do with Kevin. In a system of true amateur athletics, UConn’s whole AD budget might be a million dollars. Maybe. All travel would be by bus, to local opponents and pretty much nothing would be televised. Think, the early 1950s, although that may be too recent.

You seem to be railing against the world of big time college athletics as a business, while at the same time advocating for a guy who did a bad job to be paid vast amounts of money that can only be generated by the system you want to change. There is no world in which your vision can occur. The cut-throat big business aspect of college sports is what allowed Kevin to make nearly $12m as a HC at a state run university. That same aspect is what is driving UConn to fire him for cause and avoid paying him more.

 

[uconnfan68]

ESPN may have contributed to screwing UConn during multiple stages of conference realignment and it employs loads of syracuse scum inclined to voice anything anti-UConn, but is ESPN truly behind the current "bitter fight"? Or, did the departed's buddy write the July 3 article with Cliff Notes provided by a PR agency or law firm?

Haven't either excerpts of JC's later contract(s) or entire contracts been posted on the yard with very similar if not identical language to the contract agreed and signed by the departed?

I wouldn’t put anything past some of the people at ESPN, but not sure its any of the new people there.

 

[Mokum]

Interesting. I’m not sure what you’re extrapolating from that. It had nothing to do with Kevin. In a system of true amateur athletics, UConn’s whole AD budget might be a million dollars. Maybe. All travel would be by bus, to local opponents and pretty much nothing would be televised. Think, the early 1950s, although that may be too recent.

You seem to be railing against the world of big time college athletics as a business, while at the same time advocating for a guy who did a bad job to be paid vast amounts of money that can only be generated by the system you want to change. There is no world in which your vision can occur. The cut-throat big business aspect of college sports is what allowed Kevin to make nearly $12m as a HC at a state run university. That same aspect is what is driving UConn to fire him for cause and avoid paying him more.

The '50's is not too recent. I was around back then. Even the 60's. No TV, opponents were for the most part a bus ride away. Pretty much the same schedule every year. No thoughts about a national championship.

 

[David 76]

So they hire more strippers that they actually intend to pay this time while insisting that this is all family entertainment and you can tell your wife you're going there after work with no questions asked. /QUOTE]

Well at least the part about misleading your wife sounds familiar.