From the Bench - Disconnect with Fans Grows as UA Continues to Shut Out Public

[Robert Shields]

No, it isn't.

You're going to need to make a connection pretty quick, or I'm going to sustain the objection.

It all falls under the same UA administration.  It's not a stretch to think if the Advancement Department is run in such a way other areas are run the same.  It can be a corporate culture that is accepted. Don't forget it was the same guys in the Advancement Department writing speeches for the Athletic Department.

[Delicious~Dreams]

Disconnect With Fans Grows as UA Continues to Shut Out Public

Robert Shields

The poorly conceived headline of an ad in Sunday's statewide sports section read, "Razorback Fans and Donors." Even with such a brilliant attention grabber like that, I have the God-given gift of being able to grossly ignore advertising I'm not interested in, so I never saw the advertisement until an informant texted me Sunday morning with the message, "Sport section page 5C."

Though I was in the middle of church, I was intrigued. When I opened the paper, there was the ad that started, "You may be aware that in October of 2013 Athletic Director Jeff Long asked the University of Arkansas to increase his compensation from $1,150,000 to $2,000,000 on the rationale that he had been contacted by the University of Texas about interviewing for the Athletic Director position."

The ad reported that Jeff Long is the highest paid athletic director in the SEC according to the USA Today's database of athletic director salaries. I have to mention at this point to the people who wrote this ad that Jeff Long's official role is not athletic director. As his title so plainly puts it, he's also a vice chancellor of intercollegiate athletics. To be clear, his title is Vice Chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics and Director of Athletics.

The ad points out that the football team has only been to three bowl games in his six years, and the basketball team has never made the NCAA tournament under Long's direction. The NCAA tournament comment is technically wrong because John Pelphrey did make the NCAA tournament in 2008 just as Long had taken over after the official retirement of Frank Broyles.

The "Friends of the Razorbacks" out of Austin, Texas, may not have had everything straight in the ad, but the fact remains that under Long this school year the UA was the only SEC team that failed to make a bowl game in football or an appearance in the NCAA tournament, which officially makes the Razorback Program the worst in the conference.

The ad's premise is that Long's compensation does not match production on the SEC battle ground, which is hard to dispute. What the ad does not point out is that Long is a world-class fundraiser, or at least he has about doubled the budget for the UofA Athletic Program since taking the wheel. I guess the fundraising is the "vice chancellor" part of his job.

Unfortunately, money is not the true metric that matters in the SEC where winning is held above everything else.

The timing of this ad was curious if nothing else because Sunday was also the day the statewide paper ran its listing of the highest-paid state employees. Coming in at No. 3 was Long only behind UofA football coach Bret Bielema and basketball coach Mike Anderson -- the two guys who are putting their boss on the hot seat, one more than the other, with ads being run in the statewide paper.

Times are not good for Razorback sports, and if Dickens were writing this chapter of Razorback athletics it would simply say, "It was the worst of times. Period." The SEC is a truth machine. You can hide your team during spring practice and cloak it in darkness, but play in the SEC brings everything to light. You cannot hide forever how bad you are.

Nothing was more telling than this past week when "The Zone" radio show on 103.7 in Little Rock devoted several hours to the premise that there is a disconnect between the fans and the UofA. Caller after caller made great points about how the UA was continually disconnecting with the fans around the state and with a younger generation not growing up to be Razorbacks.

These days, however, the UA's answer to this problem is that you can get more connected to the UofA if you send a big fat check.

It could be a sampling error from the radio station, but the callers were overwhelming complaining about how they feel disconnected from the sports program they once loved. When money is the only thing that matters and fans aren't getting a return on the large investment they are being asked to give, this result should not come as a surprise.

The UA seems unconcerned. It continues to close football practices, even in spring, keep the media out, and only disseminate the information it wants you to know through official channels – its website – charging extra for the access wherever it can.

And then with such lack of transparency as with the case of the UA Advancement department's budgeting issues, you wonder why people feel disconnected.



Send your performance appraisal to fromthebench@yahoo.com.

........And There you have it.......

Mr. Shields in his finest form.....lol!! 

Just who IS Robert Shields???     

[OTTER]

The ad in the paper was asinine.  Shields' latest piece of drivel even more asinine than the ad.  Poor work, Robert.

[WilsonHog]

It all falls under the same UA administration.  It's not a stretch to think if the Advancement Department is run in such a way other areas are run the same.  It can be a corporate culture that is accepted. Don't forget it was the same guys in the Advancement Department writing speeches for the Athletic Department.

I can see where it might not be a stretch for you, given your position on all things related to the University of Arkansas.

Having given way more thought to your article than it deserves, it occurs to me that your article is more in the nature of a "vent" towards our athletic department and Jeff Long in particular.

Fortunately, we have a forum just for that kind of thing, where our readers can enjoy your writing.

[ChitownHawg]

I have not heard that song before. There is some truth to the song.

You learn something new everyday. I thought all Kris ever did was fight vampires! Man he sings songs too! 

[Pork Twain]

It all falls under the same UA administration.  It's not a stretch to think if the Advancement Department is run in such a way other areas are run the same.  It can be a corporate culture that is accepted. Don't forget it was the same guys in the Advancement Department writing speeches for the Athletic Department.

So you are talking about all of the administration at the UofA and not just Jeff Long?

[Pork Twain]

I have filters on my Outlook email at work that puts certain emails into a certain folder.  Can the same thing be done with posts from a certain folder?  Maybe create a forum just for RS posts as a sub-folder under Vent n' Rumors?

[jabohog]

I have not heard that song before. There is some truth to the song.

You learn something new everyday. I thought all Kris ever did was fight vampires! Man he sings songs too! 

I like Kris, but I don't know if I'd call that singing.

[jesterzzn]

It all falls under the same UA administration.  It's not a stretch to think if the Advancement Department is run in such a way other areas are run the same.  It can be a corporate culture that is accepted. Don't forget it was the same guys in the Advancement Department writing speeches for the Athletic Department.

You can't have it both ways.  Either Long runs his show or he doesn't.  Either he's mr intergrity or he isn't.  You are making reference to a scandal entirely unrelated to the athletic department as if the two departments were in cahoots.  This is blatently sensational and dishonest to a degree that you should be held accountable.  If I were a mod that would mean the thread would be deleted at the very least and you would be invited not to repost it, but...

Having given way more thought to your article than it deserves, it occurs to me that your article is more in the nature of a "vent" towards our athletic department and Jeff Long in particular.

This will do just fine.  Thank you.

[DeltaBoy]

Robert is right and Jeff needs his pay cut 30% at least along with cutting ticket prices 30%.  Jeff has pushed the working man fan out of the market cause we don't have 1,500 bucks to drop like Tom Bennett.  I work hard 6 days a week and pay my bills but I don't have extra cash to throw around with a teenaged daughter at home.  I so glad so many here are so well off they can afford Jeff but I can't.

[PonderinHog]

And that flushing sound you just heard, Robert, is Mr. Bennett giving you the message board equivalent of a swirly.

[Pickwick Hog]

LMAO. It is Monday.

Don't know why anyone would expect todays diatribe to be any different.

[jesterzzn]

Robert is right and Jeff needs his pay cut 30% at least along with cutting ticket prices 30%.  Jeff has pushed the working man fan out of the market cause we don't have 1,500 bucks to drop like Tom Bennett.  I work hard 6 days a week and pay my bills but I don't have extra cash to throw around with a teenaged daughter at home.  I so glad so many here are so well off they can afford Jeff but I can't.

Life is a series of value clarifications.  We can't all afford everything we want to do, and just because we can't afford it doesn't mean we 'deserve' for it to be cheaper.

Think about your statement.  You just said that because you personally cannot afford something, that someone else should be paid less so that you can enjoy a recreational activity.  Not food.  Not a roof over your head.  A Football game.

Why do you deserve to go to this football game?  Because you work hard.  You pay your bills.  You have a teenager at home.

Absouletly amazing.

[Robert Shields]

And that flushing sound you just heard, Robert, is Mr. Bennett giving you the message board equivalent of a swirly.

That's funny.  I guess so.

[John Futrall]

"No coke? That's cool. I'll take a Pepsi."

Yes, it really is JUST that simple.

Just no "Tab"

[John Futrall]

Life is a series of value clarifications.  We can't all afford everything we want to do, and just because we can't afford it doesn't mean we 'deserve' for it to be cheaper.

+100

[WilsonHog]

Robert is right and Jeff needs his pay cut 30% at least along with cutting ticket prices 30%.  Jeff has pushed the working man fan out of the market cause we don't have 1,500 bucks to drop like Tom Bennett.  I work hard 6 days a week and pay my bills but I don't have extra cash to throw around with a teenaged daughter at home.  I so glad so many here are so well off they can afford Jeff but I can't.

Priorities are a part of it, Delta. I decided long ago that the Razorbacks would always be my top priority when it came to any available disposable income, which I have been blessed to see increase over the years. If asked what I do for relaxation, I go to Razorback games. Period. Maybe a weekend trip to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals once a year. Other than that, I don't golf, hunt, fish, go to the casino, watch the ponies, travel, or take vacations. Some years it's been a matter of saving for months. Some years I had to use loan money. Sometimes it's been a matter of driving six hours to Fayetteville and back in one day. Just all according to what has been necessary over the last 30 years.

[SONofHAM]

Shields is the biggest troll on Hogville.  Thanks to TB for taking care of this one.

The man quoted his sources as 103.7's The Zone...too funny.

[FelixJonesorDMAC?]

I call BS... Why? cause I've quit 41,352 times since 2006...

Liar, I counted and it has been 41,461 times, don't short yourself

[FelixJonesorDMAC?]

Robert is right and Jeff needs his pay cut 30% at least along with cutting ticket prices 30%.  Jeff has pushed the working man fan out of the market cause we don't have 1,500 bucks to drop like Tom Bennett.  I work hard 6 days a week and pay my bills but I don't have extra cash to throw around with a teenaged daughter at home.  I so glad so many here are so well off they can afford Jeff but I can't.

Your a pretty strong conservative over in the politics forum but this post screams leftist. 

[Pork Twain]

Robert is right and Jeff needs his pay cut 30% at least along with cutting ticket prices 30%.  Jeff has pushed the working man fan out of the market cause we don't have 1,500 bucks to drop like Tom Bennett.  I work hard 6 days a week and pay my bills but I don't have extra cash to throw around with a teenaged daughter at home.  I so glad so many here are so well off they can afford Jeff but I can't.

So if these hires all work out he will get a retroactive pay raise?

[RebelliousHog]

Robert is right and Jeff needs his pay cut 30% at least along with cutting ticket prices 30%.  Jeff has pushed the working man fan out of the market cause we don't have 1,500 bucks to drop like Tom Bennett.  I work hard 6 days a week and pay my bills but I don't have extra cash to throw around with a teenaged daughter at home.  I so glad so many here are so well off they can afford Jeff but I can't.

2 things.
1. then don't go to games.
2. somehow I knew you would agree with RS. If he wrote "I took a dump on the Hog at midfield", you would agree with RS.


Just sayin'.


As an aside FINALLY someone took Roberts drivel and moved it where it belongs.  Thank you

[goodguytex]

2 things.
1. then don't go to games.
2. somehow I knew you would agree with RS. If he wrote "I took a dump on the Hog at midfield", you would agree with RS.


Just sayin'.


As an aside FINALLY someone took Roberts drivel and moved it where it belongs.  Thank you

Tom Bennett is my hero for being the one to finally move a Shields thread.

[Chic-Hog-Oh]

Shields is the biggest troll on Hogville.  Thanks to TB for taking care of this one.

The man quoted his sources as 103.7's The Zone...too funny.

Not just 103.7's The Zone.....His "sources" were a few loopy callers into 103.7's The Zone on one particular day.

[Chic-Hog-Oh]

It all falls under the same UA administration.  It's not a stretch to think if the Advancement Department is run in such a way other areas are run the same.  It can be a corporate culture that is accepted. Don't forget it was the same guys in the Advancement Department writing speeches for the Athletic Department.

Nice try, Stretch Armstrong. But not this time.

Thank you.

[bphi11ips]

I have not heard that song before. There is some truth to the song.

You learn something new everyday. I thought all Kris ever did was fight vampires! Man he sings songs too! 

Best Christian song ever written. 

You don't hear much from the pulpit about Matthew 6:5 or Luke 6:20-26.  Much better in the South to focus on Corinthians 14:34.

[DeltaBoy]

Life is a series of value clarifications.  We can't all afford everything we want to do, and just because we can't afford it doesn't mean we 'deserve' for it to be cheaper.

Think about your statement.  You just said that because you personally cannot afford something, that someone else should be paid less so that you can enjoy a recreational activity.  Not food.  Not a roof over your head.  A Football game.

Why do you deserve to go to this football game?  Because you work hard.  You pay your bills.  You have a teenager at home.

Absouletly amazing.

Per CBS our buying power dropped by 16% for 98% of us all.   Jeff shot up the prices greater than 16%.   

[Inhogswetrust]

Fan disconnects come and go with the winning or losing records of the team.  Win, and everyone is "connected" and all other disreputable actions are ignored or explained away by the fans.  Lose, and the fans are "disconnected" and everything you say and do as a coach is under the microscope.  It doesn't even take as many words as I used to explain that.

The terminology for disconnected fans when losing is FAIR WEATHER.

[Inhogswetrust]

It's a perfect fit.

Naw..........................Code Red was more of a nutty thing.

[Inhogswetrust]

I admit I actually read this Shields post. I should have known better than to do so. Did anyone else catch the part about the Razorback program being the worst in the SEC? Yes I know that football and basketball are the revenue producers but he forgot there are OTHER sports in the program besides football and men's basketball. He should have noticed the recent Director's Cup thread before saying that.

[Inhogswetrust]

Per CBS our buying power dropped by 16% for 98% of us all.   Jeff shot up the prices greater than 16%.   

Then why the heck did prices go up for the other 99.9% of the products we use everyday? I guess you want to blame Jeff for that also............

[seasonhog]

Disconnect With Fans Grows as UA Continues to Shut Out Public

Robert Shields

The poorly conceived headline of an ad in Sunday's statewide sports section read, "Razorback Fans and Donors." Even with such a brilliant attention grabber like that, I have the God-given gift of being able to grossly ignore advertising I'm not interested in, so I never saw the advertisement until an informant texted me Sunday morning with the message, "Sport section page 5C."

Though I was in the middle of church, I was intrigued. When I opened the paper, there was the ad that started, "You may be aware that in October of 2013 Athletic Director Jeff Long asked the University of Arkansas to increase his compensation from $1,150,000 to $2,000,000 on the rationale that he had been contacted by the University of Texas about interviewing for the Athletic Director position."

The ad reported that Jeff Long is the highest paid athletic director in the SEC according to the USA Today's database of athletic director salaries. I have to mention at this point to the people who wrote this ad that Jeff Long's official role is not athletic director. As his title so plainly puts it, he's also a vice chancellor of intercollegiate athletics. To be clear, his title is Vice Chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics and Director of Athletics.

The ad points out that the football team has only been to three bowl games in his six years, and the basketball team has never made the NCAA tournament under Long's direction. The NCAA tournament comment is technically wrong because John Pelphrey did make the NCAA tournament in 2008 just as Long had taken over after the official retirement of Frank Broyles.

The "Friends of the Razorbacks" out of Austin, Texas, may not have had everything straight in the ad, but the fact remains that under Long this school year the UA was the only SEC team that failed to make a bowl game in football or an appearance in the NCAA tournament, which officially makes the Razorback Program the worst in the conference.

The ad's premise is that Long's compensation does not match production on the SEC battle ground, which is hard to dispute. What the ad does not point out is that Long is a world-class fundraiser, or at least he has about doubled the budget for the UofA Athletic Program since taking the wheel. I guess the fundraising is the "vice chancellor" part of his job.

Unfortunately, money is not the true metric that matters in the SEC where winning is held above everything else.

The timing of this ad was curious if nothing else because Sunday was also the day the statewide paper ran its listing of the highest-paid state employees. Coming in at No. 3 was Long only behind UofA football coach Bret Bielema and basketball coach Mike Anderson -- the two guys who are putting their boss on the hot seat, one more than the other, with ads being run in the statewide paper.

Times are not good for Razorback sports, and if Dickens were writing this chapter of Razorback athletics it would simply say, "It was the worst of times. Period." The SEC is a truth machine. You can hide your team during spring practice and cloak it in darkness, but play in the SEC brings everything to light. You cannot hide forever how bad you are.

Nothing was more telling than this past week when "The Zone" radio show on 103.7 in Little Rock devoted several hours to the premise that there is a disconnect between the fans and the UofA. Caller after caller made great points about how the UA was continually disconnecting with the fans around the state and with a younger generation not growing up to be Razorbacks.

These days, however, the UA's answer to this problem is that you can get more connected to the UofA if you send a big fat check.

It could be a sampling error from the radio station, but the callers were overwhelming complaining about how they feel disconnected from the sports program they once loved. When money is the only thing that matters and fans aren't getting a return on the large investment they are being asked to give, this result should not come as a surprise.

The UA seems unconcerned. It continues to close football practices, even in spring, keep the media out, and only disseminate the information it wants you to know through official channels – its website – charging extra for the access wherever it can.

And then with such lack of transparency as with the case of the UA Advancement department's budgeting issues, you wonder why people feel disconnected.



Send your performance appraisal to fromthebench@yahoo.com.

+1, RS

The reaction to your post today reminds me of the word.....PIRANHAS.......

[ChitownHawg]

Then why the heck did prices go up for the other 99.9% of the products we use everyday? I guess you want to blame Jeff for that also............

Are you insinuating inflation even hits the UofA? 

[OTTER]

+1, RS

The reaction to your post today reminds me of the word.....PIRANHAS.......

Some things deserve a good shredding by hungry piranhas and RS post is one of those things.

[Inhogswetrust]

Are you insinuating inflation even hits the UofA? 

Sure it does. That being said what I'm really trying to say is everyone needs to quit blaming Jeff for everything they think is bad at the UA. He has to make tough decisions daily and he has bosses to answer to if those decisions are as bad as some people think and then go on here and shout Bad, Bad, Bad boy. IF they feel so strongly about it then email their concerned to his superiors.

[Harley_Hawg]

Your a pretty strong conservative over in the politics forum but this post screams leftist.

+1

[Hogwild]

He is probably not one hundred per cent right, but he is probably not one hundred per cent wrong.

What really amazes me is that after thousands of years.  As sophisticated and technology advanced as we are it still all comes down to:

Kill the messenger, LOL.   l

I really don't get the hate on this one.  IMO some of his other 'articles' have been far more negative.  Why this one was moved and the others weren't seems odd.  He pointed out the errors in the ad, and he without name calling gave a fairly accurate assessment of Long's tenure to date.

Guess it is ok to take a dump on CBB or MA, but don't  say something about Long or someone jimmies get rustled.

[chitwnhog]

I call BS... Why? cause I've quit 41,352 times since 2006...

You got me...I took a week off and here I am.

[chitwnhog]

I'm a Proposal Manager for a very large IT company. In the public sector, if a bidder submits their bid after the due date/time, then they are ALWAYS disqualified. If they weren't and went on to win the bid, other vendors could cry foul and bring forth a lawsuit.

Also, they have to meet certain bid criteria. There is typically a formula used in public sector to determine who wins the bid. It leaves very little choice.

Example (albeit very simple):

a) completeness of response - 20%
b) acceptance of T&Cs - 20%
c) Pricing - 60%

All vendors are graded equally on certain criteria. Say Pepsi and Coke were both even on a and b, but Pepsi had a better price, then Pepsi HAS to be chosen.

And if Coke was indeed late on their proposal/quote submission, then I can tell you with 100% certainly that they were immediately kicked out of the bidding process.

Therefore, I drink Mountain Dew at games now.

Co
This is correct. I have dealt with both Coke and Pepsi professionally. Pepsi will bend over backward to get your business and in the long and short run is more cost effective. Coke has an attitude and thinks everyone should just want Coke and when it comes down to it they will do nothing to gain your business and when they screw up...guess what? You have to call Memphis or Atlanta to get things fixed.

[Sir Oinksalot]

...sugary drinks especially carbonated ones are terrible for you, youse should avoid them!!

[goodguytex]

...sugary drinks especially carbonated ones are terrible for you, youse should avoid them!!

I agree! Drink water!

[DEVICEHIGH]

Life is a series of value clarifications.  We can't all afford everything we want to do, and just because we can't afford it doesn't mean we 'deserve' for it to be cheaper.

Think about your statement.  You just said that because you personally cannot afford something, that someone else should be paid less so that you can enjoy a recreational activity.  Not food.  Not a roof over your head.  A Football game.

Why do you deserve to go to this football game?  Because you work hard.  You pay your bills.  You have a teenager at home.

Absouletly amazing.

The context is disconnected fans. I think.