See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil

Could there be a conflict of interest at BigU?

Not according to AD Maturi; according to Associate AD Wistrcill it is just the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Sometimes it is hard to keep up with the wily administrators and athletaestheticians at BigU.

Jay Weiner of the Strib has an excellent piece today on the academic equivalent of the revolving door at the military-industrial complex.

From the article:

This marriage of commercial interests and college sports is creating cozy bedfellows. For instance, the U athletic department's lead representative in negotiations with Learfield for rights to TCF Bank Stadium is associate athletic director Tom Wistrcill.

Just 13 months ago, Wistrcill was a Learfield employee.

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi says there's no conflict of interest.

University Chief Financial Officer Richard Pfutzenreuter said before he signs off on any Learfield-TCF Stadium deal he wants to be assured "we're getting full market value."

One issue is the negotiating role of Wistrcill, who was hired by Maturi.

"I haven't seen any conflict myself," said Pfutzenreuter. "I think Wistrcill knows exactly who he's working for. It's the University of Minnesota."

Said Wistrcill: "There could be the appearance of [a conflict] ... Others could say, 'Hey, here's a former Learfield employee negotiating a deal with Learfield. What's going on?' That's why other people [in the central administration] are involved. ... I'm going to do what's best for the university."

But Pfutzenreuter said that, if a tentative deal is struck with Learfield to market the new stadium, "I'm likely to say I want an independent assessment."

UD does justice to this subject in the larger context of academics and sports. See part III of her post. - Three Ways of Looking At A Sports Fiasco


As Mr. B. has noted in the past, ethical standards are apparently rather low here at BigU.

Ciao,

Bonzo

Image is All?
Further Bumps on the Road to (Football) Greatness

Mr. Bonzo hates to kick our boys while they are down... But he would feel negligent after posting earlier on this topic if he did not post the start of an article from today’s Daily.


April 12, 2007

U football program battles bad image

Recent allegations of a rape and a new recruit's suspension soured the new coach's arrival

By Mark Remme

Just one week ago, optimistic talk surrounded the Minnesota football team.

After all, first-year coach Tim Brewster's motivational tactics, such as bringing in former Gophers standouts and clumps of sod from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, made team members comment about a new attitude and swagger surrounding the program.

But the encouraging signs soon gave way to controversy.

After three players were arrested on Friday in relation to an alleged sexual assault, and news broke that 2006 recruit Robert McField pleaded guilty to two reduced counts of second-degree robbery and one count of armed criminal action, a less flattering image is surrounding the new-look Gophers.

3 Gopher football players accused of sexual assault, suspended

Mr. Bonzo reports from the Associated Press:

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press Writer

Article Last Updated: 04/06/2007 11:37:27 PM CDT

MINNEAPOLIS- Three University of Minnesota football players were in police custody Friday, undergoing questioning after allegations of criminal sexual conduct, the university said in a statement.

Coach Tim Brewster immediately suspended the players until the investigation is complete. The allegations come on the eve of the team's spring intrasquad game.

According to a police report, an 18-year-old woman was raped sometime between late Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The victim, whose name is not being released, was examined at a local hospital.

University Police Chief Greg Hestness said in a statement that his department learned of the allegation early Friday, and the players were being questioned that evening. Once the investigation is complete, he said, the case will be submitted to the Hennepin County attorney for possible charges.

"Obviously, this is disappointing news for any coach to receive," said Brewster. "There is an ongoing investigation and we will cooperate fully with law enforcement on this matter."

This is Brewster's first season as Gophers head coach. He replaced Glen Mason, who was fired after 10 seasons with Minnesota.

Brewster spent the last two seasons as the tight ends coach with the Denver Broncos, and also served as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers and in college under Mack Brown at Texas and North Carolina.

The Gophers spring game is at noon Saturday at the Metrodome.

I think I’ll pass on this…

a depressed Bonzo

-----------update------------

From the Star-Tribune:

Last update: April 07, 2007 – 12:02 AM

Gophers football players arrested in assault case

By Chip Scoggins and Tom Ford, Star Tribune

The Gophers football spring game scheduled for today has been marred by news late Friday night that three players were taken into custody by university police investigating a complaint of criminal sexual conduct.

Brewster did not return messages left on his cell phone Friday night. Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said he was disappointed by the news but said he needs to gather more information about the incident.

"Obviously we will cooperate fully with the investigation," Maturi said. "We will take the appropriate action once we know more facts about the case."

After police looked into the report, they arrested the players early Friday evening, Wolter said. They were being questioned Friday night.

"After receiving a complaint early this morning, we began an aggressive investigation," said university police Chief Greg Hestness in a written statement. "Three individuals have been taken into custody and our investigation is ongoing. Upon completion of the investigation, the case will be submitted to the Hennepin County attorney for consideration of charges."

This is the first serious incident in Brewster's short tenure, and it is certain to overshadow today's spring game, which the school has dubbed the "Gopher Nation Celebration." The news broke around the same time Brewster held a reunion for a large number of former Gophers players.

--------------update from Pioneer Press-----------

Bail set for U players suspected in rape

Staff Report

Article Last Updated: 04/07/2007 03:23:34 PM CDT

Bail has been set at $100,000 for three University of Minnesota football players jailed on suspicion of rape charges, the Hennepin County Jail reported this afternoon.

As of this morning, the players had not been formally charged with any crime.

The players were arrested Friday on suspicion of raping an 18-year-old, University police said.

Meanwhile, U athletic officials tried not to let news of the arrests infiltrate this afternoon's annual spring scrimmage, in which several thousand alumni and fans turned out at the Metrodome.

Players were told by communications staff not to discuss the situation, which has resulted in suspensions for the three players, and reporters were told that if they raised the issue, interviews would be cut short.

New RoundBall Coach at BigU

In the next post below, Bonzo takes a potshot at BigU for the latest activities in the athletic department - namely hiring a coach at an astronomical salary when the money could be better used. This topic has been beaten to death lately, and frankly Mr. Bonzo is getting tired of it, or at least feels that protest is futile. [No doubt he will get over it soon.] Below someone has hit a few of the important points.


A recent (March 27) letter to the Star Tribune:

SPORTS AND THE U

An expensive quest

Seems like University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks only speaks to the public through Sid Hartman (interview, March 25). Can anyone recall a time he addressed the people of Minnesota -- or asked for their input -- about his expensive quest for sports glory? Me neither.

As an average-income grad, I might have been inclined to send the U a hundred bucks now and again. But any school that can afford $1.7 million per year for a basketball coach doesn't need my financial help.

Put down those pompoms for a minute, Mr. Bruininks, and tell the taxpayers why we need to spend so much money.

TATE FERGUSON, MINNEAPOLIS


Sadly,

Mr. Bonzo

Bumps on the Road to Greatness
Two Exits from BigU and One Entrance

From Brian Leitner’s widely read Law School Reports blog:

March 27, 2007

Paulsen from Minnesota to St. Thomas

Michael Stokes Paulsen, a prolific and influential constitutional law scholar at the University of Minnesota Law School (who currently holds one of the University's distinguished McKnight professorships), has accepted a senior offer from the University of St. Thomas, also in Minneapolis. That's a big coup for St. Thomas, which under the leadership of Dean Thomas Mengler (formerly Dean of the University of Illinois College of Law) seems to be flourishing.

From the Star-Tribune:

U vet school dean is leaving
Last update: March 27, 2007 – 11:06 PM

The dean of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine is leaving to become the president and CEO of the largest veterinary hospital in New York City.


Oh, and by the way, we’ve got a new 1.7 million dollar/year basketball coach. Incentives could up this figure and the contract is for seven years. Google keyword search: “Tubby Smith Minnesota”.

A depressed Mr. Bonzo

One Can Only Marvel...

Would Alberto Gonzales be a good choice to sit on the Supreme Court and make decisions about the Constitution?

Would Don Rumsfeld be a good choice to sit on a panel investigating abuses at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo?

Would OurLeader be a good NCAA board of directors member to oversee the athletics policies for Division I schools?

[One could also ask: Would a MedSchoolDean be a good Pepsi board member, but that has already been discussed.]

Mr. Bonzo thinks not on all counts.

Nevertheless, the Daily reports:

January 29, 2007

Bruininks joins NCAA board
The board of directors sets the athletics policies for Division I schools.

The board, comprised of 18 presidents and chancellors from universities that compete in Division I athletics, is the final authority on athletic policies for schools in the division.

Richard Weinberg, a faculty representative to the athletics department and a former member of a number of regional and national collegiate athletic committees, said he thinks Bruininks was appointed because of the value he places on athletics and academics.

"I think that the fact that Bob Bruininks was selected among the presidents of the Big Ten indicates their appreciation of his ability to carry the torch for what intercollegiate athletics is and what it should be about," he said.

[ Ah, excuse me sir. “Meanwhile, as the Star Tribune reported last fall, academics among the Gophers football team under Mason were at the bottom in the Big Ten, with more at-risk students admitted into the Minnesota program than just about any Big Ten school, and with graduation rates the lowest in the conference, especially among African-American athletes.” link ]

Bruininks said he looks forward to addressing a number of issues facing student-athletes, universities and their athletics departments.

"One of my key concerns will be the academic issues related to student learning, academic progress and graduation," he said. "We need to do a much better job in ensuring that our students actually graduate when they come as Division I student-athletes."

Bruininks said the high and rising costs of maintaining intercollegiate athletics programs also worry him.

"We ought to be able to compete athletically without paying somebody $3 (million) to $4 million a year to coach a football or basketball team," he said. "This is sort of an arms race in athletics."

He said the multimillion dollar price tag for recent shake-ups in the athletics department at the University was large, but he doesn't see it as uncommon.

[And is this desirable? And what does he intend to do about it?]

"No one really likes to pay excessively high salaries and no one really likes to buy out long-term contracts, but that is pretty typical of what is happening nationally," Bruininks said. "What has happened here is not excessive in relationship to these national trends."

[Ah, I’m afraid that it is excessive, and someone - OurLeader ? - is going to have to do something about it. “ Bruininks finds himself paying more than $3 million to one coach, Glen Mason, to leave, while needing to pay another coach probably more than $1 million to direct a football program that has shown it can't succeed in the Big Ten. Bruininks is fending off state legislators who wonder why he's paying millions for sports matters out of one pocket while seeking funding for academic programs for his other pocket. It's all the same pair of maroon-and-gold pants, of course.” (link) Mr. Bonzo has written earlier about the salary of the new coach and his assistants.]

Perhaps the NCAA should appoint, instead of OurLeader, some BigTen university president whose athletic graduation rates for minority students are not so shameful. Northwestern or Penn State, anyone? Doesn't OurLeader have enough to do in getting our own athletic house in order and other ambitious aspirations without trying to do a job in which his credibility is already suspect?

Trying to be cheerful in the midst of craziness, I remain,

Your faithful servant,

Mr. Bonzo

On a sad note, Mr. Bonzo reports the death of Shelby Boardman a wonderful professor of Geology at the non-Lutheran College in Northfield. Shelby was the ideal faculty member at a first class liberal arts college. Mr. Bonzo got to know him in the seventies and has bumped into him now and then ever since. He was one of the people who made Mr. Bonzo proud to be a college/university faculty member.

Shelby Boardman, a Carleton Geologist

He traveled the United States and the world, and in his enthusiasm left few stones unturned.

Show me the money...

Mr. Bonzo barely knows where to begin. The new million dollar man (= football coach) has hired some assistants, a few like him from the professional ranks. According to the StarTribune:

Gophers football: U pays to attract top aides

The Gophers got the experience coach Tim Brewster desired by giving coordinators Mike Dunbar and Everett Withers lucrative multiyear contracts.

According to documents provided by the school through a data practices request, the school signed Dunbar to a three-year contract that will pay him $265,000 annually.

Defensive coordinator Everett Withers, who left a position as secondary coach with the NFL's Tennessee Titans, received a three-year deal worth $330,000 annually.

[BigU recently lost two world class chemistry professors to Ohio State[sic]. My guess is that if this money had been used for retention offers that these folks might have stayed. Ohio State @!#$$%% - the so-called football factory, this does not compute, Mr. Bonzo's circuits have been blown, going down, down, down...]

Those deals represent a new standard -- both in term and annual salary -- in assistant compensation as the program begins a new era under Brewster. None of the assistants on the staff of former coach Glen Mason had multiyear deals, and the highest paid was offensive coordinator Mitch Browning at $208,000 a year.

While at the same time the BigU wants to pull the plug on a reciprocity agreement with the neighboring Wisconsin university system:

U threatens to quit tuition reciprocity deal

The battle over tuition reciprocity between Minnesota and Wisconsin has escalated, with the University of Minnesota saying it will pull out of the agreement rather than have Wisconsin students pay less than Minnesotans do to attend the U.


Last year, 23,700 Minnesotans and 19,500 Wisconsin students used reciprocity to attend college across state lines.


[You see, the unfairness argument cuts both ways. Apparently more Minnesotans than Wisconsin residents take advantage of reciprocity. This is because Minnesota residents can pay LESS tuition to attend an, arguably, better school.]

Wisconsin-Minnesota reciprocity, which started in 1968, has become increasingly popular even as the tuition gap between the two states widened because tuition increased faster in Minnesota. The difference is especially stark on U of M campuses. Students from Wisconsin pay about $1,200 less than Minnesotans do to attend the U's Twin Cities campus and about $2,700 less to go to school at the U's Morris campus.

[So one might ask the obvious question: Why does it cost less to attend a better public university?]

On the Road to BigU Greatness...

UD cites an opinion piece in the Minnesota Daily by a BigU undergrad, Nicholas Maxwell: "Stadium Does Not Serve Core Mission." Mr. Maxwell should be proud as UD cites this as "a nicely written opinion piece" in a precis headed "Humongous Dessert Plate for Minnesota Students" [January 21, 2007]. As someone who works at the medical school at BigU, I will only quote two paragraphs of embarrassment from the article:

he University has announced a $40 million increase in the budget for the new on-campus stadium. This represents a 16 percent increase in the project's total cost and the explanation of the source of these additional funds was also curious, "money management decisions" and "the issuance of … new debt."

Just like that, the University is willing to pony up the $40 million necessary to ensure "the stadium is not built on the cheap." Yet, back in October, when the Community University Health Clinic (a facility that actually contributes to the University's core mission of outreach by providing health care to low income families) eliminated 17 positions due to budget cuts, the University's administration was nowhere to be found with any magical "money management decisions" to save that outreach.

Meanwhile the Nobel prize winning chemist Peter Agre writes in the letters to the editor section of the Strib today from Durham, NC, where he currently works at Duke. Agre went to Augsburg, where his father was a chem prof. Augsburg is within easy walking distance of the Bonzo's residence, SmallHouse in Seward. Peter Agre's father, Courtland Agre, had earlier taught at St. Olaf and Peter was born in Northfield. I knew Courtland Agre slightly as he was still in action when Mr. Bonzo was a rookie chemist. Dr. Agre sometimes taught summer school organic chemistry (OChem as the youngsters now call it) at BigU.

ELITE COLLEGE ADVANTAGES: Early Life Lessons Endure

"I attended Augsburg College, where my father taught. Augsburg was not exclusive, and my classmates were often from working-class families. Many of my friends from RHS [Roosevelt High School] attended the University of Minnesota which was also not considered exclusive at the time."

"One dramatic difference, however, between Augsburg and University of Minnesota and those at Johns Hopkins [from which he got an MD and spent most of his academic life] and Duke [where he now is] is the privileged backgrounds of the latter. A disproportionate number of Duke students come from prep schools, and exceedingly few are from the working class. Moreover, there is often huge family push behind students at the latter institutions and not infrequently a lot of insider pull to gain admission."

"...the hard work and personal responsibility that we learned from our parents, while attending public schools and working at after-school jobs, still carry us forward. I am reminded of the words of the late Kirby Puckett: 'It doesn't matter where you come from. It only matters how you play the game.'"

To which Mr. Bonzo can only say: "Bravo !"

The people reengineering, ah, transforming BigU might want to think a little bit harder about whether the goal of becoming an elite institution is a good idea for ColdState taxpayers.

OUCH! It just gets worse and worse...

From the Pioneer Planet - Gemini Cities other paper:

"Two-thirds of the minority athletes who came to the U between 1999 and 2002 were considered academically "at-risk" based on their weak high-school class rank and poor college entrance exam scores."

"Data collected for the report paint a generally frustrating portrait of a university opening the door to some athletes — often from racial and ethnic minority groups — whose academic histories make them likely candidates for academic failure."

"The report also urges the U to reach out more to student-athletes who've left the school without graduating to get them to return and complete their degrees."

"However, it contains no recommendations for minimum academic qualifications for athletes entering the U, nor for standards that would align the U's increasingly rigorous overall academic profile with athletics. [emphasis added bg] Officials said they focused instead on how to help students once they'd been accepted."

As Mr. Bonzo is fond of saying: "It is time to get real at BigU."

Highs and Lows in GeminiCities

Reaction to Jay Weiner's opinion piece in the Strib has started to come in. [It's time for 'U' to drop the ball. Startribune, January 14, 2007.] And it is not good. Today's Strib had the following comments in the letters section:

Should 'u' drop football?

Follow Chicago's lead

Jay Weiner is correct ("It's time for 'U' to drop the ball," Jan. 14).

Remove the burden of big-time football, and perhaps our great university can begin to match the intellectual vibrancy of the University of Chicago.

BRUCE KITTILSON, GOLDEN VALLEY

It had to be said

Bravo for Jay Weiner for having the courage to state the obvious truth about University of Minnesota athletics, with special attention to the football program.

Most of the public knows that his facts and his solution are correct, but it's impossible to find a politician with the nerve to state those truths out loud, and Weiner's column in the Jan. 14 Opinion Exchange section may be the first truly honest piece about university football ever written by a Minnesota journalist and published by a newspaper in the state.

JIM FULLER, MINNEAPOLIS

And address the stadium

I hope University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks, the Board of Regents, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota Legislature and the taxpaying public consider seriously Jay Weiner's Jan. 14 proposal that the university drop football.

I believe that this could be the much-needed, long-overdue first step to scale back intercollegiate athletics at the university and put them in proper relation to the school's primary mission: educating our young people and serving as a multifaceted resource to the people of Minnesota.

Whether football is retained, scaled back or dropped, I also believe the Legislature should ASAP rescind its horrendous bill of last session authorizing construction -- mostly with taxpayer dollars -- of a new (and unneeded) football stadium.

WILL SHAPIRA, MINNEAPOLIS

On the "cultcha" front

The Bonzo's went to see a preview of the upcoming Michael Frayn play "Democracy" at the Park Square Theater. We are blessed in GeminiCities to have very good live theater. Being of low class in the culture business Mr. Bonzo had never heard of Park Square, but of course Mrs. Bonzo knew all about it. Mrs. Bonzo saw Copenhagen, another wonderful Frayn play, on stage in London. Mr. Bonzo has not see Copenhagen but has read the play. So we are Frayn fans. Having grown up in the time of Kennedy and Willy Brandt the play was fascinating to the Bonzos. The actors were outstanding, many of them being experienced actors from the Guthrie, another temple of cultcha in GeminiCities. AND the director was Jon Cranney of Children's Theater fame who has directed Copenhagen in the past with some of the same actors. The reviews are not out yet, but a la the old Siskel & Ebert show, Mr. and Mrs. Bonzo give two thumbs up. Futher information, but not a review, can be found here.

Note added (I-30-07): a mildly critical Strib review has now appeared.

"Academics, football can coexist at the 'U'"

StarTribune, January 18, 2007

Here's a new spin..

"Plenty of universities with higher academic rankings than Minnesota's have managed also to build football programs that win games, excite fans and generate the long-term spirit and loyalty that Minnesota craves."

So let me get this right. Since there are schools with higher academic rankings than BigU, that can play competitive football, this must mean that we can play better football without taking a hit academically?

"Consider U.S. News & World Report's current roster of national universities. Minnesota ranks 67th -- actually 27th among public institutions. Of the 26 state schools ranked higher than Minnesota, nearly half of them produce consistently good football teams: Cal-Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Washington, Penn State, Texas, Florida, Ohio State, Georgia and Iowa. "

Now you have to understand that the Strib is a homer. Usually they don't let people in on the dirty little secret that at least one (reasonably) accurate source ranks BigU pretty low in the academic department. Most of the time other surveys are used (Florida, anyone?) to illustrate that we are "this close" to duking it out with the big boys. But in this academic ranking it is ok to be lousy, because there are other football factories higher up the academic greasy pole than us and so this proves that we can have a good football team too. Great rhetoric... And let's use whatever academic rating system is appropriate for the argumnet that we happen to be making today.

"No, the Gophers aren't likely to overcome the built-in advantages of the conference's elite three: Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. But there's no reason that Minnesota can't build a program equal to Wisconsin's or Iowa's."

Yes, let's reduce those expectations, just in case.

"Still, he deserves a chance to demonstrate his legendary recruiting ability, his skills as a coach and his influence in turning football players into actual college graduates. That's a tall order but not impossible."

I hope he does succeed - in increasing the miserable graduation rate of athletes, particularly minority athletes! Winning would be nice, too. Even NU has gone to a real bowl game more recently than the Gophs.

bg (aka Mr. Bonzo)