Fire Walt Kyle (nmu Is Going To The Pits!)

[streaker]

Re: Fire Walt Kyle (nmu Is Going To The Pits!)

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[bigmrg74]

Re: Fire Walt Kyle (nmu Is Going To The Pits!)

This just makes me want to see a skating Lobo.

so you could shoot it??

[RamboWildcat]

Re: Fire Walt Kyle (nmu Is Going To The Pits!)

I don't have an answer here, but something's gotta change. The program needs a boost big time. Something to give them a shot of life. A new scoreboard, improved facility, maybe new uniforms, a re-branding if you will of the product, local/regional campaign, etc. Something to create a spark. NHL teams do it all the time...see Dallas come this fall what they've got planned/mapped out. It all takes some money of course.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

I agree a 10th place last year didn't help last season. Money is a problem for NMU hockey program. NMU has to get former alumni to donate and upgrades are needed to stay up with the BIG and Nacho teams.

MTU is paying big bucks for a coach, new scoreboard, new seats, new skyboxes and new ice making plant.

NMU has hired a new AD. NMU needs to invest some funds into the program and another sample is Bowling Green.

Much as it annoys me to point this out, Mel's record has not exactly rivaled Walt's yet.

[davyd83]

Get on the phone and contact Howard Schultz owner of Starbucks Coffee and ex NMU football player to write a hefty check.

Howard already makes donations to his alma mater. He just doesn't want headlines for it. The University and Mr Schultz have a very good relationship.

[davyd83]

Mr Schultz is the kind of money the NMU hockey team needs to hear from a very well recognized name and good PR for the University.

Being a former NBA owner, if he were to make sports headlines with NMU, it would far more likely have been on the basketball end. He does have a good relationship with NMU and the University pays respect to his wishes as well.

[aparch]

Re: Fire Walt Kyle (nmu Is Going To The Pits!)

First, there needs to be a fundamental change in the collection and allocation of the athletic revenue. It doesn't seem fair that sponsorship money brought in by the hockey program gets directly sent to the athletic budget to then be divided up before the hockey program can see it.

Second, Marquette County has been fairly tapped by a lot of places soliciting funding for events. NMU can't keep going back to the same well for water, it's going to run dry eventually.

As for "a change for the sake of change," I'd like to point out programs like Ferris, Miami, and Air Force all have long tenured coaches who have stayed through their programs roller coaster cycles. NCAA hockey isn't like the NHL. How's that coaching change working out for Washington? Buffalo? Those coaches get blamed because there are multi-million dollar athletes who don't give a sh*t, so someone has to take the blame. In the NCAA, these are kids who are also juggling classes, being 20 year olds, and playing a grueling regular season from October to March. No other collegiate sport has as long of a season as college hockey.

Walt's not the problem. The problem lies in the resources provided to Walt from the University. We're going on year 13 of the SAME allocated budget for this hockey program. You take a look back 13 years, and try and spend the same money now as you did then. Rob Facca couldn't have packed his bags quick enough to get out of Marquette, even though he loved the University and the MQT area. The reason: the size of his paycheck.

It's frustrating to read the same "Fire Walt!" tirade when he's doing the best he can with the resources available to him. I was hoping that the hiring of Forrest Carr as Ken Godfrey's successor would have made some headway into changing the culture of the Athletic Department, but then David Haynes steps up as the new president, leading to a continuation of the same old hat good-old-boys club bullsh*t that has plagued NMU since before the hiring of Judi Bailey.

I understand that there is a numbers game. Income provided to the University from the State of Michigan has lessened in the last 14 years. Tuition has risen to cover additional teachers salaries and benefits and other campus expenses. There's only so much of the funding sources on campus to cover everything (and, before you mention the needless construction, a good portion of that comes out of separate Capital construction funding from the State of Michigan separate from the education budget).



If you want to see a change, how about pushing for an easier way for donations for the hockey program be utilized FOR the hockey program. It's not like the NMU Hockey program hasn't had their hat in hand asking for alumnus donations. The fact that former minor-pro players are working for the program while furthering their education at NMU for future careers is already a step in the right direction. Dallas Drake already made a very sizable donation to the hockey program, of which the general fan will never see. He's helped supply the equipment needed for the players to train properly in the locker room. Even has his name on a plaque and everything.

It's kinda hard for the hockey program to ask players like Erik Gustafsson, Mark Olver, Mike Santorelli for sizable donations when these guys are still breaking into their careers and are on entry level (or similarly sized) contracts.



How about instead of "Fire Walt!" for making a halfway decent chicken salad from the canned chicken sh*t he's handed, the University provides Walt with the proper ingredients to make a chicken salad before he gets judged on his cooking?

[davyd83]

First, there needs to be a fundamental change in the collection and allocation of the athletic revenue. It doesn't seem fair that sponsorship money brought in by the hockey program gets directly sent to the athletic budget to then be divided up before the hockey program can see it.

Second, Marquette County has been fairly tapped by a lot of places soliciting funding for events. NMU can't keep going back to the same well for water, it's going to run dry eventually.

As for "a change for the sake of change," I'd like to point out programs like Ferris, Miami, and Air Force all have long tenured coaches who have stayed through their programs roller coaster cycles. NCAA hockey isn't like the NHL. How's that coaching change working out for Washington? Buffalo? Those coaches get blamed because there are multi-million dollar athletes who don't give a sh*t, so someone has to take the blame. In the NCAA, these are kids who are also juggling classes, being 20 year olds, and playing a grueling regular season from October to March. No other collegiate sport has as long of a season as college hockey.

Walt's not the problem. The problem lies in the resources provided to Walt from the University. We're going on year 13 of the SAME allocated budget for this hockey program. You take a look back 13 years, and try and spend the same money now as you did then. Rob Facca couldn't have packed his bags quick enough to get out of Marquette, even though he loved the University and the MQT area. The reason: the size of his paycheck.

It's frustrating to read the same "Fire Walt!" tirade when he's doing the best he can with the resources available to him. I was hoping that the hiring of Forrest Carr as Ken Godfrey's successor would have made some headway into changing the culture of the Athletic Department, but then David Haynes steps up as the new president, leading to a continuation of the same old hat good-old-boys club bullsh*t that has plagued NMU since before the hiring of Judi Bailey.

I understand that there is a numbers game. Income provided to the University from the State of Michigan has lessened in the last 14 years. Tuition has risen to cover additional teachers salaries and benefits and other campus expenses. There's only so much of the funding sources on campus to cover everything (and, before you mention the needless construction, a good portion of that comes out of separate Capital construction funding from the State of Michigan separate from the education budget).



If you want to see a change, how about pushing for an easier way for donations for the hockey program be utilized FOR the hockey program. It's not like the NMU Hockey program hasn't had their hat in hand asking for alumnus donations. The fact that former minor-pro players are working for the program while furthering their education at NMU for future careers is already a step in the right direction. Dallas Drake already made a very sizable donation to the hockey program, of which the general fan will never see. He's helped supply the equipment needed for the players to train properly in the locker room. Even has his name on a plaque and everything.

It's kinda hard for the hockey program to ask players like Erik Gustafsson, Mark Olver, Mike Santorelli for sizable donations when these guys are still breaking into their careers and are on entry level (or similarly sized) contracts.



How about instead of "Fire Walt!" for making a halfway decent chicken salad from the canned chicken sh*t he's handed, the University provides Walt with the proper ingredients to make a chicken salad before he gets judged on his cooking?

Terrific post! The only thing I'll differ with is that all universities divert funding from money making programs to non or limited revenue sports. Now that being said, there is no reason that donations cannot be earmarked specifically for certain programs without reducing the allocation to that program from the university.

[davyd83]

Aparch

So you are saying up the ante in the hockey budget.

Call some famous hockey alumni with deep pockets.

Calling Forrest Karr to the rescue.

Hey Pony, they already do and have done that on a regular basis.

[gfmorris]

Re: Fire Walt Kyle (nmu Is Going To The Pits!)

What are y'all doing in your booster club? We've recently stepped ours way the heck up when we got into the WCHA.

GFM

[davyd83]

Booster Club and hockey alumni have to step it up.

That's easy to say. But do you know what is already being done on the fundraising end within those groups? We have some pretty solid contributions made by hockey alums. However, we don't have a ton of hockey alums with 7 figure annual NHL salaries. In fact, with the start of the next season there aren't any. And the guys playing in the ECHL or CHL aren't exactly in a position to write fat checks. The boosters do a very nice job as well. The hockey staff works very hard on all of its resources to generate additional revenue. It's not for a lack of effort.

[davyd83]

[QUOTE=Pink Pony;5724059]

That's easy to say. But do you know what is already being done on the fundraising end within those groups? We have some pretty solid contributions made by hockey alums. However, we don't have a ton of hockey alums with 7 figure annual NHL salaries. In fact, with the start of the next season there aren't any. And the guys playing in the ECHL or CHL aren't exactly in a position to write fat checks. The boosters do a very nice job as well. The hockey staff works very hard on all of its resources to generate additional revenue. It's not for a lack of effort.

Then how come on here I hear how NMU doesn't have enough funds and the hockey budget hasn't changed since 2000.

Just show us what resources are left untapped. Who hasn't been called or approached? If you can come up with a name, I will guarantee that they have been approached and likely already provide some measure of support. There aren't too many Terry Pegulas out there. Not even too many Johnny Rockwells.

[davyd83]

[QUOTE=Pink Pony;5724085]

Starbucks Coffee, how many other schools can say they have an alum with one of the most recognized coffee place in the WORLD.

Mr Schultz has a very good relationship with NMU. Very good.

[davyd83]

[QUOTE=Pink Pony;5724093]

Couldn't Howard become a Pequla or a Rockwell for NMU Hockey?

He's not in Pegula's neighborhood financially, considering Pegula derive three times Schultz's net worth from the sales of his company, then turned around and bought a couple new toys in the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans and endowed the Penn State mens and womens hockey programs to the tune of $88 million. Schultz already makes strong contributions to the University in the areas in which he wishes. I would think that if he wished to bankroll an athletic program, it would more likely have been basketball, being a former NBA owner. He hasn't done that to this point. But to think he hasn't been presented many ways to help the university is not giving people enough credit. There are many persons who provide gifts, grants and endowments to NMU whose names and dollar amounts you will never know. But if they are out there, they've been reached out to.

[aparch]

Couldn't Howard become a Pequla or a Rockwell for NMU Hockey?

Sure, but what of he doesn't give two sh*ts about the athletics at NMU, and donates towards academics?

I have no knowlege of Howard Schultz's donor ties to NMU, but that well has been tapped also.

Izzo and Marrriucci also have donated to their alma mater, getting a section of the PEIF and Berry connector named after themselves. Mr. Berry, for which the dedicated on campus arena wouldn't have been built continues to remain connected to NMU.

Like DavyD says, it isn't a lack of drumming up alumni, it's trying to find new income sources.

As for the booster club, the blueline club is in the same boat. Same familiar faces that donate what they do to the program. It's going to take new faces and new money to give this program a shot.

I, for one, would love to be able to help, but I don't have the financial stability yet to cut a healthy check to the program. I've helped in other ways by donating items for the silent auction, and even winning jerseys via auction from the team. Every little bit helps of course, but it's going to take a lot more.