3 MVC games Saturday, Feb. 15

[Tommy]

Coach, if I didn't know better, I'd think you weren't a fan of Glasser and Cross.

And this, ' threatened by the administration (Cross) that if I dropped all my seats that I "would never be allowed back in" to the lower bowl. ' comment is insane, but not surprising. Coach, that is ridiculous and says a lot about you that you kept on coming after that! Good on you!

I'm willing to bet most everyone on this board probably stuck it out through the Geno years, though I must admit, I missed more games in that last season of his than any other since I've been going to games, and I was getting close to giving up the season tickets. Dub convinced me to stick it out by saying, 'you can't appreciate the good times if you don't live through the rough ones'. How right he was.

BU is back, and hopefully our attendance will grow back to where it used to be. Maybe it never will, but the chance is much better if we keep making the NCAA tourney every year. Let's become the next Wichita St.!

 

[Da Coach]

Tommy, if you liked that story (about me being threatened that they wouldn't allow me "back in"), I am sure you'd like to hear some of the other stories I could tell about my personal interactions with and things I witnessed regarding Glasser & Cross that I have never related. As I mentioned, I was a member of the Braves Scholarship Society for several years, and as a result I had frequent occasions to meet with President Glasser personally, have dinner with her, and even traveled many times on the men's and women's team charters to road games and tournaments.
But one story I have mentioned before before happened well after Jim Les was fired. It happened to be when the news broke about Bradley being unwilling to abide by all the terms of Les' contract and pay him what he was owed. It revolved around petty differences related to some of the salary Les was earning at UC Davis (which Bradley claimed was artificailly low causing Bradley pay more settlement to Les) and a couple other contract issues. The PJ Star did a pretty good job of explaining this legal standoff here and in the second link below-
https://www.pjstar.com/article/20110709/NEWS/307099918

Regardless of who was right or wrong, it was perceived by many fans as a petty and vindictive action by Bradley (something Glasser was well known for). It was eventually settled a few months later, but not before both sides probably coughed up a lot more money in legal fees than the amount this squabble was all about. All it did was generate a lot of negative publicity for Bradley.
https://www.pjstar.com/article/20110921/NEWS/309219860

Anyway, by then, Glasser and Cross had become convinced that the Bradleyfans.com website was a bad thing because it allowed fans to post opinions, some of which were critical of Pres. Glasser & Dr. Cross. I was called and told to come in to Dr. Cross' office to talk. In that meeting, Cross demanded that I shut down the Bradleyfans website! This surprised me, since I was still a member of the Braves Scholarship Society at that time and was still very supportive of them. Then Cross pulled out several paper copies of postings from Bradleyfans and read them. They were posts that were mildly critical of Glasser and Cross and the way things were handled with the firing and contract dispute with Jim Les. I couldn't believe they were being so picky and puerile about extremely mild criticism (which to me was justified). Believe it or not, I found out that President Glasser had a full time assistant whose job it was to read sources like Bradleyfans and the PJ Star and make copies of anything critical of her or of Cross. One of the posts he read did seem cross the line a little with some unacceptable language, but I had deleted it quickly. Nonetheless, it lasted long enough for Glasser's assistant to make a copy. I informed Cross that none of the posts he read were my posts, and the one that seemed inappropriate was deleted by me less than 30 minutes after it was posted. I would have deleted it faster, but I was not on the board at the time it was posted (some might not believe this, but I do not actually spend every minute 24 hours a day on the board).

To be polite, I told him I would consider his "request", and left. But I had no intention of shutting down Bradleyfans. Instead, shortly after that I quit the Braves Scholarship Society. Not long after that, I became persona non grata to that cabal.

 

[Stryker]

Tommy, if you liked that story (about me being threatened that they wouldn't allow me "back in"), I am sure you'd like to hear some of the other stories I could tell about my personal interactions with and things I witnessed regarding Glasser & Cross that I have never related. As I mentioned, I was a member of the Braves Scholarship Society for several years, and as a result I had frequent occasions to meet with President Glasser personally, have dinner with her, and even traveled many times on the men's and women's team charters to road games and tournaments.
But one story I have mentioned before before happened well after Jim Les was fired. It happened to be when the news broke about Bradley being unwilling to abide by all the terms of Les' contract and pay him what he was owed. It revolved around petty differences related to some of the salary Les was earning at UC Davis (which Bradley claimed was artificailly low causing Bradley pay more settlement to Les) and a couple other contract issues. The PJ Star did a pretty good job of explaining this legal standoff here and in the second link below-
https://www.pjstar.com/article/20110709/NEWS/307099918

Regardless of who was right or wrong, it was perceived by many fans as a petty and vindictive action by Bradley (something Glasser was well known for). It was eventually settled a few months later, but not before both sides probably coughed up a lot more money in legal fees than the amount this squabble was all about. All it did was generate a lot of negative publicity for Bradley.
https://www.pjstar.com/article/20110921/NEWS/309219860

Anyway, by then, Glasser and Cross had become convinced that the Bradleyfans.com website was a bad thing because it allowed fans to post opinions, some of which were critical of Pres. Glasser & Dr. Cross. I was called and told to come in to Dr. Cross' office to talk. In that meeting, Cross demanded that I shut down the Bradleyfans website! This surprised me, since I was still a member of the Braves Scholarship Society at that time and was still very supportive of them. Then Cross pulled out several paper copies of postings from Bradleyfans and read them. They were posts that were mildly critical of Glasser and Cross and the way things were handled with the firing and contract dispute with Jim Les. I couldn't believe they were being so picky and puerile about extremely mild criticism (which to me was justified). Believe it or not, I found out that President Glasser had a full time assistant whose job it was to read sources like Bradleyfans and the PJ Star and make copies of anything critical of her or of Cross. One of the posts he read did seem cross the line a little with some unacceptable language, but I had deleted it quickly. Nonetheless, it lasted long enough for Glasser's assistant to make a copy. I informed Cross that none of the posts he read were my posts, and the one that seemed inappropriate was deleted by me less than 30 minutes after it was posted. I would have deleted it faster, but I was not on the board at the time it was posted (some might not believe this, but I do not actually spend every minute 24 hours a day on the board).

To be polite, I told him I would consider his "request", and left. But I had no intention of shutting down Bradleyfans. Instead, shortly after that I quit the Braves Scholarship Society. Not long after that, I became persona non grata to that cabal.

Wow what a story! Sadly it is very believable.

i graduated in 08’ and we all loved Glasser when she first got to campus. How different things became shortly afterword. I am still convinced she would have destroyed the university beyond help if not forced out when she was.

I for one can also vouch for your story about the Sharpe family etc, new them at school a bit and they even invited back to the society room with them once during a game.

I would say say without the Glasser era we would probably still be averaging 7,000+ attendance/game. However, damage like what was done is not fixed with just winning. It’s irreparable in many cases. New fans have to be created to replace the old ones and that takes a lot of time and winning.

 

[Tommy]

I am sure you'd like to hear some of the other stories I could tell about my personal interactions with and things I witnessed regarding Glasser & Cross that I have never related.

Yes! If you have more than this, I'd love to hear them! Wow is all I can say.

Cross demanded that I shut down the Bradleyfans website!

You know there are problems when someone can't handle criticism and tries to censor those who disagree with them. What HUBRIS to think they can make demands of YOU when YOU were the one supporting THEM! That is beyond unbelievable, but then, nothing I hear surprises me with that regime.

Thanks for sharing, Coach, and it just makes us appreciate the current leadership that much more.

 

[Da Coach]

Unfortunately, Tommy, most of the rest of the stuff I'd love to share may not be quite as suitable to post publicly, since it involves things I personally witnessed or heard about. But some day if we get together, I'll share some of it.
Despite what many might think, I do not hold grudges, I only want people to know about these things. I wish Glasser, Cross, and Geno all well. I really do want to let most of it go and let bygones be bygones, and move on. I cannot be happier the way the last few years have gone. I only wish they hadn't cost Bradley and the fans 4-6 wasted years before we could get back on the right track.

Hope to see you at the game. I've got the book I told you about.

 

[Tommy]

Nice! I'll see you tonight, Coach!