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Ken Kavanaugh ...all class

B

Bravesfanchicago

Member
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·
23h
Congrats
@bradleyumbb
on tremendous grit to earn NCAA berth! Happy for all our
@BradleyBraves
pals. All the best for another awesome Sweet 16 run or better like the Ramblers!
 
Yes, I was facetious. It would be a nice display of class and dignity if they did, but .....
 
Go_Braves said:
Da Coach - I'm assuming you're being facetious. April Fools Day is in 21 days. Why don't you make up a tweet from Joanne Glasser and another
tweet from Mike Cross and share them on April 1st ...LOL :p :D :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Da Coach said:
Yes, I was facetious. It would be a nice display of class and dignity if they did, but .....
Click to expand...

Let's not forget our favorite Peoria Journal Star Sports Writer - Kirk Wessler.... Anyone know if Kirk put out a tweet or any statement after Bradley won?
 
no - a couple Tweets during the game Sunday expressing surprise that Bradley was even in the game...
..but nothing close to his boasting in 2013 when Geno had an improvement from the year before &
exited the MVC Tourney at 16-16 and Kirk hailed it as a great coaching job...that's when Joanne gave Geno
the 2-year extension that cost us an extra $1.5 mil when we went to buy him out
 
tornado said:
no - a couple Tweets during the game Sunday expressing surprise that Bradley was even in the game...
..but nothing close to his boasting in 2013 when Geno had an improvement from the year before &
exited the MVC Tourney at 16-16 and Kirk hailed it as a great coaching job...that's when Joanne gave Geno
the 2-year extension that cost us an extra $1.5 mil when we went to buy him out
Click to expand...

Wow tornado - you are quite the Bradley history keeper. This and your note about Joanne Glasser's treatment of Joe Stowell, etc., etc. I really really like Joe StowelI - what Braves Fan doesn't ? I am impressed - You and Da Coach and others are still teaching me a long time Bradley fan (1st game Nov ' 71, Class of '75) a lot of Bradley history. Keep it coming. :D
 
I will admit I am angry about the 2008-2015 period when the Board stupidly hired an administration that brought so much destruction then left such a mess that it took several years to even begin to repair the damages (and note that it goes way beyond just athletics - the enrollment dropped to historic and dangerous levels, donations and revenue plummetted for the entire University and even many of the long time professors who are the life-blood of academics were outraged and left)

(if you do nothing else, click the link that is the highlighted words about the long time professors and read that letter)


btw- thanks Bravesfanchicago as I always love conversations about Ken Kavanagh and other Bradley GREATS...
Ken was unfairly treated here but has gone on to a great career at FGCU, winning the National AD of the Year twice and doing so well with his basketball program, accomplishing a Sweet Sixteen there just like here and having his successful basketball coach hired away to bigger jobs TWICE already.
 
I'm getting over it, tho but if we have several more championship seasons, then I think I will finally get past it.. ;)
 
For those who don't know, tornado has been one of the biggest donors to the Athletic Department over the past 10-15 years, as have a couple others of our regular posters. Back in 2011, the previous administration polled members of the Braves Scholarship Society (donors who commit to donating at least $20,000 per year for a minimum of 5 years), and they overwhelmingly told the administration they did not want to see a coaching change. But the administration essentially gave them the middle finger and decided to make all the changes they made anyway. Then those big-money donors were asked to pony up more money to buy out Jim Les' contract, and pay for all the changes that happened. Virtually none of the donors did. As a result, Bradley ended up losing a major share of the ticket buyers and most of the donors. At one time, there were almost 70 members of the Braves Scholarship Society ($20,000+ yearly), and now there are only a fraction of that. Consider how much revenue loss that resulted in. Without going into details again (this was all documented in a 2014 financial analysis by the Bradley Finance Dept. that was commissioned by the Board of Trustees), the Athletic Department lost over $20 million in a 3 year span from 2011-2014, which is primarily what lead to the firing of Joanne Glasser and Mike Cross, something that our local journalists never bothered to look into.
People who donated those enormous amounts have a right to feel snubbed and betrayed when the programs they supported were destroyed, and their money was wasted to pay inept coaches, pay for overpaid and inept administrators, buy out coaches who were fired after they were given long, undeserved extensions, and eventually used to pay to get rid of those doing the damage and hire the new people who are now turning things around. But time heals all wounds. I think.
 
There were a few who gave millions and were pledged & slated to give even more like Hersey Hawkins, the Puterbaughs, Robert Turner, Brian McGough, and others...
those revenues were also lost and account for a $20-30 million hit....
You know the old story - $10 million here & $10 million there -- pretty soon you're talking real money!
Plus we had the huge drop in attendance & freshman enrollment that also hurt big time - even JG sent out a letter saying the whole mess was "unsustainable"


Check page 37 pf this document
https://www.bradley.edu/academic/cio...14+website.pdf
 
As I mentioned, there was a detailed financial report generated for Board of Trustees and heads of departments back in 2014. The report documented the losses directly attributed to the financial malfeasance of the President, specifically in regards to athletics, which ultimately lead to her dismissal. The report was sent to a few people by someone formerly connected to the source who felt it needed to become public in order to force reluctant Board members to act on it, which they eventually did.
I posted several pages of it on this board when it came out, but I was threatened and told to remove it. Btw, I still have the report.

Too bad the PJ Star dropped the ball and completely ignored all of this. It might have become a journalistic prize-worthy story, but they were too duped and conflicted with their infatuation for Joanne Glasser. Their people preferred to dig up a decade-old marijuana misdemeanor and falsely report details of it, in order to torpedo a great young coach (Jerrance Howard) from getting the Bradley head coaching job.
 
There is also proof (documented) that the admin misrepresented (lied) about the extent of the financial losses -
and once the "misrepresentations" were discovered, that was kind of the final nail in the coffin of a few people who lost their jobs

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...y-transparency

"Mr. Gary Anna, Vice President for Business Affairs, presented a graph .....
there are other auxiliary activities that were not represented.... collectively represented spending of over $3.5 million.
In particular, there was a $2 million loss in 2011 that was not reported. (like - "covered up" or "hidden")
Following Mr. Anna's presentation, the University Resources Committee asked about the nature and cause of this $2
million expenditure, but no explanation was provided. At the least, omission of this $3.5 million
in auxiliary expenses represents a significant oversight or a selective lack of disclosure."

"Clearly, spending is out of control in athletics"
"The financial problems in athletics are also quite alarming.

This significant overspending has tripled the athletics loss from $2 million per year to
almost $6 million per year. Clearly, spending is out of control in athletics, yet explanations have
not been provided and the trend is continuing. More troubling, there appears to be little sense of
urgency to identify the problems or opportunities for improvements...."
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...turner-resigns


The financial problem and losses started in 2011 and grew WORSE each year after that. Their study showed the bleeding was UNSUSTAINABLE. So it was not attributable to the previous AD and coach.
 
I could care less if we ever hear from those 2 people. Not only would it be disingenuous I’m sure they would take credit for “laying the foundation”. The less if not anything to say about them the better off we’’’ will all be.
 
Da Coach said:
For those who don't know, tornado has been one of the biggest donors to the Athletic Department over the past 10-15 years, as have a couple others of our regular posters. Back in 2011, the previous administration polled members of the Braves Scholarship Society (donors who commit to donating at least $20,000 per year for a minimum of 5 years), and they overwhelmingly told the administration they did not want to see a coaching change. But the administration essentially gave them the middle finger and decided to make all the changes they made anyway. Then those big-money donors were asked to pony up more money to buy out Jim Les' contract, and pay for all the changes that happened. Virtually none of the donors did. As a result, Bradley ended up losing a major share of the ticket buyers and most of the donors. At one time, there were almost 70 members of the Braves Scholarship Society ($20,000+ yearly), and now there are only a fraction of that. Consider how much revenue loss that resulted in. Without going into details again (this was all documented in a 2014 financial analysis by the Bradley Finance Dept. that was commissioned by the Board of Trustees), the Athletic Department lost over $20 million in a 3 year span from 2011-2014, which is primarily what lead to the firing of Joanne Glasser and Mike Cross, something that our local journalists never bothered to look into.
People who donated those enormous amounts have a right to feel snubbed and betrayed when the programs they supported were destroyed, and their money was wasted to pay inept coaches, pay for overpaid and inept administrators, buy out coaches who were fired after they were given long, undeserved extensions, and eventually used to pay to get rid of those doing the damage and hire the new people who are now turning things around. But time heals all wounds. I think.
Click to expand...

DOUBLE WOW ! - Being out in Colorado during this era I was only getting bits and pieces that something was not right - and then the necessary corrections were made - Thank God... Brian Wardle, Chris Reynolds, Gary Roberts have all done marvelous jobs these past 4 short years. Definitely answers to a lot of prayers.. And as so many others I too need to let my bitterness about the past go and move on...

Da Coach - you and Tornado and so many others have done and continue to do so much to "Keep the Bradley Torch Lit" - when it was flickering only 4 short years ago. I am extremely impressed with so many like you - loyalty and dedication to Bradley. And by the way - Tornado - "In the past few days since Bradley captured the Title" - Have you slept? LOL - I notice your Bradley Fans entrees - the latest into the night - actually very early morning hours - and then a few hours later - before sunrise (at least out here) - more entrees from Tornado... As all of you I too am enjoying the excitement as to what has occurred and will be occurring...It brings back so many incredible memories of the 70's, 80's thru 2006. Keep it up... I enjoy everything each of you and all post and share. GO BRAVES...
 
Great post Go Braves! I think you speak for all of us on Bradleyfans. DaCoach and Tornado I want to personally thank you guys for keeping all of us on this site so we’ll informed what is always going on even behind the scenes of Bradley basketball when so much stuff was trying to be hidden by the former administration. It probably wouldn’t have been long before this program would’ve been headed for D3. I also like so many others couldn’t care less if I ever heard the names of Glasser and Cross come up in conversation again. Kudos to the President, Chris and Brian for getting this program turned around. Go Braves!
 
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