Tim Pernetti
Earlier this morning on WFAN's "Boomer and Carton show" (#1 in the NY market for morning radio, and featuring our own Jerry Recco), Craig Carton said he "heard" that Columbia had hired a new AD from a "storied New York franchise who has an interesting personal past."
Craig Carton
Of course, Carton could only be referring to Tim Pernetti, my personal top choice to be our next athletic director.
Pernetti is currently working for a subsidiary of the New York Yankees, the new New York MLS club NYCFC.
Sadly, I cannot confirm Carton's source for this pronouncement, (IT WASN'T RECCO), and for all we know this could have been one of Carton's many jokes.
Brian Flores
On the coaching front, I have sources telling me Columbia is again interested in taking a look at New England Patriots safeties coach Brian Flores.
Flores was the Pats assistant Robert Kraft suggested Columbia hire back in 2011, and apparently he's back at it. Since 2011, Flores has moved up from defensive assistant to his current position with the safeties.
I like Flores for his Brooklyn pedigree and his overall experience. But my concerns are that he has no recruiting experience and he went to Poly Prep HS in Brooklyn, a fine place, but also the HS Alma Mater of some of the less-than-helpful football alumni on the infamous Columbia football committee.
Of course, I would be happy to give someone like Flores a chance if he is hired. As it is, he cannot be signed until after the Patriots play the Super Bowl in 11 days.
But these reports and rumors this morning are yet another example of how the information pipeline has broken down and this is only encouraging more rumors and speculation.
I don't think anyone reading this blog ever expects me to launch a defense of the Columbia administration and how it's handling the current athletics hiring situation.
And what follows isn't exactly a defense, but some words of encouragement to help Columbia's officials and trustees to relax, stop worrying, and open this process up just a little bit.
The only good reason to say absolutely nothing to the alumni and fans about where we are in the AD and/or the football head coaching searches is because President Bollinger and whomever is working with him are talking with truly great but controversial candidates.
The fear may be that by having their names leaked, the negotiations could be scuttled by misguided alums who would publicly bash those candidates.
BUT RELAX: Because I believe some of the candidates who would bring the most outrage are people I've already mentioned on the blog as some of my favorite potential AD's or coaches. And there's been criticism of them, but nothing severe.
I understand the administration's fears in this case, but I also want to make sure Bollinger, the Board of Trustees, and everyone else needs to understand something: RELAX!
So far, this blog, which attracts comments from the undeniably most passionate fans in the Ivy League, hasn't come remotely CLOSE to the kind of brutal attacks you see launched on big time college sports fan pages and blogs.
If we are indeed going after "big name" coaches or AD's, there is simply no truth to the theory that online comments would scare them away. Believe me, the "big names" in sports are used to MUCH worse and can handle it.
But the same perhaps cannot be said for Bollinger and the members of the Board of Trustees who I believe make up the athletics subcommittee. They reportedly include Judge Rolando Acosta, Jonathan Lavine, Lisa Carnoy, and Dr. Paul Maddon (with of course a big assist from Board Chairman Jonathan Schiller)
I am here to tell Acosta, Lavine, Carnoy, Maddon, Schiller and Bollinger that they need not be afraid of the "what people will say" factor and press on. They also need not be afraid of giving the alumni and fans some kind of updates during this process.
Let me clue Acosta, Lavine, Carnoy, Maddon, Schiller and Bollinger into something: they could tell the world they're about to hire the resurrected souls of Lou Little and Vince Lombardi for these jobs and STILL some people would criticize them!
So just RELAX, and press on and accept that the criticism will come and it usually means nothing. Also know that if you DO hire a true big name, like Pernetti for AD, then this blog and its many fans will open a righteous can of whup ass on any alums or anti-athletics types in the Columbia world who try to blast you for it.
So while some people are urging the alumni and fans to relax, I am urging the administration to relax too.
If the administration makes the bold move and does the right thing for athletics, I and thousands of others will have its back.
On the other hand, if it's keeping this process quiet because it DOESN'T have any decent candidates and they want to shield themselves from deserved criticism... well, I can't help these people.
I understand that in the academic world failure is often rewarded, but the real world doesn't work that way and no one should hold back
So, it's okay to cool it with the silent treatment. Only the weak and the evil are harmed by the light of better public information.
13 comments:
I haven't listened to NY sports radio in many years, only a clip of the Carton fellow as a result of a post here a few weeks ago. What I heard paints him as the definition of a horse's ass. I cannot imagine anyone, anywhere actually listening to anything he says. i can't imagine anyone capable of listening to more than 10 seconds worth of him. I'm befuddled by his existence.
Craig Carton is an obnoxious, sniggering, sexist creep. (He always pulls the otherwise seemingly sane Boomer down to his level on weekdays.) So try hot to cite him aabout anything.
Also,there are many ways to describe Scarlet Knights athlwetics, but I doubt very much that any use the term "storied franchise."
Jake
You are at the heart of the matter here.
How many times do we (not just on this blog, but in Spec, on Voy, everywhere) have to explain: WE DON'T CARE ABOUT SPECIFICS! We don't need names. We don't want to interfere. All we ask for is an indication of what's going on. You know, like they told about 100 FB players this week along with God knows how many AD staffers. I mean, we're getting the info anyway, so why in God's name does the admin create the huge PR gaffe of not telling the strongest sports supporters directly? What do they gain. More importantly, what do they lose, besides us.
What are these people thinking?
This is how they do things in the Balkans.
So now we have a Bulgarian Search going on, looking for that Mississippi speed bump.
Richard, the "storied franchise" he was talking about was the Yankees.
Sorry guys, but Carton can be amusing even if he's being obnoxious most of the time. He and Boomer make a perfect team - think Martin & Lewis.....Don't take everything he says so seriously - he's being paid to entertain the show's audience.
The faux grandees of the Admin and trustees should get a grip and understand that coaches and ADs may have a few rough edges that are part of the job, but does not mean they are felons or lepers.
Our grandees aren't aware that most of our government consists of unindicted felons who make tough coaches look like sissies, and Bernie Madoff look like a
philanthropist.
So man up and make a decision and get it right.
As for Brian Flores, if he is a great person, leader and recruiter, and is given expert coordinators, he might be
terrific. But those are a lot of ifs. You think the grandees would know?
Historically, communication out of an athletics department is handled by a sports information director. It could even be an assistant or an intern but for all sports someone is designated as the mode of public communication. The AD has those people on staff so the fact that nothing gets output from those sources means there is a breakdown in how the department functions. Even if the info is "nothing new to update, process is still in process, interviewing, etc." then at least that indicates basic competency. It sounds like typical cabal cone of silence rules that bunch.
Even SUNY Farmingdale football (if they have a team) does this. No offense to farmingdale btw, good school.
"...AD from a 'storied New York franchise who has an interesting personal past.'"
Hmmm...Isaiah Thomas, perhaps??
Red Holtzman
Someone above compared Carton and Boomer to Martin and Lewis. I'd suggest the pairing is closer to Dino at his smarmiest with whatever dumb blonde shows up in one of the pair's movies.
As for a sports info director, however, we in fact have one. Her name is Darlene Camacho. But I can't recall ever even seeing her quoted in stories.
Mike and Mike are much better. Boomer is OK but Carton is a Francesca wannabe.
I've never heard Francesca except by name in news stories. Sounds like his gimmick is all about ego and making himself seem superior to the people and subjects he talks about. I get the impression Carton is just a flat out imbecile. I have forgotten the lowest common denominator of sports radio is very low.
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