It doesn’t look like President Lee Bollinger will ever come to
his senses and remove Dianne Murphy and Pete Mangurian. His hatred for the alumni and the athletes is so acute, I really think he enjoys seeing the teams and fans suffer.
But even as he ignores this incredible failure, if it continues for another year perhaps even he will feel pressured to do something.
So let’s set some
benchmarks for the coming year since we will now be made to endure their incompetence
for yet another year.
Mangurian in 2014
An 0-10 or 1-9 W-L record should be immediate grounds for
dismissal.
2-8 should be very shaky ground. If the two wins are against
Ivy teams, you could argue that’s a significant improvement.
3-7 or better would be, sadly, a real upgrade from last
season and a minor miracle.
The bar is clearly set EXTREMELY low for Mangurian next
season, and it really feels like we’re rewarding failure. But every new season
is a bit of a clean slate. I wish I could say I was confident the Lions can
even go 1-9 next year, but I’m not. 0-10 seems overwhelmingly likely. And that’s
why I’d still rather cut Mangurian out now and save everyone the anguish.
Bollinger and Murphy are for more anguish.
Murphy
If Men’s Basketball fails to get a winning Ivy record yet
again, this should be a serious question mark on her record.
Women’s Basketball looks extremely weak. If that team has a
sub-10 or sub-8 win season, that should not be ignored.
Baseball looks poised to make another run for the Ivy title.
In all fairness if that happens, Murphy should be congratulated and enabled to
reward Coach Boretti in an even more meaningful way.
7 comments:
I don't think he has genuine hated for alumni. Some people just don't care about football or sports in general. He has bigger fish to fry and is well out of his aptitude/ comfort zone dealing with pukes like Mangurian. Everyone knows the guy is a complete failure but Bollinger sees himself. carrying on a higher mission above the fray.
Bollinger probably was faced with a demand by Murphy for a public vote of confidence. My guess is that she made that demand right after Spec called for her dismissal. I imagine that Mangurian told Murphy that Nottingham alone is good for 5 wins next year and that his OL will come into its own, giving us a shot at a winning season. In for a dime, in for a dollar.
I agree with Anonymous, Bollinger sees himself above the fray. Just got word that the capital campaign passed $6 billion in the last few days. You know Bollinger's going to bask in the glow of that achievement for a while. Sad really because he has the clout to sack Murphy and fix the whole mess.
Rich Forzani '66C
I've said this before:
LB, from most perspectives, has done exactly what the Board requires; donations, expansion, academic results. He's going nowhere.
BUT...he has a professional and fiduciary responsibility to EVERY part of his operation. He can't ignore Physics, he can't ignore Fine Arts, he can't ignore Political Science. Why then does he get a pass on COMPLETELY ignoring athletics? He must be called to account. There is a substantial budget for competitive and non-competitive athletics which has been historically mis-used. Is LB the Grayson Kirk or Louis XVI of CU athletics. Wake up and smell the failure!!
Given the nature of what we have seen and what we understand the coach to expect from his players; I think 500 is the baseline for pete to keep his job. It is put up or shut up time and I have heard enough excuses. Anything less than 500 is more of the same.
Des Werthman
Jake, with sincere respect for all you've done, don't let the destroyers of Columbia athletics wear you down. Even if Mangurian gets another season, the process must continue of removing Murphy, reforming the Athletics Department and making sure Bollinger leaves when his multimillion-dollar contract, now in long extension, expires in 2016.
It's a huge mistake to say now, as you just did, that maybe if he wins two games next season, he can have a fourth year to reward what would be a 5-25 record over three years. Only an undefeated season should spare him, or to be charitable, an Ivy title, since we can't beat Monmouth or The Little Sisters of Mercy and other non-Ivy super-teams.
The trouble with the "one more year" scam is that it will still be Murphy choosing the next coach unless she is replaced. Columbia's presidents and athletic directors have been committing this fraud for 60 years: "OK, we'll select a new coach.....JUST LIKE THE OLD ONE.."
Murphy cannot, or will not, hire a genuine coach. That's why if there is one dismissal, it should be Murphy. Both she and Mangurian together would be better. Both must go and the sooner the better.
Do not play their game of revolving coaches, one worse than the last. It is disgusting for poster David K. to write Columbia has never been successful in football. That's the propaganda designed to make us surrender. Columbia football was quite successful, at times very successful, before the formal Ivy League began in 1956 and our U's leaders decided to strangle the program.
Pardon my asking, but can you give us your definition of "genuine coach"?
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