Good afternoon Quakers fans! This is Joe Sanfilippo with you live from Brown Stadium in beautiful Providence, R.I. The sun is out, the sky is clear and the winds are calm, so it looks like Penn will finally get to play in some good weather. Click the link below to follow along with all the action.
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October 31st, 2009 at 12:30 pm
All Stakeholders, Fans of Penn Athletics, & Penn Administration -
Attached is Vol 3, the hard copy of which is being distributed in Providence at the Penn - Brown game, and posted at the DP’s Buzz Blog.
To those of you who contributed e-mail lists last week, a very heartfelt thank you. While our mailing list is growing, please consider this a standing request for more lists. We assure you, as we have assured previous contributors, we will treat all of them in strict confidence. One alum and self-described Latin scholar pointed out the correct spelling for ‘08-’09’s sports season is “Annus Horribilis”, but that in any case it was “Annus Horrendus”. Amen!
We would like to share with you our working group’s celebration of our first female member. We are looking forward to welcoming and working with more. She wondered aloud about our campaign’s facing an un-level playing field. We agreed, and assured her we won’t take unfair advantage of it.
Go Penn!
EN
October 31st, 2009 at 12:30 pm
REGIME CHANGE - VOL 3
To Stakeholders & Fans of Penn Athletics –
Fund Raising and Misplaced Priorities
A Rabbi and Priest attend a boxing match, and prior to Round 1, one boxer turns inward and crosses himself. Surprised, the Rabbi asks, “What does that mean?” The priest replies, “Not a damn thing if he can’t box!”
So too with Penn’s sports, and our fundamental concerns that bear repeating - the declining program, and at least 11 years of less than 30% of Penn’s teams having winning records against other Ivies. The toxic effects listed in Vol 2 cheat the undergraduate experience and athletes in all 30+ teams of an enthusiastic fan base; students of a spirited environment; acceptance of apathy as a given; implications for future fundraising; and respect for the Penn brand. Current evidence will be articulated in Vol 4.
Fund raising and facility upgrades are great to have, but no panacea in and of themselves. We honor and salute donors’ continuing generosity; but decry use of fund raising success as a reflex rebuttal to deflect focus from dismal W & L data, and coaching turnovers. Only superior program management and outstanding coaches - systematically recruiting the best scholar athletes, who buy into and believe Penn is their optimal choice - can cure what ails. To believe otherwise is to tacitly believe in “Build it and they will come”. Note:
Exhibit A: The other “storied Ivy basketball P” plays at Jadwin Gym, a top sports facility. Five years ago Princeton hired alum Jake Scott as coach, with disastrous results. They fell to last place in Ivy standing; and neither superior facilities nor program reputation were any help, until they changed coaches.
Exhibit B: Please read the Vanity Fair article “What Happened to Harvard Squash?” In brief, Harvard views squash success as a birthright. Trinity, Rochester, Princeton, and especially Cornell’s rise, has now proved to be too much. 1st class facilities, brand, and ranking (still ok last we checked) were no help, as their coach has been vilified and blamed for taking down the program - in microcosm a proxy for various storied Penn programs. http://www.vanityfair.com/online/style/2009/05/what-happened-to-harvard-squash.html
Of course both are necessary, but forced to choose, we opt for superior management, coaches, and athletes, and waiting for superior facilities to inexorably follow. Superior programs excite the generosity of alums and faithful, and superior managements will capitalize on it. Recent elections have provided fundraising tutorials, and potential Penn donors at all levels are there to be tapped by exciting and imaginative initiatives.
Perhaps the saddest misplaced priority is tolerating the fall of Penn’s once great rowing program, traditionally producing shells at Henley, and rowers for various Olympics and Oxbridge crews. Here’s a puzzler: Given Penn’s global aspirations and stated aim of “eminence”, what strategic logic permits a program capable of adding to global brand luster to languish many years? To Football, and Basketball stakeholders, we love and passionately support FB and BB; but respectfully point out Rowing, Soccer, and Squash have broader international followings than Big 5 and Ivy titles. Their successes are more likely to enhance global branding.
We demand a fair share of support for every one of our 30+ teams and athletes. Each team must be capable of attracting the best student athletes, and begin every season believing in a genuine shot at an Ivy title. To accept less is to accept mediocrity, not eminence. We vote for eminence and Regime Change; join us!
If you would like to be added to the growing list to receive electronic versions of future editions, please e-mail your request to ernie@catalyticgroup.com and include “Regime Change” in the subject line.
Thank you. Ernie Nounou, Wh’66
October 31st, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Ernie - Looking forward to another installment.
Another great win for FB today. And next week Princeton comes to town,
Would be nice if the AD and his marketing genuises (Felici, Head, etc)
get off their duffs and do something to get the alumni and the
students out for a change.
The team is doing a great job this year, and thanks to some horrible
PR, nobody is aware of this.
At least we have the DP to thank for their excellent coverage.
FOJL
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:58 am
First I’d like to salute the Volleyball and Football teams. The football team is a remarkable story and we all hope Coach Lake is enjoying it. The Volleyball team if anything is even more remarkable for its outright dominance. Both have earned our support and I hope the student body comes out in force to root them on.
I agree fully with FOJL. This year’s DP sports department has far exceeded the normally high standards we place on the DP. Keep up the great work! And yes, the Athletic Department seems stuck in outdated marketing models and can do a better job. Going back to JGH’s words from a month ago, if we can take JGH as representing the opinion of the Penn Athletics Dept then it seems that AD marketing is primarily (and solely?) focused on increasing revenues, and not in increasing attendance. I only wish that they would understand the linkage between the two and not rely on the $500 gifted to the reformatted RBC to drive student attendance. Surely there are effective and low cost methods to drum up more support among the students and young alums. I can think of about 10 good ideas without even trying much. Even if some fail others will succeed and none will cost much to try.
Finally: students, please come out and support your teams! You can really make a difference. Large and vocal crowds do put a charge into our team and demoralize the opposition. Many of you are very likely attending a class along side a Penn student athlete. By attending a sporting event you are supporting one of your own.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 am
Rodney -
Great post! Looking forward to seeing the Penn-Columbia Volleyball match this Friday evening at Columbia, and hope to see a large turnout.
EN
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:57 am
FOJL Continuing to have posting issues, so:
“Rodney
Thank you for the kind words. The boys at the DP are the only viable
true source for info.
The AD and his team of goons do such a lousy job of marketing the
teams.
Thank for nothing Bilsky.
To Zach, Noah, Eli, Neil, and David(Ben) — KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MEN!
FOJL”
EN