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Who directs athletic policies?

L

Lohengrin

Banned for anti-Marxism
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In the recent ACC Sports Journal article "Ron Wellman's Risky Call," it was stated that Wellman's decision to keep Buzz "has the full support of University President Nathan Hatch and the Board of Trustees, led by chair Don Flow." I have also heard that Flow's stalwart support of Buzz is backed by large donations. What got me wondering was were any of the people making decisions on Buzz Deacs themselves? Who were these people dictating what was "right" or "respectable" for the WF alums and fans of Wake sports?

I had to do some googling, but I was able to find out that:

Ron Wellman - Bowling Green
Don Flow - Univ. of Virginia
Nathan Hatch - Wheaton College

I don't know where the rest of our BOT went for undergrad -- I'd love to know -- but it seems to me that these 3 names making the news as influential in the decision-making on Buzz and our overall athletic policy don't have the critical alumni perspective on athletics and, in the case of Flow, actually have an ACC rival's perspective. Why don't we just invite tarholes to our BOT to decide whether Wake really needs to place ethics and culture far ahead of absurd concepts such as, well, winning? And I'm almost certain that we do have a hole or two on the Board...

This burns me up. Our programs, across the board, are being guided by guys that just aren't Deacs. They have no idea how it feels, as an alum, to see these repeated embarrassments on the field or court. Wellman's concepts of what is "the Wake Forest way" do not square with my own and were not formed from experience as a Wake undergrad. Neither were Flow's, nor Hatch's. Who is there in our organization to represent actual Wake Forest interests with sufficient forcefulness?

Does this rule by foreigners (or enemies) bother you as much as it does me? The strong influence wielded by a Wahoo is especially galling to me, and I don't think Flow ought to be involved at all in our athletics beyond naming rights.
 
AND THE BUZZOUT MOVEMENT IS SPEARHEADED BY A STATE PLANT!!!!

:jfk:
 
I've never understood this argument. Did you also complain about how your professors at Wake got their degrees from other schools, so their grading of you shouldn't count because they're not "true Deacs"?
 
w84it said:
I've never understood this argument. Did you also complain about how your professors at Wake got their degrees from other schools, so their grading of you shouldn't count because they're not "true Deacs"?
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Athletics are different from academics. I don't care if none of the profs at Wake went there. I do care that sports are primarily influenced by undergrad alums. I mean, I thought that would be a given...
 
Lohengrin said:
Athletics are different from academics. I don't care if none of the profs at Wake went there. I do care that sports are primarily influenced by undergrad alums. I mean, I thought that would be a given...
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Based on what? I bet if you did a search of all the ADs and Presidents at D1 schools you'd find the vast majority of them didn't get their undergrad degrees where they work.
 
greekdeac2011 said:
Premiere Wellman derives his power from divine right. Through him our policies are installed.
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Supreme executive power is derived from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
 
It would be nice if our major donors weren't giant pussies.
 
So Ron Wellman is somehow trying to run Wake Forest Athletics in a manner that allows Bowling Green to benefit the most? That's what I'm getting out of your post. Why then don't we play a road game at Bowling Green every season across all sports?
 
I never realized before that Hatch got his undergraduate degree from Wheaton College in Illinois. When he was there, and probably even today, Wheaton had the reputation as one of the most socially conservative and religiously centered schools in America. Makes you wonder what sort of undergraduate experience did he have?
 
deacvision7 said:
Supreme executive power is derived from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
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Wellman: Bloody peasant.
 
I absolutely get where Loh's coming from. But when you look at what can happen when a university hires an alumnus for an athletic job, it can be too damaging to risk. Look at Rich Rodriguez and WVA. Amato at NC State. Groh at UVA. I mean, it's gotta be painful to get fired from your alma mater. And it's got to be hard to fire a legend from your school, regardless of performance.
 
This is a stretch, dude. I'd like the smartest and most competent possible people directing my alma mater, regardless of where he or she went to school. Wellman's problem right now isn't that he went to Bowling Green. It's that he's being a total stubborn donkey.
 
94Deac said:
I absolutely get where Loh's coming from. But when you look at what can happen when a university hires an alumnus for an athletic job, it can be too damaging to risk. Look at Rich Rodriguez and WVA. Amato at NC State. Groh at UVA. I mean, it's gotta be painful to get fired from your alma mater. And it's got to be hard to fire a legend from your school, regardless of performance.
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Lowe at State is one of the most painful stories ever.
 
CumberlandDeac said:
So Ron Wellman is somehow trying to run Wake Forest Athletics in a manner that allows Bowling Green to benefit the most? That's what I'm getting out of your post. Why then don't we play a road game at Bowling Green every season across all sports?
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Only Flow has "conflicted" loyalties. Wellman and Hatch just have no connection to Wake besides their job. You're being a little purposefully thick to "get" that my post suggested Wellman was trying to benefit Bowling Green. He's just adopting insane policies for Wake sports because he doesn't really feel the pain like an alum.

Before Wellman, we had Gene Hooks as AD. I was never a big fan because I was always told that he was too much of a "green eyeshade accountant" to ever promote Wake athletics effectively. But he WAS a Wake alum and he had some definite credibility there. What we're seeing now are policies that hurt Wake athletics and that's what causes me to look at the backgrounds of these people making them.
 
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