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  • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

    Originally posted by amherstblackbear View Post
    What sense does it make to fire Whitehead if you don't have a replacement lined up? Nobody worth hiring is going to be interested in committing to Maine if he doesn't know who he's going to be working for.

    Hiring anything more than a stop-gap replacement is going to take time. The formal search itself is going to take an academic year, and you probably want to spend at least that much time beforehand, maybe working with a headhunter, getting a sense of who might be available and what their concerns are. It's probably going to take a couple years to do it right.

    Seems to me that what you're proposing is to spend half a million or more to buy out Whitehead and then slap an interim tag on a current assistant. An assistant who has to know that he's out the door at the end of the assignment, anyway. You can argue "who cares, it's just for a couple years." Sure, it would put a grin on my face. So would the University randomly cutting me a check for half a million dollars. That doesn't mean that either is a smart decision.

    edit: If Abbott decides to buy out Whitehead tomorrow, and the University runs a slapdash search to get a replacement in time for 2011-12, we might actually make things worse. I may be over-dramatic about this, because I'm a fan, but this is too important to screw up. We've waited years. Let's do this thing, but let's get it right.
    Worse?! After the summer off, our group of players showed up on campus and soon, convincingly swept UND, but 6 months later, after a season of Whiteheads "coaching," they're not even in the same league as the UND's of college hockey. How could anyone possibly be any worse unless he was just as bad with a 4 year contract?

    Nobody is going to have serious talks and UMaine can't hire a headhunter to make "discrete" inquiries until Whitehead is gone. College hockey is too small a fraternity and Timmay would hear back the minute anyone started inquiring if potential replacements were interested in the Maine job. Any transition is more difficult than keeping the status quo, but sometimes it's worth it. There are a few other schools right within Hockey East who fired their coaches this year and I'm willing to bet that they both will have hired a decent replacement within just a few months. Right now, because people still remember Maine's winning history and our historic high level of fan support that is currently fading fast, the Maine job would probably be considered more desirable so we could get a higher quality applicant than they can, but 3 more years removed from excellence, putting the word out that the Maine job is vacant might not stir up very much excitement and our descent into mediocrity will be made permanent.

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    • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

      Originally posted by walrus View Post
      I guess I have alot more faith in my fellow Oronian then you guys do. I doubt he keeps his job with Collins for all those years being a dummy. I also doubt he takes the job as AD thinking who cares in 2 years I'm going to run for office. I'll guarantee he isn't Blake James so that has to count for something. I also don't believe he is going to run any coaches out of town this year. Get over it, wish in one hand, poop in the other, it ain't happenin'. I'll bet Blodgett is history next year, Timmay will be on the hot seat once again but I'll bet he keeps his job after next season also.
      So, you've got faith in Abbott, but you also think he'll keep Whitehead around for at least 2 more years. Just what do you mean by saying that you have faith in him? Faith that he'll maintain the losing, Blake James, status quo as far as Maine hockey goes? How is that an improvement?

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      • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

        Originally posted by MEbear View Post
        Or maybe, seeking to not be unnecessarily controversial just as he begins another political campaign, Abbott will follow James lead and give Timmay another extension on his way out the door? Then we can all have this same conversation again in two years, if there are any of us left who can remember what it's like to go to a hockey game at the Alfond, or still care enough to even log onto this site.

        From the article, I got the impression that Abbott wants to raise money and improve facilities and thinks that's a top priority of his job, but I think he's dreaming if he thinks he can find additional donors to support losing teams. If he wants to gain additional supporters of UMaine athletics, he needs to do what he can to give them something to support, and that involves making hard decisions and means coaching/direction changes. Until he grows the cojones to make some coaching changes, I think he's going to be pretty frustrated in trying to raise additional money or improve the athletic facilities as the teams he is asking people to support keep underachieving. Of course the failed coaches and their supporters in the local press are all happy to encourage him to focus on this idea that one of UMaine's big problems is its facilities or location because it implies that THEY are not the biggest part of the problem. He needs to figure out that it's his JOB to be their boss, NOT their friend.
        Great post!

        Fundraising will fail miserably if the current (coaching) situations and the losing continues........end of story.

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        • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

          Originally posted by MEbear View Post
          So, you've got faith in Abbott, but you also think he'll keep Whitehead around for at least 2 more years. Just what do you mean by saying that you have faith in him? Faith that he'll maintain the losing, Blake James, status quo as far as Maine hockey goes? How is that an improvement?
          He didn't sign the guy to a contract, he has to live with it because the money isn't there to do what you want. I have faith he is going to raise money, I have faith he'll make every attempt to get Stephen King back as a donor. I have faith he'll get more resources for the Hockey Team. But the reality is, Tim has a 3 year contract that should have never happened and now we're stuck. You can talk about all the money they lose till you're blue in the face. My understanding is the money was there to buy him out 2 years ago and the President said no. Unless the new President is Dale Lick jr. I see a private buyout as the only chance to get rid of Tim and even then it might not happen. All this talk is premature without knowing what the new president thinks of Athletics and how important a nationally recognized team is to him and his vision for the U.


          let me ask a question, what would cause a greater drop in donation revenue for the Athletic dept, dropping football or dropping hockey?
          Last edited by walrus; 03-29-2011, 01:36 PM.
          I swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell.

          Maine Hockey Love it or Leave it

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          • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

            Originally posted by MEbear View Post
            They've got to ask themselves which will make a bigger impression on prospective donors, teams that give them some reason for hope and excitement to point to, or established coaches whose teams have an established history of underachieving. I don't know about how big money donors think, but I do know that if Montgomery and Standbrook were headed back to the Alfond next year, there would immediately be a huge increase in the excitement level within the local community and a lot of long time supporters who have given up their season tix, like myself, would be standing in line to BEG for the privilege of buying season tix again. With a big, well publicized upswing in season ticket sales, and a new sense of excitement about the program, it seems to me that the AD would have a lot better luck at achieving his goal of garnering support for capitol improvements. Attempting to persuade people to make big donations in order to make those improvements in support of losing programs with waning excitement levels will be a pretty tough sell. I can understand that it will be tempting for Abbott to delay in taking any action, but those contracts that are in place are a sunk cost, and he needs to look forward and do what's best for the program and the student athletes and the fans, and NOT necessarily what his golfing buddy with the cute, young, son would like him to do.
            Again......great post.

            I know that their hands are tied somewhat (financially) but it really does seem like the adminitration is in la-la land as it concerns the hockey program. Do they know how much revenue that their cash cow is now losing (and has been losing for the last few years)???? Does anyone know Economics 101???? The BIG problem right now is Kennedy......lame duck or not, he is STILL in charge.......and STILL clueless IMO.

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            • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

              Originally posted by MEbear View Post
              Worse?!
              Of course it could be worse. Maine could end up hiring someone less capable than Whitehead. Assuming that person doesn't have the negotiating skill of a gerbil, he's going to arrive in Orono in possession of a shiny new 4+year contract.

              That's worse because it pushes things even further back than they already are.

              I'm willing to change my mind about all this if Maine puts out feelers, and finds out that there are specific candidates who want to come to Orono. Absent that . . . yes, it can get worse. We can waste even more time than we already have. And if Maine turns the coaching transition into a rush job, that's probably what we're looking at.
              1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2012(!)

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              • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                Also, when we're talking about raising money, we're not necessarily talking about fishing for whales to support a specific team. I'm thinking his efforts will be more along the lines of lowest-common denominator projects like separate facilities for hoops and hockey, maybe some equipment that the football team needs, or a modest renovation project for the football stadium (no idea what that might be - I don't follow football).

                Getting the whales (if there are any left) back on board with Maine hockey will be the job of the next AD (or the current one, if he wins the search), working in tandem with the next hockey coach.
                1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2012(!)

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                • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                  Cindy Blodgett has been fired!

                  http://www.goblackbears.com/sports/w...20110329t18eho

                  Looks like Abbott is rolling up his sleeves......

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                  • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                    Originally posted by walrus View Post
                    I guess I have alot more faith in my fellow Oronian then you guys do. I'll bet Blodgett is history next year, Timmay will be on the hot seat once again but I'll bet he keeps his job after next season also.
                    Nice post Walrus, and he acted faster than any of us could have expected. Think he saw and heard enough in one year, and that's why he was a perfect hire at this time. He will put his stamp on things. Good to see a first step taken with the athletic department and it should put all the coaches on notice!

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                    • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                      Who bought her out? Release says private sources. Which makes me wonder why Pres Kennedy would allow the buyout of Blodgett and not of Timmy? Hard to believe the new pres could have been involved in this that fast.

                      Maine Hockey: I want to believe
                      43-21-4 (.662) in games I attended over 4 years as a student
                      104-47-14 (.669) in that time
                      3x FROZEN FOUR

                      11-20-2 in games I've attended since. (2-2-1 under Red)

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                      • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                        I don't think his first act on the job is firing coaches, and I don't think it should be, as much as i'd like to se Whitehead gone. But that's just a stupid thing to do, just com in and clean house with no long term plan for the future.

                        That said, his first act is to make it clear to those coaches that their performance is lacking, and that things will have to change if they expect to keep their jobs. To use hockey as an example, he can make it clear to TIMMAY that changes in the way the team is run are necessary, whether that means an overhaul of coaching strategy and the way things get done, or an overhaul of assistant coaches. Changing assistant coaches is easy, and if he's smart, he'd mandate that TIMMAY make that change, and he'd also give him the resources to be able to hire a full-time goalie coach.

                        If I was Danny Kerluke, I'd be worrying a bit about my future right about now.

                        Edit: In light of the Blodgett news, perhaps Danny isn't the only one that should be worried. Firing Cindy I can see though, as her record has been demonstrably far worse than TIMMAY's. If he isn't gone though, this might just be the shot across the bow that forces him to do whatever needs to be done to make his team better, whether that be finally listening to and implementing other's input, or letting Danny go himself, and bringing in a defensive coach.
                        Last edited by rufus; 03-29-2011, 02:26 PM.
                        What kind of cheese are you planning to put on top?

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                        • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                          Originally posted by rufus View Post
                          Changing assistant coaches is easy, and if he's smart, he'd mandate that TIMMAY make that change, and he'd also give him the resources to be able to hire a full-time goalie coach.
                          The NC$$ only allows for 2 paid assistants in college hockey. Even Grant's last year was as a Volunteer Assistant. So no such thing as a full-time goalie coach unless he is also recruiting coordinator and in charge of defense. Meanwhile the basketball teams can have almost one staff person per scholarship with assistants and trainers and the like. Boy I love the NC$$ and their neat rules!
                          Last edited by BobF; 03-29-2011, 02:45 PM.

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                          • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                            If there is private money to buy Blodgett out then there is DEFINITELY private money to buy Whitehead out.

                            I think that big donors are saying enough is enough and are putting their money where their mouths are.........and Abbott has the spine and the smarts to make a big move like this and put the other coaches on notice that it will not be "business as usual". Woodward and Whitehead are now on the watch list............

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                            • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                              Originally posted by sandiegoblkbr View Post
                              Cindy Blodgett has been fired!

                              http://www.goblackbears.com/sports/w...20110329t18eho

                              Looks like Abbott is rolling up his sleeves......
                              Notice that Blodgett wasn'tone of the coaches singing Abbott's praises in that BDN article.
                              1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2012(!)

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                              • Re: Maine Off Season 2011

                                Originally posted by walrus View Post
                                1. I also don't believe he is going to run any coaches out of town this year.
                                Steeeeeerike 1!

                                Originally posted by walrus View Post
                                2. I'll bet Blodgett is history next year,
                                Steeeeerike 2!
                                abbott had you out in front on the change-up in the dirt

                                Originally posted by walrus View Post
                                Timmay will be on the hot seat once again but I'll bet he keeps his job after next season also
                                come on stevie, strike this bum out!

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