Re: Rep Retirement Lodge #174: Spring Cleaning
Ask the Tech fans.
Yeah, the wait til next year school of thought isn't any better. Enough people have to get a burr under the saddle to try to get te changes made to move the program in the right direction. Definitely easier said than done.
The fear I have for NMU is that there will be anger directed toward the wrong parties. Nothing's change on the back end of the program, and Walt and John have put the program together as best as they can. They can't keep assistant coaches because the University won't pay for them (ie: Olver gone after two years, Facca bailing as soon as WMU called him, Shawhan stayed as long as he did because he wasn't looking, and Christ, the current assistant is getting further education while living in his hometown). The program allowance hasn't (to my knowledge) been increased from 2002 levels, and any revenue that the hockey program drives in (ie: sponsorship, donations, etc) are to be shared with the athletic department as a whole, and not just the hockey program. Only "Hockey Only" revenue is generated from the annual golf outing and the annual silent auction.
But, for better or worse, Walt and John are too prideful of the program to expose the issues. In turn, since they're the face of the program, the locals and fanbase has started to turn against them.
The athletic department has been a disaster for almost two decades, and the newest captain sure hasn't come though on any of his promises. Ideas on how to generate revenue for the hockey program are met with deaf ears within the athletic department; so much so, that they totally fu**ed up the handling of a sponorship practically GIFTED to them regarding the "Ramada Cup" and MTU/NMU hockey rivalry.
The contracts for Walt and John Kyle are up at the end of the year, and I fear that this misdirected hate is going to fall on them when their contracts don't renew.