Did the law school firestorm buy Burman another year?

[TheCup]

Like it or not, I think it probably did.

In response to the (bullshit) outcry from some quarters within the law school after Easton's "resignation," the Easton-driven fiasco of a town hall meeting/mock trial and the ensuing media coverage, Sternberg told the Boomerang “I'm not planning any further personnel changes. I think where we are is where we want to be.”

I understand Sternberg's predicament. He's got an agenda to pursue that is at risk because of the shitstorm that has flared up over the past couple weeks. Sternberg has a target on him now and many in the media and the legal establishment in this state are taking dead aim.

What's that have to do with athletics? I think it means that the level of difficulty in making any more personnel changes has risen exponentially. Sternberg got a pass early on because of the sense that a new president deserves to have his own team in place. But right or wrong, that honeymoon period is over. Sternberg said it himself with his quote I pasted above. He understands that he has no more personal capital to spend with Trustees on personnel changes.

So what does he do with Burman? Burman is a UW lifer. He's an alum and he dates all the way back to the Leckner-Dembo years in terms of involvement with the athletics department.

Is Sternberg, on the heels of saying that he plans no more personnel changes, in the near term really going to fire another long-time UW administrator? I don't think so, and I'm not sure he can without shifting the ground beneath his own feet even more. The outcry and media coverage of the past few weeks have tied his hands.

I've often thought of Burman's decisions as wrong, but I've never considered him stupid. I'm sure he senses the political reality over there just as Sternberg does. So the question we should be asking ourselves isn't whether Burman feels compelled to fire Christensen to save his own job. It's what will Burman do with Christensen if he knows his own job is solid?

 

[Wyokie]

Makes you wonder if Burman and Easton are best friends or something similar.

 

[BeaverPoke]

"Where we are is where we want to be"

Oh god....

That is just another way of saying we are who we are.

He tried to make changes and it back fired on him. Great. Now he doesn't want to get fired, so he is going to let the good ole boys club stand.
At least, that's what I took from it.

 

[Wyovanian]

Sternberg's going to let Burman have all the rope and space he wants...

 

[CowboyNV]

I'm still waiting on someone with a set of 50 pound balls to come in and dismantle this "good ole boy network" that's been in place in Laramie and Cheyenne for way too many years. I thought Sternberg might be the guy, but at the first sign of trouble, he seems to have backed off and joined the club.

What we need is a president who isn't afaid to piss some people off...make an example out of a few of them....and regain the respect of the students, faculty, and fans of this great university. After the law school fiasco, he should have called in the rest of the department heads and said, "Get your shit together or you are next." This includes TB and DC and any other swinging dick who doesn't want to move into the 21st century. Hell, if the board of trustees was looking for a president to continue the status quo, they could have hired a trained chimp. I say grow a fucking set and change things. If you are going to be fired for trying to make things better, go out in a blaze of glory. But don't come in with your chest all bowed out and then at the first sign of discontent, tuck your tail and run off into a corner.

I still hope Sternberg is our guy and he pulls the trigger on whomever needs to go, especially TB and DC. I don't care if TB is from Laramie and an alumni and he's been around since the late 80's. If he isn't doing his job right, fire his ass. Last time I looked residency didn't get you shit in the real world.

 

[Adv8RU12]

"Where we are is where we want to be"

That is just another way of saying we are who we are.

Or, phrased in toto: "We are what we are and that's all we're ever going to be"

 

[PokeOLoco]

I wouldn't say Sternberg has totally backed down, just going to let the barrel cool off a little bit. People cant deal with change well much less too much too fast. People want him fired after 4 months, so as he says he needs to take a break. Athletics might be included. If Bill Young was hired as DC and a bunch more defensive recruits were brought in I could be swayed to support DC para uno ano mas.

 

[TheCup]

I'm still waiting on someone with a set of 50 pound balls to come in and dismantle this "good ole boy network" that's been in place in Laramie and Cheyenne for way too many years. I thought Sternberg might be the guy, but at the first sign of trouble, he seems to have backed off and joined the club.

He's in a hard spot. It's tough to effect change in Wyoming if you're fired and sitting on your couch somewhere in Oklahoma.

Sternberg can't continue on the course he's on if the Board of Trustees don't have his back. I don't know if they do or if they don't. And Sternberg by training and experience is an academic first. He's not going to risk installing the changes he wants on the academic side at the altar of athletics. I think he cares about athletics and will demand Wyoming gets better.

I'm just saying if he thinks getting better requires a new AD, he might just wait until next year to do it. I don't think that makes him a chicken - just someone who takes the world as it is rather than as it should be.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

You bring up a great point Cup and you may be exactly right. The whole law school fiasco is embarassing on so many levels. If you haven't seen the town hall video, I would suggest that you watch it.


Another thing to consider is the relationship between Easton and Christensen. Easton's son was recruited to come to Wyoming by Christensen when both Christensen and Easton were at Missouri. [BTW (off topic) I really enjoy watching Tedder play.]

 

[fromolwyoming]

You bring up a great point Cup and you may be exactly right. The whole law school fiasco is embarassing on so many levels. If you haven't seen the town hall video, I would suggest that you watch it.


Another thing to consider is the relationship between Easton and Christensen. Easton's son was recruited to come to Wyoming by Christensen when both Christensen and Easton were at Missouri. [BTW (off topic) I really enjoy watching Tedder play.]

Yep. Easton gives it his all every down. Although he's not our fastest player, he makes up for it by shoving on ahead.

 

[Triple-WY]

Cup- My prediction from afar- Burman outlasts Sternberg.

 

[J-Rod]

Cup- My prediction from afar- Burman outlasts Sternberg.

If that happened, the backlash from alumni and anyone who affiliates themselves with U. of Wyoming would be huge. AGAIN, Wyoming would make national headlines for something negative.

 

[Wyovanian]

Cup- My prediction from afar- Burman outlasts Sternberg.

If that happened, the backlash from alumni and anyone who affiliates themselves with U. of Wyoming would be huge. AGAIN, Wyoming would make national headlines for something negative.

Nothing would cement our provincial reputation more. It would cost UW on a staggering level to balk at the threshold of needed change.

 

[Brew_Poke]

Cup- My prediction from afar- Burman outlasts Sternberg.

If that happened, the backlash from alumni and anyone who affiliates themselves with U. of Wyoming would be huge. AGAIN, Wyoming would make national headlines for something negative.

Nothing would cement our provincial reputation more. It would cost UW on a staggering level to balk at the threshold of needed change.

If that were to happen, I'm done. For good. After the embarrassments of the Bill Ayers talk and the ripping out of art installations, on top of Buchannon being President only because the good ol' boys demanded he be included and the other candidates dropping out, Burman staying and Sternberg leaving would be all I'd need to convince me that Wyoming isn't worth caring about.

 

[seattlecowboy]

Maybe we need to start emailing the guys on this list and let them know our displeasure with all of them and they need to get their shit together or pack up and get the hell out of town. :thumb:

http://www.uwyo.edu/trustees/members-of-the-board-of-trustees/

 

[Wyokie]

Maybe we need to start emailing the guys on this list and let them know our displeasure with all of them and they need to get their shit together or pack up and get the hell out of town. :thumb:

http://www.uwyo.edu/trustees/members-of-the-board-of-trustees/

GREAT IDEA!!!! :thumb:

 

[Subcanis]

Cup- My prediction from afar- Burman outlasts Sternberg.

They'd never get another dime from me.

My company went through this. After years of, essentially, "we are who we are", we had company buy us out. They changed a lot of things, lost a lot of very long term employees that disagreed with the changes, but in less than a year we went from being negative to +200%. Great.

Sometimes a shakeup/housecleaning is good.

I haven't followed the law school issue too closely, but I don't understand the issue if they were doing their jobs. When the EPA/OSHA/DOD shows up with a surprise audit at my place I don't run off and cry foul. I (begrudgingly) reschedule all my meetings and humor them. I know I'll pass, but I also that they're going to come up with something trivial. That's what they get paid to do.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

It's hard to know what's going on in Laramie right now. There are rumors that Fruedenthal led to the dismissal of two deans. I think Sternberg is the axe man for the trustees. He's just chopping dead wood for the board. A high percentage of the trustees are lawyers, so Easton's dismissal must have come from them.

I don't think the Easton resignation bought anyone anytime. I think the thing working in Burman's favor is the report. The lack of resources he faces might give Sternberg a reason to allow him to remain on until the budget is where they want it and the report has been addressed. However, if Burman is having a hard time getting the necessary money together to implement the report, he might get replaced.

DC should be fired immediately. Again, do you hire a new staff and give them the same tools that everyone else has had recently? Wouldn't you want to wait until you have the bigger recruiting budget and higher assistant salaries before you brought in a new team? Wouldn't you want the increased resources to find the best coach possible? Hiring at our current budget is likely to lead to a similar coach to the one we have now.

I think the report might have bought Tom and Dave more time. The turnover at the university should prove to everyone that Sternberg and the trustees aren't afraid to shit-can some people.

 

[Lost Poke]

Interesting thoughts, Cup.

One thing I do know for sure: the law school fubar is just another major embarassment for my alma mater. Add that to the Buchanan hiring gerrymander, the wholly juvenile handling of Howdy-Doody-gate, the volleyball coaching infractions...man, I just don't want to claim Wyoming any more. I grew up in Laramie. My parents taught there. I went to school there. But the clown-car is getting crowded.

 

[McPeachy]

Interesting thoughts, Cup.

One thing I do know for sure: the law school fubar is just another major embarassment for my alma mater. Add that to the Buchanan hiring gerrymander, the wholly juvenile handling of Howdy-Doody-gate, the volleyball coaching infractions...man, I just don't want to claim Wyoming any more. I grew up in Laramie. My parents taught there. I went to school there. But the clown-car is getting crowded.

Way too crowded. You are correct.

Add on Schroyer-Gate, The loss of a couple of soccer coaches, the continual free pass for the ever-bottom feeding golf program, the neglect of the swimming program, some very eye opening administration hires (to say the least), the tolerance or "looking the other way" when shit hits the fan within the department, and an overall lack of vision or aspirations to become better than the status quo. Amongst others. Not to mention he pioneered & fostered a breeding ground at UW for being apathetic and mediocre.

Burman, simply put, has done nothing to improve UW athletically. NOTHING. In fact, we are in reverse right now. I don't buy for one second the whole "budget restraints" bullshit. If it is that bad Tom, why the hell aren't you continually talking about it, and doing everything to make it better. Every speech you give should lead off with something about growing the budget (and programs) But no, instead we get the apathy, and "we are who we are" crap. Get lost Burman, you have ruined my favorite past time.