Dear John Purdue Club Members:
Thanks for the outpouring of support for Matt Painter and for your concern for our Purdue men’s basketball program.
In an effort to allay many of your concerns and dispel much of the misinformation by “unnamed sources”, Athletics Director Morgan Burke has asked me to share with each of you that he is working diligently with President France Córdova and our Board of Trustees to ensure that Matt remains our head coach for many years to come.
Proactively they have made an investment in Matt that was communicated last evening, clearly reinforcing their continued commitment to him and to our championship program. They did not wait to counter anyone else’s offer. It is my hope that the words and actions of our President, our Board and Morgan will encourage Matt, Jerri and their family to remain with Purdue.
Personally, I have been overwhelmed with the number of e-mails pledging to join the John Purdue Club or increase support. Ironically, I believe we would not be in this situation had more than 11% of our current membership participated in the Mackey Challenge and more than 150 of our nearly 9,000 members recruited at least one new member. More of the Big Ten television revenues could have been allocated for compensation for the basketball coaching staff members and less toward the critical path of updating Mackey Arena.
As a self-supporting university auxiliary, we can spend only what we raise, so everyone’s participation will ensure that we retain Matt and provide championship-quality experiences for every single one of our Boilermaker student-athletes.
Thanks for your continued loyal support and passionate commitment….stay tuned!
BOILER UP, HAMMER DOWN, and HAIL PURDUE!
------------------------------
I'll be sure to check in with Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News for his take on this, but before I do that, let's just think about a few things.
For one, if Burke is indeed making this sort of an effort and attempting to let Matty know how much he means to all of us, then that's good and I am happy Burke is doing so. Should it have gotten this far? Probably not. But all any of us can do is look forward and do what we can from this point onward. If this is accurate, that's what Cordova and Burke are doing.
If I sound a bit skeptical, it's because I am. There's also the possibility that this is smoke being put out by Purdue to soften the blow they will surely receive from irritated Purdue fans and JPC members with deeper pockets than the wealthy and handsome Boilerdowd. Yes, it could be propaganda.
For now, I'm going to give this some measure of credence, since nobody else out there has been able to confirm anything other than that Mizzou really loves our Matty. This content actually comes from a source that could/should know something -- the University. (Well, technically, it comes from the JPC but there's no way they would release something like this without Purdue's consent.)
Also, let's not overlook the fact that if more of you cheap a-holes had joined the JPC, we might not even be in this position. So yeah, it's kind of your fault, fans. Well said, JPC and Purdue. You do your best collectively to make us all dislike you, don't you?
Also, let's not overlook the fact that if more of you cheap a-holes had joined the JPC, we might not even be in this position. So yeah, it's kind of your fault, fans. Well said, JPC and Purdue. You do your best collectively to make us all dislike you, don't you?
Let's hope this is the potential good news it could be and that the Painter-Burke relationship isn't so far gone it cannot be salvaged.
(Thanks to the JPC'ers who forwarded us this info.)
29 comments:
I love how he blames the fans for this.
"Ironically, I believe we would not be in this situation had more than 11% of our current membership participated in the Mackey Challenge and more than 150 of our nearly 9,000 members recruited at least one new member."
Whaaa? So it's our fault?
I'm really tempted to cancel my recurring JPC donations *because* of that letter.
That's precisely what he's saying. His attempt to lay blame should blow up in his own face. It's now documented who Burke thinks is at fault.
It's not Cordova for taking a large sum of the BT money to be used for the rest of campus, it's not him for continually being cheap and cutting corners for the major sports...it's alums and loyalists. Right.
Let them know Ben before you do it...and await this final decision, if you would.
That's a protest that this administration clearly understands.
Well, it's always nice to feel appreciated.
So halfhearted attempts at fundraising that aren't that successful now are the fault of the people on whom the athletic department depends? (Mostly. TV money helps, bowl and tournament money helps, ticket money helps, but they do love them some premium cash ...)
Maybe they need to find an AD who can motivate us to donate to multiple projects at once.
Or maybe they need to listen to something that Purdue fans have been saying for 80 years or so:
According to the book David Ross: Modern Pioneer, Ross was told repeatedly by successful alumni: "Give us a winning football team, for a change, and then we'll think about contributing money to Purdue. We're tired of being made fun of by alumni of other big colleges during the football season."
Yes, that's "Ross" as in "Ross-Ade Stadium". (That applies to Burke's more recent comments that the next phase may move forward regardless of ticket sales.)
The basketball program is currently successful ... not at the level we'd like, but it's better than many of our peers. Yet I don't recall receiving a single letter saying "Hey, you love our basketball team, right? Let's show Coach Painter that we appreciate everything he's done for us."
Instead, it's "Hey, we're trying to keep him, but it would have been easier if you all had worked harder at it." I've worked at places that had that attitude before. Not my fault, not my fault. Whatever.
Here's hoping that Painter stays put despite Burke's mishandling of the situation.
You know what else this lays the groundwork for? If Painter leaves and everyone demands a guy like Brad Stevens, Burke and the JPC can now say, hey, we told you we would be able to if only you slugs would donate.
Highly insulting and bald-faced lying.
I can count myself as someone who has not been a JPC member for 5 plus years. Mainly because I went Burke and started saving money. I did notify JPC yesterday that I will join if Painter is still at Purdue next week and I mean it.
I would like to hear more about Cordova taking Athletic finances into the general fund.
I would also like to know the when and why of our athletic dept. becoming self-funded.
Perhaps I am one of the few, but I was not turned off by the JPC statement. They are right, that I have not done much to support the athletic dept. Living in CA now, I do not purchase many tickets.
This may be my miss-placed guilt, but I will be a paying supporter from now on, given the fact that Painter stays. If he does not, then I am going to pull a name out of carefully stocked hat for a program to root for. Perhaps Texas or UNC or Duke or some other God-for-saken program.
Boiler up
Burke has been an AD for the 7th longest stretch in the nation. In that time we have really no noticeable accomplishments excuding the Rose Bowl year. We are now on a downward spiral in football with no end in sight. We are on the right track in basketball and hopefully he realizes that Matt Painter is the lone reason behind this turnaround.
Unfortunately, according to a Burke invented metric, he and the rest of the athletic department are doing great. This metric is the 25/85 goal, which is a goal to average a top 25 finish in all sports and have an 85% graduation rate. If you have ever heard Burke speak he will surely bring this up. In theory this is acheived if 9 teams finish 10th and the other 9 finish 40th. This sounds pretty good to have 9 teams finish 10th, but what has happened under Burke is those teams are women's golf, women's softball, women's basketball, swimming etc. Now having all of our teams be nationally relevant is great, but the teams that make this possible are football and men's basketball. Burke refuses to admit that these are the sports we need to be relevant in, that these are the sports that drive revenue and donations. Instead this metric should into account the fact that mbball and football matter more, and instead of doing an average, do a weighted average based on revenue. If this was the case, football and basketball would receive 80-90% of the weight and we would be far from our goal.
My response to miss cross via email...
Miss Cross-
While the update on the situation with Coach Painter was greatly appreciated, your personal opinion on the subject seems condescending and counter-productive. I would guess there are very few JPC members that don’t understand the math involved and what needs to be done.
As someone who has been a Boilermaker since birth, and has over $XX pledged to the University, I have always supported the administration with blind faith. Your email has definitely put a halt in that blind faith.
I can appreciate the difficult situation you are in but I think this was wrong way to “call out” the JPC members. The timing is great, but the delivery is poor.
Thanks for your time,
Yes, I too am appalled at this response. Hearing something = good. Calling your loyal fan base and those who support the school above and beyond by donating monetary resources...wow. Just wow.
L2F ... while I agree with what I think is the main point of your post (success in non-revenue sports is great, but success in revenue sports is what keeps an athletic department healthy), I can't agree that we have seen no noticeable accomplishments.
Since Burke arrived, Purdue has won two team national championships, one more than the total that Purdue had prior to Burke's arrival, and had two individuals win seven national titles in three years (Maria Hernandez in women's golf, David Boudia in diving - he won the 1- and 3-meter titles again this year) ... from what little I can find, only two individuals had won national titles before that, both in men's golf in the '50s.
No, it's not the same as winning a Rose Bowl or making a Final Four, but it's a lot better than what we had before. It's too bad we (apparently) don't have an AD capable of managing revenue sports to the same level that he's brought some non-revenue sports. (It's absolutely possible, too ... look at the Directors' Cup standings for schools that are our "peers", as Burke narrowly defines them.)
L2F-
You could also bring up Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calling Purdue out as a program not committed to academics according to our APR. Like I told MJB- I can live with losing football (have my whole life) and losing basketball (we've had success thankfully)...but I cannot live with National media exposure that questions Purdue's commitment to academics. According to Duncan, we should not have been allowed into the tourney.
Also, BOILEDSPORTS....
you are writing the news for St Louis Post Dispatch, FYI...
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/tiger-tracker/article_ce350864-5a1c-11e0-88d8-00127992bc8b.html
It may have been said already, but that JPC email was from Nancy Cross, not Morgan Burke.
For an athletic department with its collective backs against the wall, they sure seem awfully chippy toward the hands that feed them. Awful timing on chastising the benefactors for not donating enough money to a $100 million project...
zlionsfan - Valid points and I will revise my statement to acknowledge that Burke has improved Purdue athletics. However, of late it does seem that a plateau has been reached especially in regards to football.
Ben - Agree but that article had its flaws. While athletics are often thought of as the enemy of the academic aspect of college there are studies that show good athletics increase academic rankings. Namely because kids like to go to winning schools which increases the applicant pool and with a bigger applicant pool, the acceptance rate is more exclusive. Here is the study.
http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09330.pdf
In regards to the JPC. I was a student intern their in 08'. That was Curtis Painter's senior season and hopes were high. Halfway through th 5 game losing streak donors (some major) began to call to either stop their membership or threaten to. The JPCs response to this was not "we and the athletic department need to do better" but instead, and this is an actual quote "We are not Ohio State"-meaning that winning national championships is not a realistic expectation at Purdue. This acceptance of mediocrity is part of the problem. The other part of the problem in my opinion is the personal friendship between a lot of the JPC staff and athletic department staff. Being friends with coworkers normal and healthy except when it affects job performance and I beleive that is happening. With these close personal relationships less pressure is placed on each side to peform.
I live out of state, and to be honest I hear NOTHING from the university save for a couple of letters about joining the alumni association. You would think that an athletic department that cash strapped would investigate other means of raising funds (emails or the internet anyone?) to those alumni. Instead...nothing. You can't even go to the athletic site and sign up for a damn membership on the Internet. Seriously...there are cheaper ways of generating revenue...just look at what political candidates are doing. Why don't we show some of that ingenuity in our athletic department?
I actually think this letter is spot on. Put up or shut up.
Actually Ox, for the Mackey Campaign they had mailings, workshops, newsletters, phone calls, etc. On the GBI site, someone posted that 0.25% of alumni donated. We want the projects, we want the winning program, but we don't help.
We blame the AD, when in truth, we are a pretty sorry fan base. I know, I live in SEC country where one has to "donate" several thousand just to get into a stadium. Not the good seats, just to get in.
Translation: "WE NEED MORE BAKE SALES!!!!"
Is this a Big Ten program, or a community college field hockey team?! Seriously, is this some kind of joke?
Mr Anon,
So It's my fault that I didn't get any of these mailings, or phone calls?
You can't even go and sign up for a JPC membership online!!! Seriously, it's 2011 for chrissakes! Make it easier for people to do this. It's not hard! Charities do this well. Political orgs do this well. For some reason, Purdue can't figure this out.
The Athletic Department can boo hoo all they want about alumni not giving, but the half assed effort by everyone starts there.
Two ways to improve an athletic program without sufficient funds. Spend all of your money and more and hope that it pays off, or get lucky with a cheap coach. We got lucky and are finally in a position to build something. As we continue to win, season tickets are becoming scarce. The goal is to require JPC membership and a minimum donation in order to get basketball tickets. We are very close to getting their but if we botch this coaching thing and fall back into the cellar we are going to have the same issue as football.
I was never asked to donate or join the JPC. I went to every men's BB and football game 1996-2000. Alumnus, SLA 2000.
Would I? Perhaps, if they gave a compelling vision like "We are trying to raise an extra $2000000 for [football or men's bb] staff. Our 5 year aim is a [Rosebowl, top 3 finish, Final Four, etc.]. Your contribution can help make this a reality by giving Purdue the best possible chance."
No, we get "You dumb bastards aren't paying enough for a Div. I-AA coach in football, a terrible renovation project, and the worst logo change since 'New Coke'. It's your fault Matt Painter is leaving."
Mark's post needs a "Like" button next to it.
OX
https://donate.purdue.edu/DesignateGift.aspx?allocation=RF3100&appealCode=10437&allocationDescription=JPC+Athletic+Scholarships
The situation last year with JJ (and potentially E'Twaun) leaving for the NBA captured all our attention. I see this similar to that situation. JJ and E'Twaun were debating whether to leave for greener pastures. They decided to stay to make another run for the Final Four. We were all saying don't go.
I can't speak for everyone but I would have been disappointed we didn't have one or both of them back for their senior year but I would have moved on and said good luck.
I too will be disappointed if Painter chooses to pack up for Missouri but I will move on and say good luck. All we can do is wait now, maybe make a donation or two more to the JPC and hope for the best.
I am a JPC member, albeit a small one, but will forever support my Purdue Boilermakers.
Yep, that link 4thandshort provided is how I became a JPC member. I don't know if I would have done it otherwise if it hadn't been so easy (it was prior to the '09 season and I was thinking about maybe needing priority to get single-game football tickets - insert joke here).
L2F, I think you're spot-on with regards to football. That sport seems to be run as if it were a MAC program: nothing against MAC schools, I've gone up to Ball State for a game or two and enjoyed a few cheap beers in Muncie, but starting next year there will be four schools in the conference that eat, sleep, and breathe football, plus one in Madison that's done a fair job of competing with them, and MAC-level support will get us MAC-level results in a power conference.
We are, hopefully, not at all Ohio State in that we do not seek to win regardless of how it is done, but certainly there is something we could learn from, say, Wisconsin about how to compete in this conference. (As many posts have mentioned, some of this starts in the stands. The emphasis needs to be on crowd noise and participation, not on peace and quiet for the old folks.)
Perhaps part of the problem is that the JPC is understaffed (I'd guess the athletic department as a whole is as well; if Burke is skimping on the more visible parts, he's sure not hiring extra full-time staff for media and public relations). There aren't enough people to reach out properly, so they do targeted campaigns instead of broader ones. I've received a number of mailings and emails about the Mackey Campaign and other things, but then I'm semi-local (Indy) so that doesn't necessary disagree with OX's point.
Basketball is a more high-profile sport here, so it's understandable that football sometimes gets second billing even though, if properly run, it could provide funds beyond what the basketball program could contribute (short of super-premium seating in Mackey and such). I think that's why this is more of a flash point. When Tiller was here and we were going to bowl games, that was cool and fun, but it was "just" football. (From what I know, you can be shot in SEC country for saying that.) With Painter's arrival and the maturity of the Baby Boilers, suddenly we have a chance to be regularly successful in basketball again, and now with Missouri sensing weakness, we're reacting openly to things that before were just annoyances.
I wouldn't blame Painter for taking a significant amount of money to leave, not in a profession where long-term contracts can be bought out easily, but I'd prefer he stays here. I don't trust Burke to land another decent coach ... as much as I admire what he's done in other sports (although in women's basketball you could argue that the Boilers succeeded despite the coaching decisions rather than because of it - lots of turnover for different reasons is not a good sign), given the similarities between how Painter and Hope were hired and the differences in their success, I think a successor picked by Burke would be just as likely to be Crean-ish as to be Stevens-ish.
Mark's post is the most accurate thing I've read all day!
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