I like our AD...

H

Hedgeplague

Varsity Lurker
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From evidence to date, Mr. Braine has gotten right the two most critical descisions that he has had to make since being here, BB and FB coaches.

It is well documented that GT is not the easiest place to succeed in college atheletics, and for our teams to be in position to compete at the highest level is a tribute to not only the coaches and players, but to the entire organization.

The college landscape is littered with examples of institutions with many more advantages of fan base and ciriculum that are in turmoil due to ineffective coaching hires. UNC and ALA jump out as examples of near neighbors.( and UGAG for that matter though I suppose, in an effort to stay directed, we shouldn't go there...) This was also the case at GT at times under previous AD's. But it is not the case here now. So I say a "Thank you" to Dave Braine and his staff.
 
Personally, I have no truck with the man either. I think a few of his decisions about ticketing, seating, etc have been questionable, but I have stated before that I have a great deal of admiration for the way he handled the end of Bobby Cremins' era with class. That being said, that twas a pretty brave post considering the general opinions of most other posters on this board. Batten down the hatches and prepare for the floodgates to open!
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The only person who handled the end of the Bobby Cremins era with class was Bobby. It was only through the efforts of Paul Hewitt that Bobby was honored for his service to Tech. Dave Braine commits felony robbery everyday he draws a paycheck from Tech.
 
wrecked...do you have a problem with the Major decisions of this AD as sited above??? I will concur that there are other areas that could have been handled better, but I also see atleast some responsiveness (ie hiring of a proment marketing guru for one...) to the most blatent "crimes".
 
Hedgeplague, I tried to send you an Email, but you have not enabled that feature in your profile.

Shoot me an Email from one of my posts, and I will discuss a few issues with you off the board.

Father Time
 
Originally posted by Wrecked:
The only person who handled the end of the Bobby Cremins era with class was Bobby.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Was that before or after Cremins toyed with the
idea of going to South Carolina?
 
I'm kind of split on Braine. I think his hires, by and large have been good. Of course, both Gailey and Hewitt have to pick it up over the next few years for us to be sure about either of them. But our other coaches appear to be strong. Getting the stadium and facility expansion have been bid pluses.

From what I know I also think he handled Bobby's retirement about as well as it could have been. If somebody has something new to add I'd like to hear it, but the fact is that something had to change. We were in a downward spiral and had lost pretty much everything that Bobby had built. He was allowed to make the announcment himself and step down and I'm not sure what else anyone could want. The sad fact is that based on performance Bobby would probably have been fired if he wasn't who he was.

OTOH I do have concerns about some of the things Braine has done and the effects they have had on the fan base. Some of it I was okay with floating out there, like playing FSU in Jax. And when it didn't generate any interest it was dropped. That is what the AD should do. But the ticket stuff, the empty premium seats, etc. are problems as is the animosity among the fan base.

I also have to say his salary amazes me. I just don't see that position warranting that kind of pay.
 
Wrecked, I don't know you and don't have any issues with you, but you're dead wrong on the Bobby Cremins issue. I heard an interview with Dave Braine at halftime of one of Tech's games right at the end of that season. The press was all over the program for how shoddy we were playing and many in the papers (and fans alike) were calling for Cremins to be fired. When the announcer asked DB whether or not Cremins would have a job at Ga Tech the next season, his response was something like this (I paraphrase because I don't remember the quote word-for-word):
"Bobby Cremins built Ga. Tech basketball back up to where it is today. When he took over the program, Ga Tech basketball was not even on the map. Considering all Bobby has done for GT, Bobby will have a job at Tech for as long as he wants one. I think he deserves no less."

Now, take whatever issues you choose to take up with Dave Braine. But, my personal opinion on that deal was that he allowed Bobby to leave on his own terms. And because of that, the relationship and the special feeling that I'm sure each and every one of us feels towards Bobby (and for that matter, how Bobby feels towards Tech) was not damaged or tarnished whatsoever.

Like I said, he has made some other questionable calls...but don't be one of these types of people like Ms. TechAnalysis is about Chan Gailey. Don't let the fact that you have such personal hatred against the man bleed through to the point where you cannot acknowledge the good things he has done. When you do that, you lose credibility.
 
Originally posted by i_bleed_gold_white:
Wrecked, I don't know you and don't have any issues with you, but you're dead wrong on the Bobby Cremins issue. I heard an interview with Dave Braine at halftime of one of Tech's games right at the end of that season. The press was all over the program for how shoddy we were playing and many in the papers (and fans alike) were calling for Cremins to be fired. When the announcer asked DB whether or not Cremins would have a job at Ga Tech the next season, his response was something like this (I paraphrase because I don't remember the quote word-for-word):
"Bobby Cremins built Ga. Tech basketball back up to where it is today. When he took over the program, Ga Tech basketball was not even on the map. Considering all Bobby has done for GT, Bobby will have a job at Tech for as long as he wants one. I think he deserves no less."

Now, take whatever issues you choose to take up with Dave Braine. But, my personal opinion on that deal was that he allowed Bobby to leave on his own terms. And because of that, the relationship and the special feeling that I'm sure each and every one of us feels towards Bobby (and for that matter, how Bobby feels towards Tech) was not damaged or tarnished whatsoever.

Like I said, he has made some other questionable calls...but don't be one of these types of people like Ms. TechAnalysis is about Chan Gailey. Don't let the fact that you have such personal hatred against the man bleed through to the point where you cannot acknowledge the good things he has done. When you do that, you lose credibility.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Please don't speak for me ... personal is not what I don't like about Chan, it's ALWAYS been professional. He's a mediocre coach! If you are going to mention me when I'm not here at least get it straight and true!!!


I may hate his coaching ... now that can be said.
 
Both the Gailey and Hewitt hires (as well as MaChelle Joseph's promo when Agnus left) seem to be pretty smart moves. The expansion of the facilities is overwhelming, whether he deserves credit or not.

Some of the stuff that DB's doing seems "ill-advised" which would raise suspicion ("what in the hell?!") but I'm not as close to the program as others. &lt;coyote howls&gt; History will wind up judging his tenure if he doesn't step in any more scandal.
 
Originally posted by MsTechAnalysis:
Please don't speak for me ... personal is not what I don't like about Chan, it's ALWAYS been professional. He's a mediocre coach! If you are going to mention me when I'm not here at least get it straight and true!!!
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">when someone says and i quote "Chan Gailey is an arse", that has nothing, and i repeat, NOTHING to do with professionalism.

It is purely personal.

when someone says that they'll never like Chan Gailey, no matter what he does. That too is purely personal.

anyways .. coming back to the original topic after it was rudely hijacked by MsTA, the AD has made some decisions; some have been good and some have been bad and even horrible.
 
Let's see, at least you got maybe 3 people to agree with you. You can't even get his secretary today.
 
Originally posted by i_bleed_gold_white:
Wrecked, I don't know you and don't have any issues with you, but you're dead wrong on the Bobby Cremins issue. I heard an interview with Dave Braine at halftime of one of Tech's games right at the end of that season. The press was all over the program for how shoddy we were playing and many in the papers (and fans alike) were calling for Cremins to be fired. When the announcer asked DB whether or not Cremins would have a job at Ga Tech the next season, his response was something like this (I paraphrase because I don't remember the quote word-for-word):
"Bobby Cremins built Ga. Tech basketball back up to where it is today. When he took over the program, Ga Tech basketball was not even on the map. Considering all Bobby has done for GT, Bobby will have a job at Tech for as long as he wants one. I think he deserves no less."

Now, take whatever issues you choose to take up with Dave Braine. But, my personal opinion on that deal was that he allowed Bobby to leave on his own terms. And because of that, the relationship and the special feeling that I'm sure each and every one of us feels towards Bobby (and for that matter, how Bobby feels towards Tech) was not damaged or tarnished whatsoever.

Like I said, he has made some other questionable calls...but don't be one of these types of people like Ms. TechAnalysis is about Chan Gailey. Don't let the fact that you have such personal hatred against the man bleed through to the point where you cannot acknowledge the good things he has done. When you do that, you lose credibility.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">I am not sure where my "personal hatred" of Dave Braine is showing here. All I suggested was he is vastly overpaid for the results we see in our Athletic program. People seem to think because he hired two coaches that are basically maintaining the status quo of their respective programs that he is some kind of genius. This is the guy who gave Agnus Berenato an extension while he was pushing Cremins out the door. In my mind you cannot gloss over the damage he has done through Flunkgate, the Club Seating fiasco, etc. The thing is Braine himself knows he is incompetent, otherwise he never would have offered his resignation in the spring.

As far as Cremins goes, I am sure there is alot more here to the situtation than needs to be offered up on a message board. However, don't kid yourself for a second that it was Bobby's idea to leave Tech when he did. That was Braine's. Did Bobby need to go? Probably, but he always said he would leave when he felt he could no longer offer his best for Tech. I do know that some members of his staff where willing to fight it out and remain and try and turn the program around. That is history, and I credit the classiness of Paul Hewitt for keeping Bobby in good graces at Tech.
 
Whoa! Hold on here. Jeez, we win a few football games and now Dave Braine is now doing a fine job?

I hope Paul Hewitt and Chan Gailey both become very successful and remain with Tech for a long-time. When, not before that happens, I will support Dave Braine reluctantly.

Meanwhile, Dave has made some monumental administrative screw-ups. Just whose desk does the grade-gate fiasco stop on? Remember the damage this caused our program? Even if we win 7 or 8 games this year we lost considerable talent because of Braine's mis-management. Hells bells, instead of cracking into the top 25 next week we could be looking down at Georgia right now if this hadn’t happened.

How about the gold seats and all the long-time season ticket holders that have been relocated because of it? Very few, very few of us have anywhere close to the seats we would be sitting in otherwise.

How about the e-bay sells of lettermen’s club admissions? This is an embarrassment to all Tech fans and a shame on GTAA for ever allowing this to happen.

There are some serious short-term memory losses showing up here.
 
Yes,,,71

I would agree that there have been significant "tray tippers" that have crashed to the floor and did not look pretty. But maybe they aren't quite as ugly as they seem taken out of context.

The drama of gradegate overshadows the fact that EVERY off season we have significant attrition due to grades. Regardless, we didn't provide the SA the best opportunity to succeed, which is indefensible.

The Premium seating offence is in my mind is first or second in a long line of money grabbing scams that the AD's office have had (in their minds atleast) to resort to to make the budget work...from the McD logo in AMC to shrinking student ticket quantities in the early '80's when we used to play UNC in the omni so more could be sold to (UNC) paying fans. I expect we will continue to experience these kinds of approaches, regardless, due to the hard economic facts of running an AA these days.

I think a more important line of questioning is...
Do we have any championships yet...no.
Do we have coaches in place that can get us championships? It appears the answer CAN be yes.

So I say, lets clean up the mess and not let it ruin dinner.
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Hedgeplague,

Tray tippers?? You can't be serious.

The grade mess probably cost us 2 or 3 games minimum plus a top 3 contender for the Heisman. By my rough calculations, about $10M in revenue.

The gold seats mess is unforgettable, 16 yd line vs. 30 yard line, seating with long-time friends? This was priceless.
 
71, I agree with your overall message about the negatives...I just think there are some positives as well. He definitely has had too many mis-steps for someone making the $$ he is though.

I don't know whose desk grade-gate stops on. Is it Braine? of is it Clough? Whoever it was it was monumentallly stupid.

But on the Heisman candidate I assume you mean Tony H. I'm not convinced he was coming back anyway. If we had allowed the coaches to know what was going on last spring I think they would just have known sooner that he was going pro. And with his knee injury it's exactly what he should have done. His value might have gone up with a great year at Tech OR he could have tweaked it again and never played pro ball.
 
Hedge, you need to come up with facts supporting your idea that each year we lose significant people to grades. I challenge you to come up with ten total that have been lost due to grades, and specifically come up any case that in the least bit remotely resembles this fiasco. The truth is that fewer total S/A's are graduating under the CDB regime (Check the NCAA).
 
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