Christ is also part of the problem, but she's also eating up and regurgitating these talking points. She shouldn't have to, but she's the one who has the power to force Knowlton to dance if she wanted to. It's clear to me that there's not really good counsel or a two-way conversation happening up top where it needs to affect positive change.
I have some faith in Christ still. She’s supported athletics more than any of her predecessors, moving the stadium debt and supporting student athletes has been huge. Im hopeful that there different conversations that happen privately than publicly.
I like her very much overall, but from her messaging I am led me to believe she is more of an idealist than a realist about the role of the revenue sports to the bottomline and the university's brand.
Knowlton is a part of the problem, but its apparent that he is, like Fox, also another symptom and product of the larger problem. There have been such a series of terrible decisions made that in turn set the stage for other problems and bad decisions that its hard to see any single change of a person being able to overcome a systemic problem of bad decisions where the ones making the highest level of decisions are evidently not capable of making good ones.
Make no mistake, this incompetence is a team effort. Dirks replacing Sandy Barbour with a guy that had zero experience running the Intercollegiate Athletic Department at a major University, and then Christ replacing THAT dude with a guy that had zero experience running the Intercollegiate Athletic Department at a major University....
The first incompetent guy then passes on multiple, qualified candidates to hire a fella that has never been a head coach before, and that goes pretty much as everyone expected. Then the second incompetent guy passes on multiple, qualified candidates to replace the dude that had never been a head coach before with a fella that was out of coaching after being terminated...that goes pretty much worse than everyone expected, even though the bar was set so low.
Given the failures at the Chancellor-level in the last 10 years, the current state of athletic affairs at Cal really should not be any surprise...
I was looking forward to reading an interview with Knowlton. Having read it, I'm still looking forward to reading an interview with Knowlton, since he said nothing at all in this one.
In this case he got to write his canned answers out, because the questions were emailed to him in advance. And the questions were mostly softballs. And he STILL didn't answer them.
Patience my ass!!! Fire the man, put him out of his misery. Better yet, fire yourself! Had you hired Musselman the program wouldn't be in such dire straits. Mr Empty Suit, you are responsible for the BB program and it is one of two major revenue producing sports at Cal. The old, throbbing, pulsating, electric, fan-stuffed Haas is now an empty waste land (even the Straw Hat Band would rather be elsewhere). This interview is further affirmation that you are a clueless, imbecile. Having Furado conduct the staged interview is like having a Pravda reporter interview Putin. Pathetic!!!
Just a baffling, and if you’re a Cal fan, absolutely terrifying, interview by Knowlton, all the way down to his initially wanting Faraudo to conduct said interview via email exchanges. Everything about this guy screams disaster, at least as it pertains to his current second career in athletics administration.
The accountability factor is troublesome on so many levels, and the COVID reference and tired injury excuse tells us Bear fans that Mark Fox is here until March, at the least….
Fire Knowlton. Fire him yesterday. Fire him 10,000 years ago, when mankind was nothing but carefree Hunter gatherers, unaware of the concept of competitive sports.
At what job could you consistently and publicly demonstrate your own incompetence and have that be ok? JFC
I guess it's asking too much of the university to have an Athletic Director who actually wants to oversee, you know, "Athletics".
Cal admin doesn't understand that successful revenue programs can be free promotion for the school itself. Anecdotally, working college nights for Cal down here in Orange County back in the early teens, having a decent football or basketball team didn't hurt when prospective applicants would ask us about to talk more about the student experience. It's not just about the academics.
Or perhaps Knowlton wants to follow the lead of Whittier College down here in SoCal. The Division III school dropped football, lacrosse, and golf. The administration is touting the $700,000 savings from dropping those sports, claiming it makes more sense to perhaps invest some of those savings into building eSports programs instead. Maybe that's what both Knowlton and Christ talk about when they're knocking back mint juleps on the wraparound porch.
I guess when you have *no* wins (after playing all the relative cupcakes in your non-conference schedule) getting *some* wins is realistic stretch goal?
I don't know how you can achieve anything if you don't set and state goals and expectations for what you hope to achieve. Since the start of Fox's tenure, neither Knowlton or Fox have articulated any specific goals for the program besides the broadest of platitudes. What institution doesn't set or state goals for themselves or for their members (in this case ticketholders and donors)? It seems to me, it's just tactic to not be held accountable or create any set of expectations they might be measured against.
When all you have is shit and a shovel then you just get to shoveling. Knowlton can pretend it's something else but anyone with eyes and a nose can tell what's happening.
I think the Dykes hire was a little desperate seeming to a lot of folks, including myself. But maybe she was just 5 years ahead of her time on that one. I do know she had lost a bit of faith of the Associate Chancellor at the time, Wilton. I seem to recall the rumors were that Wilton kind of went over the top of her to make the Cuonzo hire, when she was ready to offer the job to DeCuire.
In basketball, you can turn the program around in one year if you wanted to. Cal basketball was already pretty good when Cuonzo came in, but he made it better with top recruits. There is absolutely no excuse for going winless in year 4. I can't understand what Knowlton is saying.
A winless team is going to contribute to a pretty dismal game day fan experience. I’m really not sure what he was getting at. This interview is depressing.
What has me baffled is how quickly the Cal fans have abandoned Haas (same story with memorial). The fans were pretty much out as soon as Jones was hired and the situation has worsened with COVID and Fox . A total shit storm of bad decisions and bad luck. Cal fans are going to have to recognize and step up; otherwise, we are just as sorry as our AD and coach. Oski is crying in his Lair.
I understand the reality, for sure. Add on the effort to just watch a game (live or on the Pac 12 Network) and there is most definitely a threshold where it ain't worth it no more.
My point was that this happened pretty much as soon as Cuonzo left. There has been a bad vibe since season one of Jones that has snowballed. What is happening in the stands is understandable but worrisome. Maybe there's an interaction with football performance that has exacerbated basketball attendance.
Ultimately major changes are pending, but what this team could use right now is for the fans to show up and root them on to their first win. Root....for a win. I can't see anything else that could help at this point.
Fire Fox and give fans a reason to believe change is coming. Cal has been so slow about everything the past 20 years (I mean longer for sure, but only commenting on recent history) that we've basically been conditioned to believe nothing will ever get better.
A lot of it was bad luck (getting pushed our while Memorial was getting renovated at the worst timing) too, but the reality is that anyone who has graduated from Cal within the last 10 years really has no incentive to support Cal athletics, whether it's through fandom or donations because the school refused to be proactive in investing in programs that attract fans. And I'm not just talking about money, but even just general enthusiasm/support towards its revenue sports.
Fox is a symptom, Knowlton is the disease. We need a new AD asap.
Christ is also part of the problem, but she's also eating up and regurgitating these talking points. She shouldn't have to, but she's the one who has the power to force Knowlton to dance if she wanted to. It's clear to me that there's not really good counsel or a two-way conversation happening up top where it needs to affect positive change.
I have some faith in Christ still. She’s supported athletics more than any of her predecessors, moving the stadium debt and supporting student athletes has been huge. Im hopeful that there different conversations that happen privately than publicly.
I like her very much overall, but from her messaging I am led me to believe she is more of an idealist than a realist about the role of the revenue sports to the bottomline and the university's brand.
More than Tien? To me he’s still the scholar-athletics balance best practice leader. He got it.
Tien is the GOAT.
Knowlton is a part of the problem, but its apparent that he is, like Fox, also another symptom and product of the larger problem. There have been such a series of terrible decisions made that in turn set the stage for other problems and bad decisions that its hard to see any single change of a person being able to overcome a systemic problem of bad decisions where the ones making the highest level of decisions are evidently not capable of making good ones.
Make no mistake, this incompetence is a team effort. Dirks replacing Sandy Barbour with a guy that had zero experience running the Intercollegiate Athletic Department at a major University, and then Christ replacing THAT dude with a guy that had zero experience running the Intercollegiate Athletic Department at a major University....
The first incompetent guy then passes on multiple, qualified candidates to hire a fella that has never been a head coach before, and that goes pretty much as everyone expected. Then the second incompetent guy passes on multiple, qualified candidates to replace the dude that had never been a head coach before with a fella that was out of coaching after being terminated...that goes pretty much worse than everyone expected, even though the bar was set so low.
Given the failures at the Chancellor-level in the last 10 years, the current state of athletic affairs at Cal really should not be any surprise...
I was looking forward to reading an interview with Knowlton. Having read it, I'm still looking forward to reading an interview with Knowlton, since he said nothing at all in this one.
I believe he has a back pocket full of canned answers ready to go at any moment
In this case he got to write his canned answers out, because the questions were emailed to him in advance. And the questions were mostly softballs. And he STILL didn't answer them.
Patience my ass!!! Fire the man, put him out of his misery. Better yet, fire yourself! Had you hired Musselman the program wouldn't be in such dire straits. Mr Empty Suit, you are responsible for the BB program and it is one of two major revenue producing sports at Cal. The old, throbbing, pulsating, electric, fan-stuffed Haas is now an empty waste land (even the Straw Hat Band would rather be elsewhere). This interview is further affirmation that you are a clueless, imbecile. Having Furado conduct the staged interview is like having a Pravda reporter interview Putin. Pathetic!!!
Great article, Avi. Thank you!
Just a baffling, and if you’re a Cal fan, absolutely terrifying, interview by Knowlton, all the way down to his initially wanting Faraudo to conduct said interview via email exchanges. Everything about this guy screams disaster, at least as it pertains to his current second career in athletics administration.
The accountability factor is troublesome on so many levels, and the COVID reference and tired injury excuse tells us Bear fans that Mark Fox is here until March, at the least….
The fact that he doesn’t realize he has to fire Fox is absolutely mind blowing. What a complete freaking idiot. Amazing
Fire Knowlton. Fire him yesterday. Fire him 10,000 years ago, when mankind was nothing but carefree Hunter gatherers, unaware of the concept of competitive sports.
At what job could you consistently and publicly demonstrate your own incompetence and have that be ok? JFC
I guess it's asking too much of the university to have an Athletic Director who actually wants to oversee, you know, "Athletics".
Cal admin doesn't understand that successful revenue programs can be free promotion for the school itself. Anecdotally, working college nights for Cal down here in Orange County back in the early teens, having a decent football or basketball team didn't hurt when prospective applicants would ask us about to talk more about the student experience. It's not just about the academics.
Or perhaps Knowlton wants to follow the lead of Whittier College down here in SoCal. The Division III school dropped football, lacrosse, and golf. The administration is touting the $700,000 savings from dropping those sports, claiming it makes more sense to perhaps invest some of those savings into building eSports programs instead. Maybe that's what both Knowlton and Christ talk about when they're knocking back mint juleps on the wraparound porch.
I guess when you have *no* wins (after playing all the relative cupcakes in your non-conference schedule) getting *some* wins is realistic stretch goal?
I don't know how you can achieve anything if you don't set and state goals and expectations for what you hope to achieve. Since the start of Fox's tenure, neither Knowlton or Fox have articulated any specific goals for the program besides the broadest of platitudes. What institution doesn't set or state goals for themselves or for their members (in this case ticketholders and donors)? It seems to me, it's just tactic to not be held accountable or create any set of expectations they might be measured against.
When all you have is shit and a shovel then you just get to shoveling. Knowlton can pretend it's something else but anyone with eyes and a nose can tell what's happening.
Fire Knowlton. There is nothing else to say. It's not just basketball.
Is it sad that I miss Sandy Barbour?
Barbour was a top-shelf AD.
I mean I agree but I felt a lot of Cal fans were happy she left to Penn St
The Memorial project going off the rails just in time to line it up with '09 market crash and Tedford losing his fastball put her in a tough spot.
All of this.
I think the Dykes hire was a little desperate seeming to a lot of folks, including myself. But maybe she was just 5 years ahead of her time on that one. I do know she had lost a bit of faith of the Associate Chancellor at the time, Wilton. I seem to recall the rumors were that Wilton kind of went over the top of her to make the Cuonzo hire, when she was ready to offer the job to DeCuire.
I think Cuonzo hire was right on.
I do as well. No one bats 1000%
In basketball, you can turn the program around in one year if you wanted to. Cal basketball was already pretty good when Cuonzo came in, but he made it better with top recruits. There is absolutely no excuse for going winless in year 4. I can't understand what Knowlton is saying.
As Cal fans, the only way we know how to learn is the hard way.
A winless team is going to contribute to a pretty dismal game day fan experience. I’m really not sure what he was getting at. This interview is depressing.
But maybe if we get 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5!!! wins you can expect a packed Haas.
What has me baffled is how quickly the Cal fans have abandoned Haas (same story with memorial). The fans were pretty much out as soon as Jones was hired and the situation has worsened with COVID and Fox . A total shit storm of bad decisions and bad luck. Cal fans are going to have to recognize and step up; otherwise, we are just as sorry as our AD and coach. Oski is crying in his Lair.
Fans will be back as soon as we start winning
..or even have a prospect of winning. Right now all we see is “..doing what we’ve always done..” and we know what to expect.
We haven't had a shot at a 20 win season since Cuonzo, you can't blame the fans for not taking a program seriously when the school doesn't.
I understand the reality, for sure. Add on the effort to just watch a game (live or on the Pac 12 Network) and there is most definitely a threshold where it ain't worth it no more.
My point was that this happened pretty much as soon as Cuonzo left. There has been a bad vibe since season one of Jones that has snowballed. What is happening in the stands is understandable but worrisome. Maybe there's an interaction with football performance that has exacerbated basketball attendance.
Ultimately major changes are pending, but what this team could use right now is for the fans to show up and root them on to their first win. Root....for a win. I can't see anything else that could help at this point.
Fire Fox and give fans a reason to believe change is coming. Cal has been so slow about everything the past 20 years (I mean longer for sure, but only commenting on recent history) that we've basically been conditioned to believe nothing will ever get better.
A lot of it was bad luck (getting pushed our while Memorial was getting renovated at the worst timing) too, but the reality is that anyone who has graduated from Cal within the last 10 years really has no incentive to support Cal athletics, whether it's through fandom or donations because the school refused to be proactive in investing in programs that attract fans. And I'm not just talking about money, but even just general enthusiasm/support towards its revenue sports.
"Problem? What problem?"
"What? Me worry?"
- Alfred E. Neumann
Alfred E. Knowlton, too.
Louisville won tonight so I think that we are the only winless Power Five basketball program left. I am so proud!!!!!
Tactical Patience is my band name
I prefer Sonic F-cking Death Monkey, but your’s is good too.
:-
Is this his end-of-year giving pitch?