Fire Larry Lyons

[ricohill]

Redbirds Rising includes athletics. They are trying to raise $34 million.

http://www.weisbeckerscholarshipfund.com/?path=general

Any idea how much they have raised or what it is going to be used for?

 

[ISU FAN 1]

Anyone that thinks Lyons has had nothing to do with any capital product executed in the last 20 years simply has no clue, or is outright ignoring facts known by anybody working or associated with our athletics department. Period. Lyons has put all of these deals together. I am not trying to defend or compliement Lyons. Just stating what is plainly clear.

95% of all university athletics programs survive by student fees and / or other university subsidies. But here, only our AD is critized for running a department with these resources. Anymore, any university president will tell you this has become the absolute most important skill of any AD -- making these funds work for the department the best, most creative and efficient way. Any there are many in this business that will tell you Lyons is one of the best at this. And why Dietz likes him as much as he does.

I tried. I gave a you an honest, objective analysis. You have picked and chose some stuff as expected. And that's fine. However, anybody that would still say we are experienced some sort of "dumpster fire" has no clue what such a situation would be out there. And there are plenty athletics departments struggling mightily. But we are not one of them.

Rico totally pants you, and exposed all your bullshit. Own it, and move on.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

This board is a dumpster fire for comments like this. Climb back under your rock and continue donating your $500 a year while making sure you make up that entire donation up at the hog roast. I hope that the next athletic department administration treats you with the same disdain that you treat the current administration with. You think that because you kick a couple bucks to WSF and you have an anonymous username on a board that you can throw around any kind of filth comment you please. This board gives ISU fans a bad name.
As I answer these questions constantly and Quinn can attest, I do not work for the AD and I never have.

Are you sure you don’t work for the athletic department? Because that is exactly how they feel about/treat donors that donate $500. Which is why their donor base is shrinking and will lose out on potential bigger donations down the road.

Also, why is it such a bad comment? Most universities now have rules against that type of hiring and have them for good reason.

Agree nepotism can’t be defended. It is wrong in many ways especially to moral of other employees. Try hiring your family in a department you manage in corporate America...you will he fired in a heart beat. What Lyons did as respects to hiring family for a department he manages is flat out wrong, IMO.

I actually find it shocking that ISU did not have controls in place to prevent Lyons from hiring his family.

LOL. Tipsord’s son jumped past 2 levels to VP at State Farm in the last year. If you consider that corporate America. Different rules when you don’t have to answer to stockholders. All the stuff that made SF a good place to work have disappeared, but the bullshit like nepotism remains.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

:clap:

The $500 fans are likely $500 fans because that is what they can afford. Those $500 fans become multiple thousand dollar fans over years and years. And they do get treated that way like you say. Worse yet, become known as a guy who runs a message board where other fans can voice their opinion and you become even more than worthless to some in the administration.

:clap:

Didn't that Obama guy raise millions and millions of $$$$ based off small donations?

And who is to say that today's $500 a year donor doesn't turn into tomorrow's $50,000 a year donor? It called "respect" and it doesn't cost anything. I know numerous donors, of all sizes, and I know of none that are increasing their support for athletics in the short term. We need a change in leadership.

Tap this donor group that obviously doesn’t mind throwing money down a rathole.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/how-much-gofundme-money-raised-to-build-trumps-border-wall-will-go-to-the-wall-2018-12

 

[ISU FAN 1]

No personal attacks. I've removed posts. Next is removing users. Knock it off.

Then start doing it. The board has become a disgrace to ISU fans. The majority of this thread is fine because it argues the merit of LL and what he has or hasn't done in his job. That is fair game and can be discussed. You state no personal attacks but you allow arguments that personally attack people like LL without a valid argument.

Can you point out any personal attacks here? People seem to be pointing out his shortcomings as our AD and that seems to be more of a professional observation than a personal attack.

If it helps, I do admire his attire. He dresses well.

Better than when Greenspan split his pants out at the Valley tourney.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

Tomorrow look around the arena and tell me what is going to be ISU's athletic donor base moving forward. There is a huge gap between the donors of old and the next generation. I see this as a big problem that is only going to get worse without building success on many different levels (basketball and football). Trust me ISU badly needs 30yr old's donating $500. We now live in a world where there are many other places that $500 can go. I personally come from a family that has donated good amounts of money over the years. That generation is getting older and without success has lost interest. Nobody is standing in line waiting to pick up what that older generation in my family has donated.

New blood is needed badly!

This is 100 percent correct.

The best chance ISU has right now for a major donation is some people dying. I'm not even joking about that because I know some of the older donors have money set aside.

Why would a 30 year old donate money or attend an ISU game?

As it relates to donations, I like the only good fan is a dead fan theory. LOL.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

I have had 4 to 6 season tickets since 1986. As you can surmise I am not a huge donor yearly but over time it’s added up. I have interacted with all those administrations. I have NEVER been treated with distain during all those years. I don’t get the comments about how bad people have been treated. If I ever needed something they have always come through. End of story!

I gave $5000 for years, and the only administration that showed appreciation was Zenger. And I’m fine with that, but did notice the difference when he was in charge.

 

[Brick]

I have had 4 to 6 season tickets since 1986. As you can surmise I am not a huge donor yearly but over time it’s added up. I have interacted with all those administrations. I have NEVER been treated with distain during all those years. I don’t get the comments about how bad people have been treated. If I ever needed something they have always come through. End of story!

The only reason I've been mistreated through the years is by being known as that Redbirdfan.com guy. Somehow wjbc and the pantagraph, who also allow for publicly negative comments never seem to get the cold shoulder. Not by any AD, but plenty by the staff, and others here can attest to that at pregame events and whatnot.

As far as Larry, I will only say that when my mom passed, one of my sisters mentioned that dad might get a lift from someone from ISU sending condolences since we'd been season ticket holders for years and he lived for ISU basketball. I thought, good idea, I'll send an email to Larry explaining the situation and see if he can't send a low level lackey to say I'm here from ISU, sorry for your loss. Instead, Larry and his wife were first in line at the visitation. I'll always respect him for that alone. Harping on his overall job performance isn't in my pay grade or wheel house.

Class!

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Anyone that thinks Lyons has had nothing to do with any capital product executed in the last 20 years simply has no clue, or is outright ignoring facts known by anybody working or associated with our athletics department. Period. Lyons has put all of these deals together. I am not trying to defend or compliement Lyons. Just stating what is plainly clear.

95% of all university athletics programs survive by student fees and / or other university subsidies. But here, only our AD is critized for running a department with these resources. Anymore, any university president will tell you this has become the absolute most important skill of any AD -- making these funds work for the department the best, most creative and efficient way. Any there are many in this business that will tell you Lyons is one of the best at this. And why Dietz likes him as much as he does.

I tried. I gave a you an honest, objective analysis. You have picked and chose some stuff as expected. And that's fine. However, anybody that would still say we are experienced some sort of "dumpster fire" has no clue what such a situation would be out there. And there are plenty athletics departments struggling mightily. But we are not one of them.

That is a made up number if you are talking Division 1 sports.

 

[gobirds85]

:clap:
:clap:

Didn't that Obama guy raise millions and millions of $$$$ based off small donations?

And who is to say that today's $500 a year donor doesn't turn into tomorrow's $50,000 a year donor? It called "respect" and it doesn't cost anything. I know numerous donors, of all sizes, and I know of none that are increasing their support for athletics in the short term. We need a change in leadership.

Tap this donor group that obviously doesn’t mind throwing money down a rathole.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/how-much-gofundme-money-raised-to-build-trumps-border-wall-will-go-to-the-wall-2018-12

There’s a sucker born every minute. Maybe the Birds can build a wall around the paint tomorrow.

 

[Metamoron]

Does this need to be in basketball forum? Seems to me it could/should be moved.

 

[isuquinndog]

Does this need to be in basketball forum? Seems to me it could/should be moved.

Good point. Moved.

 

[TIMMY]

In the past this topic would fire me up. So I read the 6 pages and I have nothing to say other than I really don't care much anymore. There's a right or wrong butt for every seat. LL's butt belonged in the Associate AD/Business and Finance/Chief Financial Officer type of seat. Every good athletic department needs a Larry Lions. But not driving the boat. As you would expect athletic dollars are managed well. That's about it. Athletic acumen and vision are missing. LL's just not a jock and never will be.
He's a nice guy. I think we get that. But he's no Mike Roth and he's never going to be.

 

[HailISNU]

Very nice to hear about LL showing up for the visitation. I think we have all covered the failures of the basketball and football programs lately so I won't touch those. Rico has pointed out that very little true fundraising has been done compared to what some of our peer institutions have been able to accomplish recently. Just as frustrating to me as the lack of fundraising is the lack of direct communication about the department's goals and how they are working to achieve them.

Rico provided a list of things LL hoped to accomplish when he took over... we should all know exactly where we stand on those goals and what work is being done toward them. I honestly forgot about some of those because they just faded away over time.

For example, it is upsetting to visit the Redbirds Rising website and see a vague vision for a new indoor facility, then never hear anything else about it. The main source for my news on the Athletic Department's projects has been hearsay on this unofficial forum by someone who knows someone who knows someone. That is not how successful programs operate.

Not only do we deserve regular "state of athletics" updates, ISU would benefit greatly from the better communication. How are people supposed to know to donate when there is never any mention of how donations are being used? Last I read on here, LL didn't think an indoor facility was feasible and was looking into temporary domes, but also maybe wasn't sure about those. We should have a much clearer picture of what is going on than that. Every once in a while there will be a Pantagraph article about the board approving a new scoreboard or replacing broken seats, but that is not enough to convey a comprehensive vision of what LL is working to accomplish.

We should be getting regular press conferences and emails and tweets that outline a clear vision for Athletics. We should feel some sense of security that significant progress is being made toward appropriate and tangible goals. Because if Athletics is making significant progress, they're sure not sharing it with us.

 

[ricohill]

Very nice to hear about LL showing up for the visitation. I think we have all covered the failures of the basketball and football programs lately so I won't touch those. Rico has pointed out that very little true fundraising has been done compared to what some of our peer institutions have been able to accomplish recently. Just as frustrating to me as the lack of fundraising is the lack of direct communication about the department's goals and how they are working to achieve them.

Rico provided a list of things LL hoped to accomplish when he took over... we should all know exactly where we stand on those goals and what work is being done toward them. I honestly forgot about some of those because they just faded away over time.

For example, it is upsetting to visit the Redbirds Rising website and see a vague vision for a new indoor facility, then never hear anything else about it. The main source for my news on the Athletic Department's projects has been hearsay on this unofficial forum by someone who knows someone who knows someone. That is not how successful programs operate.

Not only do we deserve regular "state of athletics" updates, ISU would benefit greatly from the better communication. How are people supposed to know to donate when there is never any mention of how donations are being used? Last I read on here, LL didn't think an indoor facility was feasible and was looking into temporary domes, but also maybe wasn't sure about those. We should have a much clearer picture of what is going on than that. Every once in a while there will be a Pantagraph article about the board approving a new scoreboard or replacing broken seats, but that is not enough to convey a comprehensive vision of what LL is working to accomplish.

We should be getting regular press conferences and emails and tweets that outline a clear vision for Athletics. We should feel some sense of security that significant progress is being made toward appropriate and tangible goals. Because if Athletics is making significant progress, they're sure not sharing it with us.

This thread will now die since it was moved to the general forum, but hope the talk continues.

Your thoughts are excellent. Why in the world would I trust donating to ISU right now?

For all we know the Redbird Rising money could be used to pay off the 3.6 million for Muller’s salary. They have a brochure on that page, but nothing specific. It would be nice to know where my money goes.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Very nice to hear about LL showing up for the visitation. I think we have all covered the failures of the basketball and football programs lately so I won't touch those. Rico has pointed out that very little true fundraising has been done compared to what some of our peer institutions have been able to accomplish recently. Just as frustrating to me as the lack of fundraising is the lack of direct communication about the department's goals and how they are working to achieve them.

Rico provided a list of things LL hoped to accomplish when he took over... we should all know exactly where we stand on those goals and what work is being done toward them. I honestly forgot about some of those because they just faded away over time.

For example, it is upsetting to visit the Redbirds Rising website and see a vague vision for a new indoor facility, then never hear anything else about it. The main source for my news on the Athletic Department's projects has been hearsay on this unofficial forum by someone who knows someone who knows someone. That is not how successful programs operate.

Not only do we deserve regular "state of athletics" updates, ISU would benefit greatly from the better communication. How are people supposed to know to donate when there is never any mention of how donations are being used? Last I read on here, LL didn't think an indoor facility was feasible and was looking into temporary domes, but also maybe wasn't sure about those. We should have a much clearer picture of what is going on than that. Every once in a while there will be a Pantagraph article about the board approving a new scoreboard or replacing broken seats, but that is not enough to convey a comprehensive vision of what LL is working to accomplish.

We should be getting regular press conferences and emails and tweets that outline a clear vision for Athletics. We should feel some sense of security that significant progress is being made toward appropriate and tangible goals. Because if Athletics is making significant progress, they're sure not sharing it with us.

This thread will now die since it was moved to the general forum, but hope the talk continues.

Your thoughts are excellent. Why in the world would I trust donating to ISU right now?

For all we know the Redbird Rising money could be used to pay off the 3.6 million for Muller’s salary. They have a brochure on that page, but nothing specific. It would be nice to know where my money goes.

Gave over 5k last year, with 2k specific for b-ball, and reason I regret is I have no idea what ISU does with the money. So when one is not onboard with ISU’s long term athletic strategy, in part because that is unknown, then why would anyone donate? Btw. Sean Johnson does a good job but it is the rudderless ISU athletic strategy esp long term that will keep me from donating.

 

[TheTruth]

This thread will now die since it was moved to the general forum, but hope the talk continues.

That’s by design. For some reason Quinn would rather bury his head in the sand and try and blame the decreased interest in his board/Redbird athletics on the people that point out the underperformance in the the athletic dept, rather than the underperformance itself.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

This thread will now die since it was moved to the general forum, but hope the talk continues.

That’s by design. For some reason Quinn would rather bury his head in the sand and try and blame the decreased interest in his board/Redbird athletics on the people that point out the underperformance in the the athletic dept, rather than the underperformance itself.

:text-+1:
Shouldn’t have been moved. Somebody has an agenda to kill the conversation.

 

[isuquinndog]

Can’t win for trying. Told I run the board like crap because posts are off topic or in wrong forums, move to a forum that is a better fit and now I have an agenda.

I have no agenda other than run the best board I can. I’m not going to be able to make 500 posters happy and countless others who just read.

 

[Reggie Redbird]

This thread will now die since it was moved to the general forum, but hope the talk continues.

That’s by design. For some reason Quinn would rather bury his head in the sand and try and blame the decreased interest in his board/Redbird athletics on the people that point out the underperformance in the the athletic dept, rather than the underperformance itself.

Quinn is the last person who would kill this convo. Have you ever taken him out for a beer or burger and talked to him? He’s a great guy, who volunteers his time in many areas. On top of that, he runs this board for us.