Alabama A&M's AD gets critical report


D

dakid0711

Mr. Enigma
In a recent edition of the Huntsville Times, A&M director of athletics Jim Martin received a critical report from one of the paper's writers ... take a look.

Next A&M president shouldn't play ball the same way
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Huntsville Times

The much-needed change at the top at Alabama A&M is beginning. President John Gibson has announced his resignation.

Various candidates are surely beginning to look at Gibson's old office with, I suspect, interest and a little trepidation. For sure, it's a challenge.

I worry that whoever is brave and crazy enough to take the job will be like the First Mate to whom the Captain hands over the controls of the ship after it's already hit the iceberg.

I have a message for Gibson's successor:

There will certainly be plenty on your plate when you take over. Enough to where some people would think it trivial to spend much time initially on the sweaty world of athletics


here is the link to the story:
http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/mmccarter.ssf?/base/sports/1105438612146550.xml
 
editorial from a white man who knows little about AAMU athletics... I wouldnt pay MOST of it any attention.
 



DAHILL said:
editorial from a white man who knows little about AAMU athletics... I wouldnt pay MOST of it any attention.
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If he were black would it make a difference?

If you ask me, everything he mentioned in that column is consistent with the things we complain about all the time in this forum regarding the SWAC programs. Poor marketing of our programs, poor facilities, poor PR, incompetent ADs, etc. So why does this come as a surprise when some "white man" from the local newspaper brings it to light?
 
SAME OLD G said:
If he were black would it make a difference?

If you ask me, everything he mentioned in that column is consistent with the things we complain about all the time in this forum regarding the SWAC programs. Poor marketing of our programs, poor facilities, poor PR, incompetent ADs, etc. So why does this come as a surprise when some "white man" from the local newspaper brings it to light?
Click to expand...

For a while, I was wondering if it was "just me" that saw this.
 
SAME OLD G said:
If he were black would it make a difference?

If you ask me, everything he mentioned in that column is consistent with the things we complain about all the time in this forum regarding the SWAC programs. Poor marketing of our programs, poor facilities, poor PR, incompetent ADs, etc. So why does this come as a surprise when some "white man" from the local newspaper brings it to light?
Click to expand...

Soggy!

That white man is not the beat writer for the local newspaper that cover A&M. He is an attack dog for the same forces that are hell bent on bringing down A&M by any means nessacary. When Reggie Benson writes something similar I'll give it some credit. :kaioken:
 
SAME OLD G said:
If he were black would it make a difference?

If you ask me, everything he mentioned in that column is consistent with the things we complain about all the time in this forum regarding the SWAC programs. Poor marketing of our programs, poor facilities, poor PR, incompetent ADs, etc. So why does this come as a surprise when some "white man" from the local newspaper brings it to light?
Click to expand...

I'll put it like this. I've NEVER seen ANY A.D. at AAMU do what Martin has done for our programs. He has been moving our program forward from the time he set foot on Normal's Hill. If you don't believe me, ask some of the coaches and people that have come to our annual golf tournament. Sponsorship is everywhere you turn and they stick with the program year in and out. I remember Doug William's comments like it was yesterday. Dude, was just wide-eyed as hell looking around at the banners of the sponsors we had. Just pick up a program at the next AAMU game you attend in Huntsville and you will see.

Martin still has things that he can do better, but as for what he's been able to do while he's been in charge. It was a whole lot more than Gene Bright was able to do. Then again, Gene was fighting for everything he could do (even the stadium), but he wasn't the best.
 
PLOW DOG said:
Soggy!

That white man is not the beat writer for the local newspaper that cover A&M. He is an attack dog for the same forces that are hell bent on bringing down A&M by any means nessacary. When Reggie Benson writes something similar I'll give it some credit. :kaioken:
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I am not a beat writer for that local newspaper either, but I am sure there is some validity to what he says. This is not the 1st time we have heard about this. If you think this is bad, you should hear is being said about the football facilities at Howard .
 
I would think that some things he stated may have validity. For instance, can Elmore use improvement or replacement? Is there a "divide" in Huntsville that AAMU could possibly attempt to bridge in someway and parlay into money?
 
We are in the process of responding to the article. The Huntsville Times has two issues with Jim. They are angry because thay have more than once printed articles that we should play Jacksonville St. The other issue I will not mentioned. However, if the Huntsville Times can get Jim fired, the new AD and Trustees will be pressured into another contract with Jacksonville.

The only reason, we played Jacksonville St. is that the members of the Alabama Legislators were successful in getting them back on our schedule. There is no difference in Randy Moss mooning the Green Bay Fans and Jim refusing to play Jacksonville St. The media will not allow any black person to tell them to kiss their butts. The Huntsville Times has mandated that we play Jacksonville and the person that holds the key to this decision is Jim. AAMU program has secured many sponsors and has a very good market program.

This article also plays one black against another in recommending John Stallworth for the Job of AD and President. He said, it is not a racist thing. Make no mistake about it this article is a strong political statement because the Huntsville Times wants nothing more than to get Jacksonville St back on our schedule.

I cannot vouch for other SWAC Schools in terms of marketing and other things, but I know what is going on at AAMU and the accomplishments since Jim took over the Job. People are not measured on job performance, but who you pi$$ off in trying to get things done.

Once the response is answered, I will post it on the board. The seed has been planted and it is going to be up to us to fight back.
 
This is a perfect article for those at AAMU who would like to see Jim fired.
Having established Institutional Control because of a NCAA investigation, many people are upset because they were cut off from freebies. In the past they controled some of the weaker ADs.
 



JROCK said:
I would think that some things he stated may have validity. For instance, can Elmore use improvement or replacement? Is there a "divide" in Huntsville that AAMU could possibly attempt to bridge in someway and parlay into money?
Click to expand...
In my initial post, I said I wouldnt pay MOST of it any attention... not all... yes some things are valid.... Yes there is a "divide" in Huntsville between AAMU and whites.... but the city as a whole is a "divide".... North Huntsville is damn near all Black and South Huntsville is all black.... 90% of all 50 plus schools in Huntsville are either all Black or all White.... I never seen him mention anything about UAH being "divided"..... I wonder how many Blacks have ever been to watch there "D2 national championship" HOCKEY games. All of UAH's basketball games are EMPTY, they dont even open up the upstairs.... they cant average more than 50 people a game and the school has an enrollment of over 8,000. LIke someone said this is NOT our beat writer... our beat writer knows a HELLUVALOT more about AAMU athletics than this man does. This man writes the same articles about the Black city schools (J.O. Johnson) in particular as it comes to sports.
 
JROCK said:
I would think that some things he stated may have validity. For instance, can Elmore use improvement or replacement? Is there a "divide" in Huntsville that AAMU could possibly attempt to bridge in someway and parlay into money?
Click to expand...

That is valid, but we've known this for years now. He is only reiterating what everyone knows. The writer also knows that we are only allowed to touch so much of the money from the lawsuit at a time due to the people that cause problems whenever they see a construction site on the campus. Because of them we have to go through a judge just to improve our campus.

Listen to MD if you don't listen to anyone else.
 
MightyDog said:
We are in the process of responding to the article. The Huntsville Times has two issues with Jim. They are angry because thay have more than once printed articles that we should play Jacksonville St. The other issue I will not mentioned. However, if the Huntsville Times can get Jim fired, the new AD and Trustees will be pressured into another contract with Jacksonville.

The only reason, we played Jacksonville St. is that the members of the Alabama Legislators were successful in getting them back on our schedule. There is no difference in Randy Moss mooning the Green Bay Fans and Jim refusing to play Jacksonville St. The media will not allow any black person to tell them to kiss their butts. The Huntsville Times has mandated that we play Jacksonville and the person that holds the key to this decision is Jim. AAMU program has secured many sponsors and has a very good market program.

This article also plays one black against another in recommending John Stallworth for the Job of AD and President. He said, it is not a racist thing. Make no mistake about it this article is a strong political statement because the Huntsville Times wants nothing more than to get Jacksonville St back on our schedule.

I cannot vouch for other SWAC Schools in terms of marketing and other things, but I know what is going on at AAMU and the accomplishments since Jim took over the Job. People are not measured on job performance, but who you pi$$ off in trying to get things done.

Once the response is answered, I will post it on the board. The seed has been planted and it is going to be up to us to fight back.
Click to expand...

Fair post MD! Thanks for the insight on this article (your post makes a lot of sense).
 
SAME OLD G said:
Exactly. So why is everyone getting bent out of shape?
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You'd have to know how the Times folks came to be like this towards the school. It got worse when they found out that they didn't have a skybox after the first season in Crews, because they didn't follow up with receiving one for the next season. They automatically thought that no one was going to try to buy the boxes and they would be able to get one at anytime or something like that.

There's other stuff to go with that, but it gets pathetic at how some of them hold grudges over B.S. These are the same white folks that attend grad school at AAMU and ask for their diplomas to be mailed to them so none of their friends would know they went to AAMU.

At night, you'd think AAMU was a PWC. These are the same folks that will talk bad about the university with their friends and benefit from getting their Master's or Doctorate there.
 
Should we as supporters of HBCUs and black men in leadership positions find fault with the writer of the article or the subject of the article?

Both have shown cause for questioning in the past. Is this going to become a racial issue or is this an under-the-cover attempt to ruin black college sports.

On the other hand (playing devil's advocate), are the allegations (which is what they are as of now) based on factual information currently not available to the public? Or are the accusations listed some one's attempt to bring attention to the state of affairs in black college sports?

Having looked through the glass from both sides, I have a question... what can we as fans of black college sports do to ensure that this event fails to occur again?
 
dakid0711 said:
On the other hand (playing devil's advocate), are the allegations (which is what they are as of now) based on factual information currently not available to the public? Or are the accusations listed some one's attempt to bring attention to the state of affairs in black college sports?
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Mighty Dog is a major player at AAMU.... there is nothing that any news reporter (even the beat writer) could tell him about AAMU athletics.... if it was factual he would know... he isnt the ordinary "public"
 
dakid0711 said:
I have a question... what can we as fans of black college sports do to ensure that this event fails to occur again?
Click to expand...

I believe that we must acknowledge our liabilities but respond to injustices. If AAMU follows suit as MD suggested and gives a rebuttal, it is the correct thing to do. Otherwise, the media will continue to malign "unchecked."
 
Mike, I attended a Huntville Chamber of Commerce luncheon and Senator Jeff Session was the guest speaker , those people are about making money as we know. And in his speech, he acknowledged that it was his job to keep bringing the money to Alabama. Since Hunstville is the leading City in Alabama with the most Hi Tech businesses this comment was well-received. As I listen to this speech it only strenghten my position that they want to stay in charge and move money between them. Therefore, nobody is worried about any divide in the City of Huntsville, it is about Money.

Folks in the law suit that Mike mentioned: let me informed you that the reason that a Federal Judge in the State of Georgia was assigned to handle the case is that no Federal Judge in the entire State was qualified to handle the case because of being a party to a lot of educational issues in Alabama. The Black Federal Judge was eliminated from the case because of his fight in the Civil Rights Movement and other things that did not matter. Those AAMU folks whose only concern was to replace the President, cost us dearly in moving the university forward. Now the new Governor want to stop the payments that AAMU received under the lawsuit setttlement. No permenant decree was issued by the Judge in this lawsuit, however, this kept the door opened for our white institutions to win this educational battle in this State.

My point is don't believe this is about AAMU Gym being a dump, it is more serious. It is also about painting a negative preception about Jim Martin to get him fired. Under the lawsuit AAMU was suppose to build a state of the Arc library, but those who complained to the point that the Judge said we didn't need a new library, therefore he approved the revonation of the old library. A new library could have enhanced the academic standards at AAMU.

You see Mr. McCarter and most AAMU folks don't know about what is going on at AAMU, because they think this is about a Gym and locker rooms. The political foes of the Gibson Administration, would not allow a new arena to be built. The Physical fitness facilities is being paid for through students fees.

How would you fund an addition of an arena? But I have been assured by a high level official of the State of Alabama that once Gibson is removed from office AAMU is going to receive more money than we can spend. Do you expect me to believe.
 
If you read between the lines of this article you can see what the reporter is really trying to say. That laced in line with the tone of his article is enough to judge what the reporters true intentions are.

All of us Dawgpound members on here have said time and time again what we need. (new track, arena, coaches, etc.) These are problems we know of, but like Mike alluded to money has to come from somewhere. And athletics is not the only thing on the campus that needs to be attended to. Acedemics most be taken care of along with athletics hand in hand. This article is written in the underline tone of what AAMU must do, AND DOING WHAT THE WHITE POPULUS of Huntsville demands us to do. John Stallworth for AD????? Seriously now, I'm a fan of Johnny and what his accomplishments are, but what in the hell would make you put John Stallworth as your top choice for AD of a university. Would John Stallworth be recommended to UAH, or at Auburn? Hell no, so don't bring bullisht our way and try to pass it off as gold.

You won't see dude write another article about AAMU until he feels he needs to give his opinion of AAMU and what "us people" need to do right. Plain and simple.
 
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