Jen Cohen's letter to alums and fans
Comments
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I will never begrudge an organization for asking for money, especially during a financial crisis. I’d be upset at the athletic department if they didn’t exhaust all fundraising possibilities. And you’re absolutely right @1to392831weretaken, nobody could have anticipated the whole operation being shut down.1to392831weretaken said:As somebody who's never had season tickets, can somebody cut through the charitable gift/Tyee/All-In/seat donation jargon and explain to me like I'm five what the AD is doing that's wrong? Sounds like they're offering a refund buck begging for a donation. Nothing wrong with that.
What athletic department in the country carries an entire season of revenue as a cash surplus in case the world takes a year off? What could they have done differently to avoid this crisis? Fund themselves like the USPS has been forced to do, thus hemorrhaging cash? As for big budgets and insatiable need for cash, we can't have it both ways. We demand the best of everything, from facilities to staff to recruiting budget to under the table whores in order to be competitive and win, but these things cost money and must be paid for in some way.
My issue is their repeated lack of awareness at how much they’ve antagonized a large portion of the fan base pre-COVID with their poor decisions, and their tone deafness in their messaging (if they even do engage #scoduck #wareagle).
So for me, it’s just accumulated frustration and not wanting to throw more money their way. -
We can’t on one hand say we want to be a big time big swinging dick program and then bitch when the AD comes around looking for cashYellowSnow said:
Sadly though UW is just like any other big time athletic dept in its insatiable need for cash.Doog_de_Jour said:
I 100% support you in this Rowboat, (I used to think that way too) but I hate it how UW has preyed upon our collective gratitude to keep supporting their insatiable need for cash to prop up their ever increasing expenditures.YellowSnow said:Donating the cost of the 2020 tickets isn’t an option for me. At the same time, as much as I want to say FO, give me a refund, I can’t bring myself to do it. I got to do a lot of cool shit in college because some other rich fucks opened up their check books. So I think UW can keep my money in the bank as a small token of my gratitude.
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My biggest problem with how Jen and the AD have navigated the last few months is that they’ve acted like being where we are is a massive surprise ... she’s largely been asleep at the wheel and putting her head in the sand IMO
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Two things I don’t like about what the AD did with their plans:
1) IF (and I realize it’s highly unlikely) the season happens in the Spring, and I end up donating my tickets as a gift, do I need to buy additional tickets to go to games in the Spring?
2) The approach that they’ve taken us an all or nothing approach ... what if I’m willing to contribute half of my ticket amount and roll the other half to next year? No mention of that. -
I get what you and @1to392831weretaken are saying, but again, I’ve made the decision to not not give them anymore money. That’s not to say I won’t in the future, but my dissatisfaction with them is definitely earned.Tequilla said:
We can’t on one hand say we want to be a big time big swinging dick program and then bitch when the AD comes around looking for cashYellowSnow said:
Sadly though UW is just like any other big time athletic dept in its insatiable need for cash.Doog_de_Jour said:
I 100% support you in this Rowboat, (I used to think that way too) but I hate it how UW has preyed upon our collective gratitude to keep supporting their insatiable need for cash to prop up their ever increasing expenditures.YellowSnow said:Donating the cost of the 2020 tickets isn’t an option for me. At the same time, as much as I want to say FO, give me a refund, I can’t bring myself to do it. I got to do a lot of cool shit in college because some other rich fucks opened up their check books. So I think UW can keep my money in the bank as a small token of my gratitude.
BTW, UW is the 15th richest program in college football...only 4 spots behind National Champ LSU.
https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2020/03/which-are-richest-and-poorest-college-football-programs-new-revenue-figures-for-all-65-power-five-schools.html
I think we’ll? be fine, and our? lack of big dick swinging isn’t because we’re short on cash. -
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you ... I’ve been largely dissatisfied with what I’ve seen post COVID
In isolation any individual doesn’t move the needle ... but if enough of us give the middle finger then there’s a problem
I’m just blown away about the incompetence in general -
I guess what I'm getting at is that it wasn't UW's AD's decision to cancel the season. It wasn't even UW's decision at all. It was the PAC-12's. So what, specifically, have they done regarding this shitstorm that's so bad? How were they unprepared--relative to other schools?
I get that we're all pissed off about The Zone and the student section moving and the ribbon ad banners and (not their fault) the game times, but what actions specific to COVID 2020 could the AD have taken to make this all good in your opinion? I'm not seeing how they could have suddenly saved up $70 million since February. -
That extra $12M to $18M annually each SEC and BIG10 school receives from THEIR conference network would sure bolster contingency funds and shore up deficits. Guess it's harder to hold Larry Scott accountable than hitting up your 40,000 season ticket holders and benefactors.
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For starters, they could’ve instituted cost saving measures earlier. Furloughs and salary cuts - those didn’t happen until June.1to392831weretaken said:I guess what I'm getting at is that it wasn't UW's AD's decision to cancel the season. It wasn't even UW's decision at all. It was the PAC-12's. So what, specifically, have they done regarding this shitstorm that's so bad? How were they unprepared--relative to other schools?
I get that we're all pissed off about The Zone and the student section moving and the ribbon ad banners and (not their fault) the game times, but what actions specific to COVID 2020 could the AD have taken to make this all good in your opinion? I'm not seeing how they could have suddenly saved up $70 million since February.
https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/uw-athletics-announces-expanded-cost-saving-measures-and-major-gifts-from-jen-cohen-jimmy-lake-and-mike-hopkins/
*Now, this delay might have been because there was some red tape that needed to be cut (state institution and all).
Another thing that bothered me was the amount of a salary cuts. Husky head coaches voluntarily agreed to a minimum 5% salary reduction.
Cohen is also taking a 5% cut.
https://apnews.com/f66aee3e32c68efeefcedb967d5e81cc
A lot of leadership in other businesses in America (and the rank and file for that matter) were taking 10 to 25% salary hits.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/24/business/economy/coronavirus-pay-cuts.html
Obviously this doesn’t move the financial needle all that much, but the symbolism of it bothers me and hopefully explains a bit why I’m so disenchanted with the AD.
Edit: I misread the article RE: the amount of the salary cuts. Fixed. -
The blackmail material Larry Scott must have on each of the ADs in the conference must be epic. There’s no other explanation why he’s still around.Baseman said:That extra $12M to $18M annually each SEC and BIG10 school receives from THEIR conference network would sure bolster contingency funds and shore up deficits. Guess it's harder to hold Larry Scott accountable than hitting up your 40,000 season ticket holders and benefactors.
