https://www.iheart.com/podcast/59-dave-softy-mahler-and-dick-25095845/
1/23 Podcast - Hour 3
I'll follow-up with my thoughts summarizing the interview and my takeaways
Just skimming through I was shocked by how actually offensive it was and this was a fucking national popular radio show just on the air. I listened to an episode that was like 30 minutes of just calling Kelly Clarkson a fat pig for no real reason. Blow me up, Tom!
This Softy shit is pretty bad. I turned it off when they were talking about the fucking prices of like a Kraken Ale or Kraken Dong Dog and shit and then joking "when comes the coronary? Whoops! Who farted? Splat! Is Geno the guy? I don't know I don't think he is. The Mariners aren't spending money!!!! It's buy one get four at the beer garden in the WinCo parking lot in Auburn. Come down and get a beer coozy. Is Geno the guy?
No shit … dynamite drop-in
Why do you think I was so critical of Jen for so many years?
Regardless of whether Dannen was the person or not, there was a reason I was vocal and pissed about the legacy Jen AD effectively pushing Dannen out so that they could bring in a Jen clone in Chun.
Thank you for indirectly amplifying the point I was making about how the AD hasn't created a compelling value proposition
The reality is that they aren't getting their approaches to be successful across any front
They have a few donors tied to football/basketball that are funding the program at this point. They are committed to the point that when something major is needed they pick up the phone, make the ask, and get the funding.
The membership numbers tied to Joe Fan highlight that the guilt trip approach isn't resonating (shocking I know) …
The fact that they are struggling to unlock the business model also highlights that things aren't working and it starts with offering a positive value proposition …
But there's a lot of academics tied into UW Athletics and they frankly are not well prepared to have conversations with business leaders
Tequilla I was and am roundly critized here including by you for pointing this out a year ago
Thank you for the concession
I was right
Neu getting 1m per in 1999 was like a huge deal for pushing coaching salaries higher. And yet it would be chump change today to just add inflation to that.
We hated losing to Cal and in fact did always lose to Cal in rowboat when I was there. Eventually we flipped back on them. Competition is good, but also needs some basic rules around the sport. And the sport as a whole went from having a bunch of different schools win (90s saw Wisconsin, Northeastern, Dartmouth, Navy, Penn, Brown, Princeton, Washington and Cal all win natties while Harvard/Yale skipped it every year) to it being a Washington vs Cal vs Yale vs Harvard event now. Those 4 schools have every rowing natty back to 1999 except for Wisconsin popping once in 2008.
Reminds me of when we had a neighborhood flag football league, which once opened to "friends of residents" became a recruitment game to find the most athletic (typically former college FB or CFL) "friends". We no longer have a neighborhood flag football league.
This is really the crux of the problem
I wouldn't take advice from "Coker" on this subject because he's going to typically default to "people need to step up" and being a bit of an apologist for the Athletic Department
For UW to take a step forward, there needs to be a better connection between the Athletic Department, Collective, and Joe Fan … the historical approach of just telling people to donate isn't good enough anymore
As you noted, there isn't even an attempt to provide a compelling value proposition … it comes off as tone deaf
I can't speak for others, but your last point is one of the primary concerns that I have. There's been no discussion as to how ADs and Collectives will work together going forward once the rules change heading into the 25-26 academic year. There's been no discussion as to how the AD is adjusting based on the changing dynamics and what spending means … and I agree that they likely aren't addressing that. There appears to be zero appetite for being accountable.
So when you come with your hand out and you're just one of many doing so (both in the UW community and the greater Seattle area as a whole) … there's only so much money to go around. And let's be honest, I'm never going to criticize someone that chooses to donate money to Fred Hutch for cancer research or Seattle Children's or anything like that.
The general lack of awareness is just flat out maddening
Really good call out on the coaching salaries. It's not like that cost went away either.
Still, this game is hugely affected by quality coaching and I think you start there. Can't fuck up the coaching position or all that bought talent won't amount to a pile of shit.
Washington in 1997 was the last IRA champion comprised of all Americans. Wisconsin was the last school to win IRA (in 2008) w/o schollies.
It's insane to look back a Rick getting $1,000,000 @whlinder
I liked college football better when Oklahoma, ND, Florida State, Washington, etc, were all jobs where you retired or went to the NFL.
This is the first thing that I just don't even want to have to explain.
"So what's this 100$ charge I'm seeing every month to 'Montlake Futures'? Is that some new husky site subscription or something? Some kind of husky Fab Fit Fun box?"
"No, it's so we can pay this 18 year old edge rusher's dad so that 2027 will be special"
Ha. If UW sees a comparable 6,500 people donate $25 a month, that's about $2 million a year. If UW wants to spend $20 million on the roster to keep up with the billionaire backed teams, that is 10% of it from non-mega boosters and non-Tyees.
So yeah, it would be nice if Race clipped more coupons and gave $25 a month to Montlake Futures.
One thing that is also irritating is why the fuck isn't the Montlake Gold NIL lager at every fucking QFC in the state? At least Western Washington? I'm not stopping at U-Village to load up on shitty beer, they need to make that more available.
TV money helped lead to this too.
Safeway too, for us pours.
Or preferably one of the 50 WSU owned bottle shops around me. I'd buy some Ole Crimson lager as well if they wouldn't be cunts about it.
I just thought it was only sold outside the stadium at QFC right now. It might already be in Safeway or I may have heard that wrong on one of the podcasts.
Moore's Law changed the game on tv ad revenue for sports @HFNY.
If you wanna sell beer and pick up trucks, you gotta get your product placed next to live sports. No one watches network TV anymore except for sports.
I haven't seen any Ducktard Lager here in Wakanda yet. But I did have some Ducktard IPA at McKight arena in the fall.
It’s just never enough, bro
I don’t even want to do the maff on how much our family spends on UW football as it is. The main cash cow is WoolleyDoog SR but WoolleyDoog and I contribute via parking, food and beverage etc. Not to mention one of my best friends that goes on our bus 2-3 times a year that buys 6 tickets. Also another business partner of senior’s that buys like 4 tickets. It’s just never enough. NEVER. ENOUGH.
Also the price of diesel in the last administration’s eco…. Alright save it for the TUG
Unless you're just hellbent on not buying anything in the stadium, you can't walk out of there without spending over a 100$.
Combine the fact that the U-District in general has become shit for pre-game places: Ram is gone, Bigtime is fucking impossible unless you get there 3 hours before kickoff, Same with Shultzy's, Dutchess/Ravenna brewing are super inconvenient. Other couple dive bars on the ave are way too packed with visiting fans, etc.
You're forced into the Zone paying 16$ per NIL beer. And that is by design.
If you go into the merch store which I do every time because I'm drunk, you're walking out with like 200$ spent on a few t-shirts and a hat.
In my experience UW is dead last of the 4 northwest schools when it comes to this.
Joey’s?
I was eating there the other night with my wife. They definitely hire from a very narrow range of girls, with the token exception in there because the lawyers told them to. My wife was like, "enjoying the scenery?" The whole time I'm there the line from Mo Greene kept popping into my head, but instead of Fredo it was Sark:
"He was banging cocktail waitresses two at time!"
You do not come to U Village and talk to a man like @Joey like that!!
yeah but does it feel better when some recruit or portal guy is on the hook and they go to somewhere like Missouri or TCU and the line is there’s just no way we can compete financially?
Hurtful
Yeah exactly. Where the fuck is the money going?
I can live without purple light shows and whatever else.
Lazy hire, hopefully he'll be gone soon. Most recent thing I read about him was he congratulated Dickert on his new job on X. Couple that with him saying "Go Cougs!" on X AFTER being hired at UW, and he can go ahead and fuck off.
You got that right.
In the United States, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Pacific Island nations, and English-speaking Canada, the sign is written
before the number
("$5"), even though the word is written or spoken after it ("five dollars", "cinco pesos").
