Andy Noel

[Al DeFlorio]

Jim Hyla '67 wrote:

Someone from Athletics should fess up and say they made a mistake, and that they will look into making it better (better later than never), and let us all enjoy a wonderful season.

Jim, I said exactly that in my email to Anita Brenner sent two days ago.  I'm not hopeful, however.  I think they've hunkered down and are stonewalling, but I'd really like to be wrong.  

We'll see if it takes 39 days to get a response this time.

[Lowell '99]

I'm sure that Schafer does care, and that he cares a lot.  However, as we all realize, he's got more pressing issues right now.  The fact that he heard the news through a chat session underscores that the real problem with the Athletic Department is communication and, not entirely separately, respect.  With regards to the former, it's cliched, predictable, corporate-style press releases in lieu of real explanations (as I said before, the switch to OCSN doesn't bother me nearly as much as it does others, but I share the distaste for the manner in which it and resultant complaints have been handled).  It's a shame that the lack of communication extended to the most important figure in a sport that has (by far) the closest relationship with its fans.

My biggest complaints are the things Rich mentioned about Andy Noel and those stupid new logos.  I know the old one was university-owned and not department-owned, but I don't care.  The new ones are emabarrassing.  Oh, and I think the new turf at Schoelkopf is ugly (can we get some red on the field somewhere?!?), but that's over and done.  Interestingly, the reason for not duplicating the red and white "CORNELL" in the endzone was that any design in the field of play increases the chances of injury because of irregularities in the turf.  This line of thought clearly did not take into account that for our football team, the endzone is clearly not in the field of play.  :-/

If anybody would like to contribute to Cornell in a positive way, feel free to donate money to either of the Big Red Bands (Marching or Pep).  They're entirely student-run, and if you ask nicely, maybe you can purchase a friendly wake-up call for our esteemed AD.  It's been done before...  :-)

Okay, I'm rambling.

[jeh25]

Lowell Frank '99, '03 wrote:

Interestingly, the reason for not duplicating the red and white "CORNELL" in the endzone was that any design in the field of play increases the chances of injury because of irregularities in the turf.  This line of thought clearly did not take into account that for our football team, the endzone is clearly not in the field of play.  

Overall, you make some excellent points in a very well thought out post Lowell.

But just for the record, I wanted to point out that a lacrosse field is 110 yards long, with the area behind the goal being a critical area of play. Thus half of each endzone is a high traffic playing surface for at least one of the other teams that uses Schoellkopf. I cannot comment on sports such as women's lax or field hockey but I suspect they might also have the same issues.


Capt Pedantry exits stage left...

[ugarte]

I am not subscribing to the CornellPass because there are other options.  And I am not happy that they started charging without asking Age or the others here if we would have funded an alternate program, but . . .

Let me just say for the nth time on n different threads: what makes everyone here think that they are entitled to something for nothing?  

I suspect that in the next three years one of two things will happen: (1) the rest of the NCAA starts charging for webcasts or {2) Cornell stops. I don't think that the Athletic Department is wrong when they predict that they are plowing a course that others will follow. And I don't fault them for being an early adopter of this kind of outsourcing, even though I don't like the result.

I think they made a bad business judgment, and I think that they will realize this pretty quickly, but let's stop pretending that Andy Noel and his department are equal parts Gordon Gekko (greed), Robert Hansen (duplicity) and Bill Clinton (outright lying).

As for the logo, I preferred the old bear-leaning-with-an-expression-of-disdain to the current demon-seed lurching out of the C, but its just a logo for #$@# sake.  As long as they don't put it on the uniforms, they can use Age's honey-bear logo for all I care.

[DeltaOne81]

[Q]Bill Clinton (outright lying). [/Q]
AHEM... "misleading" :-D

[Q]As long as they don't put it on the uniforms, they can use Age's honey-bear logo for all I care. [/Q]
Ya know, you may be onto something there... anyone wanna write a letter w/ that suggestion? ;-)

[jnachod]

9 is good....10 is better!

Wallding is awesome, and bowling is definitely a class you should take while you're at Cornell.

[dodger916]

Right on, big red apple.  The folks in athletics are working stiffs, just like us.  They don't sit around thinking of ways to screw the alums, as many posts suggest.  And who among us NEVER made a bad decision???  C'mon folks, get real.  Enough with the crucifixations.  Leave the personal flames out of it.  And until we're privy to ALL the facts, it's just conjecture.

The reality: Andy and the administration deserve some credit for providing a championship hockey team, just as they would be blasted if the team were losing.

[CowbellGuy]

Actually, Coach Schafer, his assistants, and the players deserve credit for having a championship team.

*cough* *cough* shill *cough*

[jtwcornell91]

Justin Nachod '04 wrote:

bowling is definitely a class you should take while you're at Cornell.

Although a classmate of mine did once manage to injure himself in a bowling class...

[jeh25]

Hehe. Age and I know a guy named Don Crego that once had to be taken out of Helen Newman Lanes on a stretcher by Cornell EMS because he blew out his knee in bowling class.

[Josh '99]

John E Hayes '98 '00 wrote:

Hehe. Age and I know a guy named Don Crego that once had to be taken out of Helen Newman Lanes on a stretcher by Cornell EMS because he blew out his knee in bowling class.

You guys know Don?  I didn't know that.

[gwm3]

It seems very odd to me that the University wouldn't allow the Athletics department to freely use the Cornell logo.  I've been hearing this for years, but I just still don't really get it.  What interest would Cornell have in preventing one of its own departments from using its trademark?  You never see the old, superior, bear anywhere now that Athletics stopped using it, so its not even like the University uses that logo extensively.

[jtwcornell91]

Graham Meli '02 wrote:

You never see the old, superior, bear anywhere now that Athletics stopped using it, so its not even like the University uses that logo extensively.

Actually, the T-shirts they sent us for Zinck's night had the Big Red Square on the front and the wiseass leaning bear on the back.

[Adam \'04]

Dodger 916,
   I am sure that those in charge of the athletic department appreciate one of their employee's publicly defending them. I know how hard it is to be a public figure. After watch my father deal with peoples wants, needs, and concerns, I realize that anytime a leader makes a decision, a specific but not constant group of people will be upset. I think the main concern is that this is one of the first times Cornell University (Can I say that?) has done something to make alumni actually pay to stay in contact with their alma mater; the one they love and have supported since they were undergraduates.
   As an undergraduate, I have many positive and negative feelings about this university. In three years the changes I have witnessed have made me despise the university administration. It seems that every time I turn a corner, I am being charged money for petty crap. At every other Ivy League university Internet is free, or close to free, memberships to fitness centers are free, and it does not cost an arm and a leg to eat. One of the positive things I can say about this university is that the library system is amazing. I can't even think of a single complaint. Do you know why that is true?
   The library system set itself up as a service system, to service the students and university staff, and they do just that. They have tried to make things more convenient for the students through numerous improvements, although many of these improvements make their job more difficult. They accept the added work and they know it is their duty to serve the students and staff. This type of attitude makes for a stress free environment. That is the key when considering the internal stress that students already have as a result of classes, family, relationships, and so on. The fact that Cornell University has adopted a business-like management philosophy has resulted in numerous inconveniencies for staff and students. This added stress is uncalled for.
   Why does Cornell feel this is in their best interest? You got me. The leaders of this university are loosing sight of the purpose of higher education. The system of higher education includes all aspects of university operations. When athletics made the decision to sign a contract with a third party business, the result was insensitive treatment of the user. Now, logically, one would think that the majority of the people using the Internet feed are alumni. Everyone knows that effective management of a university requires donations from alumni. Some people that have supported Cornell athletics over the years realize how petty a decision this was.
   Cornell University has a great computer science department and many willing students. Why not look internal first? Age already had an established streaming video/audio feed, why not ask him first? Was it really all that much extra work? You guys really need to get your heads out of the sand, and take a look around. Get some feedback. Use it as constructive criticism. You are here to serve the students and alumni by providing access to championship level sports teams that are comprised of Cornell students. Why make access to one of the few gratifying aspects of being a Cornell alum more difficult.
   I honestly appreciate the athletic department's bad decision. Now alums have an idea of how the university has been treating its undergrads. I can assure you many alums would not have appreciated a "do it our way, or don't do it at all" attitude while on campus. As an undergraduate I cannot do a whole lot about the situation, my voice is my weapon and that's all I've got. It is up to the alums, they can speak with their wallets, and money talks.

[Adam \'01]

Championship hockey team?  What are you counting Ivy's??!?  As they said on last night's West Wing (vague reference to OT thread), "go outside, spin around 3 times, and spit".....because the fact of the matter is that we haven't won s--- yet (meaning this current group).

On on a separate note, let me add how heartening it is to see how many others have had awesome experiences with Rich in bowling.  :-P   I'd definitely have to rank him in the top 10 of memorable characters I encountered at Cornell.  Right up there with Ron at Louie's Lunch, Prof. Marty Schefter in the gov't department, and the two sketchy maintainence guys at Gun Hill.