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Advancing the Program

catgrizfan said:
If Leon was as great as he (and apparently some on this board) thinks he is, why is he still at MSU after ten years?
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Does he want to be at a higher level than FCS? His whole career has been at FCS schools and MSU is one of the best FCS AD jobs.
 
Personally, I’ve had nothing but positive and excellent experiences with Haslam. In person or over email or even on social media. I’ve been extremely impressed with his professionalism in dealing with our rabid fan base.
 
Chucknduck said:
In regards to Haslam, I can tell a story about this guy and my first impression of him face to face. This was all I needed to not be a big supporter of his.

Back in the 18-19 basketball season, I decided to take my 11 year old son down to Boise for the basketball tournament. After a long drive we checked into the hotel and realized pretty quick that we were staying at the same hotel that the griz basketball team and company (Haslam, Sundberg and Corcoran etc) were at. Over the course of a couple days Sundberg was awesome to us by just simply acknowledging griz fans who made the trip. Corcoran was great too including Decuire and the team. However, this one instance really stood out to me. My son and I (wearing obvious Griz gear) got on the elevator and Haslam walked in. Just the 3 of us and Haslam had one hell of an opportunity to say hello and at a minimum say “hey, thanks for coming down, where did you drive/fly from.” Easy chat right? Instead he just stood there and literally didn’t say a word to us glanced at his phone a couple times. It was actually kind of awkward. My son knew who he was and even made a comment to me that he wasn’t the nicest guy. Haslam, Of all people who shouldn’t ignore folks who came to support the team, made kind of an ass of himself. First time impressions go a long way and I wasn’t impressed by the guy. Pure arrogance was how he carried himself during that time during that tournament. He could leave this job for all I care. Wouldn’t be hard to get someone better in the AD position at the U. Maybe he was distracted and had some serious gut rot in the elevator and needed a shitter ASAP. I don’t think that’s the case though.
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That’s very similar to my experience at an event in Spokane.
 
Ursus1 said:
I bet BK would have said something to you and your son. He seems like a genuinely friendly guy and not too cool to talk with us common folk like some others
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Downwiththefoe1984 said:
I’ve been and continue to be critical of Haslam. I’d like to see the next gen take over leadership here. I’ve met Haslam several times in different settings. GSA events and I hate to admit this but…at a bobcat playoff game several years back. This job is a personality driven position and Kent has fallen flat in the dozen or more times I’ve met him. Am I being too critical or do we need some more enthusiasm in our leadership?
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I find most of the KH criticisms here somewhat petty. I've had a very opposite experience in my interactions with KH. After our initial interaction he always greets me in a crowd, remembers my name and where I'm from. He's been very willing to offer answers to questions.

More importantly I have very high regard for the professional job he has done for the AD in very trying times for the University. While a lot of cost-cutting has been necessary for the University, he has fought to keep the AD intact and has managed his boss to ensure its importance to UM. He has kept facilities evolution on a positive trajectory with his ability to raise funds from the donors, which is not easy work.
 
kemajic said:
I find most of the KH criticisms here somewhat petty. I've had a very opposite experience in my interactions with KH. After our initial interaction he always greets me in a crowd, remembers my name and where I'm from. He's been very willing to offer answers to questions.

More importantly I have very high regard for the professional job he has done for the AD in very trying times for the University. While a lot of cost-cutting has been necessary for the University, he has fought to keep the AD intact and has managed his boss to ensure its importance to UM. He has kept facilities evolution on a positive trajectory with his ability to raise funds from the donors, which is not easy work.
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Maybe he just likes old men better. And I think you proved a point that he will engage people in a crowd but behind the scenes it’s a wee bit different.

On a more serious note though, I don’t doubt that he doesn’t do great work on what you said in your second paragraph. I agree with most of it too.
However, it’s not exactly a “petty” thing to call a guy out for not saying hi/engaging people who quite literally carry the popularity of the programs that he runs.
 
I ignored the petty comment because it takes away from the positive experience with Kent. I want to know both sides of it. Keep in mind good sir, calling other people’s experiences “petty” is the type of cunty attitude that we’re talking about. I was just curious what the majority opinion is.
 
Downwiththefoe1984 said:
I ignored the petty comment because it takes away from the positive experience with Kent. I want to know both sides of it. Keep in mind good sir, calling other people’s experiences “petty” is the type of cunty attitude that we’re talking about. I was just curious what the majority opinion is.
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Hopefully the majority does not have such a "cunty attitude."
 
Chucknduck said:
Maybe he just likes old men better. And I think you proved a point that he will engage people in a crowd but behind the scenes it’s a wee bit different.

On a more serious note though, I don’t doubt that he doesn’t do great work on what you said in your second paragraph. I agree with most of it too.
However, it’s not exactly a “petty” thing to call a guy out for not saying hi/engaging people who quite literally carry the popularity of the programs that he runs.
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Kinda reminds me of Tin Cup when the second David Simms gets off camera, he rips a heater, and acts cunty to those grandparents/grandson before insulting their dog. Wish I could find the scene.

Part of me just wanted to type “cunty,” ain’t gonna lie.
 
kemajic said:
I find most of the KH criticisms here somewhat petty. I've had a very opposite experience in my interactions with KH. After our initial interaction he always greets me in a crowd, remembers my name and where I'm from. He's been very willing to offer answers to questions.

More importantly I have very high regard for the professional job he has done for the AD in very trying times for the University. While a lot of cost-cutting has been necessary for the University, he has fought to keep the AD intact and has managed his boss to ensure its importance to UM. He has kept facilities evolution on a positive trajectory with his ability to raise funds from the donors, which is not easy work.
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So he's doing what he's paid to do, good to know.👍
 
Chucknduck said:
In regards to Haslam, I can tell a story about this guy and my first impression of him face to face. This was all I needed to not be a big supporter of his.

Back in the 18-19 basketball season, I decided to take my 11 year old son down to Boise for the basketball tournament. After a long drive we checked into the hotel and realized pretty quick that we were staying at the same hotel that the griz basketball team and company (Haslam, Sundberg and Corcoran etc) were at. Over the course of a couple days Sundberg was awesome to us by just simply acknowledging griz fans who made the trip. Corcoran was great too including Decuire and the team. However, this one instance really stood out to me. My son and I (wearing obvious Griz gear) got on the elevator and Haslam walked in. Just the 3 of us and Haslam had one hell of an opportunity to say hello and at a minimum say “hey, thanks for coming down, where did you drive/fly from.” Easy chat right? Instead he just stood there and literally didn’t say a word to us glanced at his phone a couple times. It was actually kind of awkward. My son knew who he was and even made a comment to me that he wasn’t the nicest guy. Haslam, Of all people who shouldn’t ignore folks who came to support the team, made kind of an ass of himself. First time impressions go a long way and I wasn’t impressed by the guy. Pure arrogance was how he carried himself during that time during that tournament. He could leave this job for all I care. Wouldn’t be hard to get someone better in the AD position at the U. Maybe he was distracted and had some serious gut rot in the elevator and needed a shitter ASAP. I don’t think that’s the case though.
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In a position like Kent has, I imagine he has to be "on" often. A case could be made that he's in an elevator, heading to his room, and is just simply burned out. He could have just finished interacting with a large group and needed to check out for a bit. He's human. So I don't think it's necessarily fair to judge him based on that one interaction. I could say the opposite that any time I've seen him in public, he's looked very approachable and personable. 🤷‍♂️
 
get'em_griz said:
In a position like Kent has, I imagine he has to be "on" often. A case could be made that he's in an elevator, heading to his room, and is just simply burned out. He could have just finished interacting with a large group and needed to check out for a bit. He's human. So I don't think it's necessarily fair to judge him based on that one interaction. I could say the opposite that any time I've seen him in public, he's looked very approachable and personable. 🤷‍♂️
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If he was burnt out after the basketball team had just beat the piss out of Weber and couldn’t say hello, then he isn’t cut out for the job. I figured you wouldn’t know the context since you probably weren’t in Boise. Once again, another point proven though: he’s approachable and personable in a crowd/public. This was the only time I’ve ever been within 4’ (whatever width of an elevator is 🤣) of the guy so my sample size is obviously very small but it happened so there’s that. The excuses made for this guy for not saying one word are awesome.
 
kemajic said:
Maybe anti-Mormonism is also a cult.
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Maybe so!

I should follow up by saying I do think Mormon folks are some of the best folks around, seem like great people great family people great values. I work with a bunch of them. I like them a lot. I just find their religion completely whack a doodle, it is what it is. Many people probably find my Christian religion whack a doodle. I don’t need their approval.
 
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