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Pat Williams Defends "thug" comment in NY Times

I'm happy to see the other Regents distancing themselves from William's ridiculous comments.

It's now time for Governor Bullock to distance Mr. Williams for the BOR.
 
peterc said:
I spoke with former Congressman Pat Williams Thursday afternoon about his comments quoted in the New York Times. He defended the comments themselves, citing the many instances of criminal or alleged criminal behavior by Grizzly and former Grizzly athletes in the last year. Please read my story, listen to the interview and comment. Also, Commissioner Clayton Christian told me late Thursday afternoon that Williams' comments are his own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of the Board of Regents. Thanks...Peter Christian KGVO Radio.

http://newstalkkgvo.com/montana-regent-pat-williams-defends-thug-comment-to-new-york-times-audio/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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It is time for the Governor to remove Regent Williams from the Board. He is a detriment to the University and seems to enjoy continuing the tirade rather than letting the University move forward and focus on the positive. Is it true that the Legislature must ratify the appointment during this legislative session or has that already occurred?
 
Pat williams has been using the media to stir the pot for 40 years. With just one interview he's managed to use his position of authority as a regent and former congressman to label um athletes "thugs" just as one of those athletes goes on trial. He's made national television, national print media and all the local outlets. That's not a mistake by some boob sticking his foot in his mouth.
He's a cancer on the face of Montana and should have stayed irrelevant, had Brian Schweitzer not made Pat Williams a regent.
 
griz4life said:
Pat williams has been using the media to stir the pot for 40 years. With just one interview he's managed to use his position of authority as a regent and former congressman to label um athletes "thugs" just as one of those athletes goes on trial. He's made national television, national print media and all the local outlets. That's not a mistake by some boob sticking his foot in his mouth.
He's a cancer on the face of Montana and should have stayed irrelevant, had Brian Schweitzer not made Pat Williams a regent.
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When I moved here in the late 70s he was regarded as an up and comer in Congress and I was more liberal. Other than a couple wilderness bills he accomplished nothing in DC. Reminds me of another do nothing rep, see Denny. Dislike both is Denny worse than Pat, they both we're clueless when it counted. :roll:
 
Hey Pat,

We watch College Football to get away from narcissistic politician &^#@*$%#.

Go crawl under a rock (I mean bully pulpit) from hence you came...THUG!
 
From PW:
"and he plans to sit down with the coach to discuss ideas to help with the recruiting process in Missoula."

Wow!! Just who does PW thinks he is??? What would he know about recruiting, NCAA rules, Student athletes, coaching or Football for that matter! PW needs to be gone from the BOR and banned from having any association within the University system or as a representative of the State. Arrogance, over sized ego and he has lost all integrity with in the State and as a member of the BOR. (Not to mention conflict of interest with his association with the accused in the JJ trial).

If I was Coach Delaney, as a friend I would tell PW to stay the hell away from him and the program as I am sure they have plenty to work on and problems to address without adding PW!! Time to move forward --PW lives in the past.

my rant for the day. Sorry.
 
EverettGriz said:
I'm happy to see the other Regents distancing themselves from William's ridiculous comments.

It's now time for Governor Bullock to distance Mr. Williams for the BOR.
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Does the gov have the authority to fire regents?
 
I don't know the law in Montana but in most Board Rooms these things are handled with a "resignation". It is time for the Gov to call Pat up and and thank him for his service but that he is taking the school in a different direction and ask for Pat's resignation. Supposedly an ill-advised statement quoted by the press contributed to Pflu's dismissal. This result would at least suggest consistency.
 
Very intereesting in that Pat Willimas claims he did not know the NYT reporer would quote his comments about thugs in the article. He should know better as a former "public servant" to NEVER say anything you don't want to appear in public. Also intersting comment about the Saudi student, i have never understood why he was "allowed" to leave the country with no action taken. I am a long way from Missoula so I may well have missed something in this situation.
 
Anyone who has ever talked to the press even once would know that a reporter's job is to get their article placed and nothing sells like controversial quotes. I have talked to the press exactly once and a lot of what I said was twisted just enough without actually mis-quoting me to suggest things that were simply not true. I was a bit shocked but learned an unforgettable lesson. Pat, on the other hand, has talked to the press numerous times and knows their game. If he says that he didn't know that they would quote him then he is a liar. Or a very stupid person. Or both.
 
Griz66 said:
Very intereesting in that Pat Willimas claims he did not know the NYT reporer would quote his comments about thugs in the article. He should know better as a former "public servant" to NEVER say anything you don't want to appear in public.
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I don't think he said he didn't know he would be quoted, he said he didn't know the article would be about the JJ trial.

Also, to be clear this wasn't a NY Times reporter per se. It is a free lance journalist, based out of Helena that mostly writes about environmental issues, that sends articles to the NY Times and sometimes gets published. It wasn't like someone from New York called, identified themselves as a reporter for the Times and asked for a quote, the 2 surely knew each well as environmental activists.

I picture the conversation more like "hey Pat it's Jim Robbins. How's it going. Working on a few stories. Yeah that Balken and Keystone is a bitch. Got any ideas on how we can shut that down? How about those Mega Loads, what can we do there? By the way what is going on with the University over there in Missoula with the rape thing?". He probably also wrote a story about the destruction caused by the Balken or Kearn oil fields or Keystone pipeline or deforestation or some other such thing that would have carried a quote by Williams but the NYT didn't pick those articles up yet.
 
Pat Williams is a thug. He just used his bully pulpit to tarnish each of the hundreds of good kids who have worked hard to realize their dreams of wearing the maroon and silver, and who have been great citizens and represented Montana well, along with coaches and other officials who have worked hard to deal effectively with the bad apples and to restore the image of the Grizzly Football. Not to mention the implication of guilt and the need for extreme punishment on the eve of JJ's trial. I hope the board will remove him and he will dissolve into old politician's obscurity, where he belongs. Lets replace Williams with Jim O'Day. Here's a guy who despite being sacrificed for political reasons, continues to support the university and the football program, even as the Williams and Engstrom bus backs over him.
 
Grizbeer said:
Griz66 said:
Very intereesting in that Pat Willimas claims he did not know the NYT reporer would quote his comments about thugs in the article. He should know better as a former "public servant" to NEVER say anything you don't want to appear in public.
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I don't think he said he didn't know he would be quoted, he said he didn't know the article would be about the JJ trial.

Also, to be clear this wasn't a NY Times reporter per se. It is a free lance journalist, based out of Helena that mostly writes about environmental issues, that sends articles to the NY Times and sometimes gets published. It wasn't like someone from New York called, identified themselves as a reporter for the Times and asked for a quote, the 2 surely knew each well as environmental activists.

I picture the conversation more like "hey Pat it's Jim Robbins. How's it going. Working on a few stories. Yeah that Balken and Keystone is a bitch. Got any ideas on how we can shut that down? How about those Mega Loads, what can we do there? By the way what is going on with the University over there in Missoula with the rape thing?". He probably also wrote a story about the destruction caused by the Balken or Kearn oil fields or Keystone pipeline or deforestation or some other such thing that would have carried a quote by Williams but the NYT didn't pick those articles up yet.
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You suggest that Pat got caught talking off topic to a member of the press. If so then that is a strong indicator of the stupidity of someone who has talked to the press countless numbers of times. The era of Pat Williams as regent has passed. His departure is now just a formality.
 
Griz66 said:
Very intereesting in that Pat Willimas claims he did not know the NYT reporer would quote his comments about thugs in the article. He should know better as a former "public servant" to NEVER say anything you don't want to appear in public. Also intersting comment about the Saudi student, i have never understood why he was "allowed" to leave the country with no action taken. I am a long way from Missoula so I may well have missed something in this situation.
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Anyone who believes that BS is about as dumb as you can get. PW knew precisely what he was saying would be printed, which is why he said what he did. He is an attention whore just like that POS Schweitzer is
 
Just to clarify the process in Helena: Pat Williams was appointed to the Board of Regents by Chief Bobcat Brian Schweitzer, but his appointment must be ratified by a majority vote of the Montana Senate. That vote has not taken place. The members of the Senate, particularly the Republicans because they are in a majority, are informally asking their members if they "have problems" with any of the gubernatorial appointments. There is a long list of such appointments including all boards and agency directors.

The timing is appropriate if you would like to express an opinion on the appointment of Pat Williams to the
BOR. Contact any member of the Montana State Senate (House doesn't get to vote), and let them know your thoughts. I have certainly been expressing mine to several legislators.
 
grizfromhel said:
Just to clarify the process in Helena: Pat Williams was appointed to the Board of Regents by Chief Bobcat Brian Schweitzer, but his appointment must be ratified by a majority vote of the Montana Senate. That vote has not taken place. The members of the Senate, particularly the Republicans because they are in a majority, are informally asking their members if they "have problems" with any of the gubernatorial appointments. There is a long list of such appointments including all boards and agency directors.

The timing is appropriate if you would like to express an opinion on the appointment of Pat Williams to the
BOR. Contact any member of the Montana State Senate (House doesn't get to vote), and let them know your thoughts. I have certainly been expressing mine to several legislators.
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Here is a site that makes it easier to contact State Senators to comment on Pat Williams appointment:
http://leg.mt.gov/css/Sessions/63rd/legwebmessage.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

edit: The committee that will consider PW for the BOR is the Education and Cultural Research Committee. The on-line comment form allows you to select a committee, and the message will go to all members. or you could contact the individual members directly:

Education and Cultural Resources
M, W, F; 3 p.m.; Rm 303
Peterson, Jim (R - Ch)
Jones, Llew (R – V Ch)
Arntzen, Elsie (R)
Brown, Taylor (R)
Driscoll, Robyn (D)
Facey, Tom (D)
Lewis, Dave (R)
Moore, Eric (R)
Stewart-Peregoy, Sharon (D)
Windy Boy, Jonathan (D)
Secretary: Elizabeth Whiting, Rm 321, (406) 444-
7363
Staff: Pad McCracken (LSD), Research An
 
If you want to publicly express your feelings about Pat Williams, do as I have and comment on the Billings Gazette articles below:

http://billingsgazette.com/news/sta...cle_f57b8323-fe0d-5f25-b8de-74d0a3029b0b.html

[urlhttp://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/trial-in-um-rape-case-begins-with-jury-selection/article_57b84ede-de9b-5df6-af5e-87c4068de80b.html][/url]

Overwhelming public comments carry considerably more weight than private comments.
 
For me, none of PW's explanation passes the smell test. Pat has been in the public eye for going well over 40 years and has been interviewed hundreds of times. For him to come out and suggest that he didn't know a statement about thugs at a state university football program would not make a story is either complete insensitivity or senility, maybe both.

Whether he knew that the article was going to be about the Johnson trial or not is irrelevant. Anytime thugs and football, (for that matter any sports), are used in the same sentence in this day and age it's going to be reported on.
 
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