Orsini's job status

[George S. Patton]

Let me remind many what the original said post because some of you have it in for me to the point that reading comprehension gets lost.

I said his status should be called into question if those things happen. Obviously if things pick up then he's not going anywhere. As for our academic restrictions, help me understand but weren't many convinced and wasn't it pretty much the defining point if Jones was even going to come here? So thank you June Jones and Steve Orsini?

Did we really believe men's bb was going to be in this state? That said I do think they can be far better this year.

As for the fundraising for Crum - I contributed and many of you got involved -- and the tennis courts, has anyone seen dirt being moved around lately. Does that mean we're on the planning stages or us everything on hold because of the economy?

I also said that his tenure his tenure has been a failure to this point. Ok that might be a little strong but would anyone say that BASED ON WHAT WE HAVE SEEN TO THIS POINT, can we honestly say we were expecting to see what we have seen? I think many thought it would be far better. And if you don't think so then you're not being honest with yourself.

I've called for Doherty's head because he's been a washout and he's a jerk. This is the year ge either gets it done or he leaves. I've called for Sieferts head because they've done nothing in her 14 years here. I actually care enough about that program to post on it. Many of you don't care about the volleyball program. But yet the over sensitive ones believe I shouldn't go there.

That said I do not plan on turning my football season tickets anytime soon and I plan on maintaing my membership in the Mustang Club. Some of you call me negative and pessimistic. That's fine. Believe what you want to believe. I prefer to tell it like I see it. If you don't agree that's up to you.

I want our athletic programs to reach better heights. I'm concerned that we MAY not be on the right path to get there.

[Mexmustang]

Sometimes Orsini does some things that won't work or seem silly...but, I also don't know if the decision is his or someone else's. (The latest is moving the fraternity tailgates away from the stadium...at any other school they are the closest).

He has raised money, hired a football coach no one said we could attract, built and funded Crum center. Perhaps he has mishired at basketball, and m & w soccer? But, please remember what quality we have had at that position over the last 24 years. Steve is light years ahead.

I doubt he has much patience for failure and "heads will roll" if improvement is not made. He doesn't seem the type to allow mismanagement to persist very long. He does have to prove that when he choses a coach that he is patient enough to honor the contract and give the coach the support and time he deserves to try to succeed, if only to attract future candidates. Furthermore, he is still operating under the limitations of our athletic budget, an economy that makes funding the entire university a challenge and the ever watchful magnifying glass of many of our faculty leaders. The same can be said for President Turner.

I have a feeling that even today Turner has to tread carefully when dealing with the faculty committees. I only wonder if he understands the political strength he would garner from a much broader alumni base if we won a bowl game or went to the "sweet sixteen" in basketball. Both Orsini and Turner would finally have the overwelming support to overcome the pressure from our faculty and properly rebalance the governance of our university.

[Mexmustang]

George, what the hell are doing up a this hour worrying about Orsini?

[OC Mustang]

Yeah...GSP, what the hell WERE you doing up that late worrying about Orsini? Bored?

I have to say that I get mildly tickled when you carry on about this or that, and I would gently suggest to those who are new or relatively new to the board that he carries on sometimes just to get your dander up.

That said, I would also point out that I used to read pretty pointed comments about Copeland when he was at SMU. What is interesting is that with every incremental change...check that...perceived change...in SMU's football or basketball program, one or more of us on the board breathe fresh air and issue our own emotional reprieve. "Maybe next year." "It will take 4-5 years." "It takes time...several recruiting classes, etc." Everybody has a different comfort level, but by and large, this is true.

IMHO, for GSP (and frankly, although less so for me, but it's waning), patience has simply run out. For others...lots of others, that threshold has come and gone a decade ago or more. Jones talks about having to change the losing mindset. Bennett talked about that. Copeland talked about that. Here's the tough truth: changing the "culture of losing" is accomplished by one thing...winning. Not moral victories...and not close ones. I'm not saying I don't enjoy a good "close one"; I do. However, IMHO, SMU has reached a point where the urgent has become the enemy of the important.

I don't know if the answer is yet another change in administration personnel...or coaches...or what...but again, IMHO, we've wandered around this, forgive me the plagarism, "assclown circus" long enough. SMU needs to win more than it loses...period.

[ontheedgeofmyseat]

GSP..did your kid give you this while eating your Captain Crunch? Orsini will leave us long before we leave him. His job standing is SOLID, as it should be...

[George S. Patton]

OC is right because he knows me. I am running out of patience with this athletic department because of the long history of crap I've been watching -- and that goes beyond off the field.

[jimhagle]

It's no picnic trying to hire "quality" coaches around here and hasn't been till Steve O came in. All he can do is try to get the best he can and for the most part he has. Does that equate to success-obviously not always but the guy has tried harder than anyone else.

[Fresh]

I rarely agree with Gomer, because most of his posts are ill-conceived rants thrown out there solely for the sake of shock value and frequently offer little in the way of factual basis. But his arguments have at least some validity this time.

Football is very much improved, even if we don't win another game this year — which we will, even if not tonight. There have been a lot of changes in the way the program is being run, and Coach Jones is starting to collect the talent he needs to operate his system. Football, for the first time in 20 years, is headed in the right direction.

Men's basketball has been a major disappointment. Unless Paul McCoy becomes Superman or the JUCO signees are better than advertised (has anyone seen them play?), it's legitimately possible that the trend will continue, but it's not likely Coach Doherty will be fired because he has another year on his contract after this year and the athletic department can't (or won't) buy him out to pay another coach.

The soccer teams have both underachieved in comparison to the talent on the rosters. There is no evidence we're any closer to seeing the return of men's track.

There has been no mention (at least that I've heard) of the proposed fund raising for a new natatorium that would allow our excellent coaches to compete in recruiting. The job Coach Collins, Coach Sinnott and Coach Stillson (diving) have done in an antiquated facility is nothing short of remarkable.

The entire marketing department was eliminated in what presumably was a budget-cutting move, as were the jobs of numerous other loyal support staff in several departments. Apparently the marketing budget also was cut (or perhaps eliminated entirely?), as there are no billboards or ads on radio or in print anywhere around town.

I'm not suggesting Steve-O should go yet, because he nothing can be fixed overnight (or even in three years, apparently), but Gomer's points here are not entirely without merit and shouldn't be dismissed without consideration.

[that's great raplh]

Yes, at least. This is the dumbest post i have seen in a long time.

Slapping incident and removal from command

The "slapping incident", which occurred on August 3, 1943[15] nearly ended Patton's career. The matter became known after newspaper columnist Drew Pearson revealed it on his November 21 radio program, reporting that General Patton had been "severely reprimanded" as a result.[16] Allied Headquarters denied that Patton had been reprimanded, but confirmed that Patton had slapped a soldier. In fact, two soldiers had been assaulted in separate incidents.[17]

According to witnesses, General Patton was visiting patients at a military hospital in Sicily, and came upon a 24-year-old soldier named Charles H. Kuhl, who was weeping. Patton asked "What's the matter with you?" and the soldier replied, "It's my nerves, I guess. I can't stand shelling." Patton "thereupon burst into a rage" and "employing much profanity, he called the soldier a 'coward'" and ordered him back to the front. As a crowd gathered, including the hospital's commanding officer, the doctor who had admitted the soldier, and a nurse, Patton then "struck the youth in the rear of the head with the back of his hand". Reportedly, the nurse "made a dive toward Patton, but was pulled back by a doctor" and the commander intervened. Patton went to other patients, then returned and berated the soldier again.[18]

When General Eisenhower learned of the incident, he ordered Patton to make amends, after which, it was reported, "Patton's conduct then became as generous as it had been furious," and he apologized to the soldier "and to all those present at the time,"[19] After the film Patton was released in 1970, Charles H. Kuhl recounted the story and said that Patton had slapped him across the face and then kicked him as he walked away. "After he left, they took me in and admitted me in the hospital, and found out I had malaria," Kuhl noted, adding that when Patton apologized personally (at Patton's headquarters) "He said he didn't know that I was as sick as I was." Kuhl, who later worked as a sweeper for Bendix Corporation in Mishawaka, Indiana, added that Patton was "a great general" and added that "I think at the time it happened, he was pretty well worn out himself."[20] Kuhl died on January 24, 1971.[21]

Kuhl's parents had avoided mention of the matter "because they did not wish to make trouble for General Patton."[22] Eisenhower thought of sending Patton home in disgrace, as many newspapers demanded, but after consulting with George Marshall, Eisenhower decided to keep Patton in the European theater, though without a major command. This decision was not made by Patton's slapping incident alone, but also on confirmed intelligence that the Germans believed Patton would be leading the Allied assault into Nazi-held territory.[23] Eisenhower used Patton's "furlough" as a trick to mislead the Germans as to where the next attack would be, since Patton was the general the German High Command believed would lead the attack. During the ten months Patton was relieved of duty, his prolonged stay in Sicily was interpreted by the Germans as an indication of an upcoming invasion of southern France. Later, a stay in Cairo was viewed as heralding an invasion through the Balkans. German intelligence misinterpreted what happened and made faulty plans as a result.

In the months before the June 1944 Normandy invasion, Patton gave public talks as commander of the fictional First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG), which was supposedly intending to invade France by way of Calais. This was part of a sophisticated Allied campaign of military disinformation, Operation Fortitude. The Germans misallocated their forces as a result, and were slow to respond to the actual landings at Normandy.

In a story recounted by Professor Richard Holmes, just three days before D-Day, during a reception in the London Ritz Hotel, Patton shouted across a crowded reception in the direction of Eisenhower "I'll see you in Calais!", much to the consternation of all those around him. The ploy appears to have worked as reports of overnight troop movements north from Normandy were detected by Bletchley Park code decrypts.

[orguy]

It's no picnic trying to hire "quality" coaches around here and hasn't been till Steve O came in. All he can do is try to get the best he can and for the most part he has. Does that equate to success-obviously not always but the guy has tried harder than anyone else.

Agreed. Not Steve O's fault.

JJ and his dedication to BLM is baffling. Running off Willis looks more and more like a bad decision. This program could have used a few wins last year even if he was not the perfect "system" quarterback. The guy was talented. Wins build confidence and potential recruits notice.

Some of the points Patton makes are valid but I think Orsini is trying. He had great success at UCF so he is as good as anyone in attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I am sure he is upset as anyone on this board.

Turner understands the equation. For the university to move forward its important we build at least "competitive" athletic programs.

[ponyscott]

Thatgreat Ralph.......WTF? ...that was amazing total nonsense.....I am going to get a shot of resposado and hit the hay.....I hope that WW 2 rant won't give me nightmares.....geez...