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From the AD's Desk

SFspidur

SFspidur

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May 5, 2003
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Hardt briefly resurfaces with one of his periodic emails. Couple of items of note on the facility front:

- 15 new LED boards coming to the RC vomitories (great word).

- Pitt Field outfield plaza and new fan entrance will start imminently. Indoor batting facility along the third-base side will start in the spring.

From The AD's Desk - University of Richmond Athletics

Greetings Spiders! As we approach Thanksgiving, a holiday season reserved for family, food, and reflection, I find so much to be thankful for. I'm grateful f...
richmondspiders.com
 
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He basically could start each of these letters with "we competed" and end it with "but look at our new facility enhancements".

If we ever win anything big under his tenure, Hardt is not gonna know how to compose his next letter. Luckily for him, that doesn't appear to be likely any time in the near future.
 
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We need a new AD seriously. We talked a four game winning streak. We have zero postseason in five years for football. Basketball talk about winning 20 games and being in the NIT. Everyone watches March Madness cause it's the biggest event during March. Compete and be somewhat relevant. Playing the Hofstra and Georgia State isn't going to generate much revenue. Saw plenty of empty seats last night against Hofstra.
 
Gospiders06 said:
We need a new AD seriously. We talked a four game winning streak. We have zero postseason in five years for football. Basketball talk about winning 20 games and being in the NIT. Everyone watches March Madness cause it's the biggest event during March. Compete and be somewhat relevant. Playing the Hofstra and Georgia State isn't going to generate much revenue. Saw plenty of empty seats last night against Hofstra.
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Yep, its madness but they have made it pretty clear they just really don't care.
 
SFspidur said:
Hardt briefly resurfaces with one of his periodic emails. Couple of items of note on the facility front:

- 15 new LED boards coming to the RC vomitories (great word).

- Pitt Field outfield plaza and new fan entrance will start imminently. Indoor batting facility along the third-base side will start in the spring.

From The AD's Desk - University of Richmond Athletics

Greetings Spiders! As we approach Thanksgiving, a holiday season reserved for family, food, and reflection, I find so much to be thankful for. I'm grateful f...
richmondspiders.com
Click to expand...
I had to look up vomitories. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assert that there’s got to be a better alternative.
 
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You guys are seriously way too negative. If you don't stop pissing on the things we do have, we'll never reach the level of success we all desire. The athletic director should be celebrating the things we have going for us, not bemoaning what we haven't accomplished yet. The fact that he mentions our accomplishments doesn't mean he is satisfied or doesn't want better accomplishments. Many of us, myself included, believe we could do better with a coaching upgrade. But I believe we are all aiming for the same goal - NCAA appearances and more conference championships. We just don't all agree with the path to get there. We would not be building topnotch practice facilities to enhance our recruiting and paying the coach top dollar if we weren't aiming high. I'm very proud of our school, our facilities, and the direction we are going. We are one team. Support our team, celebrate what we have while also aiming for something higher.
 
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mr.spider said:
You guys are seriously way too negative. If you don't stop pissing on the things we do have, we'll never reach the level of success we all desire. The athletic director should be celebrating the things we have going for us, not bemoaning what we haven't accomplished yet. The fact that he mentions our accomplishments doesn't mean he is satisfied or doesn't want better accomplishments. Many of us, myself included, believe we could do better with a coaching upgrade. But I believe we are all aiming for the same goal - NCAA appearances and more conference championships. We just don't all agree with the path to get there. We would not be building topnotch practice facilities to enhance our recruiting and paying the coach top dollar if we weren't aiming high. I'm very proud of our school, our facilities, and the direction we are going. We are one team. Support our team, celebrate what we have while also aiming for something higher.
Click to expand...

Considering half the league already had basketball practice facilities, I'd say we were playing catch up.
 
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I'm with T bone on having to look up vomitories - finding this definition -
a passage that allows people to enter or leave an auditorium or stadium.

Here;s more -

Where does the word vomitory come from?



Image result for vomitories

The Latin word vomitorium, plural vomitoria, derives from the verb vomō, vomere, "to spew forth". In ancient Roman architecture, vomitoria were designed to provide rapid egress for large crowds at amphitheatres and stadia, as they do in modern sports stadia and large theatres.

Now I understand why Hardt chose that seldom used word - there has been more than once that I left the Robins Center wanting to vomō, vomere, "to spew forth" because of a choke finish.
 
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mr.spider said:
You guys are seriously way too negative. If you don't stop pissing on the things we do have, we'll never reach the level of success we all desire. The athletic director should be celebrating the things we have going for us, not bemoaning what we haven't accomplished yet. The fact that he mentions our accomplishments doesn't mean he is satisfied or doesn't want better accomplishments. Many of us, myself included, believe we could do better with a coaching upgrade. But I believe we are all aiming for the same goal - NCAA appearances and more conference championships. We just don't all agree with the path to get there. We would not be building topnotch practice facilities to enhance our recruiting and paying the coach top dollar if we weren't aiming high. I'm very proud of our school, our facilities, and the direction we are going. We are one team. Support our team, celebrate what we have while also aiming for something higher.
Click to expand...
I honestly don't think they have NCAA appearances, football playoff very high up on their plan. I think they view it as a nice bonus that they would celebrate if we achieved it, but certainly not some prerequisite goal for our coaches or with our athletic administration strategic plan to achieve. If it was, they would have course corrected a long time ago.
 
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mr.spider said:
You guys are seriously way too negative. If you don't stop pissing on the things we do have, we'll never reach the level of success we all desire. The athletic director should be celebrating the things we have going for us, not bemoaning what we haven't accomplished yet. The fact that he mentions our accomplishments doesn't mean he is satisfied or doesn't want better accomplishments. Many of us, myself included, believe we could do better with a coaching upgrade. But I believe we are all aiming for the same goal - NCAA appearances and more conference championships. We just don't all agree with the path to get there. We would not be building topnotch practice facilities to enhance our recruiting and paying the coach top dollar if we weren't aiming high. I'm very proud of our school, our facilities, and the direction we are going. We are one team. Support our team, celebrate what we have while also aiming for something higher.
Click to expand...
While I understand your post, and would concur there's a pervasive negativity surrounding UR athletics on these boards, I think it's kind of shooting the messenger to blame the critics. Fans have been told that we are here to compete for/win championships and we're not really doing that. So those who do care, which may be a relatively small fraction of fans, are understandably aggravated.

If we are serious as a university about athletic success, then a key part of the formula is changing course when you continually fail to succeed, starting with coaching. Facilities and goals don't mean much when there's a lack of results.
 
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I'm dying to hear Hardt explain the rationale for keeping a proven loser as head football coach after five years. Maybe he will take calls the next time he's on Bob's show.
 
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97spiderfan said:
I honestly don't think they have NCAA appearances, football playoff very high up on their plan. I think they view it as a nice bonus that they would celebrate if we achieved it, but certainly not some prerequisite goal for our coaches or with our athletic administration strategic plan to achieve. If it was, they would have course corrected a long time ago.
Click to expand...

Right. So what's the point of being a fan? If winning doesn't matter to admin, how can they expect it to matter to fans?
 
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Guys, Believe me I understand the frustration. I am right there with you. I believe we can achieve so much more, and those who know me know that I desperately want it. I believe the desire for more no matter what level has been achieved is always there among a fanbase. Our message board is frustrated, and they should be. If we didn't care, why be a fan. I just want to believe the desire to achieve more success is there, and we just disagree on the path to get there. I hate when I hear some of our fans accept a moral victory. We need to expect more in order to achieve more. Stop the mentality that we are a small school and can only have limited success. So, the passion of people like this group is very important. I'm just taking a step back and realizing we are doing a lot of things right in terms of willingness to pay high dollar for a coach and build very nice facilities. We have a lot of things in place, which is why it is frustrating they aren't making the necessary changes at coaching to match our investment. But it also reassuring that we do have a lot of things in place once we do make the coaching change needed. While we are rightfully frustrated, let's at least recognize that everything is not on fire. It is actually awesome that we are mad to be only in the top 50. We should want more, and I'm glad we do. I just wouldn't expect the athletic director to come out and say we suck, we never achieve our goals, etc. I would expect him to do exactly what he does in terms of letters to the fans - highlight the achievements - and hopefully work behind the scenes to achieve more.
 
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mr.spider said:
Guys, Believe me I understand the frustration. I am right there with you. I believe we can achieve so much more, and those who know me know that I desperately want it. I believe the desire for more no matter what level has been achieved is always there among a fanbase. Our message board is frustrated, and they should be. If we didn't care, why be a fan. I just want to believe the desire to achieve more success is there, and we just disagree on the path to get there. I hate when I hear some of our fans accept a moral victory. We need to expect more in order to achieve more. Stop the mentality that we are a small school and can only have limited success. So, the passion of people like this group is very important. I'm just taking a step back and realizing we are doing a lot of things right in terms of willingness to pay high dollar for a coach and build very nice facilities. We have a lot of things in place, which is why it is frustrating they aren't making the necessary changes at coaching to match our investment. But it also reassuring that we do have a lot of things in place once we do make the coaching change needed. While we are rightfully frustrated, let's at least recognize that everything is not on fire. It is actually awesome that we are mad to be only in the top 50. We should want more, and I'm glad we do. I just wouldn't expect the athletic director to come out and say we suck, we never achieve our goals, etc. I would expect him to do exactly what he does in terms of letters to the fans - highlight the achievements - and hopefully work behind the scenes to achieve more.
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Nice post, but paragraphs are a good thing.

Glad to read of the baseball upgrades. With full funding and quality coaching, we could be a force in this sport.
 
mr.spider said:
Guys, Believe me I understand the frustration. I am right there with you. I believe we can achieve so much more, and those who know me know that I desperately want it. I believe the desire for more no matter what level has been achieved is always there among a fanbase. Our message board is frustrated, and they should be. If we didn't care, why be a fan. I just want to believe the desire to achieve more success is there, and we just disagree on the path to get there. I hate when I hear some of our fans accept a moral victory. We need to expect more in order to achieve more. Stop the mentality that we are a small school and can only have limited success. So, the passion of people like this group is very important. I'm just taking a step back and realizing we are doing a lot of things right in terms of willingness to pay high dollar for a coach and build very nice facilities. We have a lot of things in place, which is why it is frustrating they aren't making the necessary changes at coaching to match our investment. But it also reassuring that we do have a lot of things in place once we do make the coaching change needed. While we are rightfully frustrated, let's at least recognize that everything is not on fire. It is actually awesome that we are mad to be only in the top 50. We should want more, and I'm glad we do. I just wouldn't expect the athletic director to come out and say we suck, we never achieve our goals, etc. I would expect him to do exactly what he does in terms of letters to the fans - highlight the achievements - and hopefully work behind the scenes to achieve more.
Click to expand...
The fact is we don't suck. We aren't great and we aren't terrible. We're stuck in purgatory. Saw a couple of Dave Clawson interviews this fall because of Wake's early success. He talked about their team's mantra of moving from good to great. How refreshing.
 
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whampas said:
The fact is we don't suck. We aren't great and we aren't terrible. We're stuck in purgatory. Saw a couple of Dave Clawson interviews this fall because of Wake's early success. He talked about their team's mantra of moving from good to great. How refreshing.
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After the last two weekends I think Wake is back to being good.
 
MrTbone said:
While I understand your post, and would concur there's a pervasive negativity surrounding UR athletics on these boards, I think it's kind of shooting the messenger to blame the critics. Fans have been told that we are here to compete for/win championships and we're not really doing that. So those who do care, which may be a relatively small fraction of fans, are understandably aggravated.

If we are serious as a university about athletic success, then a key part of the formula is changing course when you continually fail to succeed, starting with coaching. Facilities and goals don't mean much when there's a lack of results.
Click to expand...
Agree.

Saying that "we are here to compete for/win championships" sounds more like a slogan or bumper sticker material than a mission.

Throwing lots of money at programs & retaining coaches with cushy salaries that that never get us there does not seem like a good investment. But we've been down this discussion road before. My conclusion is the ROI is really a nonexistent concept in our athletic department. Figureheads make good bank & can hang out at UR as long as under-performing coaches. All is good.
 
Wood Hall said:
After the last two weekends I think Wake is back to being good.
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Yea, are you saying Clawsons "good" is winning the ACC Atlantic and going to the ACC championship game? All he needs to make it happen is a win vs. BC. Also, he's @ Wake Forest. What he has done there is truly remarkable. He is a fantastic coach that identifies talent and develops his players.
 
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mr.spider said:
You guys are seriously way too negative. If you don't stop pissing on the things we do have, we'll never reach the level of success we all desire. The athletic director should be celebrating the things we have going for us, not bemoaning what we haven't accomplished yet. The fact that he mentions our accomplishments doesn't mean he is satisfied or doesn't want better accomplishments. Many of us, myself included, believe we could do better with a coaching upgrade. But I believe we are all aiming for the same goal - NCAA appearances and more conference championships. We just don't all agree with the path to get there. We would not be building topnotch practice facilities to enhance our recruiting and paying the coach top dollar if we weren't aiming high. I'm very proud of our school, our facilities, and the direction we are going. We are one team. Support our team, celebrate what we have while also aiming for something higher.
Click to expand...
How do you measure direction………better facilities, is that the goal? Facilities are a potential means to and end, not the end. Coaches lead teams to desirable and measurable ends…..winning. And considering the facilities 6-5 isn’t an adequate payoff
 
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Hey Hardt! Where the hell are you, Johnny boy? Hope you enjoyed this great Thanksgiving turd your coach-for-life served up for you to choke on tonight. The rest of us would like a real meal, for a change.
 
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Eight Legger said:
Hey Hardt! Where the hell are you, Johnny boy? Hope you enjoyed this great Thanksgiving turd your coach-for-life served up for you to choke on tonight. The rest of us would like a real meal, for a change.
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There’s a Regatta in the Caribbean tomorrow.
 
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“Hi Spiders the tide is up here in the Caribbean. I’m going to grab me a Bahama Mama and hit the Hyatt’s all you can eat seafood buffet. Of all days I’m quite thankful for this bountiful harvest. And if I get sick don’t worry there’s vomitories here too. It’s a wonderful time in Richmond athletics. “

- the real update from the AD’s desk.
 
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GKiller said:
“Hi Spiders the tide is up here in the Caribbean. I’m going to grab me a Bahama Mama and hit the Hyatt’s all you can eat seafood buffet. Of all days I’m quite thankful for this bountiful harvest. And if I get sick don’t worry there’s vomitories here too. It’s a wonderful time in Richmond athletics. “

- the real update from the AD’s desk.
Click to expand...
It's like ferris buellers day off!!!
 
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