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Mel Tucker killed my love of college athletics

Bill Cody said:
RG is a competitive dude. He feels like (legitimately so) he was ****ed over by someone that he trusted and wanted. Competitors fight back.

I would not be surprised in the least if this caused RG to overreact (in a good way) and raise more money to bring a splash HC hire to the table. Despite our current feelings, we are an attractive location for coaches again. Good facilities, good young roster, increasing support, a down conference as a whole.

@dio I felt very similar to you as stated in your well written OP. But I encourage you to wait and see how CU reacts to getting ****ed before checking out. Just my 2 cents
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He's gonna hire D'Antonio and dominate the P12.
 
patebuff said:
This has been college sports for a while now. It just so happened to be CU on the bad end of the stick this time.

CU needs to position themselves into a conference (BIG/SEC) that gives themselves a chance, or find a mega donor like Phil Knight. The Pac 12 is trash and will continue to be. Being 100 million dollars behind in the next 4-5 years will be too late.
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Respectfully, I completely disagree. I have some questions about where all of this is headed, and even where it is right now:

How much money do we have as a program to have to earn the right not to be lied to?
At what point are the resources at CU not "less than somewhere else"?
How big a poison-pill does CU need to insert into long-term contracts to ensure someone is "enthused" to continue to work for us?
How big a contractual buy-out would disincentivize big programs from poaching coaches from smaller programs?
Won't Nike, Knight, and other big donors always be able to buy-out our coaches?
Is the NCAA at all interested in creating a level-playing field, a competitive playing field, or does the cash always ensure the cow is happy?
So coaches can contract hop for millions of dollars, to direct detriment of their student-athletes, but the actual people on the field, doing the work, aren't owed anything? (Oh. Right. An "education." I think they really got one today.)
What does the word "genuine" mean anymore and does it presume the suffix "for now"?
What does the word "committed" mean anymore, and should spouses rationally plan on keeping a dating profile ready to go at all times?
How can someone claim to have integrity mere hours after bailing on kids he explicitly promised he wouldn't?
How quickly will future recruits forget this person flat out lied to get other recruits to sign their NLI?

Finally. How much is enough?

He screwed people he told he loved, moments ago. Guess what? He didn't have to.

Here's a funny thought: many of us would consider that we hit it bigtime, maybe give up working, find a quiet place to sit back and enjoy life if we ever won the lottery, right? How much would that be for? A million dollars? Five millions dollars? Ten?

This guy was guaranteed $14 million dollars over five years. That's winning the lottery.

SOOO DO NOT GIVE ME, "Hey, he did this for his family." BULL******* FR****** SH******!!!!

There are millions and millions of "families" that care for their kids and survive their entire lives never getting anywhere CLOSE to that income for their lifetimes, much less for one job.

The word greed is not big enough or complex enough to encompass where all of this is headed, or even where it is.
 
GawainBuff said:
Respectfully, I completely disagree. I have some questions about where all of this is headed, and even where it is right now:

How much money do we have as a program to have to earn the right not to be lied to?
At what point are the resources at CU not "less than somewhere else"?
How big a poison-pill does CU need to insert into long-term contracts to ensure someone is "enthused" to continue to work for us?
How big a contractual buy-out would disincentivize big programs from poaching coaches from smaller programs?
Won't Nike, Knight, and other big donors always be able to buy-out our coaches?
Is the NCAA at all interested in creating a level-playing field, a competitive playing field, or does the cash always ensure the cow is happy?
So coaches can contract hop for millions of dollars, to direct detriment of their student-athletes, but the actual people on the field, doing the work, aren't owed anything? (Oh. Right. An "education." I think they really got one today.)
What does the word "genuine" mean anymore and does it presume the suffix "for now"?
What does the word "committed" mean anymore, and should spouses rationally plan on keeping a dating profile ready to go at all times?
How can someone claim to have integrity mere hours after bailing on kids he explicitly promised he wouldn't?
How quickly will future recruits forget this person flat out lied to get other recruits to sign their NLI?

Finally. How much is enough?

He screwed people he told he loved, moments ago. Guess what? He didn't have to.

Here's a funny thought: many of us would consider that we hit it bigtime, maybe give up working, find a quiet place to sit back and enjoy life if we ever won the lottery, right? How much would that be for? A million dollars? Five millions dollars? Ten?

This guy was guaranteed $14 million dollars over five years. That's winning the lottery.

SOOO DO NOT GIVE ME, "Hey, he did this for his family." BULL******* FR****** SH******!!!!

There are millions and millions of "families" that care for their kids and survive their entire lives never getting anywhere CLOSE to that income for their lifetimes, much less for one job.

The word greed is not big enough or complex enough to encompass where all of this is headed, or even where it is.
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It does have a sociopathic taint to it. Mel was already a wealthy man. It is hard to understand, at least for me. I probably will never see anything like that kind of money, so that whole "I made the decision that was best for my family" is kind of a crock.

At some point, there has to be something that isn't for sale...at least if you still have a soul.

I would love to have somebody come by and offer me 2x what I make, but if I had to turn everything I had said over the last few days, weeks or months into a lie to get it, I like to think I would not do it.

Truth is, I probably never be confronted with that scenario.
 
TSchekler said:
McMurphy the only guy out there defending Tucker. Doesn't have a clue what actually is the problem...
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So. Let's get this straight.

This is all ok, because: MT could be fired at some point down the road? And where would loss of such a job leave him, poor soul?

He would only be able to fall back on the terms of his $14 million dollar, multi-year contract with whatever buy-out CU would have to pay him. Yes. That does suck. Failing down into millions of dollars. I can totally see that point: He should be free to lie, misrepresent, defraud, and breach any contract he signs because.... Wait.. what was the reason again? Oh yea. He could lose his job someday.

Does this logic apply to all employees everywhere or just the really wealthy ones? It certainly doesn't apply to the student-athletes.

Wait. So Mr. McMurphy is actually arguing that lying is an economic good? Apparently, it's beneficial to seek a market system which incentivizes lies and deceit, in which contracts have no weight for those with big money?

But somehow the people who are "wrong" are the people who are freely expressing their distaste for his lies, dishonesty, duplicity, and greed? Or are only people with tons of money, who can bypass the terms of contracts, allowed to make assertions as to their displeasure with such conduct? We are, after all, just the random, thoughtless unwashed masses of the public.... or - you know - fans...

Perhaps, Mr. McMurphy misunderstands the scope of what money protects. Perhaps, he should be made aware that our opinions as to MT's conduct cannot be diminished or silenced by his purported status or personal conceits.

But in the end, all we have is our voice. Mr. McMurphy might try not to be so condescending when we chose to use it, as it doubtless will not affect his ilk.
 
dio said:
It isn't CU... it is college athletics. It isn't fun to invest in at this point in time. The money has gotten out of control and poisoned it for me. I love the Buffs, but I don't enjoy watching the University struggle just to be mediocre year after year - not when the deck is stacked against them.
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Sooooo this. Money has ruined this sport for me. Because of it, there is zero chance we could ever compete for a national title ever again IMO.

The chasm between the haves and have nots has been bad enough...this just highlights how bad it its. Just base divisions on HC salary or AD budget...no one gives a **** anymore about rivalries...unless it's a money maker.
 
@dio Your post perfectly sums up my feelings when I saw my phone at 5AM. I’m truly over it, all of it. Then around noon I decided to say **** Mel Tucker and remember that I supported CU. Is this bull****? Yes. But there are still good, talented young men in that locker room that came here to represent us as a university. We need to support them because they’re the only thing that matters at this point.

College football is ****ed though.
 
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I was on the fence last night about renewing my FB tix when the news broke. Not any more. I’m in again.

It is about the players having a stage in which to showcase their skills. It’s about sharing game days with friends in Boulder and on college campuses around the nation. It’s about the entertainment provided by freak athletes performing at amazing levels in the ultimate team game. It’s about love of football.

Sure big money that is allocated disproportionately amongst contenders creates an uneven playing field. Sure, the probability of CU landing a spot in the CFB is slim into the foreseeable future. Sure it hurts to be lied to by the highest paid employee in the state of Colorado. There is a lot wrong with the current structure.

But there is a lot right, too. Watching Laviska put a nail in the coffin of Nebraska twice still makes me smile. Having the opportunity to get to watch the seniors finish what they started is still exciting. Seeing who will be the next Sefo or Taz or Dizon or Wheatley, or Slash or PRich or any other fan fav remains a fall priority.

Paying respects to those memorialized in the legacy brick walk outside of Folsom is a part of my journey and my passion. Just as is a slice of pizza on the hill after a victory.

Tucker screwed us, yeah. And the deck is stacked in a way that elevates the spending power of Purdue, Vandy, Maryland, Rutgers, and Arkansas over dear ol’ CU.

Ultimately money corrupts people, and it certainly brought out the greed in Tucker. But it didn’t poison my love for a pass time that includes Ralphie, freak athletes who will ultimately play on Sunday, and a social environment that lets me yell and stomp and cheer in a way that is simply unacceptable in my home and at the office.

I can’t wait to see this new class of Buffs shine. I’m still all in.

Good riddance Mel. Good luck to Rick finding our 27th HC, may he be the best yet.
 
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GawainBuff said:
The Brilliance of My Cat



This is exactly how I felt when I awoke this morning, too. Major dick punch. It actually has made me sick to my stomach.

I have been sitting here watching my cat throw kitty litter from his box trying to set up a better place to go inside what is clearly too small a box for him. It seemed like he was making a statement, and it smelled really bad. But, he's a cat. This is what he does in response to not being able to go outside during this two-week window when he has to take meds to stay alive. Of course, I'd be upset too if I was suddenly relegated in a tiny world for reasons I didn't understand, when I'd become used to living in a big world, especially if I had to learn to go in a box instead of anywhere I wanted.

A neighbor dropped by to say hello, pick up her mail. My cat ran away from her and hid under the bed, even though the door was open and freedom presented itself. I sat down to do some work, and my cat reappeared, and found a place curled up at my feet. He didn't want anything in particular, just preferred to be close by.

Not all cats are loyal, I suppose. Not all cats prefer to live outdoors. I imagine most cats really don't like being forced to use a litter box. But, that's where the crap has to go; it's just the rules inside the house.

I think cats even have a form of ethics. When playing with other cats, they don't fully extend their claws; it's just playing, and it's not real danger. Amazingly, when my cat plays with me, he's incredibly careful not to scratch or bite too hard. Sometimes I play with him while wearing an oven mitt, so that he can really dig in and do some solid biting and clawing. The fascinating part about my cat is that as soon as his paw feels my arm and not the oven mitt, he pulls in his claws so he won't scratch me. He seems to have a sense of right and wrong, good and bad, what can be torn apart and what shouldn't be. I respect him greatly for that.

We have only had this cat for about three years, since he appeared in our back yard. It took a while, but we think of him as our cat now. Yet, my cat has a chance to leave us almost every day, when I let him outside. But everyday he comes back, he likes us and has made our home his home. Sometimes, he just appears at the back door, meowing asking to come in, only to walk straight through to the front door and back outside again. That's how family works.

I think my cat has a sense of loyalty. I think my cat has a sense of ethics and fair play. But, he's just a cat, and if someone else offered him mountains of fresh tuna day in and day out, maybe he'd leave and follow the strong pull of his most powerful, instinctual urges. That much tuna could be an unfair distraction.

I wouldn't fault him for doing so, if he did, though it would be dick punch, too.

I'm very sure my cat doesn't have an understanding of my emotional needs. He also never promised me he'd stay, even though my wife and I just spent thousands of dollars on his recent hospital stay. Ultimately, my cat has never lied to me. He is his own cat and will do what he wants. He didn't mislead me into feeding him, caring for him, hospitalizing him just so he might someday follow the allure of greater tuna. I have always known that was a possibility.

My cat couldn't possibly conceive of the pain he would cause me if he left, and I know my cat would never purposefully hurt me or anyone in my family.

Some cats are different from others, I suppose; but it almost always smells really bad when they leave a big crap in a small box.
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I can’t believe I read your whole cat story.
 
dio said:
I checked my phone as I was falling asleep night and was bowled over by the news that Mel Tucker was leaving CU to take the head coaching gig at Michigan State.

A week ago, it was leaked that Mel Tucker was interviewing for the position at MSU – but ultimately he removed is name from consideration. He announced his choice via Tweet, he joined Rick George on a major booster tour along the California coast. He spent all of Tuesday on radio shows reiterating his vision for CU football. He spent Tuesday night with boosters in Boulder sharing and committing to the University.

Two hours later, Mel Tucker quit. Two hours later, Mel Tucker left his word at the door and screwed over a host of recruits who a mere seven days prior signed their National Letter of Intent to play football at the University of Colorado.

Mel Tucker killed my last vestige of hope and love for college athletics.

It is reported that Tucker is essentially getting his salary and budget doubled to coach at MSU. My rational side understands that it is appropriate for him to take that opportunity. I mean who wouldn’t?

At the same time, it is important to have operate on some moral and ethical basis. Money can’t excuse your behavior. Spending four days lying through your teeth to an Athletic Director who has tried his best with the resources available to set you up for success is not ok. Lying through your teeth to fans who come and spend hard-earned money on tickets, gear and donations is not ok. Lying through your teeth to student-athletes who make major life decisions based on what you say to them, is not ok.

What Mel Tucker did last night is not normal. It is not normal to lose head coaches in the middle of February. To every media member who has spent this morning chiding CU fans for ‘not getting the business of college football’ – you can f right off. We all get it, but what just occurred is not how the business should operate.

But Mel Tucker is the symptom of a growing problem in college athletics. There is a huge disparity in the resources that individual schools can put into the game. Some schools are funded by a single mega-donor, like Oregon. Other schools are the beneficiaries of being the center-point of their community and a regional power. Most schools are doing what they can on limited budgets.

We are also now seeing the disparity in conferences overall. So while Ohio State and Rutgers might have a huge disparity in funding at their schools individually, they are both receiving nearly $40MM dollars from their media deal. This is stretching and stratifying the college football world.

It has destroyed my love for college football.

Most of the major sports in the United States have figured out that leaving a fanbase without hope year in and year out will eventually kill the entire sport. They have devised a variety of systems to level the playing field – from a yearly draft to salary caps. College football has none of those things, and the difference between the have and have nots is increasing.

CU is a have not. The entire western half of the United States is a have not. Major programs from the fabric of college football history are now have nots – including USC, UCLA, Washington and of course Colorado. There are differences within the conference and the level that these schools are have nots, but all these schools are on some level a have not due the stratification and money that has plagued this sport.

But it isn’t just college football. CU is lucky to have found a coach of the quality of Tad Boyle. Someone committed to the University despite its limitations. But college basketball is plagued by corruption of its own, with numerous blue blood programs cheating and tilting the playing field to their advantage. And why wouldn’t they? The punishment is so light that most of the schools haven’t missed a beat. Why wouldn’t you cheat in that situation?

The unequal playing field even exists in pro-sports. The Houston Astros blatantly cheated their way to a World Series, and are receiving practically no punishment for it. They still get their championship. The New England Patriots have cheated for the better part of 20 years, and while they have received punishment, they are still allowed to keep a cabinet full of championships.

Where does this all leave me as a fan?

It leaves me utterly hopeless.

Some want to blame the CU administration, or the faculty, or the Board of Regents. But CU wasn’t the problem in all this. We wanted facilities – the facilities were built. We wanted a high-end coaching candidate. We got a high-end coaching candidate. We wanted a new focus on recruiting. We got a greatly increased and modernized recruiting operation with staff. We wanted looser admission requirements. We received that. Perhaps the only place we didn’t get what we wanted was the salary pool for assistants… and that is right to put at the feet of CU for bungling the Mac buyout.

But the CU stepped up as best it could, despite the protests of some on the Board of Regents.

And none of it mattered. Mel Tucker still lied and still left to go to a middling Big 10 program.

So why should I care? Why should I spend the next 50 years of my life watching a sport that I used to love get destroyed? Why should I care when the best I can hope for is a once a decade run to the Top 10? Why should I care when my school can do most things right, and still not even remotely compete.

Mel Tucker killed something in me last night. Something that Jon Embree and Dan Hawkins couldn’t even kill. Mel Tucker killed my love of college athletics.
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The more I think about this situation, the more I agree with @dio. I will bet the games because they’re lucrative, but my passion level has taken a major hit.
 
Mike Bohn took care of my unbridled passion for CU athletics and CU football. I went from being totally bonkers about the Buffs to more of a casual fan. I still love and cheer for the Buffs but it does not impact me the way it did at one time. Part of it may be getting older and putting what is important in my life into perspective.

I still want the best for CU and wish more of the people had the passion I did at one time.
 
How Mel could have handled it. RG, my old employer just called and offered me X. Can you help me stay here? I’d like to do this for my staff and this see if you can do anything for me. Unfortunately they are on a sort fuze and I need to get back to them. If RG comes through, agent leaks the millions he left on the table and creates a ton of loyalty from fans and players.
Instead he went on a press tour and lied to all of them making them all feel a little bit of the betrayal all of the kids and their families are feeling in a market that is a lot bigger than Lansing . So his agent got him paid while maximizing the impact of people they pissed off.
This situation plays out several times a year. MT burned a lot of bridges when he could have been building them.
 
pcbuff said:
How Mel could have handled it. RG, my old employer just called and offered me X. Can you help me stay here? I’d like to do this for my staff and this see if you can do anything for me. Unfortunately they are on a sort fuze and I need to get back to them. If RG comes through, agent leaks the millions he left on the table and creates a ton of loyalty from fans and players.
Instead he went on a press tour and lied to all of them making them all feel a little bit of the betrayal all of the kids and their families are feeling in a market that is a lot bigger than Lansing . So his agent got him paid while maximizing the impact of people they pissed off.
This situation plays out several times a year. MT burned a lot of bridges when he could have been building them.
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Retaining Tucker would have been the *stabilizing* decision. Would it be the right decision though in terms of the cost?

We dont really know for sure if he's going to be a consistent sub .500 coach, above .500 coach, conference champ perennial contender, top25 perennial, top10 perennial. Or if he'll even be a flash in the pan.

Remember that were talking about a guy with ONE year only as a HC. To pay that kind of money to a rookie HC would be risky. It's either genius but more likely stupidity to do so. The Risk Reward calculus got much more difficult. Do we know that RG didnt pass on matching?
 
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