"...outreach and communicating strategy is vital to any support base...." @BackInTheBurg posted a photo earlier of WB at the game last night. Kind of epitomizes, pictorially, the lack of outreach and communication from our AthDept. Some posters referred to the picture as "sad," with which I have to agree. Sad for WB, sad for the MBB program, sad for the fans and sad for the donors. Sands issues a statement re: revenue sharing, and we get "cricket city" from the AthDept. We get nothing re: the implementation of the new state law re: NIL. We get nothing re: revenue sharing. We get NOTHING. As I posted on here a couple of days ago, I remember an instance when Babcock addressed the public about situational concerns when CFJ was here, and lost to Duke in football, badly. The next day there was an open MBB practice, and Whit addressed those in attendance about that being unacceptable. So, we know he CAN and HAS done it, but yet he chooses to not address it. Why? My only nit-pick with your post is "As currently constructed, we are a reactive athletic department." We aren't even reactive. I'm on record predicting that nothing is going to change, and as it looks right now, it would seem I'll be accurate. And, like you, I'm not even talking about coaching staffs. And, as long as donors keep donating, ticket sales remain high, and fans keep showing up as backdrops, where is the impetus to change? As an aside, my wife keeps asking why the band keeps moving where they sit for MBB games. It's because they need a backdrop for TV. The current AthDept, as configured, epitomizes the Billy Crystal "Fernando Lamas" character: "It is better to look good than be good." I know I'm a constant critic of Whit and the AthDept. I am guilty as charged. But the current state of affairs would seem to substantiate my criticism. As you said, "...outreach and communicating strategy is vital to any support base...." And we know WB is capable of doing it, supra. So why the extended "cricket city?" The only conclusion I can arrive at is HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! Like I said about the picture posted by BackintheBurg, it's just sad. ** Edited by saret at 11/21/2024, 12:35:56 PM