From the Desk of Wren Baker

MeanGreen_MBA · March 3, 2017

13 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

I may just go myself. I'm buying TCU basketball season tickets next year. Unlike so many in this fan base, they care about winning and losing.

And here is a hint. Prepare to be underwhelmed by this basketball hire. Then again, underwhelmed is fine wth you.

You do realize that UNT has made it to the NCAA's twice since TCU last made it???? I am sure they will be happy to have your ticket purchases over there...

GreenN'walinsVet · March 3, 2017

Just now, UNT90 said:

Funny, because that's what the UNT AD is RIGHT NOW.

Other than firing people YOU feel should have lost their job. What problems exist in the AD Department since Wren took over?

KingDL1 · March 3, 2017

1 minute ago, UNTFan23 said:

Coming out with the "fire all the people" guns ablazing is not a good way to gain the trust of those who report to you. If you're fine with a completely dysfunctional department that you are constantly having to back and clean up behind then by all means, clean house and suffer through all the problems you created.

It depends on the situation and this one was one that needed a good house cleaning. I could not disagree with you more and this can be a very good approach if done right and again needed.

UNTFan23 · March 3, 2017

Just now, KingDL1 said:

It depends on the situation and this one was one that needed a good house cleaning. I could not disagree with you more and this can be a very good approach if done right and again needed.

OK, so what if the house cleaning ends up being detrimental to the ability of providing just basic services? Things like answering phones and emails in a timely manner? The NT AD isn't a big department and there are only so many people available to fill in temporarily until the holes are filled. If you let too many people go at once you risk burning out your remaining staff who then don't perform at their best.

If you're fine with a rough first year or two while the department recovers from letting a group of employees go then the people that called for the house cleaning shouldn't complain when there are bumps along the way.

UNT90 · March 3, 2017

14 minutes ago, GreenN'walinsVet said:

Other than firing people YOU feel should have lost their job. What problems exist in the AD Department since Wren took over?

Well, let's see:

They still don't answer the main telephone number for tickets. You know, the one the casual fan would find on the internet and call.

The one basketball game I went to, it took 15 minutes to buy a ticket by credit card. Hint: there wasn't a line. It was like a credit card was new technology.

UNTLifer · March 3, 2017

11 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Coming out with the "fire all the people" guns ablazing is not a good way to gain the trust of those who report to you. If you're fine with a completely dysfunctional department that you are constantly having to back and clean up behind then by all means, clean house and suffer through all the problems you created.

I could not agree more. Some on here have reached the point where they have a "devil may care attitude" about things, but that doesn't change the fact that there is a way to conduct yourself in the business world. If Baker had come in "guns a-blazin'" he would have made a few on here happy, one that now supports another university's basketball program, but what does that solve? Maybe his evaluation discovered that the P&P's RV had in place were hindering some of the employee's performance. Truth is, we don't know and we won't ever know because it isn't our business. Nothing in Baker's short tenure has me thinking we have the second coming of RV. He is evaluating, putting plans in place, and is some cases, already moving ahead with improvements. Change just for the sake of change and to pacify a few is detrimental to the long-term health of any business. Establish clearly defined expectations, communicate these to all staff creating accountability and then act accordingly.

VideoEagle · March 3, 2017

7 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Coming out with the "fire all the people" guns ablazing is not a good way to gain the trust of those who report to you. If you're fine with a completely dysfunctional department that you are constantly having to back and clean up behind then by all means, clean house and suffer through all the problems you created.

Absolutely correct! There are dozens of examples of how a "fire'em all" approach simply does not work well in the real world. It might make outsiders happy briefly, but they will soon be unhappy again when the department fails again because everyone left is worried about yet another mass firing.

You can't publicly "hint" that people are going to loose their jobs no matter what they do from now on and expect anyone in a department to actually improve their work. Furthermore firing someone because they followed the instructions of the previous manager makes in highly unlikely you are going to get quality applicants to fill that position. You simply can't hide things like that in today's world as you could in the 1960s.

I know a lot of people want to get rid of Bedford. I want him gone as well. But making management decisions based on revenge for the way a previous manager worked is simply stupid, And it's especially dumb in 2917.

UNT90 · March 3, 2017

22 minutes ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

You do realize that UNT has made it to the NCAA's twice since TCU last made it???? I am sure they will be happy to have your ticket purchases over there...

Knowing that you are basketball challenged, allow me to inform you that TCU hired Jamie Dixon away from Pitt. You may recognize that name from the multiple NCAA appearances he made while at Pitt. This is his first year and he has TCU on the cusp of a NCAA tournament birth, not at 12-20 in the Sun Belt. They may not make it this year, but there isn't a senior in there top 8 players.

Oh, and the new Daniel Meyer is a real basketball facility. You think the Pit is so great, go watch a game there. It will change your opinion.

For those of you that want to watch a team which is cared about by its university, is on the rise, has a great facility where the game presentation doesn't feel like a funeral, and has invested in a real college basketball coach, and if you live in Cowtown, I highly recommend TCU basketball. $250 a season and not a bad seat in the house. Kansas, Baylor, and many other top 25 teams on the schedule so you aren't stuck watching some D3 team you don't care about.

Mean Green 93-98 · March 3, 2017

17 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Well, let's see:

They still don't answer the main telephone number for tickets. You know, the one the casual fan would find on the internet and call.

The one basketball game I went to, it took 15 minutes to buy a ticket by credit card. Hint: there wasn't a line. It was like a credit card was new technology.

Interesting. The one area you find dysfunction is the same area the AD says he is in the process of restructuring.

KingDL1 · March 3, 2017

16 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

OK, so what if the house cleaning ends up being detrimental to the ability of providing just basic services? Things like answering phones and emails in a timely manner? The NT AD isn't a big department and there are only so many people available to fill in temporarily until the holes are filled. If you let too many people go at once you risk burning out your remaining staff who then don't perform at their best.

If you're fine with a rough first year or two while the department recovers from letting a group of employees go then the people that called for the house cleaning shouldn't complain when there are bumps along the way.

Are you kidding me did you see the report on the AD released last summer? Holy cow we were already at "detrimental to the ability of providing just basic services".

Wait you are talking about the North Texas AD right? Maybe this is a Denton thing but it is not one way or the other type, he can clean house and provide much better service than what we had, no rough year or two? Where do you come up with that?

Army of Dad · March 3, 2017

18 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

And it's especially dumb in 2917.

#Vision

VideoEagle · March 3, 2017

3 minutes ago, Army of Dad said:

#Vision

You've got to plan ahead sometimes.

UNTFan23 · March 3, 2017

Just now, KingDL1 said:

Are you kidding me did you see the report on the AD released last summer? Holy cow we were already at "detrimental to the ability of providing just basic services".

Wait you are talking about the North Texas AD right? Maybe this is a Denton thing but it is not one way or the other type, he can clean house and provide much better service than what we had, no rough year or two? Where do you come up with that?

If you have a department size of, say 10 people and cut it down to 7, those 7 people are now doing the work of those 10. Maybe the 3 let go weren't pulling their weight and the loss isn't too bad but it's still more work for the other 7. Sadly, one of the people let go was the only one who did a certain task and now someone has to learn how to do that, which takes away time from doing other important things. Since you're busy just trying to keep things afloat, they let their email and VMs pile up to when they feel like they have more "spare" time to knock out that kind of stuff.

Maybe I can say stuff like that because I've lived it where I work? I've had teammates let go yet the amount of work the team was expected to get done stayed the same. Less important tasks were shelved until more time to get those kinds of things became available. Email is the easiest thing to ignore. I could always let a phone call slide and claim ignorance that I had stepped away from my desk for a few minutes while I worked on something that has a pressing deadline. Thank goodness for things like caller ID, right? If you really want to talk to me, come to my desk.

Wag Tag · March 3, 2017

You don't talk about who you fire or let go! You talk about who you hire!

Edited March 3, 2017 by Wag Tag

GreenMachine · March 3, 2017

2 hours ago, forevereagle said:

If you are so pissed off that you are talking about never supporting the program again and supporting other universities, why are you here?

It's like UNT is 90's booty call, he just can't entirely give it up. He's addicted.

1 hour ago, UNTFan23 said:

If you have a department size of, say 10 people and cut it down to 7, those 7 people are now doing the work of those 10. Maybe the 3 let go weren't pulling their weight and the loss isn't too bad but it's still more work for the other 7. Sadly, one of the people let go was the only one who did a certain task and now someone has to learn how to do that, which takes away time from doing other important things. Since you're busy just trying to keep things afloat, they let their email and VMs pile up to when they feel like they have more "spare" time to knock out that kind of stuff.

Maybe I can say stuff like that because I've lived it where I work? I've had teammates let go yet the amount of work the team was expected to get done stayed the same. Less important tasks were shelved until more time to get those kinds of things became available. Email is the easiest thing to ignore. I could always let a phone call slide and claim ignorance that I had stepped away from my desk for a few minutes while I worked on something that has a pressing deadline. Thank goodness for things like caller ID, right? If you really want to talk to me, come to my desk.

I have never worked where people weren't cross trained to do other people's job. You should NEVER be in a situation where one 1 person only can do a particular task.

UNTFan23 · March 3, 2017

2 minutes ago, GreenMachine said:

I have never worked where people weren't cross trained to do other people's job. You should NEVER be in a situation where one 1 person only can do a particular task.

It happens but it's not common. It's more of a problem the smaller the organization.

GreenMachine · March 3, 2017

1 minute ago, UNTFan23 said:

It happens but it's not common. It's more of a problem the smaller the organization.

That makes sense, I have only worked at larger companies that had plenty of manpower.

Ryan Munthe · March 3, 2017

3 hours ago, UNT90 said:

I may just go myself. I'm buying TCU basketball season tickets next year. Unlike so many in this fan base, they care about winning and losing.

And here is a hint. Prepare to be underwhelmed by this basketball hire. Then again, underwhelmed is fine wth you.

Well at least now we know you're a troll.

BTG_Fan1 · March 3, 2017

3 hours ago, UNT90 said:

Well, let's see:

They still don't answer the main telephone number for tickets. You know, the one the casual fan would find on the internet and call.

The one basketball game I went to, it took 15 minutes to buy a ticket by credit card. Hint: there wasn't a line. It was like a credit card was new technology.

I'm starting to think that you are a UTSA more then UNT LOL

Also, Delete your account...

Edited March 3, 2017 by BTG_Fan1

KRAM1 · March 3, 2017

3 hours ago, UNT90 said:

I may just go myself. I'm buying TCU basketball season tickets next year. Unlike so many in this fan base, they care about winning and losing.

And here is a hint. Prepare to be underwhelmed by this basketball hire. Then again, underwhelmed is fine wth you.

Gee, I don't suppose that living about 1 hour round-trip closer to TCU would have anything to do with it now would it. Naw, couldn't have. You got the t-shirt yet?

VideoEagle · March 3, 2017

1 hour ago, GreenMachine said:

I have never worked where people weren't cross trained to do other people's job. You should NEVER be in a situation where one 1 person only can do a particular task.

For years I was the only staff video editor/motion graphics/special effects person for a multinational children's television company. In an era of shrinking corporate resources, being understaffed with little or no redundancy happen far more often today!

forevereagle · March 3, 2017

13 minutes ago, GreenMachine said:

That makes sense, I have only worked at larger companies that had plenty of manpower.

Even if everyone knows how to do everyone's job, if the AD were to completely clean house, there is no chance that the required work would get done with such a small number of people left to do everything.

VideoEagle · March 3, 2017

3 hours ago, UNT90 said:

I may just go myself. I'm buying TCU basketball season tickets next year.

I just saw this. Good for you! I hope you enjoy the games. It's painfully obvious after thousand's of posts over the last four years that anything NT did was not going to please you. Enjoy the Frogs! I've got a number of friends and relatives who are alumni. They are a great group.

Ryan Munthe · March 3, 2017

5 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

I just saw this. Good for you! I hope you enjoy the games. It's painfully obvious after thousand's of posts over the last four years that anything NT did was not going to please you. Enjoy the Frogs! I've got a number of friends and relatives who are alumni. They are a great group.

Yeah, he really slid that one in there. I'm just glad it's out in the open now, so I can just assume he's a TCU-version of Cougar King. Makes it easier to ignore.

Army of Dad · March 3, 2017

21 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

I'm starting to think that you are a UTSA more then UNT LOL

Also, Delete your account...

Speaking of, don't you have some more specious 'insight' to share? Like a reusing Fouts turf or some inside knowledge from a class that directly contradicts something put out my Smatresk?