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Post by pantherlakes on May 27, 2007 14:47:37 GMT -5
It makes me extremely happy that we had the groundbreaking on the stadium, but I am a little upset over a few things.
Overall, it seems like most on the board are giving all the credit for the stadium Pete Garcia.
In reality, he is beneficiary of several years of hard work by others.
While people continually bash the former administration, it is time to give Rick Mello credit where credit is do.
Even though I did not agree with all Rick's decisions or lack of them, he is the person that set the stage for this project. He balanced the athletic budget and worked had to make this stadium possible.
Two years ago at an alumni event, Rick and one of this assistant AD's laid out the stadium plan exactly as it has played out.
As some of the former football players have stated on this board, let us not forget the people that are giving PG and MC the opportunity to make us a Top 25 program.
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Post by jdsippin on May 27, 2007 20:29:07 GMT -5
PG can care less about the former administration, staff and players....and from what I hear is constantly bashing Mello and others before him
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Post by alt7787 on May 27, 2007 22:23:17 GMT -5
I really dont like Pete Garcia at all. I dont know how i will feel once we start winning, and i mean winning. Anything is an improvement over 0-12, but 4 wins(like some are predicting) is nothing to brag about. Garcia has made a LOT of changes and these changes better result in a LOT of wins. Of course it is difficult to make a 180 in one season, Garcia has made the changes that should result in a 180.
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Post by formerstudent on May 28, 2007 11:14:24 GMT -5
I agree. Rick Mello and Don Strock worked very hard to get this done."Pistol Pete" really did not have to do much except grab a shovel and take pictures with the camera guy. I do not like him. I think he is getting a lot of credit for things.He was the director of football operations at Miami.Which means he is in charge of making sure the meal plans were in order and things of that nature.
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Post by FIUPantherFan on May 28, 2007 11:57:45 GMT -5
Why woud you expect him to make a 180 in one season. That's not going to happen, no team is going to go from 0-12 to a winning record with the type of schedule we have. If you are upset about the Price thing that's fine, but don't try to set the bar so high that no one would pass it. In 6 months Garcia has done what Mello failed to do in his years here, which was to get rid of people that were NOT producing. I'm tired of losing and I'm sorry that some of you don't feel that losing is a good enough reason to get rid of people but I do and most FIU fans feel the same way. Athletics is about competition, in a competition there are winners and losers, its high time we got someone in here who will hold people to WINNING standards regardless of whether they are "nice" or not! JUST WIN BABY!
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Post by devonsmom on May 28, 2007 12:07:19 GMT -5
I am very glad that changes are being made at FIU. Yes, there is something to be said for loyalty, and I think FIU has more than done that over the years. But everything has a season, and as those seasons change so must we. FIU is taking steps to take the entire athletic program, not just football, as well as the university itself, to the next level. The law school is thriving. The medical school is on it's way. The enrollment is climbing. The athletics department has been stagnant for a long time, even with the every so often go production from some teams. It is time for a breath of fresh air to be blown into our lungs. I stand in support of the changes that have been/are being made.
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Post by pantherlakes on May 28, 2007 13:31:29 GMT -5
I stated in my original post that changes needed to be made, so let's get that straight.
Rick Mello did some good things, but was never given the resources that PG is an will be handed.
Remember, Maidique CANNOT let PG fail or at least until he is out as president.
I do not have a problem with the moves PG has made, only the way in which he has done it. A friend of mine in the department told me that every person he had fired has been escorted off campus by university police. This is a fact. If you do not believe me ask Everton Edwards, the former football staff or the most recent firing, Bart Mondel.
You can do a good job but that does not mean you have any class.
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Post by FIUPantherFan on May 28, 2007 15:55:58 GMT -5
I agree that fiscally, Rick Mello was a great administrator and never let us get into the mess that FAU did. What I don't understand is your reasoning behind why Pres. Maidique can not let Pete fail? Are you implying that he wanted ALL of his previous AD's to fail? All of a sudden he woke up and decided that he can't let this one (PG) fail? Come on, Pres. Maidique has no more/no less vested on this AD than any other AD he has hired in his years at FIU. If Pete Garcia was intelligent enough to negotiate an increase in athletic spending as part of his contract, then that's another show of competence that we have not seen before. By the way, when someone is fired at my job, they are also escorted out and their personal effects might be searched as part of that process to ensure that they are not taking confidential information. That's especially the case when the person that's fired might have a reason to retailiate. All I have to say, is that I'm tired of having "nice" people in charge of this athletic department, we have all seen the results of what "nice" will get you. I don't care if he does it with class, I don't care if he does it by winning a popularity contest in the athletic department, I don't care if everyone in the FIU athletic community hates him, as long as Pete Garcia gets us wins without NCAA probation issues, then he has done the job he was hired to do. GO FIU! Just WIN baby!
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Post by pantherlakes on May 28, 2007 17:20:20 GMT -5
This is the first time in recent memory that the AD at FIU reports directly to the president. Do you remember Paul Gallagher and the other rocket scientists that athletics reported to? There were chains on the previous athletic administrations that are not on PG, both administratively and fiscally.
Also, PG is a native of Miami and a Cuban-American. Maidique cannot afford to allow a home-grown talent to not succeed.
Once again, I will state that I am glad a change was made and I want to win as bad as any Golden Panther, but I also want to do it with class.
PG has none.
Question: If PG is trying to bring the "best and brightest" here to work at FIU, why are they all from UM? Could it be he knows no one else in college athletics?
Just a thought to ponder.
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Post by devonsmom on May 28, 2007 17:31:21 GMT -5
Coach Cristobal is the one who selected his coaching staff, not Pete Garcia. The soccer position was filled from within. Softball and baseball is still open. So, it does not seem to me that Mr. Garcia is the one bringing in coaches "all from UM."
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Post by pantherlakes on May 28, 2007 18:01:51 GMT -5
I am talking about athletic staff, not coaching staffs.
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Post by FIUFanatic on May 28, 2007 18:08:54 GMT -5
Also, the women's soccer coach, Chestnutt is not from um either....Also, the strength and conditioning coach Mick Smith, while he served as associate director of strength and conditioning at Um for a while, had spent the last 13 years as head conditioning coach with the Orlando Magic and Portland Trailblazers...does that make him a bad choice? Please, I know some of you have a bone to pick with Garcia, but don't let the facts minimize what you are posting here. Also, the police chief, Bill King, and the athletics department denied that DP was escorted out. I think people are exagerating a bit, and you repeat this as undeniable truth. Please......
Some of what you say may be true, but when you say "all are from UM", you are making a mistake, and it minimizes what you are trying to espouse, as close to correct as it might be. Also, PLEASE...don't use the Cuban American BS to try to make a point. At this joint, Maidique couldn't care less as long as a job is done. As someone else said earlier...does it mean that all of a sudden Maidique woke up and decided to give all the elements to our AD?
I also know some people in the Athletics Department...let's just say some of them, while a bit intimidated at the beginning, understand what PG is doing and want to be led by someone with decision......Not everybody feels like Bart, which btw, I did not like a bit (and he never liked me, it seemed by his actions)....and I practically liked eveybody in the department.... So whatever he says, particularly after being fired, I take it with a grain of salt....
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Post by FIUFootballer on May 28, 2007 19:32:30 GMT -5
Nobody likes the "bad guy" coming in and cleaning house. The new guy with no history at the institution coming in and indirectly criticizing previous administrations through his actions. But nevertheless PG has a job to do, and whether he is undeservingly benefiting from the stadium project is besides the point, he is the AD, who else should be in that picture?
If 5 years from now we are 2 or 3 times Sun Belt champs and potentially moving to a bigger conference because of PG's doing how ridiculous will these criticisms seem? However, should we be no better than we are now, these criticisms will be certainly warranted. Until then, there is not much of a point in bashing the man, his role now is to be the villain and build himself into the hero. Can he do it, we will all see.
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Post by formerstudent on May 29, 2007 10:25:24 GMT -5
I agree with pantherlakes. My old coach Don Strock was told that he could not get JUCO's because he could not afford them,reason being they were out of state players thus they cost more.They tried to go find guys from out of state . I remember one time they loved this kid from jersey ,but they did not bring him in. He was an OL. They got two OL from out of state this year.
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Post by devonsmom on May 29, 2007 12:54:15 GMT -5
First of all, and this came directly from the mouths of several former coaches....it was Don Strock who chose not to recruit out of state. As a matter of fact, he did not want to recruit north of a line from Orlando to Tampa. Thank God he woke up and recruited the northern part of the state and the panhandle, or else I would not be here right now. Coaches wanted to recruit out of state, especially those that came from other schools and already had established relationships with high school coaches. But Strock refused to allow it. He wanted FIU's roster to be 100% Florida.
Now, as far as the comment about coaches being Cuban-American. I could care less if Pete Garcia hires Marvin the Martian to coach a team, as long as he does it within the rules and produces wins. Race, sex, creed, religion, national origin, nor sexual preference have anything to do with coaching ability. That is an individual thing.
As far as Pete Garcia cleaning house and intimidating people....so what. If you are doing your job (which as a coach includes winning), and you are doing so by following all the rules, then you would have no reason to feel intimated. Usually it is those who have something to be afraid of who feel intimidated (not always, but usually). So what if they got escorted off by security. That protects the school from losing property and/or "trade secrets" or any other information/items that if lost could be costly to the institution. It may be embarassing for the person, but it should not be taken as a criminal-type thing.
As far as Mello is concerned, I for one am glad that he is gone. I am not sure if I ever posted anything about this, but my first and only encounter with Mr. Mello came immediately after the MTSU game last year. Myself and the mothers of two other freshman watched this man as he put on a display of extreme anger and a sore loser attitude that was disgusting. He threw cups of water against the wall just outside of the team's locker room with a large group of family members standing there watching (not to mention all of the players and MTSU fans that were around). He showed absolutely no class. And if that is how he acted after a one point loss, I can only imagine how he acted after that. Good riddance as far as I am concerned.
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