The big news (in the very small BC Athletics world)
yesterday was the official release of members selected for Marty J's Fan
Council. One of his first acts as AD, I think as a collective fan base we were
all excited when he made the initial announcement of putting this council
together. Finally, we AS FANS - not just the big donors, as it's been for the
last 2 administrations - would have a direct line to the AD's ear. However,
upon yesterday's release of the names selected, it sure seems like this is not
exactly the change in perspective we were all hoping for.
Because of our constant promise to you guys that we will
always bring hard-hitting major league investigative journalism, I spent 20
minutes on LinkedIn yesterday compiling some basic info on the 21 knights of
Marty's roundtable. The findings were disappointing to say the least - not just
because I personally wasn't selected (though as we'll get into, I never really
had a chance due to my sub $15 annual donation and the fact that my dad was not
in My Cousin Vinny. Just wish we knew that up front so I could've saved the
time I put into the app for more blog posts, trying to keep the lights on over
here), but because it turns out the entire thing was a PR sham and safe space
to give under-the-table-over-the-pants-HJs to Leahy's big money. Let's get into
it.
First things first, for the most part I'm going to avoid
using names here. I know the list is readily available, but still, a part of me
feels weird trashing a college student for an alleged connection I'm making
based off a last name (Macchio's kid is the exception, we all know why you're
here, guy). While technically this little project would classify me as an official
Private Investigator (more like "Privates" Investigator - HA!), I
admit that it's certainly possible I made a mistake or two, either in my
assumptions, or by accidentally going off the wrong transcript.
I guess let me start with the good news. Out of the 21 names
selected, I agree with probably 8 or 9 of the picks. Former football walk-on ,
non-alum with a nice social media/events career, a somewhat well-known BC
internet commenter, and a few seemingly completely "unconnected"
alumni/fans. Ultimately I think this is the track we were looking for when this
council was announced - basically regular Jane's/Joe's with a wide array of
professional and personal experience who love Saturday's on the Heights like
all of us do. While these 8 are a good start, there are still some major
voids/demographics we're missing that could've been filled perfectly if not for
the 11 or 12 Leahy-appointed seats.
Now let’s get to the fun stuff. First up, of the 21 members,
at least 2 are employed by the school itself. Are we not supposed to think some
strings were pulled here? And more importantly, are we completely throwing
impartiality and objectivity out the window? This would be like bringing Rick Wilde in to do those Chevy focus group commercials – how critical can you
really be when the establishment signing your paychecks sit across the table?
And right now, criticism is what we need.
For the rest, I’m counting TEN – that’s nearly 50 percent,
people forget, math major – members who I would safely assume are VERY big
donors, or have a strong connection to a big donor/trustee/sponsor. From this
group we have:
- 2 Managing Directors from two of the largest banks in the
world, and a 3rd guy (senior director) who works in the exact same
department (potentially as a direct report, wish seems fishy in its own right) as
one of those MD’s. You don’t have to read the Big Short to know these guys are
PAID, and probably cut a nice check to Father Bill every holiday season.
- CFO of Philips (the huge electronics company who makes a ton
of electric razors. Yes, the same brand of razor that was stolen from the Lake
Street bathroom on a fateful night in 2011. Am I biased here? You tell me).
Anyways, being a CFO of a massive multinational conglomerate pays well, so I
hear.
- Girl with her family’s name on a prominent BC building.
- 2 marketing professionals (one current one former) with one
of the Fenway Sports Group’s biggest sponsors. Obviously FSG does A LOT with
BC, so this seems to me like some old school backscratching.
- Wife of the Chief of Orthopedic Surgery/Sports Medicine at
one of the local hospitals.
- Guy who works as an intern for the Fish Family Foundation.
Yes, as in John Fish, Chairman of the BC Board of Trustees.
- Ralph Macchio’s son.
To be clear, I’m not necessarily saying that any of these
people are not somewhat qualified in their own right – being well-off/connected
in no way means you can’t be passionate about the state of BC athletics (though
I do think if you put a hundred mill in my pocket I would not get nearly as
worked up when we lose 3-0 on multiple missed field goals to Wake Forest.
Different perspective I guess). Just don’t tell us you’re going to put together
an independent council of BC fans from all over and fill it with 50% of people
just to make Leahy’s checking account happy. There is NO WAY that if you were
truly selecting the best 21 people to move BC game day experience forward you
would just happen to stumble upon this group to make up half of it. And lets
also be clear, if you are leveraging your status as a top donor to try and get
yourself and/or a family connection on a made-up volunteer group that will most
likely make zero actual impact you are a LOSER of the highest proportion. There
just has to be bigger things to worry about/use the power of your money on when
you reach that point in life, and I’m like 93% sure I am not saying that from
any place of bitterness or resentment.
I definitely have plenty of other complaints here – lack of
GOLD representation (<10% by my count, we’re the lowest hanging-fruit of all
the demographics in terms of filling the stadium and enhancing the atmosphere,
should attack this more), only 2 non-alums (getting non-alum greater Boston
into the mix is a huge piece of the puzzle. The whole “Boston’s College”
marketing pitch shouldn’t be for nothing), average age of 40 (44 if you
eliminate the students. Probably not the best representation of the demo who
care about game day experience/tailgating), and of course, as is all things BC,
literally only 1 (maybe 1.5, can’t tell from LinkedIn) non Cream-Cheese-White
person on the entire council (which I think we all would agree is not the
smartest move from a PR standpoint when your stated mission was to comprise a
wide-array of diverse fans). Ultimately though, this comes down to a complete
lack of transparency in the process, and remarkably off track from what the fan
base expected/hoped based on Marty’s original message. I know increasing donations
is his #1 job priority, and I still feel VERY strongly that he will be a huge
breath of fresh air and tremendous asset for us going forward, but I think we’d
all agree it is a major let down to see his first official action be so eerily
similar to the lip-service we became used to with Bates.
And yes, I reserve the right to take back all of this if he
can actually make beer in Alumni happen before the home opener. Who cares about a meaningless Fan Council anyways.
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