Always suspected this

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Wavefan
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Always suspected this

Post by Wavefan »

Quote from Scott Cowen's book:
Here’s the situation: I’ve just offered our talented football coach,
Tommy Bowden, a higher salary than he’s been offered by Clemson
University, which has a Goliath of a program compared to
Tulane’s David. True, we’re coming off an undefeated season,
but that’s an extremely rare event at Tulane—the last time was
sixty-nine years ago—and I want to keep him. With this offer on
the table, I feel I have a shot at it.
Tommy is clearly taken aback. He says, “It’s not the money. You
can’t give me what I want.”
“What do you want?”
“Winnebagos on Wednesday.”
“Say again?”
Tommy explains: “I want a school where the program is so
great, people start bringing their Winnebagos on Wednesday—for
the Saturday game.”
So, we not only matched Clemson's $, but exceeded it. We did not and will not have "Winnebagos on Wednesday," nor will just about everyone else. There are maybe only 20 or so places that do, and while there is some overlap, those are not the only places to win championships. They are, however, the places most likely to have delusional and out-of-control boosters, unrealistic expectations, and to fire a coach who goes 9-3.

I still think the review was a monumental mistake and setback, but not keeping Bowden falls squarely on Bowden.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by GSx »

Wavefan wrote:
I still think the review was a monumental mistake and setback, but not keeping Bowden falls squarely on Bowden.
Does anyone suggest otherwise?
Tulane worked like the devil to keep him.
It's what Cowen did after he left, beginning shortly after he left, that caused the misery.
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MNAlum
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by MNAlum »

GSx wrote:
Wavefan wrote:
I still think the review was a monumental mistake and setback, but not keeping Bowden falls squarely on Bowden.
Does anyone suggest otherwise?
Tulane worked like the devil to keep him.
It's what Cowen did after he left, beginning shortly after he left, that caused the misery.
He got the Winnebagos on Wednesdays but did not achieve the success that Dabo has. I am forever grateful for Bowden delivering the results in 1998. He will always be remembered for that and had he stayed, we may be where TCU is now.
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GreenieBacker
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by GreenieBacker »

where things went wrong, as they too often do for us, was the hire we made to replace Bowden. We had THE GUY ready and waiting in RR. Unfortunately we went in a different direction.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by tjtlja »

GB, you are so right. It is the hiring process that has killed us over and over. To find the right fit at Tulane is so difficult. If you go back to the 1980's, who was a great fit in the three major sports. Here is my list -

Baseball - Joe Brockhoff and Rick Jones. Coach Jones was the best fit in any of the sports. He understood Tulane like no other.

Basketball - Perry Clark. What he did was miraculous.

Football - Buddy Teevens, Tommy Bowden, and Willie Fritz. Teevens understood Tulane, was a great recruiter, and a terrific guy. He just couldn't coach on game day. But he understood Tulane. Bowden understood how to win, recruit, and it was not sustainable under Cowen. And Coach Fritz is the whole package. It may take longer than we want to win, but when you are coming from rock bottom you must be patient.

Special Category - AD - Kevin White. Brilliant mind and wish we could have had him for a lifetime. Look at Duke right now - football has never been better, basketball (just leave it alone), and baseball just swept Georgia to go to the super regionals (yes, Duke baseball).
Last edited by tjtlja on Mon Jun 04, 2018 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by waverider »

tjtlja wrote:
Special Category - AD - Kevin White. Brilliant mind and wish we could have had him for a lifetime. Look at Duke right now - football has never been better, basketball (just leave it alone), and baseball just swept Georgia to go to the super regionals (yes, Duke baseball).
Look at what his son is doing as AD at UCF. Runs in the blood. I got to know the Whites pretty well when Kevin was here. They lived around the corner from me and had a full half-court sized basketball court as a driveway.
Tulane Greenbackers

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sr
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by sr »

You gotta go back one more coach. When Davis replaced Brown everything started to fall apart... A few singular successes after Davis, but overall the graph was trending down...…….
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by wavedom »

You can go back to Gibson after Smith.
We deserve so much better
DrHullabaloo
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by DrHullabaloo »

JEEEESUS. This man is SUCH a lying liar!!!!

Why? Because he got that Winnebagos on a Wednesday quote from an alum. And told said alum that he was going to use it for his book.

This is a revision of history.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Yankeewave »

honest question, what is the market for this book? i mean, who will buy it?

i am sure it will sell some copies in the book store, but beyond that?
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by PeteRasche »

Yankeewave wrote:honest question, what is the market for this book? i mean, who will buy it?

i am sure it will sell some copies in the book store, but beyond that?
If you believe the quotes you see here and there, nearly every Tulane student between 2003(ish) and 2012(ish) rank him just below Barack Obama and just above God. Take that how you will.
Billow
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Billow »

When all the re-alignment was taking place and our program had some mild success in 97-98 our President was exclaiming, "Why do you need to change chairs on the Titanic." or something to that effect. Tulane had a chance to upgrade our athletic program but here Cowen goes around bellowing about BCS. Instead of trying to get our program into one of the elite conferences. Could you imagine our program getting an additional 25-35 million a year in revenue. Our basketball & baseball teams along with our other sports were have some successes too! Tulane did offer Bowden more money than Clemson and to further acknowledge, he promised Tommy other commitments but forgot systemically those promises as time went by .......
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by ml wave »

DrHullabaloo wrote:JEEEESUS. This man is SUCH a lying liar!!!!

Why? Because he got that Winnebagos on a Wednesday quote from an alum. And told said alum that he was going to use it for his book.

This is a revision of history.
Wow
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Johnny Mac »

the most important thing you all seem to be glossing over is not that Bowden left and we out bid Clemson because that honestly doesn't matter... he cratered (relatively, when compared to where the program went AFTER he left) and is out of coaching...

no.. the MOST important thing is how Sandy Barbour FVKKED UP replacing him. We should have "settled" for the guy who was going to leave us in a couple of years for West Virginia.. why? Because we would have had more winning seasons of football.. which would have given another stud up and coming coach the incentive to come to Tulane and continue winning.. and so what if he left too after three years because after all those years of winning football.. we'd have a talent base and would some day have brought in a big time coach and an invitation to a REAL CONFERENCE.

Don't lament on what could have been with Bowden.. think of what SHOULD have been after he walked.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by ml wave »

Johnny Mac wrote:the most important thing you all seem to be glossing over is not that Bowden left and we out bid Clemson because that honestly doesn't matter... he cratered (relatively, when compared to where the program went AFTER he left) and is out of coaching...

no.. the MOST important thing is how Sandy Barbour FVKKED UP replacing him. We should have "settled" for the guy who was going to leave us in a couple of years for West Virginia.. why? Because we would have had more winning seasons of football.. which would have given another stud up and coming coach the incentive to come to Tulane and continue winning.. and so what if he left too after three years because after all those years of winning football.. we'd have a talent base and would some day have brought in a big time coach and an invitation to a REAL CONFERENCE.

Don't lament on what could have been with Bowden.. think of what SHOULD have been after he walked.
Glossing over? With the possible exception of "the review", that's probably the single-most discussed topic on the history of this board.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by wavedom »

Johnny Mac wrote:the most important thing you all seem to be glossing over is not that Bowden left and we out bid Clemson because that honestly doesn't matter... he cratered (relatively, when compared to where the program went AFTER he left) and is out of coaching...

no.. the MOST important thing is how Sandy Barbour FVKKED UP replacing him. We should have "settled" for the guy who was going to leave us in a couple of years for West Virginia.. why? Because we would have had more winning seasons of football.. which would have given another stud up and coming coach the incentive to come to Tulane and continue winning.. and so what if he left too after three years because after all those years of winning football.. we'd have a talent base and would some day have brought in a big time coach and an invitation to a REAL CONFERENCE.

Don't lament on what could have been with Bowden.. think of what SHOULD have been after he walked.
Except it wasn't her. She hired RR. Sam Scelfo , who was the President of The Green Wave Club at the time, then spent the night in Cowen's ear convincing him that Chris would stay and Cowen called and told her Tulane was going with Scelfo. She screwed up by not having the guts to tell RR. That's why you see him above the press conference with his green coat and tie on. Cowen strikes again.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Roller »

wavedom wrote:
Johnny Mac wrote:the most important thing you all seem to be glossing over is not that Bowden left and we out bid Clemson because that honestly doesn't matter... he cratered (relatively, when compared to where the program went AFTER he left) and is out of coaching...

no.. the MOST important thing is how Sandy Barbour FVKKED UP replacing him. We should have "settled" for the guy who was going to leave us in a couple of years for West Virginia.. why? Because we would have had more winning seasons of football.. which would have given another stud up and coming coach the incentive to come to Tulane and continue winning.. and so what if he left too after three years because after all those years of winning football.. we'd have a talent base and would some day have brought in a big time coach and an invitation to a REAL CONFERENCE.

Don't lament on what could have been with Bowden.. think of what SHOULD have been after he walked.
Except it wasn't her. She hired RR. Sam Scelfo , who was the President of The Green Wave Club at the time, then spent the night in Cowen's ear convincing him that Chris would stay and Cowen called and told her Tulane was going with Scelfo. She screwed up by not having the guts to tell RR. That's why you see him above the press conference with his green coat and tie on. Cowen strikes again.
Truth. Sandy's pick was RR. Cowen overruled her. I don't know if she was under orders to keep it quiet.

I do know that she may have had her suspicions earlier, however, because she opined that RR was a "slam dunk" choice, and if he didn't get it, it would only be because an "absolutely awesome" candidate had emerged.
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gerryb323
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by gerryb323 »

That 2002 Hawaii Bowl tho
Wandering around somewhere in a matchup zone
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Baywave1 »

gerryb323 wrote:That 2002 Hawaii Bowl tho
"MEWELDE TAKES IT TO THE TIKI HUT!"

Still one of my favorite Sports Center calls about Tulane.....
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Fan Since '54 »

Yea, Rich Rod was taken aback when he went to Tulane on the day he thought he was to be named the new head coach then found out that was not the case. Imagine the feelings that were rumbling around in his mind that day. Yet he showed what he was made of when he stuck around and called the offensive plays on the afternoon of 12/31/98. Total class by RR. Now he has subsequently made some bad decisions in his life, but he put the extreme disappointment aside and did that for what was/should have been "his" team going forward.

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Johnny Mac
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Johnny Mac »

wavedom wrote:
Johnny Mac wrote:the most important thing you all seem to be glossing over is not that Bowden left and we out bid Clemson because that honestly doesn't matter... he cratered (relatively, when compared to where the program went AFTER he left) and is out of coaching...

no.. the MOST important thing is how Sandy Barbour Captain Krispy Kreme FVKKED UP replacing him. We should have "settled" for the guy who was going to leave us in a couple of years for West Virginia.. why? Because we would have had more winning seasons of football.. which would have given another stud up and coming coach the incentive to come to Tulane and continue winning.. and so what if he left too after three years because after all those years of winning football.. we'd have a talent base and would some day have brought in a big time coach and an invitation to a REAL CONFERENCE.

Don't lament on what could have been with Bowden.. think of what SHOULD have been after he walked.
Except it wasn't her. She hired RR. Sam Scelfo , who was the President of The Green Wave Club at the time, then spent the night in Cowen's ear convincing him that Chris would stay and Cowen called and told her Tulane was going with Scelfo. She screwed up by not having the guts to tell RR. That's why you see him above the press conference with his green coat and tie on. Cowen strikes again.
OK, fine.. same lament, but insert Captain Krispy Kreme in the spot I had Sandy Barbour
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Johnny Mac
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by Johnny Mac »

ml wave wrote:Glossing over? With the possible exception of "the review", that's probably the single-most discussed topic on the history of this board.
I was talking about this thread
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by noladave »

This “man” will do anything to put a positive spin on his legacy. I said this in 2003, when we all organized, you could not trust a word out of his mouth. Had it not been for Olive n blue, and his family, Tulane would most likely be a DIII school.

I joke every year that when they hand out alumni awards, that my name was scratched off the list when firecowen.com was started, and local press picked up on it. Talk about a permanent black ball.

That was Scott’s main weakness, he didn’t count on the very beginnings of social media, and the ability to organize people from across the country...

Thank goodness we prevailed, with help from hundreds, if not thousands of people. I thank every one of you, even the ones where we didn’t exactly see eye to eye, and maybe said some things that crossed the etiquette line. Not that it ever happens now..

Again, thanks to all.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by DrHullabaloo »

and not only did it rain on that ridiculous retirement parade he tried throwing for himself, but it was biblical flooding on Freret. He tried to say it would go on "rain or shine" but mother nature said "Ell to the No" on that. Thank you, Karma.

I could go on, but please do not take anything written in that book as anything other than embellished fabrication.
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Re: Always suspected this

Post by windywave »

He who shall not be named is playing the long game; athletics will wither on the vines through neglect over the long term. Who will donate and go to games when we are gone? It surely won't be the athletic indifferent daresay hostile to "I love community service and I'm going to change the world" student body and future alumni. I hate that frick war hammer. He ruined my school.
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