Shatel: Bob Diaco's refusal for postgame interview unacceptable

grandpasknee said:
Seems like two simple things.

1.  Since I have no inside sources, I"ll accept the notion that Coach Diaco did indeed have the OK to bypass post game interviews.

2.  If he did have that OK, then the sports writer got entirely too butt hurt by his self importance and blew it beyond any necessary proportion.

Now that the cards have unfolded as they have, I see no real need for further comment until after the next few games.  He'll either get instruction to make himself available to appease "the owners" of the team, or he'll continue to be unavailable.  Either way is good with me.

I would echo others though.  Whether immediately after the game, or a few days later, I would like to know his thoughts on the defense and their performance, etc.
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To the bolded, I was very disappointed with the way some media members handled this situation. Disappointment might actually be too kind of a word. Editorialism or not, there's a way to handle and approach this situation, and some media members chose to go about it in an incredibly unprofessional manner.

 
The media was so upset about this because they were ready to tear him up and down to get their little sound bites...  90% of the questions and what they get out of it are garbage to most fans anyways.  Nothing he could have said that night would have made any fans feel any better.  We will all believe what we want to anyways (see below).  They only people who lost in the situation were the media members who had to say- now what?  I'm all for feeding the fan base with good info in the off season and during weekly pressers but I would rather not have coaches worried about explaining their game plans before and after each practice and game to all of us.  

(What my non-coaching, Kool-aid drinking mind believes)- I think our defense has spent the last few weeks more focused on a run stop defense that will benefit the Oregon plan more than anything.  I believe we executed or practiced that plan against ArkSt.  We adjusted out as necessary- see the 3rd and most of the 4th Q defense.  I don't think Diaco wanted to say that or have to explain that because fans would be pissed about us "looking past" ArkSt and how it almost cost us the game.  I'm likely way off base but I like the thought of it because it gives me a little more hope for this Saturday's defensive outlook.  In any event- GBR    

 
@Husker_Bohunk, that wasn't really what I was trying to say.

My point is that the athletic department is, to some degree, culpable to the fans because we're financial stakeholders. I'm not saying fire a guy because the fans are demanding it. I'm saying we have the right to have an opinion and hold the department (and all the staff) to a certain level of accountability. This "they don't owe us anything" mentality is, in my opinion, misguided.

 
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knapplc said:
If we're claiming there's no symbiosis between fans and football teams, we have to somehow make the argument that the UNK Lopers are an equivalent team to the UNL Huskers, which isn't remotely true.  The fans make the team, we are shareholders, and we have reasonable expectations of accountability with our coaches.  There is zero reason why Diaco can't give the fans five minutes of his time after a game.  None.
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True, and he now is aware of the expectation and has stated it won't be an issue going forward. It was explained as a simple misunderstanding and he was told he didnt need to do it. At this point it doesnt even matter if that's true or a cover story.  So can everyone please quit acting like he is unwilling to do it? It was a minor deal and seems to be straightened out.

 
I actually agree with the idea that the athletic department owes the fanbase nothing. There is no contract signed or peformance mandate - all fans that give of their money and energy do it because they want to. The AD is certainly smart to placate the fans, but also has it within their rights to alienate every single person and lose their donor base if they ever wanted to for some ridiculous hypothetical scenario that wouldn't ever happen. 

 
Landlord said:
I actually agree with the idea that the athletic department owes the fanbase nothing. There is no contract signed or peformance mandate - all fans that give of their money and energy do it because they want to. The AD is certainly smart to placate the fans, but also has it within their rights to alienate every single person and lose their donor base if they ever wanted to for some ridiculous hypothetical scenario that wouldn't ever happen. 
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That's clearly nonsense. That's to say a restaurant or a theater owes their patrons nothing.  The athletic department, like other entertainment providers, depends on their customers for revenue, and they owe their customers a product commensurate with what they charge for that product.  The fans don't just give money, the university actively solicits money - I could wallpaper my house with all the letters I've gotten begging for cash from the athletic department alone.  The athletic department needs the fans more than the fans need the athletic department.  We could all stop watching Husker sports and become UNK Lopers fans. Go to their games, buy their merchandise, donate to their program.  UNL's athletic department would essentially collapse, they could become an NAIA team depending on how few people show up.

 
Landlord said:
I actually agree with the idea that the athletic department owes the fanbase nothing. There is no contract signed or peformance mandate - all fans that give of their money and energy do it because they want to. The AD is certainly smart to placate the fans, but also has it within their rights to alienate every single person and lose their donor base if they ever wanted to for some ridiculous hypothetical scenario that wouldn't ever happen. 
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I think @knapplc hit the nail on the head.

In my opinion, and at its core, the AD is a business dependent upon its customers to generate revenue and maintain the quality of the product. We the fans are their greatest source of revenue in a variety of ways.

 
i think the fans just expected some feedback on the dismal performance of the D. nothing wrong with that, being transparent will usually prevent criticism.

As a new coach here, Bob needs to get off on the right foot........the defense played like sh#t last year, Diaco was brought in here to fix it. It is far from fixed,

we as fans want to know what the issues were in  this performance against a lesser opponent. No comment is not a good strategy.

It's like at work, when  you f#*k something up.......your boss will obviously want to know what went wrong and how you are going to fix it going forward.

 
Enhance said:
Well, that's not really the point I was trying to make, but I see what you're getting at. My point was I think some fans have grown accustomed to the coordinators being available and offering a certain level of insight at certain points during the week. Post game pressers would be one of those instances.
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They haven't missed a post game presser since 1994 so the precedent is a little set

 
Husker_Bohunk said:
I'll use a retail store as an example: If I go to Store Brand A for 20 years it's most likely because they have good products and service. Spending my hard earned dollars in that store does not make me a stockholder regardless of how much I spend  there.
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But it does make you a valuable asset to them because, without you, they don't have a business. Do you think it should allow you some semblance of a voice or opinion when it comes to their product or service? I do, and that's all I'm saying.

If you don't, we'll have to agree to disagree.

 
Husker_Bohunk said:
I'll use a retail store as an example: If I go to Store Brand A for 20 years it's most likely because they have good products and service. Spending my hard earned dollars in that store does not make me a stockholder regardless of how much I spend  there.
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He said stakeholder, not stockholder.  It is a public university that runs on tax dollars and an athletic department than runs on the money of the fans.  They have to take fans into account when they make decisions, or the money runs out.  That is basic business school stuff here, folks.  Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

 
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