Welcome to the wide world of college sports. I'm Nick Mangiaracina, your host. Joining me tonight is Bob Bobbins.
“Hello Lawrence, have we got a great show for you tonight.”
Well, where to start, Bob?
There's so much to talk about with this Kansas football program.
“Yeah, let's start with coach Mark Mangino. This guy last season lead the team to a 12-1 record overall, capping its phenomenal season with an Orange Bowl victory against Virginia Tech. Talk about a powerhouse coach — his attitude has been ‘take no prisoners,’ and they've done just that.”
Not only that, Bob, but Mangino's wife is simply the greatest woman in the world. I can't say enough about what a great person she is. She's just so great.
“Yeah, truly a wonderful woman. Let’s talk about the fans, though. Without the support of the fans, would the Jayhawks have flown as high as they did last year?”
No doubt they wouldn't have. I've been all over the country, and I can honestly say that these are the best fans in the nation, not only in their support for the team, but in their service to this world. They are great people.
“Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. Since we're talking about the fans, let's talk for a minute about Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony, a guy who’s been under fire from fans recently.”
I hate to say this, but Marchiony is not a fan favorite and has been playing like a rookie lately. Marchiony is a veteran in the field of making nothing out of something, but lately he's been in a slump. He's getting old and just can't keep up with the younger guys anymore. There's been talk that he should retire, though some are worried he'd just come back. Like Brett Favre, he just loves the game too much. He just can't give up the platitudes, clichés and disregard for the will of students.
“I don't think it's a slump. This guy's been on the decline for a while. First there was the guarantee that the new practice fields wouldn't cost any parking spaces on campus, and then there was his gleeful response after local business owner Larry Sinks was fined $127,000 for using the color blue and the word “hawk” on his sports T-shirts. In both cases the fans have booed Marchiony and booed him loudly.”
As for the booing, maybe he thought they were saying, “Woo.” You know, the two are pretty close. Regardless, Marchiony will continue not to care what the fans have to say as long as he can say that he cares about what the fans have to say. To his credit, he definitely cares about what the rich ones have to say. This year, for the first time ever, for only $2,500 fans can watch the game from near the sideline while sitting in a red leather recliner. Talk about lifestyles of the rich and famous!
“Yeah, he may be no Robin Leach, but the fans view him as at least a leech. Still though, the fans are not happy about losing 222 parking spaces to a practice field that won't be used.”
Well, not exactly. For $90,000, trees are going to be planted around the perimeter since the new field is visible to the public. Though Marchiony said the team knew this before construction began, he said, “It's not keeping anybody awake at night.” Hey, it's a lot cheaper than the $30 million the new athletic complex cost to build. At least they won't have trouble with any dads attempting to watch their sons practice anymore.
“Hey, he could've been a spy from Mizzou who dressed like the player's father.”
Haha. Good one there.
“It looks like another interesting year of KU football.”
And that's all the time we have for today. Enjoy the rest of the Olympics reruns.
—Mangiaracina is a Lenexa senior in journalism.
Discussion
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This is a tad harsh on Marchiony, don't you think? He's just catching lots of heat because he's the top PR guy. There's absolutely no way to put positive spin on the fact that your corporation just spent $X million and it's going to no use. Also, the idea of putting trees in is a nice recovery for the department.
I've been critical of Athletics and Marchiony both in private and in writing, but urging him to hang it up goes over the line (pardon my sports cliches).
Chestnut, what are you talking about! His corporation acquired funds from students and took away real estate from students. If they wasted their own funds on their own property there would be no debate. We would laugh at their blunder. The fact remains that the Athletics Inc. is a private organization that feeds off student funds that are unjustly acquired because of their direct involvement with our Student Senate. We need to deny these people free reign over our campus and keep them accountable. When will anyone confront this guy on his egregious mistakes. Harsh, hardly.
The point is not that he screwed up, it's that he screwed up, then said he didn't care.
If someone screws up at any job, let's say a restaurant, their boss will be unhappy. If the employee then says that he's, "not losing any sleep over it," then he would be fired immediately.
On top of that, if I was his boss, I would call him a worthless, arrogant, piece of trash. Oh, wait... I AM Marchiony's boss!
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