First, today's letter from Bill D'Andrea to IPTAY Representatives:
I hope when you receive this it finds you and your family preparing for the holiday season. We are excited about our football team's opportunity to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte December 31st at noon against rival South Florida.
I realize there has been a lot of chatter, rumors and innuendos, and everyone has a lot of answers on these internet sites and web sites. I'm sure you have heard some people expressing their concerns about not joining IPTAY next year.
First, I want to thank each and every one of you for all your support and leadership this fall. Jason does a great job of keeping our staff apprised of various IPTAY Rep activity and we are pleased with the number of new members that have joined through your leadership.
I'm confident with the decisions made as we move forward, and optimistic these emotional outburst will settle down and IPTAY will continue to show strong support and ticket sales. We have a place in Clemson that will always display more loyalty and support than our critics. So stay positive, support our teams by encouraging donors we need their contributions now more than ever. And the bottom line is if they do come out, they are only hurting our opportunities for our student-athletes and Clemson. Therefore, when you hear negative comments, I know you will take the high road. IPTAY and Clemson will be here long after we're gone and I'm confident IPTAY will continue its strong historic support of Clemson Athletics.
I want to again thank you for all you do to support IPTAY and wish you and your family the very Merriest Christmas and New Year.
I'm astounded they'd even mention internet chatter. Its not like a website controls the fanbase.
So I see him basically saying "We want their money, but we aren't going to change anything at Clemson". They believe that folks will blindly give and support when the Administration takes no responsibility for what has occured to the Athletic program in the last 4 years in particular, on the field. They also dismiss negative sentiment and try to twist it so that those of us "5%'ers" are somehow hurting Clemson more than their leadership is. You don't put down people youre asking for money, especially when the ones that donate the big bucks are the ones on the pay sites/boards.
When they say things like this, I feel like they're completely detached from the fanbase.
Then today they threw a bone to you...
Clemson apparently has "concept drawings" of an Indoor facility to replace our currently outstanding Indoor Track Facility...you know the one that sucked so bad the NFL scouts decided to conduct Pro Day in the rain instead.
I see different ways to look at it. Either they're panicked about donations and want to throw us a nugget to get some cash flow back and this is a political move, they really are responding to our complaints, or they've decided to make some kind of commitment to giving Clemson what it needs to compete in recruiting -- especially since FSU, GT, and Auburn all have announced/building new Indoor facilities.
What I want to see from them is more than a picture on paper: figures, deadlines, costs, and tell me why IPTAY doesn't pay for it with the cash they've got now? Tell me when WEZ Phase III construction is starting and how you plan to get both done? Am I seeing a pipe dream that takes 5 years to come to fruition? Are you going to go with the lowest bidder and build an el cheapo $5-7 million facility or shoot for the big boys ($16-18 mil)?
Does this mean that you will fund the Training Table? What about additional support personnel positions? Does it mean Barker will stop raising his "tax" on the AD?
These are the things that I want to see from our AD, the commitment to doing whats needed and actually presenting a plan to get it done, not just talk. Talk is what I hear from Barker. If they have a plan, I want to hear a public statement, not word from news sites. I want it from Clemson directly. THAT would help unite people and get things going in the right direction.
I'm all for whatever it takes to help Clemson, but with morons at the top I just cannot justify giving them a nickel again until I see some damn results. These people told us we didn't need an Indoor facility last year, and now they change their tune? Always reactive, never proactive.