There has been a lot of criticism the last 10 days, some fair and some not so much. I respect those that have given sound criticism. For those that had to use profanity, anger and total disgust in their thoughts, I just had to ignore.
I have read most of the posts, not all, so if I cover something that has already been said, please forgive me. I do specifically want to comment about the age question in Ponca Dan's post. Being older than several on this board does not make any of us necessarily wiser or more informed. It does give us broader perspective. We have been no where near the bottom in OSU BB the last several years. Far from it!!! Mr Iba, for all of his great contributions, stayed at the wheel far too long. His last 5 years were horrendous. 47-77 over all and 17-53 in conference. Did you read that? 17-53 in conference. That is not a typo. I walked on as a freshman in 1968(still had freshman teams) as OSU only had 3 scholarship freshmen and one of them was on a half track scholarship. He left Sam Aubrey with absolutely nothing. Sam was a great man. War hero. Got a hip shattered serving his country. He knew BB but he did not have a chance. The program was in shambles. Sam only won 7 conference games in 3 years.Seven in 3 years! Then came Guy Strong. He won 16 conference games in 4 years. After that, Jim Killingsworth. 9 games in 2 years and he was gone. We won 49 conference games in 14 years. We averaged less than 4 conference wins per season for a decade and a half and half of that is directly attributable to the greatest coach in OSU history. So for you youngsters, that was the bottom in OSU BB and it is not even close.
Now for our AD. Why do I support him?
1. VISION-the man has had a vision for OSU since he took over the job. The athletic village is his vision much like Karsten Creek was his vision as the golf coach. Very few people know the planning, the determination, the setbacks he went through. He was funding his own program because the university basically gave golf no funding. He had 8 NCAA championships with basically no help from his AD. It was the same for most of the other minor sports. Thus his vision for the athletic village. Mike Holder wants excellence in the minor sports as well. New tennis facilities. new track facilities, new softball facilities, and hopefully, in the near future, new baseball facilities. Mike Holder has a vision for OSU athletics like no other AD in our history. Pinching pennies, my ass!!! He has spent more than any OSU AD in history.
2. DETERMINATION-many people would have folded with the setbacks he has endured. Yes, some may be of his own doings but they were not for lack of shooting for the stars. He had worse setbacks than this while trying to build Karsten. Setbacks and delays only make Mike Holder even more determined. Nobody was calling for his head back then because no one even cared enough to know what he was going through. He just kept grinding, kept looking for that big donor, kept planning, and was not willing to consider failure as an option.
3. PASSION-no one has more passion for OSU. Even his critics grant him that. I want a AD that is passionate for everything OSU. Where would we find that? No one on this board can name one.
4. OWNERSHIP-there is not another AD in the country that has more ownership in the university they serve than Mike Holder. He is a stake holder, just like you and I. He has his degree from OSU. He built Karsten Creek and put OSU golf on the national scene. His players have represented our university in many venues. Several are some of our biggest donors today. He teaches people to reinvest in OSU. Some have even made fun of his one dollar a year salary but I do not see any one stepping up and offering to do the same. What it means to me is that he has taken are of his own business. How does a man his age work for a dollar a year unless he has invested wisely and pinched pennies in his personal life? Not to mention how much Mike and his wife have donated to the university.. He, too, is one of our biggest donors.
Mike Holder has not killed OSU BB nor has he killed any other port. In fact, most are flourishing. Facilities are by far at an all time best. Holder built state of the art locker rooms for Travis Ford. He put in a new sound system and scheduled the over sea's trip for BU. I call BS on anyone that says he has neglected BB.
I have no idea how Mike Boynton will work out. But I do know Holder will give him the support he needs to be successful. That is more than I can say for many of the critics on this board.
I have read most of the posts, not all, so if I cover something that has already been said, please forgive me. I do specifically want to comment about the age question in Ponca Dan's post. Being older than several on this board does not make any of us necessarily wiser or more informed. It does give us broader perspective. We have been no where near the bottom in OSU BB the last several years. Far from it!!! Mr Iba, for all of his great contributions, stayed at the wheel far too long. His last 5 years were horrendous. 47-77 over all and 17-53 in conference. Did you read that? 17-53 in conference. That is not a typo. I walked on as a freshman in 1968(still had freshman teams) as OSU only had 3 scholarship freshmen and one of them was on a half track scholarship. He left Sam Aubrey with absolutely nothing. Sam was a great man. War hero. Got a hip shattered serving his country. He knew BB but he did not have a chance. The program was in shambles. Sam only won 7 conference games in 3 years.Seven in 3 years! Then came Guy Strong. He won 16 conference games in 4 years. After that, Jim Killingsworth. 9 games in 2 years and he was gone. We won 49 conference games in 14 years. We averaged less than 4 conference wins per season for a decade and a half and half of that is directly attributable to the greatest coach in OSU history. So for you youngsters, that was the bottom in OSU BB and it is not even close.
Now for our AD. Why do I support him?
1. VISION-the man has had a vision for OSU since he took over the job. The athletic village is his vision much like Karsten Creek was his vision as the golf coach. Very few people know the planning, the determination, the setbacks he went through. He was funding his own program because the university basically gave golf no funding. He had 8 NCAA championships with basically no help from his AD. It was the same for most of the other minor sports. Thus his vision for the athletic village. Mike Holder wants excellence in the minor sports as well. New tennis facilities. new track facilities, new softball facilities, and hopefully, in the near future, new baseball facilities. Mike Holder has a vision for OSU athletics like no other AD in our history. Pinching pennies, my ass!!! He has spent more than any OSU AD in history.
2. DETERMINATION-many people would have folded with the setbacks he has endured. Yes, some may be of his own doings but they were not for lack of shooting for the stars. He had worse setbacks than this while trying to build Karsten. Setbacks and delays only make Mike Holder even more determined. Nobody was calling for his head back then because no one even cared enough to know what he was going through. He just kept grinding, kept looking for that big donor, kept planning, and was not willing to consider failure as an option.
3. PASSION-no one has more passion for OSU. Even his critics grant him that. I want a AD that is passionate for everything OSU. Where would we find that? No one on this board can name one.
4. OWNERSHIP-there is not another AD in the country that has more ownership in the university they serve than Mike Holder. He is a stake holder, just like you and I. He has his degree from OSU. He built Karsten Creek and put OSU golf on the national scene. His players have represented our university in many venues. Several are some of our biggest donors today. He teaches people to reinvest in OSU. Some have even made fun of his one dollar a year salary but I do not see any one stepping up and offering to do the same. What it means to me is that he has taken are of his own business. How does a man his age work for a dollar a year unless he has invested wisely and pinched pennies in his personal life? Not to mention how much Mike and his wife have donated to the university.. He, too, is one of our biggest donors.
Mike Holder has not killed OSU BB nor has he killed any other port. In fact, most are flourishing. Facilities are by far at an all time best. Holder built state of the art locker rooms for Travis Ford. He put in a new sound system and scheduled the over sea's trip for BU. I call BS on anyone that says he has neglected BB.
I have no idea how Mike Boynton will work out. But I do know Holder will give him the support he needs to be successful. That is more than I can say for many of the critics on this board.
