Chicago Tribune

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Anybody see the horrendous misprint in the Trib this morning? Crean is now donating $1 million. Now THAT would be worth a press conference!

[MarquetteFan94]

Do you think Crean was behind it?

[MilTown]

I saw it. Is that a misprint or did he make a 1Mil pledge?

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Do you think Crean was behind it?

Nope -- but I bet he doesn't mind it.

[MilTown]

I sent a correction email to the tribune.

[mu_hilltopper]

Classic thread.  One for the ages.

[MarquetteFan94]

Do you think Crean was behind it?

Nope -- but I bet he doesn't mind it.

Do you think he's also written the LA and NY Times?

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I bet he's out donating money all over town just to keep his name out there.

What a dick.

I can't imagine that anybody would want to donate $100,000 to the school they work for (on a program they don't work on).

The nerve of this guy...

(sarcasm off)

C'mon guys... get a grip. There are some reasons to dislike Tom Crean, this isn't one of them. 

[4everwarriors]

ACAT,*







*All Crean All The Time

[Marquette84]

****ACAT,**All Crean All The Time


I suppose you prefer a low-key guy like Bob Dukiet, right? 

I don't recall Dukeit calling too many press conferences.  That must have pleased you immensely.  Dukiet holed up in his office and didn't try to show his face anywhere.  I don't think he ever showed up in the Brewers locker room.  I don't remember him guest-hosting the Channel 4 sports report.  Too bad we don't have a nice quiet coach like Bob Dukiet, right?

My gosh, we went years when the best we could hope for was six lines in the "regional roundup".   Now we have a coach who can actually make some news, and you complain because he does so!

Maybe you could name the top 25 program where the coach is invisible--like the Bob Dukiet profile you seem to prefer--just so we know what you'd like to see. 

Frankly, I don't think there are any out there.  Part of a successful program is a coach who makes news.  The reason why Tom Crean makes more news than Rob Jeter is the relative performance of Crean's and Jeter's teams last season.

Meanwhile, I hope that it continues to be all Crean all the time, because it beats the hell out of All-Ryan-All-the-Time, All-Jeter-All-the-Time, All-Brey-All-The-Time, All-Weber ALl-the-Time, All-Few-All-The-Time, All-Donovan-All-The-Time, All-Majerus-All-The-Time, or any of a hundred other coahes who COULD be taking up the press space that Tom Crean is occupying.

[Murffieus]

TC does a great job on the PR front----has a very good relationship with the people at ESPN----also with the main internet BB scribes. I think this was a big factor in DJ coming back.

Different strokes for different folks, but an anonymous gift would have been more appropriate IMO.

[Mike the Red]

I think I have to disagree with you Murff. Tom Crean may, (or may not) be a regular contributor to the University, but this gift serves several purposes by being made public.

From the standpoint of basketball, it makes a statement to possible recruits that Crean is here for the long run, rather than using Marquette as a stepping stone.

Equally important is the fact that his gift is more likely to draw wider attention to the new stadium, and hopefully, spur contributions.

Additionally, his gift can be seen as a melding of the athletic programs at the University. I think most people would rather see Tom Crean contribute money, than Pat Summit, in a cheerleaders' outfit, singing Old Rocky Top. (shudder)

Finally, isn't this gift a reflection of what Marquette strives to be, a unity, a fellowship of grads, students, faculty, tuba players, athletes?

Marquette is more than the sum of it's parts, "We are Marquette" is more than a cheer, it is a recognition of that truth and Tom Crean's gift is a reflection of that spirit.

[Nukem2]

Yes, the gift is intended to help jumpstart the fund raising for the soccer facility.  An anonymous gift would not achieve that goal.  Of course, the gift announcement also has other side benefits as prior posters have noted in this thread.

[Murffieus]

I thought another guy "jump started" the drive with a $1 million donation----I think his name was Klein.

MU has had a lot of successful fund drives without the HC publicly donating in 6 figures.

As far as a message to recruits-----doesn't TC have a long term contract which pays him more than any coach except Pitino------who's going to give that up?

[ecompt]

Murff, you can't argue that when for the past five years you have ripped TC for not coming out and pledging his allegiance to MU whenever he's been mentioned for another job. And he's not second in the country in pay.

[jtate15]

What is the logic behind an anonymous donation? Disdain for public exposure, don't want people to know how financially secure you are, cannot handle public praise? Modesty?

All of these Crean deals with anyway, everyone knows his salary, he's a high profile coach, and is in the press anyway as a result. Modesty? I don't know TC that well to judge. But I've never heard him publicly take more credit that he deserves, more often I've seen him defer credit to his players and such.

this donation, anonymous or not, is a good thing, and if TC can handle the recognition and doesn't mind it, then there shouldn't be an issue. Hopefully with his name attached, fund raising will be more productive. No one should be ridiculed for wanting... better yet accepting recognition for doing a positive thing.

Now let's TC comes out and support WI EOP programs. 

[Schoolyard]

It's $100,000 (most likely over 5 years) from a guy making 1.5 million. To put it in perspective, that's like a family with a Household income of $100,000 donating $1,350 a year for 5 years...or buying season tickets, which we all do, without a press conference.

Nice and very generous, but I hope he begged them not to do the presser and they insisted as a way of getting the ball rolling on the donations.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

It's $100,000 (most likely over 5 years) from a guy making 1.5 million. To put it in perspective, that's like a family with a Household income of $100,000 donating $1,350 a year for 5 years...or buying season tickets, which we all do, without a press conference.

Nice and very generous, but I hope he begged them not to do the presser and they insisted as a way of getting the ball rolling on the donations.

I know people love to play with percentages of income and such... but, in the grand scheme of things, 100g is still 100g.

He didn't have to donate it, and not many people donate that amount of money to MU... and there are quite a few alums and families who have WAY more money than coach Crean.

I know it's not an earth shattering amount... but it's still more then generous.