Duer and the SWAC are being sued


:what: I hope we don't have to give up our Farmers Insurance SWAC Championship Game trophy. :scared: lol

Good job Duer! :bowdown: You're sincerely leaving an indelible mark on this conference and it's proud history. Good job! :bowdown:
 

Panther88 said:
:what: I hope we don't have to give up our Farmers Insurance SWAC Championship Game trophy. :scared: lol

Good job Duer! :bowdown: You're sincerely leaving an indelible mark on this conference and it's proud history. Good job! :bowdown:
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Knowing this administration, all of the championship trophies in this conference might be rent to own. If you see a Rent-a-Center truck pulling up on campus, run.
 
I mean really none of this is funny, it is so sad, my question(s) is why is it so hard to find competent to run this conference, and a staff that is capable of doing their job? Do we have to continue to cause our own inferiority?:shame:
 
DallasCowboyGirl said:
I mean really none of this is funny, it is so sad, my question(s) is why is it so hard to find competent to run this conference, and a staff that is capable of doing their job? Do we have to continue to cause our own inferiority?:shame:
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Most of the competent don't want a thing to do with the SWAC. They rather go some where else be at or near the bottom.
 
I was expecting this, if you peeps didn't see it coming.:retard: By the way the SWAC office is a joke, no sense of sugar coating it now. We have no leadership.
 
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Kenn,

I think you should produce another monologue from your home office like you did on the State Fair Classic :lol:
 
DallasCowboyGirl said:
I mean really none of this is funny, it is so sad, my question(s) is why is it so hard to find competent to run this conference, and a staff that is capable of doing their job? Do we have to continue to cause our own inferiority?:shame:
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A friend of mine recently stated, "We are the reason we don't do better (pointing a finger at both of us)!"

That statement hit home because we're in our late 40's and we allow silliness and arrogance to be placed in areas of authority and allow stupidity to reign.

I've come to the conclusion that those of us with sense and knowledge may express ourselves vocally and even via media outlets, HOWEVER, when it is all said and done, we don't go to planning meetings, run for offices, diligently research the pro's or con's of issues, sit in on sessions with any REGULARITY! We don't do our research. We don't have a plan. It is status quo....

There are HUNDREDS of whiners, mopers and folks who distance themselves from our elected AND appointed officials because they feel that "it doesn't matter" or that "I've got more important issues at home, church, *place excuse here*...."

We don't want the offices because we don't want to expose our "mess" and we secretly and silently are envious (at times...) at those idiots in office who had the balls to even take the position.

So then again...WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT IT?
 
Jaguar Diehard said:
A friend of mine recently stated, "We are the reason we don't do better (pointing a finger at both of us)!"

That statement hit home because we're in our late 40's and we allow silliness and arrogance to be placed in areas of authority and allow stupidity to reign.

I've come to the conclusion that those of us with sense and knowledge may express ourselves vocally and even via media outlets, HOWEVER, when it is all said and done, we don't go to planning meetings, run for offices, diligently research the pro's or con's of issues, sit in on sessions with any REGULARITY! We don't do our research. We don't have a plan. It is status quo....

There are HUNDREDS of whiners, mopers and folks who distance themselves from our elected AND appointed officials because they feel that "it doesn't matter" or that "I've got more important issues at home, church, *place excuse here*...."

We don't want the offices because we don't want to expose our "mess" and we secretly and silently are envious (at times...) at those idiots in office who had the balls to even take the position.

So then again...WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT IT?
Click to expand...

Good point. I may not have said this before but there are enough of us here with complaints that we should find a way to channel that energy into some type of support/voice to the SWAC office. One thing I think we should ALL do is to do something in our areas to promote the SWAC, recruit for the SWAC...not just for our schools but the ENTIRE SWAC. I know that does not deal with management of the office but I think it would be something tangible. For example, if our coaches don't recruit (or don't have money to recruit) top athletes across the country. We could send letters/brochures about the SWAC to those schools and to those athletes. Collectively, we might be able to form a voice that the Council of Presidents will listen to. They might even invite Kenn to their meetings.. :lol:

We have marketing people, financial people and photoshop people...LOL who can put together a good product for us to distribute.
 

Kenn,

You have done an absolutely fantastic job in your efforts to inform people as to what is really going at the SWAC. It is probably time for those of us who us who have actually been on the front lines of the situation to step forward.
We have been cautious because:

1. Some of us are fearful of repercussions. Not necessarily from Duer himself
but from Sandy Sharp, his wife. The marriage in August of 2008 is when
all of the profound changes began to occur with Duer's personality. I can
promise you that by November of 2008, he did not even resemble the same
person.

2. It was such a nightmare, we just wanted to move forward and put this
behind us.

What needs to be understood first and foremost is that this is a case of self-will run riot (I will do what I want when I want) with total disregard for the conference as a whole. This starts with the employees who were closest to the situation.

Commissioner Sharp's 3 year contract was signed by Dr. Mason on 2/18/08. You as members/alumni and concerned individuals must decide if the frequent conflicts/turnovers of key personnel are strong indicators of integrity problems. If you decide that they aren't, do nothing. If you decide that it may be, let your voices be heard and do not allow the COP to renew his contract. His current compensation of $160,000 (excluding benefits) will probably be increased and you will have what you have.

Keep in mind that the compensation expense ultimately effects each schools distribution. On a pro-rated level, each school pays $16,000 per year. My heart always went out to Mississippi Valley State because as far as needs are concerned, theirs was dire during that time frame.

To those of you who have expressed concerns regarding the competency of the staff, I can assure you that the caliber of what I considered to be Dept Head level people that I had the pleasure of working with were top notch.

My group always kept the proper mindset where it was supposed to be........the mission statement of the SWAC. In case anyone is unaware of what this is, I'll refresh your memory. It is the enhancing experience of the student athlete (paraphrasing in my own words). We were firm believers that these kids are the future hope for our nation. Our concern was to give them everything in our power to help them succeed. We did our jobs to the best of our ability each day with this primary purpose in mind. We didn't have a forty hour work week, ours was usually a 60-plus week and was thus our lives.

No, the issues at the SWAC did not (at the time) involve employee-quality issues. What they may be at this point in time, I cannot say. However, I will offer my humble (and probably meaningless) opinion and say that once ethics and integrity have been compromised, it becomes easier and easier to justify each time the line is crossed. A pickle can never go back to being a cucumber.
 
Bisky said:
Kenn,

You have done an absolutely fantastic job in your efforts to inform people as to what is really going at the SWAC. It is probably time for those of us who us who have actually been on the front lines of the situation to step forward.
We have been cautious because:

1. Some of us are fearful of repercussions. Not necessarily from Duer himself
but from Sandy Sharp, his wife. The marriage in August of 2008 is when
all of the profound changes began to occur with Duer's personality. I can
promise you that by November of 2008, he did not even resemble the same
person.

2. It was such a nightmare, we just wanted to move forward and put this
behind us.

What needs to be understood first and foremost is that this is a case of self-will run riot (I will do what I want when I want) with total disregard for the conference as a whole. This starts with the employees who were closest to the situation.

Commissioner Sharp's 3 year contract was signed by Dr. Mason on 2/18/08. You as members/alumni and concerned individuals must decide if the frequent conflicts/turnovers of key personnel are strong indicators of integrity problems. If you decide that they aren't, do nothing. If you decide that it may be, let your voices be heard and do not allow the COP to renew his contract. His current compensation of $160,000 (excluding benefits) will probably be increased and you will have what you have.

Keep in mind that the compensation expense ultimately effects each schools distribution. On a pro-rated level, each school pays $16,000 per year. My heart always went out to Mississippi Valley State because as far as needs are concerned, theirs was dire during that time frame.

To those of you who have expressed concerns regarding the competency of the staff, I can assure you that the caliber of what I considered to be Dept Head level people that I had the pleasure of working with were top notch.

My group always kept the proper mindset where it was supposed to be........the mission statement of the SWAC. In case anyone is unaware of what this is, I'll refresh your memory. It is the enhancing experience of the student athlete (paraphrasing in my own words). We were firm believers that these kids are the future hope for our nation. Our concern was to give them everything in our power to help them succeed. We did our jobs to the best of our ability each day with this primary purpose in mind. We didn't have a forty hour work week, ours was usually a 60-plus week and was thus our lives.

No, the issues at the SWAC did not (at the time) involve employee-quality issues. What they may be at this point in time, I cannot say. However, I will offer my humble (and probably meaningless) opinion and say that once ethics and integrity have been compromised, it becomes easier and easier to justify each time the line is crossed. A pickle can never go back to being a cucumber.
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Thank you for that. It takes true courage to speak out against wrong. Stay steadfast and keep doing what is right. ........"all things work for the good of them that love the Lord, and are the called, according to His purpose"

At least someone has the SWAC's best interest at heart!
 
usa today said:
I was expecting this, if you peeps didn't see it coming.:retard: By the way the SWAC office is a joke, no sense of sugar coating it now. We have no leadership.
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I have been saying this for a decade now. :lol:
We have slid so far behind other conferences in FCS, it's actually funny now.
nine game mandates, Isolation from the rest of FCS, no communication from the "leaders" in the SwAC office to the public,(FANS-Institutions it serve), and now people sueing them.
I gave up a long time ago.:lecture:

BTW:
I know it's a dead horse, but has anyone found out how much we make off the SCG and what do each school get, Revenue, for being in the SWAC at the end of each year.
I have never found anything on this no matter how much I search.
 
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jstate83 said:
I have been saying this for a decade now. :lol:
We have slid so far behind other conferences in FCS, it's actually funny now.
nine game mandates, Isolation from the rest of FCS, no communication from the "leaders" in the SwAC office to the public,(FANS-Institutions it serve), and now people sueing them.
I gave up a long time ago.:lecture:

BTW:
I know it's a dead horse, but has anyone found out how much we make off the SCG and what do each school get, Revenue, for being in the SWAC at the end of each year.
I have never found anything on this no matter how much I search.
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Now that's a good, thought-provoking question. I'd like to know that answer myself.
 
jstate83 said:
BTW:
I know it's a dead horse, but has anyone found out how much we make off the SCG and what do each school get, Revenue, for being in the SWAC at the end of each year.
I have never found anything on this no matter how much I search.
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they give a report during spring meetings about what was made to ADs and Presidents.
 
Believe it or not, nothing comes from the Conference Championship. It comes from the NCAA annual conference allocation from the CBS television contract fondly known as Basketball Distribution. This happens in April.

Duer has effectively destroyed all of the relationships Robert Vowels along with the former Director of Marketing (prior to Eunice) had built. Thus, the revenue had trickled down to a tiny few drops.

Notice Alabama Power is no longer listed as a sponsor. Neither is Alagasco. Russell has somehow hung in there despite the poor treatment they've received. Remember the much-touted Nike sponsorship? Notice they are nowhere to be found on the website. City of Birmingham? Regions? Jostens? They give discount pricing on trophies, that is all. This is not a sponsorship. What happened to the trumpeted Coke sponsorship? Oh that's right, that was an untruth was told only to the COP at Winter meetings not the general membership. The $75,000 never appeared. Remember the big Coke sign on the far side of Legion Field at the 2009 SCG? A ruse. A wasted expense designed to deceive the COP. Long story short, the Conference (Duer) spent a fortune and lost over $100,000. The concert that year? A bust. Through no fault of Eunice's. The Hall of Fame banquet that year? Well, that's the year Duer changed the Hall of Fame votes because he had a personal resentment against Horace Crump. So although many deserving people did receive their awards, one deserving person didn't. The worse part was watching him lie to poor Dr. Frank's face. An unknown party notified Dr. Frank of what had happened. He, of course, was horrified and confronted our vote-changer. Our vote-changer was more concerned about how he could get Kinko's to show him the security footage of the day the fax was sent so he could find out who had told on him.

Are you beginning to get the picture that many of the things are "engineered" and not as they appear? A good example here would be the Wizard of Oz. Remember when Dorothy looked behind the curtain and saw that the "wizard" was putting on an elaborate "front"? He told Dorothy, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!".

Until the Farmer's sponsorship that Eunice had worked so hard to garner, no one wanted to be associated with the Conference because of Duer Sharp. She worked her rear end off because she came in with nothing to work with. No one wanted to touch Duer Sharp with a ten foot pole. She had no nice list of sponsors to call upon. In fact, she had a very difficult time even getting people to return her phone calls. Certainly not because of her.

It all falls on the shoulders of two people. Duer and Sandy Sharp. She is Gollum whispering in Master's ear. Master has fallen for the Ring.

Long answer to short question. Sorry. Maybe its' been held inside too long.
The last days were hell on earth. I can honestly say that I'm not afraid of the concept of hell anymore. I've been there already and know what it is like.

We clung to each other during those times as if our lives depended upon each other because our sanity did. We watched in absolute horror as lie after lie spun out of Wormtongue's mouth, wondering what we could do. Then it became fraud after fraud to make things appear as they weren't.

Eunice Elliott played a large role in holding us together. I'm not sure what we would have done without her. We were all slipping into some form of mental or emotional illness because of the duress. Have no doubts in your minds folks, Duer Sharp is guilty of the charges. This is an indisputable fact and I certainly hope that the less-than competent Nitra Babers has paid the commercial umbrella liability and employment practices premiums. The Conference will need it because of Duer Sharp's actions.

Unfortunately you folks will ultimately pay for this in through your schools distribution.

The man who recommended him for the job, former Commissioner Robert Vowels, has been so shocked and disappointed in Sharp's behavior that the phone calls don't get returned anymore.
 
From day one when I first met the man in Dec. 07, there was something not right about him but I could not put my finger on it. At this time I feel confident that Mr Sharp days may be numbered, and BTW they were pushing that Coke sponsership at this year's Basketball tourny, but I saw no sign of it, if you know what I mean!

Mr. Sharp you suck as a commissioner, but you know that already now don't you! I guess now while on your watch I will never make it into the SWAC Hall of Fame!:fart:
 
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