Thursday May 24, 2007

More Committees Baby

More Committees Baby
On the famous Saturday Night Live skit, Christopher Walken tells Blue Oyster Cult, “I need more cowbell baby!” He goes on to add, "I got a fever, and the only prescription... is more cowbell!"

Well I have a fever and the only prescription is more committees.

Today’s edition of The Charleston Post and Courier has an article explaining that the Athletic Council at Clemson disagrees with the Presidential Task Force’s new policies on the Athletic Academic Review Committee.

Let me get this straight:

1. We have an Athletic Academic Review Committee.
2. We have a Presidential Task Force to review the Athletic Academic Review Committee.
3. Now another committee, the Athletic Council that has reviewed the Presidential Task Force’s review of the Athletic Academic Review Committee.

WE NEED MORE COMMITTEES!!!!!

Who is the world has time for all of these committees and what the heck did we do before we had all of these committees?

Maybe if we had more committees we could get to the Top 20 in whatever magazine ranks colleges. Maybe that is the answer. More committees=Top 20. Maybe Georgia Tech, Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Michigan have it figured out. Maybe they just have more committees than we do.

Heck, I get the feeling that if some magazine said the key to getting in the top 20 is more cowbell then we would have more cowbell baby.

I have contacted others and now have a few committees to add. Some of you will be asked to serve on my new committees. I am proud to introduce the:

TRCTRAC-This is The Review Committee To Review All Committees. This committee would meet 24 hours a day, seven day a week, 52 weeks a year. They would have to meet that often because they are so many committees and you never know when one needs to be reviewed.

TCTMMC-This is The Committee To Make More Committees. This committee would explore any uncovered aspect of society that we do not yet have a committee. This committee would be charged to continue to come up with more committees. I gotta have more committees baby!

TCTFOWTHIOATC-This is The Committee To Find Out Who The Hell Is On All Of These Committees. This committee would actually find out what individuals make up all of these committees.

TCTRWTANMWOC-This is The Committee To Research Why There Are Not More Women On Committees. We will later split off and have committees to study the same for men, whites, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, etc.

TCTFOWIDTJOTCMWTADCWIODTNJ-This is The Committee To Find Out Who Is Doing The Job Of Those Committee Members While They Are Doing Committee Work Instead Of Doing Their Normal Job. This committee will have to go to the actual work place of committee members and see who is actually doing the work the committee members were hired to do.

TCTFOWHABTJHSALTDTJAHTAIOHBAC-The Committee To Find Out Who Has Any Balls To Just Hire Somebody And Let Them Do Their Job And Hold Them Accountable Instead Of Hiding Behind A Committee. This committee will have to look into what is wrong with holding individuals accountable instead of having so many committees.

There will be more added later to study our committees’ effects on the environment and other hot button issues. Maybe gas prices?

Maybe we could have a committee to come up with plans on how the university will respond to blogs in the future. Or maybe how we can spin things instead of just simply telling the truth.

I am all for checks and balances but I am not for checks and balances for my checks and balances.

Is anyone held accountable anymore? Is anyone just hired to do a job and held accountable for doing that job?

Does anyone have any common sense anymore?

Note to the Athletic Council: You are not going to like this but please understand this. You are not a policy making part of the university. You are a rubber stamp group. Just enjoy your time on the committee and enjoy the perks. You get some nice shirts and some nice bowl tickets and hotel rooms. Enjoy them but don’t pretend to be more than you are. You are a rubber stamp committee.

I have several good friends who have served on the Athletic Council at one time or another over the last thirty years. Most understand or understood their role. One professor told me, “I was on the Athletic Council when coach Howard was here and we did exactly what we were supposed to do.” Somehow that has been lost. Some think that they are the FBI instead of a security guard. Some are asked to pinch run for the runner on third but think they actually hit the triple.

But the real problem is the leadership. Back in the day if the Athletic Council would have been quoted in the paper Bill McClellan or Coach Howard would have called somebody into their office and someone would have found out who was the real Sherriff. The tragedy is the so-called leaders of the university are so politically correct that they will not stand up and say what needs to be said.

Jim Barker is out of the country and Terry Don Phillips had no comment in the article. Please don’t offend anyone that might hurt their feelings.

R.C. Edwards would have not worried about political correctness. Dr. Edwards was pro-athletics and did not mind it that people knew that. He did not feel he had to play to both sides of the aisle. He did not answer to anyone in the faculty that had a problem with his obvious support of athletics. If a member of the faculty was offended then he/she did not have to stay around. They were welcomed to find employment elsewhere if they felt they needed. Dr. Edwards was in charge and everyone knew it. I would venture a guess that we had a lot less committees back then.

It’s not too late for Simon and Garfunkel to ask, “Where have you gone R.C. Edwards?”

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