This is something I've been saying for months now: Gilbert is trying to engineer a quick win in terms of drumming up more revenue, to the overall detriment of USM atheltics.
Someone over at Crayola.com is asking for examples. It's one of those accounts which I suspect is really Jeremy, but, if it isn't, I think it's pretty foolish asking questions about something you read here over on a different board that hadn't had a post in a couple of days.
That said, I'll answer.
The biggest example is the Kentucky game. When the TV coverage opened up, I was shocked by how empty and dingy M.M. Roberts looked. It was one of the most disappointing moments of my many years as a USM fan. Here's USM's return game from an SEC team we beat last year, a team that went on to play in the Gator Bowl, and we get... that??
After the game, Gilbert was touting how much money he made. Apparently, he successfully shook down the core group of fans who didn't mind paying $40 or whatever to get in, and kept everyone else out.
Maybe that's appropriate for some games. It was not appropriate for a winnable home opener against an SEC team. There's no proving it, but I think that a big, enthusiastic home crowd might have made the difference that day.
Instead, we got a demoralizing, bullshit experience that set the tone for a bullshit season- especially at M.M. Roberts. Gilbert won't mention that on his resume.
Later, it came out that Gilbert was shaking down his own staff for donations. Again, in the short term, people eager to impress the new boss will comply with his demands, but in the long term, it's just more bush league horse crap. Over time, competent people will avoid that sort of workplace, and we'll attract boot-lickers instead.
The latest example (and I'm not the only one using the description "bush league" for this one) is the micro-managed, pocket-picking approach to selling tickets to the baseball opener. Is it intended to get as many enthusiastic USM fans into the stadium as possible, show them the best time USM can show them, and get the team the support it needs?
Hell no! It's about picking the pockets of the bluehairs, whether they wear gold or maroon.
The focus of USM's AD absolutely must be on transforming the game day experience - which has turned to utter shit - into something good again. People don't like staring at a mildewy upper deck, unless there are asses in the bleachers to cover up the mildew. People don't like having to parallel park on US49 for a football game. People don't like listening to a blown-out sound system.
I'm surprised I even have to explain these things.