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Why does Plonsky still have a job?


Fondren & Main

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  • immamac changed the title to Why does Plonsky still have a job?
24 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

I've heard of Plonsky but don't know why people hate her. 

What's the issue?  Any examples to share?

She soaks up a good amount of university funds, loves to find ways to make people pay more for things like LHN, and doesn’t do anything to help the football team get better.  Totally fucking worthless, should have been gone several years ago.

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I want specifics. I always hear the hate for her, but nothing substantial of how she is killing the program. 

She seems to be tenacious since she is still hanging onto the job for almost 30 years .. Maybe that tenacity mixed with what looks like a very husky woman could start on the offensive line?

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3 minutes ago, nineliveslost said:

I want specifics. I always hear the hate for her, but nothing substantial of how she is killing the program. 

She seems to be tenacious since she is still hanging onto the job for almost 30 years .. Maybe that tenacity mixed with what looks like a very husky woman could start on the offensive line?

Here’s one, she’s been up there for over 30 years and has presided over the worst decade of sports in our history.  Anybody that has been entrenched up there for the past decade or more needs to be gone.  The rot needs to be removed.

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1 minute ago, Fondren & Main said:

Here’s one, she’s been up there for over 30 years and has presided over the worst decade of sports in our history.  Anybody that has been entrenched up there for the past decade or more needs to be gone.  The rot needs to be removed.

I hear it, but is the Texas administration that dysfunctional and that incompetent ? To keep someone that is that toxic to the program?

I don't get it. If that is the case than we deserve the shitshow we see every Saturday 

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13 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

Here’s one, she’s been up there for over 30 years and has presided over the worst decade of sports in our history.  Anybody that has been entrenched up there for the past decade or more needs to be gone.  The rot needs to be removed.

Sounds like she's doing the job she was hired to do.  

Also, is she presiding over our athletic department?  Did she hire Smart, Strong, Herman, or Sark?

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22 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

Here’s one, she’s been up there for over 30 years and has presided over the worst decade of sports in our history.  Anybody that has been entrenched up there for the past decade or more needs to be gone.  The rot needs to be removed.

The athletic department is doing very well, actually. There are trophies and championships to prove it.

It's football and basketball that have fallen behind the other sports. Hell even the baseball team has been the CWS four times in the last decade.

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1 hour ago, Bullneck said:

I've heard of Plonsky but don't know why people hate her. 

What's the issue?  Any examples to share?

On top of anything current, we had the best women's athletic department in the country before she took over.  Think it was 1986 the women won 5 national titles in their 9 sports.  Then came Plonsky and we were not much above average in the Big 12 other than swimming.

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33 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

Here’s one, she’s been up there for over 30 years and has presided over the worst decade of sports in our history.  Anybody that has been entrenched up there for the past decade or more needs to be gone.  The rot needs to be removed.


decades, not decade 

also factor in the athletic dept has more than enough money but spending on actual athletics might cut into those comfy salaries 

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1 minute ago, bullet said:

On top of anything current, we had the best women's athletic department in the country before she took over.  Think it was 1986 the women won 5 national titles in their 9 sports.  Then came Plonsky and we were not much above average in the Big 12 other than swimming.

Don't tell the volleyball or softball teams.

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Just now, Helobious said:

There are other sports besides football & basketball and they mostly seem to be doing ok. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Big_12_Conference_champions

No matter how much we wail about football and basketball, our success in the Big XII as an athletic department is unparalleled. 

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12 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Don't tell the volleyball or softball teams.

They were abysmal after she took over until the last couple of years.

https://texassports.com/news/2011/11/16/111611aab_621  They put her in the Longhorn hall of fame in 2001 for this:

"...As just the third athletics director in the history of its storied women's athletics program, Plonsky is in her 23rd year of association with The University of Texas. Since she assumed the role of women's AD in 2001, the Longhorns have won two NCAA team titles (2005 Outdoor Track and Field, 2006 Indoor Track and Field) and 33 Big 12 Conference crowns...."

https://texassports.com/sports/2013/7/29/GEN_0729130655.aspx?id=328

1986 we had 5 women's titles in one year-basketball, indoor track, outdoor track, swimming and cross-country.

Look at what we did before Plonsky compared to after:

Women's Basketball (1)
1986 Jody Conradt* | Feature

Women's Cross Country (1)
1986 Terry Crawford | Feature

Women's Swimming and Diving (9)
1981 Paul Bergen* (AIAW)
1982 Paul Bergen (AIAW)
1984 Richard Quick*
1985 Richard Quick*
1986 Richard Quick*
1987 Richard Quick | Feature
1988 Richard Quick | Feature
1990 Mark Schubert*
1991 Mark Schubert | Feature

Rowing (1)
2021 Dave O'Neill*

Women's Tennis (3)
1993 Jeff Moore* | Feature
1995 Jeff Moore | Feature
2021 Howard Joffe* 

Women's Indoor Track and Field (6)
1986 Terry Crawford | Feature
1988 Terry Crawford
1990 Terry Crawford
1998 Bev Kearney* | Feature
1999 Bev Kearney*
2006 Bev Kearney | Feature

Women's Outdoor Track and Field (5)
1982 Phil Delavan (AIAW)
1986 Terry Crawford | Feature
1998 Bev Kearney* | Feature
1999 Bev Kearney*
2005 Bev Kearney

Volleyball (3)
1981 Mick Haley (AIAW) | Feature
1988 Mick Haley | Feature
2012 Jerritt Elliott* | Feature

 

 

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2 hours ago, Bullneck said:

I've heard of Plonsky but don't know why people hate her. 

What's the issue?  Any examples to share?

This is where I am, i have heard for years people complain about her but no one every provides any concrete examples of what she has done wrong. Or how she hasn’t done her job. 

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Chris Plonsky is executive senior associate athletics director/chief of staff and is UT’s senior woman administrator for Big 12 Conference and NCAA governance.

She supervises staff leaders in student services: academics/learning, 4EVERTEXAS (career and job preparation/leadership and personal development), compliance/risk management and sports medicine/health and wellness/strength performance. The latter area also includes nutrition, behavioral health and applied sports science.

Looks like the only sports she's listed in are WBB and WVB. 

And football.  Anyone think CDC is letting her call the shots?

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35 minutes ago, hornbri said:

This is where I am, i have heard for years people complain about her but no one every provides any concrete examples of what she has done wrong. Or how she hasn’t done her job. 

Whew.  A variety of things.

She was part of the Lopiano/Conradt feminist cabal that grew extremely powerful.  In the longer term, that cabal actually helped Texas women's sports and is why we're pretty strong in them. But they also created some nutty rules like no male coaches, etc.  Inordinate amount of power, and she apparently wielded it pretty heavy handedly.  

For a while, we had basically a separate women's AD for which she was partly responsible, and definitely responsible for its growth and it's a big contributor to the bloat.  And, I think she helped shield female coaches from criticism and blowback on their coaching as well as personal peccadilloes, including Bev Kearney.

I believe she also collaborated pretty heavily with Patterson on some of the fucked up shit he did with marketing and the gameday experience.  While Dodds was here, she was somewhat under control because Dodds was more senior to her in every way, including knowing where bodies were buried.  When he retired, she became, de facto, the most senior, tenured member of the AD, and threw her weight around accordingly.

Most bizarrely, I have heard a number of anecdotes of her treating female athletes with medical and Title IX issues extremely harshly, to the point of cruelty.

The current complaint is that she is running NIL in a legalistic fashion as if the NCAA was still running things and about to put us on probation if we don't mind our ps and qs.  The reality is that it's the wild fucking west and she's way overmanaging it.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Whew.  A variety of things.

She was part of the Lopiano/Conradt feminist cabal that grew extremely powerful.  In the longer term, that cabal actually helped Texas women's sports and is why we're pretty strong in them. But they also created some nutty rules like no male coaches, etc.  Inordinate amount of power, and she apparently wielded it pretty heavy handedly.  

For a while, we had basically a separate women's AD for which she was partly responsible, and definitely responsible for its growth and it's a big contributor to the bloat.  And, I think she helped shield female coaches from criticism and blowback on their coaching as well as personal peccadilloes, including Bev Kearney.

I believe she also collaborated pretty heavily with Patterson on some of the fucked up shit he did with marketing and the gameday experience.  While Dodds was here, she was somewhat under control because Dodds was more senior to her in every way, including knowing where bodies were buried.  When he retired, she became, de facto, the most senior, tenured member of the AD, and threw her weight around accordingly.

Most bizarrely, I have heard a number of anecdotes of her treating female athletes with medical and Title IX issues extremely harshly, to the point of cruelty.

Great post, thanks.  Responding to the bolded text above.

1.  After reading some headlines (US Olympic gymnastics team, Baylor, etc.) this might not be a bad idea,

2. Not good, but it's old news apparently she survived,

3. Unforgiveable.  

4. That might warrant termination depending on the particulars

But none of these are really related to Sark or playcalling or missed blocks or holding calls or overthrows or missed cuts or dropped passes or bad angles.

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1 minute ago, Bullneck said:

Great post, thanks.  Responding to the bolded text above.

1.  After reading some headlines (US Olympic gymnastics team, Baylor, etc.) this might not be a bad idea,

2. Not good, but it's old news apparently she survived,

3. Unforgiveable.  

4. That might warrant termination depending on the particulars

But none of these are really related to Sark or playcalling or missed blocks or holding calls or overthrows or missed cuts or dropped passes or bad angles.

I suppose I should add.  There are rumors of some pretty powerful WBB BMD that are "connected" through the lege, the regents, faculty, administration, whatever and that Plonsky has their backing.  And this makes it all the more difficult to just terminate her.  Plus, she's a sex discrimination lawsuit timebomb.

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1 minute ago, bschoolprof said:

I'm all for firing Plonsky, but what's the connection between her and our football team shitting its shorts for a month now?  I know we're in the anger stage of grief here, but are we just lashing out at shit in general now?  

Plonsky is emblematic of the athletic department valuing and prioritizing things other than winning.

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2 hours ago, bullet said:

On top of anything current, we had the best women's athletic department in the country before she took over.  Think it was 1986 the women won 5 national titles in their 9 sports.  Then came Plonsky and we were not much above average in the Big 12 other than swimming.

OK, she was AD for 16 years. "From 1993-2017, she also supervised revenue areas in sponsorship, marketing, licensing and television."

  • At Texas, she was women's athletics director from April 2001-December 2017. 

Here's her timeline:

  • She worked in communications/media relations at Iowa State University (1979-81),
  • She worked in communications/media relations at Texas (1982-86) and
  • She worked in communications/media relations at The BIG EAST Conference (1986-90).
  • After three years in administration at The BIG EAST as associate commissioner (1990-93),
  • she returned to Texas in October 1993 as associate AD for external services.

So, she talked to the press, etc from 82-86.  She worked for the Big East from 86 to 93 (7 years total).  Then looks like she came back in 93 for "external services."  Whatever that is.  Negotiating with Coke and Pepsi and popcorn vendors?  I don't know.  

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5 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

I'm all for firing Plonsky, but what's the connection between her and our football team shitting its shorts for a month now?  I know we're in the anger stage of grief here, but are we just lashing out at shit in general now?  

That's what I'm seeing.

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8 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Plonsky is emblematic of the athletic department valuing and prioritizing things other than winning.

Well, if those other things are academic achievement and student-athlete health and well being, I'm all for it.  

If it's for Jetpack guy and the Taco Bell gong, not so much.  

But as I look at the jobs she's held, there isn't much to suggest she was an athlete herself or has that frame of reference.  She seems like more of a promoter.

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1 minute ago, sportsbay said:

She is has the final say on NIL.  She is blocking deals that would directly pay players to play for UT Austin.  It's documented in the recruiting threads.

Why would she do that?  I live a long way from Austin and don't get local news. 

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3 hours ago, Horn Dogg said:

She soaks up a good amount of university funds, loves to find ways to make people pay more for things like LHN, and doesn’t do anything to help the football team get better.  Totally fucking worthless, should have been gone several years ago.

Above and beyond she's a bitch - pompous, arrogant and holier-than-thou. The letter C was born with Polonsky in mind. 

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11 minutes ago, sportsbay said:

She is has the final say on NIL.  She is blocking deals that would directly pay players to play for UT Austin.  It's documented in the recruiting threads.

This is fucking false. Shut the fuck up dude. They let this website pay players a very large sum of money and we got through in less than 5 business days. 
 

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15 minutes ago, sportsbay said:

She is has the final say on NIL.  She is blocking deals that would directly pay players to play for UT Austin.  It's documented in the recruiting threads.

Incorrect. The whole compliance deal is way way overblown, besides the not using burnt orange thing which is very dumb 

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Chris Plonsky physically takes the specs from the donors to the programs.  Or her secretary does, or they're faxed.  Sometimes.  She's already told you, she deals with the donors so the programs don't have to.  She is good at dealing with people.  Why don't you people understand that?  What the hell is wrong with you people? 

Edited by Lobo
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4 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

Incorrect. The whole compliance deal is way way overblown, besides the not using burnt orange thing which is very dumb 

That's good to hear.  CTJ among others strongly implied that she was being a big impediment.  Maybe that was only in the very earliest going.

IIRC, there were some big changes within weeks of it starting.

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32 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

I'm all for firing Plonsky, but what's the connection between her and our football team shitting its shorts for a month now?  I know we're in the anger stage of grief here, but are we just lashing out at shit in general now?  

It exemplifies the bureaucratic bloat and misplaced priorities of the athletic department.  Why the fuck do we need a separate AD for women's sports when no other athletic department in the country has one?  It was a bad idea 30 years ago, and it's a bad idea now.

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4 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Chris Plonsky physically takes the specs from the donors to the programs.  Or her secretary does, or they're faxed.  Sometimes.  She's already told you, she deals with the donors so the programs don't have to.  She is good at dealing with people.  Why don't you people understand that?  What the hell is wrong with you peiple? 

He's (she's) a people person, damnit! 

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2 hours ago, Helobious said:

There are other sports besides football & basketball and they mostly seem to be doing ok. 

True.  But how many of those other sports make the university money and how many cost the university money?

It's not an accident that all of that success in other sports is happening alongside one of the richest football programs in the country.  And the last time I looked, the Athletic Department kicks $5 million a year (of football money) to the university's General Fund.

Anyone who isn't 100% committed to becoming Alabama at football can't say with a straight face that s/he gives a shit about other sports, including women's sports, or the university as a whole.  

 

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9 minutes ago, Ultimate Failure said:

It exemplifies the bureaucratic bloat and misplaced priorities of the athletic department.  Why the fuck do we need a separate AD for women's sports when no other athletic department in the country has one?  It was a bad idea 30 years ago, and it's a bad idea now.

We don’t have a separate AD for women’s sports. CDC is the AD for all sports, women and men.

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3 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

True.  But how many of those other sports make the university money and how many cost the university money?

It's not an accident that all of that success in other sports is happening alongside one of the richest football programs in the country.  And the last time I looked, the Athletic Department kicks $5 million a year (of football money) to the university's General Fund.

Anyone who isn't 100% committed to becoming Alabama at football can't say with a straight face that s/he gives a shit about other sports, including women's sports, or the university as a whole.  

 

Well, we are forced by law to have womens sports and to finance them, so you can give a shit about them if you want.  Alabama has a perenially top-ranked softball team.

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Just now, TwiceHorn said:

Well, we are forced by law to have womens sports and to finance them, so you can give a shit about them if you want.  Alabama has a perenially top-ranked softball team.

Of course, and I'm not knocking them.  I think it's badass seeing all those Longhorns, male and female, in the Olympics.  

I'm just saying that anyone in our athletic department who's okay with the state of our football program for the last 12 years since we've had success in other sports is completely missing the bigger picture.  Football drives everything else and if we continue sliding into complete irrelevance it will impact the rest of the AD and to a smaller extent the university as a whole.

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13 minutes ago, Ultimate Failure said:

It exemplifies the bureaucratic bloat and misplaced priorities of the athletic department.  Why the fuck do we need a separate AD for women's sports when no other athletic department in the country has one?  It was a bad idea 30 years ago, and it's a bad idea now.

agreed - this has been a problem for some time now. Why is this suddenly now an issue?  

Do we also need a Bob Cole sucks thread now?

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1 minute ago, bschoolprof said:

agreed - this has been a problem for some time now. Why is this suddenly now an issue?  

Do we also need a Bob Cole sucks thread now?

It's not suddenly an issue for me.  I have griped about it before and will continue to do so.  Our athletic department wastes money on stupid shit, instead of spending on things that improve competitiveness.

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