Oregon columnist hammers Patterson in warning to Shaka Smart

[Chris Flanagan]

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. But people do not become leaders in industry by not adhering to a set of principles that should govern the organization. So in all industries, bosses are "Its my way or the highway". 

Now I believe good bosses will listen to criticism and a solution that is backed by competent evidence. If they don't want to go that route, prepare for some backlash. Not saying that a person shouldn't go for it but make sure the risk of losing is worth the potential reward. 

 

[Randolph Duke]

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. But people do not become leaders in industry by not adhering to a set of principles that should govern the organization. So in all industries, bosses are "Its my way or the highway". 

Now I believe good bosses will listen to criticism and a solution that is backed by competent evidence. If they don't want to go that route, prepare for some backlash. Not saying that a person shouldn't go for it but make sure the risk of losing is worth the potential reward. 

Um...no. 

Patterson is in charge of selling an entertainment product. In particular, live sports entertainment. Sports entertainment companies prosper by offering productions people want to watch. Patterson's "my way or the highway" attitude isn't going to resonate with many consumers, especially many of his core consumers (outside of a very small group of core consumers Patterson is actually catering to). Sports entertainment like Patterson is offering has MANY substitutes and to be successful in sports entertainment, one needs a large base of loyal consumers. Patterson's big mistake is carrying his "my way or the highway" attitude over to his dealings with a lot of his core fans.

Patterson will fail or succeed on how well he markets his sports entertainment product to consumers and how well he manages his cash flow. So far, he has decided to focus less on the needs of his current consumers and to expand the brand into new marketplaces, believing new foreign consumers will more than offset financial losses caused by ignoring his current consumers. Personally, considering the availability of competing substitutes, I believe the foreign consumers Patterson is betting on will only be one-off consumers and won't show much loyalty to Patterson's product.

A manager in sports entertainment can be as much of an arrogant prick to his employees as he wishes. A lot of highly sports entertainment professionals are extreme jackasses. What they do that Patterson doesn't do is appeal to their consumer base. No one cares if the Chairman of Disney is an ass, as long as they enjoy the experience of visiting Disneyland. Steinbrenner was an ass, but he understood the importance of ensuring his core customers felt the importance of making it to Yankee Stadium. The Cubs, Red Sox, Cowboys and a number of other sports entertainment groups have long understood financial success depends more on maintaining the connection with the core fans than winning on the field. 

Patterson's "my way or the highway" attitude toward all but 30,000 select fans probably won't be bailed out by oceans of money from his new target consumers in Mexico and China. Patterson may or may not be what people say about him as a manager. Canzano may or may not be right about Patterson being an ass. What Canzano misses entirely is that Patterson doesn't have a clue how to manage a live sports entertainment organization that doesn't have a monopoly on its marketplace and an anti-trust exemption. Pro sports execs need to only worry about the health of their league and how they manage their cash flows. Revenue sharing covers up a lot of marketing mistakes in pro sports. Patterson's "my way or the highway" attitude with the overwhelming majority of the core fans is a recipe for utter failure as they instead choose one of any number of available substitutes (including staying home to watch on tv). Winning doesn't cure all attendance problems. Not when the executive running the organization has alienated large swaths of the fanbase and not when the fans being targeted are in foreign countries. 

 

[CCausey11]

blah blah blah....blah blah blah blah

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

The Cubs, Red Sox, Cowboys and a number of other sports entertainment groups have long understood financial success depends more on maintaining the connection with the core fans than winning on the field. 

IDK how many Cowboys fans were thrilled with Jerry for his 5-figure "personal seat licenses" deal. Lucky for him, the Metroplex has enough fans to replace those who dropped out. I guess Patterson believes the same will happen in Austin with his season ticket price increases. 

So far, he has decided to focus less on the needs of his current consumers and to expand the brand into new marketplaces, believing new foreign consumers will more than offset financial losses caused by ignoring his current consumers. 

Have we scheduled an overseas game for football yet? When will the basketball team play in China?

Patterson doesn't have a clue how to manage a live sports entertainment organization that doesn't have a monopoly on its marketplace and an anti-trust exemption.

Ultimately, Patterson will be evaluated on the Strong and Smart hires. Fans will come regardless if UT starts winning again and puts a competitive, high-scoring team on the field. In football, we can't have another boring offense and a team that gets outscored by 20+ points five times in a season. The basketball team will need to average more than 50 points per game.

Most everything else; jetpack guy, "Club Longhorn", Disney fan experience, etc. is just noise. 

 

[doc longhorn]

Um...no. 

Patterson is in charge of selling an entertainment product. In particular, live sports entertainment. Sports entertainment companies prosper by offering productions people want to watch. Patterson's "my way or the highway" attitude isn't going to resonate with many consumers, especially many of his core consumers (outside of a very small group of core consumers Patterson is actually catering to). Sports entertainment like Patterson is offering has MANY substitutes and to be successful in sports entertainment, one needs a large base of loyal consumers. Patterson's big mistake is carrying his "my way or the highway" attitude over to his dealings with a lot of his core fans.

Patterson will fail or succeed on how well he markets his sports entertainment product to consumers and how well he manages his cash flow. So far, he has decided to focus less on the needs of his current consumers and to expand the brand into new marketplaces, believing new foreign consumers will more than offset financial losses caused by ignoring his current consumers. Personally, considering the availability of competing substitutes, I believe the foreign consumers Patterson is betting on will only be one-off consumers and won't show much loyalty to Patterson's product.

A manager in sports entertainment can be as much of an arrogant prick to his employees as he wishes. A lot of highly sports entertainment professionals are extreme jackasses. What they do that Patterson doesn't do is appeal to their consumer base. No one cares if the Chairman of Disney is an ass, as long as they enjoy the experience of visiting Disneyland. Steinbrenner was an ass, but he understood the importance of ensuring his core customers felt the importance of making it to Yankee Stadium. The Cubs, Red Sox, Cowboys and a number of other sports entertainment groups have long understood financial success depends more on maintaining the connection with the core fans than winning on the field. 

Patterson's "my way or the highway" attitude toward all but 30,000 select fans probably won't be bailed out by oceans of money from his new target consumers in Mexico and China. Patterson may or may not be what people say about him as a manager. Canzano may or may not be right about Patterson being an ass. What Canzano misses entirely is that Patterson doesn't have a clue how to manage a live sports entertainment organization that doesn't have a monopoly on its marketplace and an anti-trust exemption. Pro sports execs need to only worry about the health of their league and how they manage their cash flows. Revenue sharing covers up a lot of marketing mistakes in pro sports. Patterson's "my way or the highway" attitude with the overwhelming majority of the core fans is a recipe for utter failure as they instead choose one of any number of available substitutes (including staying home to watch on tv). Winning doesn't cure all attendance problems. Not when the executive running the organization has alienated large swaths of the fanbase and not when the fans being targeted are in foreign countries. 

This was a long drawn out and wordy treatise on your dislike for SP.

I have to ask you, Randy, what has he done to you, personally, to generate such hating diatribes? 

And what 30,000 people are you talking about?  Are you trying to describe the ticket holders to whom he sent questionaires on how to improve the stadium experience?  Because, if you are, there were a lot more than 30,000.

Do you question him performing the AD functions, primarily of which are the firing and hiring of coaches and endeavors to insure the athletic programs are properly marketed and making a profit?

And, are you laying the ticket increases at his feet, when it was the UT administration, endorsed by the BOR, that gave the mandates to raise prices?

Have you ever met the man or are you just parroting what others  (who haven't met him either) are writing about him - and assuming it is the gospel?

Or, could it be you just wanted Luck and not he?

Finally, do you think we should just ask the lovable and personable Deloss Dodds to come back?

 

[joeywa]

Yeah, this one hit a nerve with shotime!!

Yeah, I thought mine was a bit blunt, but shotime one-upped me! 

 

[Coal Harbour]

Patterson isn't recruiting or coaching the team, and UT will pay Shaka Smart top dollar for moving to the 40.  Good grief, its not that complicated!  Do you think that every employee got along with Deloss? 

 

[streettopeschel]

Q: How many 500-word essays can be written saying the same thing on the same subject?

A: always at least one more evidently.

 

[CCausey11]

Actually Street there is only one written.. He just cuts and pastes the same crap over and over again

 

[MikeV73]

Yeah, this one hit a nerve with shotime!!

Shotime back on the grid!

 

[MikeV73]

Can someone enlighten me on who or what entity "Vulcan" is regarding the Trailblazers?

 

[Epictetus]

Hey, Mr. Conzonko Wonko... HOW 'BOUT DEM PATTERSON APPLES!!!! (Good Will Hunting scene when Will get's her number).

Patterson just landed my FIRST and ONLY choice. Period. Exclamation point.

I'll be at the games from now on. Can't wait.

 

[joeywa]

Can someone enlighten me on who or what entity "Vulcan" is regarding the Trailblazers?

Owned by Paul Allen.  It is the master company which most all of Paul Allen's empire falls under. 

Vulcan "ABOUT" from their website. 

An idea is just an idea, unless you have people willing to follow it down every pathway, twisting and turning and running after it until it’s finally realized. Vulcan is full of seekers and explorers, those who are eager to ask the tough questions and dig in on the wide range of projects always in the works within our walls. Whether we are solving problems at the local or global level, we embrace hard work and don’t blink in the face of a challenge. We look for professionals who are innovative, agile and able to perform at the highest level.

Vulcan believes that the answers to life’s great mysteries are found through exploration. That’s why we are committed to learning as much as we can, sharing as much as we can and feeling out the edges – so we can sail right on past them. 

We’re a nimble private company based in Seattle, Washington with a portfolio as diverse as the challenges of the world. We invest in brain science and basketball, retail space and outer space, traditional libraries and AI-enhanced textbooks. People often wonder why Vulcan is involved in so many different areas and industries. We often get asked: Is there anything Vulcan doesn’t do?

Vulcan strives to create a new kind of future — a future that maps the intricacies inside our head, sets hidden talent alight and upends conventional thinking. The projects and investments we pursue are inspired by the ideas of our founder Paul G. Allen.  With the goal of igniting the type of progress he envisioned, Paul founded Vulcan in 1986 with his sister and business partner, Jody Allen.

If we can understand this mystifying organ called the brain, we can pave the way towards understanding diseases like Alzheimer’s. If we can successfully launch a rocket mid-air, it changes space travel forever. If we can get the formula right for a new kind of downtown neighborhood, it becomes a guide for how to build the cities of tomorrow.

At Vulcan, we believe that seeking out the demanding and building the difficult is what sets progress in motion.

 

[duqu]

Can someone enlighten me on who or what entity "Vulcan" is regarding the Trailblazers?

Simply put, it's Paul Allen's investment group. Wide ranging and involved in just about everything.

 

[BevoBlake]

When all of the supporting links for your accusations in a column, come from your own stories, you know you have a vendetta. The sad thing is, this isn't the first time I've heard of this guy, despite him being from Oregon. And it isn't the first time I've seen this guy attacking Patterson. 

 

[MikeV73]

Owned by Paul Allen. It is the master company which most all of Paul Allen's empire falls under.

Vulcan "ABOUT" from their website.

An idea is just an idea, unless you have people willing to follow it down every pathway, twisting and turning and running after it until it’s finally realized. Vulcan is full of seekers and explorers, those who are eager to ask the tough questions and dig in on the wide range of projects always in the works within our walls. Whether we are solving problems at the local or global level, we embrace hard work and don’t blink in the face of a challenge. We look for professionals who are innovative, agile and able to perform at the highest level.

Vulcan believes that the answers to life’s great mysteries are found through exploration. That’s why we are committed to learning as much as we can, sharing as much as we can and feeling out the edges – so we can sail right on past them.

We’re a nimble private company based in Seattle, Washington with a portfolio as diverse as the challenges of the world. We invest in brain science and basketball, retail space and outer space, traditional libraries and AI-enhanced textbooks. People often wonder why Vulcan is involved in so many different areas and industries. We often get asked: Is there anything Vulcan doesn’t do?

Vulcan strives to create a new kind of future — a future that maps the intricacies inside our head, sets hidden talent alight and upends conventional thinking. The projects and investments we pursue are inspired by the ideas of our founder Paul G. Allen. With the goal of igniting the type of progress he envisioned, Paul founded Vulcan in 1986 with his sister and business partner, Jody Allen.

If we can understand this mystifying organ called the brain, we can pave the way towards understanding diseases like Alzheimer’s. If we can successfully launch a rocket mid-air, it changes space travel forever. If we can get the formula right for a new kind of downtown neighborhood, it becomes a guide for how to build the cities of tomorrow.

At Vulcan, we believe that seeking out the demanding and building the difficult is what sets progress in motion.

So Spock is involved somewhere here right?