My McDonald's Resignation

[glenn]

This thread is set up for comments and questions resulting from a column explaining my resignation from the McDonald's Selection Committee. The column is currently unavailable because it is being reviewed, not because it is inaccurate or because I was fired, as some would have you believe. My resignation from the committee stands, as do the reasons behind it.

Some, by the way, have twisted my intentions in an effort to hide their own tactics. I was in no way criticizing McDonald's itself. I was criticizing the behavior of some of the committee members, and the process that facilitates that behavior, however unwittingly. If I had, for example, written that the seats at the United Center were uncomfortable, the average reader would understand that I was not criticizing United Airlines, but the facility itself.

[dcballer]

ok i'll ask........why are you resigning?
________
HARLEY-DAVIDSON XL883 (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Harley-Davidson_XL883)

[sjducky]

DCB -- I would think the story (now up) explains, at least a bit.

[no1else]

Great article Glenn and sorry your frustration resulted in resignation. I presume you felt you couldn't force these proposed changes to occur or you would have stayed on board and tried to do so.

I worry about the first change you suggest of posting who is on the committee. That would only seem to encourage outsiders to contact those members and try to sway their vote. Your last two paragraphs seem to illustrate the point. The girl you speak of sounds as though she has the talent to merit a selection on her own accord. But you also seem to be at least in part influenced by her personal story which is an outside factor that should have nothing to do with whether or not she gets selected. If it did, even if it were heartwarming for her to make it, that is the very definition of the process being "political".

[glenn]

Great article Glenn and sorry your frustration resulted in resignation. I presume you felt you couldn't force these proposed changes to occur or you would have stayed on board and tried to do so.

I worry about the first change you suggest of posting who is on the committee. That would only seem to encourage outsiders to contact those members and try to sway their vote. Your last two paragraphs seem to illustrate the point. The girl you speak of sounds as though she has the talent to merit a selection on her own accord. But you also seem to be at least in part influenced by her personal story which is an outside factor that should have nothing to do with whether or not she gets selected. If it did, even if it were heartwarming for her to make it, that is the very definition of the process being "political".

You hit on a few things that I think are important.

The committee is only a list of names that has no ties to each other besides the vote. If there were meetings or conference calls, I'd feel that I could work within the system. But there is no system. I have made some suggestions in the past; again, with no official "body," it's difficult to see those through.

I struggled with posting the list for the very reasons you outlined. You cannot very easily find the other people on the committee anyway. Even if you could, I think it's better than having some secret society make these picks. I did forget to include a suggestion of warning people against trying to influence voters, under the penalty of being disqualified from consideration.

Finally, I was in no way swayed by the girl's story, and would not be. Our voting already had been completed by the time she contacted me. My point was that too many girls and their parents believe they have to be McDonald's picks to validate their existence and careers. There is so much more to life!

Thanks for your comments and quesitons!

[bballz]

I am guessing you won't say, but which player do you feel was a given the gift of the bloc voting?

[intelligenthoodlum]

It was just a matter of time.

The explosion of the internet message board culture, and the explosion of national scouting services, and website punditry--over the last two years--has caused--in the IH's humble opinion--a mad scramble for SIGNIFICANCE amongst these entities, across clienteles.

At the same time, while Nike has increased its MENTALS market share with the masses of girls, parents, school and club coaches, there seems to be a marked increase in the infighting between the Nike AAU/club franchises.

High school coaches NATIONWIDE, trying to fight the increasing significance of the AAU/club coaches nowadays, are going overboard in their duties, and are messing up the mentals of their girls and parents.

AAU and club coaches, with more power--but less experience--are ruining the present and mortgaging the future for these girls, by making big promises but delivering small results.

USA Basketball is moving more toward the EUROPEAN MODEL for identifying and developing EVEN YOUNGER GIRLS--which puts even more pressure on whack parents and their lap dogs, the school/AAU/club coaches who will say and do almost anything to get a girl with immense potential--but no talent--to roll with them.

EVERYBODY wants the NEXT player--the 5-11 to 6-3 8th/9th/10th-grader, who's long, bouncy, and can play the off-the-dribble game on the perimeter, and can also go down in that block with great hands and good footwork. But who knows how to develop This Year's Model--and still be real with the girl, her parents, and her fan club?

On ANY consensus 2009-class rankings list, there are going to be a larger-than-ever-before-for-a-class number of girls ranked from #75 through #150 who are CLEARLY more talented than most of those girls ranked #1 through #40 (and it ain't opinion; it's FACT...).
And THIS was inevitable. More talented girls at a younger age, WHO ARE NOT A PART OF ANY POLITICAL PROCESS, are coming through. As stated before, the politics are at a dangerous high (even factions are fighting within the factions!).
More talented girls at a younger age, and more of their parents who know better and ain't tripping, and more club coaches who are shrewd about the landscape and actually can teach more than a drop-step.

And all of these ingredients, all of a sudden, are overheating the current, STILL-ANTIQUATED, girls-basketball system. Which Ronald The Clown and His Burger Bojanglers are a part of.
The IH, in his older years, still does trip real hard on the savories of a two-filet-of-fish-large-fries-strawberry-milkshake-order; but, he ain't tripping ON ANY LEVEL over this to-be-expected-probability of Burger Girl back-alley bungling.

A-h-h-h, PROGRESS...

[Hoops2ya]

Glenn:

I for one am proud of you and this article. I know you will catch flack over it but the politics of this process should be exposed.

One section in your article i particularly liked referenced the committee member having ties to certain players:

People who have club teams and are on the selection committee shouldn't use the McD's selection process as bait for their teams and events. They shouldn't have a vote in regards to any player they are directly affiliated with. It just ain't right!

Thanks Glenn!:)

[Hoops2ya]

On ANY consensus 2009-class rankings list, there are going to be a larger-than-ever-before-for-a-class number of girls ranked from #75 through #150 who are CLEARLY more talented than most of those girls ranked #1 through #40 (and it ain't opinion; it's FACT...).

And THIS was inevitable. More talented girls at a younger age, WHO ARE NOT A PART OF ANY POLITICAL PROCESS, are coming through. As stated before, the politics are at a dangerous high (even factions are fighting within the factions!).


A-h-h-h, PROGRESS...

Great post IH......

[glenn]

Glenn:

I for one am proud of you and this article. I know you will catch flack over it but the politics of this process should be exposed.

One section in your article i particularly liked referenced the committee member having ties to certain players:

People who have club teams and are on the selection committee shouldn't use the McD's selection process as bait for their teams and events. They shouldn't have a vote in regards to any player they are directly affiliated with. It just ain't right!

Thanks Glenn!:)

hoops2ya, thanks for the kind words. You don't know how prophetic you were! The attack dogs certainly have been unleashed. If that's the price to pay for standing up for fairness and integrity, so be it. The people taking their shots at me are the people who are poisoning the sport. I'll start worrying when people I respect start turning on me.

[intelligenthoodlum]

Kind words, mon ami. But you know what? The IH has no beef with any of them peoples associated with the Mickey Mob; he ain't mad at nobody. In fact, the IH does business with at least a third of these people--and knows what he's getting himself into, good and bad, with all of them.

This is why the IH feels that BUSINESS IS BUSINESS--and he's ALWAYS prided himself on GOING WITH THE FLOW, until he sees a SLIGHT advantage, a window that's CRACKED open, and then pushes the envelope, a little bit...

So the IH's complaint--from where he sits, the majority of his time in this business--is at the silliness and stupidity, and vacuousness and vanity, of these parents and rank-and-file school/club coaches, who think then know more than everybody else, but know less than nothing. And their girls are suffering...

Jeez. All this talk of 21st Century Teen-Age Girls Basketball Philosophy and Politics is making the IH desperate for a two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-cheese-pickles-lettuce-onions-on-a-sesame-seed-bun, and a large mint shake...

[pgcop]

I have 3 votes and 12 of my friends have 3 votes, like it or not we are the gatekeepers, choose carefully when you decide who to play for. I said how come only one of your girls are on the team. He said look again, then look at the past teams, I said oh. I said how about girl "A" getting in?, and he begins to stutter, he says that's "ahem's" player and I don't want to get into that.

[frankiebaby]

How about having the fans vote on the internet like the NBA? Or, maybe they can call in like on American Idol. What about texting in votes America's best dance crew? They can go to McDonald's and by the burger of their favorite player or something too.

[scoutnwhoops]

In my opinion there is no perfect scenario here. Coach Lewis and I talked today and I've come to the conclusion after picking his brain that McDonald's can still improve the process.

His example was all-league honors in most college athletic conferences - you can't vote for players on your own team or yourself for coach of the year.

Since many of these voters have direct affiliations and interest in the players of which they are voting for, eliminate that potential vote. Ask a club team coach what part of his or herjob is and it's promoting their respective players. The players on that team are the coach's first responsibility and priority so it is impossible to remove that interest unless you disallow voting for those kids. Every single coach in a single AAU program could have votes from U11 to U17 but if they aren't allowed to vote for kids that have played in that program there is no way for anyone one group to control things unless there is vote trading going on.

I would still argue that just like the NCAA selections for the tournament this week, there will be worthy candidates left out. That's just the way it is.

I just can't wait until April when we can get back in the gym and see how the next crop of lady ballers is shaking out.

[glenn]

Really, a lot of the mess could be cleaned up by uninviting the bullies who bad mouth and try to punish anyone -- even teenaged girls -- who are not in lockstep with them. Shame on them and their petty tactics. Everyone in the sport knows who they are. And if you don't, just listen for the ones who are protesting the loudest and telling the tallest tales. They are bitter because girl's basketball has exploded to the point where it's no longer a walled-off society where the bullies can operate in secret. The old guard is trying to hang on to power and to squeeze every last penny out of the sport before everything blows up in their faces.

[thangdad]

Can someone post a link to Glenn's column? Dumb me can't find it. Thanks.

[Twister]

Mike Flynn and Kenny Kalina are writing about Glenn being fired and banned from McDonadls. But Kalina is not on the committee list that you posted. How are those two related?

[glenn]

thangdad, the column is being reviewed and may be available later. It seems like people are still reading it somehow, as I continue to receive phone calls and emails about it.

[glenn]

Mike Flynn and Kenny Kalina are writing about Glenn being fired and banned from McDonadls. But Kalina is not on the committee list that you posted. How are those two related?

Well, consider the source. I guess one of them is writing that teams will ban us from their events and players, while Flynn is calling coaches in an attempt to get them to do just that. I guess that's a new form of journalism -- write it, then make it come true. How do I know this is happening? The coaches are calling us to tell us about it. These are the kind of dirty tricks I'm talking about. He also wrote that I threatened to sue Scout; however a Scout executive called to apologize and tell me they didn't consider what was written to be a story because of the absence of facts and the fact that I am not a worthy story subject (LOL), with which I agreed!

I've also read the claims written, supposedly by other people, though it's easy to sign up for usernames, post made-up items on your own message board and have libelous conversations with yourself. Some of the fairy tales: we rank kids after sitting with their parents (???), I personally won't rank kids who run afoul of me (when has a kid EVER run afoul of me?), we are excluding events because we don't like the people.

On that latter one, I just want to make the point that we'd ALWAYS planned on covering the USJN Nationals. Although we desperately want to post our entire summer schedule TODAY, the NCAA hasn't even posted a list of its certified events and won't until after the spring eval period. Telling people we for sure will be in Chicago and New Orleans is NOT excluding everyone else and is simply doing what people have asked us to do: let everyone know in advance where we know we'll be.

Finally, the tall tale about our not having McDonald's and the NHSI listed on our spring EVALUATION schedule is because we don't consider those spring evaluation events, which are events players and teams can try getting into. McDonald's is not an evaluation event, for one thing, and the NHSI is an invitational and a high-school event.

On one hand I don't want to validate the rantings of someone who is proving to be a non-credible source of information, but on the other hand I don't want the misinformation to confuse anyone. I suppose this is one of the reasons why we have a message board.

If anyone has any questions about what we do, PLEASE ask. You won't be banned, as some people claim. Those are the people who have been banned for bashing teenaged girls, which is our Golden Rule. Does anyone truly think we're wrong for having such a rule???