Voepel: Controversy swirls at Kansas State
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Since Voepel does so many opinion pieces, I was disappointed she didn't voice her opinion in the article.
Wbbfan1
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The article states Leticia is willing to abide by any restrictions of going to a school that has one of her former coaches. Don't understand why they don't release her, it can't be helping their recruiting in the 2015 Class.
Icebear
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She may be afraid they'll cut off her access to the team and take back her degree.
ThisJustIn
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She took care of the "access" thing by writing about Patterson a while back....
bschwartz
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All these article bashing K-State, I don't think, is going to help Romero. In this day an age, there needs to be a way to help the university solve the problem in a way that allows them to save face. Look at the most recent bonehead move by Rutgers. Eric LeGrand is now speaking because someone figured out that he that the ex governor could be on stage together and both speak. Where is the save face option for K State? I don't have that answer but I am not sure just sheer pressure will work because I doubt they care enough about the program enough for it to matter to them.
Icebear
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I don't remember that article. I must not have read it.
Icebear
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The save face option was when Romero offered to let K State identify any schools that were not acceptable as places where she could transfer. They failed to respond with action doing so undermining their own argument against interference.
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UcMiami
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This is not just WCBB - it makes the whole athletic department look bad - as you say ... no one cares about WCBB so why don't they just cut her loose. This is the AD and the University being raked over the coals by various media. It will certainly make any attempt to recruit in WCBB tough, but I would not want to be explaining to parents of male recruits exactly what the school policy is and why the AD is such a B____d!
KnightBridgeAZ
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I'm not sure, but I think she is referring to the articles about Deb Patterson's reported extremism regarding religion.
ThisJustIn
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Turmoil spells trouble behind scenes at K-State
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?id=2609272
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?id=2609272
Zorro
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I have no illusions about its effectiveness, but felt obliged to send the following email to John Currie at the KSU athletic department. Perhaps if a few thousand people contact him it might move him to action.
Mr. Currie; You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. You are not only selfishly and pointlessly messing up a young girl's life, you are bringing notoriety and shame to your university. You should immediately grant Ms. Romero her release. You have nothing to gain and much to lose by not doing so.
Mr. Currie; You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. You are not only selfishly and pointlessly messing up a young girl's life, you are bringing notoriety and shame to your university. You should immediately grant Ms. Romero her release. You have nothing to gain and much to lose by not doing so.
Fairfield_1st
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If they're concerned with the old coaching staff influencing her, why not put in a stipulation that she can't play for one of them? Problem solved. The girl said she'd abide by their stipulations.
pap49cba
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Voepel with some tough comments during her chat today....
Joseph (Manhattan, Kansas)
Leticia Romero has said several times that there is no tampering. What else can she do about her situation? Too much ego from KS-tate AD to change his decision?
Mechelle Voepel
(2:11 PM)
Let's hope ego doesn't trump common sense and recognizing the decision was wrong. Because it was. I spent a lot of time talking on and off the record to people involved in this decision. I think the university jumped to the conclusion that since she asked to leave, it had to be because a member or members of the former staff had to be behind it. I interviewed Romero over the phone and in person. I talked to her nearly three hours between the two. I asked her a ton of questions. She is extremely bright, very well-spoken even though she has only been speaking English regularly for less than a year, and she has a very strong personality. I believe her. I think school officials did not take enough time to just *listen* to her. John Currie, the athletic director, did not even meet with her before signing off on the decision to deny her release. He may say that's because she didn't ask him directly for the release. She went to the compliance office, because she thought that was where she was supposed to go. Why didn't the AD reach out to the best player on the team last year and say, "Let's have a face-to-face meeting about you wanting a release. Let me hear from you why, and let's talk about it." Was she not important enough? Was it easier to just deny the release, assume she was puppet, and then toss her to the appeals committee, which never gave her any reasons for denying her appeal? What more does she have to say? She's said, "I wasn't tampered with, but if you are so sure I was, then block ANY school you want to block." Do they really have to block every D-I school in the United States? Does that seem even marginally reasonable?
kevin (macon ga)
What is Kansas State trying to accomplish by refusing Leticia Romero's transfer?
Mechelle Voepel
(2:41 PM)
They didn't think it would ever get attention. I think they thought they could just deny her release, and maybe she'd just stay and play for Jeff Mittie. But she chose the appeal hearing. So she went through this hearing - by the way, if you are interested in some of the details of that, I will post them on my blog today - and got a ONE paragraph email saying it was denied. No explanations. Maybe they thought she'd just give up. Go to junior college. Go home to Spain. Or maybe even go back and play for Kansas State. They were not prepared to defend their decision because it really isn't defensible. So here's what they did: toss what amounted to an accusation of tampering on Twitter. Leak this tampering theory to a Web site that covers K-State sports, resulting in an article that then pretty much STATES that tampering occured. (Proof?) Then when questioned, don't comment, citing "concerns" for student privacy. Then batton down the hatches and hope the storm blows over. Hope that K-State fans, instead of questioning how this whole thing was handled, circle the wagons against "outsiders." But you know what? K-State fans are loyal to their university, but a lot of them are also not blind to mistakes made. Many of them want Romero to be given her release, and then move on.
Brian (Boston)
What do you think the end resolution will be at K State?
Mechelle Voepel
(2:46 PM)
If they want to do the right thing, give Leti Romero her release. She did nothing wrong. She had a reasonable reason for wanting to transfer. The coaches she came to play for were fired. I know people will say that's not a reasonable reason. I disagree. She came from another country to play for these coaches. Let her go. Move on with your program. And if the university REALLY cares about self-improvement, have an internal, honest dialogue about why this situation turned out this way. Every school makes mistakes. People are human. But you can learn from them, and grow.
Joseph (Manhattan, Kansas)
Leticia Romero has said several times that there is no tampering. What else can she do about her situation? Too much ego from KS-tate AD to change his decision?
Mechelle Voepel
(2:11 PM)
Let's hope ego doesn't trump common sense and recognizing the decision was wrong. Because it was. I spent a lot of time talking on and off the record to people involved in this decision. I think the university jumped to the conclusion that since she asked to leave, it had to be because a member or members of the former staff had to be behind it. I interviewed Romero over the phone and in person. I talked to her nearly three hours between the two. I asked her a ton of questions. She is extremely bright, very well-spoken even though she has only been speaking English regularly for less than a year, and she has a very strong personality. I believe her. I think school officials did not take enough time to just *listen* to her. John Currie, the athletic director, did not even meet with her before signing off on the decision to deny her release. He may say that's because she didn't ask him directly for the release. She went to the compliance office, because she thought that was where she was supposed to go. Why didn't the AD reach out to the best player on the team last year and say, "Let's have a face-to-face meeting about you wanting a release. Let me hear from you why, and let's talk about it." Was she not important enough? Was it easier to just deny the release, assume she was puppet, and then toss her to the appeals committee, which never gave her any reasons for denying her appeal? What more does she have to say? She's said, "I wasn't tampered with, but if you are so sure I was, then block ANY school you want to block." Do they really have to block every D-I school in the United States? Does that seem even marginally reasonable?
kevin (macon ga)
What is Kansas State trying to accomplish by refusing Leticia Romero's transfer?
Mechelle Voepel
(2:41 PM)
They didn't think it would ever get attention. I think they thought they could just deny her release, and maybe she'd just stay and play for Jeff Mittie. But she chose the appeal hearing. So she went through this hearing - by the way, if you are interested in some of the details of that, I will post them on my blog today - and got a ONE paragraph email saying it was denied. No explanations. Maybe they thought she'd just give up. Go to junior college. Go home to Spain. Or maybe even go back and play for Kansas State. They were not prepared to defend their decision because it really isn't defensible. So here's what they did: toss what amounted to an accusation of tampering on Twitter. Leak this tampering theory to a Web site that covers K-State sports, resulting in an article that then pretty much STATES that tampering occured. (Proof?) Then when questioned, don't comment, citing "concerns" for student privacy. Then batton down the hatches and hope the storm blows over. Hope that K-State fans, instead of questioning how this whole thing was handled, circle the wagons against "outsiders." But you know what? K-State fans are loyal to their university, but a lot of them are also not blind to mistakes made. Many of them want Romero to be given her release, and then move on.
Brian (Boston)
What do you think the end resolution will be at K State?
Mechelle Voepel
(2:46 PM)
If they want to do the right thing, give Leti Romero her release. She did nothing wrong. She had a reasonable reason for wanting to transfer. The coaches she came to play for were fired. I know people will say that's not a reasonable reason. I disagree. She came from another country to play for these coaches. Let her go. Move on with your program. And if the university REALLY cares about self-improvement, have an internal, honest dialogue about why this situation turned out this way. Every school makes mistakes. People are human. But you can learn from them, and grow.
Ozzie Nelson
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Zorro
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I am not an email-writing kind of person, but I did email Currie. If the duplicitous SOB got a few thousand indignant emails, it might move his off dead center. This committee bs is just that; bs. You know damned well that if the Athletic Department said "release her", she would be released. The whole situation is disgusting and inexcusable.
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