Thorr Bjorn to Remain AD at Rhode Island

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 11 years ago

Hey Thorr glad you r staying. next up d1 hockey. Get r done.

3wisemen · Unread post by **3wisemen** » 11 years ago

That's exactly the point Rod. The Projo doesn't get to be wrong. If URI closed ranks and wasn't commenting -- and if Xavier closed ranks and wasn't commenting -- then there's nothing to say. You can't write Thorr is leaving...then staying. That's not how it works per Eric Rueb's post here, and he's obviously been in the media for a while. Anyone on this board can have sources and post what they know and hear, but there are no penalties for being wrong or even speculating when you only know a percentage of the truth. You need all of it.

Rhody72 · Unread post by **Rhody72** » 11 years ago

I never saw the fit between Thorr and Xavier. It doesn't get this far without Thorr being interested in moving on.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

I was a State Investigator, and a P.I. Don't preach to me about sources.

3wisemen · Unread post by **3wisemen** » 11 years ago

Good. Then you understand what a gross instance of professional misconduct it would be to investigate the wrong person. You don't just get to turn back. There's a point where you can't say, 'I'm sorry.' In media, that point comes when something hits print.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

Don't misunderstand, I am not a professional. I am not paid for my work. That said, I tend to agree with you.

3wisemen · Unread post by **3wisemen** » 11 years ago

Sorry, Smarty. That was directed at Rod. You had something and went with it. If anything, it's on your sources. They cooked you here.
Two very different realms, your site and print. Not sure Rod is grasping that. He'd rather go after what he perceives to be an easy target and convenient punching bag like the Projo than take a step back and evaluate what just happened.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

I fully understand the liability of printing or saying the wrong news.
My point is, Projo didn't do a dime's worth of work on this story.
Being told by the lead basketball guy, to "go ask Xavier" to me, sums up'the general malaise
of the Projo and it's lack of reporting acumen.
Oh, and you can investigate the wrong person, until facts make it clear that you're on the wrong person.
You don't investigate one suspect in most cases. You question anyone possibly connected to
whatever you're looking into.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Glad he's staying. I'll leave it up to you guys to fight over whose sources were right or wrong.

72 is right, though. Thorr was looking to move on, for whatever reasons will remain his. He will move on someday, maybe to a bigger school than X, especially if he revives the football program, and the BB program achieves the success level predicted for it.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Well, then the young Turks in the Athletic Department will be more seasoned and
ready to move up[ when Thorr moves on.
See, Rambone, the sky isn't falling!

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 11 years ago

From his comment, it sounds like KMac didn't care one way or the other about the issue. After all, it's not like a Big East AD changing jobs.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Could also mean that he was saying that decision had not yet been made by Xavier.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

I found myself very OK with the idea of Jasper taking over. If Thorr's name is eventually called I hope it is at a time when we have such a worthy replacement at the ready.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Rod, I was OK with Thorr leaving, if Jasper or a very strong outside candidate got the job.

The conference situation is the one thing I'm still a little worried about. At least now we know what's in place for next year, so the A10 can go ahead and strengthen itself. A lot of things can still happen, hopefully quickly.

And yes, the Hurleys aren't going anywhere. That's the BIGGEST positive.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 11 years ago

Sports media, especially on TV and radio, get it wrong all the time and don't lose their jobs. Let's be real here.

EasyEdBrown · Unread post by **EasyEdBrown** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Well, then the young Turks in the Athletic Department will be more seasoned and
ready to move up[ when Thorr moves on.
See, Rambone, the sky isn't falling!

I think there is still only one Young Turk in that department. Daryl Jasper is Thorr's age, and Vinny Turco is in his early 40s, but he's been there since Petro I think.

It's Mike Laprey and a cast of state workers. Adam Schemm is still in his mid-20s.

What I'm saying is, other than Jasper and maybe Mike Laprey, it's not a deep bench internally. Schemm isn't ready, and Laprey still is an SID/Admin, rather than being a senior administrator. And who knows how long Schemm, Laprey or Jasper will even be there?

The Dude · Unread post by **The Dude** » 11 years ago

Until Xavier makes it's announcement, I don't believe a thing. Opinions are like a-holes and elbows...everyone's got them. I doubt anyone has a clue other than Thorr and Xavier.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

That's fine, The Dude, but we have word from the ultimate source on the subject.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

Thorr knows a sweet 16 run is coming smart move to stay

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

I don't know how much say he had. I think Xavier went in another direction.

CTRamfan · Unread post by **CTRamfan** » 11 years ago

They got half the story right. Thorr is leaving............someday.

Let's have fun. Maybe the Big East Commissioner?
I like him, and hope he stays here a long time, but offers will come his way. He is a big step above his recent predicessors.

EricRueb · Unread post by **EricRueb** » 11 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote:Sports media, especially on TV and radio, get it wrong all the time and don't lose their jobs. Let's be real here.

Sports talk radio isn't reporting much. Spouting off opinions is significantly different than reporting news.
Can you remember the last time a local TV station got something wrong? I can't. Fair or not, there's not a lot of breaking news coming from their side. If something is breaking, most of the time it's because it's been spoon-fed to them and everyone else.
If I'm Smarty, I'm hanging my sources out to dry. That's the payoff. They give you information, you keep them confidential; if they lie or give you bunk info, you sell them out to protect your credibility.
I can't say what the sources told Smarty. Maybe he misunderstood what they said and didn't write it the way he should have. I'd like to cut him a break because he is, as he said, doing this for fun, but cutting people breaks is how the media gets a bad name. If someone screws up, that mistake is and should be permanently attached to their name.
When the Penn State football stuff went down, I caught some flack because I had people telling me I wrote a story about URI playing at PSU. I wrote nothing of the sort because I didn't have the information to say that was happening. What I had was players on the team Tweeting they were playing at Penn State and neither side was saying anything. So that was the story.
Did Smarty make a mistake here? Yes. The story is - as far as we know - wrong. I'm interested to see a follow up from him to find out what went wrong or how things changed. If I were still employed, that's the story I would chase. I think there's some legitimacy to what Smarty wrote; I'd love to see it addressed by the involved parties.
I'm looking at this more from a media perspective than a fan, so sorry if I get a little technical here. The breakdown of how a story comes together is pretty fascinating if you're a super nerd like myself.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

Just saw this. Not hanging out any sources. From what I'm hearing, my initial report was correct and something changed within the past week - possibly over this past weekend. Not sure what, and we may never know.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Maybe Thorr himself had second thoughts, or the other finalist was a late entry.

Who knows?

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 11 years ago

Smarty,
Here are my thougths now.....
From Rampages on March 13th
"Two independent sources with direct knowledge of the situation have told Rhody Rampage that University of Rhode Island’s Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn has accepted the AD position at Xavier University."
This was the original statement. I questioned this several times as to it's veracity. Many said he was going just because URI's silence onthe matter was deafening. I still doubted it. It did not make any sense to me that nobody else came along with additional support, especially when we got into Sunday and then ultimately Monday with the A10 tournament over.
The silence from Xavier and URI was simply a no response to rumors most likely.
I'm calling shenagins on the "two independent sources with direct knowledge" too. So these two people come forward to you with their "direct knowledge" and they prove to be wrong - or at least what they said was Thorr going to Xavier - not thinking of going - just going - then my question is "where are they now?". They make this statement and then when things don't turn out then where are these "two independent sources"? I appreciate you admitting that you are not a professional with this type thing and highly admire you coming on and admitting the mistake - very impressive in my view - but I wonder about the two people that started this whole thing - is that a fair question?
Thanks

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 11 years ago

Rueb - I think you'd know better than anybody that people with major ethical lapses in this business stay employed if they're cute, or if someone in management just happens to like them. Haters gonna hate. (And for those who don't get the reference: http://deadspin.com/5825774/rhode-islan ... tournament ) Heck, some guy who got caught with a prostitute is still employed in this market.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 11 years ago

EricRueb wrote:
Iggy1979 wrote:Sports media, especially on TV and radio, get it wrong all the time and don't lose their jobs. Let's be real here.
Sports talk radio isn't reporting much. Spouting off opinions is significantly different than reporting news.
Can you remember the last time a local TV station got something wrong? I can't. Fair or not, there's not a lot of breaking news coming from their side. If something is breaking, most of the time it's because it's been spoon-fed to them and everyone else.
If I'm Smarty, I'm hanging my sources out to dry. That's the payoff. They give you information, you keep them confidential; if they lie or give you bunk info, you sell them out to protect your credibility.
I can't say what the sources told Smarty. Maybe he misunderstood what they said and didn't write it the way he should have. I'd like to cut him a break because he is, as he said, doing this for fun, but cutting people breaks is how the media gets a bad name. If someone screws up, that mistake is and should be permanently attached to their name.
When the Penn State football stuff went down, I caught some flack because I had people telling me I wrote a story about URI playing at PSU. I wrote nothing of the sort because I didn't have the information to say that was happening. What I had was players on the team Tweeting they were playing at Penn State and neither side was saying anything. So that was the story.
Did Smarty make a mistake here? Yes. The story is - as far as we know - wrong. I'm interested to see a follow up from him to find out what went wrong or how things changed. If I were still employed, that's the story I would chase. I think there's some legitimacy to what Smarty wrote; I'd love to see it addressed by the involved parties.
I'm looking at this more from a media perspective than a fan, so sorry if I get a little technical here. The breakdown of how a story comes together is pretty fascinating if you're a super nerd like myself.

I'm not talking local TV. ESPN and others regularly report news according to sources that turns out to be wrong. Recent example: Welker negotiations with Pats. Did anyone get fired?
As for revealing the names of sources when they're wrong, you'd be done as a journalist.
I thought you worked for a newspaper....

EZBuckets · Unread post by **EZBuckets** » 11 years ago

I was trying to keep quiet here for obvious reasons but some of you guys are really grasping for straws.

Smarty has repeatedly said he is a fan and not a professional journalist. He got some info and shared it on his blog. The fact some major outlets decided to pick up his story and run with it is out of his hands. At the end of the day it ended up not coming to fruition. As far as I'm concerned, the story is over.

It's 2013. Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, blogs and boards like this; information is now shared at an incredibly fast rate...which sometimes isn't 100% accurate. People nowadays want to hear their news immediately and are willing to sacrifice that absolute accuracy of traditional newspapers to get it. It's a different world.

What I'm trying to get at is you can't be stalking Twitter accounts and comb this board for info every 20 seconds and then stomp your feet when some of the semi-anonymous info shared here isn't spot on. Either log off and wait for ProJo to give you the gospel or take everything you read online with a grain of salt until the story completely develops. You can't have it both ways.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 11 years ago

"absolute accuracy of traditional newspapers"

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

If I waited for the projo to report a story I'd die of boredom.

They might be pretty accurate, but sloooooooowww......

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Meanwhile, I believe this is still the only site that has come out with the news that Thorr was not selected as the next AD at Xavier. Not surprising as both schools will not comment on record, so that leaves the only real story to be disseminated via personal relationships immediately close to the situation.

Rhody72 · Unread post by **Rhody72** » 11 years ago

When was the last time that someone in the Athletic Dept moved up to become AD? I don't see it happening should Thorr move on.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

72, maybe because there wasn't anybody qualified enough to move up.

With Jasper, that might change.

Before Thorr, and yes he hasn't been perfect either, the list of URI AD's that have been hired from outside hasn't impressed a whole lot of people with their accomplishments.

Of course, how many URI presidents have been big supporters of the athletic dept?

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

I'm going to assume, that since Bobinski's last day as X's AD is tomorrow, that the news of their new AD will come either tomorrow or Monday.

I mean, if Thorr was the runner up, they've chosen their man, right? Why wait any longer?

Ramtastico · Unread post by **Ramtastico** » 11 years ago

CRAP! does this mean my dream of Walter Boyle as AD is officially kaput??

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Another PC guy. He's older than Harrick.
Nice guy, though.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 11 years ago

Per Cincinnati.com X is naming the new AD next week. This is not over yet..................

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 11 years ago

eli#10 wrote:Per Cincinnati.com X is naming the new AD next week. This is not over yet..................

...and what are you implying?

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

He must be implying that X will be naming their new AD next week. Just nice to know from a URI perspective that it will NOT be Thorr Bjorn.

Some here have already received email responses from Thorr where the Keaney Blue member referenced this news and how they were so happy Thorr was not going anywhere. Thorr's excited to continue building the program and for the upcoming Spring sport season.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 11 years ago

Sorry--that is great news about the Thorr emails. I was not aware of that!!

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 11 years ago

Greg Christopher it is.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Figured X would want their AD in place before the FF, since Bobinski left last Friday.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

On the same day KeaneyBlue learned that Thorr would not be hired as Xavier AD, we also received one report from inside the Ryan Center which stated that a candidate from Bowling Green was selected. Good to know that source was correct now, but we didn't have anyone else to confirm that information at the time.

steviep123 · Unread post by **steviep123** » 11 years ago

So, it's this official?

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 11 years ago

It will be nice to see Thorr and the Hurleys get basketball fully going again.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

steviep123 wrote:So, it's this official?

Yes, Gregg Christopher from Bowling Green was named in a Xavier press conference today as the new director of athletics.

http://www.goxavier.com/

steviep123 · Unread post by **steviep123** » 11 years ago

Nice - I just sent a tweet to Thorr telling him he's done a great job and I look forward to the future.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

3wisemen wrote:That's exactly the point Rod. The Projo doesn't get to be wrong.

KMac posted last night that the A10 was losing just three teams this year and after adding GMU, would have 14 teams next season. It's been 24 hours and despite emails to KMac and comments posted below it on projo.com, still has yet to be corrected.

Let's not get overly protective of TODAY's print media who certainly enjoys the many benefits of relaxed expectations for online content.

BFC · Unread post by **BFC** » 11 years ago

For the first time, Bjorn spoke about his involvement as a candidate for the athletic director’s position at Xavier University. He was a finalist for that job before it went Greg Christopher of Bowling Green.
“I was approached by Xavier. I was very flattered,” he said. “When opportunities like that come up, does it make sense to look at them? It depends.
“It was a good experience. I wish it didn’t become public, but it did. That’s the world we live in,” he said. “I am extremely happy here. It’s not that I’m looking to go someplace else. … Every once in a while, there is something that is intriguing that comes along and maybe you have to listen to it.”
Bjorn knows Xavier well, and that school’s officials know him, because the Musketeers and Rams have been in the Atlantic 10 Conference together. Xavier pays its athletic director more than the $174,000 Bjorn makes at URI, and Xavier is about to leave the A-10 for the higher profile Big East.
It would have been a step up for the former UMass football player, so it made sense to go through the interview process. Bjorn stressed that he was not offered the job and that he is happy to stay at URI.
“My family’s extremely happy here. I’m very happy here,” he said. “I love working for President [David] Dooley. I don’t think I’ve worked for anybody that I’ve enjoyed working for more. He’s extremely supportive. He’s somebody I think of truly as a mentor. That makes it really nice. It’s nice to know you have somebody there that will challenge you, but also support you. He’s been super.”

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ ... w=ZW50aXR5

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

Good find, BFC. Thanks.

Login • Register