Thursday, October 15, 2009
Fourth and Eight
Bob Corwin posted at RebKell that Danielle Donehew, the Executive Vice President of Operations and Finance for the Atlanta Dream, has accepted a job with the Big East Conference as their Associate Commissioner, Women's Basketball.
At the Dream, Donehew had a strong presence in the Atlanta community as well as the internal workings of the franchise, including the start-up phase of the organization. She managed the basketball operations side including, but not limited to, staff recruitment, financial implementation, contracts, payables, organization of team travel and arena management liaison. Donehew headed up all broadcasting efforts for television, radio and the Internet, along with managing the talent and production.
One way you can tell that a franchise/league/company is on the ropes is when top personnel begin to leave. (The colloquialism is "the rats are leaving the sinking ship".) For all we know, this move might have been in the works for a long, long time. After all, if you were an executive for a women's basketball organization, and someone asked you to be the #2 person for Big East women's basketball, wouldn't you accept a job?
Still, that can't look good, that someone so important to the organization has decided to leave now. Combined with the fact that the season ticket holders have heard nothing from the Dream - not even banalities - and the fact that Tulsa has officially put in its paperwork to become a franchise, it foretells a convergence of events that looks very, very ugly. Dark clouds don't always mean rain, but you'd better have an umbrella.
Once again - if there is anyone in the Dream front office that is going to speak up and tell us something about the future of the Atlanta Dream - that time is now. Please.
Then again, there might not anything to say. Nothing good, anyway.
Making predictions is a loser's game. Ron Terwilliger might decide to put in another year. Kathy Betty might buy the franchise, or someone else. The Dream might rework its lease with Philips Arena. But right now, it's fourth and eight, and I'm hearing the rumbling cleats of the defense closing in.
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8 comments:
Don't count us out yet...
Last year the deadline to renew Season Tickets was October 1st.
I tried to log on to my ticket account at the Dream website and got "Sorry, your request could not be completed at this time".
Personally I wouldn't count out a #2 position at a major college conference, jmo. I'd think it would offer more stability than the WNBA. Dohehew appears to have pretty much "done it all" for the Dream; maybe now it's time to move onto something else.
emile is right petrel....just hang tight and keep the faith. do not mistake silence for lack of positive movement. dfo would love to be all chatty and open but just cannot do that quite yet....
donehew simply took an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity - that is one of the five most powerful jobs in womens basketball in the USA. it is a tough loss but the dream can work through it, and no one can blame her for taking such a great opportunity
I'll be my usual cynical self and start my grieving process. I"m very good at celebrating when I'm wrong. I celebrate alot. I would be just heartbroken. But, then, I was last year with the massive change in players. Even though it was a good change. I overinvest, I think...
Petrel, I'll be so happy if you're wrong. Just haven't experienced that too much, tho....
Diane
She is the #1 person for Big East Womens Basketball, not #2. The only person above her is the Commissioner of the entire conference for all sports overall.
I had the opportunity to visit with Danielle when we were in Atlanta and I was extremely impressed by her. I cannot imagine her not having opportunities to move up in the world. She was knowledgeable about all aspects of the team from the business end to the players and she was very congenial as she made it a point to thank us for coming from Kansas to support the team. I hate the loss for the Dream but am happy that Donahew is able to enjoy such an opportunity.
Harmon will probably try to squib it and he does. The ball comes loose and the Bears have to get out of bounds. Rodgers is along the sideline, another one ... they're still in deep trouble at midfield, they tried to do a couple of ... the ball is still loose as they get it to Rodgers! They get it back now to the 30, they're down to the 20... Oh, the band is out on the field!! He's gonna go into the end zone! He's gone into the end zone!!
That's Joe Starkey's call of the famous "Play" that ended the 1982 Big Game between Stanford and Cal. As everyone knows, Cal won. Point is, 4th-and-8 may be a jam, but it's not impossible to pull through. Teams in worse situations have pulled bigger miracles!
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