[Husker] Penn State / NCAA deal

[Paul Dalen]

I know a lot of guys older than I don't like Bill Byrne but I think he was
a good athletic director and a really decent person.

I only met him once, but it was pretty amazing when I did.

It was summer 1998.  I had linked up with a Dutch guy who had been a
foreign exchange student in Bellevue a year or two earlier.  I think we may
have met on this list, but I can't remember for sure.  Anyway, he came back
for a visit and he and I decided to make a trip over to Lincoln to see the
stadium.  We ran into Bill Byrne in the lobby of the west stadium where the
trophies used to be kept.  He talked to us for a bit and then asked if we
wanted to see the 'backstage' areas.  he then proceeded to give Bram and me
a 90 minute personal tour of the entire stadium complex.  This included his
office, the coaches offices where he introduced us to Frank Solich as if he
and Bram and I were old friends, and told his secretary to reschedule
whatever was on his calendar for the next hour.  The three MNC trophies
were kept up in those offices as well.

Generally, he made us feel like true VIPs...a gift that he used countless
times in fundraising for the University.  Words are easy for powerful men
like him.  Taking the time to show us around was pretty special though.

On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 7:53 AM, Nick Chevance <nickchevance at gmail.com>wrote:

> Thanks, Mike.  That's pretty much the way I remember it, but there
> still is a lot of animosity towards Byrne, it seems.
>
> Yeah, I can't afford season tickets now (not that I have even the
> ability to purchase them), but you can't argue with the improvements
> in both the athletic department facilities and in fan amenities.
> These things cost money, and we as fans seem more than willing to pay
> for it.
>
> Now, my wish list includes improvements to access to restrooms in the
> east stadium.  They kinda left that out when they did the north
> endzone. If I am able to get season tickets in the new sections, it
> would be nice not to have to hike a half mile to pee.
>
> Nick
>
> On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 4:11 PM, Mike Nolan <nolan at tssi.com> wrote:
> >> In an effort to break away from this topic just a bit, yet keeping it
> >> Husker-related, I've often heard criticism of Byrne, but I guess, in
> >> comparison with his successor, was he really all that bad?  Yes, he
> >> wasn't Devaney, but then no one was, not even Osborne.
> >
> > Bob Devaney was a good ole boy as AD, Bill Byrne brought a much
> > needed business approach to the department.  It seemed more than
> > just symbolic that a few months after he was brought in, a large
> > chunk of Memorial Stadium fell, infrastructure maintenance was
> > not Bob's forte.
> >
> > In doing so, Bill offended a bunch of good ole boys who resented
> > having to pay a lot more money for tickets, because Bob thought
> > an outstretched hand was something to shake while Bill thought
> > it should have money in it.
> >
> > One of the things that Osborne learned in his relatively short
> > political career is that fund-raising was top priority.  He
> > has not fogotten that lesson as AD.
> > --
> > Mike Nolan
>
>
>
> --
> “I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said,
> but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I
> meant.”
> Robert McCloskey, State Department spokesman
>
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