Maturi: "I love what I do, but I'm not having fun anymore"

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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In the Streets & Smith's Sports Business Daily Digest (PDF only, sorry no link) Joel Maturi had this quote today:

"I love what I do, but I'm not having fun anymore. This job is so all-encompassing now."

Go Gophers!!
 


If Bruininks doesn't have a short list of future AD candidates at hand all the time, he should take a page out of Maturi's book and start collating one.
 

Even if you love a job, to be tied to something you love 24/7 wears anyone down. Look in the mirror, people.
 

Dr.Don said:
Even if you love a job, to be tied to something you love 24/7 wears anyone down. Look in the mirror, people.
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True. He's 64 now and I think he's said it's his last contract. He'll be gone and then the dream of having an AD who'll get a big name football coach in here, implement all suggestions from fans, ignore Title Nine, dump all the non-revenue sports and allow any 4 or 5 Star kid into school as long as they are choirboys once they get here (Basketball players excepted) will finally be fulfilled!:D

The downside is the new AD won't answer any e-mails. :rolleyes:
 



Dr.Don said:
Even if you love a job, to be tied to something you love 24/7 wears anyone down. Look in the mirror, people.
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Sure enough. And I've been there so I feel bad for him. I also know that during the period that I was burned out I was not doing my best work. I think the U is at a pretty critical juncture and needs an AD who's doing his best work with passion and focus. I'm not sure that's Joel right now.
 

Iceland12 said:
The downside is the new AD won't answer any e-mails. :rolleyes:
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True that. I've always appreciated Joel's accessibility. But it's a trade off I'm willing to make to get someone in who isn't feeling burned out.
 

Joel and I will always have that magic moment when I walked past him in DTown. I gave him the, "Sup head-nod, and he did the same." He's alright in my book.
 



Maturi is a fine man and a wonderful human being.

I think the next AD should not be a Minnesotan.
 

What is up with this guy lately. First the comments yesterday that set off a firestorm of speculation and turmoil(myself very much included), Brewster quells everyone, and now this?
If you get burnt out it's time to move on, it's a high pressure job, energy is a necessity.
 

tikited said:
Joel and I will always have that magic moment when I walked past him in DTown. I gave him the, "Sup head-nod, and he did the same." He's alright in my book.
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Ha! That's classic!

I imagine when all is said and done, when he looks back at his career at The U, exchanging the "sub head-nod" with tikited will rank right up there with TCF Bank Stadium and hiring Tubby!!

Go Gophers!!
 

Studwell55 said:
The man is a wizard at using the media.
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My thoughts exactly. Joel seems to work very hard and take his stewardship of the entire program seriously. It's commendable, it really is. That said, he needs to learn that he does not have to respond to every question that he's asked and he certainly should not offer up all of his "you know, I don't like to lie to people" quotes. Saying "no comment" (or just making no comment) is far better than his efforts to be "open and honest" all the time. Not blabbing everything you know, think or believe every chance you get is not the same thing as being dishonest.
 



BleedGopher said:
Ha! That's classic!

I imagine when all is said and done, when he looks back at his career at The U, exchanging the "sub head-nod" with tikited will rank right up there with TCF Bank Stadium and hiring Tubby!!

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

:rockon: on that one, Bleed. tikited, Stadium, and Tubby.
 


He really has come off like a whining baby the last few weeks.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
He really has come off like a whining baby the last few weeks.
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I really think Maturi's problem is that he's just too much of an academic. In other words he's too much of a thinker for his own good. He will not speak in certain terms, because he is including many possibilities in his mind. This causes him to give soft answers that sound uncertain.
His best bet is to just take a stand, proclaim definite answers to tough questions, and shrink into the background. We'll see if he's got the stones to do this though. This latest quote seems to be warning sign of his struggles to handle tough situations.
 

Dr.Don said:
Even if you love a job, to be tied to something you love 24/7 wears anyone down. Look in the mirror, people.
Click to expand...

Solution: Delegate. Piss poor managers cannot do this. Hmmmm. Could Joel fall in that category?
 

Ole said:
I really think Maturi's problem is that he's just too much of an academic. In other words he's too much of a thinker for his own good. He will not speak in certain terms, because he is including many possibilities in his mind. This causes him to give soft answers that sound uncertain.
His best bet is to just take a stand, proclaim definite answers to tough questions, and shrink into the background. We'll see if he's got the stones to do this though. This latest quote seems to be warning sign of his struggles to handle tough situations.
Click to expand...

I remember somewhere he had a quote where he considered himself both an educator and a businessman. I think it was in regards to keeping and then firing Munson. The businessman part of the job is I'll bet what's wearing on him right now. You've got your coaches, the media, the boosters, the academicians, the athletes, the bookkeepers, and, oh yes, the fans, to please. Probably would wear on you even though you're paid well to do it.

I like him as A.D. mainly for the fact he makes an effort to get to as many competitions as he can (even those minor, annoying girls' get-togethers) and because he is so accessible. He probably doesn't need to be so open, but that's who he is. Not sure a cold-hearted prick would make us any more successful.
 

"Not sure a cold-hearted prick would make us any more successful."

True. They've already tried the "cold hearted prick" as an AD. Her name was Chris Voeltz.
 

Poor little Joel. He's not having fun anymore.
 

Another thing to consider is that he also lost his top Asst. AD right at the beginning of the school year when Wistricill left for Akron.

We've been without a key person at my work for a couple of months and that wears people down.
 

anonymous said:
Another thing to consider is that he also lost his top Asst. AD right at the beginning of the school year when Wistricill left for Akron.

We've been without a key person at my work for a couple of months and that wears people down.
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He also had achilles surgery recently, that's got to suck if he's got nobody to delegate to.
 

Joel seems to spend 80% of his time responding to inane emails from anybody and everybody and the other 20% talking to the media about Brewster.

Focus Joel. Forget the damn emails for awhile. Hire a secretary for that.
 

Ole said:
He also had achilles surgery recently, that's got to suck if he's got nobody to delegate to.
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I had the great pleasure of having one of the top lawyers on my side during his knee replacement surgery days. Let's just say i didn't get top lawyer representation.
 

The next AD is Tubby Smith

Studwell55 said:
Maturi is a fine man and a wonderful human being.

I think the next AD should not be a Minnesotan.
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I've always thought it was a part of the deal.

This is his last coaching job. Tubby is now 58, roughly the same age when Alvarez took over at Whiskey. What's a couple of years? His son Saul then becomes Gopher coach at age 33...
 

BleedGopher said:
Ha! That's classic!

I imagine when all is said and done, when he looks back at his career at The U, exchanging the "sub head-nod" with tikited will rank right up there with TCF Bank Stadium and hiring Tubby!!

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

True that :D
 


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