Well, my two cents worth:  I agree with the general thrust of the remarks by Alan Swank, BBF and PF on this subject.  I think it was rather thin-skinned of the athletic department to ask for these drawings to be taken down.  It's their job to control leaks from their committee members.  It's not bobcatattack.com's job to be a instrument of the athletic department and to do its bidding.  I guess I tend to view this board as a place for an open discussion of ideas and opinions related to Ohio athletics and as an independent forum for these discussions.  This is not ohiobobcats.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ohio University Department of Athletics.  The question here, in my mind, is not a matter of spine.  It's a matter of independence.  Is this an independent forum or is it just part of the company propaganda machine?  It pains me to say that today it feels more like the latter than the former. 

I think it would be wise for the guru's of this board to take into account that many of us who post here are graduates of the j-school.  We believe in a certain level of journalistic integrity, and we tend to look at things not from the corporate perspective but from the free flow of information perspective.  In the great scheme of things this one incident is not a very big deal; however, it is a disheartening one. 

Everyone is welcome to start their own site if they're unhappy with this one. Why does everything have to be some sort of cause? The AD asked, not demanded (right?) the post be taken down- as they are well within their rights to do. Ryan chose to do so. He didn't have to. Maybe he doesn't want to needlessly foster ill will with The Convo. Maybe he's picking his battles.

Either way, this is silly and Putnam's post is flat out embarrassing.

I assumed I already made the answer clear, but since you like to get people on the record, my official comment is, "get a life."

I hate that Alan Swank has stirred up the bee's nest again claiming inside sources on the committee.  I am with Ben on this.  Alan just likes to create controversy around football and anything Jim Schuas does because Schaus has the kahunas to not give a damn about Alan Swank and his precious Green and White Club.  Get over it already, Alan!  I am sure the renderings were taken down because they are just renderings, are very preliminary and they don't want morons like you seeing them and then raising a stink about certain features that were on the rendering that aren't on the final building.  We all know, and you know, that is something you would do in about two seconds!

Also, why is it on the Athletic Department to raise another $6 million to put an indoor track in.  That facility will serve the entire campus community regardless (intramurals, marching 110, Athens High School sports at times etc.).  If the committee believes it is better to have an indoor track to serve the campus community then the campus community that would benefit from it needs to pony up.  If Athletics is responsible for raising all the money they should be the only ones with access and should be able to charge rent to others on campus who want to use it.  I don't want to hear other areas on campus scream or cry about being able to use it, but aren't willing to chip in.  There is no such thing as a free lunch!

I love this post.  Kudos to Mr. Carey.  I'm moving on.....

Like Captain Kirk to the trekkies at the Convention....LOVE it.

My feelings about the G&W Club are that it is/was made up of a bunch of locals who wanted to keep it local.  I once suggested that they sanction fundraising golf tourneys and other events in Central and Northeast Ohio so fans could connect with coaches, and was told it was a stupid idea.  So, Shaus and Co. come in and see it for what it is - an old boys club with very limited vision - and create their own program.  Kudos to them.

And Allan, it sure seems like you've got an agenda...perhaps dating back to the dismissal of your next-door neighbor the basketball coach?

Sounds like the concept of a practice facility if the current powers do not get it done.  If the least we can do is pull down the rendering so as not to appear to be ahead of the committee then I commend Ryan for doing so.  Way to put the need for a PF ahead of upsetting a few posters.  You did the right thing.  

And if they want to add an indoor track for the girl's team, they (the team, boosters, etc.) have a limited time to raise the money.  If not, forget that piece and build the PF for the football team.  If we don't have a PF because we couldn't add a track...that would be absurd, ridiculous, stupid, etc.

Aaron, I'm not sure if your post or Drew's should get the award for posting the greatest amount of mis-information.  I'll do Drew first.  None of the current board members were officers when you suggested what you suggested.  69's post does a good job of describing the situation.  As for "my neighbor the basketball coach" James Jones is entering his 13th season as head coach at Yale and is the second winningest coach in the history of that program.  He was not fired at OU.

Now for Aaron.  The Green and White Club is currently the social committee for the OBC.  One thing that we can do that they can't is serve beer and wine.  They need the pregame experience for their members and we are currently providing that through a cooperative agreement for this year.  We have seen a decline in membership that is directly attributable to three things - the creation of tailgate park, the requirement that one must join the OBC if one wants to be a Green and White member and like so many old line churches in America, the aging of our membership.   I'm sure there are those who have quit over personality conflicts (Ben being one of those).  There are businesses that we all chose not to frequent for that very reason.  

This whole thread has morphed beyond the original question of what happened to the thread.  When my wife asked me why I get on that "stupid board" I told her that these boards have taken the place of the corner bar.  Now that you can take concealed weapons into bars I'm glad we have the safety of this forum.  

I was referring, of course, to your friend Billy Hahn.  And I wouldn't have expected any other response from 69, seeing as he (and virtually every other G&W Club board member in history) is an Athens area resident.

Basically the GW Club is now a tailgate club within the Ohio Bobcat Club.  And, I think a tailgate club is really needed in Athens/OU.  So, I hope it doesn't go away. 

To anyone interested, and especially Ryan:

Let me be frank (small f).

I don't know the inner machinations of the organized fan/booster atmosphere at Ohio University, but I'm learning. I'm a diehard fan of Bobcat basketball and football, a double alumnus, a local "townie" and a reporter/researcher. Figuring out who is who and what is what takes time if you're not Rasputin and you're not getting paid.

Believe it or not, I don't have any personal grudges toward anybody in this environment. I do enjoy moving the needle, and I want any expanded success the sports teams enjoy to never come at the expense of ethics and good sporting behavior. So, I freely report "negative" things that I can access, while also going to games, following the teams and encouraging friends, family and even strangers to join me in being a fan.

I was a diehard fan for a quarter-century before I was a journalist, OK? There have been ethical lapses among people within the OU sports universe (was Cleve Bryant a "super nice guy" before he became "Ol' Freaky Nasty"?). You never hear as much as you should about all the awesome, hard-working, regular people, and that sucks. If I ever control a media operation, maybe I can help change that.   

Sometimes I post things in a half-kidding manner, while inadvertently being insensitive to the fact that the some of the site managers, moderators, posters and lurkers devote great amounts of their personal resources to the site or to Ohio Athletics. At the same time, I'm also at least half-serious about transparency being important and about not accepting a corporate/government model for communications.

Having said this, let me say that I do not believe that Ryan would do something like delete major content at the Department's request. Reading his thoughtful and I believe sincere PM tells me that that would be unlikely. However, I know a few things about how spin control was carried out under previous ADs, so I wouldn't put it past the department or the administration of this university to make indecent overtures to media organizations.

For the record, I don't hang out with or carry any water for restive faculty types. I want the sports teams to remain intact and to thrive. Some professors might relish the thought of uncovering athletics scandals, but I'd like there to be no more of them and for the teams to kick ass.     

Ryan, I'll try to be more considerate, because it must have been a bad day for you when that data loss occurred.

Thank you everyone for your responses.  Quite entertaining and a few lol's.  We all need those, eh?