Good morning!
On March 24, ESPN.com reported that Frank Martin was “finalizing an agreement” to become the new UMass men’s basketball coach. The Boston Herald reported that his five-year deal was worth $8.25 million including retention bonuses. (Martin’s successor at South Carolina, Lamont Paris, signed a five-year deal worth $12 million, according thestate.com.)
UMass has been chasing the ghosts of Marcus Camby and John Calipari since the days when Jack Leaman and Julius Erving brought glory to State U. That was an age of innocence, but this is strictly business. Martin came in full of bluster, promising “I want five-star players who are 10-star human beings… We’re gonna answer the bell… It will be a family.”
He either is, or will shortly become the highest paid employee in the Commonwealth. As such it would be worth our time to get a look at his contract, but it hasn’t been easy. On April 5, I emailed UMass media relations director Ed Blaguszewski and requested a copy. He sent the request to associate chancellor for compliance Christine Wilda who forwarded it to Kevin Wissmann who oversees all new athletic department hires.
Wissmann was on the clock. He had 10 days to respond.
When I heard nothing Wilda replied, “If no responsive records exist on that 10th day, a response will be provided indicating no responsive records exist.”
That’s gobbledygook for saying it ain’t done yet.
On April 22, Wissmann emailed me and said: “The final version of the contract was sent to our general counsel for review last Friday (April 15). My guess is (it) will be reviewed and approved early next week and then I’ll get it out for signatures. Earliest I will probably have the fully executed version will be during the first week of May. You’ll get it as soon as I have the fully executed version.”
On May 6, Wissmann (no relation to West County’s Dave Wissman) wrote: “The contract is still not finalized. As soon as I have the fully executed version you will have it.”
Two weeks later I filed a Freedom of Information request with the Commonwealth’s Division of Records. Supervisor of Records Rebecca S. Murphy rendered her decision on May 31. The gist of it said: “UMass is ordered to provide Mr. Ainsworth with a response to his request in a manner consistent with Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within 10 business days.”
Ah, but the wheels of bureaucracy move slowly. On June 14, Wissman wrote: “There are no responsive records at this time because we are waiting on a duly executed contract.” He copied the email to Blaguzewski, Jeff Smith in the AD’s office, longtime in-house legal counsel Brian Burke, and Laura Shea, an administrative legal specialist to UMass president Marty Meehan.
Is Martin working without a signed contract? If I have the names right, the state payroll database shows he’s been paid $236,912, and five members of his staff have received a combined total of about $112,000.
“The contract is still being worked out with the attorneys/agents involved,” was all Wissmann would say.
Stay tuned. The plot thickens.
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Amherst native Tim Schmitt hasn’t forgotten what his son Tim Jr. did for him on Father’s Day in 2006. Schmitt’s a high school and college football ref, a well known and familiar sight on the local gridirons. His wife Kacey coaches girls soccer and volleyball and won her 300th match this year at Amherst Regional High School.
Tim Jr. went to UMass and graduated from the Isenberg School of Management in 2004. Today he’s in business management, but his first job was being a Fenway Park tour guide. UMass alumnus Dick Bresciani probably helped him land the gig while he was the Red Sox PR chief.
That was the year the Red Sox beat the Yankees in seven games and swept the Cardinals to break The Curse. The Red Sox gave Schmitt a World Series ring for his loyalty, and two years later on Father’s Day he gave it to his dad. “It’s quite a conversation piece,” said Schmitt. “I’ve been quizzed about it a lot, at ballgames, at Gillette Stadium, at banquets, in church.… My daughter Colleen says, ‘I guess I know who’s getting the house on the Cape.”
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Mike Cadran and I were watching the Pioneer baseball team play Sutton in the state quarterfinal last Saturday when Panthers first baseman Hugh Cyhowski stepped to the plate. “His grandfather Walt was a three-sport athlete at Turners Falls High School,” said Cadran. “The Springfield Union’s Garry Brown once told me he saw Walt pitch both games of a doubleheader against West Springfield at the old TFHS.”
Cadran reeled off a few other names from that era, including Warren “Warry” Thomas, Wally Desautels, Louis Grader, John Zwyna and Jim Koldis. “Koldis could really hit the ball,” he said.
Cadran said he had updated GHS baseball coach Tom Suchanek’s career record and that the venerable mentor’s record since 1973 is 665-362.
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After seeing a Bill Belichick clip from the Pats’ recent OTAs, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said to sidekick Chris Simms: “I keep hearing Bill Belichick has a great personality.”
Simms (slowly nodding): “He does.”
Florio: “How far does he have to be away from football to show it?”
Simms (pondering): “Pretty far.”
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SQUIBBERS: If the playoffs were today, the Red Sox would play a best-of-three series at Minnesota and the winner would play a best-of-five series against the Astros. The Yankees would play the winner of the Rays-Blue Jays series in Toronto. … Don’t look now, but the Padres are challenging the Dodgers for the lead in the NL West and the Braves have gained six games on the Mets in the NL East. … The 61st Mt. Washington Road Race is this morning at 9 a.m. Runners have three hours and five minutes to jog, walk or crawl 7.6 miles to the summit.. … Sports editor Jeff Lajoie is covering the U.S. Open for the Recorder and Gazette. “I knew I had to get credentials,” Lajoie said after he realized golf’s national championship would be at The Country Club in Brookline. Tickets start at around $500 on StubHub. … Former UMass hockey coach John Micheletto now teaches English at the Webb School of Knoxville. … Greg Cosell, a regular on Ross Tucker’s podcast, says of the Pats’ second round pick Tyquan Thornton from Baylor: “Great length, speed, incredibly explosive vertically… he’s a South Florida kid and most South Florida kids have toughness and grit.” … Steelers running back Najee Harris didn’t like hearing he was getting fat because he’d gained 12 pounds and was up to 244. “Bra I weighed 240 last year. Reporters don’t be knowing nothing just be tweeting (expletive).” … Tuesday’s Newt Guilbault championship in Turners Falls had a Norman Rockwell feel to it. The Turners Falls Athletic Club beat Booska’s Flooring in extra innings under a cloudless sky with parents screaming and little kids chasing after foul balls. It’s what we wait for all winter. … WCBS-AM is broadcasting Rutgers basketball this season, which is like the BBC pre-empting news for cricket. … Twins outfielder Kyle Garlick must get tired of hearing “You stink!” … Yanks broadcaster John Sterling on 5-foot-6 Phil Rizzuto’s first big league tryout: “Stengel looked at him and said, ‘Hey kid, get a shoeshine box.’’
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for four decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com