I've been considering reading it, but I figured it wouldn't be quite as interesting for me since it was before my time.
I met "Bottom-Line Bob" at a Alumni Club meeting (they were giving me a scholarship). While I can't exactly say he was warm, he was at least sociable. He didn't give me his phone number like Bill Arnsparger had done to the recipient the year before. That said, Broadhead was done in by the fact that though he was right about so many things, he tended to lord it over the board. One of the members (I think it was John McKeithan, but I am not sure) told him one time that he had the "tact of an elephant". I can believe that. I can also believe that he was very loyal to the people that he thought were right. One of the key points of his firing was his wiretapping his own office so he could listen in to interviews that the NCAA was doing with football players as part of an investigation into selling comp tickets. He wanted to make sure the NCAA told the truth about the information they got in the interviews. That happened around the same time that Tito Horford disappeared, so questions questions also came up about Dale Brown's recruiting. (SI made it a cover story, but apparently the jinx didn't hit them because the basketball team made the Final Four that year). The legal ramifications of his wiretapping took about a year to work out, and during that time he became increasingly ineffective. He was fired sometime during the 86 football season, because I remember we were looking for a football coach and AD at the same time. Had Broadhead still been around, I believe that Steve Spurrier would have been hired instead of Archer (who was hired before Dean was--though Dean was already a clear front runner). Bob did some unpopular things like move the student section toward the end-zone and start the issuing of student tickets. In the end, he was probably right, but he had no friends to show for it. I would suggest the book to any LSU fan who wants to know the dynamics that surround the Athletic Department at any one time. Those dynamics are probably in effect at any top public school. May he rest in peace. GEAUX TIGERS
Bill Arnsparger most likely gave you his phone number due to the fact he was trying very hard to get Bob out and to take his spot. Bob was right to wre his office as we later found out, Tito was took under the wing of the NCAA investigator; and both ended up at Miami Fl.
