TellMeYouLoveMe said:
OU is in a bad spot. Boren loaded them up with non revenue assets, debt and then had a stroke.
They aren't facing the music and they new president is billed as a 'turnaround' guy, even though no one will admit they need the 'turnaround.' This is how governments screw people. Boren spent to stay in power. Now someone else gets to foot the bill.
And OU brought in a whopping $17 million in donations last year. UT Artlington has done better.
What's compounding that is you have a state where native american tribes are being given good sized chunks of land and casino licenses. Those casinos essentially build revenue by taxing the poor, who in turn forego investing in their own communities.
The simple solution is to ask the casinos for a loan, but the casinos are smarter than that
That they need a loan at all, is the entire problem.
Oklahoma used to have the strangest law where utility money when to certain school districts. So a district like Claremore received so much funding that they purchase new bus fleets each year. Always seemed to have a building project underway. Other nearby districts didn't receive anything. So the districts with all the funding would sell one-year old buses to the poor districts for a few bucks. That was a couple of decades ago. Not sure a greedy state legislature didn't change the law and grab that money for themselves.whitetrash said:TellMeYouLoveMe said:
OU is in a bad spot. Boren loaded them up with non revenue assets, debt and then had a stroke.
They aren't facing the music and they new president is billed as a 'turnaround' guy, even though no one will admit they need the 'turnaround.' This is how governments screw people. Boren spent to stay in power. Now someone else gets to foot the bill.
And OU brought in a whopping $17 million in donations last year. UT Artlington has done better.
What's compounding that is you have a state where native american tribes are being given good sized chunks of land and casino licenses. Those casinos essentially build revenue by taxing the poor, who in turn forego investing in their own communities.
The simple solution is to ask the casinos for a loan, but the casinos are smarter than that
That they need a loan at all, is the entire problem.
Maybe they could sell the naming rights to the arena to the Five Civilized Tribes. That's what U of Minnesota did with their new football stadium: TCF Bank has the name on the stadium but the plaza outside the open end is the Seven Nations Plaza (funded w casino $$$ from the largest tribes in the state).
xiledinok said:
One tribe particular already does sponsor athletics for those schools. The tribal money goes further than the state tax money because they actually invest it and put it back in their nation at the same time. They are a big gaming company that has a bunch of small businesses. The tribe has enough money to pay for 10k square feet of sod and numerous trees for any tribal member purchasing a home in their nation. They have their own growing and landscaping operation to support the free landscaping. This particular tribe is north of the Red River and south of Norman. They won't flip the bill.
In fact, no tribe is going to bail out Oklahoma Sooner nation on the $ end and the legislature is one of the most poorly led group of elected leaders in the country. The tribes actually have turned themselves around over the past 30 years. However, there are a few tribes that cannot rub two pennies together.
The governor is a lame duck and is one of the sorriest politicians in the country. She has almost completed trying to turn the state into an oil and gas version of coal mining West Virginia.
Norman looks and feels old.