STrib: U athletics project start date could be delayed; CFO says "big hill to climb"

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My take is that they are trying to speak to the different types of people out there. Some need to hear that we are almost done with collecting donations before they will feel their chipping in as well won't be a waste of their money. Other's need to hear that things are not going well unless they jump in and help out. Different psychological angles for dealing with different kinds of people?!

Not saying they are geniuses doing this on purpose. Maybe more of a reactionary kind of move. One U official gets all giddy and excited and wants to give the impression that everything is going great, and another U official then gets nervous that people may get the impression things are going so well that no more help is needed.

It's not like the U is some dinky little school where everyone has met and talked with the President of the school(I went to a school like that, btw). You have the President, the VP, the AD, board members, the CFO, the people working on the Fundraising committee, etc., etc., etc.. Just saying, its not the kind of situation where just one person is ever going to be the only person we hear from for information. Right? Or am I wrong here? Can we honestly expect different? I mean, realistically?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
The issue here is that the U of M can't get its story straight.

Fundraising is going well ---- no, it's not.

They are going to "fast-track" construction this year--------NO, they can't start until 80% of the money has been raised.

Something is goofy here. It certainly seems as if certain U of M officials are not talking to each other, because they keep contradicting themselves. Kaler needs to get everybody involved in the same room, and make sure that the U of M is speaking with one voice on this project. Otherwise, it looks like the Keystone Cops are in charge.
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I thought this project was designed so that it could be done in phases anyway. If they have 60-70 million banked or committed that's not peanuts. Why not shoot for 80 to 100 million by June and break ground on the first 100-120 million of the project? Go for the mission critical stuff first - the basketball and football.
 

bga1 said:
I thought this project was designed so that it could be done in phases anyway. If they have 60-70 million banked or committed that's not peanuts. Why not shoot for 80 to 100 million by June and break ground on the first 100-120 million of the project? Go for the mission critical stuff first - the basketball and football.
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Thats essentially what they are doing. Thats why the underground parking and renovations to Bierman and the current indoor field aren't part of the $150 million.
 

die hard gopher said:
Thats essentially what they are doing. Thats why the underground parking and renovations to Bierman and the current indoor field aren't part of the $150 million.
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Their aim is still too high.

Need to back down and change course from the 'private funding only' and/or prioritize better. Now, the idea is to do all the $150MM stuff at the same time.. could get some nice things done now if they went another route.

Meeting on Thursday should be interesting.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Their aim is still too high.

Need to back down and change course from the 'private funding only' and/or prioritize better. Now, the idea is to do all the $150MM stuff at the same time.. could get some nice things done now if they went another route.

Meeting on Thursday should be interesting.
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Jeez, if only they could afford to hire you away from your hugely successful blog.
 




station19 said:
Agreed. Not sure myself how much Tom has given but I know he was prominent in the drive to save the U golf program from being eliminated.

Not sure if it was his intention, but gregbrady made it sound like Lehman was cheap or didn't care.
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I certainly don't think I implied that Tom Lehman was cheap and I was more making the point that former collegiate athletes on the whole do not give back to the degree that we probably think they should. The original post that i responded to was saying that all the NFL and Major League players that are Gophers should give 5-10% of big contracts they sign. I happened to look up Lehman's official PGA and Senior Tour earnings and it's about $30 million and I'm sure he made a lot in endorsements. I'm a golf fan and general hack on the course, but I love the game and I've played a few Big Ten courses and Les Bolstad could certainly use some spiffing up. I'm also a fan of Lehman's ever since he nearly won the Masters a long time ago playing in Dockers that were probably store bought.
 

gregbrady said:
I certainly don't think I implied that Tom Lehman was cheap and I was more making the point that former collegiate athletes on the whole do not give back to the degree that we probably think they should. The original post that i responded to was saying that all the NFL and Major League players that are Gophers should give 5-10% of big contracts they sign. I happened to look up Lehman's official PGA and Senior Tour earnings and it's about $30 million and I'm sure he made a lot in endorsements. I'm a golf fan and general hack on the course, but I love the game and I've played a few Big Ten courses and Les Bolstad could certainly use some spiffing up. I'm also a fan of Lehman's ever since he nearly won the Masters a long time ago playing in Dockers that were probably store bought.
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Believe me they weren't store bought. Same with all the ones they supplied his late father.
 



MinneStoa said:
I'll have you know that late night hoops is on the cusp of being one of the top 2 million websites in the world!

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/latenighthoops.com

As a comparison, DoNothingFor2Minutes.com ranks 1.8 million spots higher. Sounds about right.
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Hey, that Tubby Smith salary story is popular. Where else could you go for an anal over-analysis of every detail of the Tubster's paycheck? Nowhere. Is there a 'Stalk Trevor Mbakwe across Europe' cam yet? That's the one I want to see.
 

gregbrady said:
I certainly don't think I implied that Tom Lehman was cheap and I was more making the point that former collegiate athletes on the whole do not give back to the degree that we probably think they should. The original post that i responded to was saying that all the NFL and Major League players that are Gophers should give 5-10% of big contracts they sign. I happened to look up Lehman's official PGA and Senior Tour earnings and it's about $30 million and I'm sure he made a lot in endorsements. I'm a golf fan and general hack on the course, but I love the game and I've played a few Big Ten courses and Les Bolstad could certainly use some spiffing up. I'm also a fan of Lehman's ever since he nearly won the Masters a long time ago playing in Dockers that were probably store bought.
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Hey, I am partly to blame. I said something about how former Gophers who are doing well in pro sports now should pony up more than they do. Well, I should have put more thought into my comments before posting them. After posting that, I tried putting myself in their shoes, and honestly, there is no way I'd pony up 5-10% of my income to my alma mater if I was one of those guys. Lehman for one is on the verge of retiring, he has family to worry about, he donates to several charities, HAS helped out the U back when the Golf program was almost shut down. And in the grand scheme of things, these athletes make more than us regular joe schmoes, but what percentage of our incomes to we all donate?! Seriously? Why should they donate so much more than we do?! For whatever reason, their god given talent, their hard work, whatever, they earned their money, they have every right to spend it on no one but themselves, or their families or to charities or at strip clubs. The U gave them schollies, and they gave the U their sweat and tears and bodies and sometimes blood, and we as fans got to enjoy watching them compete for the home team. It's unfair of ME to ask more of them than that. Anything any of them give is a huge blessing, and any of them that do give, deserve a standing ovation and/or a huge debt of gratitude, no matter how much or how little they give. And those that don't give, well, who are we to judge them for it, for we do not know anything about them, their lives, their situations, etc.. If any of you have been in their shoes and have done differently, then I suppose you have earned the right to judge them, but the vast majority of us have not been in their shoes and do not know what its like, and can not rightly judge them or their actions. If you were a young 20 something single man given millions, can you honestly say you would have invested it all wisely and lived a clean and righteous lifestyle and never splurged or spent any of it wastefully or foolishly?! And some of them may have invested some of their money but the investment simply didn't pan out?! That happens, far more often than not.


Ok, I'll get off my soapbox, I'm done preaching, just saying, unless we are giving up 1-10% of our own income, we can't diss any pro athlete for not doing it. And if you are, thats awesome, but we still probably have no right to diss anyone who doesn't. All we can do is be very thankful for, and grateful to, anyone and everyone who does donate. To all of you, you all Rock!!! As a Gopher fan, I appreciate all you have done. I'll try to do my part as well, when I can.
 

#1nHkyCfbBsbDncSolarDebat said:
Ok, I'll get off my soapbox, I'm done preaching, just saying, unless we are giving up 1-10% of our own income, we can't diss any pro athlete for not doing it. And if you are, thats awesome, but we still probably have no right to diss anyone who doesn't. All we can do is be very thankful for, and grateful to, anyone and everyone who does donate. To all of you, you all Rock!!! As a Gopher fan, I appreciate all you have done. I'll try to do my part as well, when I can.
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If you get up to =>10% you will be, as we good Christians say: tithing. Remember, tithing is intended to be a blessing and a joy, and that is why we never use the term in reference to our relationshipS with the IRS.
 

#1nHkyCfbBsbDncSolarDebat said:
Hey, I am partly to blame. I said something about how former Gophers who are doing well in pro sports now should pony up more than they do. Well, I should have put more thought into my comments before posting them. After posting that, I tried putting myself in their shoes, and honestly, there is no way I'd pony up 5-10% of my income to my alma mater if I was one of those guys. Lehman for one is on the verge of retiring, he has family to worry about, he donates to several charities, HAS helped out the U back when the Golf program was almost shut down. And in the grand scheme of things, these athletes make more than us regular joe schmoes, but what percentage of our incomes to we all donate?! Seriously? Why should they donate so much more than we do?! For whatever reason, their god given talent, their hard work, whatever, they earned their money, they have every right to spend it on no one but themselves, or their families or to charities or at strip clubs. The U gave them schollies, and they gave the U their sweat and tears and bodies and sometimes blood, and we as fans got to enjoy watching them compete for the home team. It's unfair of ME to ask more of them than that. Anything any of them give is a huge blessing, and any of them that do give, deserve a standing ovation and/or a huge debt of gratitude, no matter how much or how little they give. And those that don't give, well, who are we to judge them for it, for we do not know anything about them, their lives, their situations, etc.. If any of you have been in their shoes and have done differently, then I suppose you have earned the right to judge them, but the vast majority of us have not been in their shoes and do not know what its like, and can not rightly judge them or their actions. If you were a young 20 something single man given millions, can you honestly say you would have invested it all wisely and lived a clean and righteous lifestyle and never splurged or spent any of it wastefully or foolishly?! And some of them may have invested some of their money but the investment simply didn't pan out?! That happens, far more often than not.


Ok, I'll get off my soapbox, I'm done preaching, just saying, unless we are giving up 1-10% of our own income, we can't diss any pro athlete for not doing it. And if you are, thats awesome, but we still probably have no right to diss anyone who doesn't. All we can do is be very thankful for, and grateful to, anyone and everyone who does donate. To all of you, you all Rock!!! As a Gopher fan, I appreciate all you have done. I'll try to do my part as well, when I can.
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Well said and thanks for jumping back into the conversation. If the U were BYU, then we might see 5-10% of their income. I am pretty sure that there are those athletes that did enjoy their time at the U and really do give back and maybe we rarely hear those stories. Maybe their "Nothing Short of Greatness" video can find a few stories of former athletes giving back or even former managers, etc.

As I said before, the key people are those that have crazy, huge incomes that make millions each year and have so many stock options that it is really worth it for them from an IRS standpoint. I don't think we can fathom how wealthy some of the folks really are with trust funds and foundations. Their money constantly is making money and those are the people they are targeting. Hopefully there will be some cool ways that us regular folk can give: names on bricks, lockers, door knobs, glue under the tile floors, etc.
 



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