Last updated on 11/17/2015
11/10/13, 10:31 PM update: The Wall Street Journal reports that the “fictitious” University Of Nike has moved to Alabama. Ouch. Still no denial from U of Nike spokesperson Jeff Hawkins. Buy on the rumor, sell on the news. T-shirts here.
11/10/2013, 12:31 PM: The Ducks lose a game, and our fickle chief benefactor decides that Alabama is the University of Nike, not Oregon? Try the link:
Just a month or so ago Knight gave OHSU $500M, requiring they first raise another $500M from other donors. Which means every wealthy Oregonian is thinking about giving to OHSU, not to UO’s new capital campaign. The Oregon Daily Emerald has more on Bama, here:
It was going to be interesting seeing the UOMatters gameday Alabama-UO scorecard, including the SAT scores. Now I guess that’s not likely to happen.
Maybe my pal Uncle Phil — we belong to some of the same clubs, LOL! — is just scouting for UO, trying to figure out how real football powerhouses do it!
Yeah, my father went to Alabama, on a baseball scholarship. He used to box with George Wallace. I was looking forward to that comparison. Do we play them in basketball?
I’m guessing the UO admins and coaches see that picture and feel betrayed, like they aren’t Phil’s only love. He is in this for money first y’all, and he will drop you like an immoral sweatshop when he decides that he is better served elsewhere. No doubt you will Rik over even more after seeing this, which plays right into his money hand. Ay yi yi.
“He is in this for money first y’all,”.
I’m not sure if that is completely accurate. I freely critique, with my name attached, the University of Oregon, and issues in the athletic department in particular. But, I’m not sure that Phil Knight is in it “first” for the money. My guess, as a sociologist, is that humans are not always rational and pursue a wide variety of goals. In Knight’s case, I believe he is probably thinking about his legacy, and, dare I say it, he is even actually thinking about real philanthropy.
I share many of the critiques of UO athletics that some espouse…the UO athletics budget alone is larger than the budget of the city of Eugene. I find that fact problematic, particularly in terms of the lack of countervailing forces. And, I find the fact that the city of Eugene, the State of Oregon, and the rest of the UO subsidize the athletic department as an externality also to be very troubling.
Still, I don’t think it is fair to say that Phil Knight is in it “first” for the money. If that were the case, he would probably just keep it all for himself…
I think there is nothing irrational about valuing stuff other than money.
I think Phil wants influence. His money buys it in college sports cheaper than any where else.
Maybe he’ll feel so guilt ridden and ashamed that he’ll pay off the bonds for his Knight Arena and PK Park that he left hanging around our necks like millstones?
Wonder how his Bama locker is tricked out.
Interesting point about the OHSU “gift” and its effect on UO.
Another way in which Uncle Phil may be deliberately fucking us:
I’ve had alumni tell me that they’d rather donate to academics, not athletics, at UO. But to keep their season tickets to the Ducks, they need to make a “donation” to athletics.
Perhaps this is why alumni giving to UO academics has lagged so badly?