Anyone check out this article on biffhammer.com -> BIFFHAMMER.COM: I'll gladly pay you on Tuesday, for a $5 million scoreboard today.... I'll paste it below so as not to give this idiot any more web traffic than he deserves.. I had kind of thought this guys articles were badly written and juvenile since he started blogging recently, but this has officially made me stop following his site.
Apparently he doesn't understand how businesses are run and the fact they signed a contract pretty much guaranteeing them the money. Hence, why ISU (and others) have not waived their right to sue.
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There’s a solid piece on espn.com today about the economics of the Big 12’s impending demise. It drills deep into why the Baylors of the conference are holding on to their right to sue the SEC if/when Texas A&M departs. And it’s about more than just remaining relevant on the college athletics landscape.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, it’s about money. But Iowa State’s actions on the money side of it might **** you off. It’s definitely got Biff worked up today.
The new TV deal the league worked out with Fox Sports recently – the $1.17 billion deal – works out to approximately $90 million per school, starting next season.
What you may not know is that ISU’s athletic department has already spent or committed nearly $40 million of its share, despite the fact it won’t see a penny of it until next season, if at all. I’ll pause while you take your blood pressure meds.
What the hell is ISU doing spending money it doesn’t have in hand yet? And not just a little money; it’s nearly HALF of its projected $90 million share. This is like a father telling his family, “Hey everybody! Grandpa just wrote us in for $1 million in his will!â€, and then the whole clan goes out and spends half of it immediately on a 2nd home, luxury cars and boats, etc. Then the doctor unexpectedly announces that grandpa’s heart transplant went great and he should live another 20 years.
This smacks of how Washington has operated far too long, writing check after check without secure knowledge that the money’s in the bank to pay for it. ISU green-lighted a new $5 million scoreboard that’s already up and running. It also committed $20 million to a football building, and $15 million to a new sports complex for track, soccer, and softball – both of which are under construction.
Apparently last year’s near-Big 12 blowup, and the departure of Nebraska and Colorado – did not convince the powers in the Jacobson Building to adopt a more fiscally patient, let’s-wait-and-see-if-this-is-really-over mentality.
Could you get away with operating your home budget this way? “Yeah, boys, dig the hole for that swimming pool and hot tub. The boss said my promotion is coming any day now!†Then the boss suddenly takes another job with another company, wishes you well and you’re left floating in uncertainty, not water. Nope; you’re not diggin’ that hole until the promotion is in hand. Or unless you’re a fool.
Perhaps this is the way college athletics has been run of late. But today is a brave new world, with 9% unemployment, rampant home foreclosures, and banks, mortgage companies, and other businesses failing everywhere. Nothing – nothing – is guaranteed anymore.
Certainly the Big 12’s survival isn’t a sure thing, nor is ISU’s relocation to a high-level conference if it doesn’t. The latest “Who’ll Go Where?†scenarios have the Cyclones and Baylor out in the cold; a “player to be named later†to the Big East at best. But ISU’s recent financial activity would suggest all is well.
While the rest of us have boarded up the windows of our homes and are simply trying to ride out this financial hurricane (by not making any big purchases or adding a bunch of new debt), Iowa State’s throwing around tens of millions of dollars it currently doesn’t have into projects with debatable necessity given current economic conditions.
"The taxpayers of Iowa can't pay (if the Big 12 folds and the Fox TV contract falls through)," a source told espn.com.
No, they can’t. But you can bet there’s going to be cardinal and gold hell to pay if the Big 12 fails.
Apparently he doesn't understand how businesses are run and the fact they signed a contract pretty much guaranteeing them the money. Hence, why ISU (and others) have not waived their right to sue.
-- Article --
============================================================
There’s a solid piece on espn.com today about the economics of the Big 12’s impending demise. It drills deep into why the Baylors of the conference are holding on to their right to sue the SEC if/when Texas A&M departs. And it’s about more than just remaining relevant on the college athletics landscape.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, it’s about money. But Iowa State’s actions on the money side of it might **** you off. It’s definitely got Biff worked up today.
The new TV deal the league worked out with Fox Sports recently – the $1.17 billion deal – works out to approximately $90 million per school, starting next season.
What you may not know is that ISU’s athletic department has already spent or committed nearly $40 million of its share, despite the fact it won’t see a penny of it until next season, if at all. I’ll pause while you take your blood pressure meds.
What the hell is ISU doing spending money it doesn’t have in hand yet? And not just a little money; it’s nearly HALF of its projected $90 million share. This is like a father telling his family, “Hey everybody! Grandpa just wrote us in for $1 million in his will!â€, and then the whole clan goes out and spends half of it immediately on a 2nd home, luxury cars and boats, etc. Then the doctor unexpectedly announces that grandpa’s heart transplant went great and he should live another 20 years.
This smacks of how Washington has operated far too long, writing check after check without secure knowledge that the money’s in the bank to pay for it. ISU green-lighted a new $5 million scoreboard that’s already up and running. It also committed $20 million to a football building, and $15 million to a new sports complex for track, soccer, and softball – both of which are under construction.
Apparently last year’s near-Big 12 blowup, and the departure of Nebraska and Colorado – did not convince the powers in the Jacobson Building to adopt a more fiscally patient, let’s-wait-and-see-if-this-is-really-over mentality.
Could you get away with operating your home budget this way? “Yeah, boys, dig the hole for that swimming pool and hot tub. The boss said my promotion is coming any day now!†Then the boss suddenly takes another job with another company, wishes you well and you’re left floating in uncertainty, not water. Nope; you’re not diggin’ that hole until the promotion is in hand. Or unless you’re a fool.
Perhaps this is the way college athletics has been run of late. But today is a brave new world, with 9% unemployment, rampant home foreclosures, and banks, mortgage companies, and other businesses failing everywhere. Nothing – nothing – is guaranteed anymore.
Certainly the Big 12’s survival isn’t a sure thing, nor is ISU’s relocation to a high-level conference if it doesn’t. The latest “Who’ll Go Where?†scenarios have the Cyclones and Baylor out in the cold; a “player to be named later†to the Big East at best. But ISU’s recent financial activity would suggest all is well.
While the rest of us have boarded up the windows of our homes and are simply trying to ride out this financial hurricane (by not making any big purchases or adding a bunch of new debt), Iowa State’s throwing around tens of millions of dollars it currently doesn’t have into projects with debatable necessity given current economic conditions.
"The taxpayers of Iowa can't pay (if the Big 12 folds and the Fox TV contract falls through)," a source told espn.com.
No, they can’t. But you can bet there’s going to be cardinal and gold hell to pay if the Big 12 fails.
