Hoops housing rejected: round up the usual suspects
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Here is where board rats post who voted against the basketball housing and why. Time to understand the politics of basketball housing.
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Couple of links…
and an older one …
Needless to say, Yael T. Abouhalkah is not a KU Basketball fan.
In short, the State Legislature does not think that taxpayers should back the bonding that was going to be used for the project in addition to private money; they feel that it should be all private/donor money. In view of how many taxpayers were left out of the Metro Sports contract and unable to watch football and basketball games, while the residents of the state to the East of us could, I am not surprised there is a backlash. I am sure legislators heard from irate constituents about the deal with Metro Sports.
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Short-sighted ‘leadership’.
As good as the basketball is in Kansas, the political leadership is bad.
Unfortunately, my statement is not just limited to the decision about funding a housing project for the flagship state university…
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Ya, I wouldnt count on the State legislature to be preferentially favorable to any particular Board-of-Regents university (KU, KSU, WSU, etc.) without feeling the pressure to do something similar ($$) for the other schools.
Most of us KU alums can instantly know that our building a posh apt bldg is to compete with what KY has done, but that isnt going to matter to a legislator with WSU or KSU ties, right? They dont care about KY, they just want to beat KU. And to those types, it may be spun as “snob hill” (non-ku fan’s term) simply “wanting more and more”. While we know OUR reality, we must also be aware of what THEIR (whoever) perception may be.
Finally, I will try to not get too political, eventhough Jaybate requested the political angles: We Kansans know the State budget is sufferring. In my profession, I see hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of waste every day, that the state budget is forced to cover, simply because there is no checks&balances or oversight. And that’s just in 3 small town locations across KS–now multiply that daily healthcare waste x all the towns in KS, and x 365days/year… --> Bottom line: the state is broke. Now add the utterly insane, continuously spiralling prison budget, y’all get the picture. We all pay for the misguided, “soft” notions, that werent fully thought thru, and after decades of data indicating ‘we have a problem’, it is still ignored or passed on to the next legislature…
Fund this ourselves, with the benefit that no one can then tell us how to do it. Take ownership, literally, and thus take control, literally.
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Things never go better with Koch.
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So since they won’t make the investment, I guess the basketball team can start turning the revenue they bring towards the private sector.
Great leadership… huh…
Kansas basketball is THE #1 connection out of state people have to our state. It has only improved under Self. So we fall behind Kentucky I guess…
I’ve never disliked UK… only Calipari. I’ve always been envious of how well the State of Kentucky nurtures Wildcat basketball. If you want to know why Kentucky is at the top of everyone’s list for blue blood basketball schools you will quickly understand why by visiting the State and absorbing what is the Big Blue Nation! Wildcat basketball pays back more than it takes… by a landslide!
Jayhawk basketball pays back far more than it takes, too… but our State doesn’t share in the level of support like they do in Kentucky.
You don’t solve State financial problems by refusing to fund areas that pay back exponential returns. I guess this is how our State got to the shape it is in. Kansas basketball pays back not only in positive State PR… but also in revenue!
I’m happy to support our State building better facilities for the KSU football team! They don’t quite have the pay back ratio our Jayhawks have, but they reflect well on our State! This isn’t about favoritism towards one school… it is about common sense!
Kentucky is far out advanced on us and everyone else. Here is their next development project:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/rupp-arena-university-kentucky-wildcats-stadium/
Kentucky doesn’t have near the State revenue potential Kansas has… but they don’t let that stop them from keeping UK at the top of the basketball world!
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@drgnslayr : stellar post.
