Tuesday, February 05, 2008

University of Oregon planning to spend lots of money on basketball arena

As a U-Dub alum, we'll look for any reason to take a cheap shot at Oregon. As a Husky, you're supposed to hate Washington State the way a married couple hates each other after 10 years. But the true diehards hate Oregon much, much more than that.

So when Oregon decides to spend a record $200 million on a new basketball arena, opposed to, say, education, we can't help but laugh.

From The Oregonian via Ben Maller...by the way, Ben Maller is the shit. That guy finds all these juicy nuggets while we merely link to them and make jokes. That's why he's employed by Fox Sports (read: paid) while we're self-employed (read: unpaid). Anyway:

University of Oregon leaders will make their biggest pitch ever to the Legislature this month, requesting $200 million in state-backed bonds to build the most expensive campus basketball arena in the nation.

Lawmaker approval would create a no-money-down, 30-year mortgage that the university plans to repay with arena revenues and athletic department donations.

UO's proposal pushes a debate held largely in faculty meetings to the floor of the Capitol: Is it appropriate to use public debt for a posh athletics venue while the state's universities struggle to support core academic programs?

Or is the plan, which requires no cash from the state, merely a creative way to replace an ancient arena and maintain the school's national edge in sports facilities?

Some observations:

-We, for some reason, think the new arena will sort of resemble the Death Star.

-The Pit is one of the best venues in the Pac-10, if not the country. It's old, decrepit and small. Perfect for a college hoops game.

-The word "lawmaker" looks a lot like "lawnmower."

-Let's go hypothetical: If this facility was approved and built last year, would that have convinced Kyle Singler and Kevin Love (both native Oregonians) to sign with the Duckies?

-Phil Knight should financially back this blog.

7 comments:

insomniac said...

Except the Oregon cheerleaders, Jon. I've got nothing but love to give to them. Warm, sticky love.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure, Insomniac. On one hand, I'd bet they bang every guy they meet within 15 minutes, so it would be pretty easy. On the other hand, I really fucking hate Oregon.

Eric (Extra P.) said...

With all that money, maybe they'll finally buy some pants for that poor duck.

GMoney said...

Shouldn't they spend some of that money to fire that retard, Ernie Kent?

T.C. Hill said...

Will this new arena also have a giant "O" in the middle of the court? I've always wondered what the significance of the "O" was at the University of Nike.

Anonymous said...

For more information on how Nike takes over by funneling funny money and "partnerships" into communities and schools/foundationsread the book titled WHOS AFRAID OF NIKETOWN it is an accurate and excellent book.

Anonymous said...

I posted six videos about the Nike arena problem on Youtube. To find them use the Youtube search with keywords:nike university of oregon.