‘Tis The Season 4 Fat Cats & Board Monkeys

Fat Cats
BobLee
November23/ 2016

‘Tis The Season 4 Fat Cats & Board Monkeys.

BobLee; are you going to talk about the Notre Dame ruling by NCAA, and how it impacts UNCCH’s TGU?  Yes, of course…. but Not Today.

It is Thanksgiving Weekend so you can count on:

….Your local TV station sending a vacuous info babe to the local airport for a story of the hassles of holiday travel. It’s the same story they do EVERY year. “Info Crowded Airportbabe @ the airport” is as much a Thanksgiving tradition as (1) green bean casserole and (2) your sister’s ne’er do well 3rd husband saying something crude and stoopid at T-dinner despite promising her he wouldn’t.

NOTE: For those of you in The Triangle, Jim Goodmon’s WRAL info-babe at RDU will blame travel congestion on Pat McCrory contesting the recent election results and, of course, on Donald Trump just because….

BUT for those obsessed with sports-related foolishness – and you know who you are.

‘Tis the season” for (1) Fat Cats to exert their bought-and-paid-for influence in Big Time College Football… and for (2) goggle-eyed board monkeys to either agree with / or violently oppose said Fat Cats and their purchased influence.

Right now:
All the national sports pundits are decrying the eeeeevil “influential boosters” at Univ of Texas for letting Charlie Strong twist in the wind.

Exactly one year ago:
All the national sports pundits were decrying the eeeeevil “influential boosters” at LSU for letting Les Miles twist in the wind.

In prior years they decried Michigan Fat Cats…. Or Southern Cal Fat Cats…. Or Auburn Fat Cats…. Or XYZ Fat Cats for influencing the fate of VERY highly paid coaches who, for whatever circumstances, have not had the on-field success they (Fat Cats) put up millions of THEIR $$$$ to bring them to their campus to produce.

In our little section of the Planet, mucho attention is on the fate of NC State’s Dave WhoFromWhere. Reports abound that he and his supervisor – AD Frau Yow – were back in August, given specific minimal expectations for on-field success that, regardless of what happens on Black Friday amid the pines, will not be met. Failure to achieve specific minimum expectations would have dire consequences.

Reports I have received from multiple off-line sources, involve high profile NCSU Fat Cats whose names are etched prominently on various facilities around NC State University. I won’t mention those names because I have no way of verifying their involvement but you can come up with your own “short list”.

One’s name gets etched on buildings by either being a war hero or writing checks with A LOT of zeros on them. Usually the latter since we haven’t had a major war lately.

Having A LOT of $$$ is a relative term. I consider myself a middle-class guy from a middle-class upbringing. The creature comforts our family Rich Peopleenjoys are adequate to our needs. We all drive Lexuses but all are “previously-owned”. We enjoy beach vacations but “rent a condo” when we do. We recently provided our daughter with the wedding of her dreams but (fortunately!) her dreams were modest by comparison to many.

There is that adage about “having no shoes” versus “having no feet”. We’ve always had shoes but they were never custom-made Eye-talian loafers.

For the dozen or so years I was a member of my alma mater’s “booster club” I was at the minimum level qualifying for a window decal and a newsletter. Since my estrangement I no longer qualify for either. I have a St Louis Cardinals decal and license plate holder. Neither of which required me to join “a booster club”.

I am a free market guy. If you want to pay “a lotta money” for a booster club membership PLUS a PSL to then buy season tickets for “your” college or pro team, I have no problem with you doing so. Same as contributing “a lotta money” to a political cause or candidate. I am not a “you should give that $$$ to a worthy charity” guy. It is YOUR $$$ to do with as you please.

 

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Speaking of Rich Guys…. “my buddy Art Chansky” has a new book just out.     Art ChanskyArt’s new book is about UNC & Chapel Hill in The 60s – The Charlie Scott Era et al.  Art “lived it” so the book is as solid as his memory.   If you are a UNC fan… or have an ABC fan on your Christmas list you want to really piss off…. get a few copies of Art’s new book

Game Changers — Dean Smith, Charlie Scott and The Era That Transformed a Southern CollegeTown by clicking here and using the Discount Code 01DAH40.

In total books, Art now trails Danielle Steele by only 26.   In the wake of Trump’s victory, Art is frantic to flee to a condo in Cabo.   Your purchase of a book or three will help his expatriotism.

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NOTE: I just spent $900 for an iPhone 7 PLUS because I wanted a larger keyboard for texting and answering your comments. I don’t know how many Ugandan orphans I could have fed with that $900.

NC State’s notorious Hindenburg Hangar costs A LOT more than my iPhone 7 PLUS.   So did adding all those “charging stations” inHindenburg Hangar The Murphy Center (which is named for ________?) dressing rooms.  So will the “We Gotta Have One Too” IPF that whoever follows “Short List” Larry will inherit at UNCCH next year

In both cases (at NCSU, UNCCH and every other Power Five institution) there is a group of a dozen or so Mega Fat Cats (MFCs) who pony up the bulk of the bucks to make this silly recruiting bling happen. Yes there are ways for “the rank & file” to chip in their scheckles and “buy a brick” but it is those dozen or so Mega Fat Cats who always “make it happen”.

Should these Mega Fat Cats (MFCs) get “influence” in exchange for their “checks with lots of zeros”? I certainly would “want influence” if I wrote such a check. For $200/year I “wanted” my window decal and newsletter.

Should they (MFCs) have influence over hiring / firing of coaches? Should ADs and Univ Admins grab their ankles when the MFCs call with “a suggestion” or “a request”? …. Yes, they SHOULD…. IF they want those MFCs to grab their checkbooks the next time they call for the next generation of stoopid recruiting bling. There is ALWAYS a next generation of stoopid recruiting bling.

Do you think when DD cried that he “needed” The Hindenburg Hangar, WPC Poobah Bobby Purcell’s sales pitch was “so we can lose to woeful ECU and woeful Boston College and not even “spend Christmas in Shreveport”?  No, Bobby did not promise that but that’s what happened. Uh oh.

Did DD sign his “mega millions” contract without reading the fine print…. without seeing the performance fishhooks buried in it? I guarantee you Dave told Mrs Doeren after that BC loss “lets put a hold on putting in that pool”.

Big Time College FB Coaches KNOW it is ALL ABOUT Winning.  That is why they juggle hand grenades recruiting thug-aletes.  NO ONE wants thug-aletes …. but “angels don’t play football very well” so recruit thug-aletes or “lose and call the movers”.

Board monkeys tend to despise Fat Cats. Fat Cats have lots of $$$ and really nice stuff. Rank & file board monkeys tend to lead wretched lives with little or no prospects for improvement other than buying lottery tickets.

Yes…. every fan base has a middle faction of semi-normal fans twixt MFC and board monkey. Most of you who visit here occupy that realm of reality. You have opinions and you do live somewhat vicariously through the on-field success of “your team” but you maintain at least a toehold in Reality.

At NC State right now there is an odd partnership twixt Fat Cats and board monkeys. Both factions seem to want DD GONE. How his buy-out will be dealt with is not a concern of the board monkeys. Nor do the board monkeys care how much it would cost to get A BIG NAME to replace Dave.  The board monkeys simply expect the MFCs to deal with that.   Maybe they will…. AGAIN.

If board monkeys sound like 5 y/os running thru Toys ‘R Us wanting everthing regardless of the costs…. they pretty much are. It is a visual to keep in mind.Texas Rich

My Texas sources report that the MFCs among The UT Orangebloods are the Ultimate Alpha Dogs of All Fat Cats (is that a mixed metaphor or what?). In their league “millions” don’t count. It’s takes billions to buy a seat at their suite high atop Darrel Royal Stadium.  They wear Big Hats AND have lots of cattle… and oil wells… and real estate…. and trophy wives…. and diva daughters.

Out at Oregon it is a One Mega Fat Cat World – whatever Phil Knight Wants is The Rule PERIOD. It doesn’t take long to count the votes.

The humor in all this is…. For all the MFCs and all their mega $$$$s: It still comes down to a semi-literate 19 y/o catching or dropping a pass…. or a nice kid named Bambard missing a chip shot.  OUCH!

When purists complain about Big Donors owning politicians i.e. The Clinton (remember them?) Foundation…. It is no different with MFCs at your local “sleeping giant” college athletics operation.

Big $$$ Talk… Losing Coaches Walk.

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AgentPierce is being feisty…. Again.

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