The University of Kansas, one of America’s most notorious sports factories, shows you how it’s done. Pay your athletics director millions and millions and millions of dollars, and on top of that, encourage him to take private planes everywhere at a cost of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It’s not about ego or waste. “That’s just the price of doing business,” explains the AD. True. KU is in the business of delivering quality sports to its campus, and to the nation. Price is no object.
August 15th, 2010 at 7:36AM
In vague terms, both Lew and I are employees of the State of Kansas, so I have some thoughts. On the one hand, Lew makes $4.4 million a year, or $85,000 a week. Presuming he puts in 40 hours a week, his time costs the University of Kansas $2000 an hour. Driving three hours someplace and three hours back means he’s paid $12000 while listening to Rick Pitino’s inspirational books on his car’s CD player. From the university’s point-of-view, it might then be worth it to have him doing productive things for five hours and on a private plane for one.
Of course, that’s all based on the assumption that Lew Perkins is worth $4.4 million a year. Since he’s being hastily shoved out the door at KU, it seems KU’s own administration doesn’t think so.
Here’s the other thing. Kansas State University and the University of Kansas suffer from bad airport connections. It’s 45 minutes from Lawrence to the Kansas City airport, which isn’t a great one anyway. Manhattan used to have it worse–two hours to Kansas City or Wichita. Things have improved with regular jet service from Manhattan to Dallas (plus free parking), but the point is that those who can fly by private plane on somebody’s else dime, and like the ego stroke it provides, have an additional reason to do so from the pain-in-the-ass factor of just getting to the airport.
August 15th, 2010 at 8:01AM
Oh, and I have to include this bit from Sports Illustrated:
“In 2004, the NCAA outlawed the use of private jets in shuttling recruits to campus. That restriction hurt some schools more than others. Since then, the Wildcats have flown prospects into Kansas City, then driven them the 132 miles to Manhattan, past endless fields of sorghum and soy beans and amber waves of grain, a journey during which many a blue-chipper from urban parts of say, Florida or Texas, has undoubtedly mused to himself, Man, this place is out in the sticks!”
August 15th, 2010 at 9:56AM
Hey, our football coach used a helicopter last year for some local recruiting.
That has, fortunately, stopped after the outcry.
August 29th, 2010 at 9:17PM
[…] need only revisit the recent private plane scandal at the University of Kansas, or consider how universities compensate coaches these days, to shoot […]