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Friday, October 19, 2007

University of Oregon Athletics:
"It's Just A Money Bag."



'...The Ducks have blatantly said that the big-bucks donor has become more important to the athletic department than the athletic director, and it's naïve to think otherwise.

Even if you wanted to, you can't -- the Ducks hired a prominent donor to replace [former coach Bill] Moos. Pat Kilkenny is second to [Phil] Knight in money given to Oregon, and now he's running the asylum.

It's amazing, really. No, astonishing. A wildly successful businessman, Kilkenny, 55, is ex-CEO of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency in San Diego. He has donated nearly $6 million to Oregon athletics, which more than compensates for having no AD experience or a college degree. He also is said to have paid a large chunk of Moos' buyout, but this was before he was a candidate for the job.

According to a story in the university's student newspaper, the Daily Emerald, 92 faculty members signed a letter that ran in the Eugene Register-Guard complaining about the hiring and the imbalance of academics and athletics.

Professor Tom Givon was quoted as saying: "The business of letting a major fundraiser become the force of the athletic department is just the last straw. It's just a money bag. Excuse me, but I'm sick of seeing money bags creating this place into an athletic empire."...



---seattlepi.com---