Boren doesn't resent Longhorn Network, but wants level playing field
Published: 9/19/2011 10:03 PM
Last Modified: 9/19/2011 10:03 PM
OU president David Boren knows politics better than just about anyone.
The former Oklahoma governor, U.S. senator and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee knows that if he burns a bridge with the University of Texas now, he might not be able to cross the Red River in the future.
So, given ample opportunities to knock Texas and its trouble-making Longhorn Network during a 20-minute press conference on Monday, Boren took the high road.
Or rather, the political road.
“I think we’re trying to build a positive relationship with all the universities around us, and I don’t think it would serve any purpose for me to throw stones,” Boren said.
“But I want to also say I think it’s very important for all of us, if we remain in the Big 12 — as you know, the University of Oklahoma was already making plans to create our own network — but I think whether it’s conference networks or individual university networks, they need to be operated in a way that we don’t violate any of the basic rules that should apply to any universities.”
Fairness, Boren said, is important to whether the Big 12 can exist in a modified, Aggie-free format, or whether Texas and its $300 million albatross can be folded into something manageable and according to Pac-12 Conference bylaws.
“For example,” Boren said, “we don’t operate networks in a way that we give a recruiting advantage, as coach (Bob) Stoops has said, to one university over another. You simply could have a situation where you don’t show recruits, people you’re trying to recruit, playing games. You could play highlights (but) your highlights just might happen to focus on some of those people that were your top recruits.
“Now, is that a level playing field on recruiting? I don’t think so. So we’re for a level playing field, and as I said, I want to see a conference in which all the members play an equal role.”
Boren said whether the Sooners join the Pac-12 or stay with the Big 12, he wants equal opportunities for everyone.
“The University of Oklahoma has no ambition to dominate any conference,” Boren said. “We simply have ambition of being a member, an equal member, of a conference, playing by the same rules, having a level playing field for all the members of that conference, developing a high level of trust in each other. That’s our goals. That is our goal. That’s what we’re after.”
Boren doesn’t mind that Texas cut its own deal with ESPN. In fact, Boren thinks a school should reap benefits from the ability to sustain its own network, as long as it doesn’t provide competitive disparity (like recruiting) or some kind of lording political clout.
“Well, if we create a network, I think it would be financially successful,” Boren said. “And let me say that I think we’re in the process — at this moment in time, because we’re still a member of the Big 12 — we’re in the process and we’ve been in the process for months; in fact, more than a year, of planning our (network), and I would say the level of interest from people who would like to be financial partners, media partners, has gone up considerably, even over the last few weeks.
“So there are financial opportunities for the University of Oklahoma too. The important thing is if we have a network of our own, and if we’re in the Big 12, we want to run that network in a way that doesn’t seek to advantage us over other members, particularly in recruiting and areas like that.”
Simple question, then: Did Texas overstep its bounds in creating the Longhorn Network?
“I’ll just say that our goal is to be an equal partner in any network and we think it ought to be the goal of every other member in a conference that we’re a part of, to be an equal member of that conference,” Boren said. “We ought to value each other, every single member of that conference, and none of us should seek to play a stronger leadership role than anyone else.”
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
