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Boren got played by Pac-12? Not necessarily...
Published: 9/21/2011 2:27 PM
Last Modified: 9/21/2011 7:34 PM


David Boren speaks to the media after Monday's regent meeting. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World

Did University of Oklahoma president David Boren get played by the Pac-12?

Or did the Pac-12 get played by OU’s political savant?

When the Pac-12 announced late Tuesday that it would not be expanding, the general consensus was that OU and Boren were left standing on the street corner, hat in hand, with their only option to go crawling back home to the Big 12.

But think about it.

Boren’s wish list for conference realignment included three things: remaining in the Big 12, Dan Beebe’s resignation and greater equality (read: altering the balance of power) with Texas.

If by the Pac-12 commissioner and CEOs deciding against expansion — due almost solely to Texas’ refusal to capitulate earnings from the Longhorn Network (a good deal of which are earmarked to go back to the university’s academic and general funds)—then didn’t Boren get No. 1?

And if by sources leaking to the Oklahoman and Tulsa World on Tuesday, prior to the Pac-12’s announcement, it was well known that OU would stay in the Big 12 only if Beebe is gone, and Big 12 CEOs today coming to a consensus that they will vote for Beebe’s resignation, then doesn’t Boren get No. 2?

And if by Texas president Bill Powers and athletic director DeLoss Dodds saying in Austin today that, although money from the Tier 3 Longhorn Network is not negotiable, they would be willing to discuss equal revenue sharing all Tier 1 and Tier 2 (that’s ABC/ESPN and Fox) money, then doesn’t Boren get No. 3?

Boren is a complex man, a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a former Oklahoma governor, a former state and U.S. senator whose friends include world luminaries like Henry Kissinger and Margaret Thatcher. (A friend once told me he was driving up I-44 from Norman to Tulsa with Boren when Boren got a phone call asking how he was doing … it was Kissinger.)

Boren didn’t go into this conference Armageddon without more than one exit strategy. He had clearly defined goals for the school and the fan base he loves, and it appears he is on the verge of achieving those goals.

So who played who?

— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist



Reader Comments 10 Total
Danomite Dandy Dan (last year)
:)
Don't Mess With Texas.
sportswriter (last year)
Another column designed to cozy up to Sooners
laz (last year)
or is ou staying in the big 12 because the pac 12 is NOT expanding?

or as of right now is beebe still the commish?

or is the money that ut is giving up chump change compared towhat they are keeping?

i say he got played
Strange Daze (last year)
Trying to help osu is going to hurt THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA!
Pokefan519 (last year)
Boren got played, no question about it.

Even as recently as 24 hours ago, EVERYONE, including Boren himself, was thinking Pac 12. Even without Texas. If the powers that be at OU hadn't been thinking of this for weeks now, then why was Stoops so relaxed when asked if it was a big deal if the OU-UT game no longer existed.

Ask Dean Blevins, who said Boren personally told him that he knew he had the votes in hand from the Pac 12 presidents to join the conference. At least, that's what he tweeted last night.

I'm not trying to portray Boren in a bad way because he's OU's president, and I'm an OSU fan. But to jump out there and say with such gusto that he planned it this way? Bull butter!! And anyone who claims it to be the case is a pure liar. OU and OSU beat writers and sports journalists across the state were floored last night, same as all of us.

Boren will spin this as though it was planned this way, but he's a politician, and that's what politicians do. But make no mistake, that taste in Boren's mouth is not the sweet taste of victory. It's the egg that's running down his face.
Golden Hurricane (last year)
Very poor commentary by Hoover. This is nothing more local homerism at its finest.

Boren got played, period. He wrote public checks with his mouth that he couldn't cash and now he just looks silly. This isn't a worthy blog post.
Golden Hurricane (last year)
I'll add that Boren is a very intelligent individual and has done GREAT things for the University of Oklahoma. However, even the smartest of men get worked occasionally and that's what happened here.
soko (last year)
Boren was never a state senator. He went straight from the back row of the house to the gov's mansion.

In any event, the one thing about Boren's presser Monday that surprised me was his quote about not yielding his position to "any university from another state". I thought it Monday and still do: that is so unlike Boren. When he knows he's won, he is gracious.

The comment makes me believe that the whole thing was a bluff and that Scott was either playing Boren or that Scott got ahead of his members and simply couldn't deliver.

It appears that, despite how good of a politician Boren is, DeLoss is a a pretty darned good poker player. He called the Pac's bluff, said "I'm keeping my network as is", and the Pac folded.
webworm50 (last year)
I don't think Boren was played by Larry Scott. The PAC 12 simply can't include the Longhorn Network---and we shouldn't sit still and take it either. If the PAC 12 won't work, why not ally ourselves with OSU, Missouri, and Texas A& M to form a 16 team SEC? I'd love to see what Texas would do without the rest of us. as far as I'm concerned, they can choke on Bevo dust.
Golden Hurricane (last year)
Texas would do just fine without the rest of you...they don't need you, they would thrive as an independent and that may be what they want.

Love them or hate them, Texas is a brand name second only to Notre Dame in its ability to be self sustaining.
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OU Sports

Tulsa World Sports Writer Guerin Emig has covered University of Oklahoma football and men's basketball for the Tulsa World since 2004. He lives in Norman, where he keeps the fact that he is a University of Kansas graduate on the down low.

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Tulsa World Sports Writer Eric Bailey covered TU sports before coming over to the OU beat. He came to the Tulsa World in September 2004 after working eight years at the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader. He attended Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas, where he was a 1996 Chips Quinn scholar, a national award given to minority journalism students.

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