themanontherun wrote:
Could you tell us, in precise dollar amounts, how much it's worth for Nike to have a stellar track program at Oregon, and how that compares to what it would cost to keep that under wraps? Not even factoring in the potential shitstorm that would break if caught, and the inherent cost of risk, but just the dollars and cents of how much would be lost vs. gained?
I personally do not believe that you can make quantitative sense of the Nike/Phil/Alberto support of Oregon Track and Field that way. I'm sure that there is some monetary benefit from supporting Oregon, but that is not the primary driver here.
The reason for support of Oregon is much more emotional in nature. These guys, along with several other prominent alumni have serious emotional attachments to the Oregon program like normal people do to their families, or maybe pets. A good analogy would be a man who spends $25,000 on cancer treatment for his dog just to buy it another year or two of life when you could have it put down, save the animal suffering, and buy another dog for under $1,000. Does this make financial sense, of course not, but the decision isn't made for financial reasons.
Now, I can't say they are cheating, I don't know. I know I heard stories when I ran against the Stanford guys, but I also know that people say things out of jealousy. I also have been personally told by former Lananna athletes that the man is obsessively honest and within the rules. I still have my suspisions, based mostly on the principal of, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
What I do know, is that these people at Nike have a lot invested, emotionally and otherwise, and would fight like hell to preserve what they have built, legally or otherwise.