Phil Knight has just make The Oregonian's alleged expose, in Sundays newspaper, about the "inside story" of the the University of Oregon's new basketball arena irrelevant! He granted an interview with the Register-Guard which will appear Sunday too!. He is a sly fox! This was posted on the Register Gard's web site today:
By Ron Bellamy
The Register-Guard
Published: May 4, 2008 12:00AM
BEAVERTON — Phil Knight wanted to talk.
He wanted to defend financing the University of Oregon’s $200 million basketball arena through state-backed bonds as innovative and responsible — and not “some kind of unseemly scam on the taxpayers.”
He wanted to explain how the architects and construction company were selected five years ago, when the project was to be largely financed by private donations and when he put a “brilliant and hard-nosed” associate in control to keep costs under down.
He even wanted to say, again, that he “did not fire Martin Smith,” the former UO track and field coach who resigned three years ago, and that Oregon never offered its baseball coaching job to Oregon State’s Pat Casey, and that he and UO director of athletics Pat Kilkenny “never met to decide to fire (men’s basketball coach) Ernie Kent.”
“All those things are very common misperceptions about the University of Oregon and me, and about some of the things that are going on,” said Knight, the Nike co-founder who has contributed millions to his alma mater for academics and for athletics.
Read more in Sunday’s Register-Guard.
I will have links to both stories as soon at they are posted on the Internet.
