A financial crisis bailout for Auburn football?Tuesday, 18 August 2009 , by : ChrisAuburn might be getting its own reality show, but it has much bigger problems. Colonial Bank, of which Bobby Lowder, Auburn trustee and booster, was CEO, has failed, was taken over by the FDIC, and now is being sold by the FDIC to BB&T Bank. Lowder was no ordinary booster: He was the “most powerful booster” in America, and had effectively hired and fired every Auburn football coach (and University president!) since 1983. (As one minor example, Lowder used to use his private jet for recruiting trips.)Bobby Lowder, Auburn boosterBobby Lowder, Auburn boosterIndeed, all this was significant enough for the Wall Street Journal to ask the fairly difficult (and fairly silly) question: What Does Colonial Bank’s Failure Mean for Auburn Football? One answer, at least, appears to be a diminished role for Lowder, both in terms of hands-on involvement (probably good) and money (less so): Lowder founded Colonial in 1981, building it up through 68 acquisitions in five states. For years, Colonial had a coveted franchise, one that attracted suitors, but Lowder repeatedly rebuffed overtures, pushing Colonial to keep growing. In 1983, Gov. George Wallace appointed Lowder to Auburn’s Board of Trustees. In that position, Lowder took particular interest in his alma mater’s football team. He used Colonial’s corporate jet to recruit for the Auburn’s football team, and he was behind the hiring and firing of every Auburn football coach, according to ESPN. In fact, from those two posts, he was arguably the most powerful person in Alabama, ESPN writes. That is no longer the case. Lowder was forced out of Colonial last month, and his rule at Auburn seems diminished. Writes Paul Davis of the Opelika-Auburn News: “It is over. Bobby Lowder’s Colonial Bank is dead, along with his powerful control over Auburn University. That’s terrible news for the thousands of Colonial Bank employees but wonderful news for Auburn University. “He had personally selected a majority of the board and almost brought the University down before he drove his bank out of business. The high-handed tactics at Auburn brought probation from the Southern Association of College and Schools for his micro-management of the University, for his shutting down academic programs and for stepping out of bounds in hiring and firing Auburn coaches.”The WSJ even includes a cheeky chart showing Colonial bank’s assets as compared with Auburn’s record. Surprisingly there is a correlation, particularly in 1993 and 1994, when the Tigers finished 4th and 9th, respectively. (Though the numbers are odd, since Colonial’s assets exploded but then shrank rapidly, and didn’t really recover until the housing boom, and we know how that worked out.)So what do you think? Is Colonial’s bad business bad for the taxpayer, but good for Auburn football? Did we collectively wrest control of the football program away from Lowder by helping shove him out?
http://smartfootball.com/grab-bag/a-financial-crisis-bailout-for-auburn-footballI even included the hyperlinks for your web-navigating pleasure.
Players that open bank accounts elsewhere now won't have as much "seed money" in them?I keed, I keed.
What does it mean for me? Karma is a BITCH.
BB&T replaces Colonial as Auburn sponsorPosted by Charles Goldberg -- The Birmingham News August 27, 2009 12:50 PMCategories: FootballBB&T Corporation, which snapped up Montgomery-based Colonial Bank in recent weeks, is now replacing Colonial as one of the corporate sponsors in Auburn athletic venues.BB&T announced Thursday it will be one of the featured sponsors at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum and Plainsman Park. In each case, BB&T is replacing Colonial. You'll see the new signs in those sports venues, as well as popping up on Colonial Banks. A PR release says this is BB&T's first sports marketing venue in Alabama.This isn't BB&T's first venture in athletics, however. Wake Forest's football stadium was renamed BB&T Field in 2007. The bank has other sports ventures as well.Colonial, of course, was headed by Bobby Lowder, an Auburn trustee.
Colonial, of course, WAS headed by Bobby Lowder, an Auburn trustee.
Past tense - I freaking LOVE IT. Bastard.
So will it now be the new BB&T basketball arena? There's no way in hell that they would try to rename Jordan Hare.
12 Replies
2281 Views