July 2, 2007

The great myths and mysteries of our day include the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, UFO’s and the relationship of University of Oklahoma men’s basketball ticket purchases to Sooner football games.

I am clueless as to the existence of the first three, but I can tell you beyond the shadow of a plaster cast footprint or fuzzy video that the fourth can be dispelled without a doubt.

There may have been a time when a patron could pad a football seat through the purchase of a basketball ticket, but that is no longer the case and it hasn’t been for some time now.
 
If seating location at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the Red River Rivalry or a bowl game is the goal for an OU fan, basketball is not the way to get there.

Here is the simple example ... 

Let’s say that last year Billy Boomer bought two season tickets for men’s basketball. For that purchase, Billy received two priority points, one for each ticket, from the Sooner Club.

Billy’s brother, Bobby, bypassed the basketball tickets and instead took that same $600 and gave it directly to the Sooner Club. He received 18 points for that year and will receive six points for every year that the account remains active.

That’s because donors receive three points for every $100 donated in the first year and one point per hundred in every subsequent year.

Purchasing season tickets in any OU sport is certainly a way to accumulate priority points. Donating money to the department does the same thing only at an accelerated rate. Doing both is the best way to maximize the point system.

The athletics department encourages fans to purchase tickets and donate to the Sooner Club. Both are important to the existence and improvement of Sooner Athletics.

Some myths will live forever. The fact that Nessie, Sasquatch and aliens are still talked about in 2006 tells us that much. But this basketball thing needs to go away. It simply is not true.

If you need a reason to grab up men’s basketball tickets, do so because it launches Jeff Capel’s program and supports the Sooners. That evidence is tangible and true.

 
  
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Kenny Mossman, Associate Athletics Director for Communications, provides his perspective on Oklahoma Athletics in his regular column on SoonerSports.com.