He’s one the most outspoken university presidents in the nation, and that’s just concerning his thoughts on athletics. He has mockingly offended everyone from Nebraska football fans to a religious order devoted to feeding the elderly poor.
Ohio State University president Gordon Gee once earned fame simply for decorating his pants and signature bow tie with Colorado Buffalo logos. Today, he will visit with many old Colorado friends from president Bruce Benson to coach Jon Embree, a football player at CU when Gee ran the university.
Rather than get more mileage out of another wisecrack, Gee is more concerned about the state of the shifting conference maps these days, with schools breaking up long-standing rivalries.
He likes the Big Ten’s mid-America stability but is not fond of all the shuffling going on in other leagues.
“It seems to me the natural relationships, the natural sense of rivalries, a lot of this stuff is being disrupted, and I’m not sure why,” Gee said in a telephone interview.
This year, Gee is more subtly taking on his presidential peers for allowing massive changes on the collegiate landscape.
“I’m a little concerned about the fact we’re scrambling and I’m not quite sure what we’re scrambling for. …What all the configurations mean is it’s a jump ball right now. No one quite knows where people are going to land.”
That said, he fully admits helping recruit his old Colorado adversary, Nebraska, into the Big Ten a year ago, though he’s not above cracking wise about the Huskers.
“I got all sorts of great Nebraska jokes,” he said. “As I tell everyone around Ohio, I discovered two things about Nebraska jokes. (Nebraskans) love their football and they have no sense of humor.”
He’s also turned some gaffes into positives, befriending the religious order and even getting a hug from the Little Sisters of the Poor administrator.
He also admits: “I’m probably one of most quotable guys in America. My mouth is sore from continually extracting my foot from it.”
Gee served as CU’s president from 1985-90, leaving just before the national championship season. When his football coach, Bill McCartney, complained about inadequate facilities, Gee helped broker the deal for the Dal Ward Center construction. In exchange for the donation from the Coors Foundation, the beer name was placed on the existing basketball arena.
He was always rooting for CU — until now. Ohio State doesn’t like to lose one football game, let alone two in a row.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
