University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 18. 1975
7
Rain perpetual haunter of Relays' financial picture
By STEVE BOYCE
Sports Writer
On May 10, 1924, Forrest C. "Phog" Allen,
then university of Kansas athletic director,
wrote a letter to Chancellor E. H. Lindley to
try to diplish rumors that the KU Athletic Association was spending and losing too much money.
The letter contained this passage about the annual Rail Games, then three years old.
"It was felt that the Relays were a great advertisement for the whole University as well as for the state of Kansas, and for that reason the expense for this should be maintained until it will gradually grow to take care of itself."
Letters from the University Archives show that the Relay Games, as the Kansas Relays was called in its infancy, lost $4,028.22 in 1924 and $4,815.79 in 1925. If it were relations value, the Relays might not be celebrating a 6th birthday this year.
Through the years, the Relays has tread a precarious financial path, usually losing a little money one year and making a little the next.
The numbers have changed greatly since the 1920s. In 1924, a $570.22 was spent on the new computer system.
Athletic Corporation (KUAC) has budgeted $24,180 on the Relays.
If numbers can be trusted, the Relays has finally grown to take care of itself. A 13-year study conducted by KUAC last year showed a $1,669 profit from the Recias since 1982. The biggest profit of $1,687, came in 1972 and beautiful weather showed up together.
Neither Ryun nor the sunshine made an encore in 1973, though, when the Relays lost its biggest amount of the 15-year period between 1982 and 1987, the Relays has lost money five years.
According to Clyde Walker, KU athletic director, "There are two things that either make or break the Relys: number one, the number two, the caliber of performers."
People who say Kansas weather is unpredictable probably aren't aware that it rains almost every day on the Saturday of July, and when it does, kids stay home and the Relays lose money.
The KUAC budget projects an income of $2,725 from this year's Reals. Of this income, 63% goes to ticket sales. Entry fees, concessions sales and program sales supplement the income.
weekend. Ticket sales were only $15,014 and the Labels lost $1,412.
“Our problem here is holding the Relays in a 50,000 seat stadium where you can’t get advance ticket sales.” Walker said. “It’s pretty hard to sell an advance ticket to someone when he can just wait until Saturday and see whether it rains or not.”
Walker made the small, 15,000 seat stadium at Drake University, ensured the financial support of the program.
"At Drake, the Relays are always sold out prior to the beginning of the RELays because with a small stadium, people know they're not going to have a ticket if they wait until Saturday," Walker said. "At Drake, if it rains they've already got their income taken care of. Plus, the RELays is the biggest event at Drake all year."
Dong Messer, business manager for the athletic department, said, "The worse thing about the Relays is that you’re totally at the mercy of the weather. In football, you’re always affected by the weather, but there are 11 possibilities to come out okay during the season. But with the Relays, it’s a one-shot dependency on the weather."
Walker said, “but it’s very difficult to sell things over a period of time, but the main thing is that you
people are just going to sit tight and see what the weather does."
Two of the largest expenditures from this year's $2,180 Relays budget are $4,000 in travel money to attract big-name athletes and $5,400 in trophy and award money to make sure those athletes have something to take home.
paid to big-name amateur athletes like Tony Waldrop, Ivory Crockett and Earl Bell. Those performers play a large part in the financial status of the Relays, he said.
Walker said the travel expenses were
"I really helped in 1972 when Jim Rypin
walker said. We had about a $200,000 profit."
Last year, Waldrop, a world-class miler.
said he would compete in the Relays. But he was forced by an injury to cancel.
"This is the problem we've had in the past, getting an actual commitment," Walker said. "There's nothing you can do if he comes to him and then gets sick or injured."
"And the bad thing about it is that it hurts
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Pharmacist behind familiar voice
By KEVIN KNOCKEMUS
Sports Writer
At forward, at forward! From Lincoln,
Ill. number 32, Norm Cook!
Any person who has attended a University of Kansas basketball game in the last few years recognizes the familiar voice doing the introduction.
the members of the team change from year to year, but the public address applause goes up.
But who is he?
The familiar but unknown voice of the public address announcer at KU football and basketball games belongs to J. W. Gillispie.
Gillispie is a 1942 graduate of KU with a BS degree in pharmacy. He has worked in the pharmacy at Watkins Memorial Hospital since 1947.
Gillispie said several weeks ago that he began public address announcing in 1947, helping Dr. E. R. Elbeb with KU football and basketball games. When Elbeb retired in 2015,
"They're both interesting and exciting and I like them a lot," he said.
He said he didn't like football or basketball announcing more than the other. "They're both interesting and exciting." "Were they on a grid?" he said.
He flashed a wide smile and his eyes favored the one about his all-time favorites in KU sports.
"It is awful hard to say who is the best or who is my favorite, since I've been involved with a number of teams and players," he said.
Ray Evans and Gale Sayers were singled out as favorites in football by Gillspie. Wilt Chamberlain, Clyde Lovellette and Jo-Jo Kearse were some of his favorites in basketball.
"The Kelley brothers' team was a run and
Gullsiepp said his favorite KU basketball teams included the 1952 NCAA championship team, on which Lovelate played, and a team with the Kelley brothers, Dean and Al.
Gillispie
gun team and was really exciting," he said.
The 1933 team finished second in the NCAA and camp within two points of upper middle school.
Gillipsie said he had made mistakes while sending the address, announcing, but not any major one.
"A few years ago, when Al Correll (former KU basketball player) was helping Max Falkensten the play-by-play on his return to the lost and found. During a timeout, I announced that a black woman's purse had been turned into the lost and found. The crowd of course was laughing, but the funny part came and dazed the purse," he said.
One technique for getting the crowd excited is to introduce of introduction of basketball play.
The introduction was written by Vince
Bassia, associate director of the Alumni
Buddha Association.
Gillispie said they tried to make the introductions the same every night because the noise is often so loud that the players call out their names when they're announced.
"We start off with a crowd favorite and this year we started off with Norm Cook. We then introduce forwards, center and guards. We introduced Greenlee last this year because he was a big crowd favorite," he said.
Gillispie said he doesn't have any am-
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