oruvoice Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 15 hours ago, ORUJason said: I think 90-91 and 91-92 (the 2 NAIA years I believe) might be the 2 worst years based upon the level of competition. 89-90 and 90-91, but you make a fair point. Those were dark times at ORU as a whole. I'll never forget the first time I met Oral in August of 1989 as a wide-eyed freshman. Standing outside of Ken Trickey's office. I made an off the cuff comment and he let me have it! He read me the riot act and I felt about 2 inches tall. Every time after that, he always had a kind word, a smile, and made me feel like a million bucks. He really was a good fella. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 5 hours ago, oruvoice said: 8I'll never forget the first time I met Oral in August of 1989 as a wide-eyed freshman. Standing outside of Ken Trickey's office. I made an off the cuff comment and he let me have it! He read me the riot act and I felt about 2 inches tall. Please tell more....what was it that you said that triggered that type of reaction (and what was said in "the reaction")? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 3 minutes ago, Bogus Smith said: Please tell more....what was it that you said that triggered that type of reaction (and what was said in "the reaction")? LOL! Well, Ken Trickey had given me a full athletic scholarship to attend ORU (another story for another day) and to work in the athletic department as the SID. What I didn't know is that Oral had cut the SID staff completely out of the budget that summer in an attempt to cut costs, but Trickey had me on "basketball scholarship" due to the fact that going to the NAIA there were no scholarship limitations and honestly, Ken did pretty much whatever he wanted to anyway. HA! So, I had been at ORU for about a week and was working full time in the athletic department as (student) SID before the school year began. One day I was talking to Trickey about the roster & schedule and Oral walked in. Being the brash (and dumb) 18 year old, I step right up to Oral, extend my hand, and confidently declare...my name is ____ and I am your new Sports Information Director, it's nice to meet you! He looked me square in the eye and said, "I don't know who told you that you are my SID, but you are terribly mistaken. I cut that out of the budget, along with many other things, to save this university, so you need to get your facts straight before you start talking about things you know nothing about. And, I'm not shaking your hand". That isn't exactly verbatim and not ALL that he said, but it's pretty close. I shrank back and quietly went back to my office and he went in with Trickey and shut the door. Then, a few days later I'm standing in the west entry way to the Mabee Center floor (down in front of where the band now sits) watching practice and taking notes. All of the sudden I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around to see Oral with a big smile and he says, "Hi Mike. How's my team looking"? For one of the few times in my life, I was speechless. I cobbled together something to the effect of "looking good, lots of talent". He replied that's what he liked to hear and we spent the next couple of minutes talking about the team and the university. After the initial shock, it really was like having a conversation with your fun Uncle. From that day on, every single time our paths crossed, he always greeted me using my first name, asked me how I was, and was the nicest guy. Even a few years after he had retired, he came back for a home game (I want to say late 90's), when his health was beginning to decline, I was walking past press row and he caught my eye and waived me over for a handshake and even remembered my name. He always made this kid feel special. Now, if you want to hear some bad stories, maybe I can share some encounters with Richard & Lindsey back in the day! One in particular in the Mabee Center bathroom! LOL!! 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 6 minutes ago, oruvoice said: Now, if you want to hear some bad stories, maybe I can share some encounters with Richard & Lindsey back in the day! One in particular in the Mabee Center bathroom! LOL!! Great story! Thanks for sharing. Those were days when Oral was very stressed, for sure. Also, anyone who has been around the University for any length of time probably has their stories about encounters with Richard and Lindsey as well. Thankfully, the Green family came to the rescue before R&L could extinguish Oral's work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 13 minutes ago, Bogus Smith said: Great story! Thanks for sharing. Those were days when Oral was very stressed, for sure. Also, anyone who has been around the University for any length of time probably has their stories about encounters with Richard and Lindsey as well. Thankfully, the Green family came to the rescue before R&L could extinguish Oral's work. Yes sir. I don't think most folks realize how close those two came to destroying the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 2 minutes ago, oruvoice said: Yes sir. I don't think most folks realize how close those two came to destroying the school. I don't know about others but $52 million in debt made it pretty clear to me. When I met Mart Green for the first time I said "Thank you for saving our school." 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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