A point system used by OU's athletic department to determine which season ticket holders get OU-Texas tickets shows what the university values most in its collegiate athletic programs -- money.
Each year, season ticket holders are given points based on two systems, the Priority Point System, which gives points for money donated, and the Loyalty Point Program, which gives points for years of season ticket subscription.
The number of points a fan earns determines whether he or she gets tickets to the Red River Shootout.
Because a fan can earn points faster by donating $100 here or there than by consistently holding season tickets, this system effectively rewards those who make large donations at the cost of those who have consistently held tickets, often for decades.
The athletic department claims this system is an attempt to distribute tickets fairly and to reward those who donate to athletic programs.
Instead, this system hurts those who have been going to OU games for years, including many alumni who are the loudest and proudest fans.
These systems may be an attempt to be fair in the distribution of tickets, but it is a failed attempt.
This is not professional athletics, this is college athletics.
The focus should be on the game and the loyalty of fans, not money.
As OU's football team sits atop the NCAA polls, it's important not to forget how far it has come in the past decade.
While coaches Gary Gibbs, Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake took the team to a 61-50-3 record over their combined 9-year stint, many "fans" quit supporting the Sooners as they sank to mediocrity.
It even got to the point, as hard as it is to imagine in today's climate of success, that the athletic department offered season ticket packages to families at discounted rates.
At the same time, many stayed in the stands, suffering through the pain of watching one of the most storied programs in NCAA history go through the "Dark Days."
Things have changed.
With success comes higher demand and the return of the deep-pocketed fan, and of pandering to the deep-pocketed fan.
Many of the loyal fans who stuck by their team for almost a decade of disappointing and discouraging performances no longer have even a hope of getting tickets to the biggest game of the year, not because they haven't been loyal, but because they couldn't or just didn't give university athletics thousands of dollars.
Now that OU is back on top, the fans who did not make direct donations but who have bought season tickets, concessions and parking for years should be rewarded for their loyalty.
The athletic department and the university should be rewarding these folks, who sat through the worst, and not those who all of a sudden found it appealing to go to an OU game now that the team is winning.
Donors are vital to this university, and we greatly appreciate their gifts.
But, the athletic department and the university are overlooking loyalty and school pride.
One day, God forbid, should OU's program fall in the rankings, these loyal fans will still be here while donors take their money elsewhere.
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