ku fans sending coaching tips to Mangino.http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/913871.htmlBy J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
LAWRENCE | Kansas booster Dana Anderson can’t seem to win at anything these days. His latest defeat was minor: On Wednesday afternoon, he lost money playing blackjack at a casino.
That’s nothing compared with what Anderson has experienced during the last 14 months. Anderson’s company, Macerich, based out of Santa Monica, Calif., has dropped in price from around $103 per share to $13.46 per share as of Friday.
“Whatever I was worth 14 months ago,” Anderson said, “I’m worth 10 percent of that.”
If ku athletic director Lew Perkins came to Anderson today asking him to sign a check large enough to put his name on a new football facility, Anderson says he wouldn’t be able do it. Not even for his beloved Jayhawks. But, luckily for both parties, the timing was right a few years ago for Anderson to pony up.
Now, the Anderson Family Football Complex stands as a reminder of Anderson’s past prosperity and the enduring love he has for his alma mater.
“I don’t regret it,” Anderson said. “I’m happy I did it. It’s sort of my monument, my tombstone, for our family. My economics are not as great today, but that’s true for a lot of people. I’m tickled to death to be a helpful part of the program.”
Anderson certainly has perspective now. One year removed from the greatest football season in school history, the Jayhawks sit at 6-5 and 3-4 in the Big 12 entering today’s game against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium. This season has been rough on ku’s heartstrings and purse strings, but, to Anderson, it doesn’t feel as if Mark Mangino’s program has lost any ground.
“I’m still very pleased,” Anderson said. “I think we probably overexcelled last year, which is great. Sure, I would love to win more, and I’m still hopeful that somehow we can beat Missouri (today), but I’m not at all discouraged in any way, shape or form.”
Anderson points to the tougher schedule and the loss of four players who made NFL rosters as logical reasons for the decline. Then he points to the impact the new facility is having in recruiting and the trend of packing Memorial Stadium as logical reasons for why the program will only continue to gain footing.
“What we hope we can have is a program that wins more than it loses and is in the upper part of the conference standings on a consistent basis,” Anderson said. “I think that, realistically, that can be achieved.”
Anderson attended ku during 1952-59 — he served in the Army for two of those years. During those seven seasons, the Jayhawks went 24-43-4. In Mangino’s seven seasons at the helm, ku is 43-41. Again, Anderson has perspective that isn’t readily available on reactionary fan message boards.
“I think those fans unfortunately are the ones that claim to be great fans,” Anderson said, “and, when we ask them to help us financially, they don’t do it. They think buying the tickets is being a great fan. That’s a small part of it.”
In some ku circles, there is discontentment with Mangino’s program. Earlier this season, Mangino talked about receiving mail from fans who think they know more than he does about coaching football.
“A lot of fans are very fickle,” Anderson said. “I certainly never want to be a part of that fraternity. He was the national coach of the year last year. What do you want?”
Anderson may have his name on a couple of buildings, but he insists he’s just a ku fan at heart.
“I live and die with the Hawks. I want you to know that,” Anderson said. “Every car we have has a license tag on it that says something about ku, and on the gate of our home is a plaque with a Jayhawk, and it says, ‘Hawks’ nest.’ That’s the name of our home there in Bel Air. I am a fully committed Jayhawk and will always be.”
Anderson is hopeful that Macerich, which owns, operates and develops shopping malls all over the country, will recover — though there is reason to worry about how the economy’s struggles will affect the retail business long-term.
Anderson says he is still making payments to ku for the facility that bears his name. Despite his personal economic crisis, he sees ku football as a worthy investment.
“We’ve never been able to go to bowl games as consistently as we have under coach Mangino,” Anderson said. “I think the facilities help. They’re the tools they needed. It still is a tough business and a competitive business, and it’s a credit to (Mangino) that we’re doing as well as we’re doing.”
