'It's A Couple Hundred Million Dollars. I'm Not Losing Sleep Over It.' - SMU Power Broker After Pledging Money To Help Get Them Into The ACC

[Source] - Miller smiled from across the table.

“It’s a couple hundred million dollars,” Miller said. “I’m not losing sleep over it.”

Miller is an oil man, with a deep booming voice and an accent you’d find on any Lone Star ranch. He began as an oil banker, then was an oil operator and now, sitting on a cushion of hard-earned cash, he's an oil investor. He’s got five children and 13 grandchildren, all of whom he expects to attend his alma mater, the oak tree-lined private school nestled in the plush neighborhood of Highland Park.

Call it an amazing race: Twenty flights, two dozen clandestine meetings, hundreds of secret phone calls, a near-invitation to the Pac-12, an unprecedented revenue proposal and a commitment from a small group of oil executives and business moguls of more than $200 million — the price tag, as one put it, to get into the club.

It is a story straight out of Texas.

“When you really think about it,” Miller says, “this was a business transaction.”

Good God, you want to talk about power brokers, this is it right here. Saying he won't lose an ounce of sleep over a couple hundred million dollars to get SMU in the ACC? Power move, power broker, whatever you want to use to describe it. Think about those Sunday's when you make the mistake of checking your bank account, especially in your early 20s. That bar tab hitting a certain number you didn't want it to get at and then seeing it pop up? That sends you into a frenzy all day. That number could be $100 or a couple hundred dollars. Now we're talking about not losing sleep over a couple hundred million. Outrageous. 

This is how you be a rich guy though. People say it all the time, when you're fuck you rich go buy a team. If you can't do that, just do whatever it takes for your college team to be awesome. I mean, sure, this is the same program that brought us the Pony Excess 30-for-30 and for good reason. They have oil money. You don't fuck with oil money. Part of me wants to be scared any time I write a blog making fun of Jerry Jones or the Cowboys for that exact reason. Don't fuck with crude oil. 

Imagine being in that room where it was reported the net worth was over $15 billion. You see that sort of money and you assume it's made up. That's a fake number. SMU needs to get back to the whole giving cars and stuff to people like Eric Dickerson because why not? You have this much money, fuck the NCAA. 

At the same time, the 'this was a business transaction' quote is flying under the radar. That's a dude you want in your corner. Not just because of the money, but because this dude will do anything to win. That's a guy you need. Looking at moving a college athletic department into a major conference simply as a business transaction is hilarious - especially the hypocricy of the NCAA saying college sports isn't a business. Just a few hundred million bones, that's all.