OT: Smurf Turf Could Cost A Lion Exec His House
In brief, five families in Oxford Michigan offered up their homes as collateral to help the local high school pay for smurf turf. The school is coming up 300k short in terms of its ability to pay off the 400k loan, so now these individuals may lose their homes. This includes Bill Keenist, senior VP for the Lions.
Hopefully no one gets evicted over smurf turf (I can't imagine Astroturf would want to get that kind of PR) and the school can pay it off. Also, who puts their home on the block for smurf turf? This isn't Texas people...
The Yahoo Article here lists Keenist as a donor, however the PrepZone Article is more informative otherwise.
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:38 AM ^
And not only is this not Texas, it's Oxford.
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:39 AM ^
That's a lot of money for a product that's ugly as shit.
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:40 AM ^
They probably financed it through a bank themselves, so they probably don't really have a choice in calling it in. The bank don't care about bad PR.
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^
300k short on a 400k loan? Who ran the numbers on that one?
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:48 AM ^
...and these people put up their houses as collateral? WTF?!
Is there a contest for stupidest town in America? Because I think we may have a winner here. Actually, on second thought that is not right because the town turned down the idea of financing the football field so I guess that was pretty savvy of them. Still, this is a pretty f'd up situation.
August 22nd, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^
33.33 repeating of course.
August 22nd, 2012 at 3:41 PM ^
the homeowners definitely pulled a Leeeeroy Jenkins.
August 22nd, 2012 at 10:29 PM ^
JJJJEEEEEEEENNNKIINNNNNNNSSSS!!!
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:54 AM ^
Me: "Honey, can you come in here?"
Wife: "Be right there."
Me: "Hey, this guy on the phone is from the school."
Wife: "What does he want?"
Me: "He wants us to contribute to bright blue turf for the football field."
Wife: "Are they selling raffle tickets or having a bake sale?"
Me: "No, he just wants to use our house as collateral on their four hundred thousand dollar loan."
Wife: "..."
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^
I run a sales organzation and i want the guy closed this deal from the school on my payroll NOW! Talk about a closer.....
August 22nd, 2012 at 1:03 PM ^
That guy gets coffee whenever he wants...for life.
August 22nd, 2012 at 1:08 PM ^
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^
They will not lose their homes because of the football field. They will lose it because they are idiots.
You put a mortgage on your home without any clear way to pay it off? And, a mortgage for something that is completely unecessary. I love sports and football, but you do not need to risk anything to install a new colored-turf for a kids' FB team. It makes no sense.
The only thing I can think of is that these people thought they would get a bailout from somebody once the press picked up the story.
I don't think they deserve a bailout. Morans should live with their mistake and teach their kids accountability.
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^
Moran?
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:27 PM ^
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:01 PM ^
I believe you mean "teach their kids accounting".
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:02 PM ^
Hey! What do you have against Morans?!
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^
throw a quick golf scrammble this Saturday and rake in $2,200 for the cause! Wow, what morons! You can't blame them for wanting to help their school out, but you can blame them for being ignorant. These are decisions that smart people wouldn't have made.....
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^
Why were they so desperate to get this field installed? What were they playing on before, asphalt?
On another absurd note, apparently Boise State has copyrighted the phrase "blue turf." Really, Boise?
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^
It's just that the coach has a crippling fear of the color green. Something to do with Oscar the Grouch being mean to elmo when he was little. I don't have the details. Anyway, he always liked Grover.
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^
FWIW A few years ago my uncle told me about how they had turf installed at a school where he was superintendent. Apparently it was cheaper in the long run - the high upfront costs were more than offset by the lower costs for upkeep (watering, mowing, paying someone to do all of that, etc), and it held up to repeated use by multiple sports much better. So it could be a money saving plan once you figure out how to pay those upfront costs.
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^
I know the economy is bad up there, but it takes five homes for collateral on a 300K loan?
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:14 PM ^
... spread the amount in small chunks over different homes. In fact, could "Astroturf" foreclose when the primary mortgage is held by a bank? Wouldn't the sale proceeds go to the bank first? I am not so sure they are at a realistic point of losing their homes. Bummer.
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^
August 22nd, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^
August 22nd, 2012 at 2:05 PM ^
August 22nd, 2012 at 7:29 PM ^
You have a VP with a professional sports team that is afraid of losing his home over a piddly $400K? Really? so, what's the league minimum salary in the NFL? JUST....curious. =)