The Commercial Appeal

Relax, Memphis, it’s FedEx

- GEOff CAlkINS

He would send out a mailing. A monthly mailing. To 365 university provosts and presidents around the country. That’s what University of Memphis President David Rudd decided to do to get the word out about all the good things happening at the school.

Does that seem trivial? It’s not at all trivial. Not when you realize that the U.S. News & World Report rankings — the rankings everyone relies on — depend heavily on the subjective opinion of university administra­tors.

But how to get busy presidents to even look at the informatio­n? How to make sure the mailings would have any impact at all? Simple. FedEx ’em. “The only way to guarantee that someone is going to read something is to put it in a FedEx envelope,” Rudd said. “I can tell you, personally, I have never not opened a FedEx envelope.” Brilliant, eh? “FedEx sponsored that effort,” Rudd said. “I can tell it’s working, because I hear back from people all the time.”

And now, I suppose, we should brace ourselves for waves of criticism from people outside of Memphis, who will doubtless accuse FedEx of trying to “mail” Memphis into the Big 12. Just like we’ve already heard waves of criticism from people outside of Memphis who are accusing FedEx of trying to “buy” Memphis into the Big 12.

That’s how Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com put it. Stewart Mandel of FoxSports.com was more colorful.

“Memphis, backed by billionair­e booster Fred Smith, may well overnight FedEx envelopes filled with $100 bills.”

Or, it may well not. But it’s remarkable to read the sneering commentary, isn’t it? In a sport where money rules all things?

Money has moved Maryland into the Big Ten and moved Texas A&M into the SEC. Money has destroyed New Year’s Day. Money is the reason there wasn’t a real playoff for decades, and it’s the reason the playoff is now limited to just four teams.

Money is the reason for every single realignmen­t decision since the realignmen­t era began. But FedEx’s money is worth singling out?

It reminds me of the criticism FedEx received a decade ago, when it used its clout with the PGA Tour to guarantee a certain date for the FedEx St. Jude golf tournament.

Washington wanted the same tour date. So Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell wrote that the PGA was having “a tacky fling with FedEx.”

“The tour picked Graceland over the nation’s capital,” wrote Boswell. “If the Tour had a brain, FedEx wouldn’t have a box small enough to ship it.” See what I mean? There’s something about Memphis getting good things that enrages people outside of Memphis. Why can’t this city play the same games that everyone else in the universe plays?

You think Kroger isn’t helping out with Cincinnati’s bid to join the Big 12? You think Greg Fenves, the president of the University of Texas, decided to support the University of Houston this week because he really wants to see that Longhorn-Cougar tilt?

It’s all money, politics and leverage. It’s also selfintere­st to the core. Fred Smith isn’t some wild-eyed booster. He’s not some over-the-top, pompomwavi­ng Memphis fan. As FedEx vice president Alan Graf told WREG-TV, “We’ll get a return on our investment. We know how to market and we know how to get a return for our shareholde­rs on our investment. It’s not just a charitable act on our part.”

Beyond that, the company is deeply invested in the university and in the community. It has to recruit smart people to Memphis and then retain them once they arrive. That’s why FedEx bought the naming rights to FedExForum. You think it needs more brand visibility in this town? No, it needs Memphis to flourish. It needs employees to like the place. And the University of Memphis may be even more important than the Grizzlies, as a source of labor, innovation and growth.

So pay no attention to the one-liners. And be grateful FedEx is willing to take the public relations hits. Because of that, there’s at least a shot that the next FedEx mailing Rudd sends out might detail the university’s entry into the Big 12. To reach Geoff Calkins, call 901-529-2364 or email calkins@ commercial­appeal.com.

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David Rudd
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Fred Smith

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