BIG BOOSTER
You might not see Boone Pickens around OSU as much these days, but he still has a heart for Stillwater.
Boone Pickens hasn’t been on the Oklahoma State campus in nearly three months.
That’s an eternity for him.
Over the past decade or so, the megabooster has been a frequent visitor. Football. Basketball. Even an occasional practice. Those trips have only been curtailed by poor health and physical struggles.
But just because we’ve seen less of Boone doesn’t mean his heart has left Stillwater.
“I care deeply about OSU,” he said.
That much was clear in an exclusive interview via email with The
Oklahoman. Pickens isn’t as active and spry as he once was — a month ago, he shocked the business world by announcing he was shuttering BP Capital, his hedge fund, though he still goes to the office every day — but his passion for OSU still runs high.
He is still insistent, for example, that OSU win Bedlam football more often.
“In that game, I think we beat OU,” he said of last season’s matchup. “We didn’t beat Baker Mayfield.”
The Sooners get to play a quarterback of their choosing, of course, and as a result, they beat the Cowboys 62-52. In the 12 years since Boone gave his massive $165 million gift to OSU athletics, the Cowboys have won Bedlam football only twice.
That hasn’t set well with Pickens, who has often taken out frustrations on Mike Gundy. The booster and the coach have been at odds, both publicly and privately, over the past few years. In addition to the Bedlam woes, Gundy’s flirtations with other schools with open head
coaching positions has irked Pickens.
So, how did Pickens react to reports that Gundy talked with Tennessee after this past season?
“I don’t understand the coaching world,” Pickens said. “At some point the entire profession will be restructured to better conform to the market. It’s just not right to have to pay someone millions when you fire them for poor performance.
“But in Mike’s case, I think he has matured a lot in recent years. It shows. You can’t fault a guy for listening when someone calls. But I believe Mike when he says he’s sticking with the program.”
Where does their relationship stand now?
“Never forget that I led the charge to get Mike the head coaching job,” Pickens said. “Mike and I are in a good place. We don’t talk much, and we don’t need to . ... I said it several times last year — I support Mike.
“I know I ruffled a few feathers when I said Mike couldn’t beat OU. I’ve shifted my focus. I think Mike can beat Lincoln Riley, and I want to be there when it happens.”
There’s that Pickens spunk.
Listen, there’s little doubt that Boone has declined. He was long known as a fitness buff, once using a couple of the machines in the OSU weight room to the delight of media members gathered for a tour. He didn’t even take off his coat or loosen his tie.
But Father Time is undefeated in the Game of Life. He catches up to all of us, including Boone Pickens.
“Several years ago, my doctor told me he had good news and bad news for me,” Pickens said. “The good news was I’d live to be 114. The bad news: I wouldn’t be able to see or hear.”
Because his answer came via email, I can only guess at this, but I have to think Boone might have chuckled after typing those words.
“In the past 14 months,” he continued, “I’ve come to realize making it to 114 isn’t realistic.”
Pickens, who will turn 90 in May, had a series of strokes that affected his verbal processing among other things. He spent seven months recovering and rehabilitating.
He was nearly back to full strength.
“A nasty fall in a bathroom last summer was a real setback for me,” he said.
More rehab followed. “Now, I’m back at physical therapy and speech therapy, and it’s paying off,” Pickens said, “but I have a lot of work left to do. The last thing I’m going to do is get my dauber down.
“I know what the challenge is. I’ll embrace it.”
And one of the things motivating Pickens to get better is returning to OSU.
Even though he missed the final regular-season football game, being back in the fall is important to him. Last season, he skipped Dallas Cowboys games — he has a prime suite at JerryWorld — but he made more taxing journeys to Stillwater for OSU games.
“That should tell you how much I bleed OSU orange,” Pickens said.
I’m not sure anyone doubts that passion. He’s shown his love for the school like no other Cowboy ever has.
Before he returns to the stadium that bears his name in the fall, he plans to make a trip to campus in the next month or so. He wants on being there in March when the football team hosts pro day.
“I’m a big Mason Rudolph fan, and I’d like to be there for pro day to support him,” Pickens said. “We got to know each other when he stopped by our office 18 months ago. He’s a great young man with a solid NFL career ahead of him.
“If we get a chance, I want a throwing lesson or two from him.”