Aggie-Eagle is over, but debts linger

[treese]

Aggie-Eagle is over, but debts linger

Wray will ask N.C. A&T to forgive about $57,000.







Josh Shaffer, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - A nonprofit foundation led by Assistant City Manager Lawrence Wray owes more than $57,000 to North Carolina A&T State University, proceeds from the now-defunct Aggie-Eagle Classic football game.
Wray will travel to Greensboro, where N.C. A&T is located, today in hopes that the university will forgive the debt, which he said happened when the annual game failed to raise expected money.

At the same time, the Capital Area Sports Foundation is obligated to pay more than $46,000 to N.C. Central University in Durham -- a football-related payment Wray hopes to iron out soon.

The outstanding money stems from a historic rivalry between the schools played out on the gridiron in Raleigh each year until 2005.

The foundation, which has Wray as president, hosted the Aggie-Eagle classic in Raleigh at Carter-Finley Stadium from 2002 to 2005 -- the year that N.C. A&T bowed out.

Through a promotion agreement, the foundation was to pay each school an honorarium each year: $150,000 in 2005.

So far, the Greensboro school has been paid $92,524 of that amount, according to documents that Wray provided. The Durham school got $103,308.

Wray said Tuesday all parties knew the 2005 game would fall short when it was shifted from Sunday to Monday -- the Labor Day holiday.

"We didn't make as much money as we thought we were going to make," he said.

Wray described the foundation as "just gone now."

"We're not doing anything," he said, adding that the foundation also owes N.C. State University an unknown sum.

The foundation keeps separate finances from the city of Raleigh, but the city acts as its bookkeeper. Taxpayer money has gone toward Aggie-Eagle games in the past.

'All in this together'

Raleigh and Wake County put $30,000 toward the classic in 2005, according to a letter from James D. Williams Jr., Durham attorney for the foundation.

In 2002, taxpayers got the bill for about $50,000 when the game came up $140,000 short on a rainy play date. The city and county's agreement to subsidize the event helped keep it from moving to Charlotte that year.

But Williams wrote in a memo to Wray this week that the city had no additional financial obligations to either university.

On its 2005 tax return, the foundation reported $881,988 in total revenue and $898,942 in expenses. Wray acknowledged the group is in the red.

Wray wrote then-N.C. A&T Chancellor James C. Renick and N.C. Central's Chancellor James Ammons earlier this year, asking that the outstanding money be forgotten now that the foundation is in the red.

"We were all in this together," Wray said.

Administrators at N.C. A&T are reviewing the situation and would not comment Tuesday, said Mable Scott, vice chancellor for university relations.

Ammons was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached. Wray said he planned to visit the Durham campus soon.


For more go to: www.newsobserver.com/102/story/497246.html

[Bornthrilla]

We aint in sh*t together until you come off that $57K you owe us. That dough could help pay for a couple of recruiting trips.

[Aggie One]

More than a couple. They lied to the IRS and to the schools. Sue'em!

[DOOMS]

Sue 'em and they just file bankruptcy and we get jack. Work out an agreement with them. Let them slow pay with interest (lots of compounding interest) but suing should be a last recourse.

[Aggie77]

It ain't worth the time or the energy -- forgive the debt and move on. We would end up spending more than what's owed trying to get what's owed. That time and energy be better spend in other endeavors.

I hate it every time I see " . . . now-defunct Aggie-Eagle Classic football game . . ."

[Bornthrilla]

I say sue 'em even if they threaten to file bancruptcy. That's what he have a general counsel on staff for.

At the very least it will mess up Wray's credit report. People have to learn that there are serious repercussions if you don't pay A&T.

[DOOMS]

Since I'm a general counsel, let me school you...

A general counsel very rarely files suits. The role of the general counsel is to manage litigation and day to day legal issues as they arise; not file suit and show up in court.

The costs of retaining counsel to file the suit and the costs of litigation if it ever gets to that point (which it wouldn't) would outway any benefit you would get. The benefit would be a judgment that the man has already stated he is unable to satisfy. Therefore his (or his corporation's) only recourse would be to file bankruptcy with North Carolina A&T State University listed as the first creditor on the top.

The result would be not only would be not be entitled to a dime from the man (or this corporation), we would also be in the hole for legal expenses incurred.

The best bet is to let the general counsel attempt to settle the debt to at least get some of the money back, if not all through a long drawn out repayment plan. If the general counsel is savvy she will be able to lock him into a long term repayment with compounding interest, which could theoretically be a solid stream of income that could very well quadruple what we are actually owed over time. In essence, make the debt an investment in our favor.

[Bornthrilla]

Nah. We need to make an example out of this clown. Get some rookie paralegal to file the paperwork if its too much work for our general counsel, but we need to call this guy's bluff and sue his azz.

If that means killing an ant with a sledgehammer, then so be it.

[DOOMS]

The only ant we'd kill would be the $57,000 ant you so desperately believe is that easy to get.

If the suit is filed the bankruptcy petition will be the next document filed in court. I know. I do this for a living.

Trying to get it back with interest makes much more financial sense than not getting any of it at all. Realistically he's going to ask us to write it off and he full well plans to file bankruptcy if we so much as look at him sideways. To threaten to sue would honestly be a very dumb move.

I mean, it's a practically defunct nonprofit. What do you really think will be accomplished by a suit (besides wasting time and costs of the suit)?

[Bornthrilla]

If we just forgive the debt, Wray comes out of this fiasco unscathed. We might not recoup the $57K but at least we can ruin this clowns reputation and make sure he doesn't head any more non-profits.

That long-term payment plan sounds like a pipe dream to me, because frankly if he reniged on the $57K he owes us, he'll just welch on whatever ammount he promised to pay us later.

[DECKS]

I think we should negotiate a settlement. Wasn't this basically a foundation that was an extension of the city of Raleigh? Wasn't this foundation created specifically for the A/E Classic? Perhaps if we mentioned this in the press enough it would incent them to get involved. Also wasn't Dean Smith and some other heavy hitters on thier board? I'm sure they wouldn't want there names associated with such a mess.

[trues]

Forget about one second Dee wanted to play on D1 schools. You have wonder with all of this debt they owe us how in the hell did they think they was going get Dee to resign a new contract. As tight as she is with the budget that contract would have never gotten sign anyway.

[DOOMS]

I don't understand why Renick vilified Davis for wanting to end the classic and then made Todd seem like a hero for doing the same dam thing.

[aggiejazz]

The Aggie-Eagle shortfall is not new. The past proceeds for this so-called Classic has been kept under top secret files it seems ever since it started until recently when it signed a contract that wasn't a Don King special. The offer for the move to Charlotte was an even worst deal and Renick had enough sense not to take it. A lot of people wanted this classic without thinking about the well being of A&T financial stability. A&T gave up opportunites to make a lot of money over the past years to be in this Classic.

Scandrett wanted desperately to scrap this game in Raleigh because it was bad for the school financially but people wanted a party be-damn Aggies financial wellbeing. Everytime it came up old heads who didn't know a thing about business would call Renick to complain loudly "we want this game" and Renick would tell Scandrett he can't scrap the game. The year before this last contract the money came up short and Renick was leaning toward ending the Raleigh classic and then the Charlotte offer came up. That offer was $65,000 a piece. Yea, I laughed too. Then this non-profit organization came up but I, like a lot of people was thinking the city of Raleigh we are in good hands. A lot of the supporters had no idea that there was this financial firewall that was put up to protect the city from any shortfall. I am not sure if it would have mattered if the public would have known.