Bobby Lowder has been the key figure in Auburn football politics for so long, does anyone think that stepping down from the bank he ran and the bank's collapse will reduce his influence on the program. Next, if it is reduced, and I would have to say it would be, is that a good thing for Auburn football? I gotta leave that question open as I could make a case either way. My Way News - Colonial BancGroup and Pennsylvania thrift shut
Lowder was a meddling fool. Auburn will be better of without his meddling but worse off without his money. He was Auburn's biggest booster. The fed digging around his former bank has to be creating some pucker factor. You couldnt shove a greased BB up his azz right now.
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/200...uburn-football/ Colonial BancGroup is the biggest bank failure of the year and the sixth largest in history. Its failure has muddied the sale of another struggling bank–Guaranty Financial. The FDIC initially wanted to resolve Guaranty’s problems before Colonial’s by arranging a sale of Guaranty. But regulators’ concerns over Colonial’s instability recently overtook their worries about Guaranty, the Financial Times reported today. And given the difficulty the FDIC had lining up a buyer for Colonial, the sale of Guaranty has the FDIC under the gun. But perhaps the real question, as Justin Fox over at the Curious Capitalist asks, is “What’s this going to mean for Auburn football?” That is because Bobby Lowder, Colonial’s founder and long-time CEO, is also a trustee at Auburn University and, according to an ESPN article in 2006, “the Most Powerful Booster” in college sports. Lowder founded Colonial in 1981, building it up through 68 acquisitions in five states. For years, Colonial had a coveted franchise, one that attracted suitors, but Lowder repeatedly rebuffed overtures, pushing Colonial to keep growing. In 1983, Gov. George Wallace appointed Lowder to Auburn’s Board of Trustees. In that position, Lowder took particular interest in his alma mater’s football team. He used Colonial’s corporate jet to recruit for the Auburn’s football team, and he was behind the hiring and firing of every Auburn football coach, according to ESPN. In fact, from those two posts, he was arguably the most powerful person in Alabama, ESPN writes. That is no longer the case. Lowder was forced out of Colonial last month, and his rule at Auburn seems diminished. Writes Paul Davis of the Opelika-Auburn News:“It is over. Bobby Lowder’s Colonial Bank is dead, along with his powerful control over Auburn University. That’s terrible news for the thousands of Colonial Bank employees but wonderful news for Auburn University. “He had personally selected a majority of the board and almost brought the University down before he drove his bank out of business. The high-handed tactics at Auburn brought probation from the Southern Association of College and Schools for his micro-management of the University, for his shutting down academic programs and for stepping out of bounds in hiring and firing Auburn coaches.” Below is a look at the growth in Colonial’s total assets since 1989 and Auburn’s record and ranking over the same period. Year Record Ranking Total Assets* 2008 5 — 7 NR 25.82 2007 9 — 4 15th 25.98 2006 11 — 2 9th 22.78 2005 9 — 3 14th 21.43 2004 13 - 0 2nd 18.89 2003 8 — 5 NR 16.27 2002 9 — 4 14th 15.82 2001 7 — 5 NR 13.19 2000 9 — 4 18th 11.99 1999 5 — 6 NR 10.85 1998 3 — 8 NR 10.45 1997 10 — 3 11th 8.06 1996 8 — 4 22nd 5.67 1995 8 — 4 22nd 4.20 1994 9 — 1 — 1 9th 2838.343 1993 11 — 0 4th 27.26 1992 5 — 5 — 1 NR 1.73 1991 5– 6 NR 1.63 1990 8 — 3 –1 19th 1531.202 1989 10 — 2 6th 1.48 *Total Assets in Billions
