I received my basketball ticket order form in the mail yesterday and the new procedure is that we are to send in our money and wait to be told how many tickets we will receive and where we will sit. I called the Williams Fund and asked whether we can get a refund if we’re not happy with our seating assignment. As you might guess, the answer was no.

Three generations of my family have been sitting in the same excellent seats since Allen Fieldhouse opened and despite regular annual donations of what we considered to be very significant amounts, we’ve been told that unless we donate more than $100,000, we can have a seat somewhere else. Apparently, the concept of a family legacy of support means absolutely nothing.

Mr. Perkins and the new athletic administration are fund raisers with little or no knowledge of, nor appreciation for, the support shown by many in the local community over an extended period of time, particularly when Lawrence was a small town and support was a personal matter. The fans in our section are what I would call lifetime investors, primarily local alums that have given their time, efforts, talents and money long before 1978. They are the families that provided jobs for KU athletes, donated countless hours of volunteer time and sold season football tickets when you couldn’t give them away. They are the families that were there for KU when both the basketball and football teams weren’t winning. They have invested in KU and the community in a myriad of ways and now many feel kicked to the curb by an administration that cares only about cash in hand.

So, to be fair to those who don’t have an extra $100K to spend to watch KU sports, or at least to make some of us feel better, I would offer the Kansas Original Fans In Their Usual Place (KOFITUP) Seating Points System:

1. If you watched Glenn Cunningham, Billy Mills or Jim Ryun run at Memorial Stadium, give yourself 1,000 points.

2. For every time you’ve sat in the rain to watch the Kansas Relays, give yourself 500 points.

3. If you attended KU basketball games in Hoch Auditorium, give yourself 5,000 points.

4. If you saw Fred Pralle, Howard Engleman, Charlie Black, B.H. Born, Ray Evans, Clyde Lovellette, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Bridges, Walt Wesley, Jo Jo White, Dave Robisch or Bud Stallworth play basketball (all played prior to 1978), give yourself 5,000 points.

5. If you attended games when the basketball court in Allen Fieldhouse was built on risers above the dirt floor, give yourself 1,000 points.

6. If you continued to donate money and buy tickets when KU basketball suffered losing seasons before 1978, give yourself 2,000 points.

7. If you donated money to the Williams Fund and bought football tickets during the 1980s, give yourself 50,000 points.

8. If you actually attended football games during the 1980s, give yourself 100,000 points.

9. If you can name the penalty that cost KU the Orange Bowl in 1969, give yourself 5,000 points.

10. If you’ve provided medical or dental care, legal assistance, real estate services, auto repair, meals, clothing or other goods or services to coaches, athletes or members of the athletic department, give yourself 50,000 points.

11. If you braved the freezing weather and paid full price to see KU basketball games with Washburn, Fort Hays State, Emporia State or Pittsburg State, give yourself 1,000 points.

12. If you’ve ever paid your own way to a bowl game, give yourself 25,000 points.

13. If you attended the Final Four in 1940, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1971 or 1974, give yourself 10,000 points each.

14. For every job you have provided a KU athlete, give yourself 50,000 points.

15. For every $100 you have contributed to the Endowment Association, honors program, individual school or other academic program, give yourself 50,000 points.

It’s a new era in the KU Athletic Department and there’s no turning back. I’ve spent far more than I should have on KU athletics, so I probably should thank Mr. Perkins for giving me a reason to stop.

The school colors should be changed to green and more green.

Rick Hird lives in Baldwin.