Our opinion: Football anyone?
Monday, January 5, 2009 10:54 AM PST
Argus Observer
Judging simply by a monetary gauge, the priorities for the state of Idaho are easy to see.
Football.
Then basketball.
Then Boise State University.
A recent story by the Associated Press outlined the highest paid state employees.
BSU coach Chris Petersen is at the top of the list with an income of $806,998. Behind Petersen is BSU men’s basketball coach Greg Graham with a salary of $343,678.
In contrast, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter makes $108,727.
Seems partly unfair in retrospect.
Still, if one was to judge salary compared with results, then Petersen surely has earned his pay. The Broncos remain one of those continual feel-good college football stories, and each year the BSU football team plays in a bowl game, further reinforcing the school’s reputation as a sports powerhouse.
Yet the pay scales are what they are. The highest paid employees in the state work for a college and coach a football and basketball team.
The governor hardly is in the same salary league, and all he has to do is lead the state.
The real question voters should ask is whether the wages, and the priorities, are correct for the Gem State.
Judging by the amount of publicity — raising the profile of BSU and, in turn, the state — the Broncos generate nationally, those huge sums may be only the down payment on future recognition.
