Paid country club memberships at multiple clubs. $1200 at a strip club. $27,000 a year as a "car allowance." A birthday party costing $33 grand. $95k for the chance to play a round of gold with Jack Nicklaus... Sounds nice, doesn't it? Those are just a few of the perks that the shirt and tie guys who run the BCS seem to regularly pay out on someone else's dime, according to the recent corruption report on the Fiesta Bowl.
Heck, Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker was finally fired for, among other things, reimbursing employees for political contributions! Really? The heads of sporting organizations might be engaged in corrupt political dealings? I can't imagine such a thing!?
Mr. Junker already has big plans for the next World Championships. He is weaseling his way onto the FINA Bureau as we speak. Won't he fit right in? |
Even if you already thought the BCS system was ridiculous, your mind will be blown when you read this article at Yahoo! Sports: BCS Conducts Shallow Probe as the Party Rages On. No, really. Read it. This one too, that outlines some of the details of the crazy spending spree. The full report is here.
An excerpt:
If Emmert (NCAA President Mark Emmert) is any kind of leader, he should be furious right now with the details of the Fiesta Bowl report. Bowls’ ability to buy favor with administrators is indefensible. He should demand a full investigation into the bowl business and seize control of the sport’s postseason from these third-party businessmen.
After all, where does the Fiesta get all this money to waste? From the schools, of course (and then, in part, taxpayers and student fees)...
The BCS cuts to the very core of what’s wrong with college athletics – the arrogance and entitlement of the people in charge.
Hey, at least we aren't USA Swimming! |
I have read a lot of comments on various articles that warn us swimmers that maybe we don't want to be a mainstream, big-time sport. Maybe we don't want swimming to have the attraction of so much profit that it will lure creeps like these guys into bringing their profit-at-all-cost CEO mentalities to running the show for us. Many would say, with all of the recent problems at USA Swimming and with FINA, that we are already there. Is there something that attracts these people to sports in particular, or is this just our version of the evils of the corporate world?
...of course, the Fiesta Bowl as an organization didn't really break any laws so there probably won't be any charges filed anyway.