Archive for March 31st, 2011

Follow the money.

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

In the comments to this thread, Lawrence notes that former Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker was a heavy contributor to John McCain and other Republican politicians.

The Fiesta Bowl Special Committee Report (as I also noted in that thread) contains a list of political figures and organizations receiving contributions from Fiesta Bowl employees; contributions that were reimbursed by the Fiesta Bowl. This is, of course, illegal. (The report uses the phrase “a Class 6 felony violation”. If you check out the link, a Class 6 doesn’t sound all that awful; but remember, it is a felony, with all the burdens that come with a felony conviction.)

I want to quote this from the report:

Although we have not interviewed any of these individuals or entities, no one we spoke to alleged that any of these candidates had any knowledge that the Fiesta Bowl reimbursed contributions to their campaigns or related entities.

Which is an interesting statement. Why would the Fiesta Bowl be giving money to these people, if they didn’t want these people to know they were giving money and were looking for something in exchange? That’s also strange in the light of quoted statements such as this one:

John: I spoke with Senator Carloyn [sic] Allen and said we would round-up some checks for her campaign: [¶] Checks should be made out to CAROLYN ALLEN 2006 [¶] The maximum individual contribution is $296.00 [¶] I told her we would have them by Friday. Thanks. GH168

(John is former Bowl CEO John Junker. “GH” is attorney Gary Husk, “an attorney and public affairs professional on retainer with the Fiesta Bowl.” “Husk, and his company Husk Partners, were public-affairs consultants or lobbyists for the Fiesta Bowl.”)

Here’s the list of political figures and organizations that received contributions later reimbursed by the Fiesta Bowl. I’ve added notes of political affiliation when I could find it, along with links to websites.

Posted in Clippings, Politics, Sports | Comments Closed

Seven against Fiesta!

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

So it may be too early to speculate on the future of the Fiesta Bowl.

At least that’s what Bill Hancock, executive director of the BCS, says.

Oh, by the way…

Hancock said Wednesday that for at least five years, while attending Fiesta Frolic, he let the Fiesta Bowl cover his golf tab and accepted free gifts from Nike.

What is “Fiesta Frolic”?

The Frolic is an annual, multiday spring gathering the bowl stages for college-football officials at a Phoenix resort.

Hancock called the Frolic, which costs the Fiesta Bowl several hundred thousand dollars a year, a “remarkable business opportunity” for college-football executives to network. However, the Fiesta Bowl Special Committee’s investigative report noted that it recently changed its name to Fiesta Bowl Spring College Football Seminars at the request of attendees “to make the event sound like less of a ‘boondoggle.’ “

And the BCS has created a seven member task force to review the allegations against the Fiesta Bowl.

Its seven-member task force includes a member who for years let the Fiesta Bowl pay for his golf at a resort, and another who took a free Caribbean trip last year from the Orange Bowl, The Republic has learned.

Speaking of the report, I’m slowly going through it. There’s some stuff I haven’t seen reported yet. For example, someone seems to have been a gold bug: there’s an estimated $22,300 worth of gold coins (including $20 gold pieces “ranging in date from 1877 to 1924”) that are supposedly in the possession of the Fiesta Bowl. (I do not see anything in the report, though, that states possession of those coins was actually verified.) In addition, the bowl apparently paid for subscriptions to:

Note that all of these were personal subscriptions for former CEO John Junker, for which he was reimbursed by the Bowl (according to the report).

I’m also amused by the discussion of payments to someone identified in the report only as “Person X”. Mr. “X” was apparently being paid somewhere around $40,000 a year (the amount varied from year to year, but $40,000 seems to be a good average) plus six tickets to the game. And nobody knows what he did for that money. Literally. That’s a direct quote from the report:  “I don’t know what he does. Kelly doesn’t know what he does.” The Arizona Republic has managed to identify Mr. X.

Posted in Clippings, Sports | 4 Comments »

Obligatory opening day post.

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

This is to note that once again, I’ve bet Lawrence $5 even money that the Cubs will win the World Series this year.

Also, my bet with Lawrence on Gonzaga has been paid.

Posted in Sports, Stupid, Wagers | 1 Comment »