The Rest of College Football

[WM Wolverine]

Lache Seastruck was an '10 recruit btw.

[geo weidl]

If you can't make a buck at this game, then there is a problem.


[? Worth every penny. Auburn and Oregon combined to lose nearly $1 million on their trip to the BCS Championship Game, mostly due to eating costs on unsold tickets: Auburn took a $781,825 hit from 2,456 unsold seats that it was obligated to buy from the game, and Oregon lost $555,575 ? this on a game that was reportedly one of the hottest tickets in sports history before kickoff. (Note that "unsold" doesn't mean they were available and people didn't buy them: The school gave them to certain bigwigs and other members of the traveling party.) If not for the ticket racket, both schools would have come out in the black despite traveling halfway across the continent with a cast of hundreds.]

[entropy]

geo.. that's called boosters running the program. No reason to give that many tickets away.

[WM Wolverine]

Bowl games are largely money losers other than the BCS bowls which 'support' many other bowls for conferences.

[Jeff Buchanan]

geo.. that's called boosters running the program. No reason to give that many tickets away.

Would be interesting to see how many tickets say Michigan or osu gave away to boosters.

I'm not prepared to assume there is sleeze involved in sending a set of tickets to program "givers." Its part of the cost of doing business.

I'm sure there are folks around who know the answers to this with M being a public university. It would make a good story for a sports writer to do.

I do know that when the seat license fee was implemented, giving decreased because season ticket holders saw that fee as their annual donation to the program. I would not doubt that certain givers get free tickets (bowl) in return for their giving or get access to extra hot regular season tickets.

Bottom line: I feel pretty confident most programs give a lot of tickets away and the givewaways are a straightforward part of their program/donation development programs.

[Tony G]

I wonder how the BYU kid got reported

[entropy]

Would be interesting to see how many tickets say Michigan or osu gave away to boosters.

I'm not prepared to assume there is sleeze involved in sending a set of tickets to program "givers." Its part of the cost of doing business.

I'm sure there are folks around who know the answers to this with M being a public university. It would make a good story for a sports writer to do.

I do know that when the seat license fee was implemented, giving decreased because season ticket holders saw that fee as their annual donation to the program. I would not doubt that certain givers get free tickets (bowl) in return for their giving or get access to extra hot regular season tickets.

Bottom line: I feel pretty confident most programs give a lot of tickets away and the givewaways are a straightforward part of their program/donation development programs.

I think schools give them away as well. I don't think supreme court justice Thomas has ever bought a ticket to a UNL game, but that is different than giving away the $$$'s/Numbers suggested in the article. That seems extreme to me. Maybe I'm naive.

[entropy]

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) Kirby Hocutt has been introduced as Texas Tech's new athletic director, promising to work toward elevating the school to national prominence.

More...


How bad must it be in Miami if the AD leaves the Canes for Lubbick...

[entropy]

Yeah...it's not like Oregon played for a national championship recently, or anything. Or have one of the most exciting offenses in the nation...oh wait...they did, and do...nevermind. :-D

That said, I don't think much is going to come of that investigation, from what I've read. I mean, it was actually on their payroll. If there was really something shady, I'd think they would have tried to hide it a bit better.

I think were they will get nailed is did they charge or get paid the same amout to all the schools? If not, the NCAA could leverage that fact.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I think were they will get nailed ....

The Ducks wont. I don't see any Federal indictments coming down on this that would involve any of the third parties like they did in other cases involving college football programs most notably USC. That's how the NCAA nailed them on testimony provided by those either threatened with an indictment or did get indicted and gave testimony in a deal with prosecutors.

Cam Newton and Auburn are another pair that will skate for the same reason ..... I think the NCAA came close on this one when the banking scandal broke that peripherally involved Auburn figures like Pat Dye and bank card access for Auburn football players but, so far, nothing much has come of that. Who knows if it ever will.

If the Ducks play it smart, they will give the NCAA only the documents necessary to satisfy them, not let them snoop around the program by invitation (the only way the NCAA can get access) and let this die a slow death.

[Mike]

I'm a bit surprised by how quiet things are on the Auburn front. Were the original allegations overblown? I'm not talking about the Cam Newton case but the wider one involving Colonial bank and the casino giving players ATM cards to use in slot machines, etc. It sounded promising since the feds were investigating the bank and supposedly came across wire taps of people discussing the pay-for-play scheme at Auburn. Probably just wishful thinking on my part.

[Hannibal]

A lot of things have been really quiet lately. North Carolina too.

Oh, and then there's the Notre Dame student filmer fiasco. Looks like Brian Kelly will completely escape any blame for that one. Lesson learned -- you can get away with a lot more if you circle the wagons instead of flagellate yourself because "it's the right thing to do"

[amaizenblue]

I think were they will get nailed is did they charge or get paid the same amout to all the schools? If not, the NCAA could leverage that fact.

Hmm. I see your point, and that could very well be the reason for the investigation.

If I remember correctly from the article I read the other day, Oregon was the only school to have purchased that particular "package." It didn't say what was included in that package. Their explanation for Oregon being their sole customer for that product was that there were certain NCAA rule changes (after Oregon purchased) which made the company decide that this particular package would no longer be marketable, so they stopped offering it. Could be legit, but does sound a bit sketchy.

The local writers here in the PacNW have been saying that Oregon did consider the possibility that the purchase of such a "package" could open themselves up to some questions from the NCAA. However, ultimately they decided that it was within regulations, and signed off on paying for it through the school. They certainly weren't trying to hide anything.

[entropy]

I am hearing that the ducks will be in trouble with the NCAA, OSU has been under investigation and somebody is spilling the beans about the SEC.

those are the rumors.


It will be interesting to see what happens. I was of the opinion USC would get nothing, and they were nailed. I was of the opinion that Auburn would be nailed, yet Newton still played. I guess I don't really know how to predict these...

[WM Wolverine]

Tennessee could get in trouble as they were named as a team that potentially talked to Cam Newton's father (of which I'm sure Cam knew nothing about) about 'extra' monetary benefits.