SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The head of the BCS put the Fiesta Bowl on notice Wednesday: “Follow the letter of the law” or lose its place in college football’s lucrative championship system.
BCS officials challenged the Fiesta Bowl to persuade them that extravagant and improper spending behind the firing of longtime CEO and president John Junker will never happen again.
Otherwise, the BCS said it can kick out the Fiesta Bowl altogether. There are plenty of others eager to jump in.
“They know that if they want to do business with us, they need to follow the letter of the law,” BCS executive director Bill Hancock said. “If they fail to do so, they do it at their own peril.”
The Fiesta Bowl released an internal report Tuesday that uncovered hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of dollars, in “excessive compensation, nonbusiness and inappropriate expenditures and inappropriate gifts.”
Arizona prosecutors are looking into possible criminal charges, focusing on accusations that top officials pressured employees into donating money to favored political candidates and then reimbursed them with bowl funds.
Fiesta Bowl officials placed the blame squarely on Junker, who made $600,000 a year as the affable face of the organization.
Tuesday’s report said the bowl spent $33,188 for a birthday bash for Junker in Pebble Beach., Calif., and $13,000 for the wedding and honeymoon of Junker’s assistant. Junker also picked up a $1,200 tab at a Phoenix strip club for himself and two others, including a sheriff’s lieutenant who worked for the Fiesta Bowl on the side. Junker wrote on his American Express bill the meeting was for “security site planning.” In addition, he took some or all of his family on 27 trips, the report said.
The Fiesta Bowl, played in Glendale, Ariz., is in the second season of a four-year deal to be one of the four bowls that rotate hosting the national championship game.
Tressel apologizes
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel apologized for letting people down and acknowledged some might view him as a cheater in the wake of NCAA violations that resulted in a five-game suspension.
“I suppose there could be some that might feel that way and there might be others who might not,” Tressel said.
Ohio State has recommended Tressel be suspended the first five games of the season for failing to report his players sold memorabilia and received improper benefits. Tressel also introduced linebackers coach Luke Fickell as his replacement for the games he’ll be suspended.
Footnotes.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke will average $3.25 million annually — almost five times more than he made last year at San Diego State — if he fulfills the six-year contract signed Monday.
• Rutgers player Eric Le- Grand, who was paralyzed making a head-first tackle on a kickoff return against Army on Oct. 16, was released from the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and will live with an aunt in southern New Jersey while continuing the rehabilitation process as an outpatient twice a week.
• Notre Dame will play a home game at night for the first time in 21 years when the Fighting Irish host Southern California on Oct. 22.
