“… he took us from the 18th-best bowl in America to the seventh-best bowl.”

Man, whaddaya think – they’re running a charity at the Alamo Bowl?

There are many different ways to frame Derrick Fox’s compensation of nearly $600,000.

Valero Alamo Bowl board members like to say the target for Fox’s compensation is the 75th percentile of all bowls, reflecting the game’s standing as one of the best in the nation.

Another way to frame it is to say that for putting on an annual football game, Fox, the bowl’s chief executive and president, earns more than San Antonio City Manager Sheryl Sculley, San Antonio Water System President and CEO Robert Puente, UTSA Athletic Director Lynn Hickey and San Antonio Food Bank President and CEO Eric Cooper.

But here’s perhaps the most poignant way to frame Fox’s compensation: He has made considerably more than the bowl has given away in scholarships.

That was true in 2004-05 when the Alamo Bowl gave away $52,000 and Fox hauled in $279,230, per tax records. It was true in 2009-10, when the bowl gave away $110,000 and Fox’s compensation jumped to $419,045, again per tax records. It was true in 2014-15, the most recent tax records, when the bowl gave away $432,500 and Fox earned $578,216.

Fox won’t discuss his compensation, but he’s got no problem pumping his good works.

He got himself into hot water speaking before Congress in 2009, when he said, “Almost all of the postseason bowl games are put on by charitable groups” and that “local charities receive tens of millions of dollars every year.”

Not only were a good number of the bowls privately owned, but reporters found the 23 existing nonprofit bowls gave $3.2 million to local charities on $186.3 million in revenue.

But Fox said something more granular. Asked by U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, about how much “money” from the Alamo Bowl goes to “classic charities,” Fox said, “There are several hundred thousand dollars that will go out to local organizations.”

“Whether it’s Boys & Girls Clubs, whether it’s Kids Sports Network, you name it. There are a number of different organizations who benefit from the bowl as well.”

Tax records show the scholarships but not the other philanthropy. When I asked Fox for clarification or supporting documents for the statement, a bowl representative sent me a list that included more than $400,000 in donations from 2008. This is in addition to scholarships and payouts to participating football teams.

The list did include donations to Kids Sports Network, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the food bank and others. It also includes more than $330,000 in “tickets.” Got it? Tickets, not actual money that helps keep these nonprofits going. There’s a difference.

Nice gig, if you can get it.  But let’s talk some more about greedy student-athletes, okay?

(h/t)

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Money talks.

I’m sure Laremy Tunsil won’t talk about it anymore.  Hugh Freeze would prefer not to talk about it.  The people in the Ole Miss athletic office will reluctantly talk to the NCAA about it.

Lindsay Miller, on the other hand, can’t shut up about it.

Miller claims Tunsil’s academic records were altered. He said [Tunsil’s mother Deseree] Polingo used to receive Western Union deliveries of money from Barney Farrar, Ole Miss assistant athletic director for high school and junior college relations. An apparent reference to Farrar was made in the year-old text messages on draft night; when Tunsil asked the Ole Miss administrator for money, he responds, “See Barney next week.”

I know it’s easy to hide things on the receiving end of a Western Union transfer, but I was under the impression that there is a paper trail on the front end.  Assuming what Miller says is true, wouldn’t cash have been a safer means of taking care of her?  Of course, the NCAA can’t subpoena Western Union, but it can sure look around Farrar’s records.

How many times do you figure Miller has spoken with NCAA investigators by now?

The art of the hold

Trust me, the only thing that will piss you off more than missed holding calls is this article explaining why officials don’t call holding when there’s holding.

When determining whether to reach for the flag, as yourself these two questions:

• Was there an advantage gained by the offending team?
• Was there a disadvantage suffered by the offended player?

Once you can answer yes to either question, does the play fit into one of the following buckets:

• Grab and restrict. When a player takes hold of a would-be tackler and prevents him from advancing toward the ball-carrier. Call it near the point of attack, not if it happens 15 yards away and has no impact on the play.
• Grab and turn. When a player takes hold of a would-be tackler and spins him away from the play. Again, proximity to the point of attack is a component.
• Takedown/tackle. The point of attack is not critical here. A takedown to the ground needs to be called anywhere on the field…

And… if someone gets held but just gives up on the play with no effort to get away – even right at the center of the play – it’s not a foul.

If I’m a defensive player, all this tells me is when in doubt, flop.

What’s truly hilarious about this set of evaluations is that if an official was really following one potential holding situation that closely, think about all the other things happening on the play that he isn’t watching.

(h/t)

Sunday morning buffet

Momma’s home cooking, if college football were your momma.

• Death, taxes and Geathers.
• Here’s a list of the ten best assistant coaching hires in the SEC.  None of them are on Smart’s staff.
• The NCAA wants the US Supreme Court to hear the O’Bannon appeal.
• Spence looks at Mark Richt’s 2015 recruiting efforts on the offensive line and comes away unimpressed.
• It sure sounds like Brian Herrien to Georgia is a thing.
• Bleacher Report writer claims Peyton Manning wants to coach at Tennessee.  Media asks Booch about Manning coaching at Tennessee.  Awkwardness ensues.
• Baylor receives its law firm’s report on how the school handled incidents of sexual assault on campus, but the school gave no indication whether the document will be made public.  If there’s any justice, somebody will start leaking the contents.
• North Carolina announces beginning next Saturday it will sell 2016 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game tickets to the public.