Report says NCAA relaxing rules on bowl game names; what's next, the Jim Beam Bourbon Bowl?
Anyone for the Pornhub Bowl?
I’d like to think a football game would never name itself after a pornographic website, but apparently that’s now a possibility. The NCAA has lifted restrictions on title sponsors for bowl games, the Sports Business Journal reported last week.
Among newly eligible categories are “sportsbooks, beer, spirits and adult entertainment.” I don’t want to sound like your Sunday school teacher, but I fear there might be a special circle of hell reserved for bowl reps wearing “Sex-Toys-R-Us Bowl” blazers.
The old NCAA postseason handbook decreed that sponsorship activities must be “consistent with the values associated with college sports.” That somehow begat classics like the Duck Commander Independence Bowl, the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl and the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl.
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They sounded goofy, but at least you didn’t have to worry about Larry Flynt presenting the championship trophy. Now, will the MVP of the Old Milwaukee Bowl get free kegs delivered to his dorm for a year?
We shouldn’t be surprised at the policy shift; the NCAA is stepping back and letting bowl organizations, conferences and member institutions deem what's appropriate, an NCAA spokesperson told the SB Journal. Universities have started partnering with sportsbooks, booze companies and other “sin industries” the past couple of years.
With one hand, they wag fingers warning students about the dangers of drugs, drinking and gambling. With the other hand, they cash checks from GameDay Vodka.
It’s easy to criticize such hypocrisy, but times are hard. The supply chain of lawn equipment sponsors is apparently broken. But in tough times, character is revealed.
If the Jim Beam Bourbon Bowl is now “consistent with the values associated with college sports,” it’s obvious the NCAA values nothing more than money. ...
Stud of the Week: Florida’s lacrosse team, which won its eighth straight American Athletic Conference championship. That’s eight more AAC titles than UF’s football team has ever won.
You bet on it: Rich Strike and Phil Mickelson's gambling debts
Stud II: Anyone smart (or dumb) enough to bet on 80-1 longshot Rich Strike to win the Kentucky Derby. ...
Speaking of bets, Phil Mickelson racked up more than $40 million in gambling losses from 2010-2014, according to an upcoming biography by author Alan Shipnuck. I guess that explains why Lefty took a year off to play minor league baseball for the Chicago White Sox. ...
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Former UF quarterback Emory Jones reportedly got a $75,000 NIL deal to land at Arizona State. Good for him, but let’s hope he’s not docked $5,000 for every interception. ...
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Speaking of bad bets, Evel Knievel once had a golf bet going and was down $7,500 on the 18th hole. Knievel disliked his opponent so much that he dared him to gamble a finger on the final hole.
Knievel lost, so he found a shovel and cut off the tip of his right ring finger. It’s the ultimate case of giving someone the finger. ...
Mickelson Redux: In case you didn’t get the baseball reference, legend has it the NBA secretly suspended Michael Jordan in 1993 due to his excessive gambling. Jordan has long denied the allegation and said he temporarily “retired” and played baseball because he was burned out and wanted to spend more time with Urban Meyer’s family. ...
After getting two more football commitments over the weekend, Florida's just one spot behind Alabama in the 247Sports recruiting ranking. Of course, the Crimson Tide are currently No. 33.
If the Gators are one spot behind Alabama in five months, it will seriously damage their chances of getting invited to the 2023 BunnyRanch Brothel Bowl. ...
Bird Flu: Kyrie Irving was fined $50,000 for flipping double birds to Boston fans two weeks ago. Draymond Green was socked $25,000 last week for extending both middle fingers to Memphis fans. Neither player seemed too fazed.
“I make $25 million a year,” Green said. “I should be just fine.”
If Evel Knievel were alive and NBA commissioner, there might be a more suitable deterrent. ...
The Mets released second baseman Robinson Cano on Sunday but will still owe him $44 million. That gives Cano the fourth-biggest buyout in history behind Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife and two Auburn football coaches. ...
This Just In: Phil Mickelson has been named grand marshal of this year’s Caesars Palace Bowl….
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach on the Derby: “That horse winning the Kentucky Derby today was a good example of why an expanded college football playoff is needed. That horse hadn’t won all the races leading up, but it got its chance and that’s what happened.”
In related news, Vanderbilt has hired Rich Strike’s trainer as its new football coach. ...
What would be the halftime entertainment at the Café Risque Bowl? ...
Evel, Part II: Knievel’s golf opponent won the bet but didn’t take the payoff, so Knievel grabbed a taxi and had the finger reattached at the nearest hospital.
“Two days later, I went back and asked if he wanted to play for an arm,” Knievel said.
The man declined. ...
That’s about all the space we have for this week’s Whitley’s Believe It or Not. Until next time, please don't wager any body parts on 80-1 longshots, no matter how lucky you feel.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidEWhitley
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Is NCAA really ready to let 'sin industries' into the bowl name game?
