A new six-year contract with CBS ensures that the Sun Bowl,
formerly sponsored by John Hancock, will be played this year.
Sun Bowl Association President Joyce Feinberg: "I don't know if
we'll get a sponsor yet this year, but we have a much more
salable event now. But the game will go on this year, and this
buys us some time to continue our search for a sponsor"
(PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/30). CBS' Len DeLuca: "The deal isn't
contingent on them getting a title sponsor" (Michael Hiestand,
USA TODAY, 8/30).
ALLIANCE TRIES TO ENSURE TOP MATCH-UP: The bowl alliance,
successor to the bowl coalition, takes over this season and
"promises a more likely matching of the nation's top two teams"
in Div. I-A to determine a national champion, according to
William Wallace of the N.Y. TIMES. Each participating team will
receive $8.5M, which comes from a pool of $50.4M assembled by the
alliance from three major bowls -- Fiesta, Orange and Sugar;
their sponsors, and ABC and CBS. The games will be played on
different nights and will no longer "compete with one another"
for TV audiences. The Sugar Bowl will be played New Year's Eve,
the Orange on January 1, and the Fiesta on January 2 (N.Y. TIMES,
8/27).
JUST WONDERING: The cover shot of the September issue of
the College Football Asociation's SIDELINES magazine is of a
display at the new College Football Hall of Fame which includes
two players high-fiving each other. Would the statues be within
the bounds of the the NCAA's new rules on excessive end zone
celebrations? (THE DAILY).
