In Jacksonville, Garry Smits reported Florida State football coach JIMBO FISHER's base pay "will be $225,000 per year" under his new contract. Fisher with compensation for speaking engagements, TV and radio shows "will receive an additional $3,275,000" in '14, rising to $4,275,000 in '18 (JACKSONVILLE.com, 1/5). In Miami, Van Sickler & Bousquet reported Florida Gov. RICK SCOTT and former Florida Gov. CHARLIE CRIST at the Vizio BCS National Championship Game tonight between FSU and Auburn will be "collecting campaign money for their own future competition." Scott will be in a luxury suite at the Rose Bowl with "well-heeled Republicans," while Crist will be the guest of honor at an event tomorrow night "hosted by entertainment industry executives" including Tennis Channel Chair & CEO KEN SOLOMON (MIAMI HERALD, 1/5).
COURT REPORT: Rockies co-Owner CHARLIE MONFORT on Friday "pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol, and he was immediately sentenced to 24 months of supervised probation" (GREELEY TRIBUNE, 1/4). Monfort's alcohol use "will be monitored" during his probation. Weld County (Colo.) district attorney's office spokesperson PAMELA JOHNSON said that Monfort will have to "wear an ankle bracelet that can detect alcohol use and then submit up to two breath tests a day." Monfort has "been in alcohol treatment for the past two months" (AP, 1/4).
GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE: Northwestern Univ. professors SANDEEP BALIGA and JEFFREY ELY created Purple Pricing, an auction method of ticket sales that helped the school "increase its revenue" from its football games against Ohio State and Michigan in '13 "by hundreds of thousands of dollars." Baliga and Ely have "created a company called Cheap Talk" to offer consulting serves. NU so far is "their only client" and "a pro bono one" at that. But NU Deputy AD MIKE POLISKY said that he has "fielded calls from interested pro baseball and basketball teams and other universities" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/5).
NAMES: The ORLANDO SENTINEL's list of "The 10 Most Powerful People in Central Florida" includes Magic CEO ALEX MARTINS at No. 5. He is "involved in many projects off the hardwood -- including the team's plans to redevelop a chunk of downtown as an entertainment district and efforts to address homelessness" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/1)....Chargers GM TOM TELESCO is one of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE's "People To Watch In 2014." Telesco's "anonymity endures" as he is "barely noticeable" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/5)....Olympic gold medalists and former NHLers STEVE YZERMAN and NICKLAS LIDSTROM will enter the Int'l Ice Hockey Federation HOF as part of its '14 class in May (AP, 1/3)....Former MLBer AUBREY HUFF said that he has “officially retired from baseball and will pursue a career in broadcasting with Pac-12 Networks” (MLB.com, 1/4)....Heat assistant coach JUWAN HOWARD “picked up” a 5,409-square-foot Coral Gables, Fla., home for $3.4M (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/3)....The Michigan State football team the night before winning the Rose Bowl “got a sneak preview” of “300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE” -- the sequel to the ’07 film “300” (N.Y. POST, 1/6).
