Raking In The Bowl Game Cash

It's always nice to have bad guys in sports, and there aren't many more reliable bad guys than those shady, mysterious characters who run the lower-tier bowl games. And you don't want to know how much money they're making.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that some of these bowl guys are raking in nearly $500 grand.

In 2002, Gary Cavalli earned $90,000 as executive of a new postseason game in San Francisco. In 2006, his compensation package was $362,018 for the game now called the Emerald Bowl. "Frankly, my compensation package is none of your business," Cavalli said. Cavalli is not alone. From 2001-05, compensation packages for bowl game executives have increased about 70%, with many of them more than doubling, according to an examination of the bowls' Internal Revenue Service records. The Outback Bowl's Jim McVay earns about $490,000, more than double the salary for the CEO of the oldest bowl, the Rose Bowl ($239,807).

Mama always told us to ditch this writing game and become a representative of the Emerald Bowl. We just didn't listen.

Bowling For Dollars [The Wizard Of Odds]