E. Gordon puts the E in expensive
The bow tie can now officially take its place alongside cars, tattoos and golden pants on the list of what is wrong at THE Ohio State University.
It's time for school president E. Gordon Gee, the highest-paid public university CEO in the nation, to take his place alongside Maurice Clarett, Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor.
The Dayton Daily News published an interesting story on Gee, who has pulled in $8.6 million in salary since his return to the school in 2007. That's a lot of money, but he also has done a great deal to attract money to Columbus, Ohio.
The more stunning figure is the $7.7 million in expenses Gee has charged to the school during that period.
The paper reported that it took almost a year for the public school to comply with a request to view the documents, but "those records show Gee stays in luxury hotels, dines at country clubs and swank restaurants, throws lavish parties, flies on private jets and hands out thousands of gifts - all at public expense."
Oh, yeah, and there was all that money spent on refurbishments to the mansion the school provides him to live in, including a preposterous $532 shower curtain in the guest bathroom.
Sounds as if the outspoken Gee is going a bit over the line, but that's not even where his expenses make a mockery of public university funds.
It's not easy - or cheap - for Gee to maintain that ridiculous Orville Redenbacher look he sports every day.
The report found Gee put $64,000 on the school tab for bow ties, bow-tie cookies and bow-tie pins for Gee and others to distribute as Gee tried to brand his image.
Suddenly, a talented quarterback driving a car he can't afford around campus or trading memorabilia for tattoos doesn't seem so bad.
■ BANKING ON AMERICA - With one horrific call by one moronic, illegitimate official, the replacement referees as a whole became one of the most despised groups of people in the country.
If anyone needed any sort of measuring stick for just how hated the fill-ins were, take the standing ovation given to the real refs when they took the field in Baltimore on Thursday to officiate the Ravens game against the Cleveland Browns.
Referees getting a standing ovation at an NFL game?
You would think it would be more likely that a Cleveland fan would pick up the check at a dinner table shared by LeBron James and the late Art Modell than the guys in striped shirts getting that sort of welcome.
In fact, about the only group of people that could rank lower than the temporary refs in public opinion polls would be Congress and bankers.
And, wouldn't you know it, fill-in ref Lance Easley falls into the latter category as well. A Dailyfinance.com column by "The Motley Fool," John Grgurich, reports Easley is actually a vice president at Bank of America.
Now that the long national nightmare is over, Easley can go back to screwing over the entire country instead of just the people of Wisconsin.
■ NOT PAYING OFF - CBS baseball insider Jon Heyman provided this gem on his Twitter feed @jonheymancbs.
"One competing exec on the #dodgers: "They are a fortune 500 team. They spent a fortune to play .500."
Yeah, but how much did they spend on shower curtains?
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
