Former Fiesta Bowl director pleads guilty
NCAA Football Betting Lines
02/21/2012 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The former longtime executive director of the Fiesta Bowl has pled guilty to a felony count of solicitation to commit fraud schemes.
John Junker, who was fired in March 2001 after a probe uncovered a scheme to reimburse improper political campaign contributions made by Fiesta Bowl employees, entered the plea in Maricopa County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Sentencing is set for April 26 in front of Judge Douglas Rayes.
Junker was long a prominent figure in college football and oversaw the Fiesta Bowl while it committed a wide range of infractions, including a scheme to pay back employees for at least $46,539 in campaign contributions, according to an investigation that uncovered a list of serious infractions.
Federal law prohibits reimbursement for federal campaign contributions.
The scandal cost Junker his job and prompted the Bowl Championship Series to fine the Fiesta Bowl $1 million, although it was allowed to remain in the BCS and keep its NCAA license.
The Fiesta Bowl was initially alerted by an employee who came forward to give information about the alleged misconduct. Its board of directors then formed an independent committee to investigate, resulting in a 276-page report with more than 1,500 footnotes.
In addition to the scheme to reimburse political contributions, the committee also found an apparent conspiracy to conceal the scheme from the Fiesta Bowl board of directors and state officials.
The probe also uncovered evidence of unauthorized and excessive compensation and non-business and inappropriate expenditures and gifts.
The board of directors, after reviewing the results of the five-month probe, voted unanimously to fire Junker for his role in the infractions uncovered.
Junker was found to have failed to cooperate with the investigation and had been placed on administrative leave more than a month before he was fired.
Former Fiesta Bowl chief operating officer Natalie Wisneski was indicted in November for making campaign contributions in someone else's name and filing false tax returns, among other counts.
She was also indicted by a federal grand jury for causing false statements to be made to the Federal Elections Commission and for conspiracy. She pled not guilty.
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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
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