High on the Hog

The new (Jan 10th, 2011) issue of Newsweek magazine - which I read in the barbershop has an interesting graphic in its last page "Back Story" titled, "Are the Bowls Empty?" which purports to show how the University of Alabama managed to lose $1.87M despite earning $2.43M for winning last year's BCS national college football championship.

For one thing, the graphic shows that 'Bama spent $1,040,103 on meals and lodging for 371 people in eight days, which breaks down to spending a whopping $236.47 on each person per day for his/her food and lodging. For one thing, what the heck does the team need a 371 person traveling party for? There's only a hundred some guys on the team, so what are the other 271 people for? For another thing, where did they stay and eat that they managed to spend $236 a day? It is pretty clear that they weren't staying at Motel 6 or eating at Denny's. At those rates, it sure seems like they weren't even requiring the guys to sleep two to a room! Holy Cow, talk about wasting money!