Jacie
2/10/2010, 03:22 PM
Failing to live up to his word.
You're gonna love this one!
Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:22 pm EST
While Bush lives high, hometown scholarship reportedly runs dry
By Matt Hinton
Between allegedly running up a $300,000 tab from wannabe agents and hangers-on at USC, subsequent legal fees, the occasional gun-toting goon, various petty fines from the NFL and the usual financial burdens of garish young celebrity, former Heisman winner Reggie Bush has never been accused of pinching pennies, or of keeping an especially close eye on all of them. Still, I'm sure there's a line somewhere in the ledgers for a pair of former baseball teammates at Bush's old San Diego high school. The two were forced to go to a local television station last week in search of thousands in promised scholarship money from Bush that never materialized after their benefactor showed up in person, on camera, to hand out the awards at his old stomping grounds three years ago:
In March 2007, Helix High School seniors Brandon Fountain and Matt Cobb were presented a $10,000 scholarship from Bush to use for college.
Fountain attends Cuyamaca College, and Cobb entered San Diego State University. Each received a $2,500 installment on their scholarships in their freshman year. Both ran into problems the following year when trying to contact the scholarship's trustee, Jerry Michaels.
"Mr. Michaels never responded. A couple of weeks later, [Brandon] sent a second e-mail and still no response," said Fountain's father, Bruce.
It was the same story for Cobb, and after weeks of wondering they received an answer they were not expecting.
"That's when we were told he was out of funds and due to the economy he didn't have the money," said Cobb.
Michaels (no relation, presumably, to Michael Michaels, with whom Bush reached a settlement in 2007 to keep him quiet about their alleged pay-for-play agreement at USC) told the television station that "Bush's people" contacted him about funding a scholarship through an existing program Michaels oversees, but never followed up. The existing money in the fund was tied up in investments, and ran out when the stocks tanked; Michaels is on tape saying, "We ran out of funds." Sorry, kids.
Bush is a fat, easy target for populist anger on a subject like this. On top of his multimillion-dollar salary and additional $5 million in endorsement deals, Bush also picked up an extra $500,000 for helping the Doc's beloved Saints win the Super Bowl on Sunday. Maybe, between legal fees, house-hunting with Kim Kardashian and celebrity victory parties, he'll find some way to set aside 2 percent of that championship bonus for making good on his three-year-old promise at home. Based on his track record, I'm sure the check will be in the mail any day now, guys.
You're gonna love this one!
Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:22 pm EST
While Bush lives high, hometown scholarship reportedly runs dry
By Matt Hinton
Between allegedly running up a $300,000 tab from wannabe agents and hangers-on at USC, subsequent legal fees, the occasional gun-toting goon, various petty fines from the NFL and the usual financial burdens of garish young celebrity, former Heisman winner Reggie Bush has never been accused of pinching pennies, or of keeping an especially close eye on all of them. Still, I'm sure there's a line somewhere in the ledgers for a pair of former baseball teammates at Bush's old San Diego high school. The two were forced to go to a local television station last week in search of thousands in promised scholarship money from Bush that never materialized after their benefactor showed up in person, on camera, to hand out the awards at his old stomping grounds three years ago:
In March 2007, Helix High School seniors Brandon Fountain and Matt Cobb were presented a $10,000 scholarship from Bush to use for college.
Fountain attends Cuyamaca College, and Cobb entered San Diego State University. Each received a $2,500 installment on their scholarships in their freshman year. Both ran into problems the following year when trying to contact the scholarship's trustee, Jerry Michaels.
"Mr. Michaels never responded. A couple of weeks later, [Brandon] sent a second e-mail and still no response," said Fountain's father, Bruce.
It was the same story for Cobb, and after weeks of wondering they received an answer they were not expecting.
"That's when we were told he was out of funds and due to the economy he didn't have the money," said Cobb.
Michaels (no relation, presumably, to Michael Michaels, with whom Bush reached a settlement in 2007 to keep him quiet about their alleged pay-for-play agreement at USC) told the television station that "Bush's people" contacted him about funding a scholarship through an existing program Michaels oversees, but never followed up. The existing money in the fund was tied up in investments, and ran out when the stocks tanked; Michaels is on tape saying, "We ran out of funds." Sorry, kids.
Bush is a fat, easy target for populist anger on a subject like this. On top of his multimillion-dollar salary and additional $5 million in endorsement deals, Bush also picked up an extra $500,000 for helping the Doc's beloved Saints win the Super Bowl on Sunday. Maybe, between legal fees, house-hunting with Kim Kardashian and celebrity victory parties, he'll find some way to set aside 2 percent of that championship bonus for making good on his three-year-old promise at home. Based on his track record, I'm sure the check will be in the mail any day now, guys.