The Wiz of Odds

Chuck Long Unloads California Home for $518,000 Loss

Former San Diego State coach and current Kansas offensive coordinator Chuck Long got out from under the auctioneer's gavel last week when he unloaded his dwelling in Poway, Calif., for $850,000.

Long quit making payments in August on the four-bedroom home that he purchased in 2007 for $1.368 million. On Nov. 23, a notice of default was filed in San Diego County and the property was to be auctioned in a trustee's sale on Wednesday.

But the lender accepted a short sale and the auction was canceled, according to Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Former San Diego St. Coach Long Is Facing Foreclosure

Rich people have problems, too.

Chuck Long, the former San Diego State coach who earned more than $700,000 annually at the school from 2006-09, is facing foreclosure on his Poway, Calif., home next month, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Long, 48, is now the offensive coordinator at Kansas. He bought the four-bedroom house in 2007 for $1.38 million, but it was recently assessed at $893,000.

Long told the newspaper that the foreclosure situation was "news to me" and said he's in escrow with a potential buyer. A real estate agent said a short sale was being attempted before a scheduled March 23 auction.

Long had a 9-27 record in three seasons as Aztec coach before he was reassigned in November 2008. He still had two years left on his contract and after settlement talks went nowhere, the university paid him $715,000 in 2009 to do "projects and analysis."

San Diego State's financial burden was lessened in December 2009 when Long was hired by Kansas' Turner Gill. Kansas paid Long $350,000 in 2010 and San Diego State picked up $365,900 to complete terms of its five-year deal.

Long, a former Iowa quarterback and Heisman Trophy runnerup in 1985, defaulted on his payments last August. On Nov. 23, a notice of default was filed in San Diego County.

Kansas

Not anyone can follow in the substantial shadow left by Mark Mangino, but if anybody can do it, Turner Gill is the man. The former Nebraska quarterback and Buffalo coach takes over at Lawrence, and his first order of business is ending the Jayhawks' seven-game losing streak. He should do that Saturday as Kansas plays host to North Dakota State.

As a run-up to the start of the season, the Wiz will display one poster each day until our supply is exhausted.

Then we turn it over to readers, who will vote on the poster of the year. In the meantime, send your team's poster schedule to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Last year, the site displayed 69 posters. This is poster No. 66 for 2010. Poster designed by Old Hat Creative.

The Clap Sequence to the Song, 'I'm a Jayhawk'

Here's a handy tutorial to perfect your technique to Kansas' tricky fight song clap. Everybody clap along! Thanks to The Big Lead.

Perkins' Vouchers Reveal Big Bills on Private Planes

When Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins steps down on Sept. 4, 2011, he will leave behind a lifestyle reserved for the rich and famous.

Perkins charged the athletic department more than $150,000 from July 2008 to May 2010 for 22 flights on university-owned and leased planes, according to a review of his travel vouchers by the Kansas City Star.

On one trip, Perkins flew from Lawrence to Columbia in an executive-style jet to attend the Jayhawks' basketball game against rival Missouri. Bill Self's defending national champion team took the bus.

There were 23 other private flights Perkins took in those 22 months — seven on boosters' planes, four cited on Perkins' vouchers without a cost and 12 that were reported on the expense reports of other Kansas staffers who joined the athletic director on a trip.

Perkins Had Front-Row Seat and Missed Ticket Scandal

Meet Lew Perkins, the athletics director at the University of Kansas. He was paid an astounding $85,000 a week in 2009, part of a package that was negotiated when he left Connecticut in 2003 to take over as the big bossman in Lawrence.

He made no apology for his salary when asked about it in April by the Kansas City Star.

"It is what it is," he said. "It was all based on when I got hired, negotiated from day one. ... It was all part of the deal of me leaving Connecticut to come here."

Kansas officials defended Perkins' salary, saying that the bulk of it came from general athletics revenue, including supporters' donations.

Many of those same boosters are now outraged after Kansas unveiled a report Wednesday that detailed the illicit distribution of more than $1 million worth of prime tickets to basketball and football games.

A group of six employees allegedly hatched the lucrative ticket-scalping scheme, and the news is expected to get worse. The FBI and IRS have ongoing investigations, and Yahoo! Sports reported that the scalping operation extends beyond Kansas to other schools, including Oklahoma.