Izzo Donates $1 Million to MSU Football Program
Izzo and his wife, Lupe, have donated $1 million to the MSU AD, most of which will go towards the football scholarship program. This is a pretty solid thing for Izzo to do, obviously, and it appears as if he's trying to keep the football program and the hype around it going by matching it with monetary support. Link?
Link:
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/35501/izzo-shows-love-for-msu-football-with-gift
P.S. - Everything in the article is fluff (and Izzo earned it, I guess), but this one still made me shake my head:
"Supporting the football team was an easy decision," Izzo said in a prepared statement. "Coach [Mark] Dantonio is a man of character, building a championship program."
Everything was good until that whole "man of character" bit, but that's just my opinion. And of course, Beat Sparty!
October 10th, 2011 at 10:09 PM ^
October 10th, 2011 at 11:41 PM ^
Lawyers arent cheap
October 10th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
I'd love to make a "donating to charity" joke . . . but we need to beat them first.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
October 10th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
Agree. I don't think it's going to abate until we beat them though.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
This is the week of the game. Relax, discuss Sparty, and have a good time.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
...that counts down to when the MGoBoard is nothing but Sparty threads.
It currently reads 12 minutes.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
Every time I see that Izzo's wife is named Lupe I can't get this out of my head...
October 10th, 2011 at 10:24 PM ^
He has a song "Out of My Head" that would have been more fitting since you can't get it out of your head. Catchy tune as well...
October 10th, 2011 at 10:33 PM ^
Problem is, I think Lupe Fiasco and that's what I think...well, that and that bit he did with Kanye.
Lupe Izzo
vs.
Lupe Fiasco
October 10th, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that's the first Lupe song that comes to your head.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:59 PM ^
why ? its probally his most popular song
October 11th, 2011 at 12:50 AM ^
Recently, yes, but that's only because the album just released in the past year. Superstar was really popular at the time. Kick, Push or Hip-Hop Saved My Life are probably the first that come to my head. The latter being because of the 'stack that cheese' hook that he makes fun of.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:12 PM ^
The football team must love this song. While I was on the sideline during pregame the past 3 weeks, this song played at least 10 times.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:11 AM ^
October 10th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
I wouldn't exactly call Marky a man of character.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:19 PM ^
Guesses as to when the reciprocal donation happens for the basketball program? Sparty love fest going on in EL.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^
were becoming rcmb with all this sparty garbage, but neways moar money to bail players out of prison! YAY!!!!
October 10th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^
This is actually a donation from the school to it's football program. You see ... the school itself gave Izzo a million dollars in a cash payment on the side. In turn Izzo had to donate the money to the football program. This makes national headlines, makes Izzo look good ... which catches the attention of basketball recruits. Puts the football program into a positive light through the media, and it's a win - win situation all the way around. What a scam .. I have to hand it to Michigan State here .. it is a brilliant idea ... but a scam nonetheless.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:25 PM ^
It does seem a little odd. If Izzo is so concerned about the AD and it's cash flow, he could just take a smaller salary like Paterno does. Doing that way, though, Tommy wouldn't get all this free publicity.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:37 PM ^
I wonder if this is part of their plan to recruit nationally?
![](http://www.indeed.com/trendgraph/jobgraph.png?xw=300&xh=200&yaxis=fit&ws=70&q=company%3A"National+Recruiting")
(note the Sparty increase in the latter part of 2010 and then falling back off the map with the arrival of one Brady Hoke).
October 10th, 2011 at 11:57 PM ^
Where did the national recruiting meme come from?
October 11th, 2011 at 12:07 AM ^
http://www.freep.com/article/20110506/SPORTS07/110506001/Recruiting-Mic…
Yes, it's the freep. It's evidentiary.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:17 PM ^
This makes national headlinesLet's not get carried away. This will make the little ESPN college basketball sidebar for a few hours and then be bumped off the page.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:22 PM ^
Isn't it weird to donate to your employer? why not just tell them to reduce his contract by $1 million and apply it to the football budget? Wouldn't that save a lot of taxes? What is the value of making Izzo a donor to the football program?
October 10th, 2011 at 10:26 PM ^
Michigan State has realized their program is now behind Michigan, and will fall even further in the upcoming seasons. This is a ploy to garner national attention to their head coach, and catch the eye of recruits. Makes Izzo look like a good guy ... the recruits take notice to this. It's a big ole scam. You would expect nothing less from Michicon State. The school is run by con artists and the athletic teams are led by and filled with with cons. Con artists as coaches and convicts as players.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:58 PM ^
Isn't that donation a tax write off?
October 10th, 2011 at 11:06 PM ^
He'd save more money by not getting paid. He'll get the offsetting deduction for income tax purposes but not social security (which is capped, so not too much), medicare, or medicaid.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:10 PM ^
Yeah, I wasn't thinking of that. I think you are probably right. It would probably be deductible for federal income tax purposes, unless there are caps on deductions based on income level. I don't know about state income tax. Not every state allows deductions for charitable contributions.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:23 PM ^
October 10th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
Why spend on money on internet to post on a sports blog? You could be using your money and free time for charity. That pisses me off!
People can spend money on whatever they want. This is America.
Although, I do agree with the above posters. He could have easily had his pay reduced. And saved a bunch of money on taxes. But That's not headline worthy.
October 11th, 2011 at 9:31 AM ^
Not that he needs defending, but Izzo gives a ton of money to the Jimmy V fund (donated $250,000 last year) and he also does endless hours of charity work not to mention supporting the troops in the Middle East. But heaven forbid he donate to MSU.
Also, I think if he didn't take the salary the money would be preserved to the general fund. This way, he gets to direct where it goes.
Man o man
October 10th, 2011 at 10:53 PM ^
Izzo lost his "Spartan for Life" aura with his Cavalier Indulgence. Last year, it was obvious to anyone who wanted to see that Izzo lost the locker room. Players played like they were playing for someone who wouldn't be there very long.
By making this donation, Izzo is making a statement to his locker room that he will be around. I guess his NBA offers must have sucked this year.
October 10th, 2011 at 10:57 PM ^
I bet izzo wishes he could take back that weird four month fiasco that ruined his basketball program. Danny G!
October 10th, 2011 at 10:57 PM ^
Can someone tell me what he did that was bad? I cant say I've payed any attention to him or his program.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:28 PM ^
MSU player(s) run afoul of the law, go to jail, get released, and are reinstated to the team the day of (or shortly after) their release.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^
So win at all costs. I can see why people think he would be a perfect fit in columbus...
October 11th, 2011 at 12:30 AM ^
*paid
October 10th, 2011 at 11:07 PM ^
I hate Dantonio, but at the very least, Izzo is a class act. He's much harder to hate anyway.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:30 AM ^
What exactly leads you to call Izzo a "class act"? Gauranteeing victory in Ann Arbor? Crying like a soiled infant when he doesn't get a call? Screaming in his own players faces in front of their families, classmates and friends? Recruiting the friends of highly rated recruits, only to later chase said friends out of the program? Pulling poltical strings to keep a couple of rapists out of jail? Making illegal payments to recruit's families? Please enlighten me.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:34 AM ^
Got any sources/links to back up your last 3 points? I know the 2 players you are referring to...but to say "strings were pulled" seems far-fetched unless there is something that I don't know.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:16 AM ^
Again, do you have any links to substantiate your last 3 points?
Recruiting the friends of highly rated recruits, only to later chase said friends out of the program? None the sources you provided make such claims
Pulling poltical strings to keep a couple of rapists out of jail? The article you provided makes no mention of Tom Izzo. It's more of a social commentary about the sad realities of sexual assualt and the prosecutor's likelihood of dismissing such cases and the fact that it took a case that allegedly involves 2 high profile athletes to garner attention from the media. Again, doesn't speak towards your argument.
Making illegal payments to recruit's families? The school employed somebody at a summer camp that had contact with a recruit.....calling that "paying recruits' families" is a major stretch.
Keep trying though....maybe you'll have some success soon before you start to sound like an angry child.
October 11th, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCLEPBTMzYk
And why would I be angry? Darius already put that mouthy little bitch in his place...?
October 11th, 2011 at 3:15 AM ^
October 11th, 2011 at 8:16 AM ^
I think it's hard to definitively call certain coaches good and others evil. It seems a little more complicated than that.
JT is in complete agreement.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:23 PM ^
The funny thing is at any given time during any week of the season there are probably 5-10 UM threads over on the RCMB. This week I bet there is 3x that. I think it is ok to have a few Sparty threads over here during MSU week.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:26 PM ^
a tragic hero.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:27 PM ^
That's gonna buy a lot of crayons.
October 10th, 2011 at 11:58 PM ^
They had to replace that funding from the Downtown Coach's Club, who have run afoul of the law with too many "checks for cash". Booster handshakes get expensive.