Did Jon Lovits buy the Vikings?

[KurtBevacqua]

And then I won the Super Bowl, yeah, that's the ticket. I was number 16 on the 49ers, yeah, yeah. And then I built Microsoft and am worth a billion gazillion dollars, yeah, that's the ticket.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

Questions arise regarding Fowler
New 'fact sheet' issued on potential Vikings owner
Posted: Wednesday February 16, 2005 4:15PM; Updated: Thursday February 17, 2005 1:10AM

Reggie Fowler would be the NFL's first black owner.
AP

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Two days after he was introduced as the prospective new owner of the Minnesota Vikings, Reggie Fowler found himself scrambling to correct inaccuracies in an official biography.

Fowler, a former University of Wyoming linebacker, acknowledged Wednesday that he hadn't played in the NFL or CFL, as the bio claimed. He also didn't play in the Little League World Series as an 11-year-old, he said.

Fowler said he hadn't seen the biography before it was distributed, and said he had directed his public relations firm to address problems with it.

"I want your city to like me," Fowler told the Star Tribune, which first reported the story. "I want to have credibility."

Fowler, 46, was introduced Monday at a news conference to announce a tentative $625 million deal for him to acquire the Vikings from Red McCombs. If NFL owners approve the sale, he would become the NFL's first black owner.

A call from The Associated Press to Fowler's Arizona office was referred to his spokeswoman. The spokeswoman, Leslie Kupchella, didn't return calls to her office or cell phone. She told the Star Tribune that a new "Reggie Fowler Fact Sheet" was issued Tuesday with some changes that resulted from "conversations" with Fowler.

The fact sheet was posted on the Web site of a public relations clearinghouse, but wasn't distributed by fax or e-mail to either AP or the Star Tribune.

The new sheet includes no Little League mention. It also clarified his college degree.

Where the original biography said Fowler's "passion for numbers" led him to "pursue a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Finance," the revised fact sheet said his degree came in social work.

It also clarified that Fowler only attended training camp with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals, but still included playing in 1983 for the CFL's Calgary Stampeders. Fowler, in his brief interview, with the Star Tribune, said he was in training camp with the Stampeders but didn't make the team.

Chris Downs, a spokesman for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., told the Star Tribune he examined rosters and teams from the late 1960s and early 1970s, about the period when Fowler would have been the right age to play, after reading news stories on the tentative sale of the Vikings.

"I'm quite certain he didn't participate in the Little League World Series," Downs told the paper Wednesday. "I'm confident in saying that's inaccurate."

Fowler told the Star Tribune that the "World Series" he played in was the Tucson, Ariz., area youth baseball all-star game. "That's what we call it in our hometown," he said.

NFL owners are scheduled to meet in March in Hawaii; league rules require 24 of the 32 owners to approve a sale.

His Spiral Inc., based in Chandler, Ariz., has divisions that include real estate, aviation, manufacturing, agricultural, entertainment and banking industries.

[Tib]

Why would he do such a stupid thing? Who cares if he played in the Little League World Series? Who cares if he says he's the King of the Moon? If his money is green he'll get the team.

[KurtBevacqua]

Originally Posted by Tib

Why would he do such a stupid thing? Who cares if he played in the Little League World Series? Who cares if he says he's the King of the Moon? If his money is green he'll get the team.

Assuming he really has money. When a guy lies so much about stuff as meaningless as this it kinda makes you wonder if he's telling the truth about anything.

[dougaiton]

Fowler said he hadn't seen the biography before it was distributed, and said he had directed his public relations firm to address problems with it.

He didn't lie. His PR firm is either very bad, or trying to undermine him. There is no way any PR firm worth its salt would have issued a document with material so easy to verify in it. He should hire a new one, and fast.

I don't like the implication from SI that this man is a liar, when he quite clearly had nothing to do with the document. Then again, lazy journalism is their forte.

[KurtBevacqua]

Originally Posted by dougaiton

He didn't lie. His PR firm is either very bad, or trying to undermine him. There is no way any PR firm worth its salt would have issued a document with material so easy to verify in it. He should hire a new one, and fast.

I don't like the implication from SI that this man is a liar, when he quite clearly had nothing to do with the document. Then again, lazy journalism is their forte.

They got that information from somewhere. I don't think they would just make this stuff up on his behalf. Somebody provided them with a list of things to put in the bio, who would that someone be if not him?

[Tib]

He is the figurehead. Regardless of others' motivations or ineptitude, he'll be the one to pay for these inaccuracies.

[Dagrims]

Why would Minnesota have any issues with a fake resume? Remember, George O'Leary went there after the Notre Dame episode.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Are we even sure the guy's black?

And I like the King of the Moon thing - I think that's going in MY official bio. I may have lost to Ken Jennings, but Ken's not King of the Moon, last time I checked! Hah!

[asamford]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Are we even sure the guy's black?

And I like the King of the Moon thing - I think that's going in MY official bio. I may have lost to Ken Jennings, but Ken's not King of the Moon, last time I checked! Hah!

Do you ever have nightmares about Ken Jennings?

[KurtBevacqua]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Are we even sure the guy's black?

And I like the King of the Moon thing - I think that's going in MY official bio. I may have lost to Ken Jennings, but Ken's not King of the Moon, last time I checked! Hah!

Did Jax buy the Vikes?

[Dagrims]

Originally Posted by Article

His Spiral Inc., based in Chandler, Ariz., has divisions that include real estate, aviation, manufacturing, mendacity, agricultural, legerdemain, entertainment and banking industries.

That explains the whole thing.

[jjd]

Reggie Fowler turned me into a newt!

[Arlie Rahn]

The bigger issue is his marital status. If he is indeed going through a divorse (as is the rumor), that may impact his financial situation. I think this other stuff is for tabloid humor and nothing more.

[dougaiton]

Originally Posted by KurtBevacqua

They got that information from somewhere. I don't think they would just make this stuff up on his behalf. Somebody provided them with a list of things to put in the bio, who would that someone be if not him?

This guy has a lot of money. His PR firm should know what they are doing - they certainly won't just be taking a list from him and typing it up. It makes quite literally no sense - plenty of these items are verifiable facts that would have taken them two seconds to check.

This man has a PR department. They must know something about him. I'm pretty sure Mr. Fowler has better things to do than give his employees, whose sole job is keeping his reputation up, detailed fabrications of his CV.

What may have happened is the PR office has exaggerated certain facts over a number of years, and somehow someone has created facts out of these exaggerations.
For example, 'Fowler tried out for the CBL'
'Fowler played in the CBL' (kinda-sorta-true)
'Fowler played pro-football leagues' (kinda-sorta-true)
'Fowler played in the NFL'. (wrong)

There is no way this individual runs his own PR. The George O'Leary example is quite good: he was one man, filling out an application. This is a 'fact sheet' put together by a team of 'trained professionals', whose sole job is to compile fact sheets on the man.
'

[Jonzard]

Most important thing on the resume..... Reggie Fowler is not Red McCombs

[twins15]

Originally Posted by Dagrims

Why would Minnesota have any issues with a fake resume? Remember, George O'Leary went there after the Notre Dame episode.

And he did pretty well until he left.

[Dagrims]

Originally Posted by twins15

And he did pretty well until he left.

Yes, and now we have him down at good ol' UCF, the worst rated football team in all of I-A. He certainly didn't have much to work with, and I really think the players were caught unprepared by his regimen. I'm going to go way out on a limb and predict that they win at least one game next season.

End of thread highjack.