Like It Is

Some SEC schools want taste of alcohol sales

This is beer for sale at a concession stand at McKechnie Field during a spring training exhibition baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees in Bradenton, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Spring meetings for the SEC are in full swing in Destin, Fla., and no doubt there is a lot to discuss, including money.

Since the start of the SEC Network, the conference has led the nation in money distributed to schools, but now it is taking a back seat to the Big Ten, which has said it will have a 48 percent increase in revenue.

That and the sale of alcohol may be the two biggest subjects, and they go hand-in-hand.

The SEC doesn't allow members to sell alcohol at games in public places. For Arkansas, that means only suite and club-level ticket-holders can consume adult beverages.

It appears after more than 40 years of SEC prohibition, some of the schools are lobbying to make their own decision about selling drinks.

The NCAA has changed its policy and allows alcohol to be sold at its championship events.

The SEC will have to consider allowing schools to make money from alcohol sales to stay in front or even with the Big Ten.

There would be rules, such as a limit of two at a time and a probable last call after the third quarter.

If it is allowed, look for schools to eventually ban fans from bringing alcohol to tailgates and have them buy it from school vendors.

. . .

For whatever their Aggie reasons, Texas A&M hired Ross Bjork away from Ole Miss to be its athletic director.

The Aggies had lost rising superstar Scott Woodward to LSU, his alma mater.

Bjork has been up to his eyeballs in controversy and drama since arriving in Oxford. There may have been an audible sigh of relief, or perhaps shock, when he announced he was leaving.

Saying he didn't handle the NCAA investigation at Ole Miss well is an understatement.

At least for the interim, Ole Miss isn't making the same mistake of hiring someone who knows nothing about Ole Miss.

Keith Carter was named interim AD, and the Perryville, Ark., native is an Ole Miss man and has been since his freshman year there more than 20 years ago.

He was a four-year starter in basketball for the Rebels, then played professionally in Italy for seven years before going to work for the Rebel Foundation in 2009. Oxford was his offseason home.

He quickly moved up in the athletic department and was the deputy athletic director for development and resource acquisition before becoming the interim AD.

Carter is also the radio analyst for Rebels basketball, and he headed up the search committee last year that hired Kermit Davis as head basketball coach.

When he led the foundation, Ole Miss had its highest years of donations, including a record $45.6 million in 2015-2016. The National Association of Athletic Development Directors named him its national fundraiser of the year.

Carter is personable, smart and a hands-on leader. He's a problem-solver.

He will never hide in an ivory tower.

Whether the interim is removed remains to be seen as Ole Miss continues to search for a new chancellor, but the Rebels cannot be better represented in athletics than they are with Keith Carter.

. . .

The University of Arkansas roadshow already has met in Mountain Home and Texarkana, and the next event is set for June 4 in El Dorado.

The roadshow includes several members of the athletic department, including Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, speaking about Razorback athletics, where it is and where it is going.

Yurachek is all about long-term planning.

Other meetings are June 18 in Pine Bluff, July 16 in Paragould, Aug. 13 in Fort Smith and Aug. 30 in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium.