(Pictured in the white shirt and no tie is Alphonso Bigelow, along and his family, at Tuesday's news conference. Behind them, from left to right, are Fresno State's John Welty, Jay Vickers, Danny White, John Wallace and Thomas Boeh.)
I'll start today's blog by saying I have not made up my mind. OK, I have, but my mind is open enough that it's waiting for further evidence to officially and publically declare an opinion. Until then, here is pretty much everything I know about the following story ...
EX-BULLDOG DONATES $10 MILLION TO FRESNO STATE
If you'd like an abridged version, or at least a slightly different take on the same version, here is my column that ran in Wednesday's Fresno Bee ...
BIG DONATION COMES WITH AMAZING TALE
Since we don't have to be abridged on the internet, here is the full version of the story, or at least everything I can substantiate to this point ...
Alphonso Bigelow is a former Fresno State linebacker (listed in the media guide as having played in '92, '93 and '95) who grew up in Long Beach, and is now supposedly giving $10 million to the Fresno State athletic department. Or at least he started the company that has now promised to give the Fresno State athletic department $10 million. The plan is $2 million a year for the next five years. Bigelow is friends with several people in the local wrestling community and he said on stage at Tuesday's press conference that his initial intention was to bring back the Bulldogs wrestling program. Bigelow said he's motivated to get that done. Athletic director Thomas Boeh, holding back a grimmace, said it would be something they reevaluated a few years down the line. It seems pretty obvious that Bigelow is much more excited about bringing back wrestling than anyone in the Fresno State administration, but for $10 million, they'll let him believe anything is possible.
But the wrestling issue started to feel not nearly as important when at the press conference* there were no great explanations to the following question: 1.) How does Bigelow's company, Nykel Bam International, LLC, a company no one had heard of, have the sort of earning power that would let it give away $10 million?
*By most any standard, this press conference was a doozy. Biggest I've been to at Fresno State. Everyone was there. The athletic director. Associate athletic directors. Everyone in media relations. Student-athlete representatives from four different sports, including basketball star Paul George. Bulldog Foundation members. John Welty, the president of the university, who definitely doesn't show up for just any old academic honorable mention announcement.
Everyone came out for this. Fresno State coach Pat Hill made an appearance in the back. Fresno State basketball coach Steve Cleveland was there. Boeh spoke. So did Welty. So did associate AD Paul Ladwig. Bigelow spoke briefly and started to tear up. He looked nervous. There was a digital presentation, a 3-D look at the building projects in the works at Fresno State, the ones $10 million will make happen. There was a presentation of jerseys with "Bigelow" on the back and the No. 1 on the front. Also, they gave the Bigelow family a framed poster of the 2008 Fresno State baseball team, signed by all the players. There was clapping by boosters. The Josephine Theater was practically full. The whole thing was nothing short of a love-fest, photo-op celebration.
Let me first say that I'm quite aware that there are probably dozens and dozens of millionaires in Fresno who I have never heard of. There are probably millionaires whose friends don't even know they are millionaires. There are companies that no one knows about who make big profits. I'm sure of it. All that said, $10 million is a lot of money. Especially for charity. That's the kind of money Save Mart and Chukchansi Casino have invested to have their names attached to massive structures: the Save Mart Center* (home of Bulldogs basketball) and Chukchansi Park (home of the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies).
So to a lot of people, this seemed really suspicious. OK, to me it seemed really suspicious. Still does. It's just weird to think that a company that no one had heard of -- a company that was created barely a year ago -- already had that kind of earning capability. The company, Nykel Bam International, LLC, has no web site. If you Google it, you only find the stories about the $10 million donation. That's a little weird, even for a company that wants to be so private.
By the time everyone had filed out and Bigelow had left, I still felt uncomfortable. I needed to know more. So I asked someone in media relations if Bigelow would call me later. He did, from the cell phone of Jay Vickers, the associate director of development for Fresno State, the guy in charge of getting large donations for the athletic department. Vickers is a former Notre Dame running back who got a business degree and was the first contact with Bigelow. When Bigelow got on the phone, he answered every question about Nykel Bam.
A couple years ago, he said he was in Hong Kong doing a gold transaction that failed. While there, he went to a cocktail party where he befriended an elderly gentleman from England. Normally, I don't use many quotes in my writing, I like to tell stories in my own words, but from here on out I'll use as many of Bigelow's own words as possible.
"I had a mentor that I met while I was in Hong Kong and he actually brought me into the business and held my hand," Bigelow told me. "I don't know why me. I met him during a meeting. He just took a liking to me at a cocktail party."
This man, whose name he would not give me, is the key. He's the one Bigelow says introduced him to most of his contacts, including the people who became his "board of directors." I got the impression that the man from England is one of the board members, but I don't think he said that directly. I also got the impression that the man from England shared the kind of secrets and connections that could have made any relatively smart person a savvy international business trader.
"Obviously, I don't want anyone knowing what I do," Bigelow said. "I don't need more competition."
Bigelow said he then came back to the U.S. and eventually started Nykel Bam, using the advice from his mentor. "I started the company but gave it over to the board of directors to run," he said.
So you're probably asking, as I did, how does this company work? There are five employees, he said, and five board members. Bigelow also said he is the only one of the 11 people that is in the United States, and again, no names or phone numbers would be provided. In his words, "I facilitate private commodities transactions and we take commissions off of those transactions. We are also involved in private placement programs. Our main focus is not to be public*. We're an international company and we prefer not to be public. Not a chance. We're not even on the internet. We don't even have a web site."
*To clarify, he didn't mean the main focus of the company is to be on the downlow. Obviously, the main focus is to make money. He structured that sentence backwards, one of those you had to hear to understand. He just meant, they have no interest or motivation in being publicized or well-known. The business model has no need for it.
I have no idea what being "involved in private placement programs" means, but the rest of it he simplified even further later: "There's people that have large amounts of money who buy from people who own large amounts of commodities, privately. It's not on the exchange. It's not on anything. And I take a commission on that."
A guy in Europe has a bunch of diamonds for sale. A guy in India wants to buy a bunch of diamonds. Bigelow puts those two people together and gets a cut of the sale. That's would seem to be the easy explanation.
He said he and the five board members all have their own clients and do their own facilitating and each has an equal 16.6% share in the company. Bigelow explained the part about the six equal shares. I did the math. Later, he explained that the six individuals are free to take as much commission as they want out of the company, or leave as much profit in the company as they want. I asked if that would in fact change their percentage of ownership in the company and he said it would. That would seem to contradict the six-equal-shares statement from earlier, unless all six have, to this point, produced the same amount of revenue and taken out the exact same amount of profit.
I apologize for letting this blog post morph into some sort of business analysis, but obviously the legitimacy of Bigelow's $10 million pledge rests on whether the explanation of Nykel Bam International makes sense. Because he certainly isn't providing paperwork or tax returns or corroborating interviews. When asked how much the company makes, Bigelow said, "We don't make much money at all. We're looking at $12 million maybe, $13 million."
The next logical question is why a company that makes $12 or $13 million would pledge $2 million a year for the next five years. Even if the profit is the larger one, the $13 million, that's 15%. And what if Nykel Bam can only make $7 million next year? What then? Are he and the board of directors going to give 28% to Fresno State athletics. According to Bigelow, the answer to these questions is that the ultimate goal of Nykel Bam is to do charitable work. They want to give away most of their profits. I asked if all five of his board members want this? Yes. They all do.
Bigelow said this ... "I mean, we could have made $20 million and give half of it away. We're not in the business of profiting and becoming multi-billionaires or making hundreds of millions of dollars."
And this ... "I don't really know how to explain it. How much money do you really need to survive? How much is enough? And then you have another mindframe that's, 'If I can make $100 million, then I want to make $200 million, then $300 million, then $400 million.' It starts to become ridiculous. My mindframe is not like that. We make money to give back. We have the opportunity to be in this industry that allows us to make the type of money where we can give back. That's what we do."
And this ... "My experience is humanitarian based. I used to own group homes. It's not about the money."
And this ... "Our goal is to give away 80%. That's our ultimate goal. As long as we can still make a great living and survive, the goal is to give away 80%."
This is the part where your belief in humanity has to get really strong. Not only does Bigelow want to give away 80% of his profit, after working countless hours, setting up deals in the waking hours of the day, when business gets done in Hong Kong and the far reaches of the planet -- a couple times during Tuesday's press conference, he thanked family and friends for putting up with his late nights and early mornings -- but he found five board of directors who want the same thing. I asked if these five people had other businesses and projects that would allow them the financial freedom to give away 80% and he said they did.
Said Bigelow: "They came to me and said for tax purposes, we want to give away $10 million. We're affording you the opportunity to pick and choose who you would like to give this money to."
The tax angle is a bit of a divergence from the we-want-to-do-good angle, but it's not entirely implausible that you could simultaneously avoid a tax hit while helping charity. I'm kicking myself for not asking why five foreigners would be on board with giving $10 million of their money to Fresno State athletics. I mean, what about the United Way? Or the Red Cross? There are starving kids in Africa, I've heard. Earthquake victims in China. The people in Burma could probably use some help after last year's tsunami. Wouldn't five such dramatic philanthropists think the money could be used in a more humane way?
Bigelow said it was entirely his decision, that he got to choose first because he started the company, and in five years, another of the six will get to choose, and eventually another board member will get to choose, and so on. I just hope none of the board members are senior citizens, because at this rate, a couple of them might not get to choose for another 20 or 25 years.
That's about it. What can I say? Fresno State hasn't gotten any money yet. The first payment of $500,000 is supposed to be made July 1, and you can see why a lot of people are taking a Jerry McGuire stance on the subject. Show me the money. The story is hard to believe. No doubt about it. Of course there are never any guarantees with this sort of commitment. Fresno State can't take Bigelow to court if he only gives them $7 million or even $2 million. Every year there are donation pledges made to Fresno State that are never paid. This is different, though. This was the mega news conference. Photo-ops with the president of the university. Everyone making grand statements about the impact. This is department-changing money, a commitment that is supposed to put field turf in Bulldog Stadium and finish the sports medicine center and build the "student village" and complete the soccer/lacrosse stadium. Oh, and pay for a half-million in scholarships.
"I think it's an awesome deal," Pat Hill told me later. "He's just as excited about giving back as we are about receiving. These are the things we need.
"It gives us a new spark, a new energy. You gotta spend money to make money. And it might make more people say, 'Hey I can give to the university too."
To this point, I think it's made a lot of people intrigued and confused. It would be amazing for Fresno State if this thing is real, and it would be absolutely devastating for fundraising if it turns out Bigelow and Nykel Bam International, LLC, are some sort of fairy tale. One of the things we do know is that Bigelow lives modestly, an average house and a small office in the Cargo Bay building.
"I wanted to keep this whole thing a secret," Bigelow said. "I just wanted to donate the money and walk away. I don't want to make it a big deal. I wish that it wasn't a big deal. I'm excited for the university, being able to help student-athletes. I'm just not excited about all the press. I would like for it to happen, and for them to get $10 million without anyone knowing. That's what I would prefer."
So why didn't he just drop it off in an envelope? The university takes anonymous money all the time.
"[Fresno State officials] said that people would be calling me and it would be more of a mess," Bigelow said.
Oh, and one more thing: Bigelow and his family arrived at the press conference in a stretch Hummer limo. A school official told me Fresno State had nothing to do with the limo. The guy who doesn't care about money and didn't want it to be a big deal rolls up in a style.
Just another part of this story that doesn't make sense.
I think Mr. Bigelow may have opened up a huge can of worms with his tale. And it surely is a tale. Did Fresno State see a 2008 tax return that showed $12 or $13 million in income for his company? I'm guessing the answer is a definite NO.
This mess is going to be just that... a mess. You kind of get the impression that a bank robber could rob a bank of $25,000 on Shaw Avenue at 10 a.m. one morning, and then run into John Welty's office... and by 3 p.m. that afternoon, the university would be holding a press conference announcing a "generous donation of $25,000," complete with balloons, a band and a giant check.
Fresno State jumped at this only in the hopes that it would spur others to act quickly to donate money. And in the end, if the whole thing is proven to be fake (which it almost certainly will be), it's going to backfire and you will find local businesses and organizations withholding donations or withdrawing donations because of it. How would anyone be able to trust Fresno State anymore?
This may all have to do with wrestling. Why else would it even be mentioned at the press conference? Boeh isn't reinstating that sport. I can easily picture a scenario where Bigelow says he's deciding to withhold the donation because Fresno State will not bring wrestling back as he'd hoped. Think of it... this way he still gets to look like the hero and still doesn't have to pay the money that he probably never intended to pay anyway. Meanwhile Fresno State will end up looking like the fool yet again.
This drama is going to be fascinating to watch as it plays out. I'm guessing the IRS is paying close attention to his business dealings too now that it is all out in the open too. Who knew that in the worst economic times of our lifetime and in one of the most economically-depressed areas of the nation we have a multi-millionaire making money hand over fist and clamoring to give millions away? Imagine the odds of that!
Nice piece. Good investigative work. How do you say "Fluff and Fold" in Fresno? Hong Kong?
It's funny (and sad) that FSU has a big media event for a $10 million gift and has not received $500,000, a mere five percent of the total pledge. Oh, this story may have a tragic outcome.
Great work Matt James. This whole thing is just a debacle waiting to fully be exposed. $10 milllion donations aren't paid in $500,000 increments. That makes no sense. Any reputable business, I don't care how private it is, has a website that can be found with a simple search of google. Like you, as soon as I heard of this, I tried to find anything regarding this company, and nothing was found. Not one single thing, other than finding stories about this donation in google news as you said.
I know for a fact that there are people, even in this economically depressed area, that are more wealthy then you can possibly imagine. I know one such family who is literally making tens of millions of dollars every year from a family business that is over 100 years old. But, here is the kicker. The family's company has a website, a professional one at that, that details and explains all of the services their company performs and gives extensive bios on the individuals in charge of the company. There are financial statements that can be read online detailing how the company is doing financially every quarter for the whole world to see. There is extensive contact information giving multiple mailing addresses, emails, fax machine numbers, and phone numbers where they can be contacted. Also, just simply typing the company's name into google will uncover tens of thousands of results, including many from reputable business websites like Forbes.
This whole thing is a crock of you know what. Just be prepared to write the followup story. It is going to be coming soon and I will be laughing my head off when I see it. Are people really this naive?
I work in the financial industry. You don't just make millions trading commodities with a Fresno State business background unless you're dealing with shady people. Can you say Allen Stanford? Sadly, there's a reason Alphonso was chosen. Really, giving back by giving to Fresno State sports? This sounds like an ex-athlete who didn't get the adoration he craved so now this. Very sad
Hey John Doe: What part of the "financial industry" do you represent? ATM repair?
It is absolutely plausible that this young man is one of the chosen few who fell into a literal diamond mine. But maybe he makes only one or two installments of his pledge. So?
No one seems to understand the mechanisms of philanthropy. Not all 'gift agreements' reach their planned conclusions. (Let me know when SaveMart makes their last payment, okay?)
Bigelow is the man. Because of Bigelow's donation Fresno State will be ready for anyone. I mean anyone USC, Norte Dame, Oregon, you name it and we are ready. Anywhere any time, anywhere.
Thanks Bigelow for your donations. I follow you work and I know that you are going to be successfully. When I graduate from Fresno State I want to be just like you and donate 10 million to a school that has great players like yourself and Tark the Shark.
Who the hell is Norte Dame?
I noticed that in Saturday's "Thumbs UP" section of the editorial page, there was no "Thumbs Up" for Alphonso Bigelow. Does the Fresno Bee think 10-million isn't enough of a donation to merit a thumbs up, or does the Fresno Bee not believe it's real?
I personally know Bigalow (as do A LOT of people in this town). This guy is about as altruistic as Bernie Madoff. Alfonso posesses the morality of Madoff minus the intelegence. Bottom line: everyone in Fresno knows this guy is a scum bag. However, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He may actually believe something he is doing is on the up and up; but I believe he is probably the scapegoat for something illegitimate. If you investigate further into his past you will find that he was previously tied into a "questionable" investment scheme that left investors with empty pockets scratching their heads. It's really too bad because Fresno State will ultimately be the one who suffers. Keep on this story Matt James. Dig further and you will see exactly what I'm talking about...
Great work on providing some more information about this pledge, which is an amazing opportunity for the Dogs. I hope that the suspicions remain as such, but I am worried about another hit to the university's reputation. Keep it up, James, and follow up on this story.
This is the big pickle, people (especially JohnnyB, Chase and J Wallace of the BDF): A Bigleow has only made a PLEDGE for $10M. And a PLEDGE is NOT a DONATION! (The Fresno Bee’s headline was incorrect by calling it a donation, when no money has come in, yet). Then, there was T Boeh on KSEE 24 “Bulldog Insider” this past Sunday night incorrectly calling it a DONATION, too. Do you remember the movie “Jerry McGuire?” Well, all I need to put this bantering back-and-forth to rest is simply this: “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”
Who is Tony Daniloo? Check this out: http://www.assyriatimes.com/engine/modules/news/index.php?storytopic=26
I too know Alphonso and everyone that has common sense can see this thing is a total sham. This will leave Fresno State once again embarrassed and probably expedite Weltys trip out the door. Think ESPN Behind the Lines episode. Bigelow is a notable figure in the Fresno bar scene and known as a "hot air balloon." Always pumping up something and not delivering. He offered to sell his group homes for 100k to my business partner because he was "too broke to pay attention" last year his words. At his "Hats off to Alphonso" bday party at Pangea last year he ordered us tall vodkas w/mixers for us because he could not afford bottle sevice after he blew threw his refi money. The guy drives an F-150 and lives in a 200k house. Bottom line is he got in over his head on some scheme, duped Fresno State, and now he's in a suffocating mess. Just look at his picture..does he look happy? He has an extensive group of family and friends..where are they? If he's such a humanitarian, why does he go to the bar 5 nights a week and leave his wife and kids home? I guess there must be something in his steroids he's taking to think he could pull this off. Unless he hit the lotto?!? Crash and burn!!!
HotAir559: Yep, the name says it all.
Where is Mr. Bigelow's family? Well, there were 11 of them from both sides at the press conference.
Why don't we just let this thing play out?
Hi Matt,
This is my first time writing the Buzz. I am leavig this here about the Fresno Rockets story in today's Bee. It brought back some great memories about Rose Williamson and my younger years. I think it was in 1970 that this took place. I was twenty-three, just out of Merced College where I started for my second year football. I was working and dating a young lady, Donna Watts who later that year became my wife. She joined a group of mostly young ladies on a fast pitch, city-county softball team. They were desperate for a coach and Donna talked me into reluctantly doing it (My only coaching experience included a couple of years in the new, local youth football league.) When we began practice I soon found that we had some very talented players but no pitchers. I ask for volunteers and the only one who stepped up was Rose. She said she had only played infield but was willing to give it a try. She was a natural. Almost nobody could even make contact. In addition, Rose was a great hitter. My memory isn't what it used to be but I believe she batted around seven hundred. As I said, the rest of the girls were really talented. We went on to win the confernce title and later bested an allstar team from the rest of the leagus. One of the girls suggested that we challenge the mens allstar team. I put that together and we really embarrased them. I don't believe more than a couple of them even made it to first base.
I know you guys have to be working on a story about Alphonso. When's it coming?
I think you're all neive to believe that these things don't happen. I, like everyone else in Fresno, should know that Alphonso is genuinely trying to do a good thing for Fresno State and the community. His business is suppose to be an under the radar type of business, so, why would you financial guys that work for the 80k per year obviously havn't seen this out there. He says, "the secondary market", and there is one after doing some research. "Private platforms", they wouldn't be very private if you all knew about them now would they. Guys, people make a lot of money out there, there is a lot more than ag business, real estate, and casinos in the world that make money! I'm excited that Alphonso has connected to something few do, and that he is willing to give a huge portion back to the community. Besides, for anyone to be throwing him under the bus before he has ever defaulted on the payment is a JOKE! People should be ashamed. From what I understand Fresno State did do a bank verification of funds prior to any press conference announcement. And if anyone ever met Alphonso, and seen him out, he owned a high end fashion clothing store, OF COURSE HE LIKES STYLE! A very giving and humble person!
What a nice surprise the paper had in it today! I just have to start by commending Matt James for printing a positive article in the Bee today about Alphonso Bigelow! Kudos Matt, for relinquishing a bit of the skepticism. It's nice to see SOMEONE giving the man a chance at fulfilling his pledge!
I am fully aware, LIKE most of you, that Alphonso Bigelow's generously large pledge was staggering. However, UNLIKE most of you who have blogged that you "know" Alphonso and have followed that with degrading, critical statements about him and his personal/professional life, I DO KNOW him and Im sure I speak on behalf of an enormous amount of people when I say he is without a doubt one of the most generous, kind-hearted, positive people I know. My intitial reaction was actually laughter when I read what people like (Anonymous) and (Hot Air 559) wrote! I mean for crying out loud Anonymous, if you'd like to question A-L-P-H-O-N-S-O B-I-G-E-L-O-W'S "INTELLIGENCE" (yes THAT's how you spell all those words), maybe you should try spellcheck next time you are in the mood to bash someone who is attempting to do a wonderful deed! And worse, HotAir559, are you proud of yourself Big Man? You basically just stated that you accepted drinks that were bought for you from a man who didn't even need to afford you that, at a party you obviously didn't belong at, given you obviously don't care for him. Yet you so graciously accepted them, I'm sure, without anything less than a fake display of kindness to him, then you walked away and likely continued to speak degradingly of him. You condemn his "lifestyle" and state that he's out 5 nights a week...hmmm....how would YOU know that unless you were? Interesting. Furthermore, your juvenile comment about his "steroid use" is obviously a very pathetic case of man envy, and that's likely why I could probably peg you in a crowd, as the man who kisses severe butt in public, sips alcohol bought for you, and goes home to stare in the mirror wishing your feeble attempts at workouts could produce a fraction of what Bigelow's do. He doesn't take steroids. That likely saddens you doesn't it? Lastly, it's you that's the Hot Air balloon. Sounds like you have a sad "I wanna be Like Mike" complex and you're attempting to capitilize on a potentially weak moment of a man who is trying to do some great things for his alma mater and community. Why don't you just sit back and keep your complexes to yourself and allow things to unfold as they may. In case you missed it, he's TRYING to do something good, but you seem to be the antetheses of what that even means. All of you who speak harshly against Alphonso obviously, and sadly, do not know him. It's sad more than anything, to see a community feeding and breeding on drama in a time when we are economically and socially weak, a time when our communities need nothing short of a huge band-together, and supportive, encouraging input. Less of the pessimistic nay-sayers please!??? We have plenty of politicians and egocentric "entitled" type people running around Fresno bringing plenty of negativity. I'm of the mind that we don't need any more of that. Let the man attempt to make good on his pledge, and as someone mentioned before, if he makes one or ALL of the strokes on his planned donation, he's obviously doing a LOT more than any of these chumps sitting around wasting time chit-chatting about everyone else's life. Sad. Amusing. Disappointing. I just hope that he, and other potential community contributors, aren't detoured from trying to help a community that seems so hell bent on denouncing his name. Hang in there Alphonso, and everyone who TRULY knows and Cares about you is cheering you on here on the sidelines. That's what counts. Best to you and your fam!!!
LOL...It's the 10th of July today and no $500000 check, just like I said. Bigelow is a show off loser who just buried his name. Mark my words not one dollar will be donated and he will blame the "investor." He said the first donation would be on the July 1st, then the 10th, and now what? The university is even too embarrased to comment on it. It's no wounder nobody takes Fresno seriously. HOW SAD..he's not trying to do a bit of good, he tried to hustle Fresno State and it blew up in his face. You must be a friend of his..probably his steriod dealer. Do you know what you look like defending this liar? You must be a real educated person to write an essay with no paragraphs. You also must be easily sold. Here man wanna buy this pet rock?
June 16th was "the check in coming." July 1st "the check is in the mail." An extension to July 10th was "no comment." It's quite obvious that any of the $10M fiasco is just NOT GOING 2 HAPPEN!
Alphonso Bigleow may mean well, but, well, he just doesn't have the means. For Fresno State and fans, there's no POT OF GOLD at the end of this rainbow.
Check it out: http://www.fresnostatenews.com/2009/06/10milgift.htm
So, let me ask you this, who looks like the village idiots, now?
Where is the CHECK!!!!???? No check?? what??? Really??
Holy crap I'm shocked!!!
Hey "How Sad" and "p.p." Sorry if I don't know how to spell your name as well as you do...Nor do I care to take the time to bother using spell check. I barely care to even take the time to post on this blog. However, I feel that it is my duty as a citizen of Fresno and former Bulldog to share the information that I know about you. Believe me, I am being very kind and REALLY censoring the information that I know about you!!! I'd leave this one alone Alphonso Bigelow!
who wants to bet that these ridiculous comments were left by the same person(or people of the same ilk). It is quite obvious that success at Fresno State scares the crap out of some very sad people. Alphonso Bigelow threatened a small, but annoyingly vocal, group of people who would love nothing more than to see Fresno State fail, and he came through on his 1st installment of his pledge. It's all too convenient that they simultaneously shut their mighty yappers.
I thought that he wouldn't be able to afford to make any of his payments, let alone pay for his family's next meal. I guess every one of your well informed "opinions" can all be lumped into the same cesspool where your integrity resides.
Thank you Mr. Bigelow, and keep up the good work.
We are not even sure how much he donated, its six figures but that could have been 100,000 and there is nothing wrong with that, but there is a big difference between 100,000 and 10 million. There is no company and no board of directors, but there was a donation. Lets all leave it at that, and let the man continue to live his life. Im sure he has learned his lesson.