The Skeeter Francis Award
Tom Mickle, a former ACC administrator whose diligent work helped craft the system now known as the Bowl Championship Series, was named posthumously as the 2007 winner of the Marvin “Skeeter” Francis Award for service to the ACC media on Saturday.
Mickle, who lived in Greensboro for 13 years while running the league’s football operations, died in April 2006 from complications related to kidney cancer. His wife, Jill, and daughter, Holland, accepted the plaque in ceremonies at halftime of Saturday’s second ACC Tournament semifinal.
“Tom was an extremely bright guy and loved what he did,” said former ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan, who hired Mickle in 1989. “He truly loved it. He was a very creative thinker. He always had ideas for how to work things out.”
While with the ACC, Mickle helped formulate principles that became known as the Bowl Alliance, a precursor to today’s BCS. He left the league in late 2001 to become executive director of Florida Citrus Sports, the non-profit organization that runs the Capital One Bowl and the Champs Sports Bowl. Both games witnessed improved exposure, payout and television time slot during his administration.
-- by Rob Daniels
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