Money Players

Money Surfing

Art Spander writes about the wilting Rose Bowl and USC football Pete Carroll.

Darren Heitner's SportsAgentBlog.com is two years old. Happy B-Day!

Deadspin linked to my year-end roundup, Top 10 Biggest Sports Losers in 2007. Comments always entertaining: "Shawn Kemp nods in approval of Travis Henry."

AP story on the deplorable death of minority college football head coaches. Said NCAA prez Myles Brand, ""I feel very frustrated about it, and I don't have the legal ability to dictate hiring decisions. We've put in place everything we can think of that would work." Lesson: Rich, powerful white boosters are hardly moved by persuasion.

Sports Illustrated runs an excellent, in-depth article on Chaminade's improbable upset of UVa. Many of my friends play a role: Written by the great Alex Wolff, coaches Terry Holland, now East Carolina AD and Merv Lopes, a wonderful man who operates the Pete Newell Big Man Camp, and Mike Wilbon, a young writer frantically trying to get his Washington Post editors to stop the press so they can run the the story. [Sports Illustrated: The Greatest Upset Never Seen]

I started a facebook page -- and Money Players blog group!!

Money surfing

Yet another reason to visit Money Players on a regular basis...

RIP Rodney Parker Basketball hustler Rodney Parker died this week at age 71. TrueHoop's Henry Abbott explores Parker's fascinating life, quoting extensively from Rick Telander's book "Heaven is a Playground." (Since I've been blogging on the topic of college football, I should also mention Telander wrote "The Hundred-Yard Lie") [True Hoop]

Bad weather + NFL No one's better at capturing supermodels and football players than SI photographers.
[CNNSI.com]

Famous people blowing lots of money Read about the financial mistakes of Kim Basinger, Mark Twain and the Punky QB, to name a few.  Hemingway wrote in The Sun Also Rises: "How did you go bankrupt? Two Ways. Gradually, and then suddenly." Hopefully some good lessons of what not to do. [Growthink.com]

He's baack The greatest athlete of all-time returned today to practice with his Bobcats. (Iverson is shaking his head. Practice!) Could he possibly be plotting his return? Doubtful. Said MJ, "They can lobby all they want. They can't pay me enough." [Charlotte Observer]

Another nice Money Players book review Josh Golka reviews my book on his blog, Athlete Agent Regulation.

Short takes

Michael Lewis gets medieval Lewis, author of The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (best sports book in the last several years) writes about the restricted marketplace for college football players in his Op-Ed, Serfs of the Turf.

TurribleTV on TNT Frank Caliendo, star of those TBS promos that ran constantly during the MLB playoffs visited the studio of NBA on TNT. Caliendo does Charles Barkley better than Charles. Bet you can't stop saying "turrible." Plus John Madden is cooking up something better than a "turducken." Because I think YouTube is a corporate thief...please go to cnnsi.com, look for Featured Video on right-hand side, then click TNT.com tab.

Did the real Eric Gordon play MJ's fake son? Interesting question whether IU frosh sensation Eric Gordon played MJ's son in the movie Space Jam.

Money Surfing

John Canzano questions the NCAAs decision to eject a reporter/blogger and then mocks them. [Oregonian]

The players at the College World Series are acting differently around ESPN's Erin Andrews. [Baseball America]

Coach John Wooden preached to never let making a living get in the way of making a life .. will Tiger Woods be able to achieve that balance now that he's a father? [Chicago Tribune]

Don't fight your teammates that are more skillful than you .. you might get yourself traded. [Chicago Tribune]

Could the NFL's new concussion guidelines actually hurt players more? [New York Times]

The NFL provides a "broadcast boot camp" to help players move from the field to the booth. [New York Times]

The Bush administration doesn't have a good Title IX record. [LA Times]

With the NBA Draft approaching, some are remembering the tragic story of Len Bias. [Awful Announcing]

USC receives a verbal commitment from a 14-year old basketball phenom. [Chicago Sun-Times] Which reminds us of this gem (Thank you Deadspin)...

Money Surfing

• MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is considering a suspension for Jason Giambi if he doesn't cooperate with the Mitchell steroid investigation - and the union won't stand idly by to let it happen. [MLB.com]
• Scientists who once published a study that said it would be okay for players to return to games they suffered concussions in are now disputing their own claims. [New York Times]
• Is the sports business topping out? Since "no one's watching anything anymore", that could be possible. [USA TODAY]
• The NCAA decides to eject a journalist who posted his observations of a College World Series game in a live blog, citing broadcast concerns. [New York Times]
• The NFL and Reebok will allow Jack Del Rio and Mike Nolan to wear suits at home games. [San Francisco Chronicle]
• What culpability do NFL players have with for their own financial well-being and health care after their careers are over? [Chicago Tribune]
• A win for the MLS: Even though David Bekham's European team wants to keep him because he's playing well, he's still coming to the Galaxy. [Los Angeles Times]
• NBA Players Association has announced an initiative to feed one-million Kenyans. [News Digital Media]
• Athletes need to be careful with muscle creams like Ben Gay and Icy Hot when recovering from strenuous athletic activity. [Washington Post]

Money Surfing

• The attorney that leaked grand jury testimony of the BALCO case blames alcohol, drugs, and depression. [ESPN]
• Bud Selig wants Jason Giambi to participate in the Mitchell Investigation The Players Union wants him to stay quiet and sees Selig's actions as a threat. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Baseball players may no longer be able to use the independent leagues as leverage for bigger contracts from the MLB teams that draft them. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
• NFLPA head guy Gene Upshaw aims slightly lower in his threat to harsh critic Joe DeLamielleure, further antagonizing retired players. [Baltimore Sun]
• The House Judiciary Committee will conduct a hearing on the process of disability benefit claims for former NFL players. [Chicago Tribune]
• A Taiwanese scout is giving baseball's minor leaguers another chance to play for big money in Asia. [Wall Street Journal]
• Daunte Culpepper, serving as his own agent, asks the Dolphins to release him. [USA TODAY]

Money Surfing

• Trying for weeks to find a way to get out of their Jason Giambi deal, the Yankees have a chance to get out of the Roger Clemens deal but won't take it. [New York Post]
• Former football player Johnnie Morton refuses to provide a urine sample after being knocked out in his mixed martial arts debut. [Los Angeles Times]
• RW McQuarters cuts off his trademark locks and donates them to Locks of Love. [New York Times]
• Despite contrition, Tank Johnson is suspended for eight games. [Chicago Tribune]
• Although he may want to change uniforms, Kobe Bryant will not be changing shoes. [CNBC]
• The man responsible for NASCAR being as big as it is today passed away on Monday. [Washington Post]

Money Surfing

• Jim Harbaugh says the University of Michigan, like many schools, doesn't give football players the fabulous education they're promised at fine institutions. The hard data proves him right. [San Francisco Examiner, Ann Arbor News]
• Hoping to start over, Jerry Porter wanted to change his number but the NFL and Reebok fined him over $200K to pay for unsold jerseys. [San Francisco Chronicle]
• A study conducted by the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes links concussions to depression in former NFL players. [New York Times]
• Scott Boras has been brilliantly using the independent minor leagues to make more money for his draft prospects. [New York Times]
• The groundwork for the United Football League, a future competitor to the NFL, has been laid. And they've got sound business ideas to stay alive, unlike the XFL and USFL. [New York Times]
• Greg Oden signs an exclusive trading-card deal with Topps. [Basketball News]

Money Surfing

A few links to some of the good things athletes have done this week:

• Caron Butler surprises a teenager at his birthday party. [Washington Post]
• Deuce McAllister works with Nike to donate 13,000 shoes to New Orleans' children. [AP]
• Jason Simmons of the Houston Texans sells his number to Ahman Green for the down payment on a home for a local single-parent. [AP]
• Braylon Edwards sets up a fund for some Cleveland area students, who will get checks for $10,000 if they keep a 2.5 GPA, have no unexcused   absences, and do 15 hours of community service. [Cleveland Plain-Dealer]
• Nick Swisher cuts his long hair to donate it to cancer patients. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Money Surfing

• The number one pick will generate $6,344,483 for the Portland Trail Blazers next year. [CNBC]
• Danica Patrick has been packaged and marketed well, but she needs to win soon to stay popular. [USA TODAY]
• Is the new NFL retiree plan just lip service? [Chicago Tribune]
• Week-old news, but worth noting: Patrick Elias of the NHL has sued his former agents for fraud (amongst other things). [Toronto Globe & Mail]
• Unsatisfied with being a top-10 pick in the NBA Draft, Roy Hibbert returns to school with visions of going number one next year. [Washington Post]
• The Chiefs told Trent Green in March that they'd trade him to Miami. Well, they haven't .. and he's pissed. [Kansas City Star]
• Keyshawn Johnson has decided to retire and become a member of the media after a successful playing career, but not just as an NFL analyst. [Los Angeles Times]