According to ESPN.com, it seems as if Allen Iverson’s chances of making a difference in this year’s NBA season are dwindling even further than they had already. The New York Knicks announced this morning that they will not be signing the 10-time all star. The former MVP and scoring champion was waived on Tuesday after taking a leave of absence for family issues, or for what most believe to be, unhappiness with coming off the bench.

This past summer (when Iverson was an unrestricted free agent) marked a pivotal point in his career. He had two options: 1) Change his attitude and playing habits, or 2) Continue to act like the immature player we have all come to know.

Teams have been scared of what they were getting when singing Iverson, and they had every right to be. Very rarely in Iverson’s career has he helped a TEAM to succeed. He has always been a player with the ability to score at will, and be a great passer as well, but rarely has he displayed the ability to work as a team player for the greater good of the team. There was that one 2001 finals run, coached by Larry Brown, which brings many people to speculate that in this time of turmoil in Iverson’s career, Brown may take a chance on him.

The real issue in signing Iverson comes back to the same point every time: Can he sacrifice his love for having the ball in his hands to create a winning atmosphere? At the end of last season, knowing his time with the Detroit Pistons was coming to and end, he said that he was willing to do anything to win a championship. He wanted nothing more than to be happy and win. But like always, things are much easier said than done. He eventually signed with the one team that showed enough interest, and yet again, displayed his displeasure with a supporting role.

Allen Iverson has always been, and will most likely always be, a cancer to the teams he plays on. He will go in and ruin any type of team chemistry that team may have had. He was able to be successful on the Sixers for many years because they would give him the ball, and let him do his thing, but after 10 years, they grew tired of his selfish attitude. From there, he went to the Nuggets, a team with great potential, and a seemingly great situation for Iverson as he would be paired with a great scorer in Carmelo Anthony, but like in Philadelphia, the Nuggets just could not develop the type of chemistry needed to go deep into the playoffs. He then traveled to Detroit, where the team grew so tired of him so quickly, they milked his back injury for everything it was worth, and basically paid him to sit on the bench for the remainder of the year. And, most recently Iverson and the Grizzlies had to part ways after only 3 games, due to his unhappiness with coming off the bench.

In today’s NBA, chemistry means everything, and Iverson is the antithesis of a player with the ability to develop chemistry. Many analysts suspected that if his stint with the Grizzlies did not go well, that contract would be his last, and in my opinion, it most likely should be. If I were in charge of putting together a team, I don’t think I would want to take the risk of having him disrupt what chemistry has already been put together. Iverson now has two choices: 1) Mean what you say and play as a TEAM player, or 2) Leave the NBA on somebody else’s terms, but please, if you do leave AI, leave with dignity and class.

Baseball

• I know that he is old, but I find Miguel Tejada to be an intriguing free agent [The free agent do-call list].
• Are the Giants upset that Tim Lincecum won his second consecutive Cy Young Award? [It's Good News . . . No Wait, It's Bad News]
• You know all these free agents by their last names alone, but where will they be playing next year? [Baseball shifts into shopping mode]

Football

• Outside of QBs, DEs are the big cash cows [Under the Cap: Top Ten Defensive Ends].
• Slashing of NFL coach pensions may have assistant coaches looking to work in college football [NFL coaches eyeing college jobs].

Basketball

• “Trying to police this mess would be a difficult task if the NCAA employed the FBI.” [No rules needed in NCAA business world]

Tennis

• Nice to see two entities from Switzerland getting along [Credit Suisse and Roger Federer enter long-term partnership].

After a successful weekend in Manchester, England for UFC 105, the UFC will look to continue its growth around the world. In the last year, the UFC has traveled to Canada, England, and Germany, but plans to take the sport to countries such as Italy, France, Australia, and even Abu-Dhabi (the capital of the United Arab Emirates) in the near future. This a very smart and ambitious move for the UFC and could prove to be the groundwork for a global phenomenon years down the line.

This past weekend’s fights were received very positively by the U.K. fan-base; they see that the UFC has been growing steadily for the last few years. The sport of mixed martial arts was very new to the British fans when the UFC first came over, but a few short years later, it has become one of the more popular sports in the country with local stars such as Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy leading the way. Earlier this year, the UFC flagship program, “The Ultimate Fighter” featured a season where it matched up U.S. Fighters against U.K. Fighters, a first for the program. In the end, it was the U.K. who came out on top, showing the kind of effect that expanding globally can have on not only the bottom line as far as dollars for the UFC, but also on their roster of fighters and worldwide talent. UFC president Dana White summed up the road the UFC has traveled in England so far:

“I came here six or seven years ago to try and kick start mixed martial arts in the U.K.,” “When I came over here, nobody knew what it was. There really wasn’t any talent over here. In just six or seven years, we pack a stadium like this tonight.” (With 16,693 spectators packed into Manchester Evening News Arena, UFC 105 became the highest-attended European event in the history of the UFC. )

White also added:

“The other thing about tonight that blows me away is how educated the crowd was, how educated the fans here in the U.K. have become. When guys get side-control and the guy gets back in full-guard, they start cheering. They’re very educated in the ground game. They’re very educated on the fights. It’s amazing how fast this country has come around.”

The UFC will look to bring its brand of fighting to other countries the same way it introduced it here in the United States. Through its reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC will put on regional versions of the show and is actively trying to work out T.V. deals that will put the UFC into millions of new homes.

“My job is over the next 10 years, the same game of soccer that we play in the U.S. is the same game they play in Canada, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, etc., and that’s what we’re doing with mixed martial arts right now,” White said. “Everywhere you go all over the world, it’s the same sport, and everybody plays by the same rules. We’re trying to get these television deals in all these countries, major TV deals exposing the fans to it, then you bring a live event to those places. Then the virus spreads and people start training at it, trying to make a living at it, eventually becoming professional athletes. That’s what we’re going to do over the next 10 years.”

“How do we plug this whole thing in with television and how to watch it everywhere? We’re trying to figure that whole thing out and build that now. But the groundwork for this thing is ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and we’ve been working it very hard, and we’re making it happen. ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is going to be all over the world. That’s the goal.”

The list of possible regions for the UFC to explore is endless, as martial arts and fighting in some form, is kind of a universal language. Expansion hasn’t been totally problem free, however. White, and the UFC have faced challenges in the past when trying to come into a new market or country. When they went to Germany for the first time earlier this year, they were received well by fans, but country officials were deeming the sport too brutal or dangerous and opposed what the UFC was trying to do. This stigma that the UFC carries is mainly from its beginnings as a no-holds-barred fight sport in the early 1990’s before White ever stepped foot into the company and changed it from top to bottom. I think this is really the only thing that could slow down the UFC’s quest to enter new markets as some local government officials could try to ban it, but the UFC has a team of public relations experts that I would have to believe is up to the task. I think that White is the kind of person who won’t rest until his company’s goals are accomplished, and that 10 years from now, we will see unprecedented growth from this sport internationally.

One last quote from Dana White, because as you start to follow the UFC, you will see that he comes up with some interesting (to say the least) things to say.

“Randy Couture fought in the U.K. tonight and got a [expletive] standing ovation. People went crazy for this American. You don’t ever see that [expletive], and you haven’t seen that since the Mike Tyson days. People are feeling that way all over the world about lots of guys, whether it’s Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, the guys from the U.K., a Canadian. [Expletive Georges St- Pierre] is going to fight Dan Hardy. ‘GSP’ got a warm ovation from the crowd. You don’t see that [expletive] in any other sport. So, there’s a lot of potential globally here to do some cool [ expletive].”

Please continue to post your comments or any questions you may have.

Scott Boras and company have landed another top MLB client. Two league sources confirmed that Mike Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves has switched to Scott Boras, leaving Dan Lozano of the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

According to Mark Bowman of MLBBlogs, the move to Boras is not suspected to cause any problems between Gonzalez and the Braves in re-signing Gonzalez. Boras and Braves GM Frank Wren are on good terms. So don’t expect a bidding war like Boras is sometimes known for. The Braves might not even attempt to re-sign him. It will all depend on the level of interest he receives from other clubs and the price they offer.

However, it seems almost definite that the Braves will give Gonzalez salary arbitration. He is a Type – A free agent, meaning the club will receive draft pick compensation if he signs with another club. The Braves would get a first round selection and another compensatory pick between the first and second rounds.

Gonzalez made $3.45 million in 2009. He posted a 2.42 E.R.A. in a career high 80 appearances for the Braves.

I am always looking to expand my journalistic portfolio.  While this site is my baby, I had a brief stint as a contributing writer for ESPN and have been a part of many different radio shows in the past.  Most recently, I wrote a piece for The Bulletin, a newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The topic is Temple University football.  It just hit the web yesterday, and is a little outdated (Temple went on to beat Akron), but hopefully you still think it is a good read.  If you are in Philly, you can read it on those things still being printed on paper (they’re called newspapers).  For those of you outside of the City of Brotherly Love, go ahead and check it out here: It’s Time To Rally Around The Cherry And White.

Here is the first paragraph from the article:

At this time last year, the only reason that I would have been talking about Temple, was to find out which one I would be attending for Friday night Shabbat services.  But this year, I have a new reason to mention that six letter word, and it is in relation to the Owls.

I was shocked when Larry Johnson was released by the Kansas City Chiefs. The reason for my emotion was this man, this football player, was at one time the most dominant running back in the NFL. Larry Johnson was the guy taken 1st overall in fantasy leagues everywhere. Until Monday, LJ, like Shaun Alexander at one point, was without a job.

Take a look now at the present situation. LJ was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday as an insurance policy for the injured starter Cedric Benson. Who wins on this deal you may ask. As the title of this post so figuratively states, LJ does.

Johnson will receive his $4 million still owed to him by the Chiefs. In addition to this, he will receive $255,290 from the Bengals (this total is equal to the minimum veteran contract amount for the remaining time left in the season).

This season with the Chiefs, Johnson had 358 yards on 132 attempts with 0 touchdowns. Why is this relevant? Well LJ will be playing for a team that is 11th in total rushing yards and whose three running backs have a total of 889 yards on 216 attempts with 6 touchdowns.

On Monday, I talked with Michael Fertik, CEO of ReputationDefender and the genius behind a brand new creation: NameGrab.  Michael is an entrepreneur, so we clicked right away.  He started creating businesses straight out of law school, and has been very successful in his previous pursuits (when you get an endorsement from Dr. Phil, you’ve officially “made it”).  He founded ReputationDefender in 2006, but only recently started marketing it after putting countless time and energy into its development.  Today, there is roughly ninety people in his company with customers in spanning forty countries.  His existing products allow a person to monitor his/her reputation on deep web contente that is not even visible through Google searches, remove unwanted contact information from websites, and publish information that one wants to come up through Google searches.

But what is NameGrab all about?  Interestingly, it puts into motion an idea that I had been discussing with a colleague of mine a couple of weeks ago.  As Monasterio stated in his excellent post,

The main point is to acquire these online properties, even if you don’t use them at first. It’s far better to have nothing on a Web page than to have cyber-squatters fill the page with advertisements.

The problem is that athletes and their agents do not want to spent the 10-30 minutes it takes to sign up for the hundreds of websites.  And new social networking sites sprout up from the ground every day.  How do you know which one will be the next Twitter?  The safest bet is to at least reserve a piece of property on each one of them.  The only property you can own is a user name.

Fertik, through NameGrab, has automated that system.  For $100, he promises that an athlete or agent will be able to reserve three user names.  Those user names will be confirmed by NameGrab and then the athlete/agent will have the opportunity to claim the email addresses associated with those names, if he/she so chooses.  NameGrab has plans to include the purchasing of domain names with those user names and also may feature deals for sports agents who have more than three clients that they want to reserve names for.

It seems like a really cheap option that could save athletes and their agents a lot of drama and money in the future.  Cybersquatting is becoming a big issue.  Even college freshmen and first year medical students are finding their names taken by the time they want to register for many social networking sites.

I am currently giving NameGrab a test with the user names DarrenHeitner, Kyle McPherson (a baseball client of mine), and sportsagent.  I will report back on my findings.

Just a few days after an impressive 32 point, 9 assist performance against Chauncey Billups and the Nuggets, Brandon Jennings dropped an insane stat line. 55 points on 21/34 from the field (62%), 7/8 from 3pt range (88%), 5 rebounds and 5 assists with 4 turnovers. What makes his 55 point performance even more impressive is that he failed to score a point in the first quarter, went for 29 in the third, and most important of all, led his team to a victory.

Jennings’ difficult time in Europe has been well documented. From getting kicked out of practice for not working hard enough, to meager playing time and scoring output, many skeptics deemed his choice a failure very early on. However, Jennings apparently learned a great deal in his year abroad. While his flashy style and controversial public comments have painted one picture of Jennings, his actions and performance in the NBA have displayed something very different thus far.

When top scorer Michael Redd went down with yet another knee injury, many said “here we go again” for the woeful Bucks. However, Jennings apparently was not one of them. He has picked up the scoring load, shown poise and leadership, helping to guide his team to a 5-2 record with a 4 game win streak. He is also leading his team in points (25.6) and assists (5.1). Jennings is also adding over 4 rebounds a game, 1 steal and shooting nearly 50% from the floor and 57% on 3pt.

There is no question that we surely will see players choose the path of Brandon Jennings by going to Europe as opposed to their requisite year of college. There also certainly will be those who are not fit to make that jump. Hopefully we do not see a rash of “advisors” steering players who should be playing college basketball, towards the overseas payday for their own monetary gain; however, it may in fact be a good move for some players.

Maybe it takes a year of sitting on a bench in Europe, getting treated like any other professional player and having to work hard, rather than walking around a college campus like a celebrity for a year. Maybe it is too stressful for some to be labeled the next Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, etc. every night on ESPN during March Madness. Maybe, for some, this really is a successful path to choose.

While it is still too early to grade the Jennings experiment a complete success, I would venture to say that he is off to an exceptional start and proving a lot of doubters wrong. Somewhere Sonny Vaccaro is smiling.

It makes sense that major West Coast agencies continue to grow.  Creative Artists Agency was a player in the entertainment world well before it started buying out the largest sports agents/agencies.  It figured that its existing model and connections could bring in more revenue than those entities had been receiving in the past.  It seems to be doing quite well with that business plan.  Another company with broad entertainment connections for its clients is Wasserman Media Group.  I don’t know when agent Arn Tellem finds time to sleep, with his enormous list of clients in professional basketball and football.  He probably receives over one-hundred calls per day from GMs, reporters, and clients, and still finds time to go on the recruiting trail and find new business.  He also keeps his current clients happy, and seems to have a strong connection to the entertainment world through his wife, Nancy Tellem.  Nancy is the President of CBS and is in charge of all of its television programming.

Quite the power couple, and it definitely benefits Arn’s clients.  Recently, Pau Gasol made an appearance on CSI: Miami.  Last year, Gasol and Jordan Farmar appeared on NUMB3RS.  Both shows are on CBS, both players are clients of Arn Tellem and WMG.  Gasol and Farmar are not the biggest names in the game of basketball, but both of them are playing in Los Angeles, so it is natural for them to want a piece of the limelight.

Want to be a MAJOR player in this industry?  Better start cultivating those connections in the entertainment industry, as well.

For example – last Monday morning at about 9am I received a phone call from an unfamiliar number. It turns out it was one of the fathers from the Canadian team I had scouted over the weekend. He had gotten my card from someone with the team and wanted to talk to me about how the whole player/agent relationship works at this point in a youngster’s career if they have aspirations of playing college hockey. I spoke with him for about 15 minutes, explaining that we couldn’t sign his son, provide him with any sort of benefits, or even have much actual contact with him, but we could work with the family in advising him about college choices and help to promote his abilities to college coaches (see NCAA Constitution and Operating Bylaws, August 1, 2009 at 12.3.3.1 which permits a prospective student-athlete to allow an agent to distribute records, statistics, etc. without jeopardizing eligibility). Naturally, I wasn’t expecting to start my day like this, but I was pretty pleased with myself by how I handled the conversation without any preparation. I guess in this competitive industry, you’ve always have to be ready. I told the father that I would be planning a trip up to Ontario in the near future to scout the team further and that I’d be more than happy to sit down with him and really discuss their options and timetable.

With these kids being so young, there isn’t much I can do for them now, but as I explained above, I still have a little wiggle room to work with. My plan – start getting these kids some attention throughout the hockey community. If they start popping up on scouting lists after talking with me, at least the parents will know that I’m the real deal. Immediately, I sent a couple emails out to some scouts who contribute to hockey publications. Most scouting reports don’t include the full crop of 95 birth years yet, but I want to get these kids noticed. Hopefully soon we’ll find out if any of my work is paying off.

Last week I didn’t give you an update on Matt’s situation and you might be wondering what’s going on with him. Right now, he’s still skating with the same club we got him signed with two weeks ago. He’s been seeing increased ice time and he’s taking advantage of it – yesterday he had an assist and a +2 rating. It’s been a few weeks since the CHL and SPHL seasons started and teams should be figuring out where they still need to upgrade. Thus, getting Matt back on their radars is my next move.

Also last week I called a couple of the teams I had spoken with in the past who were struggling defensively. Basically, I identified the teams giving up the most goals per game and then checked their rosters to see where the defensemen were on the +/- rating. Some teams had a few defensemen with a figure deep in the negatives, but many times the player would also have more goals and assists than the rest of the blueliners. As I’ve explained before, Matt’s more of a stay-at-home defensemen – one that will take care of the puck and keep traffic away from his goaltender but not a guy that’s going to be lighting up the lamp every night. Every team has different roles that need to be filled in order to find a certain level of success. Since Matt’s not going to compete with a defenseman who puts up big offensive numbers, I pretty much decided to focus on teams with defensemen without high point totals who were struggling to keep their +/- in the black. Fortunately I was able to reach a handful of coaches that sounded like they might be interested in bringing Matt in on a three-game tryout contract. Today, I’ll be sending the teams Matt’s updated resume as there’s already been a few coaching changes and not everyone currently has his information. Throughout the next couple of days I’ll continue to make some calls and we’ll see where it takes us.

Over the next few weeks I’ve got another challenge ahead of me – setting up my immigration law practice. Last Tuesday, I was officially sworn in and I should be receiving my certificate to practice law any day now. In the mean time I’ve got a lot of matters that need to be addressed.

Step one – find an office. Up until now, I’ve been working out of my home to save money, but with a steady stream (hopefully) of clients that I’ll have to meet with on a daily basis, I’m going to need something a little more professional. Last week, I checked out a few suites located about 15 miles west of where I live and I need to make a decision within the next couple days. After that I’ll be getting my business cards printed up, filing some documents with the State, and taking out my first malpractice insurance policy. With the seemingly never-ending list of fees being thrown at me, it can be extremely stressful at times. Luckily, my family has always been very supportive of me and they’re helping me out with some of the down payments.

Well there’s no surprise that I’ve got another busy week ahead of me. I haven’t gotten much sleep lately but I suppose that in today’s job market, I’d rather be swamped than the alternative. Before I go, I’d like to point out that last week SportsAgentBlog.com had over 20 new articles posted. There are a lot of solid pieces out there for anyone looking to break into the sports industry and I strongly encourage you to check them out. Also please feel free to continue providing the great feedback I’ve gotten so far in the “Comments” section of each entry.