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Gambling With Your Career

Zak Kurtz — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:00:10 +0000

After the whole Tim Donaghy scandal, it would be smart if athletes decided to stop gambling, at least for a while. Since the Donaghy story broke, we have heard about Charles Barkley and Adam Jones (formerly known as Pacman) getting sued by Las Vegas casinos for not paying their gambling bills. This week we now hear that Alonzo Mourning is also charged with having an unpaid bill at a Vegas casino.

Barkley has been quoted saying that he [Charles] has a gambling problem, but he has the money to afford it…another great Barkley quote. Zo apparently owes $50,000 to the same casino that Barkley owed his money. However, reports say that Zo’s debt was not from casino gambling but from reserving a dining room for his charity during last year’s all-star break.

Although Zo might not been in Vegas gambling away his money, why do he and other athletes not pay their bills? It only costs them more money and hassle in the long run by running away from debt. This gives the athletes a bad image in the media and can hurt their careers.

If they want to keep their gambling habits out of the media and not under the microscope, athletes should pay their checks and avoid going to court. These athletes are not bums like Tim Donaghy who have much less money and make deals with the Mafia. They could easily pay their bills and should do so before they leave Vegas. As the amended saying goes, what happens in Las Vegas should stay in Las Vegas.

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up

Jason Wulterkens — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:57:05 +0000

While Darren continues to schlep around Israel, I’ll continue his Friday wrap-up tradition even in his absence. The following are some headlines that we neglected to cover during the week.

The Academy for Athletes, founded by former NFL running back Paul Miles, offers instruction in finance, health, law, public relations and social awareness. It also provides mentoring and networking with past athletes, professors and even a former FBI agent.

PGA phenom Anthony Kim recently fired Rocky Hambric and Hambric Sports Management and needs an agent. Or does he? Hambric, who endured a similar split with Charles Howell III in 2002, has filed a lawsuit in Dallas seeking damages. “It does hurt,” Hambric said. “But we had no alternative than to protect our rights under the agreement.”

NFL owners might opt out of the existing labor agreement as soon as Tuesday when they hold their next meetings in Atlanta, according to league sources.

Is Charles Barkley ok?

A group of retired football players is expected to announce next week a new program to provide free surgeries and rehabilitation for impoverished ex-NFL athletes.

Alan C. Milstein posts over at Sports Law Blog about “an interesting article from the New York Times about O.J. Mayo, the “freshman” basketball talent at the University of Southern California,” which “argues against the absurd age eligibility rule of the NBA enacted with an eye and ear toward what David Stern admits was the mutual back scratching interests of the NBA and the NCAA.”

Darren Rovell writes that “Headbands Help Boost NBA’s Bottom Line,”and that their increased popularity among NBA players has “translated into a bump in sales for headbands. Headband sales are up 38 percent from last year at the NBA Store in Manhattan and on NBAstore.com, according to league spokesperson Kristin Conte.”

Getting excited yet for the NBA draft? The actual draft isn’t until June 26th, but the lottery will be conducted this week. Check out a mock draft, the official early-entry candidate list,or a lottery odds calculator/simulator. Personally, I’ll only be happy if the Timberwolves get the #1 or #2 position.

Publicly Endorsing Political Candidates

Darren Heitner — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:32:56 +0000

For a couple of days, Yardbarker.com had a post by Greg Oden on its front page, racking up more barks (positive votes) each hour. The title of his blog entry was: Senator Obama is getting my vote. Then, Jason Wulterkens wrote about how Tiger Woods recently jumped on the Obama bandwagon, throwing his support toward the likable candidate. It got me thinking, should athletes or agents vocally express their opinions on who America should vote for in a political election? Obviously, everybody has a First Amendment right to publicly announce who they are going to support in any type of forum. But is it a smart business decision to do so?

Leigh Steinberg, known as an agent who is always bucking the general trend (Jerry McGuire was supposedly based on his life), has also publicly announced his support for Senator Obama. In fact, he has created a group called Athletes for Obama with the help of Reggie Bush and Charles Barkley.

No matter if you think an athlete or agent should publicly support a candidate or drive people to vote for a particular person, I think we can all agree that it is worthwhile for people in high positions to have a goal of trying to broadly influence people to vote (not specifically who to vote for). That is why I particularly liked the way that Oden ended his post:

If the person I vote for wins it’s gonna be because of my one little vote, at least that’s what I’m gonna think. I think everyone should think that way. This will be my first presidential election to participate in as a voter and I hope that you younger voters will get involved. I think that our votes can really influence the outcome so go out, register and vote for who you think is the best candidate to be the best leader for this country and make sure you and your family will feel good about the new president that is elected in November.

I also urge all of this site’s readers to stay up to date with the Presidential race and vote this November. This will be the first opportunity for many of you to vote in a Presidential election. Make your voice heard. Each vote counts.