1:51 PM The MLB GM meetings begin today. Last year, the event was held at a plush resort in Dana Point, CA. This year? The event has been cut from five days to three, and will be held inside the hotel at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Lovely!
1:24 PM Insanity, desperation or savvy? Probably a little of all three.
1:13 PM When discussing the viability of a college football playoff system, invariably critics bring up bowl games as a reward for players. At least in this particular case, I really couldn't agree more.
1:03 PM There's been lotsa chatter about TCU's inability to sellout home games during the Horned Frogs' undefeated season. But Joe Schad of ESPN reports this morning that "TCU sold out the Utah game" for this Saturday. Might be the best game to look forward to this weekend.
Have you ever wondered how so many athletes go broke after retirement so often? After all, Latrell Sprewell and Antoine Walker were both worth over $100 million, and yet within five years of retirement, each was essentially bankrupt. How, you might wonder?
(Hey, finally some expert advice Lenny Dykstra would be qualified to give!)
Fortunately, the BUSINESS INSIDER published a handy 11-point list on how to accomplish exactly that. The list is full of the usual suspects: bad investments, families magically growing exponentially upon the first signed contract, drugs. You know, exactly how you’d expect people lose money. But rather than look at the situation as what not to do - after all, how do you “not” have greedy relatives if you’re a millionaire? - why not approach the situation as a series of suggestions on what to actually do? A few tips below.
It’s been a while since the Bears have had a good quarterback. And it’s a shame, considering they’ve had some pretty good teams that were ultimately sabotaged by guys like Jim Miller and Rex Grossman. So we all know what a huge relief it was for the people of Chicago that they finally would have a real, legitimate star under center.
So before we get all misty and concerned over recent reports that Lenny Dykstra is destitute andsleeping in his car, let’s all take a breath and remember just who it is we’re dealing with here. Not only has the former Mets and Phillies star filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but he’s in a pitched battle with the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company involving coverage on two multi-million dollar homes that he owns. And, Our Hero is in the process of divorcing his wife.
So sure, telling CNBC on Monday that he’s totally broke and unable to live in his own house because all the toilets are missing, well, it sounds rather like something someone in his position would say. Not buying it. Dykstra could probably afford a hotel room by simply selling one of his dress shirts every day. Hey, maybe he IS living in his car, but I’m not believing that until I see him in there wrapped in a sleeping bag, clutching a tire jack and listening to the OnStar lady sing him to sleep. Read more…
By now you know about Len Dykstra’s profound financial and marital problems. I’m not sure how I would react to the nightmare he’s now experiencing, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t make some of the claims he made to Dan Patrick on Patrick’s radio show today (audio link).
(Reality show-bound Dykstra sez he sleeps twice a week - and I believe him)
Here’s a sampling:
– Dykstra said that people came for job interviews just so they could sue him and make some money.
– Dykstra said that he still has the house and the plane. But then Dan asked why was there no furniture in his house when HBO showed up with cameras. “Just remember dude, everything isn’t what it appears.”
– Dykstra says that he’s still giving financial advice and every tip he’s given has actually worked out.
Wow, that last one is a real whopper. Oh, but it gets worse.
Just over a week after Lenny Dykstrafiled bankruptcy and then gave a bizarre interview to CNBC saying that it was just a “reorganization” tactic to get his financial ducks in a row, word comes that he is, in fact, pretty much broke. This despite claims from his lawyer last week that his stated assets would turn out to be more than $50 million, when Chapter 11 paperwork indicated the answer was more like $50,000. The true hero in all of this? Mitch Williams, who predicted this back in January. But even Wild Thing thought it would take another two years or so.
(I play…dirty)
The latest news comes from paperwork documenting the ongoing divorce proceedings between Dykstra and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Terri. The latter is requesting $40,000 per month in child and spousal support, based on his “historical income.” But Dykstra has responded that his only source of income right now is his MLB pension — in the amount of $5,700 per month.
Speculation has been rampant that one of the reasons that Sahel Kazemi decided to kill Steve McNair was because she suspected that McNair was involved with yet another woman who was not his wife.
His only source for the story is the former business manager of an unnamed strip club, who asked remain anonymous for the story. This guy says McNair was a frequent visitor to the club and had an ongoing affair with a dancer that lasted for six years. Here’s what he had to say:
“She liked money and athletes,” the former business manager said on condition of anonymity. “She went out with athletes before. She was one of those girls who said, ‘You’re married? You have kids? So what?’ Lets have fun.
“I can tell you that she was very upset when she learned that he had died,” the former business manager added.
I don’t doubt that McNair may have visited this club every time he was in Minneapolis, and that when he did he sought out the same woman. But was there really a relationship here? Maybe he just liked to see the same stripper every time he was in Minnesota? Did he have a different woman in every city he went to?
(What about this city was so alluring for McNair?)
But how often would he have occasion to go to Minnesota? Since he played only for AFC teams, a search of PRO-FOOTBALL-REFERENCE.COM shows that McNair only went to Minnesota to play against the Vikings three times: in 1995 (as a rookie when he wasn’t even a starter), 2001, and 2004. That’s only one game there in the last six years. He was from Mississippi and lived in Tennessee, so I’m not sure why he would be making frequent trips up to Minneapolis, unless he was good friends with some of the Vikings who were on that sex boat.
If there’s anyone out there in Minneapolis, what club would be the choice of athletes?
So while it might make sense for the woman in Minnesota to be sad (perhaps more for the loss of a customer), it doesn’t make sense that she would be completely distraught, unless she traveled to see McNair. Kazemi reportedly saw another woman leaving McNair’s condo days before the shooting, but it’s far-fetched to think that it could be the Minnesota stripper. Which makes you wonder exactly how many women he was involved with in some way.
Moving on, Lenny Dykstra continues to try and keep up with Darren Daulton in the race to be crowned the “looniest guy who played for the 1993 Phillies.” In an interview with CNBC’s Jane Wells that is not done justice by this accompanying article, Dykstra rambled (often incoherently) about his financial woes that has led to him filing for bankruptcy. Here’s the video, and it’s worth all 18 minutes of your time:
Dykstra claims that Washington Mutual perpetrated fraud against him on a mortgage that he can no longer afford, and that he is simply filing in order to deal with foreclosure proceedings (he points out that it is his corporation filing Chapter 11 in order to “reorganize”). He even goes as far as to call out a specific Wamu employee, even mocking his stuttering. Of course, Dykstra also stumbles over his words, so it’s unclear when he’s pretending to be the stutterer and when he’s just being himself. He also claims to not be very smart, and to not really know how all the paperwork works in any of this. So how is he so sure that he was taken advantage of in his mortgage? His attorney says he’s worth around $50 million, but Dykstra won’t go as far as to even give a ballpark figure of his net worth. When Wells informs him that the bankruptcy paperwork indicates his assets are no more than $50,000, he doesn’t really have any answer that would lead you to believe otherwise. This despite boasting that he’s “111-0 in the stock market” (which, if you steal other people’s stock advice, maybe that isn’t that hard).
The only evidence Dykstra could offer of his net worth still being in the millions (it was reported as $58 million in 2008) was that his failed venture at a lifestyle magazine for athletes (called “The Players Club”) was being reorganized into a company that I think is also supposed to help pro athletes manage their money. And, in his words, “will someone be interested in that later, and want to give me $10 million? I don’t know, but what I have is exactly what’s stated.” Oy. So, basically, it looks like he’s got a few businesses that aren’t worth anything or aren’t profitable, like his private-jet airline called Legends Air, and he’s just hoping that someone will want to give him millions for them later.
The interview took place at Dykstra’s home, which he bought from Wayne Gretzky two years ago. Just after the 8:00 mark, when Dykstra claimed that it was his primary residence, Wells starting losing her patience, pointing out that there was no furniture in the house (with a great “wtf is wrong with you?” look), to which Dykstra responded that the house was undergoing a “remodel” as if that was supposed to be apparent.
(The home in question, which is supposedly worth $25 million)
Please, someone get Dykstra and Daulton together for an interview. Or just tape them talking to each other for an hour. That would be better than anything I’ve ever seen on “E:60.”
Alright, before I go on any more Dystranian tangents, let’s get to today’s links:
• You thought Yankee Stadium was expensive? The total cost of the new stadium for the Marlins in Miami is going to run at least $2.4 billion because the county is going to take an insane amount of time to pay back its loans. Because it can’t afford a new stadium. And they’re still going to draw 8,000 fans a night. Has there ever been a worse idea than this?
(This is an early rendering, missing the tarp over the unused top deck)
• Tim Lincecumfinally gave up a run after more than 29 scoreless innings. He actually took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Padres last night, but gave up three runs in the inning. No worries, though, as the Giants still won 9-3.
• FANHOUSE discusses a little-known fact about NBA salaries. Due to a clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, all NBA players had to give 9% of their salaries back to their teams. All of this money went into an escrow fund, and is being redistributed to every team equally, in the sum of $6.3 million per team.
• San Diego State fired football coach Chuck Long back in November, but he’s continued to show up for work every day because his contract guarantees him his salary of more than $715,000 per year if he keeps coming to the office. What exactly he’s doing, nobody knows. SDSU can’t force him to leave, but the SAN DIEGO TIMES-UNION says the school is paying a consultant $125 an hour to try and mediate a settlement with Long and get him to leave (thanks the WIZ OF ODDS for the tip).
• A group of Canadians are working on an offer for the Phoenix Coyotes, and they totally want to keep the team in Phoenix. I mean, what group of Canadians wouldn’t want the team to keep failing in when they could be selling out a new arena in suburban Toronto every night?
• The D-Backs were crusing through five innings last night, leading 7-0 over the Marlins. It was still 7-4 after seven. Then the eighth inning happened. 13 hitters, eight hits, two errors, and a passed ball later, Florida had scored a franchise-record 10 runs in the inning.
• The Nats and Astros resumed a game last night that was suspended on May 5th with the score tied at 10. The Nats, the home team on the scoreboard, only took seven minutes to push the winning run across — in Houston. Even stranger, the winning pitcher was Joel Hanrahan, who now plays for the Pirates.
• Ron Artest has worn a different number everywhere he’s gone, so it’s no surprise that he’s changing it up again with the Lakers. According to INSIDE THE LAKERS, Ron-Ron’s going to wear #37 — because it’s the number of weeks Thriller was the #1 album. Top that tribute, Griffey.
• Lakers point guard Jordan Farmar just played poker for the first time two weeks ago, but he’s still alive in the main event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Of the 6,494 players who started the tourney, only about 1,500 are left going into today’s play (and 648 will get paid). While it’s still way too early, Farmar would face an interesting dilemma if he were to make the final table. That table won’t be played until early November, which is during the NBA season. Would the Lakers let him miss a game or two to finish a poker tournament? Actually, I’m really rooting for this to happen so we find out. First place, by the way, is more than $8 million — much more than Farmar makes at his job.
• Speaking of poker, ex-WWE star Torrie Wilsonalso played in the main event, but busted out early (and often!):
Well, well. Here we are. Mr. Lenny Dykstra, the man who famously claims to be undefeated or something in stock investing, has filed for bankruptcy (Darren Daulton saw this coming, as with all other things). Bankrupt, man. Just imagine if Dykstra’s stock picks had turned out poorly.
(Lookin’ good, gettin’ shoulder squeezes. What could go wrong?)
Yes, it’s more than a bit mean-spirited to delight in the complete financial failure of a stranger, even a famous one, so let’s point out that the world would be a better place if he and everybody else were in better financial shape. We can all agree on that, right? Okay, good. That said, Dykstra’s bankruptcy signals the end of one of the most noxiously overconfident reigns in the hypersensationalized world of early-decade financial management. Thank God.
