The NCAA exploits amateur athletes to no end by raking in millions while amateurs aren’t even allowed to get gifts. The worst part is, the guys that do not go on to the pros never get a penny after they lose their amateur status either.

Former UCLA basketball great Ed O’Bannon seeks to change just that as he has filed suit against the NCAA, claiming that they owe him royalties for using his likeness and name in DVDs, video games, and jerseys. (more…)

Ever since George Steinbrenner faded away from atop the organization, the Yankees have thrown tradition out the window.

Gone is The House That Ruth Built.  Gone are the common blue collar fans.  And now?  Gone are the rights afforded to former all-time Yankee greats.

Don’t let the Yankees fool you by tuning into the YES Network and watching hour after hour of pinstripe pride, tradition, and a family feel among the city, its fans, and current and former greats. Wrong. Nowadays, season ticket holders have taken a back seat to corporate money with the absurdly inflated ticket prices.  The Stadium itself looks like every other new stadium in the league, and all of the best and most unique parts of the Real Yankee Stadium have been thrown in the garbage.  Thousands of empty seats are visible on every national telecast. (more…)

We’ve all seen these ads in magazines, in newspapers, and on the Internet, to get rich quick. But who takes them seriously? They all seem like scams. That’s why I decided to try out a few to see which get rich schemes are scams to AVOID! (more…)

Why pay for a motel, when your car can double as a “mini-motel!” Much like the Capsule Hotels in Japan, which provide you with an area just large enough to fit your body, overnight car-sleeping is more comfortable than you think—if you make the proper preparations: (more…)

Following in the wake of the Yankees’ signing of star first baseman Mark Teixeira is the deluge of tears flowing from the eyes of other team officials around the league.  Brewers owner Mark Attanasio complained that he spent $220M for his entire organization, while the Yankees just spent $423.5M on three free agents this month.

But am I missing something here?  Yes, they committed themselves to pay out $423.5M in future salaries, but that is over an eight-year span.  Next year’s payroll only assumes $62M of that money ($23M + $22.5M + $16.5M), which is still $26.5M less than the $88.5M that came off the books this offseason.  So why was nobody whining when last year’s Yanks were watching the playoffs on TV with a much higher payroll?

Last I checked, the entire league didn’t resemble a nursery room full of whining babies when the Chicago Cubs signed their name on the dotted lines of nearly $300M in future salaries in the winter of 2006 after finishing with a disgusting 66-96 record.  So why all the fuss now over another off-season spending spree?

Because of the state of the current economy?  No.

Then why?  Oh yea, because we are talking about the New York Yankees – the 26-time champion New York Yankees who have kept franchises like the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays afloat since the dawn of the luxury tax.  Teams like the envious Brewers and Marlins need to stop talking about a salary cap and start putting the revenue and profit margin they generate back on the field instead of in their pockets for the fans to enjoy – the same way the Yankees have been doing it for decades.

(Image: NYTimes.com)

Following a disappointing season that saw the Yankees fail to reach the postseason for the first time since 1993, amidst the festivities of the final season in beloved Yankee Stadium, they realize that they must make a strong statement this off-season.  There is one main objective for revamping this underachieving roster: Add young superior talent.

They have colossal holes in four main areas: the starting rotation, no true first baseman, ancient options in left field and absolutely nothing in center field.  With roughly $90M coming off the payroll, now is the time to act.

The first priority was the shortcomings of the pitching staff.  The Yanks managed to win 89 games last season despite heavy workloads from Darrell Rasner, Sidney Ponson, Dan Giese, and other hilarious options.  This is unacceptable.  Brian Cashman and his cronies ponied up to pay a combined $43.5M per year on the young power arms of C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.  Once Andy Pettitte decides to return as an anchor at the fifth starter slot at a discounted price, the rotation will be set.

However, Cashman has been susceptible in the past with his questionable decision making regarding position players.  Think of the off-season after the 2004 season – Yanks were coming off the collapse to the Red Sox and instead of upgrading their center field position with Carlos Beltran, they decided to blow their wad on Randy Johnson and Carl Pavano.  I think we all know how those two moves worked out and now they are twiddling their thumbs with Brett Gardner in center field.

The Yanks upgraded by sending little used utility man Wilson Betemit to the White Sox for Nick Swisher to play first base and outfield, and have entertained the notion of trading Melky Cabrera to the Brewers for center fielder Mike Cameron.

But why bring in another 36 year-old washed-up outfielder at $10M per year when you already have two others, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui (each make roughly $13M), fighting for playing time?  Wouldn’t they be better off shelling out the $22M to Mark Teixeira and moving Nick Swisher into center field?

Teixeira is a 28 year-old gold glove first baseman.  Have the Yanks had a real first basemen who can play solid defense and hit for power and average since Tino Martinez in 2001?  No.

Cashman needs to realize that now is the time to strike, and strike effectively and intelligently.  Grab Teixeira, who will provide stability at the first base position for the first decade of the new Stadium.  He will crush the ball to the new short porch in right and is a solid player with a bull work ethic in the weight room.  Let Manny Ramirez go play in LA.  Then, save the $26M that will be shed off the payroll next summer (from Damon and Matsui’s corpse) and invest it in another young stud in the outfield, namely Matt Holliday.

The solution is simple – sign the high quality players while they are entering their prime, not after they just completed it.  Cashman took the first step by upgrading the pitching staff while lowering the average age.  Now its time to do the same for the position players.

(Image: Gothamist)

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina is calling it quits after a brilliant 18-year career.  Sure, the Moose very well might take his 270 career victories, 17 consecutive seasons with 11 or more wins, and 2,813 strikeouts to the Hall of Fame one day; but for Yankee fans, it is a time to consider that this could be the end of a relatively dark era in recent memory because of one pivotal decision gone wrong.

The Yanks were winners of three-straight titles, four of the past five, and entered the winter after the 2000 season with intent to go for the jugular.  With two prized free agents available, the Yanks knew they had to make the right choice to stay on top.

They then signed the number-one pitcher available over the number-one hitter available – Moose over Manny. (more…)

In shocking news out of the NBA earlier this week, the Detroit Pistons traded Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Chiekh Samb to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Allen Iverson.  On the surface, this appears to be a win-win trade for both teams – but for the Pistons, this deal opens the door for so much more.

The Pistons were slowly becoming the league’s most boring team outside of San Antonio.  They’ve had the same core of team-first guys for five years, never do anything spectacular, and were a gambler’s dream come true when it came down to picking the loser of the Eastern Conference Finals. (more…)

To begin, it doesn’t matter how we got where we are. I really don’t care how often Obama wants to talk about who is to blame, but we are here now, we are screwed and we have to get out. YES, we know, McCain was not voted Miss Congeniality…we heard. And yes, no one really knows how to pronounce Ahmadinejad – we got it.

The sad part is, we sat around COED office drinking and watching the debate – and when it was done, we started talking and it was quite obvious that we were all watching different debates.

(more…)

Talks have stalled between the New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies over a potential deal that will send Zach Randolph to the Grizzlies for Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric, because it is believed that Memphis is seeking a first-round pick as part of the deal.  But how can Memphis justify that request?  Are they hammered?

While Randolph isn’t known for his defensive prowess, he is an extremely effective scorer and rebounder with toughness in the post. He is a proven 20-10 guy in the Western Conference and will immediately team with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay to form a dynamic inside-outside game that Hakim Warrick obviously is never going to deliver. (more…)