I previously noted here that the Tunisians fired their coach in the middle of the World Cup tournament games to no avail; Tunisia is not in the Knockout Round. That may be a step below the aftermath of the South Korean’s team failure to make the Knockout Round; you make the call:
- Granted, the South Koreans waited until after the team was eliminated from the tournament to do whatever they felt it necessary to do.
- The South Korean President – Lee Jae Myung – – said he was “utterly baffled” by the team’s quick elimination and he immediately accepted the resignation of the team’s coach – Hong Myong-bo. [Not so outrageous here.]
- Then President Lee ordered an investigation into all the country’s sports entities that received government assistance. [Really?]
- Specifically, President Lee wants the investigation to see if “favoritism, incompetence, and improper use of taxpayer funds contributed to the team’s failure.” [The Tunisian action seems quite measured by comparison.]
Floyd Mayweather has been charged with a criminal complaint in Las Vegas and at the center of the complaint is the assertion that he passed a bad check. When I read that sub-headline, I experienced cognitive dissonance. Floyd Mayweather earned more than $1B as a boxer and a showman; and now he is writing bad checks? Mayweather even gave himself the nickname “Money” which makes such assertions a bit ironic.
Here is the background according to the authorities … In December 2024, Mayweather went to a Las Vegas jeweler with whom he had done business in the past and purchased an Audemars Piguet watch for $200K writing a check to the jeweler for the transaction.. [Aside: A cursory search on Google would lead me to conclude that $200K is a mid-range price for watches of this heritage.]
The check bounced. Efforts by the jeweler to complete the sale have not worked and so now Mayweather faces charges that include felony theft and in Nevada the penalty for felony theft can be as much as 20 years in the hoosegow.
In addition to my confusion about how someone ho had earned more than $1B in his lifetime could be charged with floating bad checks, there was something else that made me shake my head:
- Do people still wear wrist watches?
- The date and time are prominently displayed on my cell phone’s “front page”.
Moving on but sticking with criminal charges involving athletes … Two former NBA players, Malik Beasley and Ed Davis, have been indicted for illegal gambling and point shaving. According to a Federal indictment, the charges focus on four specific games in the 2023-24 NBA season. In the indictment, the allegation is that Beasley had lost millions of dollars gambling during his NBA career and that he then agreed to manipulate his statistics ahead of four games during the 2023-24 season while he was with the Bucks so that his co-conspirators could wager on the stats. Beasley used his “earnings” from these manipulations to pay off his debts to West and others.
Obviously, Beasley and his attorney deny the charges and the process has a long way to go. Interestingly, both the NBA and the NBPA have taken the stance that this is a matter they will monitor closely because it affects the “integrity of the game”, but both sides seem to wish that all this would dry up and blow away quickly and quietly.
And the beat goes on … The Detroit Lions have released starting CB Terrion Arnold; this is not the time of year for such personnel moves; and once again, it is the long arm of the law that is involved here. Arnold was arrested a few days ago and faces 8 felony charges including 3 counts of armed robbery and 3 counts of kidnapping. Arnold was released with a bond of $1M and two conditions:
- Home confinement save for “NFL travel” or “legal appointments”. His passport was confiscated. [With his release by the Lions, “NFL travel” is unnecessary.]
- He is under a no-contact order with any of the witnesses, victims nor with any of his co-defendants.
Here is a link to the judicial procedure that led to Arnold’s home confinement. Less than a week transpired between Arnold’s arrest and the Lions’ decision to release him.
One note from this matter – – which still has a long way to go in the justice system – – is that even one charge of kidnapping could result in a maximum penalty of life in prison. Terrion Arnold is only 23 years old and faces three such counts.
Finally, a fitting close for today seems to be this from Oscar Wilde:
“I can resist anything but temptation.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………