Posted on Wed Dec 19, 2007 at 10:21:55 AM EST in Other Sports
More on: Anna Chakvetadze, tennis, crime, robbery, guns, money (all tags)

If you thought that the curse of money ended with the NFL and the NBA then you'd be wrong. In fact, if you thought greedy, violent criminals and their get-rich-quick schemes were secluded to the United States then you'd be wrong. Turns out those wacky Russians are some aggressive, money-hungry scandals as well.

Tennis star Anna Chakvetadze was tied up by a group of masked men at gunpoint at her home in Russia on Tuesday, robbing her of about $106,000 in cash and around $200,000 in jewelry and other things around her home, according to her father.

Six assailants approached the home outside Moscow before dawn, tied up a maid in another building and forced her to hand over a remote control enabling them to enter the house through the garage, Dzhamal Chakvetadze told NTV television.

"They started to beat me, and I resisted. They hit me over the head with, I think, a pistol butt. It was dark," he said, taking off his cap to show his bruised scalp. "They took out a pistol and told me my child was at home - reminded me - and they told me to hand everything over. I did."

Police and Russia tennis coach Shamil Tarpishchev said the assailants tied up Chakvetadze and her parents, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Tarpishchev said the 20-year-old player, ranked No. 6, "tried to resist but it was useless," ITAR-Tass reported.

Maybe we're just poor sports bloggers who can't conceive this type of stuff, but $106,000 in cash?!?! Don't you need a special in-house safe like Scrooge McDuck had in his mansion if you're holding that kind of paper? Unless you're Tony Montana, then we say use a freakin' bank.

Oh, and it's probably not advised to advertise your wealth on your website. We understand that everyone already knows you're loaded, but, c'mon, you're just asking for trouble.

I'm sort of embarrassed to admit but I'm into jewelry too, Hehe...One of my weaknesses are sport cars. Ferrari in particular.

Links:
[WCBSTV.com]: Russian Tennis Star Tied Up, Robbed At Her Home

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Posted on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 02:47:47 AM EST in NBA
More on: Pacers, Jamaal Tinsley, guns, shooting, money, Alonzo Mourning, crime (all tags)

Jamaal Tinsley and his crew were shot at early Sunday morning near a downtown Indianapolis hotel after some apparently jealous thugs took issue with the group at a club. The incident went down around 3:40 a.m. when the unknown assailants opened fire with an assault rifle at the three vehicles Tinsley's friends were in. The group detoured to the hotel once they realized they were being followed. The Pacers equipment manager, sitting in the back seat of Tinsley's car, was shot in both elbows.

Jamaal's brother, James Tinsley, opened fire on a gray Chrysler and a dark pickup as two of the cars chased the shooters approximately two blocks away. Jamaal was not involved in the subsequent chase.

And of course, this whole thing is really based on something completely senseless. According to the Indy Star:

A group was giving members of Tinsley's crew a hard time about the expensive cars they were driving - a Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Dodge Charger - and the amount of money they made.

So you're telling us that these morons basically approached Tinsley's crew and said "You guys are rich and have really nice cars. You're a bunch of losers!" Whatever happened to just being jealous from afar?

Needless to say, even though Pacers coach Jim O'Brien was happy to hear his player wasn't hurt and gave him the day off because he "wanted him to get away from basketball for the day," O'Brien wasn't exactly sympathetic to Tinsley's situation.

We leave it up to individuals to be responsible. Was I happy that somebody was out at 3 o'clock in the morning? No, I wasn't. But that's a decision that was made, and it was the wrong decision to make.

"It wasn't on a game night. We had off yesterday and we were practicing at 11 o'clock today.

"I would think as we all suspect, nothing good happens after 1 o'clock if you're around alcohol or around an environment where there could be weapons. Nothing good can happen in that situation.

But the Heat's Alonzo Mourning went a step further, blaming the flashy NBA lifestyle for bringing the player haters out.

You've got to understand that we all are vulnerable when it comes to putting ourselves in situations where the public has access to us. And if we go out and flaunt and expose our luxuries, there are some jealous people out there who want it and put us in a position where we're targets," Mourning said. "I'm not saying you've got to hide it, but don't be flamboyant. Don't walk into a club with a crowd of people wearing a $250,000 chain around your neck or pull out a wad of hundreds for everybody to see. Pull out a credit card instead. I mean, you're asking for attention and you're asking for trouble.

Just think of how much trouble Pacman Jones could have avoided if he had whipped out his Visa card instead of making it rain the old fashioned way.

Links:
[IndyStar.com]: Shots fired at Pacers' Jamaal Tinsley
[USAToday.com]: Heat curb Clippers, make Riley third NBA coach with 1,200 wins

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Posted on Fri Mar 16, 2007 at 05:32:56 PM EST in NFL
More on: Brandon Short, NFL, Giants, guns (all tags)

The NFL is a game of yards but on Wednesday night, New York Giants linebacker Brandon Short was involved in a scary situation in which inches meant the difference between life and death.

While shopping for some new bling in a Greenwich Village jewelry store, a pair of officers rushed past Short as gun shots began to ring out from down the street. Eventually a gun battle would erupt between gunman David Garvin and police right next door to the jewelry store where Short was now out of sight on the floor. By the time the whole situation was over it took police 56 shots to bring down the semiautomatic wielding nut job who killed three during his spree, including the two officers Short had seen earlier.

I was fearful for my life," said Short. "There were bullets flying everywhere." He went on to say, "It was a crowded street in Manhattan. Some people were running through restaurants, running down alleys to get away." It's a miracle that no bullets actually went through the window.

Obviously this would have been a terrifying situation for anybody, except maybe Pacman Jones who currently averages at least one near death experience per week.

Links:
[ABC7.com]: GIANTS LB SHORT NEAR CROSSFIRE OF FATAL NY SHOOTINGS
[The Fanhouse]: BRANDON SHORT WITNESSES SHOOT-OUT IN NEW YORK

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