Tag: reggie bush

Categories
New Orleans Saints

Yaaaawn: Reggie Bush accepted improper gifts



Give it back?

Yahoo has finished an 8 month investigation to definitively tell you, the sports fan, that Reggie Bush received financial benefits worth more than $100,000 while playing at USC. While the $100k figure might be a little staggering, does any football fan still believe that top flight prospects at the collegiate level don’t receive gifts or preferential treatment?

Apart from the shady Michael Michaels (never trust anyone with the same first and last name) and the house that the Bush family lived rent free in for a year, Yahoo is reporting that the family received multiple gifts and paid trips from Bush’s current marketing representative Mike Ornstein while Bush was at USC. All the trips, suits, makeovers, etc. were put on the credit card of Jamie Fritz, an employee of Ornstein’s. When asked about it, Ornstein said that they were loans and Fritz’s credit card had to be used because the Bushs didn’t have one and everything needs to be booked with a credit card. Of course, he didn’t address the weekly payments of at leat $1,500 to the Bush family.

Meanwhile, there is talk of repossessing the Heisman Trophy and the BCS negating the Trojan’s 2004 national championship. But does anyone really care? Reggie Bush and his family received over $100,000 while he was in college. Reggie Bush is now making $55M with the Saints. What does this have to do with anything? Does it denigrate the integrity of the game? How much money did BCS make off of Reggie Bush in the championship games he played? Just let it go people.

Links:

[Yahoo]: Cash and carry

[Yahoo]: Dan Wetzel: Take back the title

[TrojanWire]: On the Prospect of Retroactive Penalties

Categories
New Orleans Saints

Odds and Ends: Adidas should thank the NFL for the free advertising



Golden cleats

Reggie Bush was fined for wearing Adidas cleats in his first preseason game by the NFL because they have a marketing deal with Nike and Reebok. Well Adidas is covering the fine for Bush and we suspect they would do it every week if need be because of the free publicity the NFL is giving them. Sponsorship dollars is one thing but players should be able to wear whatever equipment they want as long as it fits within the color scheme and is a matter of personal preference.

In other news…

[MSNBC]: Koren Robinson arrested for DWI

[Sportsline]: Clarett may get gag order on robbery charges

[Reuters]: Michele Wie to shill for Sony

[Morisato’s blog]: The Worst Trades In Baseball History

[Chicago Tribune]: These days, ‘I had a bad day’ isn’t good enough for an athlete to explain his failures

[Yahoo]: Landis’ former cycling team to cease operations

Categories
Houston Texans

Casserly is out as Texans GM

Charley Casserly, the guy who drafted Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush with the #1 pick, resigned today as the GM of the Houston Texans. Casserly was widely ridiculed for picking Williams but Texans owner Bob McNair insists that Casserly was not fired and that he was pursuing a job in the NFL office.

There’s been speculation that the Mario Williams pick was largely orchestrated by head coach Gary Kubiak. So either Casserly feels that he didn’t have the input or perhaps he was indeed responsible for the Williams pick and wants to distance himself as quickly as possible. In any case, this is all based on our assumption (widely supported) that taking Mario Williams #1 was a stupid, stupid move.

Kubiak commented on the next GM:


This is a huge hire for our organization. There’s a lot of good things going on. The key thing is we have to do our homework and make sure they keep heading in that direction. This person has to be a great fit for what’s happening right now with the Houston Texans.

So someone with Roto Rooter on their resume… cause that franchise is going down the toilet. Zing!

Links:
[Yahoo]: Casserly resigns as Texans GM

Categories
New Orleans Saints

Odds and Ends for Tues May 1 2006: Reggie Bush is still #1


They don’t even know what number he’ll be yet but they don’t care. Saints fans have already ordered 15,000 Reggie Bush Saints jerseys. At 75 bucks a pop, that’s more money than the value of the house his parents live in for free. You think anyone cares about the housing scandal? We hear the Texans have already sold 4 Mario Williams jerseys.

In other news…

[Newsday]: (via Ben Maller.com) ESPN ratings for the NFL draft were up year over year from 4.1 to 4.7 despite competition from the NFL Network.

[ESPN]: Marcus Vick is headed to rookie QB camp in Miami. The good news is that if anyone tries to jack him, he’s strapped.

[MSNBC]: Why settle for one when you can ask for two? Schwarzenegger wants 2 NFL teams in LA.

[Reuters]: Reggie Evans fined $10k for testicle pull.

Categories
Houston Texans

Texans take Sam Bowie with the first pick

We’re not sure this requires another post but we are scratching our heads over this pick. The Texans arguably already have their franchise QB and RB in David Carr and Domanick Davis. It’s a stretch but we can see the argument. But why not trade the #1 pick? They could’ve at least gotten an extra pick out of this. Instead, they get nothing but ridicule.

Like Texans execs have been doing for the past 48 hours, we’re going drinking now.

Categories
Houston Texans

Report: Houston Texans will take Mario Williams #1

Confirmed: Texans sign Mario Williams

Fox Sports is reporting that the Texans have told Mario Williams’ people that they are taking him #1 overall and the two sides are hammering out a pre-draft deal.

This would be the biggest shock in the Draft since the Colts took Edgerrin James over Ricky Williams. Of course, that actually turned out well for the Colts. But answer this: who is going to pay money to see Mario Williams?

If this comes to pass, maybe we were wrong about these people. And maybe about Whitney Houston too.

Categories
General Sports

Odds and Ends for Fri Apr 28 2006: Bush house scandal getting hairier

(What? It’s Friday. We can’t make a bad joke in the headline?)

It seems that Reggie’s parents were supposed to pay $4,500 a month in rent but never paid because they didn’t have the money. Of course, no one seemed to worry about it because they knew that the $54,000 in back rent was chump change for the future #1 pick’s family. The lawyer for Michael Michaels, one of the founders of the failed New Era Sports & Entertainment has said he plans on filing a $3.2 million fraud lawsuit against Bush and his family. Concidentally, the NFLPA is investigating and extortion charge against David Caravantes, another shady figure in the whole scandal.

Meanwhile, Reggie Bush said that his family moved out not because of the Yahoo story hitting the wires but because they simply found a better place to live. We’re sure they have.

In other news…

[James Mirtle]: It’s not a cool a recreation as Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, but James Mirtle recreates Saku Koivu’s eye injury. Poor taste? Maybe. Pretty damn funny? Yes.

[Boston.com]: Keith Foulke thinks he should have the ball from the final out in the 2004 World Series. And he wants his damn shoes back too.

[AP]: Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery was arrested in connection with a mutlimillion-dollar bank fraud and money laundering scheme. Run Timmy run.

[USA Today]: Sometimes we wish the Sixers would do the same thing.

This isn’t real right? Right?

Real Odd of the day: 50-1 that Rafael Palmeiro confesses to using other drugs.

Categories
NFL General

Who are people smoking crack with Whitney Houston, Alex?

We surveyed about every single mock draft out there and it’s a virtual lock that Reggie Bush will be taken #1 overall. However, we did find 3 sites that have the Texans taking someone else with the #1 pick. We’re scratching out heads wondering if they are genius or fools.

[FF Live Wire]: 1. Houston Texans – Mario Williams DE North Carolina State: The Texans will surprise many of the casual NFL specatators on April 29th when they pass up on Reggie Bush. RB Domanick Davis is fifth in total yardage among all running backs in the last three years who have played a minimum of eleven games each season. The Texans have also recently given Domanick Davis a $21.1 million contract extension. Reggie Bush’s talent can not be denied but will it cross over to the NFL in a successful manner? Many believe so but the Texans will make the right decision and draft the next Julius Peppers.

[NFL Smackdown]: 1. Houston – Mario Williams
DE NC State – It’s still looking like Williams will be their guy, since affordability is a question surrounding Bush. Plus, Davis is good enough for the Texans and Coach Kubiak.

[NFL Fans]: 1. Houston – D’Brickshaw Ferguson OT Virginia – For its entire existence Houston has been handicapped with a subpar offensive line lacking an anchor on the left side. With D’Brick, that problem is solved in one smooth stroke – which should allow David Carr, one of the most sacked QB’s in the league due to poor line play, the chance to finally flourish in the NFL.

Too bad you can’t bet on the NFL Draft.

Categories
NFL General

Reggie Bush joins Adidas "uprising"

Sure there’s a new report today about transcipts that tie Reggie Bush to the shady wannabe sports agency called New Era Sports & Entertainment but like he said, “it’s no big deal.” Especially when he knows it will absolutely have no effect on his draft status or his ability to sign big money endorsement deals.

On Wednesday, Bush signed a multi-year contract with Adidas that is reportedly worth $1 million a year to promote football apparel and launch a cleat in 2007. It’s not exactly LeBron money but kids don’t walk around the halls wearing football cleats either.


It’s going to be a great, long relationship. Adidas is on the uprise, and I want to be part of it.

This is just the appetizer for his big pay day on Saturday. The Texans have narrowed the choice to Reggie Bush or Mario Williams with the first pick and there is no way Bush drops past 2 in the draft. Based on last year’s numbers, he will get at least $20 million in guaranteed money.

Links:

[Yahoo]: Reggie Bush Signs Adidas Endorsement Deal

[NY Post]: Bush could lose Heisman

Categories
College Football

Reggie Bush’s family house paid for by marketing agent



Our house… in the middle of the
heat… our house

We are shocked, shocked! to discover that top college football athletes are given things for free by marketers and agents.

According to state of California records, the house is owned by Michael Michaels, who has ties to a sports marketing company. (When did “sports marketing company” have the same negative connotation as “the mafia”?) In the Spring of 2005, Reggie Bush’s mom, stepfather and brother moved into the $757,00 home. NCAA rules for violating statutes prohibiting student-athletes from accepting extra beneifts from sports agents or marketing companies could mean that the games where Bush appeared could be forfeited. There goes the entire 2005 Trojans season.

The plan was for Michaels to steer Bush toward a sports agent named David Caravantes and represent Bush’s marketing efforts. However, Bush signed with Mike Ornstein and Joel Segal recently so it looks like that was $750k down the drain and a whole lot of trouble for Michaels. Reminds us of the NFL Network commercial: ‘I want him representing me. That guy is money.’

The bottom line is that Reggie Bush will get his money this weekend and there will be absolutely no repercussions for him or his family. It’s good to be a Top 10 pick.

Links:

[Yahoo]: Yahoo! Sports report: Reggie Bush’s family home
[MSNBC]: Investigation won’t hurt Bush in draft
[Sign OnSanDiego]: Parents of Bush face questions about home