More News Of The Dumb (Yep Still Sick)

Say It Ain’t So Brian Cushing . . . Say It Ain’t So

This story made me so upset, as Cushing was my favorite rookie last year and I was elated when he won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.  I am not going to say that I can’t believe he tested positive for PEDs, but I can say that I’m surprised that he tested positive in September of last year and we didn’t hear about it until this week.  Brian’s response:

I believe we presented compelling evidence during the appeal process to challenge the test results, and I disagree with and am disappointed by the suspension.

The thing is he is right, he didn’t test positive for steroids, he tested positive for the fertility drug that gets used after cycling off steroids. When are players going to learn that you can’t beat science anymore.  Maybe this will work like Steve McNair’s death by jealous mistresses scared off players from cheating.  As a chemist I can tell you, we can find anything in urine, until these players figure that out, they need to just play by the rules. I am sick and tired of hearing this from the news about NFL players.  It has to stop!

Luckily other collectors feel like me of late.  His cards took a nice nosedive over the weekend.  Once selling for between $15 and $20, his cards are barely pulling in $2 – $5 right now.  This just makes me smile, I feel like if you get caught cheating there should be harsher penalties, 4 games is not enough.

There Is A Fine Line between Helping Out a Community and Raping Your Fans

There are many players whose autographs are worth $100 if signed on a photo.  However one of them is not Vince Young.  This from deadspin.com <link>:

Vince Young is partnering to help raise money for Tennessee flood victims: donate $100, and receive an autographed photo. But don’t worry, we checked; donate $150, and they won’t send the photo.

If you want to help the victims of the flooding in Tennessee, Red Cross is always accepting donations, and not just for the flooding in Tennessee.  So send them a check and pick up the following cards on eBay for $37 and $40 respectively.

How Low Can Lenny Dykstra Go?

If you haven’t heard how bad things have gotten for Lenny Dykstra, here is a great summary from Wikipedia:

In September 2008, Dykstra began a high-end jet charter company and magazine marketed towards professional athletes known as Player’s Club, LLC. The magazine was part of a business plan to offer financial advice to professional athletes, according to a profile article in the New Yorker magazine,Dykstra has a website “Nails Investments” with information about his investment ideas.

In early 2009 stories and evidence began to emerge that indicated Dykstra’s financial empire was in a tailspin. A GQ article by Kevin Coughlin, a former photo editor for the New York Post, detailed Coughlin’s 67-day employment with Dykstra producing The Players Club, a magazine geared toward athletes and their expensive lifestyles. It portrayed Dykstra in an unflattering light, as Coughlin detailed incidents accusing Dykstra of credit card fraud, failure to pay rent on the magazine’s Park Avenue offices, bounced checks, lawsuits, and Dykstra’s refusal to pay printing costs.

An extensive article about an ESPN.com investigation in April 2009 went into greater detail, noting Dykstra has been the subject of at least two dozen legal actions since 2007.

In July 2009, Dykstra, whose net worth was estimated at $58 million in 2008, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing fewer than $50,000 in assets against $10 million to $50 million in liabilities. Dykstra claimed to be a victim of mortgage fraud and lost a house purchased for $17.5 million from Wayne Gretzky to foreclosure. The house is located at 1072 Newbern Court, Thousand Oaks, CA in theSherwood Country Club development in Southern California.

According to press reports Dykstra will be representing himself in the bankruptcy proceeding.^{[citation needed]} According to the July 7, 2009 petition in the Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California Dykstra’s debts and creditors include: $12.9mm to Washington Mutual (unsecured), $4 mm to Countrywide Financial /Bank of America (unsecured), $3.5mm to Rockbridge Bank of Atlanta, $2.5mm to David and Teresa Litt , $1.5mm to K&L Gates (a large law firm), and smaller amounts to others.

He was also touted as an investing “legend” by Jim Cramer. This incident was featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on July 14, 2009.

In August 2009, Dykstra was living out of his car and in hotel lobbies. The estate purchased from Gretzky was riddled with water damage, torn up flooring, missing toilets, among other things. His second home, also inside Sherwood Country Club, was vacant due to mold problems. He is currently in a dispute with his insurance company to fix the problems with his homes. The Fireman’s Fund has provided Mr. and Mrs. Dykstra with a temporary residence until the issues with the homes are resolved. According to court papers the Dykstra house was in “unshowable” condition as “the home was littered throughout with empty beer bottles, trash, dog feces and urine and other unmentionables.” Raw sewage had been leaking inside the home and electrical wiring had been damaged or removed by vandals.

On Sept. 13, 2009 it was announced that Dykstra’s 1986 New York Mets World Series championship ring and trophy would be sold off. Auctioneers said they plan to sell a trove of memorabilia the former All-Star left unclaimed at a pawnshop in Beverly Hills. Each could sell for $20,000 or more. On October 6, 2009 the Wall Street Journal reported that Dykstra’s World Series ring had been auctioned off for $56,762 “to help pay the former major-leaguer’s $31 million debt.”

Apparently it is so bad, that Nails is pawning off signed magazines and a personal call for $3200.  Here is a great Craigslist Idiot for you <link>.  I am so incredibly tempted to try to negotiate this one, but even I don’t have the stones to try this one.  If one of you do want to do it please leave a comment as to how the negotiations went.  Save your money and buy this from eBay for $30 if you want an autograph and save yourself $3170.  If you want to meet him, I’ve heard he is living out of his car and hotel lobbies in Los Angeles.

A beaten man!