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Sports is not only more business than sport, it can be downright Gangsta at times. Here we chronicle
the most "Gangsta" moves in Sports Biz.
DUCKIN' & DODGIN': MLB STOPS
DODGERS OWNER FROM MAKING TV DEAL WITH FOX (KEEP IT GANGSTA Y'ALL,
KEEP IT GANGSTA - PART 4) June 21, 2011 (New York) If you have bills
to pay, and you need money, you might have to sell something--or make a deal with (loan) sharks--which could mean you might
end up sleeping with the fish(es). Depending on how bad you need the cash, you might have to beg, borrow, steal--or
make a deal. That's what Los Angeles Dodger owner Frank McCourt tried to do. He's in a desperate situation,
so to quote Biggie, "Gimme the Loot." (Check out song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzvL4O3uomg)
McCourt has this "minor" expense coming up in a few days. It's called payroll, and right
now, he can't make payroll. The god, Michael Easter, used to talk about the pressure of making payroll. He
would often say, "I gotta make payroll. Gotta pay my staff." Pressure, Pressure, Pressure.
McCourt gotta make payroll, plain and simple. He doesn't have the money on hand so he tried to negotiate a media
rights deal with Fox. In comes Bud Selig (MLB Commissioner) and the boys. They said, "We ain't havin'
it."
If McCourt can't make payroll, MLB can go in and straight (here's a 1970s term) "Bogard"
the team. (For those of you who are not versed in 1970s vernacular, "Bogard" means to take or apprehend by
intimidation and/or force.) The reason for the denial is not because MLB thinks McCourt will use the money as part of
his divorce settlement. That's what the MLB is claiming, but that's not real reason. MLB want McCourt
gone. The Mets are more of a Mess than the Dodgers, but Bud Selig and Wilpon (Mets principal owner) are tight.
He's not tryin' to do a Bogard move on the Mets. But McCourt is a different story. Selig and the Boys
want him gone.
So, if McCourt can't make payroll, then the MLB can "legally" step in and take control
of the team. But, if McCourt can make a deal with Fox, he can make payroll, and that prevents the MLB from stepping
in--at least from using that particular "jack" move. Response by MLB: Yo, McCourt, you and your lady
have a lot of drama due to this divorce thingy, and you're not going to use the loot for the good of the team. You
just tryin' to buy time. Can't be no deal with Fox. You have less than 10 days to get the money.
If you can't get it, I'll foot the salary expense, but the team becomes mine. And it's official: You Out!"
McCourt is trying to keep his team. The blows are coming hot and heavy. He's in straight Pernell Whitaker
mode. Duckin' and Dodgin'--but it may be too late. The MLB has McCourt cornered.
Wow! Keep it "Gangsta" MLB,
Keep it "Gangsta"!
OUT "FOXED": SUCKER N(B)C's
OVERBIDS FOR OLYMPICS BY A BILLION (KEEP IT GANGSTA Y'ALL, KEEP
IT GANGSTA - PART 3) June 8, 2011 (New York) In the summer of 1984,
a relatively unknown trio from Hollis, Queens, put the hip-hop world on its ear (or a$$) with the classic, "Sucker MC's"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s5DCRAAsyc. Well, the new sucker in town is NBC. And they are new "Suckers" so we'll call them "Sucker
N(B)C's". They got "out-Foxed" by the network Fox and paid almost a billion dollars more than what
they needed to for the Olympics media rights. Let's set this up. (Kinda like Jim Kelly in "Three the Hard Way".) The gangstas of the
IOC clique (International Olympic Committee--but they could be renamed the IOG, and guess what the "G" would stand
for?) are looking to get paid. They set up a bidding war to see who will broadcast the event. The IOG, I mean
IOC, is opening up the bidding for the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia, and 2016 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. They also opened
up the bidding for another bid which included the 2018 and 2020 games in addition to the 2014 and 2016. Now, the sites for the 2018 and 2020 games have not even been determined
yet. So, why would you bid money for an event where you don't even know the place? That's a "sucka"
move. Not at those prices. You don't even know the time zone which affects everything about your broadcast,
and your going to commit to spending that kind of greenery? Now, NBC, owned by Comcast, pissed off the "Man" Dick Ebersol. They were probably
acting funky, he said pay me 'cause my contract is running out, they said how much, he gave a figure he knew they wouldn't
pay, and then bounced--a few weeks before the bidding. Ebersol was the top poker player in this game of high stakes
poker. So he left ("Sorry Mr. West is Gone"--see Kanye's second album, song "Gone" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc65hFCls8E). Here comes The Fox. The
Fox is smellin' the blood. NBC is the fourth-rated network in a four-network race. The Fox starts putting
out signals that they're going to bid hard. NBC knows they can't afford to lose the Olympics. The IOG, I mean IOC, puts out their signals about
missing Dick Ebersol and can NBC still pull it off without ol' Dick. NBC says, "Yes, we can do it. We
don't need Dick." The International Olympic Gangstas then knew they had these Suckas on the hook. NBC
was going to show them. NBC was going to show Dick. NBC was going to show "The Fox". The IOG's (no mistake, they're Gangstas)
does sealed bidding. (That's like when a prospective employer asks you how much you made on your last job. And
that's a move that's designed to make you into a Sucka. Make me an offer. Don't ask me what I made.)
So prospects bid in the blind. The Fox threatened to come hard so Sucka N(B)C's make an outrageous bid. I
mean outrageous. They bid $4.38 billion for the four games. The Fox bid $3.4 billion. The Sucka N(B)C's outbid
The Fox by a billion dollars. The IOG's are laughing. The Sucka N(B)C's could have bid $3.5 billion and
got it. That's not a win. That's a loss. The Fox outfoxed 'em with an assist from the International
Olympic Gangstas. Unspoken collusion. Wow! Keep it "Gangsta" Fox, Keep it "Gangsta"!
DO THE COLLEGE HUSTLE
(KEEP IT GANGSTA Y'ALL, KEEP IT GANGSTA - PART 2)
June 2, 2011 (New York) (This is not a music article. Bear with me as I set the context.)
One of the "baddest" albums to come out in the '70s was "Raising Hell" by the Fatback Band.
The Fatback Band was the first group to do a hip-hop song on wax ("King Tim III). Fatback was always three steps ahead
of everybody, and I do mean everybody. "Raising Hell" came out in 1975 and features a calypso song that was an homage
to the West Indian Parade when it was still a secret called "All Day." They had the first song about a dance craze back
then called the "Bus Stop" (you know the dance--the electric slide is nothing more than a "corrupted" version of the
bus stop). The funk groove was "Put Your Love". They topped it off with a song for the homeboys called "Party
Time is Anytime (and Anytime is Party Time)". The "Hustle" was in full bloom and Van McCoy did the first recorded song
dedicated to the dance in 1974, "Do the Hustle". Fatback "laps the pack" by having a song on that historic album called,
"Do the Spanish Hustle". (Here's the link for your listening pleasure--and to prove my point! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKANWJp1SV4)
The NCAA is definitely doing the Hustle. "Hey athlete, you can play, but not for pay!"
That's a straight up "Jack" move. Now, a lot of folk will say something really dumb like, "They're getting an education
for free." That's a sucker response. You can sell that person Brooklyn, the Bridge, and the Cow--minus the milk.
Getting a "free" education was a great deal back in the day. The money wasn't crazy like
it is now. The revenue streams for the colleges are off the chart today (not "off the chain" bad slang) when
compared with the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's.
Here are the numbers. ESPN just did a deal with the Pac 10 (you heard of them?).
The media rights were sold for--get this--$250 million. A twelve-year deal. That's a quarter of a billion.
The conference is getting a quarter bill and the athlete gets a pair of headphones. Some sneakers and sweats?
More meal money? Are you kiddin' me?
You're still not impressed. Well, I kinda, sorta didn't give you the figures of the deal
correctly. So here it is. The Pac 10 is getting $250 million, that's true. It's a twelve-year deal, that's
true. But there's one fact that I didn't tell you about.
It's $250 million--PER YEAR. FOR TEN YEARS. THAT'S THREE BILLION DOLLARS!
When you can pull in them kind of dollars and not have to break off much (compensate), that's
Gangsta. That's "Jack Move In the Building." That's a "King Con" move.
If I make a $1,000 a week and the company is pulling down 100 g's, fine. If the company
starts pulling down 10 mill, and I am the driving force behind why they're pulling in that kind of money, you think I'd be
satisfied with my one "k" (thousand). All of a sudden, I want to re-ne-go-ti-ate. Quickly. Yesterday. Last
Week. Last Year. Beginning of time.
Keep it "Gangsta" Colleges, Keep it "Gangsta"!
EBERSOL LEAVES NBC IN A LURCH
(KEEP IT GANGSTA Y'ALL, KEEP IT GANGSTA - PART 1)
June 1, 2011 (New York) Dick Ebersol was not happy at Comcast/NBC for a myriad of reasons, so
he decided to stick it to 'em. He knew that the fiscally conservative parent company, Comcast, wasn't looking to throw
big bucks in the hat to get the Olympics but neither were their competitors.
In a real "gangsta" move, Ebersol listed his salary demands that he admits were exorbitant, knowing
they would reject them and then bounced (left). His contract was set to expire at year's end, so why did he force the
issue (weeks before the bidding for the Olympic games)?
The other networks had basically conceded, but now, Fox wants to win, ESPN wants to win,
and CBS & Turner are looking to combine forces to win.
If Comcast/NBC wants to retain broadcast rights, they are in for one he$% of a fight. Thanks
to Ebersol. He set them up, and it was deliberate.
Keep it "Gangsta" Dick, Keep it "Gangsta"!
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