High Profile Sponsorships Gone Wrong

As we all know too well, the world of sport, motorsport and celebrity is one that revolves completely around money. People, CEOs and famous athletes will do anything to succeed in their respective position – and do even more to secure lucrative sponsorship deals. The aforementioned agreements are usually worth millions to the figure and can boost the popularity of a brand overnight. But what happens when it all goes wrong? When the sponsorship deals goes sour? Let’s have a gander.

Tiger Woods

Mr Tiger Woods – that’s not his real name either, Google that! – is, or was, one of the most respected athletes of our time. He completely revolutionised the game of golf when he came on the scene in 1997 and, for well over a decade, dominated the sport with his incredible shot-making and will to win. One problem, though, the guy liked his women, and a that love of the opposite sex came back to haunt him when a series of unfortunate events lead to the media finding out Woods had been cheating on his wife for years with quite a lot of women.

The news shook the world, disappointed millions of fans and surprised even … Read more at FryingPanSports

2009 Lakers Rockets Playoff Matchup

Lakers Rockets 2009

2009 Lakers Rockets Playoff Matchup

In 2009 the Lakers were thought to be the team to beat. They had won over 60 games and were second only to the Cleveland Cavaliers in total wins in the NBA that year. It was thought little stood in their way between the start of the playoffs and an NBA finals appearance against the winner of the eastern conference. The experts were wrong. The Lakers Rockets playoff match up proved to be a great series and almost sent the Lakers home for the summer.

The 2009 Rockets were not considered favorites in the playoffs, in fact many thought the Lakers would beat them in five games. The Rockets were without the oft injured Tracy Mcgrady for the whole series and lost Yao Ming after game three of the series. After Yao Ming was injured many thought the series was all but over, they were in for a surprise.

Even though they were down 2-1 when they lost their superstar center, the Rockets were able to extend the series to seven games. Ron Artest was key to helping the Houston Rockets stay in this series. He played defense against anybody he was asked to cover … Read more at FryingPanSports

LeBron is good as LeGone—Unless…

Cavs

The facts:

Fact 1: Given the debacle of 08-09, unless the Cavs do something spectacular, LeBron is LeGone. The Magic were better than the Cavs this year and the Magic will be significantly improved with the return of PG Jameer Nelson next season. The Magic’s key players are getting better.

Fact 2: The Cavs are likely to be worse next season unless they make some spectacular and admittedly desperate moves. Ben Wallace has already mentioned retirement. Despite his efforts, he is no where near the player he used to be. If some team offers Anderson Varejao a deal, he is likely to go. While he is not the answer for the Cavs, his departure will hurt the Cavs more than his arrival will help another team.

Fact 3: Mike Brown is not the kind of coach that is likely to be able to convince LeBron than the Cavs have a future. The Cavs should look for a high energy high profile offensive minded coach immediately.

Fact 4: Cleveland without LeBron could not attract a free agent offering a magic carpet ride through Shangra La. The ONLY hope the Cavs have for any kind of future is to do whatever the … Read more at FryingPanSports

Saturday Niblets for 6/6/09

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Today is the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. My Dad was the first American on Omaha Red beach 2 hours before the invasion. Today, we salute all those that risked or gave their lives to help free Europe from Hitler.

Best Email of the last 2 weeks: from James on “The Cavs are a 1972 Comet with a Ferrari engine.” too bad Lebron and the Cavs failed to reach the championships… was rooting for them! I just do not know what will happen of the team if Kobe comes in… the dynamics of team will likely change, but if they get past that they’d get a huge chance in grabbing the title next year…

James: The chances of Kobe coming are very slim. But you are exactly correct in that the team is going to have to have a rebuild this off season to become a championship caliber team in time to win a title for LeBron next season. Thanks for your comment.

Updates on previous columns:

Mangenious and his Magical Bus trip

The NFLPA is investigating the Magical Bus trip of 10 hours each way to the football camp outside of Hartford Conn. that Eric Mangini forced … Read more at FryingPanSports

Niblets for 5/16/09

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Best comment of the week:

Comment on The NBA Playoffs are rounding first and staggering toward second. by Free T Shirts: Cleveland is on a mission. I like the way Lebron is taking the team on his shoulders and pushing them to sweep teams. He has help this year but he’s making sure there are no slip-ups.

There is no question that the difference between the Lakers and the Cavs is Lebron. Kobe has the better and deeper team. Lebron has the leadership that Kobe Bryant lacks. That plus home court will be the difference IF the Lakers make it past Houston and Denver.

Updates on previous columns:

NBA Playoffs—What have we learned? One of the things we have learned is that the Lakers don’t seem to be able to put a team away when they have a chance. They allowed the Rockets to tie up the series 3-3 after a lackluster 95-80 loss Thursday night. The Celtics are no better at locking up the deal as they too allowed an underdog Orlando Magic team to tie their series as well. Neither of these teams look like champions to me.

Cuban faces a tough decision about PG Jason … Read more at FryingPanSports

The NFL and NBA should be brought before the Supreme Court.

Fryingpan Sports

The NFL and NBA should be brought before the Supreme Court.

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By Bill Smith

Where is the ACLU when you really need them? The rules against players going pro in basketball and football straight out of high school are illegal and violate the US Constitution. Of course based on the Supreme Court’s failure to strike down limits on political speech established by Campaign Finance Reform indicates that the Constitution and Bill of Rights doesn’t mean much anymore.

I am not taking a position that a year or two of college is necessarily bad for young men although given the state of public education it is hard to believe that they are all prepared for college. And I would agree that the vast majority of players are not ready for the NBA out of high school and very few are ready for the NFL. That is not the point.

The point is that not even the government let alone professional leagues or player unions have the right to prevent a player from pursuing his or her chosen profession as long as that profession is league.

The excuses given by the most recent court for upholding the right of the … Read more at FryingPanSports