Forcier's List Is At Five Schools

Ex-Michigan Wolverine Tate Forcier is considering five schools to transfer to. He is on a crusade to find a team after he and Michigan parted ways. The schools listed are Kansas State, Miami, Washington, Arizona, and Montana.

I don't really get Monatna being on the list since his dad said they really have no interest in the school. I would think Arizona and Washington would have the edge since Forcier is a West Coast kid from San Diego. He worked with the noted quarterback guru Steve Clarkson who has connections to Washington coach Steve Sarkisian.

I think Forcier still fancies himself as a starter and would like to go somewhere to where he'll be able to step in and play right away after sitting out a year. We'll have to wait and see what happens with the Forcier Chronicles.     

Art Schlichter Busted Again

I know people up here in Michigan are very familiar with Art Schlichter. He was an Ohio State nemesis and former quarterback of the defunct Detroit Drive Arena football frnachise. He also is a compulsive gambler who couldn't keep himself out of trouble. I think his time with the Drive was the longest he kept his nose clean. His biggest vice was gambling and it started well before he got to the NFL.

The former Ohio State and Baltimore Colts quarterback was busted again, alledgedly in a sports ticket scam that has cost people millions according to a report in the Columbus Dispatch. Schlichter received money for an investment dealing brokering and selling tickets for Ohio State football games. Schlichter took advantage and made bets in excess of six figures. Now it looks like he'll be going back to jail/prison.

Schlichter is a target in a federal investigation in a Super Bowl ticket scam. He has a gift of gab that somehow convinces people to give him large sums of money only to never see it again. He promised some people tickets to the Super Bowl and now they'll be watching the game from a local bar because they won't be able to get in.  In this case, he seems to have pulled off the scam through his involvement with a wealthy woman whom he befriended while he was still Ohio State’s star quarterback, 30 years ago.

Schlichter's spent time in 44 different prisons or jails. You would think he's learned his lesson by now. Apparently he does the same thing every time. Beats people out of money, writes bad checks and commits forgery and fraud, all in the name of gambling. He says he's planning to speak to authorities and is trying to gather some pity by portraying himself as someone who can't beat a gambling addiction. He also says he wants to help other gambling addicts. And Tiger Woods wants to help men in strip clubs to stop going there. Helen Keller also wanted to give Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder the gift of sight. Who is Schlichter kidding.

"It will help a lot of people," Schlichter said in a text message about talking with authorities. "This addiction is a (expletive)." Sure Art and I'll give up my love of fried chicken.

Dr. J Getting Sued

The good doctor, Dr. J Julius Erving is being sued for alledgedly defrauding a Manhattan woman out of $420,000 that involved money manager Kenneth Starr. No, not the Ken Starr that spent taxpayer money trying to catch Bill Clinton with his pants on the ground.

Mary Gilbert is suing Doc J for breach of contract and fiduciary duty and is seeking payment of lost profits along with punitive damages and "prejudgement interest".

Gilbert claims Erving, 60, and Starr convinced her to invest in a "lucrative" limited partnership called Commonwealth Investors, in which the formerly high-flying forward was a partner.

I hope Erving didn't really know what was going on because I would hate to see one of my heroes from my youth being a con artist. The aforementioned Starr is awaitng sentencing on March 2 for running a $50 million Ponzi scheme.

One thing that isn't clear is how much Dr J knew about the intricacies of his deal with Gilbert. Maybe Starr or Erving's own "financial advisor(s)" are more to blame for his being culpable in this matter than he himself is.

Cuban Is Open To Owning The Mets

The New York Mets are in a bit of financial turmoil due to their dealings with the well known schemer Bernie Madoff. More specifically the Wilpon family, that owns the Mets may be forced to fork over $300 million from the money they made with Madoff, even though they say they were victims in his Ponzi scheme.

They're looking for a savior and that man might be Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Cuban has stated he's willing to listen to buying part of the Mets franchise if the price is right. The Wilpons are looking to sell 20 to 25 percent of the team. Cuban has said he won't bid on a Major League Baseball team because of the process he went through trying to purchase the Chicago Cubs and the Texas Rangers. Forbes estimates that Cuban is worth $2.3 billion. So you know he has the money to buy in.

I think Cuban would be a good baseball owner and maybe good for the game. Look what he did for the Mavericks. They were toiling with the dregs of the NBA before he took over and made it into a competitive franchise, and competed for a championship. I think he possibly could've made either the Cubs or Rangers a yearly World Series contender if he was given the shot to own either one of them. He goes all out to make his team relevant and I have no doubt he would do the same in baseball. I feel the old blood owners didn't want to approve any ownership bids by Cuban because they simply don't like him. Maybee he's too brash and too open to the public (remeber the Dairy Queen stunt). Some of the long time baseball guys don't like that kind of person. Also I think he had enough in the bank to become another George Steinbrenner. That might be a stretch, but think about every big name star that's on the trade block or going to free agency and the Mavericks always show up on the list. He wouldn't be afraid to throw his money around.

"If they want to sit down and sell me on it, I can be a willing buyer and a willing customer," Cuban said before his Mavericks crushed the Knicks, 113-97 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. "But I'm not going to be a bidder on anything."


"For any baseball team, I'm not going to chase after it," Cuban said. "If someone sees me as a potential owner, I'll take their call and discuss a deal. I'm not going to get into a bidding situation ever again. I'm not going to be in a situation where I make the proposal and they just go through with it.



"Obviously, I feel like I'd be a good team owner in baseball, but I'm not going to go through the same process I did with the Rangers and the Cubs."

"We had a limit on what we could spend. You take a small part of something that makes a ton of money, if the price is right, no matter who you are. But I don't know the specifics of it, so I couldn't say."


The desire to run a baseball team is still there. He just doesn't want to jump through hoops of bull to do it. I don't blame him. 

Just Pull The Trigger Already

"I know the situation. I know how it went down and what was said and how it was said but even after that I never thought it would get to this point. Of course he is not going to play now. It is personal. You are going to have to trade him now. Rumors have persisted that Hamilton is a disruption and cancer for the team. He's heard the talk and doesn't like it".



Those were Ben Wallace's words after the Detroit Pistons beat the New Jersey Nets last night on Richard Hamilton's benching. Clearly Wallace isn't the only Piston that feels this way. I think the whole team feels Hamilton can help the team, but no matter what they say, there's nothing they can do about it. I'll stop short of saying conspiracy, but team president Joe Dumars must've sent this message to coach John Kuester from afar. Don't play him.

Hamilton was put on the inactive list for last night's game. A list for players that are injured. Rip's not injured or ill. He's just been benched and it hasn't been for the good of the team. I know Dumars wants this team to try and make an attempt to get to the playoffs. I don't agree with it but hey, he's the prez and I'm sitting at my kitchen table relaying my thoughts. If he wants to make a playoff push Hamilton wouldn't be doing woodwork on the sidelines. 

Wallace is right. It's a must they trade him now. All that means is if they do trade him they'll probably get a worse player in return with an equally bad contract. Those will be the only offers they get, unless a sweet three way deal comes along to ship Hamilton out of town. And I don't see any of those coming anytime soon, not with the way teams covet expiring contracts and young talent. That means they're stuck with each other for the forseeable future. By then there might be a full blown mutiny on this team, because they don't really like Kuester, nor do they respect him. I know the Pistons as an organization really can't move forward until they find a buyer for the team, so this situation as a whole will get a whole lot worse before it shows any signs of getting better.