Nets Owner Prokhorov Has His Bank Raided

New Jersey Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov has major money. So much he can sign Travis Outlaw to one of the most ridiculous contracts in the offseason and not miss it. Contracts like those are why the NBA is in a lockout right now.

Even with all that money bad things can happen. Like when your bank is raided. Prokhorov co-owns the International Finance Club bank, known by its Russian acronym MFK, with a 27.7 percent share.

Information from Reuters.com.

The head of the International Finance Club bank, known by its Russian acronym MFK, said the evening raid on the bank's office in central Moscow had nothing to do with Prokhorov's Right Cause party or even with the bank's operations.



"Investigative actions were conducted in relation to one of our borrowers. This has nothing to with Right Cause or Onexim," the bank's chief, Oksana Lifar, told Reuters by telephone. Onexim is Prokhorov's investment vehicle.

A lawyer for the bank, Dmitry Kharitonov, said he could not rule out a link to the party, which Prokhorov took charge of in June, making a controversial political debut ahead of the parliamentary vote and a March 2012 presidential election.



Several luxury cars drew up outside the bank on a busy boulevard near the Kremlin and law enforcement officers, some wearing masks and carrying guns, entered and ordered employees and clients not to leave, Kharitonov said.


"They put all the employees in one area and kept them there for an hour without explaining what was going on," he told reporters. "After an hour, they said there were no claims against the bank, and no searches were carried out."


Asked whether the raid could have been related to Prokhorov's involvement in Right Cause, Kharitonov said, "I cannot rule it out. I don't know, but I think nothing can be ruled out."


So this could all be a political power play. Who really knows the truth.I'm kind of speechless about it. This was straight out of Hollywood all we were missing was Bruce Willis to come and save everyone.

Baylor Wants The Big 12 To Stay Together

As the Big 12 continues to go down in flames all around them, Baylor is singing like Al Green. It's not too much of a shock that the people at Baylor want the conference to stay together. No one has been pulling at Baylor's coattails, so they've started a campaign to keep things together.

Nothing is more beloved in Texas than Texas football. Entire towns travel to neighboring communities on Friday nights as rivals meet under the Friday night lights; Saturday mornings find families rushing out to pee wee football games and spending their afternoons with friends tailgating or watching some of the most historic and storied football rivalries in the nation; Sunday afternoons see families gathered in living rooms across the state to cheer on the Cowboys or the Texans.



Football in Texas is more than a passing interest, it is a part of the fabric of this great state.


Will Texans stand by and watch hundred-year-old rivalries be cast aside as the state's largest universities align themselves with other states across the country?


Will Texans sit and watch as Texas' flagship universities pledge their loyalties to other states?


Will Texans stand by as our most promising student athletes are lured out of Texas by new rivals?


Will Texans watch as our most precious resources—the great minds of the next generation—are exported to new conference institutions?


Texans must stand up and call the leadership of the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech to clear-headed thinking about the state's future. Texas' flagship institutions of higher learning are the guardians of the state's future—their loyalties must first be to Texas and to her citizens. Ask these leaders to take a stand for Texas and to stop this madness that will lead to the dissolution of the Big 12 and the end of an era for Texas.

This is the only stand Baylor can take or they face being left out of a BCS conference and going at it in Conference USA or the Mountain West and even that's not guaranteed. If it wasn't for Ann Richards, Baylor wouldn't have been in the Big 12 in the first place (Texas Tech also got in for political reasons too).

Now you want to do what's best for "Texas football"? Why didn't you think about TCU, Houston, Rice, and SMU back in the 90's? You didn't stick up for them and now you may be the jilted bride. Of course Baylor wants the Big 12 to stick together. The problem is that the reason they want to stay together is the same reason that nobody will listen to them. They don't have any pull in the conference and nobody has been knocking down their door to invite them into their conference. The were lumped in with the other Texas teams when the Big 8 was expanded to the Big 12 and they will be lumped into Conference USA or something like that. They are starting to come around slowly in athletics but they are still no where close to contending year after year.

Isn't this poetic justice?

Adam Loewen Reinvents Himself

Adam Loewen was once the highest Canadian player drafted in Major League Baseball. He was the number four pick in the 2002 draft and made it to the bigs with the Baltimore Orioles in 2006. He was thought to be a fixture in their rotation for the future. That was as a pitcher.

After two stress fractures to his left elbow, it was too early for Loewen to give up on his baseball dreams. So Loewen went the Rick Ankiel route and reinvented himself as an outfielder. Loewen was one of the Toronto Blue Jays' September call-ups after hitting .311, with 16 home runs and 79 RBI, for the Las Vegas 51s, the Blue Jays’ farm team in the Pacific Coast League.

Pretty impressive for someone whose career was thought to be over.

“Adam’s done a great job,” said Tony LaCava, the Blue Jays’ assistant general manager, who is with the Jays for a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners before he and GM Alex Anthopoulos arrive in Vancouver on Thursday to check out the Jays’ single-A prospects. “It’s very unusual what he’s done — going from major league pitcher to minor league outfielder. He’s another Rick Ankiel. Not many have done it, but he’s really put himself in a good spot. I think he’s certainly on the verge of becoming a viable major league player.”


Granted, he has been hitting minor league pitching and playing in minor league parks, specifically the one in Las Vegas. The people that matter in the Blue Jays organization think Loewen has a future with the team. Maybe a platoon outfielder? Who knows.

Toronto does plan on giving Loewen a few starts to see if he's worth keeping around.

Could Nene Go To The Heat When The Lockout Ends?

No knows if there is going to be an end to the NBA lockout. It seems as if no one really cares if it does end. Everyday there are players jumping ship to some random foreign league so they can keep their skills sharp or keep the money rolling in.

The lockout still hasn't put an end to rumors or speculation regarding trades and free agency. News out of Miami is that the Heat could pursue Denver Nuggets  free agent big man Nene.

Many call this possibility a longshot. Maybe not. Nene says that he wants to win a title. Miami is loaded for a title run. He also says it's not about the money. Now usually when someone says that, it's about the money when it comes time to sign a contract. Nene says that's not the case.

Nene told The Denver Post: “If people think it’s about money, they’re wrong. I’ve saved my money. I could retire today.”

There would be a $6 million dollar mid-level exception available and Nene would be leaving plenty of money on the table.


If Nene did sign with Miami, that could be the move to put Miami over the top. Nene could start at center, Chris Bosh permanently at the 4 spot and Udonis Haslem coming off the bench to strengthen that area. This could possibly make Heat haters' head's explode.

Cassel Could Miss The Opener With A Rib Injury

This is why you keep your starters in for the bare minimum in the final exhibition game. The Kansas City Chiefs had to place starting tight end Tony Moeaki on injured reserve with a knee injury. Now there is news that starting quarterback Matt Cassel could miss the opener against the Buffalo Bills with a rib injury he s suffered against Green Bay in the final preseason game.

Cassel was sacked by 340 pound nose tackle Howard Green and the team initially said he just had the wind knocked out of him.

Cassel confirmed this afterwards when he said “I just got the wind knocked out of me,’’ he said. “We were just being cautious.’’



Head coach Todd Haley added “Unfortuntately, he got dinged up a little bit. I’m not overly concerned.’’

A report by the Kansas City Star's Adam Teicher said a source close to the situation said they overheard coach Todd Haley tell backup Tyler Palko “You’d better be ready to play Sunday’’ after the game.

If Cassel misses the opener, the Chiefs could be in a bit of trouble. The offense seemed to struggle in the preseason, but you can't put too much stock into that. Haley just better hope that the injury isn't that serious.

I bet that Cassel plays on Sunday, but expect a heavy dose of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles. I also bet Haley will hold out the starters in next year's preseason finale.

Just remember that Drago vs. Creed was also an exhibition.

Get Your San Diego Chargers Wine

The San Diego Chargers have entered the wine business. The NFL team has combined with Napa Valley winemaker Anthony Bell of Napa Valley’s Bell Wine Cellars to create a Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is to celebrate the fifty years that the team has played in San Diego

It's called Legacy and I guess they call it a celebratory wine. To celebrate what, a legacy of choking in the playoffs? A legacy of slow starts to torpedo an otherwise fine regular season? I'll let Chargers Executive Vice President and CEO A.G. Spanos explain it to you.

“We think our fans will enjoy having a bottle of Chargers Legacy wine for any occasion as well as on game days,” said Chargers Executive Vice President and CEO A.G. Spanos. “We want nothing but the best for our fans.”

“Producing a special wine like Chargers Legacy is similar to winning football games,” Bell said. “It’s a team effort that requires patience, determination, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and great talent.”

Isn't that statement a contradiction of sorts. The Chargers have had a team with great talent, only to waste it and lose a game they have no business losing in the playoffs. Or they find a way to lose a home playoff game. Or they waste it with their slow starts in the regular season. Do you want me to go on?

The Chargers aren't the first team to sell wine. The New York Jets came out with "Jets Uncorked" last year. How appropiate. They might have wanted to call it "Rex Ryan uncorked". 

If you want to do the best by Charger fans, don't worry about selling wine at the stadium or in a grocery store, worry about trying to get a Lombardi Trophy in the trophy case. That would be truly celebratory. 

No More Old Style At Cubs Games?

It looks like Chicago Cubs fans will have something else to worry about. No, their World Series-less streak isn't coming to an end, but the well may run dry on Old Style beer being served at Wrigley Field.

According to a published report, billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos fired off a memo to senior staffers shortly after he bought Pabst last year that he wanted to "exit the Cubs deal" in favor of spending more to market Old Style Light.



Pabst's chief marketing officer Bryan Crowley declined to acknowledge the memo exists as the Chicago Tribune first reported this summer. However, he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that a contract is set to expire after this season between the Cubs and the company, which also makes Old Milwaukee and Schlitz.

Old Style has been served at Wrigley Field for 61 years so after hearing the rumor about the beer no longer being served there Cubs fans aren't taking it lightly.

"It's history, this field and this beer," said Fred Kist, a 59-year-old suburban Chicago resident who grew up an Ernie Banks home run away from the park. "Wrigley Field will lose something by losing Old Style."


"I went from vendor to vendor until I found Old Style," said Pete McCarty of Mobile, Ala., who attended his first Cubs game last week. "To me, that's Wrigley Field."

"Not acceptable," said Jennifer Miller.


The question is now what do the Cubs sell if Old Style isn't available.