September 21, 2009

Why athletes go broke

Sports Illustrated ran a good article last spring on How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke, which an awful lot of them do. There are really two classes of jock bankruptcy -- the stars who made enough millions to live on for a lifetime and went broke spectacularly, and the guys who made only a million or two in a career that ended before they expected. The latter are especially prevalent in the NFL, which chews up players rapidly.

Wonderlic test scores suggest that NFL players average about 5 IQ points higher than their race's average. They tend to be above average in work ethic, too. And they're pretty good at following instructions. Merlin Olsen, the great defensive lineman who later starred on the long-running "Little House on the Prairie" TV show tells the story about his first day on the set. The director is telling him "Just act natural," until finally he explodes and explains that he's a professional football player not a naturally talented actor, but the one thing you can say about professional football players is that they are coachable, so get him a good acting coach who will teach him how to move and how to react on camera.

(By the way, I wonder what percentage of guys with the natural ability to make the big time never do because of lack of intelligence or lack of self-discipline, and thus ends up in jail or at fails to do the rehab to come back from an injury.)

So, that suggests that professional athletes are not all that unrepresentative of the average American's ability to handle a financial windfall, which may explain a lot about where the money went during the Housing Bubble.

The article makes the point about how athletes tend to invest their money into something tangible -- real estate, small businesses, or inventions -- rather than into the more abstract realms of finance.

Traditionally, the one sure-fire business for a congenial retired jock was to own a bar or a restaurant. If you have a lot of famous friends who want to have dinner with you while you schmooze with autograph-seeking patrons, you can make a nice amount of money off the tourist trade (as long as your accountant isn't conspiring with the manager of the restaurant to rip you off) who come to see celebrities in person. Michael Jordan, who does not have a congenial personality, did well off a restaurant in Chicago for awhile -- his solution was to have the backers build him a giant fishbowl-like private dining room in the middle of the restaurant where the masses could watch him dine with his friends without being pestered.

One issue is that big league athletes don't really have an off-season anymore in which they get work experience. Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach spent his off-seasons from 1970-1977 working in the real estate business. He recently netted about $100 million from the sale of The Staubach Company. But nobody works at a future career in the off-season anymore because they all have to workout several hours per day -- the offseason is when you build muscle -- even if you're making the NFL minimum and probably will only play a few years.

A lot of NFL players go broke within a few years of retiring, but one thing to remember is that many of them don't know they've retired yet, and I'm not talking about Brett Farve. For example, I was recently looking at the Wikipedia lists of Jewish athletes, but it turned out to be hard to figure out how many are currently playing in the NFL since most of the ones who have recently played are currently listed as "a free agent," which suggests they hope their careers aren't over yet. Presumably, they spend a lot of time each day staying in shape, and maybe flying around the country to audition for coaches looking to fill a spot on the bench opened by an injury. That can be an expensive lifestyle, especially if you feel it's crucial to your confidence that you roll like an NFL player, not a member of the reserve army of the unemployed.

A problem that most black and many white pro athletes have is that they typically don't have any nuclear family members that they can (reasonably) trust to manage their money for them. In contrast, a high school friend of mine, whose father was a respected lawyer, became a CPA. One of his younger brothers grew up to be a star baseball player who graduated from Stanford and then made about $20 million in salary in the 1990s. With his brother managing his money and his father available for advice on legal matters, the ballplayer did fine. But the number of parasites lurking around jocks is legion.

I suspect a hidden resource of some powerhouse college athletic programs is that they tap their rich supporters to offer career paths to valuable kids who might not be pros. For example, one of the hidden strengths of the USC defense is that USC's fourth-string quarterback, the guy who in practice pretends to be the upcoming opponent's quarterback, is a tremendous all-around athlete named Garrett Green. Very few programs have a fourth-string quarterback who can credibly imitate in practice Terrelle Pryor of Ohio State.

Green went to my old high school, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, CA, where he averaged 11 yards per pass attempt and 10 yards per carry. I saw him outrun the entire defensive backfield of Compton Dominguez on an 80 yard touchdown keeper in the CIF championship game. Green would be a star anywhere outside of Division I (he was heavily recruited by Harvard) and would probably be a starter for the Vanderbilts and Rices of semi-big time football. But he doesn't quite have the height or arm strength to be a plausible NFL quarterback, so USC has him playing special teams, holding on field goals, filling in at wide receiver and defensive back, but mostly playing opposing quarterback in practice for the first team defense to work out on.

Green already has his USC bachelor's degree and is getting a Master's in real estate development. I wouldn't be surprised if USC boosters who are big time real estate developers made clear to him that he has a definite career path ahead of him in hometown real estate development if he sticks its out with USC as their utility infielder rather than transfer to somewhere where'd be a starter.

It strikes me that one competitive advantage a college football program could develop is to have superrich alumni offer to manage the money of pro athletes who attend their schools. If I was some single mom whose kid was being widely wooed by college coaches because he was a sure bet for the pros, I wouldn't mind if the Oklahoma St. coach, for example, said that T. Boone Pickens has volunteered to have his accountants provide very conservative money management for free until your son is, say, 28. It probably violates all NCAA amateurism rules, but it would seem like a reasonable perk to me.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

75 comments:

alonzo portfolio said...

I think just about any federal court would instantly enjoin an NCAA attempt to invalidate or punish such a promise. Such a ruling might even trigger "disparate impact" analysis under the civil rights act.

Anonymous said...

Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach

Staubach also attended Annapolis in the early 1960s, back when they had a serious engineering curriculum [and before the modern era of you-know-what].

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he had a very healthy 130s-ish IQ [and maybe even higher].

Anonymous said...

Sound, conservative financial management is available at a reasonable cost to anyone, but you cannot MAKE someone take advantage of what's available.

A lot of great athletes have family and extended family, and assorted hangers-on, who drag them down, by hitting them up and by proposing hair brained investment schemes.

In whatever field, no matter how much talent YOU have, a lot of your long term financial fate depends on what sort of people your closest 20 or 30 friends and relatives are.

Truth said...

Get ready, get set, alter the direction of the post to HBD in 3...2...

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Success in collegiate and pro athletics gives you a ton of cachet and opportunities in the business world if you've got the brains to capitalize on them. Unfortunately, most athletes have such narrow skill sets that they can't plan or juggle abstract concepts. So when the game's over, it's all over.

That's what happened with a hero from my teens, Iron Mike Webster. Many people are adamant it's from too many shots to the head. That may be true and it certainly wouldn't help, but from all the accounts I've read it sounds like the guy just couldn't cope outside a regimented lifestyle.

Den said...

Ballplayers don't work in off-season jobs, like, say, selling cars in the '60's, because they are in large part lavishly compensated compared to the players a generation or two ago. In '71 Stauback may have been making 65K, possibly even less, which was of course in dollars more valuable than now. Nowadays, well we know what star QB's make, and they can buy a dealership of cars if they want (and if THAT were a viable business future now!). Marc Bulger of the Rams, a real also ran as an NFL QB, though with several good years in the past, is under contract which guaranteed him $29M or so, after his first two contracts, which merely made him a multi-millionaire. I know, I know, it's a top heavy system, with QB's at the very top, but players who survive 5 years can get away with a cool million in the bank, if they make a little more than the minimum for a couple years. I know one 9 year career substitute NFL player who has 2 nice homes and $1M in the bank. Not bad for a 28 or 30 year old, don't you think? And I haven't even mentioned the perks and contacts etc. which even a modestly sensible young man can parley into a solid career.
And then there is baseball, where .250 hitters can be rich forever, not counting an often spectacular pension plan....
Did anyone mention the NBA and huge salaries....?
No, I think you have it somewhat backwards Steve, they don't work in the off season, not because they have to work out, but because working out increases the chances they can hang on to the golden life another year or three.

Is the fellow you refer to in your paragraph 4 Mike Aldrete, formerly of the Giants?

C. Van Carter said...

"We were not prepared for the sharks in the beauty industry."

Mike M said...

This is only a single example, but it may be applicable.

I once had a former varsity swimmer at Cal who had qualified for the Olympic trails before souring on the program and gaining 50 pounds.

While working for me, he decided he needed to get back in shape and maybe make the trials again. He joined a swim team, meaning that he was paying a coach to plan his entire training program.

The coach was on the deck for all pool practices and my guy was always there, pushing himself as hard as the coach asked, including double days with 8 to 10 K every day.

The coach also gave all members of the team weight room assignments. My guy hardly ever did weight work, probably because nobody was there checking on him.

Interestingly, he was quite effectively independent for me, but did have trouble with credit card debt. Without going into details, he went on to become a lawyer with some good gigs, but, I have reason to believe, he lived up to his current income rather than saving very much.

BTW- he went from about 260 to 180 while training. He ate and drank just as much as before, but swimming 8-10 k a day you can consume 6000 calories or more and lose weight.

Anonymous said...

Child support, alimony. 1&2.

TS said...

It's worth noting that Terrelle "everyone kills people, murders people" Pryor is listed as a criminal law major. He's really a credit to Ohio State


http://deadspin.com/5354671/terrelle-pryor-may-not-be-the-best-spokesman-for-michael-vick

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Get ready, get set, alter the direction of the post to HBD in 3...2...

1 ...

Actually, HBD is a pretty salient point here. Those stats belie the hypothesis that stable and productive lifestyles are just a matter of having access to resources.

That one's probably too subtle for you as well.

Anonymous said...

when you hit the jackpot, all your bad habits get worse....

ricpic said...

Athletes are old men by age 35, in many cases even earlier. How they survive past that relatively young age has always been a mystery to me. Not that I ever lost any sleep over it. It was just mysterious, and remains so.

I assume a fairly high percentage of the blacks in football go on to not very distinguished or long careers as petty thugs. How many have assumed room temperature by 45? Quite a few.

As I say, I really don't care about them. They are pretty much shits who deserve whatever happens to them after the "glory" years.

Anonymous said...

Jack Dempsey was one of the first famous ex-athletes to open a restaurant and to this day is perhaps the most successful. His Broadway restaurant was a New York favorite for decades. It even got a mention in The Godfather :)

As I understand it, Dempsey was no mere figurehead or even absentee owner, but was on the premises most nights and a hands-on manager.

Peter

Anonymous said...

This is hardly a mystery. Listen, if you can bear it, to almost any pro affalete try to get through a sentence of semi-coherent English. Is it any wonder that such obvious cretins, slaves to every passing whim or impulse, however stupid or criminal, go broke? What's more puzzling is that alleged adults will spend fortunes supporting these punks. My cousin's husband holds an MBA, pulls down six figures, and seems to spend most of it on NFL player jerseys to drape over his huge stomach. Pathetic.

kurt9 said...

The best example I can think of of a successful athlete who has invested well is John Elway. He bought several auto dealerships in the Denver area (where he already had name recognition from being the Broncos quarterback). When you visit the Denver area, you see cars everywhere with license plate holders that say "John Elway Cheverolet", "John Elway Cadillac" and so forth. I drove past a group of his dealerships and saw that they are quite large and were very busy (this was in summer of '05).

Even though GM is not doing well these days, John Elway could certain change his dealerships over to say Toyota or Ford.

This represents an excellent strategic marketing decision on his part. John Elway was probably the most recognized name in the Denver area for 15 years. His name would then have immediate brand recognition for any consumer sales business in the Denver area. Clearly John Elway is a clever lad.

Sport Illustrated should profile him, if they have not already done so, as a good example to other athletes for transitioning to post-sports business life.

Patrick said...

Most NFL contracts are not guaranteed like they are in the NBA. For example, a player that signed a 5 year deal for 1.5 million per year will make zero if he is cut.

An NBA player will receive his salary for 5 years, even if he is sitting on his couch smoking bongs and playing video games (or murdering Limo drivers like Jayson Williams of the NJ Nets).

The NFL player goes broke quicker b/c his league's pay system is worse than the NBA or MLB.

Bob said...

So much of the financial industry exists and has been carefully refined to rip off rich non-finance people.

Year after year more than 80% of mutual funds do worse than S&P 500 index funds, and charge big fees to do it, yet the number of mutual funds keeps growing.

Pro sports people are such obvious targets.

Here is a quick summary of how Lenny Dykstra lost all his money, plus a lot of other people's money.

http://deadspin.com/5224796/the-myth-of-lenny-dykstra-completely-unravels

From there, links to more detailed and revealing articles.

Notice that Jim Cramer was swindling and scamming each step of the way here.

CJ said...

Ryan Leaf invested all of his $11.25 million signing bonus into REITs, presumably under the guidance of his then father-in-law Ray Lucia. That was around 1999, so the recent real estate crash probably has only returned his assets to their original value. He's unfortunately still screwing up, but he's not likely to be broke.

Anonymous said...

I have a spendthrift clause in my living trust. If I die, my daughter will recieve half of the money she gets when she is 25 and the other half when she is 30. Hopefully she will not have any bad marriages or drug or alcohol problems and will have enough common sense by then. Give $100,000 to an 18 year old and he will buy a car with it.

Also, it would be very easy for the leauge to have some type of annuity that these guys could not get their hands on until they reach say 55 or 60. Using the time value of money, they could easily put away $50K or $100k into a plan for each player which would end up giving them perhaps $250k in real dollars at 55. The money could be annuitized so they could not spend through it. That would at least keep them from hitting rock bottom poverty.

Nanonymous said...

Sheesh... Can't you just write it as it is? Athletes go broke for the same reasons others do - they make stupid decisions. It just happens that athletes make stupid choices on average more frequently than others who come to earn comparable amount of money.

HBD or not, this is not a revelation that's not obvious to just about everyone.

Anonymous said...

Maybe a lot of the women in these dudes lives Steve-O have a case of the "Toxic Wife Syndrome" -

Recession: When the money goes, so does the toxic wife – Telegraph

http://tinyurl.com/5sdbjf

headache said...

I guess Agassi and Steffi Graf must be the exception. They seem to like each other and have a stable financial and family life. But then Graf is smarter (in spite of her criminal father) than Boris Becker, who seems to be a really stupid guy reapidly exchanging mulatto babes and letting others suck off his cash.

Anonymous said...

I've always read that offensive linemen tend to be smarter than their teammates. It would be interesting to see how many of them graduated with a degree, in what discipline, and how they fared financially during and after their professional football careers compared to players who played in other positions. For example, Jeff Byers, a 6th year lineman for USC is working on his MBA. It would be interesting to follow him and other O-linemen throughout their careers compared to let's say linebackers or cornerbacks.

Anonymous said...

I've always read that offensive linemen tend to be smarter than their teammates. It would be interesting to see how many of them graduated with a degree, in what discipline, and how they fared financially during and after their professional football careers compared to players who played in other positions. For example, Jeff Byers, a 6th year lineman for USC is working on his MBA. It would be interesting to follow him and other O-linemen throughout their careers compared to let's say linebackers or cornerbacks.

Anonymous said...

i still gotta wonder about garrett green's decision-making. playing squad team QB at usc when he could start at rice or harvard? just for the networking opportunities?

last i checked, i *believe* rice and harvard has some seriously moneyed alumni, with all the attendant connections. unless the guy secretly hates football,(a possibility), why sit on the bench when you could play elsewhere? as far as future connections go, he'd find it's a big plus being "the qb at harvard for 3 years" as opposed to "i lettered at usc".

football seems to attract the "rather sit at usc than start at wichita state" types. not sure why that is - maybe an IQ issue?

John Craig said...

There seems to be a strong parallel between pro athletes and people who win the lottery. Lottery winners are infamous for ending up broke no matter how much they win.

What happens is they quit their jobs, all their friends and relatives put their hands out, and most importantly, they think they have more money than they actually have. (Remember, these are people with zero money management skills, otherwise they wouldn't be buying lottery tickets in the first place.) To someone who's been poor all his life, winning, say, a $50 million jackpot seems like unlimited wealth. But most of them take the lump sum distribution of around $26 million because they want it all now, and after taxes that becomes, say, $16 million. But they still feel they have unlimited money, so they buy fancy houses, cars, boats, and fancy vacations not only for themselves but for their relatives and various hangers on (all of whom are still thinking $50 million, not $16 million). They might enjoy drinking, so a bar seems like a good investment. But then they get ripped off their by all their employees, all of whom are jealous at their good fortune. And they invest in other similarly foolish ventures. They hire financial planners (most of whom don't know what they're doing, otherwise they wouldn't be working as financial planners), lawyers, managers, and other retainers, all of whom want a share of the pie. Maybe they find more attractive sex partners and get divorced, the worst financial decision of all. Before they know it, the money's all gone.

Pro athletes are often in the same situation. They may have gone to college, but the vast majority of them never really studied. They chose a soft major like Communications, they were babied the entire way, they had other people write papers for them, and when they suddenly get a $25 million contract, they're essentially lottery winners.

Boxers are probably the most extreme example. How did Mike Tyson go through $400 million so quickly? The only ex-boxer I can think of who ended up solvent is Sugar Ray Leonard. And his story isn't over yet.

Whiskey said...

Anon -- Football is a sport where very specialized players, from huge linemen to five step drop and throw accurate/fast QBs to pocket hercules running backs and lanky, speedy wide receivers and corners, tall and tough tight ends, must all cooperate under the watchful eye of an older authority figure. In order to win, the team must all play together, not panic when things go bad, and play hard but not outside themselves (maintain discipline). It's a chess game at full contact where the pieces have to think and cooperate together.

I'm not sure USC's ability to recruit deep players is a function of anything but a huge population pool, no real competition at UCLA for decades, or at San Diego State either, leaving all of SoCal to USC, with its huge and favorable alumni network. Tennessee and Georgia and LSU, sitting around similar talent pools without diluting competition and having favorable regional alumni networks are also perennial top contenders, often with quite deep squads. The USC practice squad QB, could certainly start elsewhere, but then his alumni network might be in say, Toledo or Boise or Provo or Albuquerque, places he might not want to live and work.

guest007 said...

The number of talented players willing to sit on the bench at USC or Notre Dame versus start elsewhere is at its lowest points.

Schools such as Cincinnati have rosters filled with players who started else where. Look at how many players have quit on Charlie Weis at Notre Dame because they would rather start else where than sit the bench at Notre Dame.

The players who used to be the second string at Miami or Florida St are now starters at South Florida or Central Florida.

Bill said...

(By the way, I wonder what percentage of guys with the natural ability to make the big time never do because of lack of intelligence or lack of self-discipline, and thus ends up in jail or at fails to do the rehab to come back from an injury.)

Probably well over half the guys with the natural physical ability never go on to play. But it isn't all because of self-discipline or lack of intelligence; I know a guy who could have been a San Francisco Giants player but chose to become a doctor instead. Some people just aren't all that into sports even if they are very gifted players.

I also knew a guy who used to be a cornerback for the Broncos back in the 80s. I tutored him in adult basic education years ago (work study job). Hell of a nice guy, and not a thug at all, but he wasn't too bright and had blown all his money on women and coke. Even so, he was an optimist, had kicked the bad habits, and was trying to get back on his feet.

Anonymous said...

I've always read that offensive linemen tend to be smarter than their teammates.

The closer to the ball at the snap, the higher the I.Q. score.

Peter

Anonymous said...

Recession: When the money goes, so does the toxic wife – Telegraph

http://tinyurl.com/5sdbjf


T99's gonna love that one.

Mercer said...

I don't follow sports much but none of this surprises me.

How common is it for anyone today to spend a lot less then they earn? I think most people I know would also go bankrupt if their income went down much before they hit retirement age.

I know plenty of people who can't keep from maxing out their credit. There is no shame in being deep in debt or bankrupt for them. There is shame in not keeping up with the Joneses.

I am not sure if the investments the athletes made are dumber then the dot com stocks that so many people were buying ten years ago.

Truth said...

OK HBD nerds:

It's time to causea few more stomach aches

Anonymous said...

Off topic - I have been trying to warn people for a few years now about just how dire our demographic situation is.

For the older readers at iSteve, the most important socio-political/socio-biological/geo-political/moral-intellectual-societal event of our lifetimes [completely un-remarked upon by anyone in any position of importance anywhere in our society] was the abrupt plunge in Caucasian Total Fertility Rates, from 2.385 in 1970 to 1.652 in 1976.

Fast forward 35 years [one full generation] later, and, just like clockwork, the Social Security system is poised to collapse and implode:


Exclusive: CBO predicts Social Security cash deficits in 2010-11
by Ed Morrissey
posted at 8:48 am on September 22, 2009
hotair.com


People still do not have any idea how bad things are about to become.

And I mean catastrophically, apocalyptically, Biblically desperate & hopeless.

BigWaveDave said...

I think we can all recite a dozen types of human failings that might, singularly or in combination, doom these athletically-gifted individuals to squander their fortunes, but let's not forget that many have had their pockets looted by slick sycophants disguised as much-needed friends, managers, advisors, and lovers. And nothing brings out bottom-feeders like the aroma of a rich athlete with more money than brains.

Look at Mike Tyson, flawed though he is, and try to imagine a way to exploit him that hasn't already been done. I can't think of one.

All other remedies aside, I think these kinds of stories would be far less common if good dads were a little more.

Anonymous said...

Off Topic

Recession Hits Immigrants Hard

Wall Street Journal

22 Sept. 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125356996157829123.html


Article states there were over 39 million foreign born in the US. If we assume one child for each foreigner, that is nearly 80 million. So of the 305 million in the US there are 80 million foreign born and their kids.

All of the growth in the US population is from immigration.

albertosaurus said...

Let's turn it around just to be fair. How many successful businessmen subsequently have a career in the NFL?

OK, maybe that's not fair because for most people by the time you have succeeded in business you are too old for serious sports. But there are exceptions - guys who demonstrated business smarts early. I'm thinking about Mike Dell and Bill Gates. How would they have done in an NFL backfield?

Anonymous said...

The answer to all of this is to abolish football and restructure society around traditional activities.

Anonymous said...

Merlin was dad on Little House on the Prairie? News to Michael Landon, of course that could have inspired your earlier entry about cuckoos.

Anonymous said...

"It's time to causea few more stomach aches"

This is supposed to cause stomachaches how?

Franchises are the perfect business for someone with more money than business acumen.

A franchisee is trained by the corporation, the franchisee must adhere to all business practices as set by Corporate, pass inspections by corporate supervisors, train employees using methods prescribed by the corporation, the corporation develops the ad campaigns, and Corporate provides assistance and oversight for bookkeeping and taxes. Basically the corporation is the parent and the franchisee is the child.

Sorry, Truthy, your example of a former black athlete who owns a bunch of franchises doesn't compare to a Steve Jobs who invented a new product and built his own corporation from scratch.

josh said...

Thoughts: A)Re Elway. Jay Cutler got yelled at by many in Denver for "forcing a trade." They said he aint the man Elway was!Til he reminded them that Elway forced a trade. Member when he was drafted and wouldnt play for the Colts?B)Michael Jordan is a nasty,vile SOB.His meanness to Jerry Krause & his slugging of white guy center Will Perdue might suggest some racial animosity. I'm waiting to hear from Jimmy Carter on that! His grotesque image as some kind of kindly,sweet and (apologies to Truth!) almost Uncle Remus or even Uncle Tom-like childrens hero('member him on SNL with Sen. Franken?He was like some kind of eunuch. "I'm good enough,and smart enough,and doggone it,people like me!" BTW thats what Whiskey has written on an index card taped to his PC!) combined with his stupendous HyperMasculine on court play insures that even he-with all his gambling etc-will never go broke. Or if he does,that will be the story of the century!!C)If you want to see an athlete who's gonna go broke,keep your eye on wacko Milton Bradley. He got signed for a 3 year 30 million deal,and he has been kicked off the team in the 1st year. Between him and Zambrano,you cant find two bigger idiots,as long as T.O. isnt in the room. No HBD,just sayin'...

Steve Sailer said...

"News to Michael Landon,"

Right, thanks. Merlin Olsen had a supporting role in 49 episodes of Little House on the Prairie.

Still, a pretty nice retirement for a washed-up jock.

Steve Sailer said...

I wonder if the hog-wild materialism of the rap era has worsened athletes' money problems?

Truth said...

"A franchisee is trained by the corporation, the franchisee must adhere to all business practices as set by Corporate, pass inspections Basically the corporation is the parent and the franchisee is the child..."

Really, well if it's that simple and foolproof, why doesn't everyone do it?

Junior Bridgeman did not get "rich" in the NBA. When he retired the average salary was $275,000. He was, as a matter of fact the Director of the player's union who actually brought true free agency to the league.

And I was totally unaware that Steve Jobs was an ex-pro athlete, you learn something everyday!

Steve Sailer said...

Running a franchise is a very good idea for somebody who is hardworking and competent but doesn't want the infinite hassles of running their own unique restaurant. The only athlete I can recall who was clearly competent to actually be the hands-on manager of a fine dining restaurant was the old outfielder Rusty Staub, a gentleman bachelor from New Orleans.

Steve Sailer said...

My old boss built a company from scratch that ended up with 2500 employees, then he built a high-end golf and housing development that prospered. But the one thing that drove him crazy was something he thought he'd be especially good at: running the fine dining restaurant in the golf course clubhouse. You just have to be there all the time to do it right. He finally just rented out the space to a professional restaurateur.

Anonymous said...

"Really, well if it's that simple and foolproof, why doesn't everyone do it?"

Because you have to have a pot of money to BUY the franchise.

Anonymous said...

RE athletes turned thugs ricpic said - How many have assumed room temperature by 45? Quite a few.

Very good, funniest line Ive seen today!

Anonymous said...

Re Toxic Wife Syndrome

Years ago (when they were still married) Ivana Trump was asked if she would still love Donald if he lost all his money.

Oh yes, she said, I'd still love him. I'd miss him but I'd still love him.

Truth said...

"Because you have to have a pot of money to BUY the franchise."

So every Taco Bell, McDonalds, Hardees, Souper Salad, 7-11, Subway, UPS Store, Jiffi Clean, Play it again Sports, Exxon, Texaco, Waffle House, ad nauseum, in your town is owned by a millionaire black ex-professional athlete?

nuss said...

truf sez:
So every Taco Bell, McDonalds, Hardees, Souper Salad, 7-11, Subway, ... in your town is owned by a millionaire black ex-professional athlete?



Troof, can you ever think outside of your race? Is there anything that you write which does not directly deal with your race? How can people like you even contemplate calling whites racist? You are obsessed with your black race on a really primitive, child-like level.

jody said...

come on. the real title of this thread should be "Why do so many black athletes in the NFL and NBA go broke?"

phrasing it any other way is sheer reality denial. as if there is some extremely high rate of bankruptcy among white professional athletes. they play about 8 sports where the salaries are over a million dollars a year. they don't have a 50% chance of being broke like retired black NFL and NBA players.

there are plenty of major boxers who still have all of their millions. they just aren't black americans.

Anonymous said...

Boxers are probably the most extreme example. How did Mike Tyson go through $400 million so quickly? The only ex-boxer I can think of who ended up solvent is Sugar Ray Leonard. And his story isn't over yet.

Also Oscar de la Hoya, though he hasn't been retired for long.

Peter

Anonymous said...

Because they're morons. Anyone who gets a windfall and blows it is, basically, a moron.

"A fool and his money are soon parted." - Benjamin Franklin

Anonymous said...

"Because you have to have a pot of money to BUY the franchise."

So every Taco Bell, McDonalds, Hardees, Souper Salad, 7-11, Subway, UPS Store, Jiffi Clean, Play it again Sports, Exxon, Texaco, Waffle House, ad nauseum, in your town is owned by a millionaire black ex-professional athlete?"

Now you're just being ridiculous. You have to have a pot of money to buy a franchise. You don't have to be a black ex-professional athlete.

If you do, however, happen to be a black ex-professional athlete with a pot of money from your earnings as an athlete, then a franchise is a good place to put it, as Corporate will work very hard to see to it your franchise is successful.

Franchises are also a good option for lottery winners or someone who got lucky enough to have bought their house in CA in, say, the '70s for a few tens of thousands and sold in 2004 for a few hundreds of thousands.

MY point is, the example you used to try counter the HBD assertion that rich blacks when left to their own devices so often go broke, of a rich black former athlete who now owns a chain of franchises, is NOT a convincing counter.
The Wendy's corporation is what makes Wendy's franchises successful. Your black ex-athlete is not independently successful. Independent success would provide a counter-example to HBD. A Wendy's franchise owner does not.

Truth said...

"come on. the real title of this thread should be "Why do so many black athletes in the NFL and NBA go broke?"

phrasing it any other way is sheer reality denial."

Famous White Athletes Gone Broke

Jack Clark San Francisco Giants
John Daly
Roger Clemens
Darren McCarthy (Detroit Red Wings)
Arturo Gatti
Johnny Unitas
Dorothy Hamill
Lenny Dykstra (Two points, Jew!)
Bernie Kosar
Scott Eyre (Philadelphia Phillies)
Bjorn Borg
Rollie Fingers
Scott Harrison (Boxer)
John Arne Riis (Soccer Player)
George Best (Soccer Player)
Tommy Morrison (Boxer)
Bill Buckner
Gaylord Perry
Steve Howe
Danny White (Dallas Cowboys)
Jose Canseco (1/2 point)

Briggs said...

...Steve Jobs who invented a new product and built his own corporation from scratch.

I admire Jobs and am a fan of his, but it should be noted that he didn't really invent anything.

Steve Wozniak basically invented and created everything. Jobs was the charismatic leader, manager, slick speaker and marketer, salesman, etc. Jobs doesn't really know anything about the technical side of computers, or about programming. Nothing close to a Wozniak or a Bill Gates.

This isn't to detract from Jobs of course. Just to point out that the idea that he created or invented the actual products is not really accurate.

It was a classic case of tech geek/nerd and slick/charismatic leader working together. Suits and geeks. Jobs, the charismatic leader, of course gets most of the limelight and credit. If they had never met each other, it's possible that Jobs would've become a used car salesman or something, and Wozniak would've been an engineer grinding it out and toiling away before getting his job outsourced.

Jim O said...

Steve: Rusty Saub was "gentlemean bachelor"?
Very delicately put.

Almanac said...

"Steve: Rusty Saub was "gentlemean bachelor"?
Very delicately put."

Back in 80's Keith Hernandez and Rusty Staub hung out together quite a bit. Keith is a wine collector, and loved the restaurants of Manhattan. Keith was warned that being seen with Rusty Staub too much might hurt is endorsements.

Truth said...

"MY point is, the example you used to try counter the HBD assertion that rich blacks when left to their own devices so often go broke, of a rich black former athlete who now owns a chain of franchises, is NOT a convincing counter.
The Wendy's corporation is what makes Wendy's franchises successful. "

Andy my point is, if franchising is such a foolproof, easy way to make millions that any moron could do it, why haven't you done it, you certainly meet the qualifications.

The thousands of people in your town that own franchises are not rich, they have 10% down and a thing called credit...look it up.

And franchising is not necessarily even a great way to do business as the franchise owner is responsible for staffing, profit and loss, and the day to day operation of the franchise; and still has to pay the franchisor a percentage of profit, and when the franchise goes bankrupt guess who goes with it.

Business is hard, making millions is hard, if it weren't everyone would be doing it, get it though your 4 inch thick skull please.

jody said...

those look like HIGH bankruptcy rates among white professional athletes. about 3 to 4 percent, would you say, truth? shocking numbers.

i dare say not even the smartest man among us could figure out why the bankruptcy rate in the NFL and NBA is so high, while being so low in the other sports. indeed, who could even explain why certain positions in the NFL have such a dramatically lower bankruptcy rate. truly bizarre stuff.

Anonymous said...

"Andy my point is, if franchising is such a foolproof, easy way to make millions that any moron could do it, why haven't you done it, you certainly meet the qualifications.

The thousands of people in your town that own franchises are not rich, they have 10% down and a thing called credit...look it up. "

Truthy, you do so enjoy your own cleverness.

I may or may not meet the definition of moron. BUT any "moron who could do it" ALSO requires a pot of money. Which I ain't got.

Wendy's REQUIRES, as of right now:

from:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2086722_buy-wendys-franchise.html
How to Buy a Wendy's Franchise

"Use the Franchise Advantage website to research the financial requirements you need to be able to meet in order to be a franchise owner of a Wendy's. Wendy's requires $500,000 in liquid assets and $1,000,000 net worth. The total investment needed to open a Wendy's franchise is $250,000 to $600,000."

*I* CERTAINLY do not have $500,000 in liquid assets, nor a net worth of a million smackers in order to purchase my FIRST Wendy's franchise.

Anonymous said...

"if franchising is such a foolproof, easy way to make millions that any moron could do it"

-- And, oh, yeah, I forgot to point out another obvious factor. The more successful the corporation (including its ability to see to it the franchisee's store is successful) the MORE the franchise costs initially.
Lousy franchises are cheaper to buy into.

Anonymous said...

"Steve Wozniak basically invented and created everything."

That's right. I forgot about that.

Steve Sailer said...

A lot of franchises can be an expensive way to buy yourself a lousy job managing a bunch of minimum wage workers.

Truth said...

"*I* CERTAINLY do not have $500,000 in liquid assets, nor a net worth of a million smackers in order to purchase my FIRST Wendy's franchise"

Well guess what Sport, I have an answer for you; you don't need a Wendy's you can open a Subway for $10,000.

You can start with one and being so much smarter than Junior Bridgeman you should have your 200 franchises and your millions in 5 years tops.

Can't raise 10 grand? Well, I guess your 150 IQ ain't worth a milk bucket under a bull now is it?

Eureka! I just got it, I always wondered what the point was in having the astronomical IQ you guys have when you're all broke. I guess the benefit of being poor with a high IQ is that you get to ridicule rich people with "low Iq's."

Steve Sailer said...

Subway is notorious as the "buy yourself a bad job" franchiser.

Truth said...

You never get rich on the first one of any franchise, they say you can make 35-50,000 per franchise, and that is with a 60-70 hour workweek, so the third one is the sweet spot.

BTW I didn't mean to call you a moron buddy, I'm a tad overbearing sometimes. No hard feelings.

Anonymous said...

"I guess the benefit of being poor with a high IQ is that you get to ridicule rich people with "low Iq's."

Who's ridiculing? It's nice that Junior is well off. But my point is, it's not stomach-ache-inducing to HBD guys -- because, again, it's the corporation that sees to it the franchise is successful.

Re: Subway costs $10,000:
Again, lousy franchises are cheaper to buy into.

Anonymous said...

On great athletes who never make it: I played high school ball with my state's player of the year (who was white btw). He could already throw in the high 80s at age 17. Big guy. Wicked curve ball. He was also our best hitter. We'd often win 2-0, with him striking out half the batters and hitting a home run or two. Cocky as hell, too. He'd draw a K on his chest before throwing the 3rd strike.

But the guy was dumb as a brick and liked to drink. Considered college, but couldn't get 700 on his SATs. Went pro out of high school. Hurt his arm after 1 year. Came back to rehab his arm, but spent his time drinking and banging high school chicks instead.

On that same team we had a short, skinny, left-handed pimply-faced dork sophomore. Threw slow as hell, but had crazy junk balls. He shot up to 6-5 by senior year, got some velocity and also turned pro. He also hurt his arm, and he and the stud tried to rehab together -- except the stud kept getting drunk.

The left-handed geek eventually made it to the pros and had a decent major league career. The one-time stud, who had been groomed to be a pro since he was 8, eventually became a cop.

Anonymous said...

That's really weird about Kosar - he set all sorts of low interception rate records - which I would have thought would have been a pretty good measure of IQ.

[If it's not a good measure of IQ, then maybe it's a good measure of some sort of physiological "poise" - some kind of endocrinological resistance to panic? Or maybe he was so high on drugs that nothing fazed him?]

I googled a little - it seems that he divorced his wife [by whom he has four children] a few years ago, and then she sold their house for a cool $2.4 million.

You have to almost wonder whether he could see the writing on the wall and whether they might have engineered the divorce so as to be able to provide a little nest egg for her and the kids [leaving him as the captain who went down with the ship?].

Anonymous said...

"always wondered what the point was in having the astronomical IQ you guys have when you're all broke"

Well, for one thing, a high IQ allows one to enjoy life cheaply. Books can be checked out from the library for free. A chess set is a few bucks. High IQ is associated with more stable marriages.

Contrasted with: tickets to professional football and basketball games are NOT cheap. Low IQ is associated with a preference for immediate gratification, and immediate gratification is expensive. Street drugs are costly -- maybe not for the first dose, but once you're addicted, hoo boy. Hookers are expensive, both monetarily and health-wise, etc.

rakeback said...

Joe Montana is a prime example of someone who has seamlessly transitioned from star athlete to businessman. He has done quite well for himself in real estate.

annetteffect said...

I think both athletes and the sporting organizations need to acknowledge the struggle athletes face in life after sport. It's a combination of financial mis-management, an athlete's identity beyond sport as well as setting goals, planning and preparation. So often athletes put off thinking about the life after sport, preferring to deal with it when they get there. Make the time to prepare and learn skills outside of sport to be a champion in life, not just in sport. Anyone can, there is no discrimination.