Sports
Report links USC Heisman winner to marketing agents’ wallets
Charles Robinson and Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports conducted an eight-month investigation and reported that <a href=http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=ys-bushprobe&prov=yhoo&type=lgns&league=top"“Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and his family appear to have accepted financial benefits worth more than $100,000 from marketing agents while Bush was playing at the University of Southern California. The story cites hotel records and credit…
Read MoreSteroid abuse in NFL
Using federal court documents filed in the case against Dr. James Shortt, Charles Chandler of The Charlotte Observer uncovered an alarming case of steroid abuse in the NFL. Shortt prescribed a dangerous combination of preformance enhancing drugs to members of the Carolina Panthers without regard for the potential ill effects on the players. “Medical records…
Read MoreHundreds of Texas racehorses fatally injured
John Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News examined the Texas Racing Commission’s database of horse injuries, which never had been analyzed by outsiders, and found that “at the state’s five licensed tracks, Marsh and other veterinarians with the Texas Racing Commission have euthanized or documented the deaths of 300 horses in the past five years,…
Read MoreUtility district spent ratepayers’ money on sports
Andrew McIntosh of The Sacramento Bee found that “the Sacramento Municipal Utility District has spent more than $1 million in ratepayers’ money on partnership deals with the Sacramento Kings and Monarchs since 2002.” The public utility’s contracts with Maloof Sports, disclosed under the state’s Public Records Act, offer a rare glimpse into an NBA team’s…
Read MoreTaxpayers subsidize college athletics
Mark Alesia of The Indianapolis Star finds that “athletic departments at taxpayer-funded universities nationwide receive more than $1 billion in student fees and general school funds and services.” The investigation analyzed the 2004-05 athletic budgets of 164 of the nation’s 215 biggest public schools. The Star compiled and put online what is says is the…
Read MoreSonics’ owners are a secretive team
Jim Brunner of The Seattle Times used public records to construct the most complete roster to date of the investors of Seattle’s basketball team, the Sonics. “Some were announced when they bought the team in 2001; others were identified in public records or interviews. Several were recently confirmed by the team for the first time…
Read MorePrep players enroll in questionable schools
Pete Thamel, with contributions from Thayer Evans, Jack Begg and Sandra Jamison, of The New York Times found more than a dozen institutions claiming to be prep schools, some of which closed soon after opening. “All or most of the students were highly regarded basketball players. These athletes were trying to raise their grades to…
Read MoreEx-adviser gets out of jail early, but victims get little
Brent Schrotenboer of The San Diego Union-Tribune used court records in an investigation of John W. Gillette Jr., a former financial adviser to high-profile athletes. He is four years removed from prison after fleecing those athletes out of more than $11 million. He serves as the chief operations officer at Shadow Mountain Community Church in…
Read MoreHigh school coach recruits players, violates rules
Christine Willmsen and Michael Ko of The Seattle Times investigated the Chief Sealth High School girls basketball team’s head coach, Ray Willis, and found that the coach had violated numerous amateur athletic rules. Willis and his assistants, Amos Walters and Laura Fuller, have recruited players for more than three years, six of whom helped the…
Read MoreNFL players dying young because of weight-related ailments
Thomas Hargrove of the Scripps Howard News Service tracked the deaths of 3,850 pro football players to show that athletes of the National Football League are dying young at an alarming rate and many of the players are succumbing to ailments typically related to weight. The heaviest athletes are more than twice as likely to…
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