In regards to Andre Smith, we are moving forward and devoting all of our attention on the high...

In regards to Andre Smith, we are moving forward and devoting all of our attention on the high character, hard working and honest clients of Priority Sports.

We were asked to come in at the last minute to provide credibility to his draft status and we succeeded in that task. Soon after the draft, Andre Smith became a tremendous distraction to our company. What we have subsequently determined is that Andre Smith does not match the culture of Priority Sports and the character of the clients we take so much pride in representing.

This will be our final statement on this matter.

The statement by Priority Sports in the wake of the Andre Smith situation. Exclusive to Pro Football Talk. HT to Cincy Jungle.

5 months ago kleph 22 comments 0 recs |

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I hate to say this but

Boom Roasted Dre. You had a chance to be a man. Quit listening to your family, work hard and be the star everyone THINKS you can be.

"When people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears their people, there is liberty" - Thomas Jefferson

by BamaReturns07 on May 25, 2009 5:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

B-R

him… dang man that’s harsh bro…harsh…

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on May 26, 2009 3:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

"F" Priority Sports!

Those peeps just got dropped like discarded ass-wiped tp. A tri-soiled/folded – 2-flusher!

What Andre needs to do is, retain a round-the-clock, trustworthy, and highly recommended business lawyer- preferably someone from the South or better, from Alabama. Utilize this retained firm/attorney to comprehensively review each and every aspect of his professional contracts: be it football and team-related (Cincy Bengal, NFL, NFLPA, etc), financial-related (investments, charity-related, personal purchases, etc), marketing-related (endorsements, appearances, promotional branding, etc), and tax-related (CPA & bookkeeping contracts, IRS/government-matters, etc). A separate business attorney- independent from a CPA (see further down), a personal attorney, sports agent/agency, PR-firm, and what-have-you is essential. What’s important here, is that whoever he retains in this position maintain an “outside” position/perspective in handling the fine-print, clauses, exclusions, limitations/disclaimers in ANY contract Andre may want to explore for himself and his family. Protect Andre by editing, revising, and advising for-or-against certain aspects of contractual obligations that might possibly be detrimental or harmful for Andre in the future.

There’s more.

Andre needs to also retain a personal attorney for obvious reasons regarding the protections necessary for a young millionaire in a world of opportunistic predators who are sure to try to enter into his inner-circle and expose him to unwarranted drama and litigation.

It is paramount that Andre hire both a “personal bookkeeper” to keep track of his personal income (salary/endorsement revenue) and spending, as well as accurately inputting his financial data and preparing monthly statements for tax-purposes.

Which brings me to the next necessary “need”: Andre needs a CPA firm to accurately file all his monthly statements and revise/edit/advise any changes Andre might need to consider on all matters financial. (keeping a personal bookkeeper AND CPA is important, as it will help to prevent any massive misappropriation of monetary dealings Andre has: trust me, EVERYONE wants his money. Including those he hires to help protect his very interest. It happens).

A recommended PR-firm or agent. This is important, if only to help Andre formulate various “marketing plans” potential in his future. 6-month, 1-year, 3- and 5-year marketing plans. Guide him towards promoting his name, celebrity, and personal wealth. A firm or agent with a solid background of contacts, endorsement deals, branding, and proven results. Most importantly, this agency/agent must help protect Andre against unforeseen “bad PR” that Andre seems to consistently find himself in.

Andre needs a personal sports physio- and/or nutritionist to help monitor his daily health regimen and food/diet intake/protocols. A personal assistant (preferably a trusted family member) must be hired by Andre to help him keep to a disciplined schedule of his daily personal and professional obligations. Someone he pays top dollar to effectively keep Andre on time, on schedule, and “on-point” – for the most part. (It helps if this person is a black-belt, has driving skills, and selfless in their intentions at keeping Andre out of harms way).

Lastly, Andre needs to (if he hasn’t already) nurture a long-lasting spiritual relationship with a person of like-minded beliefs and sensibilities. This is as crucial as having business lawyer. It will only help Andre to efficiently mature in to becoming the gentleman (man) his parents and family have always hoped he be. It will also allow him to develop a proper perspective of the world, show him enlightened realities not otherwise understood in his young life, and to help nurture important internal traits as he journeys into the cruel, yet wonderfully satisfying world that awaits him.

For the most part, I wouldn’t recommend Andre retain a sports agent/agency or what have you. The responsibilities involved with this position are numerous and complex and this person/company would have too much concentrated (read: potential catastrophic) effect on Andre’s well-being. I would only recommend he hire a sports-agent on an “as needed” basis, essentially- only around end of- and new-contract discussions.

Comer4tide to Nico2.0: "How come I've never heard of any of your random songs?"
Todd to Comer: "Because if you had, he wouldn't listen to it. BOOM. Roasted."
Nico to Todd: "Shouldn't you be off voguing somewhere?"

by BixBeiderbecke on May 25, 2009 5:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I wholly endorse business lawyers...

Nebraska players, I have a complete hookup at the Victoria Secret in Tuscaloosa and the Fox and Hound in O…what more could you want?

I just won a t-shirt tearing contest against the Tennessee coaching staff

by Stuck in the Plains on May 25, 2009 5:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i think

someone went to mel kiper jr.’s sports management workwide 8 week course.

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 26, 2009 1:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow! That place is totally sick!

No, though. As a matter of fact, I know nothing of sports or entertainment law or GM/scouting stuff. The GM/scouting stuff is pretty interesting stuff that I might wanna have some perfunctory knowledge about- the sports/entertainment law stuff . . . .what I know of it already through the ups and downs of athletes and media celebrities. . . . I’d rather have a housefly crash into the back of my throat and have no choice but swallow the icky bastard than learn anything about sports agents and their M.O.

About 3 years ago, I ran into some (let’s just say “volatile”) instances in my life that required me to ask the advice of my father’s business lawyer and old friend. Short of the long of it: this man helped save me beaucoup scratch and got me the wriggle room I needed to obtain better leverage in other situations that could have been a repeat of what I was going through in the first place. Since then, I’ve got a bookkeeper that comes every 2 weeks and prepares my accounts/reviews my investments and forwards all the work we BOTH go over and sign off, to my CPA- who then goes over the filings, receipts, chart of accounts, IRS payments, etc with my bookkeeper and I before sending sh_t out- as far as payments/paperwork/filings. I was able to get rid of those idiot analysts at Bernstein & Assoc (my portfolio and fund managers), the property management company that were poorly managing 2 properties of mine, and numerous other entities that were a drain on my finances.

No financial analysts. No account manager. No brokers. No management companies. And a complete overhaul of all the vendors/agencies that were milking my wallet since 2001. Seriously, the money that I spend to retain the above 3 positions in my life is a little over a third of the total amount of money they have saved me on a year to year basis since I went this route. And. . . .and . . . I feel I’ve got a great “checks and balances” (pun certainly intended) for my accounts and financial well-being. Not only can I sleep well at night, I have yet to be bothered for any unforeseen emergencies that consistently cropped up WHILE I WAS on vacations or holidays. (that sh_t totally “kills the company” when you’re out on vacation with your girl and your boner)

I don’t have a driver, physio/nutritionist, personal assistant, nor spiritual mentor- unless “South Park” reruns or “Princess Ja Myung” (a Korean TV night time soap opera that my “babeh” and I are totally into right now) count? Hey, these shows give me breadth of insight, keen perspectives, and intellectual energy not otherwise cerebral-ly digested from my daily exposure, experience, and existence. (Korean chicks have moved up into my “Top 5 chicks I wanna Get to Know better”. Replacing Brazilian chicks and relegating them outta the “top 10”. major re-order!)

Damn, my tangent just took off! Where’d it go? Anyone?

Oh! Roll Tide Roll!
Walk tall and carry a big stick Andre! Make us all proud now! Alright.

by BixBeiderbecke on May 26, 2009 1:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

so

you’re rich eh? got a job for me? would love to move back south and keep my decent income (42 k per) while working on my bachelors… gotta sell/burn my house first though…

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 26, 2009 2:38 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tempe

for some reason I thought you were a lawyer! Crap it must be because we have no less than 59 on this board I guess I assume everyone is until they say otherwise. So what are you getting your bachelors in if ya don’t mind me asking?

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on May 26, 2009 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i'm a supervisor in a call center

for a financial services corporation (my staff takes calls from the individual customers of various banks and credit unions about online banking, customer service, emergency lost/stolen cards, and fraud analysis and prevention). there’s some opportunities to move up there, but ultimately i dont foresee myself staying with them for too many years after i’ve got my degree. probably my best bet to do something i’ll like and get paid with them would be to move into risk management/analysis (we also sell risk management services/products to insurance companies and investment houses), but i think if i do that, i’d rather just go for broke and be an equities analyst or financial advisor, or maybe even a trader.

i’m going back to school so i can get a degree in business/economics, whatever will help me get into the securities industry…

i want to possibly be involved in new client generation/existing client retention, but also in forecasting and analysis. i dont want to supervise production workers…

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 26, 2009 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm

VERY interested in risk management. I currently work in commercial insurance and the two are very much intertwined. A good part of of my job is reviewing 3rd party contracts in relation to insurance compliance. There are two basic fields of risk management though, financial and operational. You seem more interested in the former, where as I in the latter.

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on May 26, 2009 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

you got any suggestions on

the type of degree i should get (i have about 30 hours right now, and am taking only pre-reqs. will have to get my degree from ASU, U of A, or NAU out of financial necessity)

or what to do about the house? clearly intentionally burning it down to have the mortgage paid off is illegal and unadvisable. but whatever that “divorce” and foreclosure strategy i described below. i’m serious, is that legal/possible? my wife and i were un married when we bought the house, our loan and title docs said “an un married couple” on them when referring to our relationship. could she just quit claim the deed and be let out of the loan? how can we get this house off our backs and just buy another one at todays prices?

i’m going to crush USC for the 2013 NCAA title and will be back later…

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 26, 2009 4:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You

will be fine with a business/economics degree. You should also start persuing some professional courses in risk management. Here are some websites to look at:

www.irmi.com – more on the side of insurance and risk management. this is focused more on the operational side dealing with risk transfer and risk financing. A degree in project management would also be useful here.

For financial and enterprise risk management check this site out:

www.garp.com – Global Association of Risk Professionals

This is going to deal heavily in financial such as hedging etc… I would think a degree in any of the following would be good here: business, finance, economics

As for your house situation. I never caught the genesis of the problem, I see you want out of it but I never got why. I would think divorcing, getting foreclosed on, remarrying and then buying another house using the FHA program would be fraud of the FHA, thats just me guessing though.

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on May 26, 2009 4:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let me add

that obtaining a PMP Certification could be very beneficial. back before the economy tanked, a lot of companies around here were looking for this type of credentials, and you could make good money.

And, yeah, the house situation you discussed is fraudulent. Now whether or not they would catch you is another story, but I wouldn’t want to be caught up in that situation.

"When people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears their people, there is liberty" - Thomas Jefferson

by BamaReturns07 on May 26, 2009 4:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

okay guys. i'm gonna apply again.

here’s my new “objective” on my resume’. look decent? got any suggestions for improvement?

To obtain a position with Liberty Mutual that affords me the opportunity to leverage my years of professional experience serving individual and institutional customers in the financial services sector, as well as my educational background in finance and risk management, along with the consultative sales and persuasive skills I’ve gained from years of experience in sales job roles. I plan to make the most of this opportunity and look forward to years of mutual growth and achievement as I work towards my ultimate professional goal of becoming an Institutional Risk Management Professional.

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 27, 2009 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the advice

do you have any suggestions on where i should look when it comes to getting licensed to sell insurance in different states? there’s an insurance company near my current job that is seemingly always hiring for auto, home, and personal liability insurance sales reps. they say that licenses aren’t required and they’ll train you and you have pass the test, if so you keep on training and get the job… anyway i’ve interviewed with them 3 times and not gotten the job. the last time was more than a year ago and i’ve subsequently gotten a promotion at my current job… however my current job doesn’t offer much in the way of extra pay incentives the way this insurance place does. and from what i’ve heard, even if i get the next promotion, i wont be getting paid much more, but will instead become salaried and potentially have to keep the same crappy hours i have, but lose out on OT as i always work at least 45 hours a week. if i went to work at this insurance company, supposedly my salary would be a little lower, though i’d be eligible for OT all the time and the monthly bonuses are usually in the $1,000 to $2,500 range… that would more than make up for the small drop off in pay. also this place has agents who sell annuities and stuff too. i figure thats a good opportunity to get into dealing with this while getting my degree… so anyway, yeah i want to try for that insurance job one more time, and i figure getting licensed to sell property and casualty (they dont sell health) and whatever else i need to, in as many states as possible, and then showing up for a 4th time, outta help me out just a lil bit.

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 27, 2009 1:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

As

far as licensing check with your state’s department of insurance. Its similar to real estate only not as much material. You’ll have to learn insurance product basics and insurance laws. Also for insurance and risk management education, check out the American Institute of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters. You don’t need any of what they offer to get into the field or get licensed, but once you get in, its good for professional development.

www.aicpcu.org

The CPCU is the Cadillac of professional designations in the field of insurance and risk management. Its a doosy though, takes most people about 3-5 years to complete.

Here is your state’s DOI website:

www.id.state.az.us

Go to the licensing section under “producers.”

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on May 28, 2009 3:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, no, no, no!

I’m not close to being rich, I’m trying like crazy to be though. My parents, they’re comfortably wealthy. 3 of my sisters and my brother, they’re almost there- as far as “rich”. Me? I’m not poor, but I’ve got a lot of financial stuff in the works and my debts are mainly mortgages (property and income taxes are painful, but manageable. credit cards, utilities, and vendor/professional personnel are pretty much easily taken care of).

It’s vacation planning, social entertainment, hobbies & interests that I have had to cut down and practically eliminate these past couple of years that I wanna get back into and have the disposable funds to “do ’em all right”. I can’t right now, and it’s killing me. Oh, and there’s my mutual/money-market funds and 401K investments that have taken a remarkable nosedive that I need to replenish and get back to being “healthy” again that kinda weighs me down.

No tempebamafan, I’m not rich. I’m barely “comfortable”. (I too am considering “liquidating” some personal stuff. One of my motorcycles, jet-skis, and BMW that I hardly drive. Even considering selling off some of my album/cd collection? Not so much for “the money”, though. More for “space” (storage costs are skyrocketing here in Los Angeles and San Francisco) and lack of any real personal interest at this point in my life.)

Sorry though, I’m in research. A hired mercenary, if you will. I’m shaking my money-maker all over the place these days too! Trying to find new and more exciting work. (FTR: I currently hold 2 positions at competing companies, and am on advisory boards for one of ’em as well as 2 others that are out of state)

(why not rent out your house to various people, depending on how many rooms you’ve got. convert the garage into your area of habitation. hypothetically, say you have a 4-bdrm house and a $2,300/mo mortgage payment- rent out all or 3 of the rooms- charge “more” for the master bedroom/personal bathroom- and make the kitchen/dining/living room areas as “all access” for the tenants. it would look like this: Master bdrm/bath rent: $675, 2 bdrms @ $575 per/room = $1,150 – you’d only be on the hook for $575 for monthly mortgage. Rent all 3 rooms and Master = $2,400. Voila’ – mortgage is paid. (I lived out of my detached garage for 1 1/2 years and rented my flat to various tenants and I was able to completely remodel my place and put change in my pocket. gotta admit though, it’s kind of a drag to watch other people live and abuse your own home while you eat meals from a mini-stove/bbq pit and drink your beers from a child’s refrigerator! the good part is: you can use your power tools while watching football games as your naked and smoking cigars if you REALLY want to!)

Just a thought. Strained through the haze of totally forgetting that I’m Bix.. I’m retarded, in most states. And according to my sisters and ex-girlfriends.

by BixBeiderbecke on May 26, 2009 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i'm just messin w ya anyway bix

good answer though, anyone who proclaims themselves to be rich is usually a moron and about to no longer be rich.

i bought the house in march of 08 for 220k. mortgage is at 5.0 fixed and is $1,430 a month. i make about 18.50 an hour give or take (i am non exempt still, so i get alot of OT and on memorial day, double time). and renting the house out to anyone for more than 1000 a month is out of the question. there’s simply no one stupid enough to pay that much anymore. we have so many vacancies in the phoenix area it’s not even funny. in retrospect i was stupid to attempt to time the housing market when i bought last spring. if i’d waited til this year i could have the same house for 140 k, plus i’d get a free 8k from obama.

thats why a fire that completely destroys my house wouldn’t be such a bad thing, as long as my wife and dogs were okay.

as for investments. yeah right. i’ve got about 9K in contributions to my 401k, and their current worth is around 6k. no extra cash for an IRA. and my wife just became eligble for her 401 k. so we will be doing the minimum/maximum on that, her contributing 6% to get the max match of 3&

right now i’m pinning my hopes on our 30 year retirement horizon and getting a degree and somehow hopefully getting a degree that allows me to earn more….

my house is at this point an albatross, and if the banks wont write down the principle, then i’m just going to have to convince my wife that we need to get legally divorced, she signs a quit claim, and i get foreclosed on. we take the cash we have plus the mortgage payments we didn’t make, get “re-married” and buy again using her credit and FHA eligiblity.

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 26, 2009 3:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also

do you really want a foreclosure on your credit? I see your thinking, but IMO that is a bad idea. Any hopes of refinancing the home? I know you still pay more than you believe it’s worth, but not sure that is worth it considering your young age and desire to get into finance.

"When people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears their people, there is liberty" - Thomas Jefferson

by BamaReturns07 on May 26, 2009 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah

i guess i’m just pissed off about my decision to buy, and want a bailout… it’s good house and we can afford it, and it’s in a great neighborhood. supposedly the safest city over 100K in the US… lots of mormons and well kept lawns, so the this area should rebound sooner than alot of other areas. it just sucks to think about what i’m going to do with this place in 5-7 years when we’re trying to move. because my guess is, that i wont be eligible for any sort of short sale that doesn’t wreck my credit, so i’ll have to cash in my 401 to cover the difference just so we can get out of this place. my loan was for 216 K in principle (i refied it down from 5.875 to 5.0 and lowered the payment $90 a month in February), and the property tax assessment this year said my house was only worth 150k. (i want to raise kids either back south (my company has alot of jobs in the atlanta area and in portland) or in oregon where my brother and his wife are moving. but i need to make sure i’ve set myself up with a degree and job skills that travel with me.)

welcome to the SEC kiffykins...

by tempebamafan on May 27, 2009 1:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Arizona

was one of those states that just got it worse than a lot of others. I say stick it out. All indications is the economy has bottomed out, and we should start to see things stablize at the end of the year. Also, if you just refied, you want to at least stay in long enough to recoup your closing costs.

As far as the short sale idea, you probably aren’t eligible for one. If you can afford the house and have been making payments then the bank has no incentive to do a short sale.

One last thing, don’t pay much attention to property tax assessments. They are rarely, if ever, accurate. If you want a good solid idea of what you house is worth go to a seasoned real estate person, or hire an appraiser. Didn’t you have to do one to do the refi?

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on May 28, 2009 3:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs