[SecurityRatty] tag: nfl

NFL Players and Senseless Violence

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Scott Brown writes about the dangers that well known NFL players face on a regular basis. For some, it has even led to their untimely deaths.

Interestingly, many players seem reluctant to hire professional security agents. There is a fear that it will make them seem "self important" and may arouse "indignation". Is it just me or does this strike anybody else as a stupid reason to forego concerns and plans to safeguard one's own personal safety?

Does anybody think any less of a country's President because he/she is flanked by highly trained personal protection specialists? Of course not. Why? Because history has proven to us that there are disturbed individuals in society who would kill a well known person/celebrity just for their 15 minutes of fame.

Why then should an NFL player not be entitled to have a security person(s) looking out for them? I am fairly sure that the family of Sean Taylor wishes that he had employed personal security and that they had confronted those criminals who broke into his house rather than Mr. Taylor.

There is no shame in taking precautions. Ask any security consultant for their opinion on whether a person is better off saying; "I wished I had..." or saying; "I am going to, just in case".

Consider of all of the wonderful music John Lennon could have produced these past years had he employed a Personal Protection Agent to watch his back and protect him from the lunatics of this world. Artists like Lennon and world class athletes need to be protected so that they can continue to entertain us and thrill us with the gifts that they have been given. They deserve our support, not our indignation.

Military Eyes Football Helmets for Battlefield Protection

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon is seeking help from NFL gear makers to create helmets that will make U.S. combat soldiers safer.

Dems were for Web 2.0 before they were against it

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:57:29 +0000

zenpundit aka Mark Safranski on the congressional Democrats war on Web 2.0

Nor was one of the leading Web 2.0 experts, Clay Shirky, reassured either, writing at
Open House Project: “They can enforce it the way we enforce parking rules, which is to miss most violations, and then bring in draconian enforcement of enough violations to have a chilling effect. This will also allow the Rules Committee to wield enforcement selectively as a stick.” Representative Capuano, who has described the internet as “a necessary evil,” would be one of the enforcers and he is part of a larger Democratic House leadership whose speaker, Nancy Pelosi, also supports a revival of the long-defunct “Fairness Doctrine” that made it unprofitable for broadcast networks to permit robust political expression on air.

...

More ominous still would be the precedent of the U.S. government designating “official” external websites — imagine having the power to select “official” newspapers — that would have to hew to House regulations and be as free as possible from political or commercial advertising. Given the ubiquity of blogads, most blogs, bulletin boards, and discussion forums would be shut out of the conversation with our nation’s elected officials. Essentially, Capuano is demanding that the internet adapt itself to the House of Representatives instead of the House adapting to the reality of the internet.

Looks like a good diversion from normal critical DC wealth destroying activities, and baseball steroid and NFL team filming practices investigations,

StubHub millionaires?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:07:37 +0000

One of the cool things about the first dot com bubble was the "ebay millionaire". These were people who built businesses around selling goods at auction on ebay. There has been much written and said about the methods of these people and certainly it was a big attraction to people selling on ebay. I had an interesting plane ride home today where I met someone and discovered todays equivalent. I call it the StubHub millionaire. It is a testament to American ingenuity and shows that given the tools, people will find a way to exploit and make money.

Up until fairly recently you bought tickets to sporting events and other entertainment from a box office or ticket agent such as ticketron. The "after market" in ticket sales or scalping as it was called in NY was often times illegal. There were though some legal ticket brokers that you could buy tickets from. Now with the advent of StubHub and similar type of ticket reselling outlets on the web though, the infrastructure is in place for anyone to sell tickets on line. You would think that most of these people selling tickets were people who had either extra tickets to an event or perhaps a season ticket holder looking to unload some tickets to help defray the costs. Not the case!

There is a now a whole class of businessman who buys season tickets to multiple teams, sports and cities and than uses outlets like StubHub and others to sell these tickets. The guy I spoke to today had season tickets to 6 different NFL teams, 3 major league baseball teams and multiple basketball and hockey teams. Many of his tickets are sold months and weeks before the event. If any are left within 14 days of the event he puts them on ebay. His average mark up is about 40 to 50% of face value, but by buying season tickets he pays below face, so his actual margin is closer to 60 to 70%. He keeps a few tickets for him and his family to go to a few games a year.

This started as a hobby for him with Yankee season tickets, but he has done an analysis and compared to what he would make investing that money in the market, he has come out way, way ahead. He thinks that on a 12,500 investment, he makes about 40k! That is not bad. This year when all is said and done he will make six figure income from the resale of tickets he bought. Think about it, no office or anything. Just list your tickets and let people buy them. Take some of the money and buy more tickets.

So what the heck am I doing trying to show people why it is important that they put good security in place on their computers? There has got to be a better way.

StubHub millionaires?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:08:05 +0000

So what the heck am I doing trying to show people why it is important that they put good security in place on their computers? There has got to be a better way.

Sen. Arlen Specter Demanding Probe of 'Spygate'

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Sen. Arlen Specter demands an independent inquiry into "Spygate." No, it's not President Bush's warrantless domestic surveillance program. Instead, the Republican wants a review of the New England Patriots' actions of secretly filming opposing coaches' signals on the sidelines during NFL games.

Big Ben is a Steeler for life

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:12:30 +0000

Was happy to see the news today that Ben Rothlisberger signed a new 8 year extension on his contract with the Steelers. This will keep Big Ben a Steeler probably for his entire NFL career. The money is pretty crazy, about 102 million over the life of the deal, with 25 million up front as a signing bonus. Not a bad deal if you can get it!

It was almost 2 years ago that Ben had that terrible motorcycle accident. He wasn't wearing a helmet and suffered some serious injuries. Many thought he would never get back to the level he was before the accident. Last year he had a great year though and made the Pro Bowl. Good for Ben and good for the Steelers! Now for all of you people who make this the most popular search question on my blog, NO Ben is not Jewish!

Sports stars to practice self-protection?

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:59:00 +0000

My recent posting regarding the safety of sports stars and the need for Risk Management appears to have been quite timely as USA Today followed-up with their own article on athletes and security.

It is obvious from the article that many professional NBA and NFL stars are concerned for their safety and are talking about purchasing guns and dogs to help protect themselves. While I fully understand their concern, the athletes involved need to be aware of the danger that some of these ideas may pose. For instance, the NFL has strict guidlines restricting the carrying of weapons on their property. Likewise, cities such as Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, all have very strict laws that make it very difficult to carry a concealed weapon if you are not a law enforcement officer.

Even if an athlete could carry a concealed weapon, there are no exceptions covering Federal Buildings, establishments that serve alochol, crossing State lines, etc. As Kelly Davis, a Chicago police officer who worked for three years as a bodyguard to NBA star Denis Rodman said; "if you feel like you need to carry a gun....you need to hire security". A gun is not the ultimate solution to every security threat and guns in the hands of non-experts pose a serious risk factor and open the door to huge liability problems. It is much better to rely on the services of a professional Security firm for these reasons.

Some athletes, such as Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles Angels, intends to "keep a lower profile". While this sounds fine in theory, in reality, it may be very difficult to put into practice. Sports stars, like the President of the United States, will continue to be in the public eye. It is unrealistic to believe that they will stay behind guarded walls when they are not on the field. That is why they need security professonals to "watch their backs" as they go about their lives with as little interruption as possble. The President continues to travel about the country and the world, and in so doing, is protected by highly trained professionals who spend all of their time ensuring that their Principal is safe.

Unfortunately, there appears to be an increase in violent crimes - robberies and burglaries occurring in the player's homes these days. We agree fully with Antwan Jamison of the Washington Wizzards when he says; "you have to take precautions now as far as being at home". Our theme of "target hardening" has never been so approporiate as it is today. The NFL league spokesman, Greg Aiello sums it up perfectly when he says; "don't make it easy for people to target you".

Like we have said many times before, thieves and criminals are opportunists. If they see that a home or an athlete is being protected, they will move along to the one that is without security. For those with a particular axe to grind, the security professional will advise his client on the best way to alternate routes and times of travel, using decoy vehicles, etc. We could go on, but we do not want to give away too many secrets.

Michael Vick's journey from the NFL to a jail cell

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:13:00 +0000

I watched CNN this morning as they announced that Michael Vick had been sentenced to 23 months incarceration for his part in organizing illegal dog fighting and animal abuse. I have never been a star quarterback so I do not know how it feels to go from being a NFL superstar to a Felon, but I bet it can't be easy.

There's not much upside to this story either. The sentencing Judge, Henry E. Hudson, was not buying the idea that it had been a "momentary lack of judgement." He described Vick as being a "full partner" in the crime. He also told him that he owed an apology to the young children who used to look up to him as a role model.

As if all of this humilation was not enough, Vick is still liable to be prosecuted under State Law. Other than an acquital, which is highly unlikely after his conviction in Federal court, the best he can hope for is to have all of his State sentence run concurrently (at the same time as the Federal time).

I recently wrote about Risk Management. For the life of me, I do not understand why one of the highest earning super stars in the NFL (his 10 year contract was reportedly worth $130,000,000.00)would not hire personal security consultants to keep him out of trouble. While a personal protection agent's main role is usually keeping his client safe from outside threats and attacks, in the case of celebrities, this often means keeping them safe - from themselves.

A colleague and I were talking last year about an assignment that involved protecting a world famous boxer who had a penchant for getting into trouble. He said that he never worried about anyone attacking his client, but he constantly worried about his client getting into trouble. This was most especially the case where females were involved. As a result he was like a baby sitter and was never able to take his eyes off of the client (baby) for more than a second. He said the money was great, but in the end it just wore him down too much.

Guys like Vick are really to be pitied. Most of them go from relative obscurity and poverty to overnight stardom. Which of us would not fold under that pressure? We see Lotto winners losing fortunes all the time. There are always too many hanger-ons, both from the old days and new found friends who are afraid to speak their minds. However, having the courage to speak up and voice an unpopular opinion might be just what it takes to keep these guys out of trouble.

They need tough love so they don't swap their Armani for prison stripes. If you come across any super stars to be, tell them about us. We'll keep them safe. At the same time we'll keep them out of lawsuits, gossip columns, bankruptcy courts and jail. It's probably too late for Vick. At the time of writing his houses are being auctioned off and the creditors are moving in.

As I said before, this is the opposite of Risk Management. This is avoidance. We all have risk. The secret is knowing how to best manage it.