Superman Spending

It looks like Shaquille O'Neal is not only a super star basketball player but also a superstar spender. Last year, it was reported that O'Neal spent his money on the following items:

$156,116 in mortgages on three homes
$31,299 in homeowners insurance
$3,345 in phone bills
$1,610 in lawn and pool maintenance
$12,775 in food
$1,495 in cable TV
$24,300 in gas
$6,730 in dry cleaning
$17,220 in clothing
$2,305 for pets
$110,505 in vacations
$26,500 for childcare

-It should be noted that Shaq also has property taxes, state taxes (he pays tax on more than one state because sports stars have to play tax in the state where the game occurs). Shaq’s salary is around $1.8 million per month. Right now he is spending close to $875,000 per month. The good news is that Shaq is probably making $200,000 a month even after spending all this money. Even though he is making over $20 million a year now my question is what will he do after he retires? Clearly, he can't keep up this type of spending. His accountant and financial advisor must be pulling their hair out when they see he is spending this much money.

Source:
http://www.theinsider.com/news/604990_Shaq_s_Personal_Spending_Habits_Obtained_My_Media

Market for Dating?

Recent advances in modern technology has provided us with great wonders. One of these great wonders has been the personal computer and internet. Starting in the early 1990's and growing expotentially since then the internet has made our lives: more fun, easier to live, and allows us to do more in less time. One unintended consequence might be online dating.

You wouldn't know it unless you watched "To Catch a Predator" but the internet has become a valuable tool for the dating world. With popular social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace people can not only find long lost friends but also make new friends. Although, making friends in the "virtual world" may not seem real or authentic millions of people particpate in online dating. Launched in 2000 eHarmony matches men and women everyday based on questionaires that people fill out. The company has around 20 million users. What I find very interesting is that people will often pay for this service (a monthly user fee). In economics, this would be known as a transactions costs. However, isn't meeting people realtively easy? I guess there might be a burden for individuals who are either too busy, don't want to, or are just too scared to spend time looking for other people. To think that there is a true marketplace for members of the opposite sex is quite interesting. eHarmony reports that they marry around 236 people every day. Simple math tells us that this is over 86,000 couples per year.

The real question though is does eHarmony work better than the convential way of marriage? For instance for many centuries parents often selected possible suitors for their children often leaving little choice for the children. Before the internet people actually had to seek out members of the opposite sex. However, they were only limited to people they knew, friends their friends knew, or other connections. Now people can go online and actually find someone with similar interests. There is no empericial work on whether online dating sites produce "better" marriages than coventential ones. My best guess would be that eHarmony and other dating websites would produce better results because it makes the market more efficent.

Random Thoughts

1. I am glad Texas Tech got a new coach Tommy Tuberville (110-60 record) and has done well against top ranked teams.

2. Rachel Ray could easily fit in on Jersey Shore.

3. TCU will be so motivated they might get to the promised land.

4. Losing weight and saving money are simple ideas yet people make millions of dollars selling books about these topics.

5. Acyline might be the next contraceptive, although more studies need to be done to see if it is safe over the long term.

6. Why are there so many different fillers in the plastic surgery market? Off the top of my head I can name a few (and I am not even in the health profession industry!): Botox, Perlane, Dysport, Restylane, Juvederm

Mike Who?

Many of you have heard of the incident at Texas Tech were Coach Mike Leach "allegedly" placed player Adam James into a dark shed. No one really knows what happen. Although, no one knows all of the details I suspect a scenario like this took place.

Adam James was playing very little playing time and his father (Craig James) believed his son should have received more playing time. Craig James is an analyst for ESPN and is the color commentator for the college games. I believe that James kept putting pressure on Leach to try to help his son get more playing time. Leach most likely responded in his bizarre manor by placing Adam James in a dark shed even though James had recently suffered a concussion. Let's assume that James did every possible thing imaginable to deserve to get placed in the dark shed. Does it still make it right? My answer would be no. What is even more interesting is that Leach in a way took matters into his own hands refusing to listen to the team physician for medical advice.

This news should come as no surprise though. Leach is known as obscure, odd, and even bizarre tendencies. I remember when 60 Minutes interviewed Leach. Leach often did not speak in complete sentences, seemed to get sidetracked easily, and make weird metaphors. Texas Tech fans seem to embrace Leach with open arms. As a coach I must admit he has done some good. It should be noted that Leach’s bowl record was only 5-4. Also his winning percentage against Big 12 teams was barely 60%.

Leach signed an $11 million 4 year contract with Texas Tech right after Leach had a magical season with Michael Crabtree and Graham Harrell. I have a feeling Leach will go elsewhere but will not get as much as he did at Tech. Leach probably cost himself a few million dollars with this whole incident which probably could easily have been avoided. Until then Leach will be sticking with his motto, "If the dark shed fits, you must acquit".