A fan’s perspective

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

I hate to keep repeating myself

College sports (football & basketball) are out of control, this issue has existed for a time now. Nowhere is this more evident than at LSU, this Louisiana university school has been threatened by the SEC with expulsion. Despite that fact as this is written that’s not been done. As for football coach Lane Kiffin he’s indicated his intention to add two NFL players on his team’s roster although they were missing from LSU’s first game. A similar situation exists with men’s basketball at LSU, I am unsure of the number but it is being reported Will Wade has also added “pro-players” to his roster as well.

With the threat of a pending lawsuit the NCAA the governing body of college athletics has been somewhat silent. The question becomes, is there anyone in charge, from where I sit the answer would be an emphatic no. We are in an age whereby the universities and colleges have increasingly become farm systems for the NFL and NBA. Each year one more rung higher on the ladder is established. I’ve stated over and over resolution of this issue is above my paygrade and scope. I don’t know who fixes this but I will inform you who I don’t wish to become involved in….its congress. I would foresee senators or congresspersons even the president politicizing this issue for their benefit. This ends with a fix is required but by who?

Really

I’ve been reporting for a time the Sixers desire to move from Xfinity Arena to their own building. Well an agreement was reached several months ago and a decision was made to build a new arena on the same spot of the demolished Spectrum where the team once played. The plan for the building was released this past Tuesday, now for the numbers. Seating is unknown at present however it’s likely to be in the neighborhood of 20,000 occupancy. The price tag for this arena is projected to be $1.5 billion with no taxpayer funds being expended for the project.

Naturally, there are complaints and one of those I heard was this. The Xfinity Arena opened in 1996, which makes it about 30 years old, in 2019 it was remodeled to the tune of $265 million. One resident questioned the need for a new arena with the work performed at Xfinity. As a taxpayer and one who is paying for the Royals and Chiefs stadium the proposal for zero taxpayer money being expended sounds exciting to me. On the backend we have no clue what will occur or did occur for Chase Center in San Francisco or Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Chase and Intuit were built without taxpayer funds as well, who pays for the maintenance and upkeep of these buildings? I believe it’s just as important to detail that bit of information too.    

Genius

Jack Molinas was reported to have a 175 IQ, this is what AI Overview says. “An IQ of 175 is well beyond standard genius thresholds and falls into the profoundly gifted category, representing an extreme rarity of roughly one in a million or fewer.” That should provide us an idea how intelligent Molinas was, he could have accomplished a multitude of tasks but he preferred a criminal protagonist as his life’s pursuit. In addition to his intelligence level Molinas was an outstanding basketball player. Molinas attended Stuyvesant High School, the school is widely considered one of the most prestigious and competitive public high schools in the United States.

Only the top 1% of New York City kids are admitted each year so that should provide evidence of the intellectual level of Molinas. After graduation he attended Columbia University and one season led the team in scoring and was team captain. It’s been reported he was involved in the 1951 college basketball betting scandal although he was never caught or charged. How good a basketball player was Molinas, well in 1953 the Fort Wayne (Detroit) Pistons made him the 3rd pick in the first round of that year’s draft. His gambling habit would eventually be his downfall, he would sometimes even place bets on his Pistons team, somehow he was caught and the NBA permanently banned him from the league. Molinas would later sue the NBA however he would lose the case and the ban would remain in effect. From 1954 to 1962 he played in the Eastern League a precursor to the G-League. After his playing career was nearing an end he enrolled at Brooklyn Law School securing a law degree. Molinas would become a central figure in the 1961 college betting scandal, this blackeye for college basketball involved over 50 players at 27 colleges and universities. Some of those names might be familiar, Connie Hawkins, Roger Brown, Doug Moe and others. In 1963 Molinas was convicted for his role in the scandal and was sentenced to 10-15 years in prison, he would be paroled in 1968 after serving but 5 years.

In 1970 Molinas moved to Los Angeles in hopes of seeing his life story portrayed on film, the project would never come to fruition as his criminal past was never far behind and would catch up with him. In 1973 Molinas was arrested and charged with interstate crimes however he didn’t stand trial. At 2:00 a.m. on August 3, 1975, Molinas was shot in the neck, his girlfriend and dog were wounded, Molinas would die from his gunshot wounds. No one was ever charged, and authorities believed his ties to organized crime may have been the motive behind his murder. Thus ended the controversial life of Jack Molinas, a man whose extraordinary intellect could have led him to success in almost any field he might have chosen. Instead, he chose a life of crime—a decision that would cost him his life at the age of 43.