FTX

[Lefty Specialist]

FTX, a cryptocurrency trading company, has filed for bankruptcy protection and its CEO is under investigation. Not exactly shocking as I'm pretty sure crypto in general is a scam. But I heard the news and mused to myself, "why does that company name sound familiar?



And it was because of this.



https://news.sportslogos.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/umpire-ftx-patch-mlb-baseball-2021-playoffs-sportslogosnet.jpg>



Looks like the umps may need a new sponsor next year.

[kcmets]

That's the currency the umps (or probably rather their friends and families)

use to bet on the games. "Where's Uncle John working tonight? He's behind the

plate in Atlanta. Take the Caught-Looking Over, he's money!!"

[MFS62]

KC nailed it.

A cryptocurrency trading company sponsoring umpires leads me to think there are opportunities for corruption.

Whether true or not, it is a bad image.



Later

[Frayed Knot]

It was a poor choice and a bad look from the beginning.

But I don't think the sponsorship itself presented additional avenues for corruption.

[kcmets]

Nipping in the bud, I was just being silly and joking around.



No need to wake up Monday morning and we all find six paragraphs

about how fucking stupid I am bbbyyy...

[Frayed Knot]

=kcmets post_id=112831 time=1668294632 user_id=53]
Nipping in the bud, I was just being silly and joking around.

[Edgy MD]

Damn, I had my six 'graphs all typed up!

[kcmets]

Edgy MD wrote: Damn, I had my six 'graphs all typed up!

Right, it's because of people like you that people like me nip things.

[Edgy MD]

The sad eyes of your dog make me feel double guilty.

[kcmets]

Lol, I don't see sadness. That's his 'Whatchootaklinbout?' look.



Everyone and everything should be as happy as Kappy. He is a joy,

sunup to sundown. Keeps me going some days...

[Ceetar]

It's probably simple "best offer" stuff, because Manfred would literally add a 4th strike if someone paid him enough, but I wonder if taking these offers from these grifting companies helps MLB raise the benchmark of what they get for sponsorships from other companies. Like, "Hey Bank of America, we got $$$ for patches on the Umps uniforms last year, don't think you can come in less than that." Plus you don't get locked into long term deals. Now that Umps wear sponsorships, maybe there's more of a market for it.



One of the regular Mets mound ads was some grifting crypto company I think, but I never bothered to look further into it.

[Edgy MD]

I guess the big question is whether their payments to MLB are one of the obligations their bankruptcy filing is protecting them from.



And I further guess that affects MLB more probably if their value is partly based on the obligations of their sponsors and their world is starting to realize they're in bed with a lot of fly-by-night bullshitters and at least some of that value is shaky.



That's mostly speculating, of course. But I've been thinking about how the ubiquity of information in our age seems to guarantee that market instability is going to be a constant going forward. Kanye crashes his golf cart and the S&P 500 takes a 10% dive. Our 401K takes that hit and my wife gets a statement in the mail two days later and starts crying, and I'm all, "Don't worry, Honey! We're in this for the long haul and things will recover and then go through the roof just as soon as Amanda Gorman writes a new poem!" but I don't know what I'm talking about.



And while I'm speculating, putting these ads on the umpires (before even the players got pimped out) clearly couldn't have been done without a big chunk of that money promised to the umpires association. And now their pension fund is going to take a punch and Joe West is going to be force out of retirement.

[kcmets]

Kappy's not going to like this.

[Frayed Knot]

The basketball, though not the hockey*, arena in Miami, formerly named for American Airlines, was rebranded as FTX Arena in the summer of 2021.

Those naming rights have now been terminated and all signage will be removed during the upcoming Miami Heat road trip.

I'm sure THAT seemed like a good idea at the time (said a very small minority of people).







* The Florida Panthers hockey team, I just found out, does Not play at the same building or even in the city of Miami but rather in the town of Sunrise, Florida almost 40 miles

to the northwest right on the edge of the Everglades. Guess they figured that bringing hockey to Cubans was not a winning strategy.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

The FTX Bro was also one of the top donors to Demorats this election

[kcmets]

I really didn't know much about FTX or this guy until just NOW!!!



https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63612489https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63612489

[Frayed Knot]

Business writer Michael Lewis [MONEYBALL, BIG SHORT, etc] has apparently had access to and been following/interviewing this FTX head honcho for months now and this will be the subject of his next book.

[Lefty Specialist]

Know who was one of the investors who got burned by FTX and Crypto?



Eeehhhhhhhhh.....this guy.



[media=youtube]BH5-rSxilxo[/media]



Yeah....don't be like Larry.

[MFS62]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Yeah....don't be like Larry.

My wife says I'm Larry David , but without the money.

Now Larry David is like me.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Man, those ads were awful.

[Frayed Knot]

I don't know that it's clear how much, if any, those celebs [Larry David, Tom Brady, Steph Curry, et al] doing commercials for FTX had personally invested with FTX, although

it's likely it was something, but apparently there are lawsuits a-brewing aimed at said celebs by some who followed their advice ('Why, yes, I do take all my investment

advice from athletes and comedians'). Don't think that kind of thing will get very far but having stock in a napkin company for all the egg that needs wiping off of faces

looks to be a decent investment right about now.