Link Dump (Aug 10)

by Devyn on Aug 10, 2007 6:35 AM PDT

Hey, haven't posted a diary on this site in a while... and well I've been wired off caffeine and Halo 2 all night so what better time to post a random collection of sports links? Feel free to add your own links as well.

250 million dollar man David Beckham made his debut yesterday for the L.A Galaxy.

Before a sellout crowd of nearly 47,000 and a national television audience, David Beckham came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute, shortly after a pouring rain let up. His Los Angeles Galaxy team was trailing 1-0 and also playing a man short after Kyle Martino was red-carded in the 67th minute for a hard tackle.

Mmmmmm, good to see our good money is going to good use on Beckham, wouldn't want him to break a sweat now playing the whole game.

Now how's this for oddness. The Mets fan who caught Barry Bonds 756 HR ball reportedly is leaning towards keeping it instead of selling it. The ball is said to be worth 500,000 - 600,000 dollars.

"Part of me wants to keep it. It's the greatest American sports accomplishment in history," Murphy said Thursday on NBC's "Today Show." "Part of me might want to sell it, but I really am leaning towards keeping it. It's just too valuable, sentimental."

Selling the ball for that amount would instantly put Murphy in the highest tax bracket for individual income, where he would face a tax rate of about 35 percent, or about $210,000 on a $600,000 ball.

Even if he does not sell the ball, Murphy would still owe the taxes based on a reasonable estimate of its value, according to John Barrie, a tax lawyer with Bryan Cave LLP in New York. Capital gains taxes also could be levied in the future as the ball gains value, he said.

I don't think you could ever force me to keep a ball like that and take a 200,000 hit to my bank. Nuh uh. There's gotta be some loophole around something like that... Like say you inherit a house... you don't actually have to pay taxes until you decide to sell it. Someone elaborate if this is alone the same lines.

And apparently MSNBC likes us now and is giving us some spotlight over at there page. I guess thats what landing the beast we call Greg Oden number 1 overall in the draft does to a team.

They may not be championship contenders, but they may have the most intriguing nucleus after another terrific off season, this being their fourth straight with nothing to do after mid-April. And perhaps there'll be another one or two. But it seems there are some interesting times ahead for the Trail Blazers, though not necessarily because of Greg Oden.

Oden, of course, was the No. 1 pick in June's draft, projected -- or promised -- as the Next Great Thing for the NBA, a classic low post big man."

Well that about does it for me, back to Halo 2 and Twinkies and Ding Dongs for me.

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plasma pistol and smg

by shralpster on Aug 10, 2007 8:02 AM PDT reply actions

nope

the true noob combo is plasma pistol and battle rifle :)

by Devyn on Aug 10, 2007 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions

To be fair...

Beckham has been injured.

Although $250M is insane (and I'm someone who wants to see soccer succeed in the US).

by DonkeyShins on Aug 10, 2007 10:01 AM PDT reply actions

my understanding...

is that the contract is very complex... it's actually $3-5 million per year guaranteed from LA (or some number like that), the rest is from the proceeds of marketing and promotion.

It's still a ton of money, but The Sports Authority (nation wide sports gear retailer) is saying his jersey is outselling everybody else's IN ANY SPORT right now, that includes football, basketball, and baseball.

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Aug 10, 2007 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions

Tax Man sounds right....

On one hand, the baseball tax situation is like your company awarding you something, lets say, a share of stock. In that case, you have to pay income on the share of stock, as it is valued when you are awarded it. If you sell it years later, you have to pay capital gains the value it increases.

On the other hand, how do they know how much the baseball is actually worth?

I wonder if he could get around it by claiming that he doesn't really own it. It was bought by the team and the team still owns it. He is just storing it. But then when he sold it he would have to pay the higher income tax rather than the lower capital gain tax.

Maybe it would be best to "store" it and never sell it. Just take out a loan based on it's value. So you never have to pay a tax. Then put it in a trust account so his children never have to pay an inheritance tax.

by mrwonderfull on Aug 12, 2007 11:37 AM PDT reply actions