Financial Samurai

2009 was the year I rediscovered tennis.  Ironically, I figured I’d better utilize the club as much as possible because I couldn’t afford any other luxuries after the markets imploded!  Just last year, I failed miserably at breaking a 10 handicap (got to 10.2 and ricocheted) in golf and decided to quit before I threw my bag into the lake.

For the past 15 years, I forsook the game I played so diligently as a youngster.  It was boring running around, hitting a ball back and forth.  Now, I’m hooked again because of the camaraderie of the game.  Although tennis is an individual sport, there’s a team aspect to it if you join a league.  Meanwhile, my evil plan is to get my wife to get good enough so we can play some competitive mixed doubles my next summer!

PHYSICAL PROBLEMS MATERIALIZE Read more…

Freddie & MJ At The President's Cup

I had one mission this weekend, and that was to “high-five” as many famous people as possible.  You see, The President’s Cup descended on San Francisco and I was determined to watch America’s best golfers tee it up against the rest of the world, less Europe (that’s the Ryder’s Cup).

Did I succeed in my mission?  It depends on whether you count: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, Freddie Couples, Greg Norman, Condoleeza Rice, Gavin Newsom, and Michael Jordan as famous people!  For if you do, you’ll understand why I’m never washing my hands again!

In “Revenge of The Nerds: Golf & Tennis Are #1″, we write that if you want to make a lot of money, you should think about picking up either golf or tennis. As the 30,000+ patrons at Harding Park showed me today, there’s a darn lot of different types of folks interested in golf!  All along the signature par 4, 468 yard, 15th hole you saw corporate tents with names such as: Charles Schwab, PG&E, and Mastercard filled with rich looking patrons sipping their Chardonnay’s.  Ah, to gain access to one of these tents.  Except for Citigroup, it’s good to know there weren’t any government bailed out entities partying it up on our dime, so score one for the common folk! Read more…

Serena Williams Angry

Apparently someone sent over last week’s article, “Revenge of The Nerds: Golf and Tennis Are #1″ to Serena Williams, and it just pissed her off!  Serena’s anger built up so much, she finally blew her top  against a lines official after calling a foot fault.  Serena screamed, “I swear to God, I’m going to take this ball and shove it down your f*cking throat!”  We then noticed her mumble something like, “Can’t believe some stupid website called me a nerd” and went after the lines judge some more!

Serena, we just wanted to make a public announcement that the staff over here at Financial Samurai didn’t mean to call you a nerd specifically.  In fact, our point of the article was to highlight you are the #1 most popular female athlete in America, and provided inspiration for all us “nerds” growing up!  With your glistening guns, aggressive baseline attacks, and $30 million a year in earnings, we were impressed!  However, after last night’s outburst, and you not willing to apologize afterwards, we’re not your fans anymore.

Every minute you wait is literally dollars out the window, Serena.  In fact, we hear Puma executives are on a conference call right now discussing the fate of your endorsement contract.  What’s compounding the problem is that Kim Clijisters is one of the most beloved players on the circuit.  She just had a baby a year and a half ago for goodness sakes, and is now the US Open champion!  Way to go Kim!  Serena, hurry up and apologize to the world!

Financial Samurai’s,  besides Ohio State University blowing their 5 point lead to USC with several minutes to go in the 4th quarter, Serena’s outburst is topic du jour!  If you haven’t hit the public courts and found a tennis partner since “Revenge of The Nerds: Golf and Tennis Are #1″ was published, make sure you have an opinion on these two events come work time tomorrow.  Seek out your sports crazed senior colleagues and banter!

Keigu,

Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Roger Federer Winning Wimbledon

According to Harris Interactive,  the most popular male athlete in America is Tiger Woods, and the most popular female athlete is Serena Williams.  This got me thinking…. hmmmm, America is absolutely obsessed with football, baseball, and basketball and yet golf and tennis are #1!  Since High School, the stereotype has always been that nerds played golf and tennis, and jocks played the other sports.  So, what’s up with this latest poll?

The Financial Samurai theory:

* Whoever controls the most amount of money is the most influential, and therefore, the most popular.   The reason why Tiger Woods makes $100 million a year is because he generates billions in incremental revenue.  Since nerds by definition get better grades,  they may go to better schools  and get better paying jobs.  Therefore, their chances of making more money increases.  More nerds play golf and tennis, and therefore spend more on those sports. Read more…

Given it’s the weekend, I’m not going to write too much, but two things worth highlighting given it relates to some of our previous posts.

1) Sam Bradford of Oklahoma got injured and his then #3 Oklahoma Sooner’s LOST to BYU (#20).  What does this mean?  He may never play up to his potential again, thereby losing $20,000,000 in guaranteed money by not going to the NFL last year.  Perhaps just as painful, Oklahoma will not be considered to play in the national championships again this year.

Sam Bradford From OU Injured

Oh well, that’s life.  Who needs the money anyway when you can have so much fun in college and get your degree?  However, all you prospective pro athletes, please feel free to shoot us an e-mail for advice.  We’ll look out for you, even if the Sooner faithful won’t look out for Sam by telling him to stay!

Related Post: “Forgoing $50 Million For The Love Of Football”

2) The September/October issue of Washington Monthly come out with a new type of college ranking.  I thought it was intriguing because they basically bash US News & World Report’s methodology, due to the blatant cheating by some faculty at Clemson and University of Florida to manipulate the results.

Washington Monthly’s believes that “America’s colleges are those that work hardest to help economically disadvantaged students earn the credentials that the job market demands.  They contribute new scientific discoveries, and they emphasize the obligations students have to serve their communities and the nation at large.” Hence, they offer three broad rating categories: Social Mobility, Research, and Service.  See the full report here.

The 10 Best Universities in America

1. UC Berkeley (#21 in US News)

2. UC San diego (35)

3. UC Los Angeles (25)

4. Stanford University (4)

5. Texas A&M College Station (64)

6. South Carolina State University (NR)

7. Penn State (470

8. The College of William & Mary (32)

9. University of Texas – Austin (47)

10. UC Davis (44)

Several observations: 1) California schools dominate.  2) There’s only one private school in the Top 10.  3) The traditionally perceived elite schools are not there except for Stanford.  Is spending $50,000/year to go to private school in the east coast worth it?  Hard to say after reading the report!

Related post: “Survey Says: Get 1,300 On Your SATs & A 3.9 GPA And You’re Set for Life!”

Hope everybody is having a great weekend!  Upcoming posts will be about Net Worth, The Right Sports, and How Everything Is Relative.

Keiju,

Financial Samurai

Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries

So today’s the day!  For the first time since December, 2006, Michael Vick suits up in an Eagles uniform to take on the Jaguars tonight at 7am EST.  Chances are, this will be the most watched pre-season NFL game in history, which means a likely flood of money going the NFL’s way.  Michael Vick actually attended bankruptcy court this morning before flying back to Philly.

Below is an earlier post on Michael Vick that I bring over from RB30RB40.  Rgds, RB

“Michael Vick – A Second Chance Or No?”

When Michael Vick was convicted of animal cruelty a couple years ago, he lost everything. Particularly painful was his $135 million multi-year guarantee contract from the Atlanta Falcons. Probably even more painful was the shame he felt and the 18 month experience in the slammer. He’s now free and signed with the Eagles for $1.6 million this season, with a potential to make $5mil next year if the Eagles choose to keep him. The question on many sports fans and animal lovers minds is: Should Michael Vick be given a second chance?
The question really has two parts. Should Michael Vick be given a second chance in the NFL? And should Michael Vick be given a second chance at life? After some thought, and seeing his latest appearance on 60 Minutes, I’m leaning towards acceptance and forgiveness.

Read more…

For a guy who doesn’t work anymore, my favorite part of the year begins soon.  In just a few moments, college football starts and many a Saturday will be wasted with guys and some girls zoned in front of their TVs or at their favorite bars rooting like crazies!

Surprise, surprise, the Florida Gators are the most favored #1 pre-season pick in history due to the return of Tim Tebow and an enormous core of returning starters.  You’d think that winning the Heisman and two National Championships are good enough, not to mention the millions waiting, but not for Timmy. Rounding out the Top 10 include:  #2 Texas, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Southern California, #5 Alabama, #6 Ohio State, #7 Virginia Tech,  Mississippi, #9 Penn State and Oklahoma State also tied at #9.

It’s good to see the Pac 10 get SOME love, with California coming in at #12, Oregon at #16, and Oregon State scratching in at #25 or #26.  After all, the Pac 10 conference is the only one to boast an undefeated 5-0 bowl record in 2008-09.  This compares favorably with the ACC’s record of 4-6, MAC at 0-5, and The Big 10 at 1-7!  But none of the experts care. The Pac 10 will always be underrated because the weather is too nice out here.

Let’s forget the ranking injustices for now, and focus on the monetary aspect at hand! Read more…