Drug raid? Wii got this!

Our fine bearers of the standards of the law in Polk County, Florida were kind enough to provide me with what may be my favorite column topic of the year. It was such a lovely story, that I stopped down on my chores for a bit of sharing with the (now) 5 readers of this space...

In March, Lakeland and Winterhaven police, in conjunction with the Polk County sheriffs, raided the home of a convicted drug dealer named Michael DiFalco, executing a warrant after a sting operation lasting over three months. The raid was successful, as they had arrested him outside of the home, but were still careful due to his confirmed ownership of weapons and his long criminal history. Documents filed with the court say the detectives found meth, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, weapons and more than $30,000 in stolen property.

To celebrate this, some of the detectives and patrol officers indulged in turning on the big screen in DiFalco's living room and playing Wii bowling. Many took turns, and total game play lasted over an hour. Unbeknownst to the officers on hand, DiFalco had a webcam hooked up to the computer across the room, and somehow the local TV station got ahold of the footage.

Imagine a raid, flak jackets and automatic weapons, nerves all a-jangle...how best to relieve the stress? The footage shows officers playing while other officers are carrying out materials that were seized while the bowlers are pumping their fists after getting two strikes in a row.

Now, I thought that the original Wii commercials in America demonstarting old people bowling in some sort of retirement home were brilliant, but...are you kidding me? Cops playing bowling after a raid in the guy's living room? This is genius! If Nintendo does not immediately buy up the rights to this video, I will lose so much respect for such a forward-thinking company.

There is some rumbling about the search warrant executed in the raid being invalidated in light of the footage of a rather competitve Wii matchup, effectively obliterating the evidence that convicted this roustabout meth-dealing scumbag. That would be a tragic miscarriage of justice, especially for the lady cop who made her baby split conversion while a handful of shotguns were being toted to the evidence locker.

Needless to say, I cannot wait for the episode of Cops that shows this footage.

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Today also highlights one of the more pronounced signs that the economic downturn reaches places people do not normally take into account.

On April 11, 2000, the National Basketball Association approved the purchase of the Dallas Mavericks by Mark Cuban, founder of Broadcast.com. Cuban sold his company to Yahoo! for $5 billion, right before the 'dot-com' bust, then became one of the most charismatic owners in pro sports with his purchase of his favorite team. The Mavs immediately became a playoff team and a championship contender. Now, another team is about to be bought by a man in a similar position...

Mikhail Prokhorov, the former CEO of Norilsk Nickel in Russia (the world's largest nickel mining company), placed a bid to buy the New Jersey Nets and provide a large cash infusion to build a new arena in Brooklyn, for an estimated $700 million.

Prokorov cashed out of his holdings early last year, placing his net worth north of $9 billion, just before the markets all bottomed out. With his new liquidity, he is apparently excited to become the first foreign owner of an NBA team. Nets shareholders are due to vote on the proposal in the next week or two...

How surreal is this? Russians with money involved in sports have a...well, interesting history. Many mobsters from the former Soviet Union adversely influenced the lives of several NHL players who had defected to play the game. Russian Mafia ties to gambling fixes have a long history, and many in America (those stuck in the pre-Reagan era of history) distrust anything eminating from Moscow.

Allow me to start the conspiracies now. LeBron gets Twittered at halftime telling him he needs to win by six or less at a road game in Brooklyn or his teammate's dog is gonna get it...Michael Jordan, Charlotte Bobcats minority owner, suddenly get super-duper rich, due to his living in Vegas and only betting on Bobcats/Nets games...Ron Artest turns up missing after an East Coast Laker road trip, and a ransom note shows up in Kobe's Bentley asking for exactly 18 points in the third quarter...Vince Carter shows up for the next game after mailing it in last time with one of his non-shooting fingers mysteriously missing...

Supposing the NBA approves this deal, the next big question is this: When did owning an NBA team in the biggest media market in America get so darn cheap? The Lakers, Knicks and maybe the Celtics could be considered worth more than the second team in the New York area, but none of them were valued at less than $700 million by Forbes magazine. Add in a new arena (worth $300 million, or worth $60 million per year in revenues), and get the whole package for less than 3 years of the Yankees' payroll? This deal is worth $1 billion 18 months ago, but times are tough all around, it seems. Wow. I wonder how much the Clippers would go for...anyone have change for a twenty?