This is pitiful. I know he is having problems with his toe or something like that (you'll have to forgive me if I don't know what is *exactly* wrong with him), but good God, can you not make at least a cameo appearance at your own damn camp?? TAMPA, Fla. -- Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal didn't appear Sunday at a celebrity youth basketball camp bearing his name, despite a contract that paid him more than $50,000. Parents paid up to $250 each for tickets for their children so they could take part in a two-day clinic and watch a celebrity game Sunday night which is supposed to feature world champion Lakers center O'Neal along with other NBA stars. Promoter Darryl Madison says O'Neal did not appear at the youth clinic Sunday afternoon and doubted Shaq would attend a celebrity basketball game that night. Madison says O'Neal was in the Orlando area, where he owns a home, but he hasn't heard any thing from the big man's camp. O'Neal also skipped out on a dinner with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday that was part of the camp program. Calls to O'Neal's agents on Sunday weren't immediately returned. Shaq is a great role model, isn't he?? Teaching kids to avoid responsibility is something they can all use.
I read this earlier today and was thinking...if he doesn't have a good excuse, this is pretty embarrassing.
I never really liked Shaq because of his attitude. This doesn't make me like him more,either. I would feel real bad for thoses kids. They probably looked foward to that day.
Yeah, I saw this earlier too. How can you ditch when little kids pay $200+ to see you? That's jacked.
I hope you guys don't like Sam Cassell and his attitude, because he did the same thing to a friend of mine a few years ago at a basketball camp that he "ran".
That's wrong too. Fact is when parents pay $200+ for a camp that Shaq headlines, Shaq has to show up. I mean this guy was paid $50,000+ on top of the boatload of money he already makes to headline a camp, and thus show up. To him, $200 or so may be pennies, but to the people that paid the money to see him just make an appearance and talk to their kids, it means a lot. Shaq has got to have more responsibility than that. If you sign a contract and are paid money to have a camp headline your name, you gotta show up. Don't sign the damn contract in the first place if you don't plan to show up. Hopefully Shaq has a good excuse or whatever for his absence; either way, if I were one of these parents or kids, I'd definitely want it to be made up to me.
He recently had his toe operated on, but if he is in the area, he should have shown up. Even if it was for a short while. Anyone who has kids or remembers being one will understand what a huge deal this was to them... and how devastated those children are.
Seems he hasn't told anyone why, either. That's worse than pathetic. Not many things could excuse his complete absence and abandonment of the kids.
At least a few players showed up: "Toronto's Vince Carter, Portland's Dale Davis and former NBA star Robert Parish were at the game, which capped the Shaquille O'Neal Tampa Celebrity Basketball Weekend."
Shaq did not even showed up in chick's funeral..I don't care where he was, he should go if he has respect..
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...g19.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers Shaquille O'Neal rested at home Sunday after a high fever forced him to spend about 24 hours in an Orlando, Fla., hospital before being released Friday. Laker officials on Sunday night awaited results of tests they hoped would reveal the cause of a 103-degree temperature that, in part, caused him to miss a weekend event in Tampa. "We're waiting the results of the tests," Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. "Right now, that's where it stands. It is our assumption he would not have been released had there not been some improvement. That being said, we still don't know what caused the fever." The results were expected today. On Thursday, O'Neal suffered a spike in his body temperature, which eventually dipped and then rose again before doctors controlled it. He was released with instructions to rest and take fluids, according to Perry Rogers, O'Neal's agent. Both the Lakers and Rogers said they hoped O'Neal's illness would not complicate plans for O'Neal's toe surgery, which is not yet scheduled. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lakermania: Although Manny posted an one-sided article, that's no excuse for you to jump on him. You'd better keep yourself in line if you are gonna march into opposing teams fan site, or some folks here will simply unleash the hounds, as you've already seen.
If he was sick, he was sick. I'm sure he'll make it up to the kids. But Sometimes you just can't be there. Sometimes you just don't feel like working either. So even if someone skips to skip. I'm not going to fault them, but you should always make it up in a way that the kids won't forget.
Agreed. I'll just add that if I hear that Shaq refunds these kids' money or issues an apology for not letting them know or makes it up to them in any way, then I will be more than happy to admit that I was wrong about him on this incident.
Although our Laker visitor's post was a little rude, my own first thought about Shaq's not showing up was: I hope the guy's OK. He talks smack, does Mr. O'Neal, but he's a good guy overall, I think, and only medical or personal reasons would have prevented him from showing. It was irresponsible/negligent for the writer of the "Whither Shaq?" article not to have looked into this. (I'm not taking a Laker fan's side against Manny, by the way. I'm just surprised no one guessed that Shaq might be sick, something like that.)
Was it guaranteed that Shaq would be there? There are lots of pro athletes or teams that lend their names to camps, and they only supply their name. When I was younger I went to numerous baseball camps: Bucky Dent camp in FL: He was there one year and very hands on, next year he made a cameo Michigan Baseball Camp: Bud Middaugh (there head coch) never made a cameo, a few coaches were there and a couple players helped out. Also the college I played for had a camp the head coach never showed up, it was run by the assistant coaches and some players who were payed to help out. But on the brochure it had a picture of the head coach and 2 ex-alums who pitched in the majors, neither who was near the camp at all. So I would like to know were the kids promised Shaq on the brochure or was it just his camp? $250 for a 2 day camp is pricey but not extreme, so I wouldn't imply from the cost they were promised Shaq.
