Brothel finances trip to Olympics
Everyone knows sex sells, and now we also know it can help an athlete reach the Olympics.
That's how New Zealand taekwondo athlete Logan Campbell arrived in London.
He found himself $120,000 in debt after competing in the Beijing Games in 2008 and knew making this year's Olympics would cost $200,000.
The solution?
Open a brothel.
"I came home after the Olympics, and I had no job and nothing to do," Campbell told Yahoo! Sports. "I needed to make some money if I wanted to go to the next one in London, so bam!"
He said it was "a higher-class" brothel "as compared to places like Thailand (where) I know what it's like in the poorer countries, where people don't have a choice to get into that sort of industry. But in New Zealand, it's completely different, so it's fine."
That may be so, but the New Zealand Olympic Committee wasn't pleased, telling Campbell in writing to stop using the brothel as a public means to finance his Olympic dreams or it would sue.
Money, however, poured in and Campbell was able to sell the brothel in 2011. He was placed on his country's Olympic team this spring.
Campbell told Yahoo! he doesn't regret buying the brothel but "wouldn't do it again."
It was, however, the world's oldest profession that got Campbell to the world's oldest sporting event.
And, just maybe, it will give an aspiring athlete in Pahrump an idea.
■ IN ENEMY TERRITORY - This would be like a Boston Celtics fan buying the Los Angeles Lakers, or a Steinbrenner taking over the Boston Red Sox.
Jimmy Haslam III, who has described himself as "1,000 percent a Steelers fan" and is a Pittsburgh minority stockholder, agreed to purchase the Cleveland Browns.
Steelers fans will demand his Terrible Towel back, and Browns fans will wonder if Haslam's heart is really into the franchise.
At his introductory news conference Friday, Haslam said, "We had a relationship with that other team in black and gold and were 1,000 percent (for them), but we're not anymore.
"I took my Steelers watch off yesterday and put on a Browns watch today."
Today's Leftovers writer, a Steelers fan since the Terry Bradshaw years, just threw up in his mouth.
■ ELY'S COMING - The NCAA looked at one of its 356,192 rules and stunningly decided one needed to be adjusted.
Now UNLV's football team no longer has to refer to Ely as its "off-campus site" for training camp. The Rebels can come right out and name the town.
Concerned that schools would use off-campus sites as a recruiting tool, the NCAA had made it illegal for teams to publicize where they move practices.
Most schools ignored the mandate, but UNLV chose to follow it. The rule put Rebels coaches and players in the awkward spot of having to avoid saying "Ely" - even while standing on the practice field in Ely talking to reporters.
Now the Rebels can worry about more pressing matters, such as finally making the four-hour drive north worth the time and effort.
COMPILED BY MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
