Ticket scalping, conceivably the world’s second-oldest profession, is a “concern” to Bears ticket director George McCaskey.
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“If it’s an open secret, I’m glad it’s coming to light,” he said. “It’s a serious problem and we hope it’s dealt with.”
If there is any serious trouble for Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice, it likely will come from the IRS. While the NFL has policies against scalping, including dismissal, IRS rules against unreported income carry heavier consequences. That’s what sent Dominic Frontiere, former husband of Rams owner Georgia Frontiere, to prison for a year in 1986 for scalping tickets to the 1980 Super Bowl.
The NFL is investigating an informant’s account that Tice ran a scalping ring on the Vikings. Tice has admitted he scalped tickets as an assistant coach and also last month as head coach.
Like other NFL teams, the Bears require Super Bowl ticket buyers to sign a form affirming they won’t scalp the tickets.
“We take that seriously,” McCaskey said.
Tracing scalpers would be easy if it involved only one exchange. McCaskey said the Bears also have investigated ads by brokers referring to specific seat numbers that prove fictitious. The brokers use false seat locations to entice buyers to purchase “better” locations.
Frontiere was indicted for failure to report more than $500,000 in income from scalping Super Bowl tickets. Instead of reporting their total profit from selling the tickets, the Frontieres on their joint income-tax returns took a deduction of more than $100,000 for supposedly giving them away.
Georgia Frontiere was not indicted, insisting she was unaware of her seventh husband’s activity even though she had all 27,000 of the Rams’ ticket allocation delivered to her house.
Former Vikings quarterback Sean Salisbury, now an ESPN analyst, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune scalping was “rampant” when he played.
“I don’t know how many of us considered it to be wrong,” he said. “People are scalping tickets up and down the world. Me and about 99 percent of the league [scalped tickets].”
Salisbury said he never sold to brokers. He always found a willing buyer himself.
“[Players] aren’t stupid, if somebody is going to hand you $25,000 or $100,000 in cash,” he said. “It happened, absolutely.”
News to him
Former Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson said the Bears didn’t tell him what they told reporters about a veteran having to beat out backup Chad Hutchinson as well as Rex Grossman.
Johnson said after his visit Thursday there was “never a conversation” about pecking order. While agreeing Grossman “deserves the first chance to play,” Johnson also pointed out that Grossman has played only six games.
Arizona’s Josh McCown started 13 games last year, yet the Cardinals were willing to give Kurt Warner a chance to compete for the starting job.
Johnson and Warner were Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks. So was Seattle’s Trent Dilfer, for whom Cleveland traded a fourth-round pick. After them, the resumes of potential backups drop precipitously, as does the price.
Ex-Miami starter Jay Fiedler exposed the potential flaw in the Bears’ plan by pointing out how difficult it is to compete if relegated to the few snaps given third-string quarterbacks.
Fiedler, who signed with the New York Jets on Friday, said at least he would get to work with the Jets’ first team while Chad Pennington is recuperating from rotator cuff surgery. Coaches would get to see him perform. In Chicago, there was no guarantee he ever would get enough coveted repetitions for coaches to think he’s better than Hutchinson, let alone Grossman.
The Bears weren’t interested in Jeff Garcia, who signed with the Detroit Lions on Saturday. He’ll start training camp as Joey Harrington’s backup.
Johnson visited Miami, where A.J. Feeley’s grasp of the starting job is tenuous under new coach Nick Saban.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said this year would be different from last year, when the failure of Jonathan Quinn left the Bears without a proven backup.
But Angelo’s insistence on sticking with Grossman and Hutchinson, and his admission the veteran the Bears land just might be the last free agent standing, puts the team in a familiar spot.
Because they are installing yet another new offense, the Bears feel they again must give Grossman the advantage of as much practice time as possible. If he stays healthy, the strategy may work. If not, deja vu.
Chances drop
The Bears’ chances to land Auburn running back Ronnie Brown with the fourth pick have diminished after Brown established himself as not only the biggest and most versatile of the top three runners, but also the fastest. Although listed behind teammate Carnell “Cadillac” Williams on the depth chart, Brown is no longer flying under the radar.
Both the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins, picking 1-2, are looking hard at Brown.
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If the Bears opt for a receiver rather than a running back such as Texas’ Cedric Benson, USC’s Mike Williams is challenging Michigan’s Braylon Edwards for the top spot at the position. Angelo was among the observers at Williams’ workout in Tampa and had dinner with him, Williams said.
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Laveranues Coles forced the Washington Redskins to trade him back to his original team, the New York Jets, because he said he didn’t think coach Joe Gibbs respected him.
“He called the plays,” Coles said. “We ran them. . . . I realize it’s a dictatorship, but there’s only so much you can take. How are you supposed to be happy as a receiver when you go from a passing offense to a running offense? This wasn’t what I signed up for.”
Coles said he met twice with Gibbs after the season but without any meeting of minds.
“We concluded that it was best to go our separate ways,” Coles said. “He . . . said he didn’t trust me and I said I didn’t trust him.”
In Gibbs’ disrespectful dictatorship, Coles caught a career-high 90 passes and, according to STATS Inc., he had more balls thrown his way than anyone else in the NFC.
No wonder Gibbs is confused.
Ticket prices
Last season the Bears say they ranked sixth out of the 32 teams in ticket prices not including club seats. According to Team Marketing Report, which uses a formula that does include club seats, the Bears ranked fourth.
With last week’s price increase, the Bears say they expect to only maintain their standing.
“Somewhere between five and 10, based on what we’ve seen so far,” spokesman Scott Hagel said.
The New England Patriots ranked No. 1 in ticket price last year, at an average of $75.33, according to Team Marketing Report. With three championships in four years, there are few complaints. The Bears were $10 cheaper.
The league average was $54.75. Buffalo was cheapest at $37.13.