US sports stars are discovering that their vast riches can buy brash jewelry, fairytale homes, A-list invitations and the latest gas-guzzling cars.
But what they can't buy is love.
While New Jersey Nets basketball star Jason Kidd sees the recent split from his wife make national headlines he can take comfort in knowing he is not alone.
A study has shown that in the US, 80 percent of professional athletes see their marriages end in divorce.
The report by the national association of college sports directors (NACDA) points out that this staggering figure compares with a national average of 52 percent.
Even sporting legends can't escape the curse.
Michael Jordan and his wife Juanita filed for divorce last month after 17 years together.
Rifts are caused by adultery, pressure associated with the huge demands of professional sport, depression and even financial worries which may set in once a career comes to an end.
The big players of US sport who go through a marriage break-up find little sympathy from the likes of Gena James Pitts, the founder of Sports Wives Magazine, the first publication aimed specifically at the wives of professional sportsmen.
"They are like big kids," Pitts says of the superstars of sport. "Sadly, a lot of them don't grow up."
NACDA estimates that there are 500,000 wives in the US sporting set-up and an estimated 200,000 fiancees.
Pitts insists that wives and girlfriends, who are collectively known as WAGS in English soccer, play a major role in their husbands' and boyfriends' careers and sometimes don't get the credit they deserve.
"People think they shop all day and have brains the size of a pea, but it's the wives who keep the family together often when the men are on the road for nine or 10 months a year," Pitts said.
Psychologist Diana McNab, who is also the former wife of ice hockey player Peter McNab, believes that this sort of responsibility becomes too heavy a burden for one person to carry.
"My life was hell," she said. "I had to do everything -- keep an eye on the company he kept, manage the money and look after the children. He lived life in a bubble. He was never here. It was too much."
Lenny Dykstra, a former New York Mets baseball player, is standing up for his fellow athletes by founding the Player's Club, an organization to support competitors once they have retired.
"Once they retire, they don't know what to do," Dykstra said.
"At 35 years old, they are incapable of being in charge. It's great having the big house, the beautiful blonde, but when the cheques aren't coming anymore, it all becomes more difficult," he said.
"Very quickly, the money's missing, and they have to work like everyone else. This scares a lot of guys. This sort of anxiety has repercussions on the couple until they split," he added.
For his part, Dykstra has been married 22 years.
"I must be an exception," he smiled.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to