Henderson NCAA Tournament Marks 13th Annual Tournament
“Celebrates” a Baker’s Dozen of Scandal & Incompetence
(Butte, MT) – Point shaving. Executive excesses. Missing and laundered tournament cash. Indictments. Bankruptcy. Taxpayer bailouts. Performance enhancing drugs. Child gambling. Ruined families.
Each of these, according to a recent undercover investigative report from MSNBC, describes the troubles that have marked more than a decade of escapades at the Henderson NCAA Tournament.
The “Show”, as its come to be known, markets itself aggressively as a “family-friendly” annual event committed more to community involvement than profit margins. And it guards this reputation fiercely. Tournament President Matt Henderson and Director of Marketing and Communications Sim Basta traveled – at Tournament expense – immediately to Honolulu, HI to rebut charges that the Henderson NCAA Tournament’s 2010 designated charity – the Hawaii Tsunami Relief Fund – failed to raise any money for the victims that Henderson said “will never escape our memory” during his poignant remarks on the beaches of Waikiki.
But – as the investigation demonstrates – it’s all been a façade. It’s been likened to more of a family-run Ponzi-scheme than a family-oriented foray into collegiate athletics. Consider the following:
- Scott Johnson, who promised to name names in an upcoming Tournament expose, was elevated to Executive Vice President for Corporate and Alumni Relations soon thereafter. “We’re bettering our community, one child contestant at a time,” said Johnson.
- The Tournament received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal bailout money, despite condemning corporate greed and excess during its recent “Sponsor an Occupier” food drive initiative.
- Henderson Officials were recently barred from membership in the NAABBTOAA for financial irregularities that would “make Enron blush. It’s as if they have the accounting experience of a 2nd grader,” said Arthur Anderson Accounting, LLP in a prepared statement.
- More than a dozen family members participate in the Tournament’s lucrative pension plan, including several members that may not even exist. “We’ve never seen him,” said one Executive, identified only as “Pat”, of Senior Vice President for Overseas Player Development Gus Henderson.
Henderson NCAA Tournament Deputy Director of Communications and Marketing Anthony Lisi declined comment, stating he “refused to dignify these charges or anything that distracts from our commitment to gambling on student-athletes.”