Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Open Letter:NBA's David Stern & Jerry Buss on Pechanga Sponsor

UPDATE 2:

Hot Air has more on the disgraced ref. Ed Morrissey has a take on it: HERE. Take a look. And SHOULD the NBA be in bed with Gambling Sponsors? RICK MORAN also has a take on this. Please take a look there too.

UPDATE: Day 19 with no word yet from Mr. Stern still waiting: originalpechanga2@yahoo.com

Open Letter to NBA Commissioner David Stern and Los Angeles Lakers Owner Dr. Jerry Buss

Dear Commissioner Stern and Dr. Buss,

During the past 60 years, the National Basketball Association has built itself into one of the premier leagues in professional sports. From the first championships in the late 1940’s, through the George Mikan’s Lakers teams to the dynasty of the Celtics and the rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers and through the Michael Jordan years, the NBA has stood for fairness, and purity of sports.

Sadly the NBA finds itself sullied by gambling scandals. The publicity of the Donaghy incident has shaken the foundation of the game. Now, we find that NBA analyst and former superstar Charles Barkley has a $400,000 unpaid gambling debt and Sir Charles has admitted to spending $10 million gambling, but to him, “it’s not a problem”.

Our concern is your sponsorships from Indian Casinos. How can you decry gambling on one hand, yet on the other, take millions of dollars in advertising and sponsorships from gambling enterprises. Your flagship team, the Los Angeles Lakers has a partnership with the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

Throughout Indian Country, thousands of native Americans have had their cultural heritage stripped from them, primarily by tribes in pursuit of gaming compacts. The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, of Temecula CA, is one of the most egregious civil rights violators in Indian Country.

The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and KNBC News have done numerous stories detailing the activities of the tribe, including “Tribal Flush: Pechanga People Disenrolled En Masse.”
and “Without a Tribe” reported by Colleen Williams of KNBC.

- The Pechanga Band has eliminated 25% of its citizenship and denied them due process, equal protection under tribal and federal laws, in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act.
- The tribe stripped elders of their health care benefits and access to the tribal clinic.
- Forcibly removed the children of some members from the tribal school.
- The most recent disenrollment of 100+ adults and children was especially egregious as the General Membership, the Tribe's governing body, had previously passed a law which (1) repealed the Tribe's disenrollment procedures and (2) made it illegal for the Enrollment Committee to disenroll members. In violation of its own Constitution and the ICRA, Pechanga tribal officials breeched their duty.

We question the wisdom of accepting money from a gambling enterprise that is a known civil rights violator. We are asking that you sever your ties to Pechanga and investigate the issues detailed above and determine whether sponsorship from gambling casinos is in the best interests of the National Basketball Association.

CONTACT INFORMATION for the NBA:

Feel free to fax a copy of my open letter. National Basketball Association, Inc.Olympic Tower, 645 5th Ave.New York, NY 10022NY Tel. 212-407-8000 Fax 212-754-6414

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about the Pechanga Angels of Anaheim? Spending more blood money there.

Anonymous said...

Stern won't give up any money for the league. Who CARES about doing what is right?

If there are enough zeroes in the number, all that is right is an afterthought

Anonymous said...

I think that David Stern is a pretty good person. He's done a lot for the league and I think this is his chance to straighten a bad situation.

Of course, he could just eliminate Pechanga from the sponsorship rolls and go with another. That would be the right thing to do.

Anonymous said...

Heard Charles Barkley paid his bill to the casino, he just needs to pay the District Attorney.

The thought of jail made him move quickly.

Anonymous said...

Stern will do the right thing and terminate Pechanga for cause.

Anonymous said...

Does Stern even care about civil rights abuses? I hope so. C'mon Stern, get rid of Pechanga.

Anonymous said...

MAKE A HUGE STATEMENT FOR THE PLAYOFFS DAVID! ELIMINATE THE FAKE PECHANGA PEOPLE.

FIND A GOOD SPONSOR, NOT ONE THAT ABUSES THEIR PEOPLE.

OPechanga said...

Feel Free to write a letter to Augie Moreno of the Angels. I'll publish it.

PHunter said...

Pechanga is a cesspool now that CPP has had it's hand. Congratulations Murphy.

Anonymous said...

I think 36 of us should split a suite at Angel Stadium on the night Pechanga is there to throw out the first pitch and do a 4th inning scoreboard message saying:

"Welcome! Disenrolled Pechanga Members!!"

We could enjoy a game, be in an air conditioned suite with all the goodies AND have the satisfaction of slapping Pechanga on "their" night!

Anyone interested?

Anonymous said...

Phil, is someone from Pechanga really going to throw out the first pitch at an Angel's game?

If so, I am in. It would be cool to get on the message board.

OPechanga said...

I'll take at least TWO tickets for the game.

We can hand out leaflets detailing what Pechanga has done to their people. And we can meet for a bite in the Club and make sure that the employees hand out the leaflets too.

Anonymous said...

I think they get to but that day may have already passed. They sponsered a hat giveaway on the
15th. But I will see what I can find out. Suite tickets would be $125 each (still want to go?) There are cheap seats available for groups as low as $12 each.

With about 3 days notice anyone can do a scoreboard message for $30.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that things were so bad at Pechanga. How come we don't hear much?
I'll rethink going there. We don't gamble much, but liked the shows.

Anonymous said...

I guess I should've added that I lost a little respect for the NBA. Don't they take a look at who they get money from? Would they take a sponsorship from abortion clinics or a hate group?

Anonymous said...

The Commissioner won't respond to somthing like this. All he has to do is stonewall for a week and it will be history. Unless more people get behind it.

Have you sent the letter to sports reporters? Someone may want to make a name for themselves.

Anonymous said...

Somebody left a link to this blog and the Colleen Williams news piece on the Angels Fan Message Board.

OPechanga said...

Excellent!

All can leave a link:

http://originalpechanga.blogspot.com

How about the Temecula Chamber of Commerce?

Anonymous said...

There is more word about the NBA fixing games. Gambling is the root of evil in the NBA

Anonymous said...

don't hold your breath for a response from either. the nba encourages teams to take money from vegas and indian casinos.