Chris Albrecht Has Midlife Crisis – Buys SlamBall Instead of Ferrari

Chris Albrecht, the one-time head of HBO who was fired after being arrested for hitting his girlfriend, has done something which I can only describe as a sort of corporate midlife crisis.

According to WSJ:

“Now, Mr. Albrecht is trying for a comeback. And he’s staking much of it on a bizarre, futuristic sport called SlamBall, which failed to break out in an earlier debut. With the feel of a live-action videogame, SlamBall is essentially basketball combined with rugby and trampoline gymnastics, and if Mr. Albrecht is right, it will become a phenomenon as successful and profitable as the latest sports craze, ultimate fighting.”

I actually remember watching (or trying to watch) SlamBall during its brief and poorly-viewed run on Spike TV – it reminded me of the kind of sports that are created for futuristic sci-fi movies set after some kind of apocalypse.

Now, aside from all the obvious reasons why one might not want to try to launch an entirely new sport on the world, one has to wonder why a guy with Albrecht’s experience in the business would invest in such a patently absurd and juvenile sport like SlamBall?

I can only imagine he thinks it makes him look hip or cool.  See, he’s with it!  He loves SlamBall!

Oh, dear lord, it’s actually sadder than wearing a toupee…