Idol Worship

I witnessed an extraordinary phenomenon Tuesday when rational people fawned over someone who was "almost" famous!

I coordinated the marketing and pr for The Valley Impact Awards, an event that recognizes those who have helped others in their battle with addiction. As part of the event, the client arranged for Art Schlichter to be the keynote speaker.

Anyone over 30, particularly men, will know of Art. If you're from Ohio, you worship him.

Art was the quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes in the late 70's/early 80's - the last QB to play under legendary coach Woody Hayes. He almost had it all - drafted by the Baltimore Colts as their QB of the future, receiving a million dollar signing bonus.

Problem was, he had a serious gambling addiction and threw it all away. In fact, he was only released from prison in 2006, having spent the better part of 10 years incarcerated for racketeering and fraud! One of his scams involved selling bogus sporting event tickets, using his "celebrity" to convince people he had access to great seats and events.

So long story short - I was with him for the media tour for the better part of the day. It was amazing - everyone was giddy being so close to a legend, or being so close to someone who knew a legend (Hayes).

Grown men giggling like school girls, women (or one woman) trying to get a piece of him - literally.

And here's the thing - HE HAS NO MONEY AND NO JOB! In fact, he owes over $500,000 in restitution, runs a small organization to raise awareness of gambling addiction, and lives in his small southern Ohio hometown - with his mother!

Here's the scariest part - he offered the CEO of the addiction treatment center Super Bowl tickets that could be auctioned off to raise money for the center. I want to believe it's legit but given his history...