Maxim-izing Dollars

Evelyn Lozada has gone from ashy to classy, back to ashy and now back to classy! Let me explain for those unfamiliar with this Basketball "Wife." Evelyn is the former long-term girlfriend (I think of double-digit years) of ex-Boston Celtic, Antoine Walker. Antoine was an all-star player who played his way to over $100 million dollars in the NBA only to lose it all because of a gambling problem. It was a very sad story as he gambled his worth down to $4 million dollars with over $12 million in debt when he filed for bankruptcy.

This eventually led to Antoine and Evelyn dissolving their relationship. Rumors say that Antoine gave her $560k to hide from financial investigators for safe keeping, but Evelyn used it to open her business down in the Miami area. She told investigators that she sold her engagement ring to get the money for her business. For her sake, she'd better be telling the truth about the lump sum because those investigators will find out if she lied.

Despite the new business, Evelyn had gone from a basketball "wife" of a $100 million dollar man to a basketball "wife" of a man in debt facing potential jail time for fraudulent checks. Some people say that she left Antoine because he was broke, but others say that his gambling problems and legal troubles drove her away. Whether she was a gold digger or not, Evelyn was no longer living the high life.

Along comes the "Basketball Wives" reality show. The show featured a bunch of women (ironically, most of them are not married) who sit around night clubs, drinking expensive alcohol and arguing with one another. Of course, in the 21st century, that's the formula for a hit show. The result: Evelyn has worked her way up to millionaire status while Antoine is playing minor league basketball making just a little more than me. She used her relationship with him to parlay it into being a reality star. Like it or not, it's legal and a lot of people are using their brush with fame to make it big today. You don't have to be famous to get famous. Just know someone.

Evelyn became one of the more popular women on the show. She's trended on Twitter numerous times and has flipped her role on the show into multiple appearances on-screen and online. She has raised her status even higher with a recent appearance in Maxim magazine. For those unfamiliar with Maxim, it is one of the premier, non-nude, men's magazine. Arguably, the most popular men's magazine in the last 15 years. Evelyn has also moved on in her dating life and has gotten engaged to NFL all-star, Chad Ochocinco, who just played in the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago. They're set to get married this summer which will be a nice season premier for a new reality show. Don't be surprised if this union of reality show personalities gives birth to a potential Chad and Evelyn reality show centered around their upcoming wedding. Cha-ching! Chad is no stranger to reality shows after his short VH1 dating show stint "Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch." On that show, he selected a young lady by the name of Rubi Pazmino (who, by the way, is smoking hot) and they dated for a while shortly before Ochocinco finding love with Evelyn.

Look, you all that have read my blog long enough know that I despise reality shows. I think that they take people without talent, who will work for cheap, and turn them into glorified YouTube stars. But, I can't get mad at Evelyn. She's living the new American dream: take your 15 minutes of fame and flip it into an hour of fame. It's all about Maxim-izing dollars.

Side note: The winner of the Book Giveaway for "Full Rising Mooner" was selected by The Mrs. and will be announced soon!


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