The New York Giants have shaken up their equipment room less than two weeks after settling with three sports memorabilia collectors who accused quarterback Eli Manning and several members of the organization of providing bogus "game-worn" equipment that was sold to unsuspecting fans.
Longtime team employees Edward and Joseph Skiba and Ed Wagner Jr. were among those let go, multiple sources told ESPN. Joseph Skiba was the team's equipment director. Edward Skiba, his brother, was the assistant equipment manager. Wagner was the equipment/locker room manager. He had worked for the Giants his entire adult life, according to a 1999 story by The New York Times. His father also was an equipment manager for the team. |
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In comment 13974574 EricJ said:
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unless I missed something is whether these guys were really responsible for what happened OR if they are just taking the blame here.
I strongly doubt they would have done this just to throw blame on someone else. The case is settled and sealed. It was a closed issue no one was going to get anything more out of.
That's true. The Giants have never fired an employee before to protect the legacy of one particular employee.
If this was about "protecting" Eli, then the cat's already out of the bag considering Eli was already named and was going to get brought to trial until the case was settled. He already took the hit from being involved in this. It didn't protect his name from anything. Plenty of folks assume that if you settle a case out of court that you have something to hide anyway.
They weren't going to hold on to those jobs for very long. I'm surprised they made it this far.
So did the qb
Marty in Albany : 5/24/2018 9:57 pm : link : reply
that these guys have rooms full of game worn jerseys, helmets, etc., going all the way back to YA Tittle and Lawrence Taylor. They probably kept the stuff as souvenirs,... but in a pinch. It could be worth a fortune.
One of the unwritten perks is that the equipment guys have access to items. As long as they are responsible with them, they basically are allowed to keep taking them. That's where the Skiba's got into trouble.
The equipment manager down here has given memorabilia to several restaurants and other organizations. Charity auctions are often able to get items to help raise funds, so for the most part, while not technically being legal, it goes to good or neutral causes.
But just like anything else - when lines are crossed, that's when team's take action, and based on most equipment managers having the position for life, you really have to cross a line to get canned.
The guy who brought this suit, Eric Inselberg, was indicted by the FBI many years ago, but got off because it was discovered that the Skibas lied to the FBI that they knew him, and he provided evidence that he had been dealing with them on the side for many years, long before Eli Manning was even on the team.
This goes way further back than Eli Manning.
...Edward Skiba, Joseph Skiba, Ed Wagner Jr. et. al. did wrong.
It was probably "something"... but I will say this.
Compared to the manipulation, cheating, collusion and you name it that goes on in Corporate America every single day, I doubt their actions rise very high on the lying-cheating-bullshit-scale.
Based on some of the comments on this thread, you would think their actions were as bad as Enron or the sub prime mortgage debacle.
All of them violate rules of some sort. Most are innocuous because they go to charity or to restaurants, bars and the like, but finding grounds to dismiss an equipment manager isn't too tough at all.
...does anyone on this thread actually know -- beyond generalities -- as to precisely what the equipment employees did wrong?
Clearly, they messed up somewhere, but what are the hard facts and where is the evidence and sources behind these hard facts?
...Edward Skiba, Joseph Skiba, Ed Wagner Jr. et. al. did wrong.
It was probably "something"... but I will say this.
Compared to the manipulation, cheating, collusion and you name it that goes on in Corporate America every single day, I doubt their actions rise very high on the lying-cheating-bullshit-scale.
Based on some of the comments on this thread, you would think their actions were as bad as Enron or the sub prime mortgage debacle.
The actions weren't any different, only the stakes were.
Given the opportunity, I have no doubt they'd be trying to stash debt in shell corporations if they were capable of doing so. Fraud is fraud.
M.S. : 8:41 am : link : reply
...does anyone on this thread actually know -- beyond generalities -- as to precisely what the equipment employees did wrong?
Clearly, they messed up somewhere, but what are the hard facts and where is the evidence and sources behind these hard facts?
The Skiba's have been funneling equipment to dealers for years. Again - probably not that uncommon. However, it looks like this went South because the dealer decided to claim that he was being defrauded.
Here's the rub - the skiba's were dealing with an asshole who broke the unwritten rule of dealers too. Don't turn on the people who supply you. Now, he'll be screwed going forward too as no equipment guiy will want to deal with him.
didn't the fucker find the post somehow and email me to threaten me with slander? Only after I provided specifics because the dickhead didn't realize my neighbor owned the restaurant where he gave merchandise to did he back off.
Like I said above, the teams generally don't care unless the abuse is egregious. Afterall, these guys manage all the equipment, deal with replacing and repairing it. Deal with laundry and assorted other crap and keep that burden off the players and coaches so that uniforms, helmets, pads, cleats, etc. are ready to go at all times. They are given a ton of leeway. It is a tough job and they don't get paid a fortune to do it.
didn't the fucker find the post somehow and email me to threaten me with slander? Only after I provided specifics because the dickhead didn't realize my neighbor owned the restaurant where he gave merchandise to did he back off.
Like I said above, the teams generally don't care unless the abuse is egregious. Afterall, these guys manage all the equipment, deal with replacing and repairing it. Deal with laundry and assorted other crap and keep that burden off the players and coaches so that uniforms, helmets, pads, cleats, etc. are ready to go at all times. They are given a ton of leeway. It is a tough job and they don't get paid a fortune to do it.
Ha, that's crazy.
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Question...
M.S. : 8:41 am : link : reply
...does anyone on this thread actually know -- beyond generalities -- as to precisely what the equipment employees did wrong?
Clearly, they messed up somewhere, but what are the hard facts and where is the evidence and sources behind these hard facts?
The Skiba's have been funneling equipment to dealers for years. Again - probably not that uncommon. However, it looks like this went South because the dealer decided to claim that he was being defrauded.
Here's the rub - the skiba's were dealing with an asshole who broke the unwritten rule of dealers too. Don't turn on the people who supply you. Now, he'll be screwed going forward too as no equipment guiy will want to deal with him.
Sounds like a crook bitching about his fellow crook for crooking him a bit, if you get my drift.
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...Edward Skiba, Joseph Skiba, Ed Wagner Jr. et. al. did wrong.
It was probably "something"... but I will say this.
Compared to the manipulation, cheating, collusion and you name it that goes on in Corporate America every single day, I doubt their actions rise very high on the lying-cheating-bullshit-scale.
Based on some of the comments on this thread, you would think their actions were as bad as Enron or the sub prime mortgage debacle.
The actions weren't any different, only the stakes were.
Given the opportunity, I have no doubt they'd be trying to stash debt in shell corporations if they were capable of doing so. Fraud is fraud.
"Fraud is fraud," I certainly agree with you there. But it almost sounds like they were maybe acting "fraudulently" in an area where the boundaries around fraud are not fully defined and codified. Of course, that is no excuse.
...does anyone on this thread actually know -- beyond generalities -- as to precisely what the equipment employees did wrong?
Clearly, they messed up somewhere, but what are the hard facts and where is the evidence and sources behind these hard facts?
There is one of your elis helmet out therehelmet out there that's what is represented as game worn and clearly was not. It didn't have the right stickers etc. I think it's obvious that Skiba faked it, whether Eli knew about it is another issue
They are definitely good equipment management professionals but I imagine there were several other incidents with them in the past that we may not be aware of.
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Joe is a good dude - wish him the best going forward.
He clearly is NOT a good dude, he committed fraud and hornswaggled people. How is that good? He might be a nice guy but sure as shootin' he's not a good guy.
Thank you for that lesson in semantics. With all the issues in the world, the one thing I'm not going to get sanctimonious about is sports memorabilia. In fact, the Giants' home of Bergen County is getting sued because they auctioned off sports memorabilia they seized that turned out to be fake.
The Skiba family did a lot of good for Bergen Catholic before and after they started working for the Giants. That's my personal interaction and how I regard them. But thanks for your comment.
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In comment 13974611 Bobby Humphrey's Earpad said:
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Joe is a good dude - wish him the best going forward.
He clearly is NOT a good dude, he committed fraud and hornswaggled people. How is that good? He might be a nice guy but sure as shootin' he's not a good guy.
Thank you for that lesson in semantics. With all the issues in the world, the one thing I'm not going to get sanctimonious about is sports memorabilia. In fact, the Giants' home of Bergen County is getting sued because they auctioned off sports memorabilia they seized that turned out to be fake.
The Skiba family did a lot of good for Bergen Catholic before and after they started working for the Giants. That's my personal interaction and how I regard them. But thanks for your comment.
So don't be mad about sports memorabilia. Be mad about lying to the FBI. Or be mad about throwing another person under the bus.There's plenty of things to dislike if you have to cherry pick.
"After learning his equipment staff had been selling team property for side income for years and then lied to an FBI agent about it, Mara didn’t fire the men. Instead, the Giants put Joe and Ed Skiba on probation and froze their pay for three years.
“The Giants organization chose to internally handle this personnel matter,” said Kessler, the team law firm spokeswoman."
Nice job, John.
Most of the time, these guys operate with the tacit approval of the team, but the Skiba's clearly crossed a line.
Everyone involved in moving the memorabilia acted like a bunch of scumbags.
Lesson to all.
Better make damn sure your tracks are covered, because the QB ( Brady & Manning) will be covering theirs.
Keep all documents and correspondence.
I have equipment management experience! where do i apply lol
I would venture to guess equipment guys for a professional sports franchise are doing well as far as take home pay.
I doubt he is 100% innocent.
There is a helmet out there with his signature that he signed as game worn that clearly wasn't.
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Joe is a good dude - wish him the best going forward.
He clearly is NOT a good dude, he committed fraud and hornswaggled people. How is that good? He might be a nice guy but sure as shootin' he's not a good guy.
2) The more I read about this, the more I think Eli is innocent. I may be naiive, but throughout his career he has seemed like nothing more than a down to earth and nice guy. Maybe I'm wrong, but I would like to believe that is true for my sake and my kids' sake and that may be clouding my judgement. But, I see a guy who had family wealth and became extremely wealthy himself. There was not a need for him to commit fraud in this and not much compelling me to believe he did.
He supposedly had a contract with Steiner to supply game used stuff. I think that is where it ends. I think the Skibas were ultimately responsible for supplying the stuff. It certainly sounds from what we are now hearing that made a hefty side business out of supplying people with tons of stuff, some of it passed off as game worn. I don't know if they did this with Steiner, but I believe more and more Eli knew nothing of this. I believe this is why he didn't settle initially and was ready to fight this. I believe the settlement came from the Giants side, to try to protect what we are now learning.
I don't know if the stories about Hanlon are true. Again, these sound more and more to be exaggerated by the Skibas and their counterparts both to protect themselves and to deflect some blame. But, it certainly sounds like the Giants knew of some of these dealings for at least 5 years and chose to do very little about it.
But as Shaun O’Hara angrily said, “it’s not Eli’s job (to keep track of his laundry). His job is to play QB for the NY Giants.” The equipment managers take the items and put it away as “game used”. They can then pretty much do or say whatever they want about it. Steiner sports also claimed they have their people on the sidelines to take Eli’s game used stuff, but how can that be if the Skibas had a separate place to hold all of it.
Do fans really think Eli was intentionally trying to scam the fans who mean a great deal to him and who cares deeply about his reputation? This is precisely I believe why he let this drag on for so long. He genuinely wanted to clear his name.
One other thing I'll add about memorabilia is that most active players, emphasis on active, let the de facto handler of their memorabilia be the equipment guys. It generally falls on their shoulders to produce the appropriate items. Even the testimony shows that Eli often forgot to hand over the items.
Most players have some sort of contract or agreement that their agent brokers to deliver memorabilia. But again, the administrating of giving the items out falls to the equipment managers.
Now, once players retire, that's when they start actually reaping bigger benefits as they control the revenue flow by signing autographs and photos and thing like that. But that's a whole different story to go into.