The Big, Big Mystery: What Has Shaq Been Watching?
By Barry Garron
The divorce of Shaquille O'Neal and his wife, Shaunie, proves once again that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Until a judge rules in the case, we won't know exactly how hard Shaq will fall. However, recent filings in the case, made public by "Extra," show that we're talking about some pretty lofty heights.
The financial affidavit obtained by "Extra" reveals that O'Neal made almost $2 million a month. But before your jaw drops, keep in mind that Shaq had a lot of expenses, as well. According to the affidavit he spent $22,000 a month for maid service. That's probably more than most hotels I've stayed at but I can understand he enjoys clean surroundings.
His monthly clothing expenditure is $17,000, which isn't as big a deal as you think when you consider the amount of material that goes into most of those garments. His monthly vacations cost $110,000 but, then, first class accommodations don't come cheap and I doubt he has time to start fiddling with Priceline.
I admit I was a little puzzled by the monthly expense at the gas station--$23,000. That works out to about 6,000 gallons of gas, or about 200 gallons a day. He must have more Hummers than Gov. Schwarzenegger.
But the figure that really boggled my mind was his monthly cable bill, which came to $1,500. What on earth could you watch to generate a tab like that? Even if you watch adult fare, you'd have to see about five hours a day every single day of the month. If you miss one day, you'd have to see 10 hours the next. Even professional athletes don't have enough energy to justify that kind of expenditure.
So what is Shaq watching for $1,500 a month? I know that HD costs a little more and you get dinged for extra boxes for each TV set. Still, you'd have to get every cable package known to mankind, including programs in Armenian and Chinese, to even start to approach a monthly cable bill like that.
I hope that, in the future, "Extra" can dig a little more and find out what Shaq watches that adds up to a cable bill like that. Regardless, that's got to go down as a record nobody will break for a long time.
