The American economy personified

Lenny Dykstra was a very successful baseball player, and came to be known as "Nails" during his career for his all-out, Pete Rose-style of play.

After he retired, Lenny Dykstra was a very successful businessman... or so everyone thought.

First came this article in GQ Magazine, then a few weeks later this feature followed on ESPN.com from Mike Fish detailing Dykstra's business dealings. So it seems that Dykstra's supposed business prowess was, quite literally, built on lie upon lie.

There are too many great details of this story to list, but here are some of my favorites:
-the fact that Dykstra's magazine, The Player's Club, was designed to help athletes 'keep livin' the dream'... just like Dykstra
-the fact that you can link Dykstra and the recently-disgraced MSNBC host Jim Cramer
-the fact that, despite the incredible number of people who claim to have been done wrong by him, Dykstra has seemed to convince himself that he is the victim in each and every case.

Now Dykstra has had to declare bankruptcy, and for any reasonable person this would be a disgrace, and a sign that they are not the shrewd businessman they would like to believe. However, more hilaritry ensues in that Dykstra seems to believe that bankruptcy is a step to success.

Belligerence? I'm not sure that even begins to describe Dykstra's clear psychosis.

Nonetheless, an interesting story, and in many ways a personification of the American economy, specifically the kinds of attitudes that money grows on trees and certain people are bequeathed success due to their social status.