A Rolex-wearing, sports car-driving illegal streaming ringleader has been fined millions and sentenced to 23 months in prison following an eight-year investigation into his operation.

The man nicknamed “Dash, the Iranian,” operated primarily out of Spain and provided thousands of pirated sports and entertainment sites to two million people from domains including RapidIPTV and IPTVStack. According to The Athletic, the investigation into “Dash” and the operation spanned from 2015 to 2020, during which the illegal streaming service was estimated to have earned over $17 million in revenue.

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The illegal streaming business’s technical branch was partly based in Iran and operated by capturing legitimate streams of events, decoding them and then sharing them across complex networks and servers located in 10 countries. The real kicker of the situation is that the company was set up as a franchise, which would then allow resellers to run the services and turn a profit.

The ringleader was ultimately fined $10.2 million during his sentencing in Spain’s Criminal Chamber of the National Court. ‘Dash,’ plus four other defendants, opened financial accounts to launder profits through real estate projects and cryptocurrency transactions involving over 1,000 bitcoin. All five defendants involved accepted their charges in exchange for reduced sentences.

The illegal streaming services tapped into Premier League and Champions League matches, which many legal streams can only be found behind paywalls in many areas around the world, and it’s fair to say they earned ‘Dash’ and his affiliates quite a bit of cash.

According to the report, the initial raid of “Dash’s” $2 million residence in Barcelona took place in June 2020. Four Rolex watches, two AMG Mercedes cars, laptops and stacks of cash found underneath mattresses were retrieved.

Those who partook in the illegal streaming services to watch events are officially out of luck. On the other side of that coin, the president of Spain’s La Liga, Javier Tebas, is ecstatic about the illegal business being shut down.

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“A scourge that threatens the survival of an industry that is fundamental to the European economy,” Tebas described the piracy operation. “Must be fought forcefully at every level, especially against the organisations and mafias behind it.”

The modern-day mafia: a crew focused on bootlegging soccer telecasts from around the globe.

Former MLB outfielder Garret Anderson died of “acute necrotizing pancreatitis,” local reports citing the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office said.

The Los Angeles Angels announced the former star outfielder died late last week at the age of 53.

“Acute necrotizing pancreatitis” is a condition in which part of the pancreas dies, according to Cedars-Sinai. The California Post reported his death was ruled natural.

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A three-time All-Star, Anderson is in the conversation for the greatest Angel in franchise history, nearing the top of the leaderboard in many stats.

“Garret will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Angels fans for his professionalism, class, and loyalty throughout his career and beyond,” the team said in a social media post. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the entire Anderson family.”

A call was made for “medical aid” to Anderson’s home in the early afternoon of April 16 after Anderson suffered a medical emergency. The Angels announced his death the next day.

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Anderson made his MLB debut with the California Angels in 1994 before becoming a true threat in the early 2000s. From 2002 to 2005, Anderson was named to all three of his All-Star Games, leading the majors with 56 doubles in 2002 and the American League in that same category with 49 the following season.

He is the franchise leader in hits, RBIs, doubles, and games played. His .296 average with the team is also the third-highest behind Vladimir Guerrero and Rod Carew, and he is second in runs with 1,024, behind only Mike Trout.

Perhaps the biggest hit of his career was his three-run double in Game 7 of that World Series, which made the score 4-1 Angels in the bottom of the third inning. That score would be the final.

Anderson was twice named a Silver Slugger and was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2016.

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Happy NFL Draft Eve to all who celebrate! And, by the way, that’s all of you, because the NFL is king and even something as silly as a draft brings in more eyeballs than most other live sporting events.

Say what you want about Roger Goodell, but the guy knows how to market his product. Fair is fair.

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Anyway, the NFL Draft is always one of the biggest nights on the calendar, believe it or not. I remember when it used to be a two-day event on Saturday and Sunday only.

Remember those days? When it would start at noon and run for eight straight hours? Amazing.

It got too big a few years ago, and, naturally, the first round got moved to the prime time slot on Thursday night. It’s on 14 different channels now, with 14 different broadcasts. Again, it’s a monster event.

And ESPN’s Peter Schrager, a veteran in the NFL reporter world, has a plea for anyone watching tomorrow night: Stay off your phones!

“Would you watch a reality show if, three minutes before the end of the show, they tell you who is being eliminated?”

Amen, Peter. Preach! No, I wouldn’t. Neither would you. The NFL Draft is one giant reality show. It’s why we watch everything like hawks. The facial expressions. The green room. The WAGs. All of it. It’s a content machine.

But Schrager — again, a veteran reporter — didn’t stop there. He later divulged just how easy it is for insiders to get access to the pick ahead of time. Apparently, it’s not as impressive as you’d think.

“The NFL requires that name to be sent to them, and the entire league gets that name three minutes before the pick is made,” he said. “Anyone who’s got a credential has one source in the league, and that one source, whether it be from the 32 teams, or the league office, or an agent, they have access to the picks 90 seconds before they’re announced.

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“There is no valor in spoiling an NFL draft pick.”

Bingo! If you happen to have some actual scoop — like the pick 10 minutes ahead of time — go for it. That’s fine. That’s fair. If you have sources that deep in the business, you deserve to break it.

But if you’re getting the same info everyone else is getting, and just tweeting out the same exact thing everyone else is tweeting … come on. What’s the point? To spoil it for everyone watching? Seems silly.

Sure, there’s also the argument that we (the viewer) could just put the phone down and watch. It’s rare nowadays, outside of Augusta for a week out of the year. But, we could also just put the phones down and not be spoiled, either. As far as I know, nobody is forcing you to scroll social media for three hours with the NFL Draft on in the background.

If they are, blink twice!

Regardless, it’s interesting to see how insiders get their info. Sure, there’s a Russini joke somewhere in there, but I ain’t making it!

Happy NFL Draft Day Eve.