Mandarich, as you may be aware, knows his way around the internet. In addition to his growing photography career and alleged smearing of naked women, his main line of work is search engine optimization and general internet ass kicking. Self-promotion is the name of the game on the web, so even if you think it might be out of line use the unexpected death of Billy Mays to promote a client, well ... you just don't understand marketing.

Here's the press release that separates winners from losers and was forwarded to us by the sportswriter who received it from Big Tony himself:

The sudden and tragic death of television pitchman Billy Mays has not only shaken his family, friends and colleagues, but the entire nation. Mays has been a part of American households since the mid-1990's and will remain a legend for years to come.

For The Earth Corp , headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, had the esteemed privilege of working with Mays on several projects promoting their flagship product, What Odor?®.

What Odor ?® is an eco-friendly, 100% biodegradable odor eliminator developed by For The Earth Corporation.

The first project was in March 2009; Mays signed on with For The Earth Corp to produce a What Odor?® infomercial, officially launching the product with a national television advertising campaign.

"Working with Billy was a great experience," recalled Nelson Grist, For The Earth Corp's president. "It was amazing to see him in action. He had such vitality and a down-to-earth nature."

The second project was an episode of Discovery Channel's Pitchmen, featuring Billy Mays and Anthony "Sully" Sullivan. What Odor?® was featured during the May 6th show, titled "Smelling Gold".

"We were thrilled to be a part of the Pitchmen series," said Grist. "Both Billy and Sully have an innate talent for grabbing an audience's attention and have created a trusted following for the products they endorse."

Nelson and his team at For The Earth Corp extend their warmest condolences to the Mays family. Billy Mays was a one-of-a-kind pitchman and will be missed tremendously.

If interested in interviewing Nelson Grist, contact Mandarich LLC via email.

I'm now sure how well this odor product works, but something sure smells funny.

Previously: Tony Mandarich's Possible Porno Revenge Web Site

In 2002, Mandarich was engaged to Sharra Ferbrache, a model/spokesanchorperson and at one time the host of some sort of monster truck TV show. They split up, but according to a lawsuit filed in Arizona last week, Mandarich came into possession of certain "intimate sexual pictures and videos of plaintiff that were to be kept personal and completely and totally private between them." Believe it or not, he didn't dispose of them when they broke up. Then a website magically popped up last year under her name, allegedly registered by a company owned by Mandarich and his new wife (he's a bit of a web entrepreneur) and those pictures and videos were all over it! What a coincidence.

Ferbrache says the site is a ploy by Tony and his wife, Charlavan (that's her on the right), to humiliate her by making hardcore porn the first thing that comes up in a search engine. I guess it worked. Judging by the size of the genitalia involved, I'm going to say Tony is not the other performer in these photos, but it's not clear where the pictures came from or what their original purpose really was. Perhaps they were test shoots for Tony and Char's "boudoir photography" business. Now that I've planted the vision of Tony Mandarich coming into your bedroom to taking provocative photos of your wife, you may stop reading until the dry heaves have subsided.

The site that the lawsuit covers is amazingly still live, but I think I'm going to go ahead and not to link to it, because if the allegations are true then Mandarich is an ever bigger world-class prick than previously believed, so why do him any favors? And two, you know where the Google is. (UPDATE: Site is now down anyway.)

Ex-Fiancee Claims NFL Guy Played Dirty [Courthouse News]

UPDATE: Reached for comment, Mandarich Media Group emails:

I have received no notification that I am involved in any lawsuit from any attorney or court. Until I do I have no comment on her allegations. However, she has proven herself to be very unstable since we split up 7 years ago, so nothing she does or says surprises me anymore.

Tony

Do with that what you will.

In the latest issue of SI, Rick Telander revisits the man he lionized and made extremely wealthy with his 1989 SI cover story. We find Mandarich humbled by time (and his not-so-spectacular career) and apologizing to Telander and SI for convincing the world that his bulbous muscles were made entirely in the gym. Another interesting part of the story is how Mandarich beat the NCAA's top-notch PED testing with homemade devices bought from pet stores. With Leather via Larry Brown Sports via EDSBS:

In the pet area I see this rubber doggy squeaker toy. I get that, then I go to another area and get a small hose, and in the medical area I get some flesh-colored tape. I'm like the Unabomber getting supplies. Back home I rip the squeakers out of the toy, tape the hose into one end and experiment by filling the thing with water. At the Rose Bowl I taped the toy to my back, ran the hose between my butt cheeks, taped the end to my penis, and covered the hose tip with bubble gum. I had gotten some clean urine from somebody else. The tester stood behind me, couldn't see anything, and when I removed the gum everything worked fine...At the Gator Bowl the following year Mandarich customized a squeezable glue bottle to replace the doggy toy. "A quarter twist of the cap, no leak, no moving parts–it was almost too easy.

Well, look at you, Mr. Wizard. Or should that be Mr. Whizzard? Give the man points for creativity and possibly an honorary doctorate from MIT.

*****

TOMORROW: Dash. SUNDAY: Idiot Barking Dog.

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. It's gonna be nice tomorrow. Rejoice:

Imagine, for a moment, gathering your family together for a wedding and having Tony freaking Mandarich taking your pictures. Tony sums up the business for us.

"I've always had a passion for photography," says Tony Mandarich, "and after Char and I were married in 2004, we decided to devote our full-time professional pursuit to creating a totally new concept in commercial photography." Adds Char," Commercial, advertising and lifestyle photography are a natural fit for our background and knowledge. The creativity, enthusiasm, and rapport that our team approach offers sets us apart from other commercial and lifestyle photographers in Arizona. When working with MANDARICH PHOTOGRAPHY, each client is offered a full range of services, from the shoot through image selection & post-production into finished web and print images."

Of course, we hope you don't mind, but sometimes if you don't pose exactly right, we'll lose our minds and throw you through the wedding cake.

By the way, Tony is working on a memoir about his life in the NFL. Should be gripping, compelling and rich.

Mandarich Photography [Official Site]
Where Are They Now? [Steroid Nation]