Friday, April 30, 2010
BYB Express
I didn't really have the ammo for a full blog today so I thought I would reach into my bag of tricks and do a mini-blog. Just think of it as a Holiday Inn Express...without the funny commercials.
F My Life Moment of the Day
Today, when we told our three children about the divorce, my older son and his younger sister immediately stood up and screamed, "I call dad's!" FML
Wal Mart Person of the Day
A picture says a thousand words. Or maybe just one.
They're Playing Basketball
Or in the Mavericks' case, they aren't anymore. I certainly hate to see the Spurs doing well again. Especially with all my Mavs buddies frowning. But the Mavs need to keep their chins up. If not noone can see their Abe Lincoln throat tattoos.
Texts From Last Nite Moment of the Day
(254): Dude I think I vomited on the wireless internet box too...it isnt working.
Blowing the Whistle on Coach
Flag football photo catches Stranahan coach pulling foe's flag
by By Peter Holehan/Sun Sentinel
Referees caught Stranahan flag football coach Bennett Wyche on Tuesday pulling the flag of a Western High player headed for the end zone.
What Wyche didn't know was that a spectator's camera caught him in the act as well.
A photograph sent to the Sun Sentinel shows the coach grabbing the flag of Western safety Jessica Lucarelli as she speeds past him on an interception return.
"There was nobody between [Lucarelli] and the end zone," said Western coach James O'Brien. "I even heard the ref turn to the coach and say, ‘What are you doing?'"
What kind of school has girls flag football? Honestly, if I had that job I'd probably be doing anything I could to get fired, up to and including pulling opposing players' flags out.
On this day in…
1803 – Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
1945 – World War II: Fuehrerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day.
Plus Willie Nelson was born on this day in 1933 and Kirsten Dunst was born on April 30, 1982.
Guess He'll Be Taking the Cuss Bus For A While
Man backs car through parking tower wall
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A 67-year-old Oklahoma man had quite a fright after backing his car at high speed through a seventh-floor exterior wall of a parking garage.
Ralph Hudson says his foot got stuck between his Mercedes’ brake and gas pedal as he was backing up in a towering parking garage in downtown Tulsa on Wednesday.
I'm not saying people in Oklahoma are stupid but c'mon. And don't try and tell me this guy was drunk. Nobody can get drunk on that 3.2 beer they've got up there.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
F My Life Moment of the Day
Today, I realized that each time I order pizza, I spend the 45 minutes getting my front room pretty and making sure I look good before the pizza guy gets here, just because you never know when you're going to end up madly in love, like in the movies. I only end up with pizza and self-loathing. FML
Today, my boyfriend and I were watching a movie when he leaned in close and passionately kissed me on the lips. When we parted, he asked, "Now, will you make me sandwich?" FML
The Emperor's New Clothes
Tim Tebow is already setting records
By MJD/Yahoo Sports
When it comes to making and selling rookie jerseys, the NFL's got a quick release. In that way, they're the direct opposite of Tim Tebow.
It's Tebow's jersey, though, that sits atop the list of top-selling NFL rookie jerseys. In fact, it's the fastest-selling rookie jersey of all-time, crushing the record set by Mark Sanchez last year.
This wasn't tremendously difficult to predict. Tebow came to the NFL with a legion of fans built-in, and then Denver made a big splash by trading up to get him late in the first round.
It also all worked out pretty conveniently from a jersey standpoint: Brandon Marshall just left town, making Tebow's number 15 available, and the Broncos have a similar color scheme to that of Tebow's college home, the Florida Gators.
Second among rookies in jersey sales was Ndamukong Suh of the Detoit Lions, followed by the first-pick overall, Sam Bradford of the St. Louis Rams. Rounding out the top five were Eric Berry of the Kansas City Chiefs and the newest Dallas Cowboy, Dez Bryant.
Well I think we all saw this coming didn't we? The Chosen One's jersey was going to sell like freaking hotcakes. If fact I don't think a piece of clothing has inspired so much fanfare since the Shroud of Turin. I am a little suprised Denver fans have jumped on board so quickly with Tebow, especially since he won't probably start right away and they probably have forked over a lot of money in recent years for Jay Cutler and "Neckbeard" Orton jerseys (not to mention the few poor stiffs who ran out and got Brady Quinn jerseys). But I have hope yet for Ndamukong Suh's jersey sales. Make the pro bowl in your first year and you've got to lead the league in rookie jersey sales, right?
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Lions Linebacker, Zack Follett, Buys His Opponents Some Playtex Sport and Barbie Bandaids for the 2010 Season
Written by Bob Biscigliano/detroit4lyfe.com
Let's be honest with ourselves, Lions fans -- when linebacker Zack Follett made Rams kick returner, Danny Amendola, piss himself in Week 8 of last season, the majority of us had no clue who the hell Zack Follett was.
We had no reason to because he was a 7th round draft pick and practice squadron, who just happened to be making his first NFL tackle. That's right, his first tackle in the NFL was a bone crushing, world rocking hit that was later named 'Hit of the Week' by the NFL Network and had to be given serious consideration for the biggest hit of the 2009 season (if they give such an honor). Lions fans were officially put on notice.
Shortly after the season ended, Zack Follett's video blogs started popping up on the internet (he 'danced with the lions, took us on a tour of his crib, and, in between, played a more serious role to help us dominate our sins).
His latest video takes the proverbial cake, though. Just days after the Lions had a relatively successful 2010 draft, where the team picked up Ndamukong Suh and Follett's former teammate, Jahvid Best, Zack presumably went out and got all jacked up on Myoplex, beef jerky, and chocolate/banana cheerios to celebrate. Naturally, afterward, he put on his thinking hat, some goofy shorts, a ragged South Park t-shirt, and some old school California tube socks before heading to the super market to collect some bare essentials for the upcoming season: Tampons and Barbie Band-aids for his opponents.
I have no particular affection for this Zach Follet fellow but in the new age of internet videos, social media and look-at-me behavior he seems to have struck at blow at become more noticable with this video. Plus he lets his play on the field speak volumes too. I still doubt Danny Amendola can hear correctly. But aside from decapitating undersized Texas Tech receivers (please tell me the Pats are on the Lions schedule this year) Follet is also now a teammate of my favorite player Ndamukong Suh. So Zach I wish you all the best this season and if you happen to see Wes Welker running a kick back, would a little helmet to helmet contact be too much to ask?
Written by Bob Biscigliano/detroit4lyfe.com
Let's be honest with ourselves, Lions fans -- when linebacker Zack Follett made Rams kick returner, Danny Amendola, piss himself in Week 8 of last season, the majority of us had no clue who the hell Zack Follett was.
We had no reason to because he was a 7th round draft pick and practice squadron, who just happened to be making his first NFL tackle. That's right, his first tackle in the NFL was a bone crushing, world rocking hit that was later named 'Hit of the Week' by the NFL Network and had to be given serious consideration for the biggest hit of the 2009 season (if they give such an honor). Lions fans were officially put on notice.
Shortly after the season ended, Zack Follett's video blogs started popping up on the internet (he 'danced with the lions, took us on a tour of his crib, and, in between, played a more serious role to help us dominate our sins).
His latest video takes the proverbial cake, though. Just days after the Lions had a relatively successful 2010 draft, where the team picked up Ndamukong Suh and Follett's former teammate, Jahvid Best, Zack presumably went out and got all jacked up on Myoplex, beef jerky, and chocolate/banana cheerios to celebrate. Naturally, afterward, he put on his thinking hat, some goofy shorts, a ragged South Park t-shirt, and some old school California tube socks before heading to the super market to collect some bare essentials for the upcoming season: Tampons and Barbie Band-aids for his opponents.
It's about to be a BLOODY MESS! from zack follett on Vimeo.
I have no particular affection for this Zach Follet fellow but in the new age of internet videos, social media and look-at-me behavior he seems to have struck at blow at become more noticable with this video. Plus he lets his play on the field speak volumes too. I still doubt Danny Amendola can hear correctly. But aside from decapitating undersized Texas Tech receivers (please tell me the Pats are on the Lions schedule this year) Follet is also now a teammate of my favorite player Ndamukong Suh. So Zach I wish you all the best this season and if you happen to see Wes Welker running a kick back, would a little helmet to helmet contact be too much to ask?
Texts From Last Nite Moment of the Day
And Twins!
Twin sisters ask twin brothers to prom
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAMESTOWN, N.D. — A pair of identical North Dakota twin sisters are hoping to double their fun at their high school prom.
Adrian and Hannah McInnes asked identical twins Josh and Jerimiah Dockter to be their dates for Saturday’s formal dance at Jamestown High School.
The pairs met at the grocery store where they all work. The girls say they thought it would be cool to double-date with another set of identical twins.
The Dockter brothers, who graduated in 2009 and skipped their prom, said yes.
But don’t expect the girls to wear matching dresses to go with their matching dates. Adrian and Jerimiah will wear white, while Hannah and Josh will go in black.
This is the kind of story that just warms your heart. It's like a freaking Doublemint Commercial. But as much as I tried I couldn't help but see another side to it. Presuming these kids are all good looking they could really strike it rich by filming some post prom orgy and selling it to Vivid Video. Sure, call me perverted but I've seen 'The Girl Next Door' enough to know that young kids doing it makes money and I've seen enough Coors Light commercials to know that twins sell product. These kids could pay for their college tuition with that tape.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAMESTOWN, N.D. — A pair of identical North Dakota twin sisters are hoping to double their fun at their high school prom.
Adrian and Hannah McInnes asked identical twins Josh and Jerimiah Dockter to be their dates for Saturday’s formal dance at Jamestown High School.
The pairs met at the grocery store where they all work. The girls say they thought it would be cool to double-date with another set of identical twins.
The Dockter brothers, who graduated in 2009 and skipped their prom, said yes.
But don’t expect the girls to wear matching dresses to go with their matching dates. Adrian and Jerimiah will wear white, while Hannah and Josh will go in black.
This is the kind of story that just warms your heart. It's like a freaking Doublemint Commercial. But as much as I tried I couldn't help but see another side to it. Presuming these kids are all good looking they could really strike it rich by filming some post prom orgy and selling it to Vivid Video. Sure, call me perverted but I've seen 'The Girl Next Door' enough to know that young kids doing it makes money and I've seen enough Coors Light commercials to know that twins sell product. These kids could pay for their college tuition with that tape.
Radio Rants and Raves
So it was Casey Kasem's birthday the other day and I made the mistake of not showing this video in the feature because I didn't know it existed. This is one of the greatest at work rants I've ever heard right up there with Bill O'Reilly at Inside Edition.
I bet he wasn't that mad when Screech and Lisa came out of nowhere to win the dance contest at The Max.
I bet he wasn't that mad when Screech and Lisa came out of nowhere to win the dance contest at The Max.
On this day in...
On this day in...
1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans.
1707 – Scotland and England unified in United Kingdom of Great Britain.
1861 – American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.
1916 – Easter Rebellion: Martial law in Ireland is lifted and the rebellion is officially over with the surrender of Irish nationalists to British authorities in Dublin.
1945 – World War II: The German Army in Italy unconditionally surrenders to the Allies.
1967 – After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before (citing religious reasons), Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title.
1968 – The controversial musical Hair opens on Broadway.
1974 – Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings related to the scandal.
1986 – Roger Clemens then of the Boston Red Sox sets a major league baseball record with 20 strikeouts in nine innings against the Seattle Mariners.
1992 – 1992 Los Angeles riots: Riots in Los Angeles, California, following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King.
2004 – Dick Cheney and George W. Bush testify before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.
Births
1899 – Duke Ellington, American jazz pianist and bandleader (d. 1974)
1938 – Bernard Madoff, American convict, who was a financier and Chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange.
1947 – Tommy James, American musician
1951 – Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (d. 2001)
1954 – Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian
1957 – Daniel Day-Lewis, British-Irish actor
1967 – Master P, American rapper
1968 – Carnie Wilson, American singer
1970 – Andre Agassi, American tennis player
1970 – Uma Thurman, American actress
1983 – Jay Cutler, American football player
1983 – David Lee, American basketball player
1983 – Tommie Harris, American football player
Huge list of birthdays today with a jazz man, a scheming money man, a 60's rocker, a race car legend, a Jewish comedian, a rap empresario, a chubby singer, a tennis champion, a kick ass actress and a three-for of good, young athletes. But today I'm going to feature multiple time Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis. Here's one of his best scenes from 'There Will Be Blood.'
Porn Flashback
It's hard to imagine a world without freely accessible porn now. I tell you teenage boys in this country are spoiled. They never have to look at the lingerie section in a Montgomery Ward catelogue or dig through their dad's sock drawers locking for smut. They can just log onto the world wide web. And most of these kids are way more web saavy than their parents so don't try to tell me parental blocks get the job done. But this video just reminds me of the last ditch attempt of a desperate pron seeker. Turn it to the porn channel and hope for a clear 1-2 seconds before the scramble starts in again. Here's Jimbo trying it in 'American Pie'. Couldn't find it in English but I think the point does not get lost in translation.
And the descrambler was like a mythical super toy. It's power knew no bounds. It was kinda like the first time you saw Lucas use the Power Glove in 'The Wizard.'
No Ifs, Ands or Butts
U.S. beach bans thongs
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KURE BEACH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina town that the mayor called “Mayberry with a beach” has banned swimmers from wearing thongs.
Kure (kyoor-EE) Beach Mayor Dean Lambeth says “we’re going to keep this as close to Mayberry with a beach as you can keep it,” referring to the idyllic Southern community portrayed on the 1960s TV series “The Andy Griffith Show.”
The Star-News of Wilmington reports that the town council voted Thursday to add a ban against the revealing swimwear to its existing ordinance against nudity.
The move came after the police chief received an e-mail earlier in the week asking if the town’s existing nude bathing ordinance allowed thongs.
The ordinance bans nudity or “insufficient clothing,” and the man wanted to know if thongs were allowed for both men and women.
This story is kind of a doucle edged sword. Sure, we could call this town puritanical for not letting women run around with their asscheeks hanging out but for all we know there could have been a group of dudes sporting thongs around the beach. If that's the case then I think you have to pass this law. Even the good in that situation doesn't outweight the bad. Nothing ruins a day at the beach like man ass. Obviously the Mayberry of the East Coast knows this well.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
F My Life Moment of the Day
Today, after having a pretty serious operation on the back of my skull, I was violently throwing up in the toilet. Luckily I had my mom who's a nurse holding my hair back for me. She then managed to slam the toilet seat down onto the back of my head. FML
Today, I woke up to discover my house was TP'd in the night. After spending five hours cleaning, I saw that the last roll was used. FML
Worst Job Interview Ever
Jeff Ireland Apologizes for Asking Dez Bryant if His Mom Is a Prostitute
By Michael David Smith/NFL.Fanhouse.com
Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland offered an apology Tuesday to Dez Bryant, the wide receiver selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the NFL Draft, for asking Bryant if his mother is a prostitute during an interview at the league's scouting combine.
Bryant, a talented wide receiver who at times got into trouble off the field while in college at Oklahoma State, first revealed in an interview with Yahoo! Sports last week that he had been asked that, but declined to say who had posed the inquiry.
Ireland has now acknowledged that it was him and said he's sorry.
"My job is to find out as much information as possible about a player that I'm consider drafting," Ireland said in a statement he sent to the Miami Herald. "Sometimes that leads to asking in-depth questions.
"Having said that, I talked to Dez Bryant and told him I used poor judgment in one of the questions I asked him. I certainly meant no disrespect and apologized to him.
"I appreciate his acceptance of that apology, and I told him I wished him well as he embarks on his NFL career."
Bryant told Michael Silver last week, "They asked me if my mom's a prostitute. No, my mom is not a prostitute. I got mad -- really mad -- but I didn't show it. I got a lot of questions like that: 'Does she still do drugs?' I sat and answered all of them."
Silver revealed that it was Ireland behind the awkward question in a column Tuesday, in which he referred to Ireland as an "A-list A-hole."
Ireland says Bryant has accepted his apology, so this particular issue may be over. But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ought to demand that NFL teams start treating draft prospects with the same level of respect that employers in every other industry treat candidates at job interviews.
Am I the only one who's not completely upset with Jeff Ireland over this? You give give me that tired bullshit that NFL prospects deserve the same treatment as any other job seeker but is it really the same thing? Name me another job where you're about to hand over millions of dollars to an employee without the clear cut ability to fire him and get your money back. These NFL teams are trying to identify guys from troubled backgrounds who might not adapt well to having fame and fortune. So if one guy has to ask if your mom is a hooker I don't really see the problem. Dez Bryant better get some thicker skin or the Giants and Eagles will run right throgh him.
Stocks, Bonds, Whips and Chains
GOP ramps up attacks on SEC over porn surfing
The Associated Press
Republicans are stepping up their criticism of the Securities and Exchange Commission following reports that senior agency staffers spent hours surfing pornographic websites on government-issued computers while they were supposed to be policing the nation's financial system.
California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said it was "disturbing that high-ranking officials within the SEC were spending more time looking at porn than taking action to help stave off the events that put our nation's economy on the brink of collapse."
He said in a statement Thursday that SEC officials "were preoccupied with other distractions" when they should have been overseeing the growing problems in the financial system.
The SEC's inspector general conducted 33 probes of employees looking at explicit images in the past five years, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo says 31 of those probes occurred in the 2 1/2 years since the financial system teetered and nearly crashed.
The memo provides fresh ammunition for Republicans who suspect the timing of the SEC's lawsuit last week against Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs Group Inc. News of the suit came as the Senate prepared to take up a sweeping overhaul of the rules governing banks and other financial companies.
The memo was written by SEC Inspector General David Kotz in response to a request from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. It summarizes past inspector general probes and reports some shocking findings:
- A senior attorney at the SEC's Washington headquarters spent up to eight hours a day looking at and downloading pornography. When he ran out of hard drive space, he burned the files to CDs or DVDs, which he kept in boxes around his office. He agreed to resign, an earlier watchdog report said.
- An accountant was blocked more than 16,000 times in a month from visiting websites classified as "Sex" or "Pornography." Yet he still managed to amass a collection of "very graphic" material on his hard drive by using Google images to bypass the SEC's internal filter, according to an earlier report from the inspector general. The accountant refused to testify in his defense, and received a 14-day suspension.
While I'll say it's a little disturbing that someone would spend eight hours a day looking at porn, it's not all that suprising and (GASP) it's not that big of a fucking deal. Is it really a logical step to take that because 31 dudes at the SEC like to whack off at work we shouldn't let them have more oversight over Wall Street.
Mind you this is the same Wall Street that just collapsed our economic infrastructure all in the name of greed and irresponsibility. Take Goldman Sachs pretty boy "Fabulous Fab" (his nickname, not mine) Fabrice Tourre. He was one of the main perpetrators of the practice of selling properties that were intended to fail to Goldman Sachs customers while making money off short selling the products. In emails Tourre sent to his many women he said, "Even though the whole system is about to crumble at any moment, I still sell widows and orphans I met at the airport financial products that are pure financial masturbation which nobody knows how to price. But sadly enough we in this country can be tricked to care less about the multi-million dollar playboy stealing our money with financial masturbation than the government employee who masturbates at his desk chair. So who's stroking who in this country.
And before you say I'm just some liberal, Jon Stewart loving nutbag ranting, I'll remind you my opinion on matters of sex in politics are pretty consistent. When Michael Steele and the RNC were taking heat for going to a lesbian bondage club I didn't react with outrage. We may need a better form of campaign finance reform in the U.S. but this incident didn't make me think that any more than I had before. But ultimately its the RNC's business what they do with their money. It's our business as Americans what Wall Street does with our money and even if we've got a few dudes whacking it at the SEC, I'd like our government to have more power to make sure we don't get screwed by people like Fabulous Fab again.
The Associated Press
Republicans are stepping up their criticism of the Securities and Exchange Commission following reports that senior agency staffers spent hours surfing pornographic websites on government-issued computers while they were supposed to be policing the nation's financial system.
California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said it was "disturbing that high-ranking officials within the SEC were spending more time looking at porn than taking action to help stave off the events that put our nation's economy on the brink of collapse."
He said in a statement Thursday that SEC officials "were preoccupied with other distractions" when they should have been overseeing the growing problems in the financial system.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
Sex-curities XXXchange Cumission | ||||
www.thedailyshow.com | ||||
|
The SEC's inspector general conducted 33 probes of employees looking at explicit images in the past five years, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo says 31 of those probes occurred in the 2 1/2 years since the financial system teetered and nearly crashed.
The memo provides fresh ammunition for Republicans who suspect the timing of the SEC's lawsuit last week against Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs Group Inc. News of the suit came as the Senate prepared to take up a sweeping overhaul of the rules governing banks and other financial companies.
The memo was written by SEC Inspector General David Kotz in response to a request from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. It summarizes past inspector general probes and reports some shocking findings:
- A senior attorney at the SEC's Washington headquarters spent up to eight hours a day looking at and downloading pornography. When he ran out of hard drive space, he burned the files to CDs or DVDs, which he kept in boxes around his office. He agreed to resign, an earlier watchdog report said.
- An accountant was blocked more than 16,000 times in a month from visiting websites classified as "Sex" or "Pornography." Yet he still managed to amass a collection of "very graphic" material on his hard drive by using Google images to bypass the SEC's internal filter, according to an earlier report from the inspector general. The accountant refused to testify in his defense, and received a 14-day suspension.
While I'll say it's a little disturbing that someone would spend eight hours a day looking at porn, it's not all that suprising and (GASP) it's not that big of a fucking deal. Is it really a logical step to take that because 31 dudes at the SEC like to whack off at work we shouldn't let them have more oversight over Wall Street.
Mind you this is the same Wall Street that just collapsed our economic infrastructure all in the name of greed and irresponsibility. Take Goldman Sachs pretty boy "Fabulous Fab" (his nickname, not mine) Fabrice Tourre. He was one of the main perpetrators of the practice of selling properties that were intended to fail to Goldman Sachs customers while making money off short selling the products. In emails Tourre sent to his many women he said, "Even though the whole system is about to crumble at any moment, I still sell widows and orphans I met at the airport financial products that are pure financial masturbation which nobody knows how to price. But sadly enough we in this country can be tricked to care less about the multi-million dollar playboy stealing our money with financial masturbation than the government employee who masturbates at his desk chair. So who's stroking who in this country.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
Who Wants to Beat a Millionaire | ||||
www.thedailyshow.com | ||||
|
And before you say I'm just some liberal, Jon Stewart loving nutbag ranting, I'll remind you my opinion on matters of sex in politics are pretty consistent. When Michael Steele and the RNC were taking heat for going to a lesbian bondage club I didn't react with outrage. We may need a better form of campaign finance reform in the U.S. but this incident didn't make me think that any more than I had before. But ultimately its the RNC's business what they do with their money. It's our business as Americans what Wall Street does with our money and even if we've got a few dudes whacking it at the SEC, I'd like our government to have more power to make sure we don't get screwed by people like Fabulous Fab again.
Texts From Last Nite Moment of the Day
They're Playing Basketball!
Lakers play like champs in Game 5
Lee Jenkins/SI.com
LOS ANGELES -- The defending champions finally showed up to Staples Center on Tuesday night, fashionably late as always. They limped in looking old and tired and beaten. They sprinted out looking unstoppable. The Lakers, convalescent compared to the puckish Oklahoma City Thunder, seemed to find their legs all at once. They led 10-0 after four minutes. They led by 20 in the second quarter. They led by 30 in the third. Whether the Lakers go on to repeat as champions is anybody's guess, but in a 111-87 thumping of the Thunder in Game 5, they at least showed they are still capable.
Never mind the Lakers dropped nine of 15 to close the regular season and were pounded last week in Oklahoma City, including a blowout in Game 4 that portended an early end to their title defense. With the Lakers, one game does not say anything about the next, because their best performances almost inevitably follow their worst. Whether they are hustlers or flakes, they have to be the hardest team in the league to handicap.
Take small forward Ron Artest, for example, who was shooting 13 percent from 3-point range in the series and was admonished by coaches not to shoot any more 3s from the corner. How did Artest respond? Of course, in the first quarter he took a three from the corner -- and sank it. That set a tone for the Lakers to do just about everything they had not. After surrendering 47 fast-break points over two games in Oklahoma City, they allowed just seven. After getting beaten on the backboards, they won the rebounding margin and blocked 10 shots. After letting Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook make repeated bull runs at the rim, they knocked him to the floor twice in the first half.
Even the crowd at Staples, after watching the clinic put on by fans in Oklahoma City last week, raised their decibel level. They might have been mystified by their team's 180-degree turnaround if they had not witnessed the Lakers' maddening now-you-see-me-now-you-don't magic trick so many times before. Anxious moments in Los Angeles, early in the playoffs, against seemingly inferior opponents, have become rites of spring. Last season, when the Rockets pushed the Lakers to seven games without Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant referred to his team as "bipolar." Apparently, that condition is not changing, even if other parts of their identity are.
When the Lakers won the championship last season, it was all about Bryant. If they repeat, it will still be about Bryant, but others will be part of the narrative. The way the Lakers tore through the Thunder on Tuesday is the way they will have to undo every opponent they face over the next two months. Pounding the ball inside to exploit their stark size advantage, center Andrew Bynum and power forward Pau Gasol finished with a combined 46 points on an efficient 18 of 26 shooting. With Gasol passing and Bynum finishing, the Lakers big men played the two-man game that they have been trying (often unsuccessfully) to develop all season.
Looks like someone is trying on some pants! The Lakers finally played with a much seeded sense of give-a-damn last night and it showed as the Laker front court had 60 points and knocked Russell Westbrook around like pinball wizards. But I'm not reversing my Monday opinion that this team is in dire straits. Trying to get this motley crew of wayward personalities to play with a sense of urgency is an almost impossible task. Kobe can't do it. Noone could (not even the sainted Michael Jordan). They certainly don't have the same fire as the Cavs. After eliminating the Bulls last nite Lebron and crew walked off the floor quickly with scowls plastered on their face. Anything but an NBA title isn't an option this season for the Cavs and a crash course with the Magic is on the horizon. My only hope is the Lakers can limp into the NBA Finals on talent and a handful of performances like last nite's.
Lee Jenkins/SI.com
LOS ANGELES -- The defending champions finally showed up to Staples Center on Tuesday night, fashionably late as always. They limped in looking old and tired and beaten. They sprinted out looking unstoppable. The Lakers, convalescent compared to the puckish Oklahoma City Thunder, seemed to find their legs all at once. They led 10-0 after four minutes. They led by 20 in the second quarter. They led by 30 in the third. Whether the Lakers go on to repeat as champions is anybody's guess, but in a 111-87 thumping of the Thunder in Game 5, they at least showed they are still capable.
Never mind the Lakers dropped nine of 15 to close the regular season and were pounded last week in Oklahoma City, including a blowout in Game 4 that portended an early end to their title defense. With the Lakers, one game does not say anything about the next, because their best performances almost inevitably follow their worst. Whether they are hustlers or flakes, they have to be the hardest team in the league to handicap.
Take small forward Ron Artest, for example, who was shooting 13 percent from 3-point range in the series and was admonished by coaches not to shoot any more 3s from the corner. How did Artest respond? Of course, in the first quarter he took a three from the corner -- and sank it. That set a tone for the Lakers to do just about everything they had not. After surrendering 47 fast-break points over two games in Oklahoma City, they allowed just seven. After getting beaten on the backboards, they won the rebounding margin and blocked 10 shots. After letting Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook make repeated bull runs at the rim, they knocked him to the floor twice in the first half.
Even the crowd at Staples, after watching the clinic put on by fans in Oklahoma City last week, raised their decibel level. They might have been mystified by their team's 180-degree turnaround if they had not witnessed the Lakers' maddening now-you-see-me-now-you-don't magic trick so many times before. Anxious moments in Los Angeles, early in the playoffs, against seemingly inferior opponents, have become rites of spring. Last season, when the Rockets pushed the Lakers to seven games without Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant referred to his team as "bipolar." Apparently, that condition is not changing, even if other parts of their identity are.
When the Lakers won the championship last season, it was all about Bryant. If they repeat, it will still be about Bryant, but others will be part of the narrative. The way the Lakers tore through the Thunder on Tuesday is the way they will have to undo every opponent they face over the next two months. Pounding the ball inside to exploit their stark size advantage, center Andrew Bynum and power forward Pau Gasol finished with a combined 46 points on an efficient 18 of 26 shooting. With Gasol passing and Bynum finishing, the Lakers big men played the two-man game that they have been trying (often unsuccessfully) to develop all season.
Looks like someone is trying on some pants! The Lakers finally played with a much seeded sense of give-a-damn last night and it showed as the Laker front court had 60 points and knocked Russell Westbrook around like pinball wizards. But I'm not reversing my Monday opinion that this team is in dire straits. Trying to get this motley crew of wayward personalities to play with a sense of urgency is an almost impossible task. Kobe can't do it. Noone could (not even the sainted Michael Jordan). They certainly don't have the same fire as the Cavs. After eliminating the Bulls last nite Lebron and crew walked off the floor quickly with scowls plastered on their face. Anything but an NBA title isn't an option this season for the Cavs and a crash course with the Magic is on the horizon. My only hope is the Lakers can limp into the NBA Finals on talent and a handful of performances like last nite's.
Kobe's Crew Is Creepy
Okay so this video is pretty disturbing. The guy seems like he belongs in some whigger mental institution but upon further reflection this guy is some kind of improv comic who actually has a gig on HBO (does everyone in L.A. have a TV gig?). What I found more suprising was that the local news in L.A. didn't vet him properly before the interview and then just let him prattle on with his bit for three minutes. Shouldn't they have cut his mic or something? Is this what passes for news in the second largest market in the U.S. now? Sad. Anywho here's a web video of something else this douche does.
On this day in...
On this day in...
1788 – Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
1930 – The first night game in organized baseball history takes place in Independence, Kansas.
1932 – A vaccine for yellow fever is announced for use on humans.
1945 – Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are executed by a firing squad consisting of members of the Italian resistance movement
1952 – Occupied Japan: The United States occupation of Japan ends with the ratification of Treaty of San Francisco.
1969 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.
1996 – Whitewater controversy: Bill Clinton gives a 4½ hour videotaped testimony for the defense.
2001 – Millionaire Dennis Tito becomes the world's first space tourist.
Births
1926 – Harper Lee, American author
1930 – James Baker, American politician
1941 – Ann-Margret, Swedish-born actress
1950 – Jay Leno, American comedian and television host
1954 – Ron Zook, American Football Coach
1966 – John Daly, American golfer
1966 – Too Short, American rapper
1971 – Bridget Moynahan, American actress
1974 – Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress
1980 – Josh Howard, American basketball player
1981 – Jessica Alba, American actress
A heck of a day for birthdays today, especially for hotties with Tom Brady's baby mama, a sexy Spanish lady, Jess Alba and a hottie from back in the day. We've also got a lady who may have written a famous book, an old Republican, a big chinned comic, a football coach and a troublemaking small forward. But how about the best twofer of all-time with John Daly and Too Short in '66? I'd like to be at that birthday shindig. Here's Too Short's "The Ghetto."
If Only the Hatfields and McCoys Would've Had Craigslist
Police: Man in feud placed fake orgy ad
By STEPHANIE REITZ/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man who was feuding with his neighbor targeted her in an explicit online posting that invited strangers to a rowdy orgy with a bored soccer mom, police said.
Philip James Conran, 42, made his first court appearance Thursday, but did not enter a plea to charges including reckless endangerment, harassment, criminal trespass and risk of injury to a minor.
The charges stem from an April 5 posting on Craigslist that said a West Hartford woman wanted to “please as many as I can before I go to work!” Detectives, Conran’s attorney and the woman targeted in the posting are not saying what prompted the feud between the longtime neighbors in the middle-class Hartford suburb.
West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci said even veteran officers were surprised by the number of strangers who knocked on the woman’s door, called the house or drove by.
“We were saying to ourselves, ‘The economy must be worse than we think if all of these able-bodied men are able to immediately drop everything and drive over to this neighborhood“’ on a Monday morning, he said.
One man who showed up went to the wrong house, where he groped a teenage girl, police said. He has been charged with sexual assault and other counts. His attorney said his client has psychological issues and plans to plead not guilty.
Conran, an unemployed cook, has been free on $75,000 bond since his arrest. The married father was ordered Thursday to have no contact with his neighbor. He declined to comment after his court appearance.
While I'm not condoning Philip Conran's (above photo) actions here (they did indirectly lead to a teenage girl getting groped) I will say I'm not near as up in arms as the case where a mother posted a similar ad on Craigslist for a 14-year-old girl who was a rival of her daughter's. She deserves the chair. Conran probably should only get a few months in jail and I only say that because of the inadvertent grope to the girl at the wrong house. If not for that I would chalk this thing up as a good goof and send everyone home. You have to give it to Conran. It's a pretty good idea for a goof. Just imagine if the dudes from Grumpier Old Men could have done this kinda stuff to each other. Noone likes a fake orgy. Just ask this guy.
Fat Bitches Need Airtime Too!
Lane Bryant Says ABC, Fox Censored Plus-Size Lingerie Commercial
by Erin Donnelly/AOL
Babes in bras seem to be all over the boob tube -- unless those babes happen to be a little big.
Lane Bryant is accusing Fox and ABC of a "double standard" over restrictions for their new lingerie commercial starring a curvy cutie in her bras and panties.
The plus-size retailer has charged that the networks had refused to air the sexy ad without substantial edits.
"ABC and Fox have made the decision to define beauty for you by denying our new, groundbreaking Cacique commercial from airing freely on their networks," Lane Bryant says.
According to the company, ABC "restricted our airtime" by denying it a slot during "Dancing with the Stars," while Fox "demanded excessive re-edits and rebuffed it three times before relenting to air it during the final 10 minutes of 'American Idol,' but only after we threatened to pull the ad buy."
But ABC says Lane Bryant is full of hot air, and their claims are no more than a publicity stunt. The broadcasting company issued a statement today saying they did not treat Lane Bryant any differently than other advertisers.
"Their statements are not true," it said. "The ad was accepted. Lane Bryant was treated absolutely no differently than any advertiser for the same product. We were willing to accommodate them, but they chose to seek publicity instead."
In response, Lane Bryant says, "ABC's statement that 'Lane Bryant was treated absolutely no differently than any advertiser for the same product' is simply not true."
"There was absolutely no rationale for us to be relegated to the back of the bus, when our ads were no more risqué than those of Victoria's Secret. The only difference is the size of our models. We would have expected better from a company owned by Disney."
Lane Bryant also released a memo, which they say is from ABC, dated April 9. It states, "UPON APPROVAL, THIS COMMERCIAL IS RESTRICTED FROM THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMMING/TIME PERIODS (ET): Post 9 PM: Extreme Makeover, Home Edition and Wipeout, Animated Wonderful World of Disney, Wonderful World of Disney, Dancing With the Stars, America's Funniest Videos, Game Shows."
Drama! So what allegedly got the networks -- which frequently run lingerie ads from the likes of Victoria's Secret -- so hot and bothered?
Lane Bryant claims that a heavy helping of cleavage revealed by lingerie-clad plus-size model Ashley Graham in the ad rubbed execs the wrong way (oh, get your mind out of the gutter).
According to their blog, the Inside Curve, "The networks exclaimed, 'She has...cleavage!' Gasp!"
I think we all know why these commercials were pulled off the air and its got nothing to do with cleavage. I'm sure some of Victoria's Secret's bustier models are sporting some cleavage. It's because noone wants to see a bunch of fat brauds prance around in their underwear. It is a bit suprising the list of shows the commercial was banned from though. These shows seem to have a high volume of female watchers so it might go over better there. We certainly wouldn't watch these ads running during Monday Night Football or anything though. I guess I just can't get up in arms about this assult on Fat America. Last time I checked Jockey and Calvin Klein aren't paying me and Artie Lange to pillow fight in a pair of briefs.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
F My Life Moment of the Day
Today, I was trying to wash the make-up off from under my eyes from sleeping with it on. After five minutes of intense scrubbing, I found out it's just huge dark bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. FML
Today, I found out my fiancé spent more on his television than he did on my engagement ring. His quote? "I splurge on the important things." FML
Play the Game of Lust
Tiger Woods' Sex Scandal: The Video Game
David Moye/AOL News
(April 23) -- Tiger Woods' sex scandal may have tarnished his image, but it has made a new video game based on his off-the-course life a lot more exciting.
Woods is now the star of "Tiger Woods Affair Tour 2010," a raunchy, sexually explicit video game that its creators describe as a mix of "Grand Theft Auto" and "South Park."
Characterized as interactive parody, the very graphic computer game follows a computer graphic version of Woods off the golf course. In the process, it allows players to put themselves in Woods' golf shoes and do everything from sleeping with cocktail waitresses and fighting with other golfers at a nightclub to general partying and carousing.
Players get points for how often they score and can get additional lives based on the number of orgasms they give and receive. Certain graphic sex acts are especially good for scoring points.
The game is the product of D-Dub Software, an Albuquerque, N.M., company that has produced over-the-top games since 2005. Marketing director Max Baptist VIII says the company always strives to be current, so when the idea to do a naughty game centered on Woods' alleged off-course activities came up, it was a natural fit.
"We play off of what goes in reality and whatever we think is funny," Baptist said, adding that the company came up with the idea four weeks ago and worked quickly to get the game ready for action.
Well this was inevitable. Along with the slew of reality shows and documentaries we'll see piling up in the wake of Tiger's whorefest is a video game where you can relive the events. That should serve as a pretty good example of why most guys would have done exactly what Tiger did - the fact that there is a market for a video game where you can recreate the sordid story. But its not an original idea. In fact 'South Park' featured just such a game in its season debut. But the sex scenes weren't the highlight.
P.S. - What's with Tiger's avatar? Its a bit too dark skinned. Kind of looks more like Wesley Snipes.
Flipper Flipped Out
Ric O'Barry: 'Flipper committed suicide'
The Daily Dish/San Francisco Chronicle
Dolphin trainer-turned-marine activist Ric O'Barry decided to dedicate his life to saving porpoises and whales after watching the star of 1960s TV show "Flipper" take her own life.
O'Barry helped to capture and train dolphins for the beloved TV show, but stopped hunting the creatures down when the star of the series stopped breathing rather than live in captivity.
The man behind hard-hitting Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove" is still haunted by the last moments of the dolphins life, he explained on Oprah Winfrey's Earth Day Special.
He states, "She was really depressed... You have to understand dolphins and whales are not air breathers like we are. Every breath they take is a conscious effort. They can end their life whenever.
"She swam into my arms and looked me right in the eye, took a breath and didn't take another one. I let her go and she sank straight down on her belly to the bottom of the tank.
"The next day I was in jail for trying to free the dolphin - that's how I reacted to it. I was gonna free every captive dolphin I could."
I'm not sure if I'm buying this story that Flipper committed suicide. I understand dolphins are whales are mammals and have more emotions than other animals but I didn't realized they get depressed and off themselves. Maybe we should be giving them prozac or testing their pheton levels.
P.S. - I wouldn't cry too much for Flipper. I heard he was quite the racist, as was Mr. Ed.
Chappelle's Show | ||||
Frontline - Racist Hollywood Animals | ||||
www.comedycentral.com | ||||
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They're Playing Basketball!
Spurs playing just like old times
Iam Thomsen/SI.com
SAN ANTONIO -- Guess who has emerged as the new favorite to win the West? It isn't the No. 2 Mavericks, who lost Game 4 here Sunday 92-89 to fall behind 3-1 in their first-round series.
The Spurs are suddenly the team to beat. With the No. 1 Lakers struggling to keep up with Oklahoma City, and with No. 4 Denver endangered by the heavily-injured No. 5 Jazz, the No. 7 Spurs have suddenly and firmly reclaimed their long-standing role as conference favorites. No team in the West plays with a more dynamic blend of team defense, offensive firepower, versatility and passion. San Antonio won on a night when its Big Three (a combined 9-of-34 for 31 points) were almost outscored by second-year guard George Hill (29 points on 16 shots). Similar was the outcome of Game 3, won by the Spurs even though they missed all seven of their threes. Take away their right hand and they'll club you with the left. "If you told me before the game that we would hold the Big Three to the numbers they had, I would have said we win the game,'' said a despondent Dirk Nowitzki. After he was held to 17 points on 10 attempts, it was easy to see who had lost.
• Is it over?
Of course not. As badly as the Mavs have mangled the last three games, they've had chances to steal any or all of them. The margin is so small, they could win Monday to force a Game 6 here that the Spurs could not afford to lose.
To see how the Spurs have succeeded in throttling the favored Mavs -- using a variety of chokeholds to win each of the last three games in a different way -- is to be reminded of them at their championship best over the last decade. Many opponents over those years would look up at the scoreboard with thoughts of how close they'd come to beating San Antonio. In most of those cases, however, they were deluding themselves.
Between seeing L.A. choke its way to an awful start to the playoffs and watching the Buffalo Bills assemble what might be the most unneeded/untalented corps of draftees in its history I certainly didn't need to the rebirth of the Spurs to be the cherry on top. Not to mention its made all my Mavs buddies just as sour as I. I know how frustrating it is to watch your team lose when they have the edge in talent but I don't know what its like to see them choke every year. That has to be frustrating beyond belief.
What's even more frustrating is watching the cockroach Spurs crawl back into the conversation of Western Conference elite. We set off bug bombs and call extinguishers but after a couple seasons of meager finishes and retiring has beens this team rebalances itself for another assult on the NBA's power structure. Don't get me wrong. I'm no more afriad of the Spurs than I am the Thunder right now but seeing them suceed when my team is floundering is just insult to injury.
P.S. - At least I got to watch Manu get abused.
Texts From Last Nite Moment of the Day
Rumbling, Bumbling, Stumbling!
Now that's just good old fashoined comedy. Nothing is funnier than watching a drunk stumble around hard at work on a task. Also, Coachella must have been quite fun this year. It certainly looked like Danny Devito was having a good time. That guy must have one of the coolest lives ever.
On this day in...
On this day in...
1667 – The blind and impoverished John Milton sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
1773 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
1810 – Beethoven composes his famous piano piece, Für Elise.
1861 – President of the United States Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.
1950 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.
1974 – 10,000 march in Washington, D.C., calling for the impeachment of US President Richard Nixon.
1981 – Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
1994 – South African general election, 1994: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote.
2005 – The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France.
2006 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower for the new World Trade Center in New York City.
Births
1822 – Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War general and 18th President of the United States (d. 1885)
1927 – Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 2006)
1932 – Casey Kasem, American disc jockey
1941 – Lee Roy Jordan, American football player
1951 – Ace Frehley, American musician (Kiss)
1952 – George Gervin, American basketball player
1954 – Herman Edwards, Pro Football Analyst and Former NFL Player and Head Coach
1959 – Sheena Easton, Scottish singer
1967 – Jason Whitlock, American sportswriter
Big day for black folks in the BYB bday calendar today with a Union general, the wife of Dr. King, a couple gridiron greats, "The Iceman" Gervin a sportswriter and a stumpy white DJ who brought us the music of many black singers. Not sure how Ace Frehley and Sheena Easton fit into that but its their birthday too. But with San Antonio playing hot right now I'll go with George Gervin as the feature birthday.
Showing Them Her Wii Face!
NINTENDO WII MADE ME NYMPHO!
By Emma Wall/Daily Star
A WOMAN has gone from Nintendo to nympho after a fall from her Wii Fit board turned her into a sex addict.
Randy Amanda Flowers needs 10 sex sessions a day after the slip-up.
And now the slightest of vibrations, from mobile phones to food processors, turns her on.
The catering worker said: “It began as a twinge down below before surging through my body. Sometimes it built up into a trembling orgasm.”
A doctor diagnosed her with persistent sexual arousal syndrome due to a damaged nerve.
Single Amanda, 24, from Harpurhey, Manchester, said: “With no cure I just have to try to control my passion by breathing deeply. Hopefully one day I’ll find a superstud who can satisfy me.”
Damn if that new Tiger Woods game wasn't enough to make you a nympho now you have to worry about a fall from a Wii board making you orgasm constantly. Good thing they haven't come out with Wii Bill Clinton or I might permenantly stain my shorts.
Of course there is some reason to believe that women fake stories like this. Have you ever once read a story about a man getting constant orgasms (well, besides Tiger)? I think this lady is just hoping this leads to more dates. If not, she can always get a glass of wine and crank one out with the Super Mario brothers.
Was zum Teufel?
Girl wakes from coma, speaks German
By Emily Sohn/MSNBC.com
After 24 hours in a coma, a Croatian girl woke up speaking only German, according to reports that spread across the Internet last week. The 13-year-old had been studying German in school and watching German television shows on her own, according to various versions of the story, but she was not fluent until after the incident. Meanwhile, she lost the ability to speak her native language.
Discovery News did not confirm the report with the girl's doctors or parents, but experts say the story is plausible — to some extent.
In a condition called bilingual aphasia, people often lose one of their two languages because different parts of the brain are involved in remembering each one, explained Michael Paradis, a neurolinguist at McGill University in Montreal.
Even if a brain injury affected the Croatian teenager's memory of her native language, the brain areas that were learning German could have remained untouched.
"This has been observed thousands of times," Paradis said. "It's not surprising at all. I'd like to know all the facts, but it's quite possible that after a coma, you'd have problems which might be located in such a way in the brain that they affect one language but not another."
What can't be true, though, is the claim that the coma gave the girl fluency that she didn't have before.
"I looked on the Web and saw comments that she recovered perfect German," Paradis said. "This cannot be the case. If she recovered German to the point that she could communicate well, that's fine. That's the kind of thing you would expect."
The human brain sure is complicated. It's hard to imagine it but it really is like a filing cabinet where you don't know where everything goes. Get kicked by a mule and you may forget algebra. Fall down a well and speak perfect mandarin. If nothing else this story may hurt Rosetta Stone. You could save a lot more money by going to a few Spanish lessons and OC and then getting whacked with a golf club and spending some time in a coma.
Monday, April 26, 2010
F My Life Moment of the Day
Today, I fell asleep on the couch, I didn't want to wakeup my boyfriend who was asleep so I slept in my roommate's room as she was out and not in her room. I went to my room to get ready for work and found them naked in bed together. FML
Today, I tasted some new soda beverage offered by a promoter at Food Expo, I said an insulting remarks "It tastes like piss!" A little kid nearby overheard my comment and said, "I don't know what piss tastes like, but I feel sorry for you having drank piss before." I got owned by a kid. FML
I'll Have A Draft!
The morning after: When draft daydreams give way to reality
Joe Posnanski/SI.com
Well, here we are after the first round of the NFL draft... and it's pretty happy out there. I think this is part of what makes the NFL draft so popular; there are many more winners than losers. At least for now. In every NFL town across America, coaches and GMs are doing their annual "I can't believe he was still there" dance. You know, that's when the coaches rant on and on about how amazed they were that whoever they picked -- Russell Okung or Dez Bryant or whoever -- was miraculously still on the board when their turn came up. They simply cannot believe their good fortune. This happens every year, of course, and I have always wished that coaches and GMs would continue the thought to completion:
"I cannot believe that I.M. Formidable was there when we were picking. No, I mean it. It is beyond belief. It has become clear to us here that every other team is run by idiots. I mean, some of the guys picked before I.M., frankly, we wouldn't have picked them out of a tryout camp. Apparently the rest of the league is scouting by looking at the back of football cards or something because this guy is so clearly awesome, and we're picking, what, 23rd? I'm serious, we had two guys faint in the draft room they were so shocked he was still there. We had to pull out the smelling salts, again. I mean it's not even fair how much smarter we are than every other team. To summarize: We rule."
For the most part, fans and media types also tend to be happy with the first round of the draft. Here in Kansas City, for instance, the Chiefs took a safety, Eric Berry, with the fifth overall pick. Taking a safety with the fifth pick seems a bit like using one of your three genie wishes to get sensible shoes. But Berry is by all accounts a model player and young man, a hard hitter with good grades, a speed burner with good sense -- the comp that comes up again and again is Baltimore's classy future Hall of Famer Ed Reed -- and the majority of people around here, including my good friends at the Kansas City Star, seem to love the choice.
But, then, a quick scan of local newspapers shows that they seem thrilled just about everywhere. They're excited in Dallas with the choice of Dez Bryant, and they're dancing in the streets in Detroit over destroyer Ndamukong Suh AND running back Jahvid Best (don't forget the Motor City!). Seattle's new braintrust is getting "two thumbs up" for their choice of Russell Okung. A fan is shouting "We did it, we got what we needed!" in Green Bay after drafting Bryan Bulaga. Even a controversial pick like Tim Tebow has Woody Paige in Denver singing: "Tim Tremendous may be high risk, but he will be a mile-high reward."
Read the rest of this column here.
I thought this was a great column about unrealistic expectations concerning the NFL Draft. If time has taught us anything its that half of the guys we saw get drafted in the first round Thursday nite are not going to make much of an impact (if any) in the NFL. But NFL fans almost universally applaud their team's first round selection. Even I'm not too upset about the player my team chose. While I think the selection of C.J. Spiller to play a position that was already pretty well assessed was a buffonish move, its not condemnation of Spiller himself. I think he could turn out to be a very useful third down back (ala Reggie Bush or Darren Sproles) but not taking an offensive tackle with the #9 pick, where there were still several available was just plain stupid.
The other selections don't have obvious answers. Was Dez Bryant a smart selection for the Cowboys given the questions about his work ethic? Maybe. Was Tim Tebow a reach at #25, especially for a team with two serviceable QBs? Probably, but it may not be a stupid move. The point is everyone can claim their pick was smart now. Its how they look in five years that matters. But the one guy who certainly looks stupid right now is Detroit coach Jim Schwartz. Sure, he may have got the closest thing to a lock in Ndamukong Suh, but he basically admitted to getting his jollies off on Jahvid Best highlight videos.
Schwartz said:
"Some people watch adult videos on their computer. I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That's what gets me aroused."
Other draft highlights include the NJ Jets/Giants faithful chanting "She Said No!" (an obvious nod to Ben Roethlisberger) during the Steelers first round selection. You can faintly hear it at the start of the video below. The Steelers pick also gave us a vision of a family that maybe stays too close, the Pounceys. Watch the twin brothers smooch at the :46 second mark.
Take it easy guys. Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love. Not Pittsburgh.
They're Playing Basketball!
Lakers should be embarrassed by loss
Charley Rosen/Fox Sports
Not only did the Oklahoma City Thunder thoroughly embarrass the Los Angeles Lakers 110-89 to even the series at 2, the defending champs thoroughly embarrassed themselves.
On the heels of OKC’s hard-fought win in Game 3, the Lakers absolutely needed to make major adjustments in several critical areas. Their inability to make these adjustments leaves them without any real resources as the series moves back to Los Angeles. This has to be a frightening prospect for what was supposed to be a cruise for the best team in the West.
Oklahoma City’s incredible effort aside, the Lakers are paying their dues for waltzing through the last few weeks of the regular season in their arrogant belief that whomever they faced in the opening series would go belly-up as soon as the defending champions stepped on to the court.
Instead of being intimidated, however, the youngest team in the NBA was too quick, too unselfish, too deep, too resourceful and too committed to playing earnest defense to give the Lakers any chance of winning Game 4.
And by sweeping both games on their home court, the Thunder just might have become too confident for the Lakers to beat.
Two games into this series I was certainly hoping for a different narrative than "the Lakers don't care about playing hard," but now I think I'm buying into the media hype. The Lakers are playing bad but more upsettingly they are playing like there is a tomorrow, like its a foregone conclusion that the rest of the Western Conference will take one look at the L.A. roster and decide its not worth it to put up a fight. That wasn't the case with Houston and Denver last season and its obviously not the case now. Guys like Russell Westbrook are beating guys like Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. I think I've resigned myself to the idea that L.A. isn't going to win the title. The next dynastic chapter in the Lakers storybook of championships may have been a false alarm.
P.S. - At least soomeone is playing worth a shit in L.A. This guy made a half court shot for $230,000.
Texts From Last Nite Moment of the Day
Stephen Hawking Says Don't Stand Up To Aliens
Hawking says contact with aliens could be risky
By The Associated Press
LONDON - British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says aliens are out there, but it could be too dangerous for humans to interact with extraterestial life.
Hawking claims in a new documentary that intelligent alien lifeforms almost certainly exist, but warns that communicating with them could be "too risky."
The 68-year-old scientist says a visit by extraterrestrials to Earth would be like Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas, "which didn't turn out very well for the native Americans."
He speculates most extraterrestial life will be similar to microbes, or small animals - but adds advanced lifeforms may be "nomads, looking to conquer and colonise."
The Discovery Channel said Sunday it will broadcast "Stephen Hawking's Universe" in Britain next month.
Is it just me or does it seem like Stephen Hawking is probably just screwing with us. He knows that we all defer to him on this kind of stuff and I think he just wants to see what kind of idiotic lengths people will go to contact aliens. I'm pretty sure this is just his retaliation for all the jokes made about him.
Coors Light Is A Hell of A Drug
I thought I had a few too many Coors Lights this weekend. That was until I saw this video of Lawrence Taylor walking the red carpet at the NFL Draft. Apparently LT had about 40 of them the day he got drafted. I can only hope it was 41 DRAFT beers.
P.S. - Maybe Matt Millen was drinking Coors Light when when he called Ron Jaworski a polack. My ex girlfriend was a pole so I'm certainly going to shed no tears over this one. Good play Millen.
P.S. - Maybe Matt Millen was drinking Coors Light when when he called Ron Jaworski a polack. My ex girlfriend was a pole so I'm certainly going to shed no tears over this one. Good play Millen.
On this day in...
On this day in...
1607 – English colonists of the Jamestown settlement make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.
1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France.
1865 – Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Lincoln, in Virginia.
1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
1965 – A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario is shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.
1986 – A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), creating the world's worst nuclear disaster.
2005 – Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.
Births
121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (d. 180)
570 – Muhammed, founder of Islam, according to the Shi'a sect. Other sources suggest April 20. (d. 632)
1942 – Bobby Rydell, American singer
1965 – Kevin James, American comedian
1970 – Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, American singer (TLC)
1980 – Jordana Brewster, American actress
1980 – Channing Tatum, American actor
Pretty skimpy list of bdays today with a Roman emperor, an old singer, a fat comedian, the lead lady from TLC and two young actors I don't know. But let's feature the birthday boy Muhammed (maybe) and his recent appearance on South Park which created quite a controversy.
Runaway Suh
So its been a few months now since Ndamukong Suh player his last down for the Nebraska Cornhuskers but with his selection at the #2 pick to the Detroit Lions the next time I see his smiling face he'll be wearing blue and not red. With that in mind here I'm dedicating a full blog post to thank him (and the head coach who turned his game around) for the best season in Nebraska football in nine years. Here's a photo of Suh posing with a bust of meat in his image.
Suh's career at Nebraska was also commemerated by a parody song of "Runaround Sue."
Good luck in Detroit Mr. Sue!
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