The Good
This choice is a snap. In the sports world there is only one 'Good' guy this week and that would be your National Football League commissioner, Roger Goodell. The soon-to-be 2nd year commish made the biggest statement in sports this year by suspending Adam "Pacman" Jones for an entire season. All Jones has done to deserve this is face criminal charges 3 times and be questioned 10 separate times by the law. Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals, arrested 4 times over the last 14 months draws an 8-game suspension. And ya gotta love this quote from the commish: "We must protect the integrity of the NFL. The highest standards of conduct must be met by everyone in the NFL because it is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right. These players and all members of our league have to make the right choices and decisions in their conduct on a consistent basis." You go commish go!!! Good job Mr. Goodell...
The Bad
And just when you thought this would be an 'Imus free' MPR. More on the I-man in a minute but first we must note the arrest of NHL bad boys Ed Belfour and Ville Peltonen who thought the blue uniformed men were the St. Louis Blues in a South Beach bar when they threw some body checks into them. Then there are a couple of basketball bad boys, namely Atlanta's Josh Smith and Micheal Ray Richardson of the Albany Patroons. What's a Patroon? Anyway, both players were suspended for tirades, Smith for verbally attacking his coach, Mike Woodson and Micheal (that's his spelling folks) Ray for his insensitive remarks about his lawyers: "I've got big-time lawyers", later calling his "Jew" lawyers "crafty people who have a lot of power in this world". Do you think the good Reverend Al Sharpton will take issue with this statement? But you know who the 'bad' guy of the week is: Don Imus. Do I have to tell you why? Ask the Rutgers girls, who will be meeting with the I-man soon. In his 36 years in New York radio, Imus has never had this much publicity. Norm N. Nite who now makes Cleveland his home, notes that Imus made his mark in radio in Cleveland before coming to New York, went back when fired from WNBC and that city may be his downfall. The Rutgers girls played their final game in Cleveland...
The Ugly
This story broke at the end of March but I'm carrying it over into April and it's a doozy. Former major league pitcher Ugueth Urbina was sentenced to 14 years in Venezuela for the attempted murder of 5 workers on his family's ranch. The incident happened in October of 2005. Urbina was accused of joining a group of men in attacking and injuring workers with machetes and pouring gasoline on them at his family's ranch near Caracas. Urbina is a two-time All-Star who last pitched with the Phillies in 2005. He is 30th on the all-time saves list with 237. He had two saves in the 2003 World Series for the victorious Marlins. Right now he's a number, in deep trouble - sitting in a Venezuela jail...
On the day the Mets were born in 1962, a great video clip from Ken Burns PBS special with lots of Casey Stengel in it. There's that and Janis Joplin on "The Hollywood Palace". Both links are in the "Debuted on this date" timeline...
Timeline Memories...
A near-miss: 1970] Apollo 13 blasts off on a mission to the moon that is disrupted when an explosion cripples the spacecraft but it will return safely with the astronauts...
Air Tragedy: 1996] 7-year old Jessica Dubroff, who was trying to become the youngest person to fly cross-country is killed with her father and flight instructor after takeoff from Cheyenne (WY)...
And they help old ladies cross the street too: 1876] The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks organizes. Can someone please tell me what this organization does???
First port of call: 1890] Ellis Island is designated as an immigration station. Chances are if your parents or grand-parents were born in Europe, they arrived in the U.S. at Ellis Island which recently reopened...
War - what is it good for? Absolutely nothing: 1898] President William McKinley asks Congress for a declaration of war with Spain. On this date in 1899 the treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect...1951] President Harry S. Truman fires General Douglas MacArthur as head of U.N. forces in the far east...
On the Air: 1924] WLS Chicago signs on...
Debuted on this date: 1961] Bob Dylan makes his professional debut at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village. Dylan opens for John Lee Hooker. Prior to that Dylan lasted 3 weeks as a member of Bobby Vee's backup band, the Shadows before being fired...1962] The New York Mets make their National League debut with an 11-4 loss in St. Louis. There would be 119 more losses before the end of the season. Here's a clip from the Ken Burns PBS baseball special on the hapless 1962 Mets with lots of Casey Stengel in it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqAcbldsWoc ...1966] Emmett Ashford becomes the 1st black umpire in the major leagues...1968] Janis Joplin and Big Brother & The Holding Company make their national TV debut on "Hollywood Palace". Maxwell Smart a.k.a. Don Adams does the intro and then interviews Janis at the end. I think you'll enjoy this clip. I don't believe this was the debut but a good clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8npK1q6LY9Q ...
Recorded on this date: 1966] "Strangers in The Night" - Frank Sinatra dooby dooby doos...
#1 on this date: 1957] "All Shook Up" - Elvis Presley...
Wedding Bells: 1981] Eddie Van Halen and new Jenny Craig pinup girl Valerie Bertinelli rock down the aisle. They separate in October, 2001 and Valerie loses more than weight as she drops Eddie, filing for divorce at the end of 2005...
Wedding Bells - NOT: 2002] The former Mrs. Tommy Lee, Pamela Anderson says "yes" when Kid Rock proposes in the desert outside Las Vegas. They never marry and eventually break up...
Outta Here: 1979] Idi Amin is deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seize control...
Standby for a bad movie: 1980] The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues regulations specifically prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors...
Oscar Time: 1988] Cher wins the 'Best Actress' Oscar for her role in "Moonstruck"...
Cartoon cameo: 1991] Reports were that Ringo Starr was very animated when he showed up in "The Simpsons"...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
Congratulations to Jeff Jones who replaces Neil Aspinall, a mainstay for 40 plus years with The Beatles at Apple Corps Ltd. Jeff was one of the young turks at CBS Records in the 80's and 90's. Jeff's title: Chief Executive Officer. A fresh face should keep Apple in excellent shape. Good luck Jeff...
Most of the e-mail on Imus was pro-Imus with much venom for the good Reverends Sharpton and Jackson, particularly Sharpton. Rather than spew that venom, I've decided to end this sad incident and move on. On-going updates will be mentioned if warranted. Thanks for your comments...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Joss Stone (20), Jason Varitek (35), Bill Irwin (57), Peter Riegert (60), Louise Lasser (68), Joel Grey (75), Ethel Skakel Kennedy (79) and former NY Gov. Hugh Carey (88)...
Timeline Countdown: 17 days until the NFL draft and 47 days until Memorial Day...
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