The Good...The Bad...The Ugly of the Week...
The Good
It's good to see coaches and general managers get rewarded like Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford who received a 5-year contract extension. Rutherford just completed another season as the only GM in Carolina History. The team moved there from Hartford in 1997 where they were known as The Whalers. Jerry West, the man in silhouette on the NBA logo, is leaving as the Memphis Grizzlies' director of basketball operations in July saying he's "not a youngster" and is weary of the turmoil surrounding the team. Memphis has the worst record in the NBA. For all West has meant to the NBA, he deserves to retire and enjoy the rest of his life 'Griz'-free. But the 'Good' award of the week is a no-brainer. It goes to the Duke lacrosse players having all charges of sexual assault against them dropped. As we have learned this was a 'rush to judgement' by Mike Nifong, the Durham County District Attorney. Two of the players charged have not accepted Duke's offer to take them back. They will go elsewhere to finish their education. Good...
The Bad
We expect players and at times, coaches getting fined or suspended but when was the last time you heard of it happening to an official? NBA referee Joey Crawford was suspended indefinitely by commissioner David Stern on Tuesday for his conduct toward Tim Duncan, who contends that the official challenged him to a fight. Of course Crawford denies this. Now this could simply be a case of the NBA protecting one of its stars or true. Paraphrasing Boss Steinbrenner, fans don't 'put their fannies in the seats' to see referee's in action do they? I'm sure we'll eventually find out if this charge is true or not. Then there's the case involving former Denver linebacker John Mobley, sentenced to 7 days in jail, reduced from a one-year sentence, for a drunken driving conviction but wait there's more. Mobley testified that he had been pulled over at least 12 times during the 12 months before his arrest. He was appealing the original sentence. There's another 'Bad' candidate but we don't have all the information in yet. St. Louis fired basketball coach Brad Soderberg despite the school's first 20-win season since 1998. He was fired after an 'extensive review' says the school and we say to the school - give us more details. Just because it's so rare, the 'Bad' choice of the week is NBA referee Joey Crawford...
The Ugly
We'll start by mentioning that 'Ugly' poster boy Adam "Pacman" Jones is appealing his one-year suspension. Good luck on that one Pacman. We've had assaults, robberies and even murders tied-in to our choices for this award but this week's 'Ugly' is probably the ugliest of all 'Ugly' picks. The award goes to Clyde "The Glide-not" Drexler, who was voted off last night on "Dancing With The Stars". Not only did Clyde have 2-left feet, he also had 2-left arms. Granted that he recently came back from China this past week and had engagements every week since he's been a contestant, he could have had a lifetime of lessons at Arthur Murray's and still looked like a tall, out of place, gawky, Lurch-like zombie with a long wingspan. I mean Clyde was embarrassingly bad. When the news was announced no one had a bigger smile on their face than Clyde who was relieved to be voted off. No more relieved than we were Clyde. You were 'Ugly'...
I've got an update on the merger talks in my Commentary today and there are 2 video links under the "Breaking up is hard to do" and "Happy Birthday...happy birthday" timelines...
Timeline Memories...
"Happy Trails": 1945] American war correspondent Ernie Pyle is killed by Japanese gunfire off Okinawa. Pyle was 44...1955] Albert Einstein dies of an aortic aneurysm in Princeton (NJ) at 76. The rumors about Einstein's brain being preserved are true. They were used to study his genius...2002] Norwegian adventurer (Kon-Tiki) Thor Heyerdahl dies from cancer at 87...
The British are coming...the british are coming: 1775] Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on their ride from Charlestown to Lexington (MA) to warn the colonists that those nasty Redcoats were on the way...
This just in, dot-dot-dash, dot-dot-dash: 1846] The telegraph ticker is patented by R.E. House who would become? You got it - a household name...
Don't pick up the soap: 1895] New York State passes an act that establishes free public baths. Signed for the 1st appearance at the bath house: Cher, Bette Midler, Elton John, Clay Aiken, Sanjaya Malakar (who has 573,000 entries in Google) and Barry Manilow. Price of admission: a bar of soap...
Quake devastation: 1906] San Francisco is devastated by an earth quake that takes 3,000 lives...
Strike up the band: 1923] John Philip Sousa's band plays the national anthem as Yankee Stadium opens in the Bronx. The Yankees beat the Red Sox in the opener 4-1...
Bring quarters: 1934] The first men's sock is lost as the first laundromat opens in Fort Worth (TX)...
Saddle up Cowboy: 1939] Gene Autry records "Back In The Saddle Again"...
Breaking up is hard to do: 1981] Yes announces their break-up after 13 years. Here's one of the best live acts I've ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIVi7KY_WJ8 ...
Bailey's for everyone: 1949] The republic of Ireland is established...
Power grab: 1954] Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt...
Wedding Bells: 1956] Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco walk down the aisle. They remain married until the tragic crash that took the life of Princess Grace in 1982...
Guilty as charged: 2002] Police arrest actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley one year earlier. Blake would be acquitted but is found liable in a civil case...2003] Scott Peterson is arrested in the death of his wife, Laci, who was 8 months pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve, 2002. Peterson was sentenced to death and is currently on death row at San Quentin...
Plenty of recording tape in this deal: 1960] The Mutual Broadcasting System is sold to 3M Company of Minnesota for $1.25 million and a lifetime supply of 10" reels...
Four-peat: 1962] Red Auerbach's Boston Celtics win a then-record 4th straight NBA title by beating the L.A. Lakers in game 7 of their playoffs...
Deadly terrorist attack: 1983] The U.S. Embassy in Beirut is blown up by a suicide car bomber killing 62 including 17 Americans...
Presidential stroke: 1994] Former President Richard M. Nixon suffers a stroke which he will never recover from at his home in Park Ridge (NJ)...
The Final Curtain: 1999] Wayne Gretzky plays his final game in the NHL as a member of the New York Rangers. 'The Great One' retires as the NHL's all-time scoring leader and holder of 61 individual records...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
In Mel Karmazin's argument for the Sirius/XM merger yesterday in Washington he pointed out that the proposed merger would be good for customers, that the price for one or more packages of combined channels will be "less than $12.95 per month." He also played the "underdog" card, saying: "The terrestrial market remains the 300-lb. gorilla in the room with 230 million listener's compared to our 14 million subscribers combined." Those opposed, like (D-ND) Sen. Byron Dorgan says bulldoody: "the proposed merger cannot possibly be in the interest of American consumers. It will eliminate the competition that exists between the two separate companies and it will injure consumers. This isn't even a close call." The "Consumer Union" VP (consumer's have a union?) Gene Kimmelman says it may lead to further consolidation of media outlets in the hands of a few dominant players. To be continued...is it just me or does anyone else feel that the word 'consumer' should be about food and not using products? The only thing I'll 'consume' today will be lunch and dinner. I already consumed breakfast and after 2 more meals I'll be too full to 'consume' radio or tv. I might have a CD snack though...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Conan O'Brien (44) in this video clip Conan joins the Canadian Border Patrol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy_EILf-alA&mode=related&search= , Jane ("Frasier") Leeves (44), Eric Roberts (51), Rick Moranis (53), John James (Anderson - Herb Oscar Anderson's son) (57), James Woods (60), Hayley Mills (61) James ("The Virginian") Drury (73) and Barbara (Della Street on "Perry Mason") Hale (86)...
Timeline Countdown: 10 days until the NFL draft, 17 days until the Kentucky Derby and 40 days until Memorial Day...
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