The Good
Candidates: The Barnstable Brown Foundation (raising money for diabetes research), Utah Jazz guard Derek Fisher (for missing a playoff game to be with his daughter for an operation), Jason Simmons and Ahman Green for their uniform swapping to help a single parent in need and a couple of new candidates. The lawyer who helped expose Pete Rose's betting habits, John Dowd is calling for George Mitchell to suspend players who don't cooperate with the steroids probe and Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti for, well, winning the 500 after 11 seasons of futility. And the 'Good' Award Winner of The Month is: Derek Fisher for doing what he should do. The most important part of life is taking care of your family and friends...
The Bad
Candidates: Ron LeFlore, ex-major leaguer for failing to support one of his children, Mets minor leaguer Lastings Milledge for his degrading rap record, Mexican Soccer Foundation coach Cruz Azul for allowing a player (Salvador Carmona) to play despite being banned for life for doping and a couple of newcomers. Lakers owner Jerry Buss was arrested for a DUI yesterday. Not becoming for a 74-year old and former NBA player Lloyd "Sweet Pea" Daniels who was charged with burglary of his girlfriend's apartment over the weekend. And the 'Bad' Award Winner of The Month is: Ron LeFlore. See previous explanation for why he was chosen...
The Ugly
Candidates: Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda for his drug bust after his car was pulled over. Not befitting a 69-year old Hall of Famer for God's sake, Milwaukee Bucks forward Ruben Patterson for failing to register as a convicted sex offender, Jason Giambi, is it necessary to mention why? Bud Selig is expected to announce this week, what if any, fine or suspension will be meted out to Giambi. There are also 3 new candidates: 1996 Tour de France champion Bjarne (not sure but I think it's bee-arnie and wouldn't he love to be anyone but himself?) Riis who was asked to turn in his yellow jersey after he confessed to doping and having too many consonants in his name, Henry Charles James, a 41-year old former NBA player sentenced to 5 years after pleading guilty to selling crack cocaine to an undercover cop and assistant Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet for taking a bullet for Janet Jones in that sports gambling ring. And the 'Ugly' Award Winner of The Month" is: Henry Charles James. Nothing is worse than selling drugs or, of course killing someone or not taking care of your family and friends...
TGTBTU Update
To no one's surprise, the NFL Players Association is supporting Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones' appeal for leniency to the one-year suspension handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell...After ESPN ran a story about an eyewitness who actually saw a dog supposedly owned by Michael Vick in a dogfight, now comes this followup: Richmond (VA) authorities have a search warrant to look for as many as 30 dog carcasses on property owned by Vick...The investigation into the death of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter continues in Ramsey County (MN)...The death of Patriots defensive lineman Marquise Hill has been determined to be an accident...And finally, I failed to mention that Yankee owner George Steinbrenner contributed $1 million to the families of Virginia Tech students cutdown in that horrific act by a madman. I must also add that Mr. Steinbrenner is quite generous in supporting various charities and is as generous as his team is on the playing field...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1431] The Arc de defeat: Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic is burned at the stake in Rouen, France. Joan was 19. Sacre blu...
- 1539] Where's the bridge?: Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto landed in Florida. It's not important that he thought it was Staten Island...
- 1879] The world's most famous arena: Madison Square Garden opens to the public at Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street. Harper's Weekly describes it as "Grimy, drafty and combustible". Wait till they see the Knicks play...
- 1889] A new support system gives rise: The brassiere is invented. Rumor has it that the bra was invented by Pierre "Push-em-up" Bordeaux but it doesn't hold up...
- 1969] Super Mario: Mario Andretti wins the Indy 500, driving for Andy Granatelli...
- 1970] The people's choice: Baseball All-Star voting returns to the fans so that we can see their favorite players who happen to be hitting .200...
- 1982] Boogety boogety: 21-year old Baltimore 3rd baseman Cal Ripken Jr. begins his consecutive game streak. He will move to shortstop eventually but the streak will last more than 13 years and 3 months and he will break Lou Gehrig's record...
- 1996] "D-I-V-O-R-C-E": Britain's Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson end their 10-year marriage...
- 2002] Grounded: A solemn, wordless ceremony marks the end of the cleanup at Ground Zero, 8 1/2 months after the 911 WTC attacks...
- 2005] Disappearing act: American teen Natalee Holloway is last seen leaving a bar with 3 young men while vacationing in Aruba before disappearing. Her body remains to be found...
Music Memories:
- #1 on this date: 1963] "It's My Party" - Lesley Gore. Here's one of the nicer people in the business doing the song on TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hlKCUsM3YY ...1964] "Love Me Do" - The Beatles: http://www.flixya.com/the-beatles-love-me-do-0 ...1973] "My Love" - Paul McCartney & Wings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX5qf75qI4c&mode=related&search= ...
- Recorded on this date: 1968] The Beatles begin recording their White Album...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
Here are some comments on yesterday's feature, "Brought to you by...": "We must never forget that some members of the audience look upon commercials favorably as an informational resource for goods and services. I believe it's not the commercials, it's the amount. Greed has taken over and even John Hogan's effort has fallen short. As Dwight Case would advise, lower the number and raise the price..duh! - Harvey Mednick... "Really good point about commercials being part of the programming. I was thinking that yesterday, listening to a medical spot with at least 30 seconds of fast talk disclaimer. Absolutely no credibility to something like that. AND it destroys any communication between the station and a listener" - Dick Summer..."I totally agree with you on the blog mention of radio (and tv) commercial clusters being much too long and total tuneouts. Another detriment to the down-side of the medium. Creativity may help some but when there are 5, 10 or more clustered, I don't think even cleverness will help, as with most of today's radios and tv's, it's just a click away. I've been a button (and remote) pusher for many years." - Paul Power...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Manny Ramirez (35), Wynonna Judd (43), Ted ('Ace' on 'Love Boat') McGinley (49), Pro Football Hall of Famer Gayle Sayers (64), Michael J. Pollard (68), Keir ("2001") Dullea (71) and Clint "Cheyenne" Walker (80)...
Timeline Countdown: 10 days until the Belmont Stakes and 35 days until July 4th...
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