The Good
Los Angeles Clipper Elton Brand has to be considered for this week's award. Elton co-produced the movie "Rescue Dawn". The film chronicles the inspirational escape of an American pilot (Dieter Dengler) from a POW camp in Laos. Other nominees are: Evander Holyfield, winner of another comeback fight in a bid to become the 1st fighter to win the world heavyweight crown on 5 different occasions. Holyfield is 44...Tiger Woods was voted our favorite athlete in a Harris Top Ten Interactive poll conducted recently (the order of the rest of the top 10 is in today's Commentary)...In baseball: Craig Biggio (with his 3,000th hit) and Frank Thomas (becoming the 21st major leaguer to reach 500 home runs) reached milestones during the week...The Red Sox and Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines reached an alliance that will bring Japanese players to the Red Sox and the Sox, in turn will send some minor leaguers to play in Japan...The College Baseball Hall of Fame has selected former major leaguers Fred Lynn, Jim Abbott, Pete Incaviglia and John Olerud for induction and in hockey: Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, Ron Francis and Al MacInnis were selected for induction in their Hall of Fame and Willie Mays who will be honored prior to the All-Star Game in San Francisco next Tuesday...This might be the toughest field to pick a winner in ever but my choice for the 'Good' Award of the Week, goes to: Tiger Woods for being chosen as the U.S.'s favorite athlete...
The Bad
The usual categories are represented this week including: substance abuse: (Raiders running back Dominic Rhodes suspended for the first four games, likewise Torrie Cox of Tampa Bay...a DUI: UMass-Lowell men's hockey coach Blaise MacDonald, a felonious assault: Toledo pitcher Roman Colon for punching a teammate (Jason Karnuth) and leaving him with severe facial injuries and some unusual categories: a wild rant by Papa Williams at Wimbledon who trashed Justine Henin: "She's as mentally tough as a duck on a dry lake." This after daughter Serena came up short against Henin. Papa Sharapova also embarrassed himself and daughter Maria when he screamed at a security guard and trashed an official when Maria went down at the hands of Venus Williams...the Nextel Cup teams of Kyle Busch and Johnny Sauter were penalized for rule infractions found on their cars in New Hampshire and NFL Europa folded. It was the European NFL league that spawned some NFL players over its 15 years of existence. This one was easy for me to pick. Any time you take your hands to a teammate, you deserve the 'Bad Award of the Week, Roman Colon...
The Ugly
The good news is that there are only 3 candidates. The bad news is that 2 of them are assaults and the third could have contributed to a death. We'll start with the latter. Dr. Phil (no not that Dr. Phil) Astin is facing a single charge of improperly prescribing medication. And who did he prescribe that medication for? Pro wrestler Chris Benoit who killed his wife and 7-year old son in a 'roid rage' and then took his own life. The investigation of Astin is to determine whether 'Dr. Feelgood' improperly prescribed testosterone and other drugs to Benoit. If you're guilty Dr. Astin, you deserve a stiff fine, serious prison time and a lifetime of sleepless nights...The two assaults are ugly. Former Giants and Jets wideout Jonathan Carter, 28 is accused in an attack on a 26-year old Long Island woman. Carter started strangling the victim before grabbing her by the hair and dragging her 100 feet. The other ugly candidate is accused of worse. Alvin Henry, a 30-year old former Olympic sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago, confessed to raping 4 women and a teenager during a 4-year period after stalking them in New York City parks including Central Park. For those heinous crimes, Alvin Henry is our 'Ugly' Award winner of the Week...
TGTBTU Update
George Mitchell says the steroid investigation isn't just that. "It will not just look backward to see what happened. I hope to assist everyone in baseball to look forward in a constructive way. To learn from the past and improve the situation and make less likely the use of these substances in the future." When asked whether a player should go to jail, Mitchell said "That's not for me to decide." Mitchell says the investigation is in "its final stages" and will be released in the "coming months"...Alberto Salazar, former marathon champ who collapsed over the weekend is in fair condition. Salazar had a heart attack while coaching distance runners on Saturday...Utah Jazz guard Derek Fisher has been released from his contract so he can care for his 10-month old daughter who has a rare cancerous condition in her left eye...Gary Sheffield had his 3-game suspension reduced to 2 after meeting with MLB VP Bob Watson. The suspension resulted from Sheffield allegedly throwing a piece of his broken bat at an umpire...Paul Lo Duca's recent equipment throwing rage after being tossed from a game has resulted in a 2-game suspension that the Met catcher will soon serve...And the sexual harassment case against Knicks coach and general manager Isiah Thomas is expected to go to trial in September...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1841] A Cook's Tour: Thomas Cook opens the 1st travel agency in America...
- 1865] Can you keep a secret?: The Secret Service begins operating under the Treasury Department...
- 1865] At last, Salvation: William Booth founds the Salvation Army in England...
- 1946] And it was 'Itsy Bitsy': The bikini makes its debut during an outdoor fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris (ooh la la)...
- 1947] Larry joins Jackie: Cleveland's Larry Doby strikes out in a pinch-hitting role but becomes the American League's 1st black player...
- 1975] A 1st in Tennis: Arthur Ashe becomes the 1st black to win a Wimbledon singles title as he defeats Jimmy Connors...
- 1989] Gotcha: Oliver North is sentenced to a 3-year suspended prison term, 2-years probation, community service and $150,000 in fines for his role in the Iran-Contra affair...
- 1997] Diaper Dandy: At 16, Martina Hingis becomes the youngest Wimbledon singles champ in 110 years...
- 2002] Happy Trails: After a lengthy illness, Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams dies at 83. New England mourns...
- 2003] Containment: SARS is declared to be contained by WHO (not the group - The World Health Organization)...
Music Memories:
- 1954] Recorded on this date: Elvis Presley records "That's All Right" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" at his 1st recording session in Memphis and here's Elvis singing "That's All Right" from the 70s: http://youtube.com/watch?v=QJWzh8poPSc ...
- 1965] Live from the White House: The Four Seasons perform at the White House at the invitation of President Lyndon Johnson (or was it at the invitation of Luci Bird, Linda Bird or Lady Bird)???
- 1968] Another Opening, another show: Bill Graham opens the original Fillmore in San Francisco (it's still there)...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
"Happy Trails" to Beverly Sills a.k.a. Belle Miriam Silverman of Brooklyn, a.k.a. "Bubbles", opera diva who succumbed to inoperable lung cancer on Monday at the age of 78...We had two more famous deaths yesterday, July 4th: Sax player ("Yakety Sax") Boots Randolph a.k.a. Homer Louis Randolph died from the results of a cerebral hemorrhage suffered on June 25th. Boots was 80...Bill Pinkney, the last surviving member of the original Drifters, passed away of undisclosed causes at 81. Bill was scheduled to perform in Daytona Beach on July 4th. Although Pinkney wasn't with the Drifters when they recorded their biggest hits, leaving the band in 1958 after an argument over cash, he was the bass voice on the group's version of "White Christmas" and kept The Drifters name. He was also instrumental in fighting for laws allowing performers or bands to claim an affiliation with a classic group if at least one member recorded with the original group. "Happy Trails" to all...
Here's the complete order of the Harris Interactive poll conducted in June to determine the favorite athlete in the U.S.: 1) Tiger Woods 2) Derek Jeter 3) Michael Jordan 4) Brett Favre 5) LeBron James 6) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7) Tim Duncan 8) Peyton Manning 9) Kobe Bryant and 10) Tom Brady. The Top 3 female athletes: 1) Serena Williams 2) Danica Patrick and 3) Venus Williams. Dropping out of last year's Top 10 for the men: 6) Shaquille O'Neal 9) (tie) Barry Bonds and Jeff Gordon. The poll sampled 2,372 U.S. adults. No sampling error was provided...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Edie Falco (44), Marc Cohn (48) "Walking in Memphis" video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=XrT0gAbRqyw , Huey Lewis (57), Julie Nixon Eisenhower (59), Robbie Robertson (64) and Shirley Knight (71)...
Timeline Countdown: 5 days until the All-Star game...
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