Attacking soccer players with soap, attacking Imus for stupidity and another favorite show axed

- Women’s pro basketball might not be all that legitimate (see yesterday’s post about a community college player being a first round WNBA draft pick), but you can't say the same thing about women’s boxing. Thai inmate Samson Sor Siriporn, a convicted drug dealer, actually improved her chances for freedom by beating Japan's Ayaka Miyano to win the vacant women's WBC light flyweight title at the notorious "Bangkok Hilton" prison on Tuesday. The win, for reasons I don’t quite understand, actually expedited Siriporn’s parole hearing process. A makeshift ring was set up outdoors on the grounds of the infamous Klong Prem prison and the two women duked it out in front of judges and a raucous crowd. The best part of the event, unquestionably, is that transvestites in high heels and skimpy outfits were allowed out of their cells to parade around the ring with placards at the beginning of each round. Astonishingly, the fact that Siriporn is a convicted meth dealer isn't going to keep her from being released to continue her boxing career. Thai corrections department chief Natti Jitsawang said Siriporn's that as a result of her victory, he would likely see her freed three years early. “We will start the process for her parole immediately,” he declared. What a wonderful country Thailand is, where you can sell meth, be sent to jail on a ten-year sentence and be released three years early because you can win a judge’s decision for a pro boxing title - all while trannies parade around before each round as the cue card girls/its/freaks.

- That was quick, take two. I’ve learned retroactively that when I watched The Black Donnellys on Monday night and then learned it was the last episode of the show NBC would air, I was actually watching the death knell for my second regularly watched show in a 48-hour span. Last Friday’s airing of Six Degrees on ABC was the end of the line for the on-again, off-again show that aired last fall, was pulled and returned in March only to be whacked again after two more episodes. Props to ABC for giving the show a real chance by burying it in a crappy time slot upon its return (Fridays at 9 p.m.), giving it no promotional help and then yanking it before it could even build any momentum. I can tell that the suits at ABC were verrrrrrry serious about seeing this show succeed. The quick trigger networks have developed with new (or even established) shows is creating a very difficult dilemma for viewers. On one hand, any given show, even a favorite, isn't going to be on the air for a long run if you consider the average shelf life of a TV show in this day. There aren't going to be many, if any, Seinfeld-ian runs of a decade. So you have the knowledge that your favorite show probably won't be on the air for more than five years, so you’re always on the lookout for new shoes you might enjoy. At the same time, so many new shows have such a short leash and are yanked and jerked around so quickly that you’re hesitant to invest time and interest watching them, as they may be gone in the blink of an eye. The good news is that I don’t need anyone to remind me why I hate TV networks, because I have a pretty good idea why I do……………

- Don Imus is living proof that you don’t have to be smart or thoughtful to be a big-time radio personality heard by millions worldwide. The controversial talking head finds himself in the middle of a ginormous crap storm after referring to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as "nappy headed hos" on the Wednesday edition his syndicated program. Imus went on to question the players' looks, describing them as tattooed “rough girls.” One thing I agree with Imus on, and this is a matter of personal opinion and taste, is that on the whole, the Rutgers team is not a good-looking group. I saw a couple of their games and based on what I saw, I would concur that they are not an overall attractive squad. That being said, how does someone who’s been on the air for decades and been at the center of so many controversies not know that using racially slanted terms and bigoted phrases is completely inappropriate? It’s one thing to go on the air and say that you think the players are ugly. That alone would get you some flak, but it would be minimal. But to use the terms Imus used………wow. The canned, well-crafted apology written and issued by Imus’ agent (or whomever helped him out with that) was swell and all and when you say something like he said, you have to make that apology, but don’t think for a second it’s going to abate the anger coming from Rutgers or from African American activist groups who want Imus’ head on a pike.

- Bob Huggins is a mercenary hack, so let’s get that on the record first. The guy is a basketball nomad who goes in and wins games any way he can for your school, be it recruiting junior college transfers, guys with rap sheets or academic risks whose only purpose at college is to put an orange ball in a round basket. Huggins bends and breaks rules, saunters around with his gruff, mumbling demeanor and is always on the lookout for a better job. This time, though, the way he conducted his business is absolutely reprehensible and officially makes Huggs a piece of crap. After being bounced from the University of Cincinnati in several years ago following a very public, very ugly drunk driving arrest and other indiscretions, Huggins was out of basketball for a while, then Kansas State gave him another chance, hiring him to coach the school’s perennially mediocre basketball team. He came to KSU promising to turn the program around and make them championship contenders, but instead Huggins stayed for one year and then dumped Kansas State to take the head coaching job at his alma mater, West Virginia. This is one case where even the chance to coach your alma mater isn't a good enough excuse for a screw job like Huggins pulled. If you are as tainted a coaching property as this man was and a school like Kansas State gives you a chance, you need to reward that show of trust by staying at least long enough to hang a few pictures on the office wall. All the kids who committed to KSU because of Huggins’ presence are now stuck unless the school releases them from their scholarships, which it should do but isn't bound to. Kansas State fans are pissed at Huggins, and well they should be. He’s more of a mercenary than the Hessians were in the Revolutionary War, and his sense of loyalty is stunningly low even compared to a traitor like Benedict Arnold.

- Soccer players don’t have the best reputation for cleanliness and sanitation, especially the greasy-haired, mullet wearing Euro soccer players for whom bathing is a bi-monthly activity. Still, this is the first time I can remember a team’s fans running onto the practice field with soap powder and brooms to attack players. The incident actually happened in Brazil, not Europe, but fans of the Brazilian soccer club Corinthians ran on to the filed carrying brooms and boxes of soap powder during training on Friday and forced the practice session be called off. The incident was intended to be a symbolic “clean up” of a squad that is among the league’s dirtiest and most physical, but something tells me that a little soap powder isn't going to change anything. Coach Ze Augusto had this to say about the cleaning supply attack: “I can say that I'm frightened.” Well of course you’re frightened, Z, Euro and South American soccer players aren't used to being that close to soap, so I can imagine it might be frightening. What really surprises me about this is that the players didn’t fall to the ground acting like they’d been shot when the fans charged them. Normally soccer players are on the ground, writhing around in pain and scrunching their faces up into faux masks of pain when anyone comes within a foot of them. Don’t feel too bad for the Corinthians players, though, I’m sure they got their orange wedges and Capri Sun pouches after practice and all was forgotten on the ride home in the back of their mom’s minivan.