- Only in the NBA can you earn $21.9 million a season to sit on your ass, be a malcontent and contribute exactly nothing to your organization. Unfortunately, the only blessed individual who is currently holding down this enviable position is New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, who was placed on the inactive list before Friday night's 116-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s been a slow, unproductive and overpaid descent for the man often glossed as Starbury, a former All-Star scheduled to earn $21.9 million this season. The DNP against the 76ers came after Marbury also did not play in the Knicks' 120-115 season-opening win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday, although he was active for that contest. The decision to put him on the inactive list for the Philly game came after he and Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni met Friday and Marbury asked the coach if he was going to play. After D'Antoni informed him that he would not be seeing action, Marbury requested he be put on the inactive list and D'Antoni agreed. “This is the direction we're going and there will be some nights like this,” D'Antoni said regarding Marbury after the loss. “If I was playing everything for tonight, you'd do things differently. But we're trying to build a base for going forward.” Allow me to translate that for you, coach: “He’s a washed-up, overpaid head case who isn’t good enough to help us win, a guy I didn’t sign and don’t want but whom we’re stuck with because no one wants to trade for his bloated contract.” So look forward to more nights of a man earning roughly a quarter of a million dollars per game sitting on the bench in street clothes with a scowl on his face, bringing nothing to his team while taking so much money from it……
- The Supreme Court is taking a break from its usual routine of rejecting the last appeals of death row inmates to hear a case that may actually affect more Americans than nearly any other case they hear on a yearly basis: the "isolated" use of words politely referred to as “fleeting expletives” on television and the power of government to police what it views as pervasive indecent language on the public airwaves. The case was spurred last year after millions of viewers watched that washed-up, no-talent, looks-like-a-trannie Cher drop an f-bomb on an awards show. Following her up a year later was someone with actual musical talent, U2 front man Bono, who said the same thing as Cher. The waifish, shallow Nicole Richie stepped it up a notch, letting fly with both an f-bom and s--t in the same sentence. Because all three celebrities - and I use that term grudgingly in the case of Cher and Ritchie - made their remarks on live television, the Federal Communications Commission levied heavy fines on the networks that aired them. Now it’s up to the Supreme Court will weigh in on the case, with arguments in the free speech case set to commence Tuesday. At least one stick-up-my-ass, stodgy conservative activist is thrilled about this case going before the land’s highest court. “Make no mistake what this is about,” said Tim Winter, who heads the Parents Television Council and is supporting the FCC efforts. “The networks are suing for the right to use the f-word in front of children during prime-time broadcast television.” Thankfully, not everyone has their head up their own ass like Winter. Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, said the following, which is a much more accurate take on things from where I stand. “The crux of this case is whether the inconsistent way the FCC has regulated indecent speech gives writers, producers, and directors, as well as television broadcasters, clear guidelines for them to comply,” said Schwartzman, whose group is a more liberal contingent than the tools at the PTC. To be entirely accurate, this is an issue that has been six years in the making, ever since the controversial words in question have been aired in scripted and unscripted instances on all the major over-the-air networks. As such, Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS are parties in the case, although I’m sure they would all prefer to have stuck with a ruling in their favor by a federal appeals court in New York last year, a ruling that labeled the FCC’s policy “arbitrary and capricious.” (Sounds like Cosmo Kramer was on that panel.) As you might expect, the FCC just couldn’t accept defeat and it then appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking restoration of its power to penalize the networks airing “indecent speech.” It actually is key for the court to rule on the matter in a timely fashion, as enforcement of the law, including as fines and sanctions for the incidents, have been put on hold while the case is being argued. So assuming you are a supporter of the right to free speech and not just free speech when the speech is something you agree with, your rooting interests in this case should be squarely against the FCC……
- Ah, the ol’ “my accusers are lying, bitter, jealous and seeking revenge” defense, that bastion of legal wisdom that has been a pillar of court proceedings ever since there have been morons to put it into play. The latest IQ-deprived lawyer to play that card is the defense attorney for fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander, who stands accused of raped nine females, most of them aspiring models, at his Beverly Hills apartment. Defense attorney Leonard Levine told jurors Friday in closing arguments that his client should be acquitted of rape charges because his accusers are lying and out for revenge. “How many times did you hear 'I don't recall' from them during the trial?” asked. “I stopped counting at 300. These women lied. They lied, they exaggerated and nobody cared -- but you should care.” Great, assailing the character of likely rape victims is always a solid play. Accuse them of being the ones out to hurt someone when they themselves have reportedly endured so much hurt and emotional distress. It’s now in the hands of the jury to consider the 27 counts against Alexander, including forcible rape and committing lewd acts on a child, stemming from assaults that allegedly happened between 2001 and 2007. Worse still, especially if there is any truth at all in the allegations, is that the alleged victims ranged in age from 14 to 21. What really pisses me off (and should piss off anyone who hears this) is that Levine said the women who testified against Alexander "invited what happened," then made up stories so they could sue Alexander after his criminal case. Are you f’ing kidding me? They were asking for it? Dude, you should go to prison whether your client does or not, just for uttering those words. You’re not making it more likely that your client will be acquitted; you’re making it more likely that I will be tracking you down and punching you in the face as soon as possible. Here’s hoping the jury believes prosecutor Frances Young, who told jurors Alexander is a "sexual predator” who needs to be locked up. While I’m not a big fan of law enforcement, this is one case where I am rooting for Beverly Hills police to be right after they began investigating Alexander in March 2007 and built a case against him following claims by a woman who reported she had been sexually assaulted by the designer in his apartment. Should you want to see this douche bag in action, he was featured on the reality fashion show “America's Next Top Model.” I’m looking forward to a conviction and the possible maximum sentence of life in prison that could accompany it……
- I’m not an expert on this or anything, and I am not a qualified psychologist, psychiatrist or sociologist, but I’m going to go out on a limb about say that children are too young to marry at age 5 or 7. Yes, it seems controversial and takes a big leap in reasoning, but hear me out. If you are barely young enough to have started school, can barely read or write and are under four-and-a-half feet tall, you are probably too young to wed. I understand that every country is different culturally and the acceptable age for marriage can vary from country to country, but I feel fairly secure in saying that 7 years old and under is solidly below the acceptable line in any country. So I’m going to have to agree with Pakistani authorities in their decision to arrest the parents and a cleric preparing to perform the ceremony between 5-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy before 100 guests in the city Karachi yesterday. Unfortunately, a judge ordered the parents released pending the next hearing in their case, freeing them on bail just one day after police raided the illegal wedding. And in case you’re wondering, no, there are no legal or religious standards in Pakistan that would make this wedding acceptable. Marriage below the age of 18 is illegal in Pakistan, and even on the extreme side of things, some Muslim scholars say it is permissible if the bride and groom have reached puberty. Again, I’m not a biologist, but a 5-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy haven’t hit puberty, so that wouldn’t apply to this case. Best of all is the motivation for the marriage: it was arranged by the parents to end a long-running feud between the families. Yes, our family has hated your family for decades, so you know how we’ll solve this? Let’s “marry” our two kids who aren’t even old enough to understand what marriage is, that should do it. Way to use your kids as bargaining chips, parents! Of course, the punishment for this offense isn’t exactly severe; a Pakistan Human Rights Commission official explained that the maximum punishment for the parents would be one month in prison and a fine of about $10. Woah there, don’t be too harsh on them. I know in an impoverished nation like Pakistan, $10 is a more sizeable amount than in the U.S., but what say we throw caution to the wind and kick it up to $25 to teach these idiots a lesson……
- A few things stood out for this college football Saturday, but perhaps none more so than the fact that the Michigan Wolverines lost 48-42 to Purdue and have eliminated from bowl contention. With their seventh loss, it is now mathematically impossible for UM, which had played in 33 straight bowl games, to garner the six wins necessary to be bowl eligible. Quite an accomplishment for first-year head coach and notorious liar Rich-er Fraud-riguez, who rode into Ann Arbor as a supposed football genius coming to rescue a Michigan program that had stalled out in its quest to stay ahead of hated rival Ohio State. Instead, he’s alienated current and former players by f’ing with long-standing program traditions, run off players who felt the program had lost its “family values” and oh yeah, lost seven of the nine games UM has played. A 2-7 record might not be what university officials had in mind when they agreed to pay Fraud-riguez all that money to coach their team. Blowing a 28-14 second quarter lead to lose to a Purdue team that has one of the Big Ten’s worst defenses and came in sporting a 2-6 record of their own had to be a severe blow to the Wolverines, who are now assured of a losing season. But they weren’t the only team to experience a serious letdown on the day; the Georgia Bulldogs laid a major egg in their game against their own bitter rivals, the Florida Gators. After throttling UF 42-30 last year, the Dawgs were humiliated this time around in Jacksonville, losing 49-10 in a game that was all but over at halftime. Georgia ran more offensive plays, had more first downs, an edge in time of possession and total yards, but a whopping four turnovers, including three interceptions thrown by star quarterback Matthew Stafford, did them in. Back to Michigan, though….
at least one team in the state of Michigan had a good Saturday. The Michigan State Spartans piled another heaping helping of misery on the Wisconsin Badgers, who lost their fifth straight game by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and allowing the Spartans to come back from a 24-13 deficit with 9:19 left on the clock and win in the game on a 44-yard Brett Swenson field goal with seven seconds left. The true big game of the day was in Lubbock, Texas, where the No. 7 Texas Tech Red Raiders and their pirate-loving coach Mike Leach took on top-ranked Texas in a battle of the Lone Star state. The Red Raiders dominated the first half with a swarming defense that was all over the field, harassing Texas QB Colt McCoy, chasing down ball carriers and whipping the home crowd into a frenzy with big defensive stops. Oh, and Tech quarterback Graham Harrell was 20 of 29 for 253 yards and a touchdown in the first half, if ya need him. In the second half, Texas battled back despite losing star defensive end and team leader Brian Orakpo to a knee injury, shutting down Texas Tech as the teams traded non-offensive touchdowns (a punt return for Texas, an interception return for Tech) and stayed in the two-score range of one another. As you’d expect from a top-ranked team, Texas battled back in the fourth quarter and took the lead finally on a touchdown run with 1:29 left in the game, 33-32. However, they left too much time on the clock and Tech used a great kickoff return and clutch passing from Harrell to drive in for a touchdown, with the final play a 28-yard touchdown pass to the nation’s best receiver, Michael Crabtree, capping it off. The play featured Harrell lofting a pass that sailed down the right sideline, behind the head of an oblivious UT defender, and Crabtree snatched it from the air and instead of going out of bounds to set up a game-winning field goal, he muscled his way past a second defender and into the end zone. The one downside to all of this was the idiotic Tech fans, who stormed the field three different times in between the touchdown and the subsequent kickoff, too excited about rushing the field to celebrate a colossal win to realize that one second was left on the clock. But despite two separate unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for fans on the field, the Raiders snuffed out an attempted lateral on the kickoff return after kicking from their own 7-yard-line, for the win. It should be interesting to see if Tech now vaults to the top spot in the polls and BCS, because none of the other top-five teams had much to worry about on this day, as No. 2 Alabama had a virtual bye week in toppling Division 1-AA Arkansas State 35-0 and third-ranked Penn State had an actual bye week. Oklahoma, the No. 4 team in the polls, rolled over hapless Nebraska 62-28 and No. 5 USC did the same in beating winless Washington 56-0 in a slaughter that very easily could have driven lame-duck UW coach Tyrone Willingham to drink openly on the sidelines from a bottle of Wild Turkey in one hand and a flask of tequila in the other. Overall, a solid Saturday of football action, kicking off a month that is always the most exciting one in any college football season, November……
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