- We all know annoying, overbearing sports parent. He or she is the most vocal person in the stands at every game, berating the referee for every call against that person’s child (whether the call is right or not), getting in the coach’s face when the kid doesn’t get as much playing time as mom or dad thinks Junior deserves, screaming non-stop instructions to the kid and looking to brawl with any other parent who dares to stand up to them. It’s a problem everywhere in the country, but only in Rhode Island is one state senator actually looking to do something about it - even if its current effort is questionable at best. Democratic Sen. John Tassoni Jr. is looking to create a formal outlet for the "concerns and objections" some parents have in organized youth sports. Sen. Tassoni introduced a bill that would create a youth sports oversight council on the state leve to act as mediator in disputes between parents of youth athletes and sports officials. Among other things, the bill cites the need for a third party to step in at times, stating that "parents lack a proper outlet to share concerns and objections about youth sports." Let me translate that for you from legal-ese: Parents are whiny, angry, often delusional psychos when it comes to their child’s sports and we need someone to be paid to listen to their rants.” Don’t believe me? Just ask Matt Rodrigues, general manager and owner of Teamworks youth sports program in Warwick, Rhode Island. “They (parents) are crazy, especially in Rhode Island. The kids on the court are scared because the parents are yelling and screaming," Rodrigues said. A council similar to the one Tassoni is proposing already exists in Waterford, Connecticut -- run by the town, not the state. Waterford's council is made up of representatives from the town's 11 sports leagues. The council Tassoni hopes to create would include at least four regional youth sports representatives. Overall, Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri would appoint seven volunteers -- approved by the state Senate and House -- to sit on a panel called the Rhode Island Youth Sports Oversight Council. Tassoni stated that the council would be made up of ex-coaches, ex-officials and ex-athletic directors, not politicians. The one criticism of this bill that does need to be addressed is the possibility that the council could become a forum for these whiny sports parents to go and further their crusades to make their child the next sports star by lobbying for playing time that the coach won't give them. If the council can be used as a means to keep parents in line, that’s good, but if it’s just a place for parents to go and press their case for their kid being mistreated by the coach, then it’s not a good idea. The bill, with some revisions, is scheduled to be heard by the state Senate on Wednesday and Tassoni hopes to have the council in place by June or July. It’s an interesting concept, but one that’s going to need to be tweaked if it’s really going to work well……….
- Boy, I knew economic and financial times were tough for people around the world, but we may have hit a new low here. September Williamson, a resident of Grand Junction, Colo., her financial woes led to her having to make tough decisions about having proper dental care. Unable to afford regular dentist visits, Williamson allowed her teeth to deteriorate to the point that several of them were literally about to fall out of her mouth. The state of her teeth has made Williamson extremely self-conscious and led her to take desperate measures to ensure that all of her chiclets remain in her mouth. Thus, she has turned to the ultimate household helper, the fix-it sensation known as super glue. Yes, September Williamson hit up her local convenience store for some super glue and went to work on her own china. "I have a crown that is superglued in the front but I can't fix it until I can get my dentures on top,” she explained. "When I talk to people a lot of times I have my hand over my mouth. I can't smile in public. It affects my self-esteem greatly. My kids have never really seen me smile and my husband says he misses it.” Ironically, Williamson actually does have insurance, but it only covers up to $1,000 a year and the partial dentures she needs are $8,500. She’s also ineligible for dental assistance. Like I said, I realized that a lot of people were in dire straits, but I didn’t realize we’d entered into an era in which people were busting out super glue to keep their teeth in their heads. I’m not sure what the ingredients in that product are, but I feel safe in saying that super glue is probably not something you want in your mouth……
- Not that there’s anything common about the transvestite-looking coke addict known as Amy Winehouse, but the singer has been charged with "common assault" in connection with an incident last September, and will appear in court in London later this month. Winehouse is going to court because she gave back to the fans…..well, she gave a swift punch to the head of one fan at a charity ball on September 26, which is a bit of a problem. "She was questioned by appointment in relation to an accusation made after the Berkeley Ball last year. She was charged with common assault and will attend a court hearing in the coming weeks," a spokesman for Winehouse stated. But hey, Winehouse should be getting very good at this court thing, what with husband Blake Fielder-Civil last month asking his lawyer "to commence divorce proceedings on the grounds of Amy's adultery." Bro, I don’t know if you realize this, but having an ongoing affair with coke, booze, pot and every other ingestible or smokeable drug known to man isn’t adultery. Amy Winehouse has been accused of being a lot of things, but an adulteress is definitely new. Fielder-Civil is basing a lot of his divorce case on photos of his wife cavorting with another man during her recent holiday in the Caribbean, while he sat in a British jail. I can see where that might rub a guy the wrong way, but on the positive side, Blake, at least she didn’t go Floyd Mayweather on your face like she did to that fan at a charity ball. Brace yourself, British legal system, you’ve got a double dose of Amy Winehouse coming your way in the next few months. Things are bound to get ugly, and I’m not just talking about Winehouse herself……
- This should be interesting. And by interesting, I mean a total train wreck that submarines the 2009 season for the Buffalo Bills and ends with a bitter, egotistical Terrell Owens searching for his fifth NFL team to ruin heading into the 2010 season. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that T.O. has inked a $6.5 million, one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills after being smartly released by the Dallas Cowboys last week. "I'm leaving America's team [for] North America's team," Owens said. No, you’re leaving a team that got tired of your act and your constant efforts to divide and fracture its locker room for a new team that will come to the same conclusion shortly, T.O. You weren’t happy playing with Pro Bowl quarterbacks like Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo, but you’re going to be good with second-year starter Trent Edwards, a guy who has never been to a Pro Bowl or a playoff game? The Bills may have talked themselves into giving you a chance, T.O., but the only thing guaranteed about this deal (other than the $4 million of your contract that’s guaranteed) is that you’ll go T.O. at the worst possible moment. For the off-season and training camp, you’ll say the right things about wanting to just fit in and contribute to a winning team. That act might even last a few games into the season, but the instant Edwards starts looking for Lee Evans more than you or overthrows you on a few deep balls, you’ll be screaming him down on the sidelines or looking to set up a secret meeting with the offensive coordinator to lobby for more passes to be thrown your way. Maybe you’ll don your Lance Armstrong gear and pedal a stationary bike on the sidelines like you pulled in training camp one year while in Dallas, just for old times’ sake. There’s no escaping the fact that the Cowboys took a $9 million salary cap hit to release you, a guy who is still a pretty good receiver. Teams don’t do that unless you are absolutely poisoning their locker room and undermining their team’s chemistry and leadership. “I must move on, and it's another beginning for me," Owens said. "If I can be that extra added piece to get them to the playoffs, then that's what I'm here for. I looked at the defensive side of ball and offensive side of the ball, and these guys have all the pieces." Uh, no. You’re not in Buffalo to be an extra piece to get them to the playoffs, T.O. You’re there 1) to get paid, 2) to catch more passes than anyone else on the team and 3) to feed your own ego. If the team wins, it’s not enough unless you get yours, my man. You’ve proven that time and time again. You may be a six-time Pro Bowler, but you’re going to be best known for what you can’t do - namely not divide locker room and ruin teams - than what you can do on the field…….
- It’s about freaking time. At long last, one of my absolute favorite shows of all-time, Everwood will have its second season released on DVD on June 16. Putting a show out on DVD is apparently more complicated than it would seem for certain shows (typically the ones I like, oddly enough), because Everwood has been off the air for a couple of years now (damn you, Dawn Ostroff and the rest of the tools at the CW) and even though the first season of the show has been available on DVD for a while now, the last three seasons have been tied up in corporate red tape, largely due to the fact that Everwood originated as a WB show and the WB merged with UPN to form the CW, which also had a lot to do with the premature death of great shows like Everwood and Veronica Mars (damn you again, Ostroff!). But thankfully, a deal was struck, all of the issues were ironed out and on June 16, you’ll have the chance to own the second season of one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen. No word on when the third and fourth seasons will follow, but hopefully the momentum from getting the second season released will lead to the last two seasons following suit. Of course, every time Everwood comes up, it reminds me of the show’s too-early demise after four seasons (damn you a third time, Ostroff!), but I guess I can find a way to live with that if it means I can finally have an actual DVD set of each season of the show and relive all of the great episodes of Andy Brown, his family and the quirky town of Everwood, Colorado………
No comments:
Post a Comment