- Tim Floyd is a douche bag. That much was apparent before he ever set foot on campus at the University of Southern California. He was a sleazy, greasy scumbag at every stop prior to USC and never gave the impression of being the least bit classy or respectable. Whether it was his time at Iowa State or his stint in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls, T. Floyd always gave off the impression that he would do anything to get the job done, ethics be damned. So you can’t be surprised that he a) allegedly paid a handler for former USC star O.J. Mayo $1,000 to steer Mayo to the Trojans and b) pushed the eject button to bail on USC right before the sh*t hit the fan. A few weeks ago, the NCAA rolled its ongoing probes of recruiting violations in the USC football and men’s basketball programs into one ginormous sting, leading many to believe that it was only a matter of time before severe sanctions were handed down because of improprieties in the recruiting of Mayo and former USC football star Reggie Bush. In both cases, the crews and family members of the athlete in question are alleged to have received cash and gifts that were clear violations of NCAA rules. However, the violations for USC football centered on an agent who gave gifts and money to Bush’s family, as opposed to anyone from the football program. In the case of the men’s basketball program, none other than Tim Floyd is alleged to have been the one steering the good ship Bribery. Louis Johnson, one of Mayo’s handlers and a friend of his family, told the NCAA that Floyd paid him $1,000 to help steer Mayo to USC. Hmm, think Floyd knew that was against NCAA rules? Seeing as all coaches must take and pass an NCAA accreditation test to prove that they understand the organization’s rules and bylaws, I’m thinking yes. However, knowing the rules and having the integrity to follow them are two very different (and in Floyd’s case), mutually exclusive things. So he allegedly paid the bribe money, coached Mayo for one season and spent a second year at USC before the long arm of the law caught up with him. When that happened, what did Floyd do? Not act with honor, that’s for sure. No, he submitted a one-paragraph letter of resignation to athletic director Mike Garrett, explaining that he had “lost passion” for his job and had long ago promised himself that he would reitre if that ever happened. Assuming that by “lost passion” he means “Didn’t want to pay the price for my sins and be exposed as a soul-less douche bag,” then I concur. Of course, whether he resigned or not, Floyd likely will never coach another college basketball game again. Had he stayed, the NCAA would have brought the hammer down on him and suspended him for a long, long time. With his cowardly self-ejection, er, retirement, Floyd can perhaps convince himself that he left on his own terms. Of course, it’s those left behind at USC and the next coach who comes in that will bear the brunt of Floyd’s misdeeds. That’s just one more piece of his douche-baggery and why guys like Tim Floyd are everything that is wrong with college athletics and then some……..
- Speaking of not being surprised at the boorish behavior of a known idiot…..let’s move on to TV personality Gordon Ramsay, shall we? Ramsay is the host of “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox, a show in which he basically rips off that ass hat Simon Cowell’s act from American Karaoke and does it in the kitchen, berating aspiring chefs and being as mean and outrageous as possible. Basically, the show centers on him being as big an ass as possible and people getting a kick out of it. When you not only encourage, but reward someone for that sort of act, can anyone be stunned when that same person says something completely offensive, out-of-line and repugnant in a non-TV setting? I say no, but that doesn’t make Ramsay’s indefensible words at a food show in Melbourne where he was giving a demonstration any more defensible. While giving the demonstration for an audience of several thousand, Ramsay proclaimed that A Current Affair presenter Tracy Grimshaw, who had interviewed him on Friday evening, was "a lesbian". Odd, uncalled for any likely to upset people, no doubt. But that were merely Ramsay’s opening salvo. he then pulled out a picture of a woman with the features of a pig. "That's Grimshaw," he told the audience. "Holy crap. She needs to see a Botox doctor.” Wow…..just wow. That is so far over the line and unacceptable that Ramsay can’t even turn around and find the line with a high-powered, planetarium-quality telescope. Not surprisingly, women’s groups and people with a soul in general didn’t react well to Ramsay’s comments. Many have called for Ramsay to be kicked out of Australia, which I’m not sure is legally possible on the basis of being an ignorant, big-mouthed idiot. When word of Ramsay’s comments reached Grimshaw (which I’m sure took all of 60 seconds, what with cell phones, texting and BlackBerry devices), she had a little something in return. "I'm not going to sit meekly and let some arrogant narcissist bully me. Obviously Gordon thinks that any woman that doesn't find him attractive must be gay. For the record, I don't and I'm not,” she snarled. For the record, even the most anti-lesbian, anti-homosexual right-wing individual should not be saying what Ramsay said. It’s ugly, it’s absolute garbage and it has no place in any society. If you don’t approve of homosexuality, learn how to say it in a non-bigoted, non-inflammatory manner and treat people with respect and dignity, Gord. Not that I watch your show ever, but I certainly won't bother to do so now……
- This should be good. North Korea is growing more agitated and trigger-happy with its long-range missiles by the day, so having the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agree on a resolution that would expand and tighten sanctions on North Korea should make Kim Jong Il and crew much happier. With the North seemingly setting off every rocket it can find and shooting it right into the Pacific, China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States felt the need to let K.J. Il and crew know once again just how much they disapprove of these launches. To that end, these five nations reached and agreement in consultation with Japan and South Korea to ratchet up the sanctions against North Korea. What those tightened sanctions will be, the council didn’t immediately say. I don’t really know what the appropriate penalty is for conducting a nuclear test that violates U.N. resolutions. Also, it’s been a while since I conducted a nuclear test and fired six short-range missiles, so I’m admittedly rusty on the subject. All of this comes after U.S. satellite imagery spotted "vehicle activity" at a North Korean ballistic missile facility last month, , vehicles used to transport Taepodong-2 missiles. The Taepodong-2 is a long-range missile that was tested earlier this year by North Korea, a test that showed a major improvement from long-range missile tests North Korea conducted back in 2006. For some odd reason, North Korea is claiming that the missile tests came because of “American aggression.” What we’ve done aggressively toward North Korea, I don’t know. What I do know is that in the race to ignite World War III, North Korea has clearly edged ahead of Iran thanks to a more trigger-happy, unstable dictator and sheer rebellious spirit. Keep it up, N. Korea, my money in this race is on you……
- Not that Sara Evans and Lionel Richie had any musical credibility anyhow, but if they did have some, it would surely be eviscerated by these two agreeing to be the faces of ABC Daytime and sister cable station SOAPnet's new campaign to market music through soap operas. Right, because nothing says “quality music” quite like pimping it via soap operas, those bastions of stellar acting and amazing writing. Anyone unfortunate enough to be attending Evans’ summer tour will see a show sponsored by ABC Daytime and SOAPnet. Yes, the networks will even be providing soap opera actors and actresses (I use that term loosely) for appearances at her shows. In turn, Evans will pimp herself out by appearing in performances on the networks, as well as on-air interstitial campaigns and online promotions. I suppose the marriage with ABC/SOAPnet makes sense for Evans, who also appeared on the lame-o reality dancing show Dancing With the (D-List) Quasi-Stars on ABC. Also, the Evans-Richie/ABC-SOAPnet partnership has found a way to make quite possibly the worst event in all of music, the CMA Music Festival on June 13, worse by infusing it with talent from "All My Children," "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital" doing meet-and-greets and introducing performers. Unsurprisingly, research done by ABC Daytime and SOAPnet marketing showed 25% of their viewers described themselves as country music fans. It’s just not surprising at all to find that fans of the garbage that is on the air in these soap operas also like an atrocious genre of music. But wait, crappy ‘80s pop music needs to be represented as well, and that’s where Richie comes in. He will appear on an upcoming episode of "One Life to Live," where he'll perform his new single, "Just Go." What, you can’t break out some “Dancing on the Ceiling” for everyone? Oh, and if you need any further evidence that only sh*tty music artists allow themselves to be linked to soap operas, just look at two other acts that have been a part of the soap opera game of late: the Pussycat Skanks and Mary J. Blige. Yes, two of the absolute worst acts of this era! So I suppose you can look at this deal any number of ways, but being a silver-lining type of guy, I’m looking for the positive. Here, that would be taking two horrifically awful parts of the entertainment industry and morphing them into just one menace, which mathematically is cutting the threat in half. Other than that, there are no positives here, no winners……..
- Well that was interesting. Carrie Prejean’s run as Miss California USA was a short-but-thrilling ride, from being just another blonde beauty parading around on stage in too much makeup and answering questions about world peace to the poster child for the crusade against same-sex marriage to ousted beauty queen in the span of a few months. Prejean has been dethroned as Miss California USA for "contract violations," including missing scheduled pageant events, even though she retained her title last month in the face a controversy over topless photos, missed appearances and her statements against same-sex marriage. At the time, my man Donald Trump held a press conference to get some more attention for himself and oh yeah, to announce the Prejean would remain as Miss California. However, their détente lasted all of one month. This week, Trump gave her the boot and inserted the next blonde beauty queen, runner-up Tami Farrell, in her place. “I told Carrie she needed to get back to work and honor her contract with the Miss California USA organization, and I gave her the opportunity to do so," Trump said. "Unfortunately, it just doesn't look like it is going to happen, and I offered my full support in making this decision.” Prejean’s attorney, Charles Limandri, is selling a very different story. “This is all kind of a big shock," Limandri said. "We've been working with Mr. Trump's office; she's been doing all the speaking engagements she's been asked to do. It is not true that she has not been cooperating.” Limandri went on to hint at some sort of shadowy conspiracy or plot to take her client out of her position as Miss California, insisting the Prejean has been making all of her scheduled appearances. I have to admit, I’m stunned as well. Trump tends to stand by hot, blond beauty queens no matter what - drug addictions, controversial photos, scandals - and to have him cut ties with one of his pageant beauties is unusual. Of course, Prejean became a lightning rod for controversy at the Miss USA pageant in April when she declared her opposition to same-sex marriage in a response to a question asked during the national pageant by pageant judge Perez Hilton. In May, seminude photos of Prejean popped up online and yet Trump rose to her defense. In the end, I suppose that D. Trump got plenty of what he craves most - attention - and Prejean got the chance to become a vocal part of a cause she feels strongly about, so maybe everybody won here………
No comments:
Post a Comment