- When I heard that Philadelphia Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero was involved in an altercation with a fan at a game in Tampa, one question immediately sprung to mind: Was it ‘roid rage? Ironically, the altercation was steroid-related, but I can neither confirm nor deny that it occurred in part because Romero is still using steroids, because I don’t know if he is or isn’t. What I do know is that Romero grabbed and shoved Robert Eaton of New Port Richey, Fla., after the fan made two comments about steroids. Romero was suspended for the first 50 games of the season after testing positive for androstenedione, the steroid precursor that former MLB star Mark McGwire made famous in the 1990s (part of the past that McGwire insisted that he would not talk about when appearing before Congress). The Phillies confirmed the incident and that Romero was the player involved. Eaton claimed in an interview that he called out to Romero after a couple of Phillies brushed off his requests for autographs. His oh, so clever response was to ask Romero to get him some steroids. It was a stupid comment, no doubt, but it didn’t deserve the response it received. According to Eaton’s account, Romero grabbed me by the neck and threw me back.” Who knows, maybe this whole mess has something to do with the fact that the Phillies defeated Tampa Bay in the World Series last year. Perhaps Eaton was bent at the squad that ripped the world title from his favorite team and went to the game looking to hook a player and get him to react. Whatever his motives were, Romero has to be above any sort of baiting and just keep walking. When you accept the big money to play professional sports, part of the understanding is that you will have to overlook a lot of the crap that fans throw at you. There are some lines fans cross that players can react to, namely threatening a player’s family or something along those lines, but taunting a player about a positive drug test isn’t one of them. If you don’t want a fan to bring it up, then don’t test positive for a drug and get suspended. In the end, both parties share some blame for the incident but it’s Romero who comes out of this looking worse…..
- Uh oh, the big, bad National Security Council in Iran is demanding that opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi stop what he’s doing and stop it now. The council informed Moussavi that his repeated demands for the annulment of the June 12 election results are "illogical and unethical.” Unethical? How is demanding that a vote conducted under extremely shady circumstances be reviewed unethical? Sure, the National Security Council is a powerful group which includes dozens of political leaders, and has the power to appoint the country’s supreme leader, but that doesn’t mean the council is always right. Oh, and how many freaking councils and rulers does Iran have, anyhow? There’s dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the subject of the bogus election, the supreme leader, the Guardian Council, the National Security Council…..it’s like freaking bureaucracy run amok. For a country that seems to hate the United States with a passion, Iran sure does emulate the U.S. in certain respects. But I digress…..both the Guardian Council and NSC have adamantly maintained that the election was legit and that there will be no re-do or re-count. They insist that Moussavi's demands are based on "erroneous" information. There is also speculation that Moussavi might be under house arrest, which in my opinion would only add fuel to the fire of resentment among his followers. The NSC is also said to be weighing Moussavi’s request to speak directly to the people, a requst that the council appears in no hurry to act on. Maybe they are hesitant to grant a public audience to a man who has openly incited his supporters to take it to the streets in the past couple of weeks, but I have no idea why. Any leader willing to incite a riot is a great leader in my book. Let the guy meet with his supporters in a public place such as the Azadi (Freedom) Stadium to discuss election issues, as Moussavi has sought. The stadium has a capacity of 100,000 and it would be a great place for an “Airing of Grievances,” to borrow a Seinfeld term. The powers that be in Iran need to realize that they can only plug up the dam of discontentment for so long before it explodes and drowns their country in the floodwaters of revolution. Let the people have their voice and quit killing or violently beating them for trying to speak out……
- Jim James, the musical mastermind behind My Morning Jacket, is a busy man these days. He’s temporarily striking out on his own and on August 4, he will release his first solo album under the name Yim Yames. The album will be a tribute to a deceased musical legend who actually merits such a tribute, the late Beatle George Harrison. This isn’t a full-length project, but fans can check out the entire EP starting on July 7 when the set becomes available via Yimyames.com for purchase. Right now you can download one of the album’s tracks, "Behind That Locked Door," for free on the website. Should you be one of those freaks who pre-orders albums (never understood the concept, it will still be available on the day of release and I can order and pay for it then), pre-orders for CD and vinyl versions will start on July 7. A cool side benefit is that a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. “I felt like I was in the weirdest head space when I did that EP,” James said of the 2001 recording session that took place just days after Harrison's death. "I felt really confused a lot of the time. I wanted to just do it and let it come out even if I messed stuff up. It's definitely not the tightest or most professional recording you're ever going to hear in your life but I like that. I think it lends it a more childish atmosphere.” He went on to say that the recordings paint a picture of who he was in 2001 and shows his love for Harrison’s music. While parts of the album will be heavy on acoustic guitars and vocals, some songs will have a different vibe. “Love You To" has banjo accompaniment and "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" has James on piano. There won't be any drums and the pace will be fairly deliberate, James explains, but I have a feeling this is going to be a really cool project. Ever the creative enigma, James has been sitting on these recordings for quite awhile. He simply says the time "never felt right until now" to release them. The inspiration for doing so now came partially from James’ participation in David Lynch's "Change Begins Within" concert, where he says Harrison’s name came up a lot. As for a full-length solo album, he admits that he’s just starting to work on the concept but has nothing definite at this point. James will work out of his home studio, tinker around and at some point, come up with the album. I know I’ll be looking forward to it and I have a feeling that a lot of fans of truly great music will be as well……
- If you’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison, you’d better have a damn good reason for it. That reason had better be something along the lines of killing the person who raped and killed your wife or child or something like that. Murder is always going to be a crime, but at least if you do it under those circumstances you can defend your actions and say it was worth it to do what you did, even if you surrender your freedom because of it. Killing a dude because of a dispute over a Sony PlayStation would not qualify as such an instance, suffice it to say. Jonquel Brooks of Fresno, California should have known this valuable lesson before he opened fire on four guys who accused him of stealing the video game system, but clearly he did not. He opened fire on four men, killing one man, Brant Daniels, near the Fresno State University campus two years ago after he was accused of stealing the PlayStation from the men. Brooks claims that the shooting was self-defense, but the jury in his case didn’t buy the explanation and in April, he was found guilty on one count of first degree murder and three counts of attempted murder On Friday, Brooks was sentenced to 100 years to life in prison, meaning it’s unlikely he will ever see the light of freedom again in his life. I know that prisoners tend to be hardest on fellow inmates who harm women and children, but I’d like to think that although they may not target Brooks for such harsh treatment because he didn’t do anything to a woman or child, they will at least relentlessly mock him for his stupidity. Let’s just establish a general rule right now that any crime that stems from a video game system officially qualifies the criminal in question as a moron, okay? It doesn’t matter if the dispute is over the ownership of the video game, something that happened while playing it or any related issue. A video game system should not incite a person to crime, period. Thank you to my man Jonquel Brooks for helping me make that point, although I have a feeling that will be of little solace to him in the days, weeks, months and years ahead……..
- It’s refreshing to see people who aren’t so wrapped up in their dog and making it look as cute and stylish as possible. Slamming a sweater or jewelry on a dog is, was and always will be completely absurd and indefensible, so big ups to everyone who took part in Friday’s World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Marin-Sonoma Fair in Petaluma, California. The winner was Pabst, the toothy Boxer mixed-breed and a former shelter dog that garnered $1,600 in prize money, a modeling contract, and a table-full of collars, leashes and toys just for being ugly. Since I’m not an expert in the area of ugly dogs (or non-ugly dogs, for that matter), I don’t know who the favorites were heading into this competition, but apparently a former world champion Chinese Crested named Rascal was in the field and expected to be a serious contender. From what I’m told, the butt-ugly Chinese Crested breed has dominated the contest for over seven years. More than half of this year’s entries were Chinese Crested dogs, but owner Miles Egstad and Pabst took the crown anyhow. Egstand explained that he named his dog after the pooch’s “bitter beer face.” The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest dates back to 1976, so this is actually an event with some history. Judges for this year’s contest included Jon Provost, who played Timmy on the television show “Lassie”; Karen "Doc" Halligan from “Groomer Has It,”; and Sonoma-Marin Fair board member Brian Sobel. In my book, these owners are all winners for the simple fact that they don’t view their dogs as some beautiful, pampered quasi-child to be revered and catered to……..
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