- How have the New York Jets gone from the best and most interesting show in the NFL to the most tired, clichéd and unimaginative teams in all of professional sports? Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago we were watching head coach Rex Ryan drop f-bombs on HBO’s Hard Knocks and debating whether or not Darrelle Revis’ holdout would crippled the team’s Super Bowl chances? Throw in a 9-2 start to the season and you’d think that the Jets would still be a captivating watch…..and they were, right up to the point when Ryan decided that the best way to put an embarrassing 45-3 Monday Night Football loss to New England was to go with the single most tired, clichéd motivational ploy ever…..the ceremonial burying of the game ball. As the Jets gathered for their usual Wednesday morning team meeting, Ryan revealed that he had something different planned for them. Instead of gathering in the auditorium at the team’s practice facility, Ryan brought his team outside for some fresh air. Everyone meandered outside at 8:45 a.m. ET, moseying into 30-degree temperatures that many of them - including cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who was wearing flip-flops - were ill-equipped to brave. No one knew exactly what was going on, but receiver Santonio Holmes, figuring Ryan was up to a motivational ploy, told a teammate, "Something good is going to come out of this.” Either something good or something ridiculous, pathetic and weak. Revis later said that players were told that they were headed to "a funeral for a football." Ryan gathered his players around a hole in the ground, just off a grass practice field, and dropped the game ball from Monday night's embarrassing 45-3 loss into the hole. The idea, of course, as syrupy and cheesy as it is, was to “bury” the memory of their most lopsided defeat in nearly a quarter century. Heck, Ryan and his players even filled in the hole and covered it over with patches of torn-up sod, although they didn’t take the final tacky step of dropping a tombstone on the grave. Why not? If you’ve gone that far, you might as well go all the way. Making matters worse, Revis said it might have been Ryan's best motivational tactic ever. "I've never seen a coach do that," Revis said. "We all got the point. Usually, in the past, you hear a coach say, 'Let's bury this' and you have to visualize it. When you actually see it, you're like, 'Wow, this is serious.'" While Revis and his teammates may never have seen the tactic, Patriots coach Bill Belichick also did something similar after a loss to the Miami Dolphins in 2001 and given the trite, unimaginative nature of the maneuver, I’m guessing that many coaches at the high school and college levels have done the same thing. Next time, just watch the game tape of you getting your butt kicked and draw motivation from that………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! The college students of England are mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore, which apparently means attacking a butt-ugly price who may actually die before the woman he’s supposed to inherit the throne from. The debate over a plan to raise the existing cap on tuition rates charged by universities from £3,000 to £9,000 - nearly $10,000 increase from roughly $4,700 to $14,000 in U.S. dollars - has bee raging on in Parliament for weeks. The House of Commons approved the plan in a 323-302 vote Thursday and before the day was over, protesters enraged by the vote attacked a car carrying Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of York. These rage-aholics broke a window and tossed paint on the car, although they were unable to harm either royal family member. The fact that the measure still must be approved by the House of Lords and signed by the queen before it can become law clearly didn’t faze the protestors, who staged an all-day protest by thousands. These dissidents spent the day outside Parliament chanting, yelling, holding signs and looking for a fight. They probably would have fought anyone who tried to argue that the tuition cap hike is needed to cut the government's massive deficit. Few issues have sparked more or angrier protests anywhere in the world these past few months than the tuition issue, which makes it one of my favorite societal issues in a long time. For a time, it seemed that Thursday’s protest would remain peaceful, but thankfully things became more tense with the winding down of debate in the House of Commons. By late afternoon, you had police on horseback clashing with angry protestors, who threw sticks and set off fireworks. After the vote, riot police were called out to quell disturbances in Trafalgar Square, where some brave soul climbed a Christmas tree and set it on fire. Big ups to everyone who was a part of this madness, completely ignoring pleas from all sides to keep the demonstrations from getting out of hand. Riot on, y’all, riot on………
- Call me suspicious, but I have a hard time believing that loud music coming from a place called Dreamers Cabaret shortly before 1 a.m. on a Saturday night/Sunday morning would be anything questionable or shady. Maybe I just don’t know Westbrook, Me. as well as I should, but if the guy on the scene filling in for the club’s owner says that the men at the club were plumbers working on emergency repairs and that the scantily women were just bringing them coffee, then I believe him. My man Adam Goodwin would not lie about that sort of thing, not if the club was shut down a day after it opened in September after the Westbrook code enforcement officers pulled its certificate of occupancy. Apparently city officials said they had no idea the owner intended to operate a strip club, although that would seem like an important detail to gloss over. The owner of the club, Lawrence Ferrante, was not on hand when police showed up, but I doubt he could have given any more convincing of an explanation for why there was a disco ball spinning and night club lighting on than Goodwin gave. Who doesn’t throw on club music, lighting and a disco ball to do emergency plumbing repairs? Lighting is vastly overrated when you’re working on plumbing and everyone knows that! But the cops didn’t buy Goodwin’s explanation and city inspectors were called to the club. After speaking with his attorney, Goodwin gave his explanation, but police were unable to identify any licensed plumbers or any evidence of repair work being done. Literally, it sounds like a poorly written scene from a cop movie or an episode of CSI. Police did arrest a woman at the club, Lacreshia Edgerly, 27, on an outstanding warrant on charges of negotiating a worthless instrument. But again, I refuse to believe that a strip club would dare to spit in the face of the law after Westbrook's Zoning Board of Appeals rejected the appeal of Dreamers Cabaret to have its certificate of occupancy reinstated. I sincerely believe that Ferrante will take the proper legal steps and appeal the decision to the Maine Superior Court rather than attempt to circumvent the law by keeping his club open without the proper permits………
- A familiar sight is about to change, residents of and visitors to New York City. Not right away, but in the years ahead you may begin to see the city’s familiar yellow taxes take on a new look. City officials are looking for the taxi cab of the future (like Dippin’ Dots have been the f’ing ice cream of the future for the past 20 years?) and there are some impressive competitors. Perhaps none more so than a glass-roofed, eco-friendly vehicle designed by Turkish automaker Karsan. This unique whip is among the three finalists in New York City's search for a taxicab for the future. New York launched the "Taxi of Tomorrow" the exclusive New York City taxi for at least 10 years, according to city officials. What makes Karsan's V1 unique is that it is the only model that was designed from scratch for the contest. Turkey doesn’t exactly have an illustrious history when it comes to manufacturing cars, so winning the contest would obviously be a huge step forward. Karsan does make vehicles for Hyundai, Peugeot, Citroen and Renault, but even that is a relatively unknown fact outside of Turkey. "Having a vehicle designed and built in Turkey being used as a New York taxi would be a very strong branding opportunity for the Turkish automotive industry," said Jan Nahum, executive director of Karsan. "It's an incredible source of pride and passion for us. New York is probably the most popular and visible city in the world, and its iconic yellow taxis are seen in almost every picture." Making its bid that much better, Karsan has made the V1 wheelchair accessible, spacious enough to hold five passengers and a stroller, and have a glass roof to give passengers a view of New York's many landmarks. Additionally, it would be versatile enough to hold a gasoline, compressed natural gas or electric engine, depending on which technology is the greenest at any time. Whichever car maker wins the "Taxi of Tomorrow" contest will have the first ever custom-built New York taxi. Right now, the city’s taxicab fleet consists of 13,000 licensed taxicabs, with 16 different vehicles from nine manufacturers. The city will announce the winning proposal early next year and the first new vehicles are expected to be on the road in 2014……….
- The fact that actor Wesley Snipes reported to a medium-security Pennsylvania prison Thursday to begin a three-year sentence for failing to file tax returns proves one universal truth in these here United States while soundly shooting down another such truth. Snips being incarcerated in McKean Federal Correctional Institution in Lewis Run on misdemeanor convictions for not filing tax returns in 1999, 2000 and 2001 proves that you can get away with plenty of crimes in this country - murder (O.J. Simpson), assault (the police officers who beat Rodney King), etc. - but if you try to cheat the government out of tax revenues, you are going to jail and going there for a long, long time. However, Snipes sporting an orange jumpsuit and sleeping in an 8x10 cell debunks the long-held notion that famous people in this country don’t go to jail. Even though Snipes was acquitted of felony charges, the misdemeanors were enough to send him away for three years. His attorney is appealing the convictions, but Snipes doesn’t seem to have much reason to still be holding the hope he had when he appear on CNN's "Larry King Live" Tuesday night for an interview and said, "We still have prayers out there. We still believe in miracles. So don't send me up the river yet.” Still, he admitted that he was uneasy about losing his freedom if his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court fails. "I think any man would be nervous if his liberty is at stake," Snipes said. "I'm disappointed that the system seems not to be working for me in this situation." Hmm…..if you wanted the system to work for you, then perhaps you should have used some of the $40 million you earned since 1999 but didn’t file any tax returns on. Oh, and it might have helped had you not (allegedly) been involved in a tax resisters group, as prosecutors alleged. Snipes’ feeble defense was to deny any involvement with the aforementioned group and blame his failure on his advisers. "This is another thing that has been misreported: It has been framed that I was a conspirator and that I was an architect in a scheme by an organization that has been characterized as tax protesters," Snipes said. "The press hasn't reported that I was a client of people who I trusted (who) had knowledge and expertise in the areas of tax law that would protect my interests." Sorry Wes, but the government places the ultimate responsibility for paying your taxes on you, not one those working for you. Just be thankful that you were only convicted on the misdemeanor charges against you and not one the more serious felony charges of tax fraud and conspiracy. Still, three years is a significant stretch of time even though it will ultimately be whittled down with good behavior, no doubt. So stop complaining that prosecutors singled you out, stop alleging that your case was portrayed unfairly in the media and suck it up. Serve your sentence, pay the back taxes you owe and once you are released, pay them every year with the rest of us……….
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