- Waaaaaaiitttt a minute…....the University of Oregon’s
football program really did commit major
NCAA violations in connection with recruiting? No way. A program that became
extremely successful and had a flashy head coach who liked scoring a ton of
points while competing for conference championships and who just jumped to the
NFL didn’t play by the rules? Of course, Oregon’s drama is not new. In 2010, the
NCAA began looking into possible violations following reports about payments
Oregon made to recruiting services, including a $25,000 payment to Willie Lyles
and Houston-based Complete Scouting Services in 2010. Lyles’ connection to
Oregon recruit Lache Seastrunk was curious, as was the fact that Oregon seemed
to have paid him $25,000 for video scouting materials it could not show
investigators and which weren’t documented. The investigation has marched
forward and Oregon now knows it’s in deep sh*t, as evidenced by the fact that
it n has acknowledged its violations and proposed a self-imposed two-year probation
with the loss of one scholarship in each of the next three years. These
not-shocking revelations were made in a summary disposition report included in
the documents released Monday and the case is far from over because Oregon and
the NCAA have failed to come to an agreement on the matter. The case will go
before the infractions committee at some point this year, but until then
everyone can feel better because Oregon's athletic department issued a
statement that said: "The review is ongoing until the NCAA Committee on
Infractions issues its final report. The integrity of the process and our
continued full cooperation with the NCAA prohibits us from publicly discussing
the specifics of this matter." The university continues to insist that the
violations were not intentional in nature, but even if they are, the man
largely responsible for them is long gone. Chip Kelly is now the head coach of
the Philadelphia Eagles. He exited Eugene with a 46-7 record with appearances
in four straight BCS bowl games and even if the Ducks are hammered with NCAA
sanctions, he won't be affected………
- There are many ways to react to the result of an election,
but the most dramatic is undoubtedly happening right now in Venezuela. As the
South American nation moves forward sans the late despot Hugo Chavez and his handpicked
successor has emerged as the apparent victor, those who were looking for a
shift in philosophy at the top haven't taken it well. A day after election
authorities proclaimed Nicolas Maduro to be the winner of the election to
replace his mentor, at least seven people were killed and 61 were injured in
post-election violence across Venezuela. So far, authorities have arrested 135
people in connection with political violence and candidate Henrique Capriles
Radonski’s followers are staunchly behind his demand for a recount after Maduro
secured 50.8 percent of votes in Sunday's election, while Radonski was credited
with 49 percent. According to the government, the violence boils down to
aggression by Radonski’s supporters against the followers of the President-elect,
with government health clinics, food distribution centers, a bank and a
preschool program the targets of violence. It’s worth noting that the reports
of violence have not been independently confirmed and could well be the work
product of a conniving regime seeking to maintain its grasp on power. To keep
up plausible deniability in any attacks, both Capriles and Maduro have publicly
urged supporters to remain peaceful in reacting to the election results. They
have alternated those pleas with accusations of violence against one another,
simultaneously provoking more unrest. Capriles has also called for a recount
and Maduro has responded by promising to use an iron fist to crack down on any
attempts to unseat him from the presidency. In other words, it’s as if Chavez
never left. Capriles’ complaints center on problems with voting machines,
inconsistencies in tallies reported by voting centers and reports that
opposition witnesses were forced out of hundreds of polls. He also insisted
that anyone who takes to the streets Wednesday as part of previously schedule
protests is not affiliated with his campaign. "The government wants there
to be deaths in the country," he said. As it turns out, there already have
been……..
- Hey there. Have you had enough of Earth and are you
longing to shoot yourself out into space, never to return and very probably to
never be heard from again? Your chance has come…..just as soon as 2023 gets
here. That’s when Mars One, the
private company that hopes to land a person on the surface of the red planet by
that particular year, is planning to make history. Those who want in on this
fool’s mission will begin their journey this summer, when the application
process for aspiring astronauts who hope to be the first human beings to set
foot on Mars begins. Mars One will throw open its virtual doors and begin
accepting videos made by prospective astronauts along with a small application
fee that will serve to bilk them out of their hard-earned money, er, fund the
Mars colonization project. "We expect a million applications with 1-minute
videos, and hopefully some of those videos will go viral,” Bas Lansdorp, Mars
One co-founder and chief executive officer. Those interested in moving to Mars
will need to be fairly sure about leaving Earth, as here are no current plans
for a return journey from Mars. The 24 saps who make this commitment will be
counted on to establish a permanent Martian colony. Not surprisingly in a world
full of kooks, 45,000 people have registered on the company’s mailing list and
10,000 would-be astronauts have expressed a desire to apply. Of course, there
is a chance that a maximum application fee will of just $25 will prevent Mars
One from reaching its funding goal, seeing as the company estimates that it
will cost a whopping $6 billion to send the first four astronauts to the red
planet. How will it make up for that shortfall? By pimping out it its
application, selection, and training phases as reality television offerings.
“We can prove to the broadcasters that there is real demand and interest, and
we will start negotiations after the [astronaut] selection procedure begins,”
Lansdorp added. In its website listing for the program, Mars One included resiliency,
adaptability, curiosity, ability to trust, and creativity/resourcefulness as
the six most important qualities for an applicant. “The applicant must be free
from any disease, any dependency on drugs, alcohol or tobacco, must have the
normal range of motion and functionality in all joints, visual acuity in both
eyes of 100% (20/20) either uncorrected or corrected with lenses or contact
lenses, free from any psychiatric disorders,” the website adds. Act now, as
space is limited……..
- Do rich people still enjoy paying ridiculous amounts of
money for sh*t they don’t need merely so they can say that they did? Well……are
400-thread-count sheets made of Egyptian cotton still the only way to sleep in
luxury? The White Barn Inn restaurant
in Kennebunk, Me. knows this and it’s why the eatery is celebrating its 40th
anniversary by introducing a limited-edition, $40,000 cocktail. What makes a
simple alcoholic beverage worth $40,000? Trick question. The answer is nothing
because there isn't a cocktail in the world worth $40,000, but the White Barn
Inn is artificially inflating the value of its offering by adding Hanger One
Vodka, St. Germain Elderflower, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, pomegranate, a
spoonful of rose water……..and a four-carat ruby. That’s right, they are
dropping an actual gemstone into the drink and that’s supposed to make it
exclusive and incredibly desirable. Now, if a person wants to enjoy all of the
above ingredients sans the ruby and the resulting $40,000 price tag, they can take
a sip of this martini for a mere $18 – still overpriced, but slightly less so.
This shameless publicity stunt masquerading as a $40,000 cocktail will be available in June through the end of
the year. The real catch here is that in order to drink a $40,000 cocktail, a
person must first figure out where the heck Kennebunk, Maine is and figure out
a justifiable reason to go there…….
- There are a few ways a rock star can tell when they’ve
really made it. Waking up pants-less in the Playboy mansion after a night DJing for Hugh Hefner
and his pals of the porn model variety is one of those ways and it’s already
happened to Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke. Okereke and his bandmates
released one of 2012’s best albums, “Four,” but his great night that turned
into a great morning at the Playboy mansion came during his DJ days. He was
asked about his wildest nights ever as a rock star and when the discussion
turned to the strangest place he had ever woken up, he conceded that it
was without
underpants on a piano owned by Hugh Hefner the morning after a big party. "A
basketball court in Philadelphia. That was pretty strange. A skip. A jail
cell," he said before arriving at the right answer. "The Playboy
mansion, that was a strange night. I was DJing somewhere in the States and a
bunch of playmates came and partied with us. Nothing naughty happened but I did
wake up on top of a piano and I wasn't wearing any underwear. I had a shirt on
and my shoes but my jeans were on the floor. I think I had been to the toilet
and forgotten to put them back on." Nothing naughty? Does anyone hang out
with Playboy playmates for any other reason? They’re not exactly renowned for
their intellectual conversations and intense philosophical debates and they’re
not called Mensa’s Scholarly Ladies of the Month. Bloc Party is currently on
the road promoting “Four,” so Okereke’s next party with the ladies of Playboy
will have to wait for now……
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