Tuesday, March 31, 2015

NHL coaching bittermen, South Korean plastic surgery crime and Danny Brown v. Scotland

-->
- Dedication to one’s craft is an admirable thing. However, there is dedication and then there’s what a South Korean man with a criminal past may done to keep his illegal ways going. This unidentified con artist was already well-known by law enforcement before he went on a nine-month theft spree, but there was something different this time around. According to police in the city of Incheon, this criminal innovator may have undergone plastic surgery to alter his appearance, allowing him to embark upon his nine-month stealing spree with the sort of freedom he might not have enjoyed as his old self. In the course of those nine months, this busy felon allegedly stole cash and goods worth in excess of more than $479,000, which is a remarkable haul. He originally served time in prison for theft in 2005 and investigators believe he later had plastic surgery to change the structure of his jaw, and to stretch his limbs so he would appear taller. That’s right, dude actually tried the ol’ “stretch my arms and legs so I look taller trick,” the one cartoon and Saturday morning teen shows depicted by having characters hang from a bar in the closet with buckets of sand tied around their feet in an effort to make them taller. Eventfully police were able to identify the man despite his new appearance and he was arrested on March 23 for 87 counts of robbery across South Korea. The suspect proved to be less than a steel trap of secrets, as he caved and confessed to the recent string of robberies, admitting to police that he created his own tools to disable digital home locks. It sounds like the beginnings of a great movie script or basic cable drama, so let’s go ahead and open the bidding rights war now……….


- Note to the world: Detroit rapper Danny Brown is not a fan of staying hydrated. The hip-hop artist was expanding his brand globally with a show at the SWG3 venue in Glasgow, Scotland over the weekend and the show was going well enough, with a black American playing to a bunch of whiskey-loving Scots and neither side worrying about their immense cultural differences. Then, things went really wrong really quickly thanks to one fan, identified as "white, male and in his early to mid-twenties." This wet blanket either had a pint too many of cheap beer or was simply not a fan of Brown’s act because this ass hat lobbed a container of water – the exact nature of the container is disputed – at Brown, dotting him with the flying vessel of liquid refreshment. Some say the container was a water bottle, while other claim it was a pint glass. What isn't up for debate is that the water strike infuriated Brown, who stormed off the stage midway through his show and did not return. Afterward, it was reported that an incensed Brown said that he "would never play Glasgow again.” Amused fans noted that while the water thrower was to blame for the incident, Brown ended up looking bad because he gets on stage and raps about drugs, guns and violence, but the instant he was hit with the thrown water, he packed it in and left town. He’s known for high-energy, high-intensity live shows, but on that particular night fans got less than half of what they were expecting to see. Water bottles and other projectiles being hurled at performers is a common occurrence around the world across all genres of music and while walking off stage and not returning is bad, at least Brown didn’t embrace the common hip-hop response of looking for immediate retribution by turning his rings around and pummeling the guilty party himself……….


- Enough is enough, New Hampshire.  You don’t know when to quit and as a result, your state legislature had to break the mold for legislatures everywhere and actually show some restraint because you couldn’t do it. A state that already has an official tree, bird, dog, animal, insect, amphibian, butterfly, saltwater fish, freshwater fish, rock, mineral, gem and tartan has so many damn symbols that these already-empty emblems of nothingness have become more hollow than ever. Earlier this month, New Hampshire legislators took a lot of undeserved heat for torpedoing a group of fourth-graders' effort to name the red-tailed hawk the official state raptor, branding the attempt as frivolous and not only teaching these greedy brats a lesson, but also a new word in the process. The state representatives to turned this request away claimed their time would be better spent taking bribes, er, resolving important issues like budgets, taxes and education. State Rep. John Burt became the face of the resistance on this issue and during the hawk debate, he argued that lawmakers had more important work to do, sarcastically suggesting that the state would name an official hot dog. "It was to get a point across that if we have these bird bills, we have to stop these and tell the teacher, `I know you want to mean well and you want to encourage your kids and you should, but you shouldn't be taking up our precious time,"' Burt said of the request. Sadly, other states have an even larger number of state symbols, including Oklahoma, which has 45 state symbols including five separate state foods such as the state bean -- black eyed peas -- and six separate meals, including chicken fried steak. And people wonder what makes America great……….


- The positive, sunny demeanor with which some people approach life is simply a burst of encouragement and joy for everyone fortunate enough to know them. Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz is not one of those people. Trotz could have been enthusiastic after his team - chasing a playoff berth – defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 when Evgeny Kuznetsov deflected in defenseman Matt Niskanen's shot 73 seconds into overtime. It was a key victory for a team sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference and in need of all the points it can get, the its coach was not impressed and tore into his team after the game. “I didn't think we had a real hard work ethic, weren't diligent on our responsibilities, and that was probably one of our sloppier games," Trotz said. "Our decision-making was poor. Our execution was poor. I'll say our resiliency and determination were average, at best. We had too many guys that weren't getting it done tonight." The “average at best” blast might be the best part of the whole  rant, although saying your team won because it "got two lucky goals" is also strong. Trotz, ever the head coach, went straight from ripping his team after a win to noting that the NHL's top teams are coming up on the schedule, with the Capitals hosting the Predators on Saturday, then playing at the Rangers on Sunday. "As I said to the guys," Trotz added, "if we play that way in the next two games, it won't be pretty for us." He isn't the first coach to act like his team got its ass kicked when it actually won, but Trotz did it better than most and his ability to be a world-class bitterman at a time when he should be happy that his squad earned three points and created a six-point buffer between it and the team in ninth place trying to jump up and snag a playoff spot from it is both impressive and slightly sad. Learn to find the positive in life and don’t be so angry all of the time, Barry. Like every other NHL coach, you’ll be fired after your team loses more than two games in a row and then, a win like this will look mighty appealing………

No comments: