- The University of Alabama-Birmingham football program rode
again – at least for a day. The school ass-hattedly decided to shut the entire
program down in December, prompting an outcry from students, former and current
players and fans. In explaining its decision, the school cited financial issues
and that placated no one. Alas, there is no reversing the decision President Ray
Watts announced shortly after UAB became bowl-eligible after a decade of
struggles and coaching changes. Former players may not be able to change school
officials’ minds, but they made sure the Blazers got at least one more game at
Legion Field. They gathered Saturday for the Sons of UAB alumni flag football
game, a quaint counterpoint to the spring scrimmages other schools around the
country will play in the next week or two. Coach Bill Clark started the alumni
game this past spring after his hiring and to his credit, it will be played
this year even though there is no football team at UAB anymore. Former players,
alumni and supporters decided to hold it again to maintain connections with one
another and also to deliver a stiff middle finger to the administration about
its decision. "Obviously there's a huge, somber cloud hanging over the
university, really, over the whole football issue right now," said former
UAB kicker Lee Miller, now a high school soccer coach. "I think the vibe
toward this event is positive, but there's always this undercurrent. The next
question is, 'How can we get the program back?' There's a lot of people out there,
including me, that are trying to make that happen." Here’s hoping Miller,
UAB alums and Carolina Panthers teammates Joe Webb and Darrin Reaves and 27-year-old
tight end Tristan Henderson – who famously told off Watts in a public assembly
following the decision – find a way to bring UAB football back to life………
- So, Prague has a problem. On the surface, a newly expanded line of the Czech capital’s subway network that
will take travelers from downtown closer than ever to the city's international
airport seems like a net positive. And it would be, if not for a small snafu
that will make using this train out of town much tougher. In order to complete
the journey and cover the final five miles between the Nadrazi Veleslavin
station and Vaclav Havel Airport, commuters will need to board the No. 119 bus.
In order to get to that bus, folks will have to climb 32 steep stairs from the
subway station to the bus terminal. It seems that whoever designed this
transportation trouble spot forgot to budget for an escalator to top off the
$787 million project and that isn't sitting well with elderly people and other
mobility-challenged travelers who were counting on some motorized assistance.
An estimated 3.5 million passengers of more than 11 million using the airport yearly
take the buss rather than go by car or risk a rip-off by Prague's notorious cab
drivers. Now, those people need to haul their luggage up 32 steps or get an
assist from the luggage porters the airport has hired to help travelers from 5
a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, The service is provided free of charge, proving at least
someone in this mess is using their thinking muscles. "The missing
escalator is the reason," Prague airport spokesman Michal Rehorek said. The
city's transport authority, the Prague Public Transport Company, said the
Nadrazi Veleslavin station was intended to serve as a transport hub for the
airport — for connections to trains, not busses. It has an escalator going to a
train station that is unfinished and in the midst of a major delay. It “became
impossible" to change the original project, company spokesman Jiri Stabl
said. "We don't feel it is a mistake of the transport company,” Stabl
lied. You may not believe it, J., but everyone else does……….
- Trolling fanboys must be a lot of fun. “Suicide Squad” director David Ayer knows how easy it is to get
a reaction from the sadly infatuated sorts who hang on the every detail about
movies based on their favorite comic books and it’s why he dropped a full cast
photo on Wednesday, then chased it with the first picture of Jared Leto as The
Joker after fans wondered about the omission from the first shot. Ayer
responded by tweeting a picture of Leto dressed as the iconic villain, complete
with The Joker’s trademark green hair. Shooting on the film is set to begin
later this month as Ayer tells the tale of the famed DC Comics super-villains,
with Leto as The Joker, Will Smith as Deadshot, Jai Courtney playing Boomerang,
Margot Robbie portraying Harley Quinn and Cara DeLevigne as Enchantress. Tom
Hardy was originally scheduled to play the role of Rick Flag, but pulled out
due to a scheduling conflict, allowing Joel Kinnaman to step in. The role of Amanda
Waller, a government agent who is often put in charge of the Suicide Squad,
went to “How To Get Away With Murder” star
Viola Davis. Davis will oversee the team of super-villains working for the
government in return for their freedom and Squad fans have been able to see
their anti-heroes in a limited role on the CW’s hit drama “Arrow,” where they
have made spot appearances in the show’s past two seasons. None of the actors
cast in the movie have played their respective characters on “Arrow,” but
anything that keeps the Suicide Squad alive plays well with DC Comics fans. Warner
Bros. has set “Suicide Squad”
for release on August 5, 2016 and until then, many a tasty morsel of
promotional beef will be dished out to keep the masses hanging on what could be
when they finally get to see their favorite characters on the big screen………
- Liana Barrientos is addicted to saying, “I do.”
She’s not the first woman to enjoy repeated walks down the aisle and famous
marriage addicts like Elizabeth Taylor have made a disturbingly frequent habit
of saying yes to the dress. However, Barrientos seems to miss out on a key part
of the equation when it comes to marrying over and over again and that has
landed her in some agua caliente with the Bronx district attorney's office.
According to the DA’s office, Barrientos is accused of marrying 10 times over
an 11-year period without ever getting a divorce. She’s now charged with two
counts of felony fraud and one count of h filing a fake instrument. According
to the criminal complaint, this wayward woman allegedly obtained two of the
marriage licenses in the Bronx and that gives them jurisdiction to prosecute
and persecute her bigamous ass. The complaint claims the other marriage licenses
were obtained in Westchester County and Long Island, so perhaps those fine
jurisdictions will be inspired by this and go after Barrientos as well. This
string of fraud allegedly began in 1999, but the matter didn’t come until 11
years later when there was a probe of her most recent marriage in 2010. This
could make for an awkward scene in the courtroom if all 11 husbands show up to
support the woman they love….assuming all of them married her for love and not
as part of some massive scam for green cards or some other chicanery. If you
want to find a positive in all of this, at least Barrientos is helping to hold
down the percentage of marriages in the United States that end in divorce……..
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