- Give Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo credit for being
humble and accepting the criticism that comes with being one of the world’s
best players in his sport. Ronaldo, the Portuguese star who has tallied all
sorts of scoring records playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, was
pressed on what his squad’s problems are following a 1-0 derby defeat at home
to Atletico Madrid. Losing to an intra-city rival at home was embarrassing
enough as Antoine Griezmann's second-half goal decided the game at the Estadio
Santiago Bernabeu, but Ronaldo missed two clear scoring chances that could have
won the game. Add on the fact that he has just two goals in the 10
derbies since the 2014 Champions League final and none in his past five
meetings against Atletico and things were bound to get ugly in the postgame
interview session. Ronaldo had to know that and he either didn’t care or was
intent on throwing his teammates under the bus before backing the bus up over
their limp bodies and trucking them a second time. "It annoys me that they say that
Cristiano has dropped his level, and that is why Madrid have dropped their
level," he said. "If they were all at my level we would be first. You
always ask me these crappy questions -- it seems that here in Spain, I am in
the sh*t. The numbers do not lie, statistics never trick you, it is easy."
Very classy, C. If all of my teammates were as great as me, we’d be in first
place. Real Madrid has struggled this season with bigger names like Gareth Bale
and Karim Benzema unavailable, but it’s those times when stars are supposed to
step up and be even better. If they can’t, they’re at least supposed to take
the resulting heat without looking to scapegoat someone else for the team’s
troubles………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Don’t sleep on the rage-ability of nationalist
Buddhist monks in Myanmar just because you have an erroneous image of nationalist
Buddhist monks in Myanmar being tranquil, peaceful dudes who just want to wear
bitchin’ robes and practice the arts of silence and meditation. Anyone who
doubts these bold souls’ commitment to their cause and their country need look
no further than a weekend uprising in which hundreds of mad-as-hell monks and
their supporters rallied in support of retaining a constitutional clause
barring Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the country's recently elected ruling
party, from becoming head of state. Suu Kyi has gained international acclaim
for her bravery in the face of years of unjust house arrest after being elected
to office and actually trying to take her elected position and recently was
freed. However, she is barred from becoming president because the
military-dictated constitution bars anyone whose immediate family members are
foreign nationals from holding the office. Her two sons are British, as was her
late husband, so she’ll have to settle her National League for Democracy party taking
over government in March after winning November's election. That isn't sitting
well with the Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha, which is believed to have
organized this weekend’s get together. The country’s government, military and
various opposition groups are pretty much constantly at war with one another,
so the only question at any given moment is who’s fighting whom……..
- Give Macklemore credit for not trying to hide an embarrassing
experience from his career. The oft-mocked rapper and his recording partner in
crime Ryan Lewis just dropped their new album “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made” and
it features collaborations with big names such as Chance The Rapper, Idris Elba, Ed Sheeran and Leon Bridges, all
of whom are talented artists capable of bringing serious clout to a project.
Yet it seems that the biggest name of all that could have been tied to the
album is instead the one who got away. That would be über-talented British
songstress Adele, whom Macklemore asked to do a guest spot on the song “Growing
Up,” only to have her “respectfully decline” the offer. The rapper admitted
that he approached the multiple-Brit-Award winner to appear on the song the
track, but that she politely passed. The gig went instead to Sheeran, who
clearly does not have Adele’s pipes or clout, but did a capable job with the
assignment. It would have been easy to pretend that the rejection never
happened and hope the news never leaked, but Macklemore elected to own it. “I’m
sure that there were times that we never heard back from somebody’s manager or
something like that,” he said, seemingly giving Adele credit for being kind
enough to at least give him an answer. It would have been an unsual combination
and probably would have resulted in a better final product, but when you’re
Adele and everyone would love to work with you, clearly you’re going to have to
say no to a few people………
- Today’s lesson for the kids: Don’t be a narc. It’s a lesson an
unidentified 8-year-old in Windsor,
Vermont should have known before now, but clearly understands based on a
colossal mistake he made last week. This too-much-truth teller probably thought
he was being helpful when he shared a story about helping a farmer grow
"special medicine" plants at his home, but his tale turned what may
well have been a thriving enterprise into a police raid and a major marijuana
bust. According to Windsor Police Department detective Jennifer Frank, the
student told school officials and police that he got to help his mother's
boyfriend grow "special medicine that can cure anything at all.” That
sounds like a pretty great boyfriend and better still, the boy told Frank that
all sorts of visitors made frequent appearances at the house, giving this child
a chance to expand his social circle and work on his social skills. Sadly, this
ungrateful brat ended up narcing out Steven Mann, the aforementioned boyfriend
of his mother, and Mann was hauled into a White River Junction courtroom where
he pleaded not guilty to a felony count of cultivating more than 25 marijuana
plants. When officers showed up at the home, they allegedly found two grow
rooms next to the child's bedroom, yet they dubbed the contents illegal drug
material instead of special medicine that could cure anything, which is one of
the least creative ways ever to lie to a child about what ganja actually is.
Here’s hoping that dear old mom has a chance to sit down wit this scrappy
youngster and explain to him that when you’re growing thousands of dollars in
special medicine plants in your home, that’s the sort of thing you do not,
under any circumstances, share with anyone at all, let alone your teacher. Next
time, the person the boy narcs out might react in a decidedly less favorable
way……..
