Thursday, June 01, 2017

Roman junkyard fires, boxing becomes MMA and Snoop Dogg embraces white bread


- Sometimes, justice ties itself up with a nice, neat bow and leaves no loose ends. Such was life in Texas, where both bounty hunters and the fugitive from Minnesota they were tracking left a car dealership in body bags after a wild shootout in front of panicked customers. The bounty hunters and their target shot each other dead in a hail of bullets that somehow didn’t claim any other lives. The two bounty hunters, identified by authorities as Fidel Garcia and Gabriel Bernal from Corpus Christi, pursued Ramon Michael Hutchinson to a Nissan dealership in Greenville, located about 50 miles northeast of Dallas. Hutchinson had allegedly been sought since March when he failed to appear for a court hearing in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, on several charges that included assaulting a law enforcement officer. Minnesota-based company U.S. Fugitive Recovery and Extradition went lloking for him and two of its employees finally corralled him at the dealership. They staked out the situation and after several hours, approached him. Garcia and Bernal drew their weapons and the situation escalated quickly as Hutchinson responded by drawing his own pistol, which he dropped. Rather than seize the opening and end things, Garcia and Bernal somehow allowed Hutchinson to stay alive and the men fought as Hutchinson retrieved his weapon and began firing. Witnesses reported hearing about 20 shots fired in the span of six seconds as customers and employees fled for their lives in terror……..


- At this point, Snoop Dogg just seems to be trolling the world. He’s made enough money and built enough credibility that he seems like he can collaborate with just about anyone, no matter how square, out of touch and über-white-bread and succeed, as evidenced by his recent reality cooking show with Martha Stewart and now, offering to help Simon Cowell find a “hip-hop star” on “The X Factor.” Not only that, but the D-O-Double-G said last year he would collaborate with the show’s controversial rapper Honey G, who has been denounced by most as offensive and at best, outright bad, but Snoop has set his sights on helping reality karaoke mogul Cowell find an actual credible and globally popular hip-hop act. “Simon knows I want to find him a hip hop star on ‘X Factor.’ There is so much hip hop talent on the streets of the U.K. — but they ain’t got nobody to develop it,” Snoop said. “I have spoken with Simon. I told him I would clear my schedule to come and help out at the audition stages and find him a global hip hop star and he seems interested — he knows the value of finding one. The X Factor has done great at finding pop stars, but it still hasn’t found a hip hop star. They are among the highest-earning artists in the world. Simon knows it makes sense to try and find one.” As for Honey G, her debut single ‘The Honey G Show’ failed to crack the top 100 on the charts in her native United Kingdom, but if Snoop can turn the manure pile that is reality music shows into an actual, legit act, then he really is magic……..


- Speaking of dumpster fires….Rome. As the world marvels at Circus-Peanut-in-Chief Donald Trump pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord, some real pollution was going skyward in Rome, where a junkyard fire spread through scrapped cars, exploding gas tanks and sending a thick, dark plume of smoke through the northeastern quarter of the Italian capital. Authorities evacuated three apartment buildings in the area as the massive blaze quickly spread through cars that were stacked one on top of the other for demolition, clogging the afternoon sky with thick smoking and burning through at least 50 cars set to be scrapped. Firefighters were eventually able to contain the blaze, but not before it brought Roman traffic to a standstill. Not that a crowded European capital city needs anything added to the mix to increase its congestion and degree of difficulty when it comes from getting from one side of town to the other, but this one definitely accomplished that and ironically, just days after the roving tire fire that is Trump’s presidency rolled through town. According to one city official, Pinuccia Montanari, said the fire demonstrated the dangers of having demolition yards inside the city limits. Yes, a junkyard in town can cause problems….just ask anyone who has to live with Trump’s collection of indefensible and imbecilic policies right now in Washington, D.C……..


- Well, that’s definitely one way to get sports fans to give a damn about boxing. Turn the sweet science into MMA is a great way to bridge the gap that’s left boxing behind in the sports world, even if it means that Leon Lawson Jr., the uncle and trainer of interim super middleweight world titleholder Andre Dirrell, has been suspended indefinitely by the Maryland State Athletic Commission. Lawson has been benched for his unprovoked attack of Dirrell opponent Jose Uzcategui after their bout on May 20 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, one the commission clearly wasn’t going to tolerate.  "Based on an initial investigation of events that took place on May 20, 2017 during a professional boxing show held at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, licensed second [cornerman] Leon Lawson II was summarily suspended by the Maryland State Athletic Commission as of May 23, 2017 for exhibiting unruly conduct in violation of commission regulations," Maryland State Athletic Commission executive director Patrick Pannella said. Because the Maryland suspension, issued on May 23, is an administrative suspension, as opposed to a medical one, other states could give Lawson a license to work in the corner for a fight, but it’s unlikely. Lawson inserting himself into the fight by punching boxer Jose Uzcategui in the face following the conclusion of the boxing contest between Uzcategui and Dirrell has also led to him facing two felony assault charges, one first degree and one second degree, punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a fine. Ironically, Dirrell was awarded an eighth-round disqualification victory to win a vacant interim 168-pound world title, but that’s about the only win his crew had on the evening……..

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