ahhh, the sweet taste of victory

Jens wins the tour of Deutshland for the second year running. ALLEZ Jens, ALLEZ.

W.W.J.D., four words to live by.

thats right kids, i follow the word. the word of bad ass cyclists that is. you know, the bad ass dudes who don't need drugs or transfusions to ride hard, kick ass, and sometimes even win! these four simple words define a whole lifestyle.


What Would Jens Do?

A) break the back of the peleton?

B) dig deep in his suitcase of courage?

C) put _______ in a spot of bother

D) all of the above.

the answer is always D.
read it, learn it, live it!

-Dave-

"this is no time for ease and comfort, it is time to dare and endure" --Winston Churchill--

let us take a moment to acknowledge the good things that sports have to offer, case and point, Wim Vansevenant. Who is Wim? he is the Lanterne Rouge of the Tour De France. I realize most don't know what the hell that is, or why it even matters, so i will endeavor to explain. the Lanterne Rouge is the man who has the dubious honor of finishing the tour in last place. why should this matter? why do we care about some guy who came in last? well, the tour is one of the most brutal, grueling bike races/sporting events in the world, it takes incredible stamina and strength of mind and body to ride all twenty days when you have something to win. it takes even more courage and fortitude to continue on day in and day out knowing you will be consigned to finishing last. lesser men quit rather than being listed as the last place finisher. still others can't face the physical torment the race visits upon them, and bow under to the pain . Wim conquered all of these things and finished the whole thing. So let us all raise a glass in toast to Mr. Vanseveant, cheers mate!! job well done!!

another sad day

Once again, the football world has received sad news. Legendary coach Bill Walsh, inventor of the "west coast" offense, has passed away at the age of 75, after a long battle with leukemia. many current coaches can trace their coaching lineage back to Mr Walsh including but not limited to: George Siefert, Sam Wyche, Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes, and Mike Holmgren. Bill Walsh created the minority coaching fellowship in 1987, to help minority coaches gain a foothold in a previously white profession. Marvin Lewis, and Tyrone Willingham were two of it's successes, and it was later adopted as a league wide initiative. he is widely aknowledged as one of the most cerebral coaches of this or any generation, and was accounted as one of the games great teaching coaches. he is most remembered for coaching the previously 2 and 14 forty niners to three super bowl victories, but while he was general manager his beloved forty niners won two more titles. he was well liked, and universally respected, twice being named coach of the year. our heartfelt condolences go out to the family that survives him. he will truly be missed, for his influences on, and off the field.

farewell to good times past

as if the last two weeks weren't bad enough for sports in general, now comes the word that i have dreaded for the last year. I knew that Curtis Martin was going to retire, but having it finally happen still pains me. i can no longer harbor hope of a miraculous come back. my favorite player in the NFL is gone. i would like to say thank you Mr. Martin for all your years of hard work and sacrifice. thank you for carrying the team i love upon your shoulders, and never once complaining. there were never any trade demands, hold outs, arrests, nightclub brawls, or anything else that would embarrass your fans. you labored to be the very best at your profession in the off season, and you played through pain that would have made others quit during the season. yet you never sought the recognition that you so richly deserved. you weren't the type to shamelessly self promote, as most of your former peers seem to do. with you there was never, "the i gained three yards on second and two" celebrations, no it was class all the way. in times of turmoil like this, it was especially nice to watch a true professional go out and play the game he loved, the way it should be played, with passion, heart, courage, toughness, skill, grace, and respect. you were truly the class of the league, and you will be missed. thank you Curtis Martin, and may you achieve as much in your further endeavors as you did as a player.

R.J.B.

cyclists wrecking own sport

cycling continues the downward spiral, with the positive doping test of Cofidis rider Christian Moreni, and the subsequent sacking of his entire team from the Tour DE France. as if this was not already bad enough, the leader of the tour, after a gutsy performance resulting in a stunning victory on the last mountain stage of the tour (which would virtually insure overall victory) was thrown out of the tour by his own team and summarily fired. he is rumored to be one of the mysterious "men in black" (cyclists who train in solid colored clothes instead of their team kits to avoid detection and doping controls in the off season), and has admitted to providing false information about his whereabouts while training to the U.C.I. all of this crap just overshadows the great strides and amazing performances of the clean riders in the sport. all of this makes me pine for something pure and noble. please bring back the roller derby, where people go and compete on an even playing field with skill, aggression, and heart, for no other reason then love of the game.

F#%&!! F?#&IN, F%&#ITY, F&%#, F#%K!!!

Alexandre Vinokourov, he was supposed to be the best of us. he was the odds on favorite to win the Tour De France. one of the truly strong men, in mind and body. he was well liked and respected by all in the peleton. after crashing in stage five and getting seriously injured, he received 30 - 40 stitches in his knees and elbow, he soldiered on. he lost huge chunks of time on stages he would have dominated in the past, obviously a shell of the man he was before injured, yet on he pressed refusing to quit. the crowd roared in approval as he staged a comeback in the time trial, and ran beside him yelling encouragement on the next mountain stage when he again faltered and dropped out of contention for good. having no hope of actually winning the tour, he did not quit like so many others, instead he attacked and looked for the individual stage victories. this courage and moxy made him a favorite of the fans, and they cheered him to victory in stage fifteen. he had such heart and courage that people flocked to him rather than the maillot jaune of the race leader. the prime minister of Kazakhstan personally came to visit him at the tour and tell him that they would sponsor his team for the next ten years. then today comes the tragic news that he has tested positive for a blood transfusion after his time trial win. i am heartbroken. he had it all, everyone already knew how good he was. he was more celebrated for this tour than any other rider in the field. the French fans showed up and cheered him as if he was one of their own, and this is the same man that said "french riders were always off the back because they were just lazy". they respected him when he was winning, but they loved him for the courage and fortitude he showed in defeat. he had nothing more to gain in this tour, and instead of going down as being the class of the field, another one of the great names in cycling is disgraced. maybe the sport i love really doesn't have any heroes. oh, and in case anyone reads this and wonders, he uses the same doctor that Lance Armstrong did. coincidence?!?!?

welcome home Derek Fisher. you bring with you much needed class and dignity. you and Luke Walton are the only players left that are truly Lakers. under your tutelage some of the younger players could also begin to attain all the qualities that a real Laker embodies. in addition to your talent, your calmness, heart, courage, and grace are things this franchise has been sorely lacking in the Kobe era. may you know only success on and off the court.

i am one sad puppy

Ok, so here's today's haiku.


Tara you are fierce.
And Venus is a terror.
I miss the derby.


Fin.

yes, yes, i know, i am one sad puppy.

oh, the humanity

aaaaarrggghhh! there has recently opened a gaping hole in my life. i would like to explain it, but i can not find the words. i find that i can only express my feelings of anguish in haiku. so here it is.




painful solitude.
i need more speed and carnage.
where are you now dolls?

Fin.

cone of silence?

alright, what the hell is it with me and technology? first there is the power grid that shuts down for hours every time the temperatures climb. then of course there is the mysterious web of computer signal blockage that encompasses my room, and my room alone. and now there is my goddamn cell phone service, or lack there of. yes that's right, my cellphone is the latest casualty of the dave technology curse. it says i have five full bars of reception, until i actually attempt to use it, then it switches to no signal and completely pisses me off! i have always had reception at my house, yet here i am sans phone. maybe the next time i send verizon a check, i should wait until they are trying to cash it, and then cancel it and send them a letter that says no payment. God Damn you verizon, God Damn you to hell, if you believe in that sort of thing.

patriotism anyone?

it is good to live in the free world damnit! i know i have my issues, but goddamn it there are some things you just can't beat. (unless they ask you to, and then only with the proper fda approved devices). i can say nothing more, further comments would just serve to dim these ladies radiance.

if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck

hah hah hah hah hah!!! the Anaheim ducks, who i have said all last season are F'n thugs, have just proved me right. yes, yes, i know they won the Stanley cup, but most teams in the playoffs could have, if they had systematically injured all the opposing teams players, just like the ducks did. i mean, that bitch Pronger was suspended ,TWICE in the playoffs for being the dirty bastard that he is. some of you said it was sour grapes, but i maintained my position all along. well, VINDICATION IS MINE!!! the ducks just signed Todd "I'll break your neck if you piss me off" Bertuzzi. I have a new phone line that will be dedicated to fielding apologies from all who accused me of being to biased to see the whole picture. just dial 1-888-Ima-dick. and yes i know Detroit had him last year, but they also had three kids from the minors playing in the playoffs. there weren't enough bodies to fill a roster without him. and yes i did boo one of my own players, i mean come on, it was bertuzzi.

insert clever title here

to those of you who are roller derby aficionados, i recently attended bout # 2 of the angel city derby girls season. it is definitely different than the L.A. Derby Dolls that i know and love, but it was entertaining nonetheless. don't get me wrong, i am not knocking these women one bit. they go out there and skate just as hard and care about their sport just as much. the differences arise from the tracks. the angel city girls don't reach the same breakneck speeds as the dolls due to the fact that they skate on a flat surface. and there doesn't seem to be as much hitting because skaters constantly flutter outside the lines to dodge someone. the dolls on the other hand, can ramp up the speed on their banked track, and there is nowhere to dodge when you you have a rail around the perimeter of the track. of course I'm biased, I'll always believe that "my" derby dolls are faster, meaner, stronger, and more beautiful than any other leagues girls, but that won't stop me from supporting other leagues as well. after all, the angel city girls always show up at the dolls events, the least i can do is turn the other cheek. really when it comes down to it, as long as they'll skate, we should support them. they are my people, the ones who fly in the face of convention. the ones who say "fuck society. I'm going to find a way to look how i want, live how i want, and do what i love. I'm going to make it work and you can't stop me." and more power to them!

where's my chainsaw?

hello kids, I'm back. I am still angry, but i have calmed down enough to resume writing nonsense. So, away we go. about two weeks ago, yahoo news had an article about a whale that had been killed. It seems that when they were cutting it up with a chainsaw, they found the remains of an old projectile used to "hunt" whales. well, being the fine citizens that they are, the good kind whalers took the bits to be analyzed. it turns out that the pieces match what was used to kill whales in 1879. yes that's right, the whale was at least one hundred and thirty years old when the good kind whalers decided to slay it. what does it say about the human race, that we are still slaughtering 130 year old critters when we don't really need to? i can only hope that these fine examples of humanity are cutting down giant sequoias to make their harpoons.

you can all rest easy now

everyone who was worried about the current state of our justice system can now relax. yes the reverend AL Sharpton is on the job. he will be speaking with sheriff lee Baca about treating all inmates equally. i for one feel relieved. AL always has all the right answers. well.... OK so he rushed to judgement in the Tawana Brawley case, but he is the only righteous man on the planet. then.... there was the duke lacrosse thing, where he was sure those guys were getting preferential treatment (never mind the fact that they were found innocent), good thing he was there to bring the special brand of justice that only he can provide. lest we not forget the whole don Imus fiasco, AL was perfect to judge Imus, i mean who better to recognize racial bias, than a guy convicted of defamation for his comments about a white d.a. just knowing AL is on the case in l.a. brings joy to my heart, I'll sleep soundly tonight. for those of you ill equipped to recognize sarcasm, the preceding was it!

contempt of court? your god damn right contempt

today i went and got a copy of the police report for the bicycle accident i was in. despite the fact that i and the other person who crashed both told the police that the accident was caused by the teenage girl deliberately stepping out in front of us. this is not mentioned in the report. an independent witness who saw the whole thing told the officer that the girl stepped out into the street causing the accident as well. but in the police report i have. the accident is listed as a bicycle and a motor scooter traveling the same direction down the road and crashing into each other with no pedestrians involved. the diagram of the accident shows no pedestrians on it at all. the girl who caused the whole thing is listed on the report, but only as a witness. this then is the justice that this country provides. this is what every soldier since the American revolution has fought for. this is the equality and the American way. this is what i sacrificed time with family and friends for. this is why i trained, why i bled, and what my brothers in arms were buried for. this is a fucking travesty. i am ashamed of what this country has become, as i am bitter for everyone who gave their life to defend it. this country has become a nation of whores, selling our labor, our resources, our government, and our justice to the highest bidder, and for the first time in my life i am ashamed to be a part of it. the police are either incompetent or corrupt and the courts no longer serve justice, they serve the "law", (if you can afford it). i have nothing but contempt for the whole legal process. i am disgusted, and disillusioned, and i am seriously considering moving. this is no longer the America that i proudly served, this is a mockery, and those that have died in her service over the years have done so in vain. i weep for the future

who says "good guys always finish last"?

as bad as the situation in sports sometimes gets, sometimes it is still a glorious, pure, and triumphant spectacle of all that is good and noble. sometimes a clean hard working young man rises up and achieves more than anyone could reasonably expect, or imagine. over the past three weeks, 21 year old Andy schleck rode into second place in the giro d' italia. in the early stages of the race the fans applauded his effort, while silently saying he was to young and inexperienced to finish in the lofty position he had attained, but as time went on they started to believe. on the penultimate stage of the race, on the climb up the mighty mt Zoncolon (one of the toughest climbs in Europe), he was off the pace and people started to nod their heads knowingly. this was it the youngster finally had broken was the popular opinion, this then would be his triumph. after 131 kilometers the mt Zoncolon climb started. it is a twelve kilometer climb with an average 14.9% grade, and Andy was behind the leaders and looked to be in difficulty. then to everyone's surprise he started to fly. he quickly bridged to the race leader's gruppo, and then with astonishing ease left them behind. he finished the day in third place for the stage, and gained time on all of his closest competitors. the only people to best him that day, were a four time champion of the giro and that champion's teammate. this accomplishment cemented his place on the podium, and secured for Andy, the jersey for best young rider in the giro. instead of riding defensively for the last stages of the race, Andy continued to ride aggressively and took about thirty seconds out of the race leader in the last time trial of the giro. this was not enough to win overall, but in finishing the way he did, he showed character, and class, and brought great support to the pro peleton in a time when it is sorely needed. this then is what sports are truly about, his grit and determination brought out the best not only in himself, but inspired all who watched. bravo Andy, bravo. and on a side note, to show he is a normal red blooded young man, he had his teammates teach him some Italian to impress the gorgeous miss giro on the final podium. he said to her "ti voglio dare tanti baci" (i want to give you many kisses). the crowd and miss giro both appreciated the comments, in the spirit they were made, and everyone had a good laugh. once again bravo Andy.

once again i am stunned by the things chris pronger does on the ice. he has all the physical gifts in the world but he insists on doing things that i and most around me consider to be dirty. he hits high and i believe with the intent to injure. i hope he is suspended for the rest of the playoffs. this is after all the second time he has tried to eliminate an opponent by hitting him in the head, in only this playoff year. so this picture goes out to you chris pronger, it is how i see you and your tactics you piece of s%#*!

my holy grail?

that's right kids, i have almost completed my quest to change my luck. after about nine years of seaching, i have located and purchased the asahi super lucky cat. it is brand new and in the original box. the company says that this is critical, because if you buy a used cat the luck does not change hands with it. i know this might seem silly to some, but lets look at the facts. since my purchase (before i've even recieved my cat) my luck has already changed for the better. i haven't been in one bicycle accident since. i know you might think this is because i still don't have a bike, but i prefer to look at it differently. if i had a bike i might have been involved in the massive wreck at the rose bowl last night. one guy got hurt so badly they had to take him to the hospital in an ambulance, he was unconcious. pretty lucky i wasn't there huh? hopefully he can find a lucky cat to speed him down the road to recovery. so here's to the lucky cat and the fine times in the years to come. cheers!

F the whales, save the whalers

it has come to my attention that the Nashville predators have been sold to some Canadian billionaire. this is fantastic. hockey could finally be taking one step in the right direction. hockey could return to prominence in short order. all they have to do is move that team out of Nashville and up to Hartford. that's right bring back the whalers! think of all the positive press you'd get restoring a traditional franchise like that. and all the protests by animal rights advocates would put the franchise in the news daily. that's a good business decision, it's free advertising. so there it is, screw saving the whales, save the whalers.

you thought you had a bad day

i would like to start by apologizing for my long absence, (as if anyone reads this nonsense). i was placed on injured reserve for a while but now I'm back and "better" than ever. (really i had no where to go but up) here's the latest madness in my life. i was riding my bicycle around the rose bowl. (for those of you who don't know, there is a three mile loop around the stadium. it has relatively little traffic and many people go there to walk run and bike. it is supposed to be pretty safe.) on the downhill side of the loop i was passed by two kids on motor scooters. i checked my speedometer and decided my pride was still intact since they were traveling at a little over 25 Mph. i tucked in about ten feet behind one of them and figured I'd let them pace me home. about 3/4 of a mile later some idiot, irresponsible, retarded, stupid, no good, waste of space teenage girl looked back over her shoulder at us, took two more steps, looked back again and stepped out into the road deliberately to scare the dude on the scooter in front of me. he should have run her worthless ass over! instead he swerved to avoid her, and chaos ensued. when he swerved to the left, i did likewise hoping to avoid the carnage, but to no avail. when he crashed he was thrown right into my path, at 25 Mph i could not avoid him. i went over the bars and down to the pavement. i have included in this post some road rash photos, a couple bruise photos, and a picture of my broken forks. yes that's right, the impact of my bike hitting that poor scooter dude's back broke my carbon fiber forks. i did not include the pictures of my helmet. it is hard to see the cracks in the helmet in photos. not that the cracks are bad, it worked exactly like it was designed to, and i am convinced it saved my life. ( much love to GIRO for making a fine product.) here's where the ridiculousness really starts. that night there was a "ride of silence" (for all the cyclists killed or injured by cars while riding) apparently channel nine was there doing a segment about it for their eleven o'clock broadcast. the ride of silence rode silently by me to go get on the news, instead of stopping to help carry my bleeding carcass out of the road. nice! then when i said i wanted a police report some random a-hole started accusing me of trying to take advantage of the situation. take advantage? some stupid bitch deliberately crashes me and I'm taking advantage? lets take a tally shall we?


emergency room visit with seven x-rays --------- haven't received the bill yet.
broken forks on bike ------------------------------ approx. $300-450
broken seat --------------------------------------- approx $170
complete disassemble and safety check bike ------- approx $???
universal cycling bibs and jersey ------------------ approx $160
new bicycle helmet (I'm buying the same one) ----- approx $190


those are just the things i know are ruined. i still may need more visits to doctors, and they might find more broken parts on my bike, and some random fu#$er who didn't even see the crash has the unmitigated gall to accuse me of taking advantage? it's a good thing I've grown up a little, because if this had gone down a few years ago, i would have had to add bail money to the list cause I'd have hurt that ignorant bastard. the worst part is, this little bitch who caused the whole thing (on purpose i might add) is going to get away scott free. i can't press criminal charges, and it would cost more to get a lawyer and sue her than it would be worth. oh and here's the kicker. this accident and my subsequent period of immobilization caused me to miss the camping trip with all of my friends that i had been planning for months. DAMMIT!!! so there it is, Dave's bad day, i hope yours goes a little better.

the random jaunts to insanity are always the best

so on the spur of the moment i decided to go see the dodgers play the giants. i talked to fancy pants and he said he was in. so i bought two tickets for the left field bleachers, where we could heckle Barry Bonds. here's a rundown of how it went:

each ticket $8.00 plus ticketmaster charge.
parking $15.00
1 dodger dog, nachos, and a lemonade(the only size they sell is large) $15.50
sitting in a stadium with 43,000 people chanting steeeeerrrrooooooiiiidddssss... priceless!


I mean c'mon, what's more fun than sitting in the bleachers and jeering Barry. the people in left field are pretty creative to. there were such gems as:

shoot um up Barry, shoot um up (clap clap). repeat until he shakes his ass in contempt. then increse volume

baaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllccooooooooooooo. repeat until he shakes his head

Barry sucks, barry sucks, barry sucks, etc, etc. this works best just after you have stopped booing and while he is still walking out to left field.

sstteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrroooooooooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiddddsssssss. repeat until whole stadium shakes

throw it back, throw it back. this is used after any giant hits a home run, especially Barry

and of course you can always just boo lustily, while holding your left arm up in the air and using your right arm to pretend to inject steroids.

all in all, it was a really good time. i rocked the "dopers suck" t-shirt and wristband. both of them elicited many great looks and comments, from dodgers fans and giants fans. The only bummer of the night was, the dodgers lost, and the guy the dodgers beaned was not Barry. still, for a random decision, it was a great way to spend an evening.

no, it was a weather balloon, really, it was

so here we are again. Floyd Landis, author of the single greatest cycling feat i have ever had the privilege to witness, is being railroaded again (allegedly). I have no illusions about his innocence or guilt. i fully realize that the sport i love is tainted. it has a history of performance enhancing drugs. i mean hell, in the old days they used amphetamines to get a little edge on the competition. it wasn't until some poor dude's heart exploded on a climb, that they did something about that. no i have no illusions, these men compete in an insanely hard event, and the stakes are high. only the top riders make the big contracts, and sponsors want immediate results. i understand and accept this with no reservations. the part i don't understand is this:
Floyd Landis has repeatedly questioned the ethics and standards of the french lab testing his samples. his first sample that tested positive checked in at five different checkpoints on the way to the lab with four different tracking numbers (allegedly).
Once your A samples are cleared your B samples aren't supposed to be tested. If they are , the results cannot replace a negative result on an A sample, even if they do come back positive.
The US ADA was allowed to test his old B samples anyway.
Floyd asked that the samples be tested in a different lab, once again citing alleged improper practices of the aforementioned french lab.
The samples were tested at the same French lab regardless. the lab promised to give Landis' expert and an attorney complete access to the testing procedures.
Floyd's experts were allegedly denied entrance to the facilities on different occasions while the US ADA representative received unfettered access.
now the results have come back poitive.(after the A samples tested negative) at least that is what was leaked from the lab or the US ADA (allegedly) to the french newspaper l'equipe. the whole thing just stinks. it's like Floyd is standing on his soap box screaming "the aliens have landed in roswell, the aliens have landed in roswell!" and the US ADA and that french lab are saying back "no sir that was a weather balloon, no spaceships here in roswell, just an old weather balloon." either way the louder they shout the less anyone believes them. i mean, i don't believe aliens landed in roswell, but i don't think it was a weather balloon either.
so lets all raise a glass and toast the french lab and the US ADA, they made sure that even if they don't win, those who love the sport of cycling will lose!

because i said so

oh happy day! the infallible, untouchable, all knowing, catholic church has finally reached a decision about the existence of limbo. the judgement that they hold is that limbo does not exist. now i can rest easy at night. the catholic church has finally answered the burning question that has for so long been chained to my soul. it was like an emotional anchor, dragging me into depression, but now there is only the sunlight and happiness. thank you, oh thank you catholic church, for letting me know that you don't know what happens to the souls of babies when they die. but you know for a fact that they do not end up in limbo. i find it particularly appropriate that you saw fit to educate me on April twentieth. yep you are savvy clergy to recognize a holiday of this nature and give us another reason to celebrate. in closing, thank you, for showing the world how smart you really are, on this our most hallowed of holidays.

happy 420 to whom so ever might chance upon this tidbit of sarcasm and disrespect.

and boy are my arms tired.

this sparkling little gem comes to you courtesy of the little kenny.

1. go to google.

2. click google maps.

3. click get directions.

4. enter: New York, New York as starting address

5. enter: Paris, France as destination

6. click get directions

7. scroll down and read line 23

8. if you laugh, re-post this little piece of fluff.

i do realize that this is a radical departure from my usual frustrated rants. but i promise, i wont be happy for long. soon something will upset me, or anger me, and the screaming chinaman will be back in action.

Don Imus and Duke lacrosse, what a pair

Now I know that this is probably a pretty touchy subject to a lot of people. Mr Imus's remarks were indeed callous and thoughtless, but i am sick of hearing people saying he should lose his job. Every day there seems to be some new representative of some human rights group on the television screaming that he should be fired. lets look at it realistically, the man has a comedy show. He is paid to walk the line every day, because lets face it, most humor is at someone else's expense. While he agrees that he crossed the line,he claims it was not said to be hurtful, it was said within the confines of his show as humor. He knows he missed the mark and has apologized profusely. He has been suspended, and not protested one bit, Yet the media frenzy continues. they are like sharks with blood in the water, they circle and hunt relentlessly. They trot out every African American activist they can find to vilify Mr Imus. Day after day i have seen this, and it has brought me to this conclusion. Political correctness has gotten way out of hand. By way of example I would like to bring up another such situation, the Duke lacrosse rape scandal. That situation started out much the same way, at least from the standpoint of media coverage. there was the reverend Al Sharpton preaching about racism and the over privileged white America. These kids were arrested, their Lacrosse program was shut down (effecting other players as well), they were publicly declared guilty before the evidence was in, they were ostracized by their school and by their peers, and forever will have the spectre of that case looming over them. Now here we are thirteen months later and all three are exonerated of all charges. Where now is Al Sharpton, where is the NAACP? I want to see these guys on my television apologizing as loud as they condemned. If Don Imus should be fired, then shouldn't Al Sharpton as well? he unfairly characterized three white youths as criminals and racists, is that not as bad if not worse than what Imus did? At least Imus didn't cost the women he insulted their athletic and scholastic careers, they didn't end up jailed and marked for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, if you are going to fire public personalities for political correctness, then shouldn't most rappers lose their record contracts for their hateful lyrics? Or perhaps political correctness only counts if it gives someone else a little notoriety? I guess no one I have seen on my television in the last three days has ever made a mistake. they probably also have never mis-spoken, and they definitely never offended anyone. They must be shining beacons of humanity, perfect in every aspect. I am so sick of this crap! People are stupid and thoughtless, sometimes they say things that aggravate each other, and sometimes it is an accident. save all the venom for the people who deserve it. this guy isn't burning crosses on peoples lawns. matter of fact he doesn't start his suspension until the end of the week so that he can finish his charity drive to benefit S.I.D.S. research. You want to fix this culture? then look in the mirror and start there first you self righteous F$%*S. That is all.

wooden who?

Well kids it's that time of year again. yes that's right, the ncaa basketball tourney is over and only one team is truly satisfied. Unfortunately for yours truly, it is not the team i like. All things considered i was pretty philosophical about the whole thing. (no drinking binges, or cursing screaming tirades) i avoided the week long disconsolate attitude that normally colors my life after a crushing defeat in the tournament. somehow i even bypassed the unbridled rage that comes from seeing Joachim Noah, and his band of classless cohorts, overly celebrating their victory over UCLA. This particular state of mind was a whole new thing for me, and it was a little disconcerting i don't mind saying. where is all this going you might ask? well i wished to establish my current state of mind before i saw the atrocities that forced me to act.
Right smack dab in the middle of my new found (and mostly ignorant) bliss, i was harshly forced back to reality. I was informed that Mr. Noah and his cronies (hereafter referred to as those disrespectful punk kids, or DPK), wore t-shirts before the ucla game that said "Wooden Who". Those little bastards, who do they think they are? Coach Wooden is universally loved. He is respected not only for his coaching prowess, but for his amazing moral fiber. The man had more success coaching, than any coach, of any sport, on any level, but feels that his greatest accomplishments came teaching english. He never talked to his teams about winning or losing. He always told his teams that, if you are satisfied that you give your best effort for yourself and for your teammates then you are a success. He really meant it too. He will never name his favorite players, because he loved them all so much, but the men he lists as his greatest successes are not the men you would expect. They are not the Kareems or the Waltons, they are the players that came to his program troubled, or with attitude problems, and went on to be successful in life. players that never went to the NBA, but became better well rounded men.
Having attended many UCLA basketball games, I have seen first hand the respect, and reverence that everyone gives coach. Understand that when i say everyone, i mean everyone. I have watched opposing teams line up during warm ups, just for a chance to shake the mans hand. Teams that hated UCLA, teams that would fight tooth and nail during the game, all of them hold that man in high regard. No matter how fierce the rivalry between schools, coach was above it. Not because of his coaching records, but because of the man he is. Which brings us back to those disrespectful punk kids, for them to wear those shirts shows an incredible lack of respect, above and beyond the accepted norm. I mean really, we tolerate it when Noah pounds his chest after a routine play. We don't react when he screams and curses for a foul being called against him, no matter how flagrant the violation. We show incredible restraint by not kicking over the table he stands upon, while rubbing his victory in our faces by taunting our fans and blowing kisses at our cheerleaders. We have come to terms with the fact that this generation of athletes are mostly spoiled, self centered, disrespectful, egomaniacs, but these kids top them all.
At first i thought about turning the other cheek. I even wrote a post similar to this. In that post i finished with the sentiment that i wished Mr Noah success in life, but some of us measure success differently. that is, i am sure, what coach thinks when he sees Noahs' childish antics. After further mulling it over, i realized that i am not that good a person. I wish for you and your cohorts MR Noah, that for every time you indulge yourself by engaging in such juvenile antics, you are blessed with pain and misfortune. It is my most fervent hope that you have misery heaped on you in such great amounts that you are forced to look long and hard at yourself you ignorant f#&*. Until the day that you grow up, here's hoping you suffer, you disrespectful punk kid!