Yahoo- Will Smith's blood alcohol content reportedly was measured at 0.24 percent the night he was shot to death in downtown New Orleans, according to a NOLA.com report.
One NOLA.com source put Smith's BAC at 0.24 and another concurred that the former Saints Pro Bowler was over the legal limit of 0.08. Cardell Hayes was arrested and charged with shooting Smith eight times and his wife, Racquel, twice on April 9 following a traffic incident in which Smith appeared to rear-end Hayes’ Hummer and drive away. Smith family attorney Peter Thomson had said Smith was not "inebriated to the point" of being unable to drive. Now due to my lack of familiarity, and general skepticism, with regards to the criminal justice system I can't definitively say this, but I am pretty sure that someone being 3X the legal limit isn't considered legal cause for putting the better part of an entire round of bullets in their back. I could be wrong, but - other than public perception - I don't think this changes too much in terms of putting Cardell Hayes in prison for the rest of his miserable life. That's the "good" news. The bad news is that Will Smith is starting to look more and more responsible for the actions that took place on the night that he lost his life. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that the consumption of a fairly significant amount of alcohol was likely to blame for the minor fender bender that turned into an unnecessary car chase that turned into a subsequent rear ending that turned into a fatal altercation that may have also been amplified by the use of alcohol. Again, none of this changes the fact that Will Smith was clearly a victim, but it does mean he made quite a few avoidable mistakes that make him at least slightly liable for his premature death. I suppose it was pretty predictable that he was under the influence considering he was out to dinner with old friends, but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow. I'll just never understand how/why people that are worth millions don't have personal drivers, or at the very least don't splurge on a high quality Uber. I guess it's not the cheapest expense in the world, but it's undoubtedly not as valuable as a human life. Especially a human life that had a positive impact on so many, and still had a lot more to accomplish before it came to an abrupt, senseless end.
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Well, it was fun while it lasted. Well, not for someone like me that never bought into the idea of two of the most egomaniacal athletes - that partake in combat sports that require completely different skill sets - choosing to fight for paychecks that differed greatly in size. However, I suppose it was fun for those that believed that this blatantly obvious, albeit successful, attempt at a publicity stunt was rooted at all in reality. Unfortunately all good pipe dreams must come to an end, and the idea of Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor stepping into a boxing ring is no different. Don't believe me? Just take a look at this online promo that Floyd Mayweather posted on his FaceBook. Does that look like an advertisement for a matchup that could potential be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in 2016? I could have put together that marketing campaign, and the one time I used photoshop to took me an hour to place Mayweather's head on Holly Holm's body (for obvious reasons). That looks like something that would be posted up on a light pole or a public billboard after being mass produced by the first color printer ever distributed. The bland capitalized yellow font? The nondescript black background? Tell me, does Pretty Boy Floyd ever spare an expense when it comes to being flashy and gaudy? Then why the hell would he let his billion dollar brand - that is all too important to him - get represented by a mid-tier middle school computer project. Even if this was real, McGregor would probably call of the fight because Floyd's team didn't even respect him enough to put the last name that so proudly displays his heritage on there. If I wasn't already sure this was nothing more than a ruse to get both their names trending then I certainly would now, because high maintenance, narcissistic dickheads don't endorse their inter-sport pay-per-views with something straight of a tutorial for 'Microsoft Paint'. Here Is Gary Bettman Trying To Crawl Out Of The Hole He Dug For Himself With Offsides Replays5/31/2016 Bettman: The notion that we call back a goal because there’s a toe over the line — the rule is the rule. And I have no doubt that if we didn’t get it right, that the toe was over the line, there would be a lot of screaming about the fact that we got the call wrong. So if you think back to the Tampa game, where everybody was focused on that offside call, the fact of the matter is everybody in Pittsburgh would’ve been screaming if we didn’t get the call right. Whether or not we use video replay, there are so many cameras that television has that they get to see. And so, the better question may be: Do you want to have an offside rule? I’m not advocating that we should get rid of the offside rule, but the notion, ‘well, the rule was only violated by a little.’ Either you enforce the rule or you don’t. And if you don’t get it right, and we say, ‘oh, it was only over a little,’ then the other team and its fans and everybody watching the game is gonna say ‘well, how are you enforcing the rules? As much shit as I give Gary Bettman I do so while knowing that his job is not easy. The decision to implement more cameras and start closely looking at plays that were potentially offsides was one that I am sure was a long time in the making, but having seen that decision play out I think most hockey fans would tell you it was the wrong one. Not because we - as a viewing audience - don't like rules upheld to the best of their ability, but because we only want them upheld to the point in which it doesn't detract from the viewing experience. I think you would be hard pressed to the say that the exorbitant amount of time that has been dedicated to making sure infractions - that may or may not have had an effect on important goals - get called by the book hasn't been detrimental to the flow and the rightful outcome of playoff games. Now, in the sense that you are never going to appease everyone on any given play, Gary Bettman is correct in essentially saying that someone is always going to have room to bitch. I just think he choose the option that would undoubtedly lead to more bitching. Sure, there are blatant offsides plays that went uncalled and cost teams games in the past, but they were few and far between. These ticky-tacky calls (like the one above) that are decided by one touch of the toe after being zoomed in on time and time again by a high definition camera wouldn't have led to "screaming" in the past because no one would have known any better. The choice to closely review them, and re-review them, re-re-review them was made, and now every single situation that's even relatively close to being illegal is under close, monotonous scrutiny that brings the fast paced action of postseason puck to a slow, tedious crawl. To simply say that "you either enforce the rule or you don't" is factual untrue, because the league has survived - without too much controversy as a matter of fact - loosely calling offsides to the best of their ability for years. Of course you'll always issues with human error when you are talking about a lineman's instinctual call. However, it's less of an issue than leaving the fans stuck picking their ass for five minutes at a time wondering what the actual score of a game is when we should be glued to the edge of our seats by the continuation of the end-to-end action that makes playoff hockey so exciting. Gary Bettman was undoubtedly in a lose-lose situation, but - while understanding that this is in retrospect - he clearly took a bigger L than he needed to. h/t TheSportingNews DigitalSpy- HBO is apparently waging war on Pornhub for hosting sex scenes from Game of Thrones.
The Sun reports that the network's corporate and legal teams are aiming to get material from the show taken down from the world's largest porn site. It's all over an apparent breach of copyright after Pornhub has been filled with hundreds of nude clips and sex scenes from Game of Thrones, featuring the likes of Carice van Houten and Emilia Clarke. Last month, the season premiere of HBO's epic saw a 4% drop in Pornhub's US traffic, but six million people are said to have visited the site since to look for material related to the show. Searches for Game of Thrones-related naughtiness reportedly boosted by 370 per cent on the day of the season six premiere as well. Clarke was the top search, followed by Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell) and Sibel Kekilli (Shae). Nothing more than savvy business from HBO. You don't just put out one the most provocative television shows of all time and let porn companies swoop in and steal your viewership. You just know there are plenty of perverted nerds out there shining their swords to scenes from 'Game Of Thrones', and I'm sure at least a slight percentage of them don't even care all that much about the show. That's why HBO had no choice but to take a run at PornHub. You can't miss on the serial masturbator demographic when you are putting out a popular science fiction show with an underlying theme of nudity and sex whose success is based primarily on ratings. You want to rub one out to premium television then you damn well better be paying for premium television. You have a dungeons and dragons fetish then you better pony up if you want it satisfied On-Demand. Ain't no way HBO is letting a bunch of 'Magic' card playing motherfuckers - that think they are too good for 'Game Of Thrones' - rub a couple out on their dime. You don't splurge on anything more than a basic cable package then you aren't splooging to nudey videos of Khaleesi on your computer screen. It's not that the Home Box Office is worried about an affiliation with pornography. Back in the day softcore porn was paying their bills. The popularity of free sites like PornHub put a huge dent in that, and now HBO is getting their retribution - one chaffed dick Renaissance man at a time. Almost have to admire the lengths they are going to to make sure you have a subscription to 'HBO Go' if you want to HBO Cum. Gary Bettman Really Nailed It When Speaking About The NHL's Potential Participation In The Olympics5/31/2016
There are plenty of things to be said about Gary Bettman. While most of them may be derogatory, you really have to commend his ability to say what people want to hear when they want to hear it. I mean, I can't think of one thing that would make devoted hockey fans feel better about not getting to watch their favorite athletes perform on the international stage quite like telling them that it's nothing more than a financially motivated decision. Whew, what a relief. It was one thing when they kept saying it was to make sure their best players stayed healthy. Worrying about the safety of the athletes that we invest so much time, energy, and money in would simply be an unacceptable excuse. I'm sure all the people that look forward to Olympic hockey will understand the need to make the product exponentially inferior now that they know the primary reasoning is to continue to line the pockets of the rich. Nothing slaps a silver lining on bad news quite like finding out that those that are already the most fortunate are benefiting from it. I can't believe that Gary Bettman waited this long to tell us the truth, but I am glad that he finally did because it is sure to quiet the masses that are so often calling for his job due to a lack of ability to promote the brand to casual fans. Casual fans that hate nothing more than being guilted into Patriotically packing themselves into bars at absurd hours to root for their country. It's about time the Commissioner of the NHL said right by those that may not know the players by name, but do know that there is nothing worse than being given yet another reason to eat, drink, and be merry with their more informed peers. A Muslim Student Was Expelled After Classmates Found Old Pictures Of Terrorists On His Facebook5/31/2016 Metro- A Muslim movie fan claimed he was treated like a terrorist and forced to quit college after he posted images of gun-wielding actors on social media three years ago. Business student, Hasib Anwari, was investigated by police after teachers allegedly claimed he was an Islamic extremist. The 19-year-old said he was preparing to sit his final exam when police came to his home to quiz him on May 8 about pictures he had posted on Facebook. Hasib said the images were taken from the 2012 movie Zero Dark Thirty, starring Chris Pratt and John Barrowman. The teenager said he understood the police were doing their job, but he could not help feeling like he was being ‘treated like a terrorist’ by his teachers at West College Scotland’s campus in Paisley, Renfrewshire. ‘It turns out my classmates had been on my Facebook profile and saw some pictures of guys in movies holding guns that I had actually posted three years ago. ‘They called the police and told them that they thought I was an extremist, and that I was planning on travelling to the Middle East. I am not going to defend a bunch of college kids being so intimidated by the presence of a Muslim person that they tracked down his FaceBook page, and flipped through THREE YEARS worth of posts to find anything they could possibly consider worrisome. Those kids were undoubtedly on some kind of racist witch hunt. However, if your name is Hasib then you have to be aware that discriminatory dickheads exist and you have to do everything you can to avoid their wrath. This is the equivalent of a male school teacher posting pictures of young children in bathing suits in the sense that it's the one thing that was sure to eventually get him in trouble. If you're Muslim, don't click send on pictures of terrorists. It's pretty cut and dry, and honestly - it doesn't seem like all that much to ask. Not saying the kid is a booked plane ticket from an ISIS membership, but I could see how someone might think that after getting wind of these... Again, this kid probably was a "Muslim movie fan", but if we are being honest that just sounds like the socially acceptable way of saying "terrorist apologist". You post a bunch of pictures - with absolutely no caption or context - on the internet for all to see then people might just think you endorse whatever it taking place in said pictures. If I start posting screenshots of dead babies on social media without so much as a "stop killing babies" disclaimer then I would expect people to steer clear of me both online and in public. As someone that had one of their old embarrassing posts pop back up just this morning I certainly understand "publish regret", but my post also highlighted my ever present immature, not a member of an extremist organization holding a motherfucking rocket launcher. It sucks that he is retroactively getting is trouble for something he posted when he was 16 - when the accusation of any faint terrorist allegiance clearly never came to fruition in a violent way - but he's honestly lucky it took this long to happen. I am not about to FaceBook stalk every Muhammad, Abdullah, and Sharif I run into on the streets, but if they post a picture on my newsfeed of Osama Bin Laden grinning ear-to-ear then I wouldn't mind law enforcement doing their due diligence. Being forced out of school is a bit much, but then again - so is the unnecessary visual of a terrorist standing weapon in hand on the side of a mountain without explanation. This is Maggie McMuffin. Maggie is a burlesque performer and also a friend. This is what she was wearing last week when JetBlue told her she was dressed inappropriately and couldn't board the flight from Boston to Seattle she had paid for. She was connecting in Boston from NYC, also a JetBlue flight - which had no issues with the way she was dressed.
No explanation was given except that the pilot said her clothes would prevent her boarding the plane. The flight lead asked if she had anything else to wear, and told her if she didn't they could rebook the flight for her. Maggie ended up having to go to another terminal to buy a pair of women's sleep shorts in XL for "proper coverage". Despite contacting Jet Blue at length, all they have done to "make it right" is refund her for the swim trunks and give her less than $200 in credit. The company apologized but the pilot did not. They have not offered any explanation for their behavior. Sexism is alive and well in this world. How does what Maggie was wearing effect her ability to fly? It doesn't. Please share this status. Make this go viral. Maggie did not deserve to be treated like this. Do we have an update on what strip club/burlesque bar Maggie works at so I can avoid that place of business like I went halfsies on an abortion with one of their regulars? Seriously, people are paying to watch that women take OFF her clothes? I would pay double to buy her some matching animal print sweatpants just so I could finish my cocktail without leaving her buried up to the top of her knee-highs in my projectile vomit. Whatever, obviously that outfit floats somebody's boat enough to keep her employed so I won't criticize her choice of profession too much. That said, I will criticize her bringing her profession to the airport with her. Hey Mags, you want to be able to fly without hassle? How about actively avoiding reasons in which you would be hassled? That includes showering and changing after having a bunch of old men breathe their stale pervert breath all over your oversized work panties during the midnight shift. The airport - and more so the process of flying - sucks for everyone, but it sucks far more when looking at the pasty thighs of a woman that would likely light up like a fucking Christmas tree if she was hit with a black light. TSA's entire job is to shame people, so if you don't want to subjected to that shaming then don't show up dressed like someone that deserves to be shamed. Wearing the sexy zebra halloween costume from the 'Big and Tall' section is getting you flagged every time, and as someone that doesn't like to sit next to scantily clad women unless they are at least mildly attractive, I appreciate the airlines diligence in upholding some semblance of a dress code. P.S. Maggie McMuffin? I don't know if that is a real name or a stripper name but it sucks to the highest of heavens just the same. Brandon Browner Took To Instagram To Flat Out Tell Saints Fans What They Should Have Already Known5/31/2016
NOLA- It appears Brandon Browner has found another way to rile up a segment of New Orleans Saints fans, even several months after he played his final down for the team.
In a reply to a message directed toward him on Instagram, Browner called the Saints "weak" and said he "took that few millions (and) ran with it," all in reference to the $5 million he received for his one season in New Orleans. Browner also wrote to "Get your weight up, when u address me," in the same message directed toward the other commenter. That message came in response to an Instagram user who said it was good for the Saints to release Browner, who has since signed with the Seattle Seahawks. The comment was connected to a photo posted by Browner of him with Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman. You know how they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder? Well, I am not here to say that there are all that many Saints fans that are "fond" of Brandon Browner. However, there has been a distinct segment that have appeared increasingly sympathetic to his struggles last season the further removed we have become from said season. When Brandon Browner took too social media to blame (but totally not blame) his performance - which may have been the worst statistical performance from anyone that's every played the cornerback position - on a knee injury there were plenty of Saints fans wishing him well and even blaming the coaching staff for utilizing him wrong. This comment right here - the one in which Brandon Browner just announced that he basically packed it in and collected a paycheck last year - is a-not-so-friendly reminder why those people were either forgetful, stupid, or some combination of the two. I said it before and apparently I have to say it again, I will never feel bad for Brandon Browner and it has nothing to do with the astounding amount of touchdowns he gave up or the countless senseless penalties he took. I will never feel bad for Brandon Browner because he didn't feel bad about how unconscionably bad he was for the New Orleans Saints. He's a professional athlete. He doesn't owe it to anyone but himself and his team to perform on the field. He doesn't even owe the fans so much as an apology. That said, if he wanted us to believe his plea for pity then he probably should have refrained from spitting in on our face on social media throughout the entirety of last season and now well after his departure. There's honestly too many instances in which Brandon Browner disrespected the people that paid to watch him quit on his team for me to link them all, but if you type his name into the search bar you'll be greeted by about two full pages of results. Two pages which highlight just how much of a douchebag Brandon Browner is, and two pages that show that what he just said to a random internet commenter probably should have been well known even before it came from the fingers that were so often responsible for the first downs of the Saints' opponents. WFLX- Activists are banding together in support of Harambe by creating a petition to pass 'Harambe's Law.'
The petition states the law would give legal consequences when an endangered animal is harmed or killed due to the negligence of visitors. As of Tuesday morning, the petition has more than 106,000 supporters. Once it reaches enough signatures, its author - a woman from Chicago - said she plans to send it to lawmakers. Another petition, by a woman in Cincinnati, blames the boy's parents for neglect and calls for them to be investigated. That one has more than 300,000 supporters. Listen, I have a soul. My heart sank - just as yours did - when I found out that Harambe the Gorilla had to be put down to "save" the life of a child that had fallen inside his enclosure. Especially considering the fact that he was an animal - not meant for captivity - that was quite clearly trying to protect the boy as much as he possibly could. Unfortunately, like most things that happen in 2016, the public's insane overreaction to the death of a gorilla that they never knew is too fucking stupid that I can't even finish "mourning" the death of a gorilla I never knew. I don't even know what's happening here. Are we trying to imprison a couple of parents that turned their head away from their 4 year old for one minute? 300,000 PEOPLE want to put a child's legal guardians behind bars because they had a moment of obliviousness? Can't wait to hear how these hundreds of thousands of people would explain that to this child... "Hey little man, I know you just survived the traumatizing experience of being face-to-face with an animal that's literally 10x your size before watching it MURDERED right in front of you, but now we are going to do everything we can to drag your entire family through the mud because the place responsible for that animal can't keep it safe from civilian interaction nor can they interact with it well enough to keep two parties that appear relatively safe alive when civilian interaction accidentally does occur." Should these parents have been more aware? Absolutely. Do they deserve to be fucking prosecuted because their kid got curious? Get real. You know why people childproof their kitchens? It's because it's impossible to live while keeping an eye on another human during every waking second of your life. It's what you sign up for when you decide to leave it in without a condom, but let's not make it sound like these two were the first people to every have to frantically search for an inquisitive kid. Just turns out that this particular time said kid ended up in the arms of King Kong instead of nestled closely against the interior pole of a Sears' coatrack. When I was younger I got lost at SeaWorld. Personally, I wouldn't consider my family to be negligent. Granted, I didn't end up swimming laps with Shamu, but the reasoning behind that is quite simple. SeaWorld doesn't provide a youth accessible diving board into their killer whale tank. Hey Cincinnati Zoo, be better at zooing. There should be no amount of time in which a 4 year old - while left by himself - can work his way into the Gorilla exhibit. Do they even realize how dumb people are nowadays? If they can't stop a baby from getting some alone time with Harambe then how did they plan on stopping the teenage asshole that was eventually going to jump in their in an attempt to go viral? Even Jurassic Park is ashamed of the Cincinnati Zoo's safety precautions. Not saying I know the best way to protect primates, but it probably couldn't hurt to put up some glass. If not to act as a shield for projectile poop then to safely deter a powerless 4 year old from falling into a situation that was somehow unavoidably fatal. I am facing an inherent struggle today and it's not just my body rejecting the notion that a long weekend full of alcohol consumption and self imposed physical abuse is finally over. The struggle I am facing on the most dreaded of mornings is deciding whether my energy should be focused into praising the Golden State Warriors for climbing all the way out of 3-1 series hole, or if it should be spent talking about how I am not surprised that they did. I am instinctually inclined to say that winning three straight games with your back against the wall - against a team as talented as the Thunder - is a milestone accomplishment, but the history books don't exactly back up the notion that's it's as unlikely as we are making it out to be. It's now happened 10 times in NBA history, and the first nine undoubtedly didn't come at the hands of (mathematically speaking) the best basketball team of all time. As far as wow factor is concerned, it's exponentially more shocking that the Warriors were on the brink of elimination than it is that they were able to stand their ground at that brink. If you want to look at just the context of this series then yes, the turnaround the Warriors showed from getting blown out of the building twice in Oklahoma City to winning three straight was fairly remarkable. That said, they were still the same team that won 73 games coming off a championship. They were still the same team that won 24 games to start this season. They were still the same team that lost TWO games at home the entire year. The last thing anyone should have been doing was counting them out. Especially since the NBA is a league that affords multiple teams almost diabolical home court advantages. Almost everyone had Golden State pegged to bounce back and win Game 5 at home, and they were most assuredly the favorite to win a Game 7 at home. The Thunder pissed away an opportunity to close out the series on their own court in Game 6, but was their lead really that insurmountable if they were only expected to win one of the three games they lost and that game required a historical effort from long range by someone other than Steph Curry? Let's face it - as unstoppable as they looked at times - the Thunder had proven over the course of the year to be vulnerable to late game meltdowns. No one should have let the recency bias of watching them mow down the Spurs and roll through Golden State in games 3 and 4 fool them. Not when they finished about 10-15 wins short of where they are apparently capable of in the regular season. Not when they have two superstars that have never quite figured out how to share the ball in the most efficient way. The Thunder convinced everyone - themselves included - that they had changed, but what we saw last night while their season hung in the balance was them reverting back to an attitude and a style of play that plagued them all season. They certainly made some strides throughout this postseason but Oklahoma City Thunder proved that - regardless of what we have seen the last few weeks - they aren't a team without flaws, and that's why got shown the door by an opponent that finished the season 18 games ahead of them in the standings. Not because that opponent accomplished some impossible feat by playing an unbeatable brand of basketball. Yahoo- This is exactly what rappers Lil Wayne and Birdman did (back when they liked one another and weren't suing each other), according to T-Pain. During T-Pain's Twitch session Wednesday, he told a story about how the duo would bet insane amounts of money on games they didn't even play.
"They would bet $10,000 a game on Madden and they would just let the computer play each other. They would bet that a team they pick would beat the team that the other guy picked. They didn’t play the game, they just let the computer play each other. And they would bet $10,000 on the game,” T-Pain said. “And I thought that was the most ballin’ s— I’d ever seen.” While he admired their willingness to blow money, T-Pain said he wasn't about that life. “I never got in on the bets because, you know, I’m not an idiot,” he said. Back when I was in college I had two roommates (okay fine, one roommate and one friendly freeloader/guy on the couch) that had very little interest in hockey. Yet, when they would come home after a long night of drinking they would fire up the NHL video game and instead of counting the score they would play 'shot per hit'. Essentially if you laid someone's player out they had to take a sip of whatever bargain basement booze that was lurking in the freezer at that particularly time. What it devolved into was two inebriated buffoons partaking in the most unwatchable virtual reality sporting event of all time. That's why I love this decision to bet on computer simulated games. I imagine Lil' Wayne - who can't remember what he ate for his last meal at any given time - and Birdman - who apparently only knows 10 words now (if you consider 'respek' a word) - to be just as fucked up, at all times, as my two piss drunk pals were as they were guzzling Everclear until their eyes rolled back in their head. That doesn't bode well for the results when playing a game as intricate as 'Madden'. That's why it's actually relatively responsible of them to roll the dice by letting the artificial intelligence take the sticks for them. I can only imagine how hard it would be to watch a game between two guys that have more sizzurp coursing through their bodies than Aunt Jemima. No chance Weezy was reading a zone blitz when he was more than likely seeing double. No doubt Birdman would have gone for it on 4th from his own 30 yard line in the first quarter when he could barely make out what play he chose through the aviators he refuses to take off. The hand-eye coordination required to play 'Madden' would have been floating above their heads in a cloud of smoke hours before they turned on the Xbox. However, if you leave it to pure luck then you still get two friends experiencing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat while watching a semi-competent game of animated football in the process. It's a win/win...except for the person that lost 10K on a computer orchestrated FB Dive. Rob Ryan Thinks He Got Fired For Doing A "Damn Good Job" In New Orleans (Pause For Laughter)5/27/2016 PFT- “For me, and I’ll speak for myself on this, I have an extra hunger,” Rob Ryan said. “I have always been a guy who is going to work my tail off, and I think I have always advanced the head coach’s plan. But at the end of the day, the last two years in New Orleans were a waste of time for me. I want to give everything I have to a team that I want to be a part of, with a head coach I want to be a part of. Not only is Rex a great head coach, but he is also a great defensive coach. He’s going to be the best coach that I can work for, anytime. And I have worked for Belichick, who is the best head coach in football, in the history of the game. But we’re going to beat him, and we’re going to beat him together. And it’s going to be an awesome challenge. I need to be in a multiple system. I was hired to be in a multiple system in New Orleans, and I did a damn good job and got fired for it. I am more hungry now than I have ever been. So I wanted to go with the right guy. And the right guy is someone I have 100 percent trust in and 100 percent faith in.”
Rob Ryan’s defense of his time with the Saints centers on a 2014 move to make the defense more like the one the Seahawks have been running in recent years. He said signing safety Jairus Byrd “ruined us” and that all teams running a variation of the Seattle defense have been “s—ty” while his biggest mistake was sitting on his hands and letting it happen. This may shock some people, but I actually agree. Rob Ryan did do a damn good job in New Orleans. He took a defense that was one of the worst of all time in 2012, and had them ranked in the top ten - in multiple categories - for the majority of 2013. Without too many personnel changes he transformed a lost defensive unit into one that was consistently capable of getting off the field quickly and giving the ball back to an offense that wasn't as potent as it was in year's past. You can make an argument that - outside of the Super Bowl winning season - Rob Ryan's first season with the Saints featured the best defense they have ever fielded under Sean Payton. That guy undoubtedly deserved to keep his job. The guy that looked like a slightly fatter version of Rob Ryan the past two seasons? No one has ever deserved to be fired more. I don't know what he did with the real Rob Ryan, but he certainly ruined his reputation. That guy took a revamped defense and somehow made it exponentially worse than it was before his likeness arrived. That guy didn't just set the Saints defense back to square one, he had the Saints defense hiding behind square one as each and every team moved the ball on them at will. That guy led a defense that EASILY set the record for most touchdown passes allowed in the HISTORY of football. To say that guy did a good job would be just as factual as saying that his post-termination Hurricane Katrina joke was appropriate. Now I know everyone whose contract gets prematurely executed loves revisionist history. That's why I will give Rob Ryan a pass for saying that Jairus Byrd - whose turned out to be a piss poor addition - ruined the Saints. That's all too convenient to claim now that he - in part - cost him his job, but it didn't ring too true when Rob Ryan was worshipping the ground he walked on upon his arrival. Was a change in defensive strategy forced upon him? Maybe. Wouldn't surprise me with a control freak like Sean Payton at the helm. That said, a defensive coordinator still has a significant say in how a defense in run, and Rob Ryan ran the Saints right into the ground. That first year was nice and all, but "damn good job" went out the window out 45 touchdown passes ago. If I were a Golden State Warriors fan, this is the type of shit that would concern me. It's not that I doubt Steph Curry's ability to give everyone a vintage Steph Curry performance and take the series back to Northern California for Game 7. It's that I have no idea what to expect from the Oklahoma City Thunder anymore, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Just look at them up at that podium. Russell Westbrook literally cracking up at the idea of Steph Curry being a good defender. Kevin Durant desperately trying to find the nicest way possible to say exactly what his teammate was thinking. They may have lost Game 5 in Golden State but they put up a hell of a fight in the process, and - for the first time in a long time - they remained unfazed in defeat. I have gotten so used to watching Russell Westbrook step to the mic with whiney, bitchy responses already loaded in the chamber. It was no more than a few weeks ago that Kevin Durant was going full blown mute on the media. I don't know what changed since Game 1 of their series against the Spurs, but this team has somehow transformed itself - in a matter of weeks - from overly sensitive to something resembling mentally tough. Even last night when the Warriors lead was growing there was no quit in a team that has so often been criticized for their lack of perseverance. One or two of those shots drop and a late double digit lead could have potentially become a one possession game. I can't believe I am saying this, but the Oklahoma City Thunder are now unflappable. It's like something just magically clicked, and they are playing with the confidence that has made Golden State so damn unbeatable this year. Russell Westbrook laughing off a question about his main defender and Kevin Durant stating his confidence in being on the better end of that matchup may piss off Steph Curry, but it shows just how unintimidated the Oklahoma City Thunder have become. What Do You Do When You Avoid Suspension For Kicking Someone In The Dick? Kick Someone In The Face.5/27/2016 What sensei do you think Draymond Green learned his post game under? That's the point that we have gotten to with him. I have no choice but to believe he enrolled in some weird karate/basketball hybrid class in his youth. I know I went to an 'All Sports' camp as a kid. They didn't teach me to incorporate jump kicks into jump hook, but they certainly broadened my athletic horizons. Maybe the same can be said for Draymond Green. Maybe there's some old Mr. Miyagi type dude living in Michigan teaching college basketball hopefuls how to incorporate the disciplines of judo into their offensive game. Seriously though, this is the problem with not giving Draymond Green a substantial punishment for kicking a guy squarely in the dick. He learned absolutely nothing from the uncertainty surrounding his playing status in Game 4. You would think someone would watch their feet after narrowly escaping suspension in a pivotal Conference Finals matchup, and what does Draymond do? Doubles down by managing - albeit impressively - to kick a guy upside the head while releasing a right handed floater. I honestly don't even know how that is possible. What I do know is that it's not necessary. You can argue that he didn't mean to hit a guy in his precious love-sac just as you can argue that he didn't mean to hit a guy across the jaw. You absolutely can't argue that BOTH times he meant to kick someone in hopes of drawing a foul. By failing to make him sit out a game the NBA basically okayed the use of flailing and flopping and Draymond Green has taken full advantage. Dude is playing with fire, and the NBA better be mighty close to burning him or else they run the risk of making themselves looks stupider than they did when they waited 24 hours to make a ruling on a blatant shot to an opponent's cock. I love what he brings to the basketball court, but you can't let him run around doing and saying whatever the fuck he wants - no matter how important he is to the playoffs. The NHL Really Nailed It By Putting The Kibosh On The Tampa Bay Lightning's Game 7 Watch Party5/27/2016
It's so often that the NHL receives criticism for their stupid, antiquated, misguided policies. That's why I thought it was important to make note of the one time in which they got it right by not allowing fans to eat, drink, and be merry amongst themselves during what proved to be the last game of Tampa Bay's season. I know this random, inexplicable limitation on watch parties seems like it trivializes the best interests of devoted hockey fans but it clearly powders the assholes of the television execs, and isn't that really all that matters if we are interested in expanding the sport? Everyone knows that increasing the popularity of the NHL isn't about keeping the current fans happy. It's about luring in all those fans that would rather watch a mind-numbingly piss poor NBA postseason game. How can those people be convinced to switch over to NBC Sports if even the most die hard of NHL fans won't commit to staying home and making sure the game is being broadcast on every television in their respective household? Being so dedicated to your team that you trudge over to the stadium to watch an away game doesn't paint hockey in a positive light. Flashing the image of a bunch of crazy drunken fans standing outside an arena watching a game on a projection screen doesn't give the illusion that being a hockey fan is an inherently awesome experience. Having a camera scan the notoriously beautiful Tampa Bay skyline while the entirety of it's population is nestled comfortably on their couch does. If Lightning fans really cared about the potential growth of the sport they would just sit in their living room with their thumb in their ass and contribute to the all important Nielson ratings. Riddle me this, how can hockey thrive if - just for one single night - they lose 10% of their viewers in the increasingly critical region of West Florida? “Roughly 90 percent — they get it right,” Silver said, via ESPN. “Now, of course, I’d like 90 percent to be 100 percent. And so would they. But what these reports also show, what fans already know is, human error is part of this game, and the best athletes in the world make mistakes. And coaches occasionally make mistakes. Officials do, too.”
You know, he's not entirely wrong. Now obviously the NBA referees - that have been especially horrific this postseason - have a far higher rate of failure than 10%. However, in terms of calls that are so bad that the general public feels a necessity to complain about them then one of out ten is fairly accurate. The main problem is that those 10% always seem to occur in the waning moments of the very few close games we have witnessed throughout the playoffs. Missing a forearm shiver from out of bounds? Turning a blind eye to a game deciding intentional foul? Passing up more travels then your Aunt whose afraid of flying? They've all happened when the nation's collective eyes were on the television screen. In a way, the officials have benefited from damn near every game being more lopsided than my testicles because no one is going to bitch about a quick 'T' or a block/charge when the point differential resembles that of an Alabama football game versus an FCS opponent. More importantly, if you think that "roughly 90%" is anything more than a random statistic thrown out by Adam Silver to appease both the fans and the referees then you are beside your mind. The only reason he didn't say 100% is because he didn't want to insult our intelligence, and the only reason he didn't say 60% is because he didn't want to insult his employees. Adam Silver is no dummy. If you think he wasn't aware that he was essentially giving them the lowest possible 'A' then you are clearly underestimating his awareness. Everyone knows the NBA officials have been C students. Everyone knows they have been sitting in the back row, asleep at the wheel, doing the bare minimum to pass. Maybe they'll give the teacher a little hope that she's actually accomplishing something by slipping in an 85, but you know they are following that up with an effort in which they need extra credit to sneak into the 70's. They are just lucky that the product on the court has been so awful that the bad calls have been welcomed to throw a little controversy into these "competitive" games. If this had been an enjoyable playoffs that was able to keep people's attention then it wouldn't be so easy for Adam Silver to get away with tossing a '90' against the wall and praying it stuck. h/t YardBarker Here's a dumb question. Do the Chinese have a big problem with African Americans that I wasn't aware of? Now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense that they would hate black people for stealing their shine as the world's preeminent non-white minority, but I guess I have never given it much thought as a member of the majority. Anyway, here's a slightly less dumb question. What black man would agree to be in this commercial? Obviously the blame falls largely on the detergent company that thought it would be okay to drowned a "dirty black man" in enough soap and water to morph him into a pristine oriental fellow, but this commercial isn't possible without a black guy that accepted a paycheck in exchange for the marginalization of his entire people. Have you ever seen Asian people drive? I know they are capable of being completely ignorant to the world around them. That's why I am more disappointed in the black guy for not being a better black guy and putting a stop to it. Unless he was bamboozled by clever editing and has a hell of a court case on his hands then I think I am pointing the first finger at the submissive victim. You can't be one of only 10 black guys in China and allow some wickedly racist Asian women to stick a detergent pack in your mouth and stuff you into a washing machine just so you can afford your next month's rent. The few African Americans in China are entrusted with carrying the torch for their people, and this dude bent right over and let some incredibly prejudice detergent company stick the torch right up the ass of the black community. You can't discriminate against someone on camera unless that person shows up on set ready to be discriminated against. With the apparent tensions between the two races (that I just learned about from Google 5 minutes ago) this guy had to know where this script was headed and he seemed all too compliant in following it... ...or they lied and told him it was a non-sensical commercial for miniature condoms, which I suppose would just be self deprecating racism. LBS- Drew Brees is entering the final season of his five year contract, and he and the Saints haven’t tried to work out a new one in nearly two months.
Brees made the admission Wednesday and said he’d rather not deal with it during the season. “I don’t like to talk about contract during the season,” Brees said Wednesday, via ESPN’s Mike Triplett. “If you go back to 2011, where it began to drag into the season, three weeks in I was like, ‘I don’t want to deal with it anymore, I want to focus on football, I want to focus on the season.’ That’ll be my approach again. “So there’s a deal to be done now, and then if it doesn’t get done now, then there will be a different deal to get done at the end of the year.” You know, as much as the Saints - and their fanbase for that matter - would rather not absorb a $30 million dollar cap hit at one position, I don't think it makes much difference whether they do or not. The Saints don't appear to have any more significant moves to make and by all accounts they are still under the salary cap with all their draft picks signed. Don't ask me how Mickey Loomis managed to pull that off while also signing a couple key additions on the defensive side of the ball, but apparently he did. Really, that's all that matters. This was the team that Sean Payton felt comfortable entering the season with and - in a way I will probably never come remotely close to understanding - it works financially. It would be nice to see Drew Brees locked up for 2-3 additional years if only to avoid a year's worth of news regarding his contract, but it's not always pretty when it comes to negotiating monetary terms. On the bright side, I highly doubt Drew is looking to play elsewhere and there's very little he can do over the course of the next season - short of finding the fountain of youth - that would make him more valuable than he is right now. As much as it pains me as a Saints fan to say this, the only direction his play can possibly trend is down. If he has a Peyton Manning-like decline then the Saints aren't on the hook after this season. If he continues his excellence then they are having the same financial discussion they had two months ago, but with far more money available to them with plenty of disastrous contracts coming off the books. In reality, this entire situation is much more of an annoyance to Saints fans than it is an actual problem for the franchise itself.
Earlier this postseason I wrote about Purple Shirt Guy and when I did I said that I generally despise the type of people that feel entitled enough by their ticket price to try to insert themselves into a professional sporting event. I am not speaking of the cheerers, booers, or even shit talkers. I am speaking of the people that are so self important that they feel they should be allowed to interact with the players/coaches who they are paying to watch. I gave the now infamous Purple Shirt Guy a pass because he did what this guy would never even dream of doing, and that is putting himself in a position where he could potentially look stupid. Purple Shirt Guy was screaming at Dwyane Wade as Dwyane Wade was burying dagger after dagger right in his grill. He didn't wait until the opposition was a lifeless corpse to start squawking at it's head coach about sideline etiquette. This fat tub of obnoxious is the worst kind of human being. He's the person that runs in and kicks an unconscious body seconds after the fight ended. He's the type of person who waits until an argument is over to sneak in the last word under his breathe as you walk away. He's the dickhead that waits two quarters after a game has already been decided to start puffing out his chest - which in this case is hardly decipherable beyond his gut. Chances are this guy won his ticket in a wing eating competition and got his Cavaliers shirt from the clearance bucket at a nearby 'Big And Tall', yet he's the one the one that gets to openly disparage Dwane Casey? I won't stand for it. Not when he was silently on the verge of filling up his adult diaper when the Raptors went up 7-6. Sit down and sip that cocktail chubs. Everyone in that building already knows they are in Cleveland, and I don't mean that in a good way. Two Toronto Raptors players were spotted at a Cleveland casino — AT 2 IN THE MORNING — hours before they took the court against the Cavs in a pivotal Game 5, this according to the Toronto Sun.
To make matters worse, DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph played like crap after the 8pm tipoff — with the two hitting a combined 3 or 12 shots for 8 points. Do I think that DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph being out until 2AM the night before a huge game that tipped off 18 hours later had any effect on their performance? Probably not. In fact, even if they played the best games of their lives on a full 8 hours of sleep they simply aren't important enough to what the Raptors do offensively to make much of a difference in a 40 point drubbing. That's why it doesn't bother me that they completely disrespected their team to go out and play some craps until the wee hours of morning. It just bothers me that they thought the Cleveland nightlife was worthy of the inevitable backlash that would come from doing so. It's a simple risk versus reward situation, and if the reward is a night out in 'The Land' then taking on any amount of risk whatsoever is simply a terrible investment of time. You know how your parents used to tell you to go to sleep early on Christmas Eve so that Christmas would come earlier (AKA they needed time to do the last minute wrapping they had been putting off for 6 months). That's how I would feel if I were staying in Cleveland. Forget that Carroll and Joseph were there on business, if I were there for "pleasure" I would overeat at dinner just so that I would crash faster and make my stay seem as short as possible. I don't care that two utility players were dumb enough to stay out until 2AM jeopardizing their ability to perform in a game that was over before the first courtside hot dog was finished. I care that they intentionally spent more hours awake in Cleveland than they had to. I care that they didn't wait until they got back to a real city like Toronto before playing pregame roulette. If you're gambling away your reputation for a couple drinks in a Cleveland casino then you're probably not a good enough gambler to be caught in a casino anyway. h/t BSO |
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