Jacques Lemaire's Reason For Leaving The Devils Was So Obvious I Could Have Written It Myself8/19/2015 NJ.com- "Lou is a big part of it. And Babcock is the other part. I don't know Shero and the coach that much," Lemaire told NJ Advance Media. "I know them, but not as close friends, like I know (Lamoriello and Babcock).
"In the type of job I'm doing, it's good that the coach is ready to work with you and the manager knows what you're bringing. I would have had to discuss a lot with (Shero and his coaching staff) and make them believe that what I would be doing would be good for them. It was a lot easier this way. I don't have to convince anyone. Lou knows what I'm doing and what I bring." Lemaire, who turns 70 on Sept. 7, was named a special assignment coach with the Leafs on Friday. His job will remain virtually the same as it was with the Devils. "Pretty much. I think I'm going to spend a little more time this year in Toronto than I did in Jersey," Lemaire explained. Interestingly, it was Babcock who first reached out to Lemaire and not Lamoriello. Lemaire and Babcock coached the Canadian Olympic team to the gold medal in 2010. "It was Babcock. Then Lou," Lemaire said. "We worked together at the Olympics in Vancouver. He's a guy that looks for information all the time. He wants to be better. He wants to be at the top and he's not afraid to ask different people. He called me numerous times when I was coaching and after I retired. "It will be interesting. I'm excited. I really excited to work with all these guys. And, because of where the team is right now and the challenge we will have. You need patience. Let's face it, we're going to a team that is among the bottom teams, so there is a lot of work to be done." And what does he see for the Devils? "They have a challenge," Lemaire said. "They're rebuilding, but they have a good start with the defensemen that they have. They're all young. For the newcomers, it's nice to have the goalie and defensemen that are young when you're in that rebuilding mode." Annnnd, yet another leaf falls from the Devils organizational tree. At this point I am just immune to losing players and coaches that I grew up admiring for years. In all honesty, Jacques Lemaire following Lou Lamoriello out the door may be the least surprising news of all the surprising news that Devils fans have had to digest this offseason. Not all that shocking that a 70 year old, that have been teaching the game the same was for decades, is just a wee bit resistant to change. Adapting is a young man's game, and Jacques is still teaching old, yet effective, ways in a new era of hockey. That's all well in good if the Devils were trying to scrap into the playoffs with stellar defense, goaltending, and incredibly low scoring games. It's not exactly the greatest fit when they are trying to get younger (and by default inexperienced), faster , and more open offensively. The only reason Jacques Lemaire was still even mildly employed by the Devils was because of his relationship with Lou Lamoriello and his familiar style of coaching. I would rather him leave in the offseason under his own volition than decide to stay and have it not work out just a few months into the season. Jacques, much like Lou, will always be a beloved person in New Jersey and amongst Devils fans. A short stint in Toronto to end his career can't change that. It doesn't feel right to watch the mass exodus of Devils greats to Toronto, but it also doesn't feel right seeing the mass exodus of executives and coaches from Pittsburgh/Wilkes Barre to New Jersey. It's going to take a while to get used to, but I think the Devils and Lemaire both knew that a split was inevitable. I wish him no ill will with the Maple Leafs, but I hope he least left the building with a wink and a smile after dropping one of his patented one liners. You'll always be home in Jersey, Jacques.
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Oh my God!!! Pull the movie! Reshoot, reshoot! How can I take the rest of a two and a half hour movie seriously when the entire integrity of the story is compromised in the first scene! I almost don't even remember what happened the rest of the movie because I was too distraught from a historically incorrect baseball hat. What was the movie even about? Some rap group with a bad attitude that had a minor disagreement with the police or something?
Was 'Straight Outta Compton' a baseball movie? Was this the 'Field Of Dreams' sequel and not a biopic about a groundbreaking rap group? That's literally the only reason I can see people actually having a huge problem with Eazy-E's White Sox hat. Silly little mix-ups and filming errors happen in every single movie ever made. For a film that ran damn near 150 minutes, it' a goddamn miracle that the most obvious misstep was a baseball hat. That's a win in the cinematic industry. That stupid hat's relevance to the storyline is as close to non-existent as a piece of attire could possibly be. Maybe just enjoy a well made movie, instead of being the kind of asshole that tries to make one minuscule oversight seem like a big deal. With the amount of people complaining about this you would swear that the movie is called 'Straight Outta ChiTown' and features a bunch of rappers from the Windy City. Forget about the fact that it's a Chicago White Sox hat that didn't exist at the time. It's not about the White Sox. It's about what that hat stood for. It was worn by NWA, and specifically Eazy-E, because it was black and white and represented the rebellious nature of the group. It's the same reason they wore Raiders gear and Kings hats. It wasn't so much about the teams as it was about their colors. Eazy-E's hat could just have easily been a Raiders hat. It would send the exact same message and it would stay true to the history of the franchise. Yeah, the producer, or director, or whoever was in charge of wardrobe made a mistake. However, if you are filming a hip hop movie about something that took place damn near 30 years ago, I am inclined to give you a pass if you didn't do your due diligence in scouring the sports archives on logo authenticity. At the end of the day, it doesn't effect the movie, but it does, apparently, effect a small group of pessimistic dickheads that need something to complain about.
BSO- “I think it’s one thing when you’re coaching the kids and involved in football and practices,” said Anne O’Brien, Bill O’Brien’s mother.
She says it’s another thing when the whole world is watching, adding that the profanity just isn’t her boy. “To be honest with you, he doesn’t talk like that when he’s home at all. Well, he’s never talked that way around me,” she said. Don't worry Mrs. O'Brien, we know your son isn't disrespectful. We know he was raised right and didn't cuss in the house. Unfortunately for you and your overly sensitive ears, he took up a profession where cursing is an occupational hazard. You know what Bill O'Brien wasn't doing growing up? He wasn't constantly in a room with anywhere between 100 and 53 football players trying to motivate all of them to perform to the best of their abilities. If anything, a well placed 'fuck' or 'shit' is just a good space eater. NFL coaches aren't professional public speakers. They are not what I would call wordsmiths. They are football minds that are put in position to speak literally everyday, all day. Occasionally there is going to be times when the words aren't coming to them. It's those times when you just throw in a bunch of profanity so you aren't stuttering through a monologue to the defensive line about losing containment on the edge. Furthermore, you aren't getting the full attention of bunch of physical freaks that were basically born to hit and hurt people if you aren't using aggressive language. It's easy to ignore someone when you think they are just talking at you instead of to you. Well, chastising them through inappropriate language lets them know who is in charge. It lets them know the severity of the situation. Constructive criticism doesn't get results if it's whispered into a player's ear as he's being patted on the back. This isn't Pop Warner. Sometimes fear is a hell of a motivator. I remember when Rex Ryan was on 'Hard Knocks' and everyone thought it was a big deal how much he was cursing. Then the years went on, and the NHL did their '24/7' show, and people started to realize that 90% of professional coaches in extremely physical sports have potty mouthes inside the locker room. All in all, it really shouldn't be that surprising. Just because Bill O'Brien doesn't make a habit of berating his mother, it doesn't mean that there is nothing that comes out of berating his players. Plus, it make fucking fantastic television, so stop being such a pussy Mrs. O'Brien.
DailyMail- Dumping your girlfriend by text is possibly not the most adult way to end a relationship - but what this woman did next was certainly not a grown-up way to deal with it.
The woman, realising she had been dumped, threw herself down on the floor of a busy Hong Kong street and threw a tantrum which a toddler would have been proud of. The epic meltdown - which included headstands, and a number of other poses more usually seen in a yoga studio - went on for an eye-watering 90 minutes. Video of the tantrum shows people try to intervene at points - only to be batted away by the inconsolable woman. Eventually, it seems they realised the only way to get her off the streets of the Tsim Sha Tsui district was to call for professional help. I think we can all agree that the right course of action when breaking up with someone you are in an adult relationship with is not to let them know through text. That doesn't mean I haven't done it, it just means you're kind of a pussy for failing to confront the person while you break it off. I guess the good news here is that, by the looks of things, this was about as far from an adult relationship as a person can possibly get. Nothing like having a public reaction that shows exactly the reason why you got dumped over text message. I don't think a single person that had to hear one single second of that incessant shrieking is feeling even the slightest bit of sympathy for this chick as she begins to go through this trying period of her life. I would bet a handsome chunk of change this wasn't the first time he tried to rip the band-aid off, probably just the first time he did so from outside a 10 mile radius of her person. I would set the over/under on how many times he tried to break up with his girl in person as a solid 7.5. She seems like quite the persistent little devil. Probably dumped her initially and made it 30 seconds into her round of handstands and foot stomps until he just agreed to work it out. Just kept waiting another minute or two every time he tried to end it, until he realized that he might literally have to wait forever (or apparently until paramedics step in). 90 minutes? I think I speak for everyone when I say that if being single requires sitting through 90 minutes of that woman's voice then I would rather just hate myself and stay in that terrible relationship. She gave this guy no choice but to break her heart via text. You can't pierce someone's eardrums or involve them in a public scene through iMessage. It was either that or marry the bitch. Now, this guy should definitely move and change his number, but at least for now he is flying solo. That's something that would have never happened if he waited for an amicable, face-to-face breakup. P.S. I think the only course of action here is to fuck someone close to her. That way he avoids any "accidental" run-in that could only possibly end with him taking her back. LarryBrownSports- During an appearance on SportsCenter, Lesnar was asked about Rousey’s dominance and if she needs someone to step up and actually test her limits in a fight. Lesnar referred to Rousey as “a man amongst women,” which isn’t sitting well with everyone.
“She’s a super athlete in a weak division,” he said. “I think she is a man amongst women in the women’s division. I take my hat off to her. She’s doing an excellent job at what she’s doing. I don’t know how she’s juggling everything — movies, this, that, the other thing and going to Brazil and kicking butt over there. My hat’s off to you, Ronda. I’m not taking any talent away from her at all. I think she’s a super beast in the women’s division.” Well, I know it's technically not politically correct to refer to Ronda Rousey, a woman, as a man just because she is good at something. I get that that is frowned upon. However, let's be honest, in terms of women's MMA, she's certainly not a woman amongst women. Whats the next step up? Should we call her a tranny amongst women? That seems like a reasonable compromise, but I feel like it might upset the increasingly sensitive transgender community. I have got to agree with Brock Lesnar here, the most reasonable label is a "man amongst women". I know this is damn near impossible in this day and age, but let's take gender out of it for a second. Ronda Rousey is like the AHL player that scores 50+ goals a year, but would only be a 4th line player if promoted to the NHL. She's the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback thats signs on as undrafted free agent. Great college player, below average pro player. There are two leagues and one is clearly superior to the other. It just so happens that those leagues are predicated on gender. Ronda Rousey doesn't belong fighting women because she is so clearly superior to all of them, but if she stepped in the ring with men she could probably only compete with the lowest level of male MMA athletes. Still, like it or not, saying that she could compete at all is quite the compliment. I can still maintain that everyone is equal, but it would be a flat out fabrication to say that women, as a whole, can compete with men athletically. If they could then the NBA and NFL, which have recently started hiring female coaches, would have already taken the steps necessary to give them their fair chance of making a roster. If Ronda Rousey were to begin fighting people that were her equal in terms of ability she would be fighting against men. Look no further than the average length of her fights against women. Call it discrimination. Call it sexism. Call it whatever the fuck you want. Ronda Rousey's peers in Mixed Martial Arts have penises, so yes, she is a man amongst women, even if she is every bit a woman outside of her athletic distinction. It is the same concept as calling Calvin Johnson 'Megatron' or LeBron James 'a freak of nature'. They are too good to simply be men. Ronda Rousey is too good to simply be a female MMA star. Don't let society's proclivity for outrage cloud you of that fact. One word: Resentment.
Resentment. Bet this guy thought it was a pretty good idea to teach his daughter's to play golf so his wife wouldn't mind him planning weekend getaways. Pretty solid plan in theory, until your prepubescent daughters are better than you at golf. Resentment. Resentment. Bulletproof plan to offer up a puppy as compensation for a hole-in-one. That way you get the credit for giving the girls an opportunity to get a puppy, while also motivating them to play well. You get Dad points for the puppy bet while also keeping your girls interested enough to make it through 18 without bitching. Win-win, unless, you know, your daughter gets lays it up on the green and it rolls 15 feet into the hole. Now you're stuck taking care of a dog you clearly didn't want because teenage girls aren't responsible dog owners. Resentment. Resentment. Aww, a loving father that wants to spend quality time with his daughters. What else could a wife ask for? Well, for starters, a loving father that wants to spend quality time with his daughters but doesn't lose the unlikeliest of bets without his wife's consent. It's one thing to have no choice but to get a dog, it's a whole different thing to have to explain it to your wife while telling her she has no say in the matter. Resentment. Hey, I could be way off base here. Maybe this Dad is very appreciative of his daughter's success. Maybe this family wanted a dog. Maybe the wife won't mind not having final call on a house pet. However, when the girls are badgering their father on whether or not he's paying for the pooch, this response speaks volumes. "I sa...I sai...I said it" and "craaaazy game, craaaazy game". That's not "oh my God, how exciting" response, it's a "I am sooooo fucking fucked" response. You can hear it in his voice. His voice that sounds relatively happy, but is one crack away from audibly weeping. This girl better remember that shot forever, because that memory is going to be quite the starting point whens she's laying face-up on a couch trying to explain to a shrink why her parents split up. Yardbarker- The Hall of Famer opened up about the topic and admitted that he wanted a job in the New Jersey front office. Initially, the Devils didn’t offer Brodeur a job which led him to take a role with the Blues. After that, he held off on accepting a long-term job with the Blues as he had hoped to return to the Devils.
“[The Blues] offered me the job, and I had to think about it a little bit. I would have liked to go back to New Jersey, so it took some time for me to make my decision. But for me to go back there after everything that’s happened in New Jersey lately, I think I made the right move.” “There’s nothing bad that happened with the Devils, at least from my side of things anyway. With all the new faces over there, for me to walk into the arena in New Jersey now would be like walking into any team’s arena for me because everyone is gone. It would be as if I was joining Pittsburgh instead.” When it comes to the relationship between Martin Brodeur and The New Jersey Devils, I refuse to sit here and play the blame game. The fact of the matter is that timing is everything. At the time of Martin Brodeur's contract expiring he could have very easily retired from the sport and taken a position within the organization. I don't fault him for still having the desire to play, and scratching that itch with the St. Louis Blues. However, watching him play out his final games in St. Louis and subsequently taking a front office position with them last year had made his decision to work their long term much easier to accept. As of the end of the end of this past season, the Devils needed a change. The team was old, and more importantly, the team was bad. Though they had to battle situations that were beyond their control (Parise leaving, Kovalchuk retiring), the Devils had become stagnant since their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012. Whether they needed as much change as they have undergone this offseason is up for debate, but they certainly needed more than the addition of an inexperienced executive in Martin Brodeur. What it comes down to is that Brodeur was clearly comfortable exploring other options, and so were the Devils. As much as the Devils fan base has become accustomed to a sense of loyalty and an atmosphere of familiarity, at some point that has to change. At some point you have to move on from your past. That's not to say you forget those that paved the way, but you still have to do what's best for your immediate future. Do I know that replacing Lou Lamoriello with Ray Shero, hiring a first time NHL head coach, and bringing in a host of other unfamiliar faces is the right thing for the future of this franchise? Nope. Only time will tell. However, one thing is for certain. The previous strategy clearly wasn't working, and while adding Brodeur to the front office would have given us all a nice little sense of nostalgia, it wouldn't have done much to change the current culture of the New Jersey Devils. I'll always appreciate everything that Martin Brodeur did for the franchise, and I hope at some point there is a job for him in the organization, but until then both sides are better off after an amicable split. There's no reason to point fingers when both parties did so much to help one another over the course of the two decades they spent together. As a Devils fan I hold no grudges against Marty for trying to prolong his career, and I hope he holds no grudges against the Devils for trying to get back to the formidable powerhouse he was once the face of. Sometimes it really is just business. Madame Tussaud's Is Upset That Men Are Taking Inappropriate Pictures With A Wax Nicki Minaj8/19/2015 So if Madame Tussuad's wax figures are interactive, how else did they expect people, and men specifically, to 'interact' with a likeness of the most famous ass in entertainment bent over doggy style? That exact image has littered the dreams of damn near every self respecting male that has seen more than three seconds of the 'Anaconda' video. You have no choice to relive the visual of that fantasy when it is sitting one step up from you completely unguarded. Every guy that has passed on that photo op has regretted it since. You don't want inappropriate pictures taken with your figurines? Don't put your scantily clad figurines in compromising positions. I don't even know what an appropriate photo of a man with that wax Nicki Minaj would even look like. Probably like the most awkward picture of all time. You expect a dude that has devoted his day to looking at lifeless models to throw his arm around Nicki's shoulder when he can just saddle up behind the crack of that voluptuous ass, and have a Kodak moment? Put up a mannequin of Channing Tatum going balls out for the girls in 'Magic Mike' and you'll have women showing up to Madame Tussuad's in knee pads. Hell, if that guy gets blackout drunk and squints really hard he might even be able to add that snapshot to the spank bank. Can't turn down a golden opportunity to make a deposit in that account.
Either make the exhibit sexy or make it interactive. When you make it both, you are asking for a bunch of sex crazed males to turn it into a soft core porno shoot. Madame Tussuad's is such a female attraction to check out. Everything about it caters to women. Obsessing over celebrities. Taking a bunch of pictures. There's not a red blooded American man that is walking into that place unless he's got a needy, enthusiastic girlfriend on his arm. For that reason, this representation of Nicki Minaj is actually great for expanding their target demographic. Want to get a bunch of single, perverted dudes to pay some money to look at anatomically correct wax statues? Create an entire wing of the sexiest, most famous women in the world built in vulnerable positions. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your morals to expand your business, whatever happened to the "customer is always right". P.S. +2 for the hair pull. Bravo sir, bravo. Metro- Prostitutes in Italy are going to be made to wear high-vis jackets.
Not so that they can be easily spotted at bunga bunga parties, but so that they are safer after dark. The sex workers have been told to cover up their mini-skirts as well after the deputy mayor of the town of Spino d’Adda ruled they should be treated as ‘road workers’. Luciano Sinigaglia said; ‘The sex workers should be treated as employees who work on road construction and forced to wear clothes that make them visible. ‘We are almost ready with the definitive draft of the document. I hope to have the new law up and running by the start of September.’ If they don’t comply they could be fined up to £360 and the rules are expected to come into force next month. You see, this is how you regulate prostitution. Well, not in the United States. Can't imagine it would be too effective to walk around wearing a scarlet letter in the form of a hi-lighter jacket while performing an illegal service. We don't need to make it harder out there for the All-American pimp. Regardless, more progressive regions of the world really have this 'sex in exchange for money' thing figured out. Outside of having strangers put their penis in you, I would imagine the hardest part of hooking is making sure your potential clients know you're a hooker. Nothing more embarrassing for some horny Italian guy than mistaking some sexy, scantily clad minx for a street worker. That's just an awkward situation for all parties involved. Problem solved! Prostituniforms! Who doesn't appreciate a little change in wardrobe. Every time one of of my teams changes jerseys I am absolutely stoked to buy a new one. Maybe we could get these corner dwellers their own number and nickname on the back. That's how you motivate a bunch of whores that are probably on the receiving end of some extremely mediocre dick. Honestly, could you think of a better outfit for these women? Prostitution is like the female equivalent of being a construction worker. It's an extremely thankless, unenviable job. Working conditions are generally very poor. Those that call it a career are usually working paycheck to paycheck. It's the definition of blue collar. While construction workers are out there working up a sweat while carrying steel beams in the hot sun, hookers are getting sweat on by a bunch of ugly dudes in a hot car that are about a 6 year gym session away from looking like a construction worker. Grab that lunch pail, it's time to go to work ladies and gentleman. With the propensity that road workers have to cat calling unsuspecting women, prostitutes and construction workers might even end up sharing a work station. Look good, feel good, play good. Don't tell me these hookers aren't performing a little better now that they are a unified coalition of sex workers. They just went from District 5 to the Mighty Ducks, now it's time to give every Goldberg that's wandering around Italy an A+ blowjob for a modest price.
Metro- He cheated. She’s angry. But this is one of the most extreme pay-backs we’ve ever seen.
The wounded partner filmed herself dousing her sleeping boyfriend’s private parts in liquid before setting them alight. He wakes up to the horrifying realisation his goolies are on fire. The woman is heard saying: ‘Yeah that’s right…You cheat on me with my f******* co-worker, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to f******* find out? You stupid a** n***** – get the f*** out. You and that b**** can go to hell.’ I don't think there is any type of sexual misconduct that you can commit, short of sleeping with our significant other's best friend or sister, that is worthy of having your man parts turned into a testicular inferno. Cheating is wrong, but it's not "leave your sexual reproductive organs in a heaping pile of ashes" wrong. I think I speak for most people that have been cheated on when I say that I have never felted scorned enough to attempt to scorch another human body in their sleep. So no, this woman didn't handle this situation particular well. In fact, she handled it about as poorly as one can handle such a situation. Now, that being said, I refuse to sit here and feel bad for the victim. No, not because he cheated, but because of who he cheated on. He don't just enter a serious relationship with a woman that is crazy enough to light your dick on fire and not know that she is crazy enough to light your dick on fire. I truly believe that. Not to mention that this woman is clearly black (yes, I am judging completely by her voice, so sue me). I think all black women that get cheated on are capable of this level of insanity. I would be disappointed if I found out a black woman was cheated on and didn't cause actual physical pain to her boyfriend. She would be doing a disservice to her entire race/gender. Fear is how you get results. White girls just take to social media to tell everyone that you have a small dick, black women try to erase it's entire existence. That's how you make sure your man never cheats again. Well, either that or you make sure he gets a restraining order. Either way, you don't have to worry about his lying, perpetrating ass ever again. Why do you think there are so many black men that tend to venture towards white women? It's because they know they can get away with more. They don't have to worry about waking up to the smell of their nut hair and burning nail polish remover. The worst they have to worry about is public shaming, but not the type of public shaming that leaves you dickless. Fucking your girlfriend's coworker probably shouldn't get your penis burned at the stake. However, it seems that's to be judged on a case by case basis, and it's a theory I am certainly not testing with a black woman. Cory Schneider's New Mask Is The First Addition To The Team That I Disagree With This Offseason8/18/2015
I'll have you know that I am currently doing my best to hold in the vomit while I finish writing this blog. Hey, considering the state of the Devils, I guess if you had to disagree with one thing they did over the offseason it might as well be the design of their goaltender's mask. Better to be aesthetically disappointed than athletically disappointed. Still, I am little bit bummed that the most positive thing about this roster, Cory Schneider, is forcing me to write a negative review during the only part of the season that I am able to retain an irrationally optimistic viewpoint. Oh well, I wouldn't be true to myself if I sat here and waxed poetic about a mask that have I am far from impressed by.
I don't even mind the inclusion of the New Jersey Devil. In fact, considering it's the namesake of the franchise, the illustration of the actual Jersey Devil hasn't gotten enough play through merchandising. However, if we are going to put it on something that I am going to have to see during 80% of Devils games does it have to be wearing a Devils jersey and goalie equipment? Isn't that overkill? I know that this is just a rough sketch and it will look much better when when painted on a fresh new helmet, but let's hope they don't stay completely true to the artist's original vision. Personally I don't think Lucifer has all that great of glove hand. Beelzebub looks like he's leaving the block side wide open. I don't mind getting Satanic with a helmet design, but let that design embrace the spirit of the organization and not the actual spirit of the person wearing it. That fiery ginger has wicked enough talent in net to demonize other teams without being portrayed as demon on his headgear. Chris Webber May Be Right About The NCAA, But I Think I would Shy Away From The Word 'Slavery'8/18/2015
Yardbarker- When asked by TMZ about the NCAA’s decision to refuse Northwestern’s football players the right to unionize, Webber didn’t hold back.
“Oh, yeah, I saw that come out today. I definitely think student-athletes have the right to make sure they can take care of each other. You know, Bill Russell told me any system that gets free labor is slavery, so, um, I’m sure they have the right to unionize.” Live look at me after I watched Chris Webber compare the NCAA to slavery...
There's a lot of words in the English language. Hell, I am almost 30 years old and I feel like I am still learning about the existence of unknown words on a weekly basis. You are telling me we can't find one word that's a better comparative to the free labor system that the NCAA happens to run then slavery? Not one single word that could be used in place of a word that trivializes one of the most despicable phenomenons that has ever taken place in this country? Why do I find that hard to believe? I know Chris Webber was just quoting Bill Russell, but in honor of the people who were actually OWNED by other people, strictly because of their skin tone, maybe we could hit the thesaurus first and paraphrase the words of the Celtics great? Just a thought.
You want my honest opinion? I agree with Chris Webber. The NCAA is a joke. They play by their own rules and exploit student athletes for their own financial benefit. Then when said players turn around and use their athletic prowess for so much as a free meal or a single dollar they are punished by a governing body that plays outside of the bounds of societal law. With that said, I am just not as quick to compare kids that are receiving a free education to a bunch of people that were whipped and bound by chains when they weren't performing backbreaking manual labor under treacherous conditions. Is there a word that means 'kind of a servant'? If there isn't a better word for a free labor system then maybe we should create one, because their aren't exactly levels to the word 'slavery'. When I hear 'slavery' I think about black men and women losing blood, sweat, and tears in exchange for nothing, not a bunch of mixed race college kids losing blood, sweat, and tears in order to win a sporting event. They might deserve better, but all things considered, a group of beloved college kids taking jump shots by day and swimming in pussy by night have got a pretty sweet gig. The inclusion of the term slavery just shows exactly how good they have it. It certainly doesn't give any credence to how much better they probably should have it. Chris Webber seems like a pretty rational dude. You know, when he's not running down the court with the ball in the waning seconds of a National Championship game with no timeouts to spare. Other then that I think he's got a pretty good head on his shoulders. However, maybe he should have paid a little more attention in that history class that he was attending free of charge at the University of Michigan, because NOTHING compares to the hardships of slavery. Not even a student whose career benefited greatly, albeit not monetarily, from the notoriety that college athletics provided him. Yardbarker- South Snohomish Little League of Sonohomish, Wash. is accused of throwing its game against Southeast representative Rowan Little League of Salisbury, N.C. A great case can be made against Snohomish, too. The West region representative was no-hit in an 8-0 loss. Reports say they played all their bench players and instructed them to bunt the entire game.
“It’s clear to everyone that they basically threw the game,” Central Iowa Little League president Chris Chadd told The Des Moines Register. “It was very evident when they did the starting lineups that their four best players were on the bench and they were going to be the reserves,” Central head coach Charlie Husak told WHO. “It was very evident right away what was going on. They weren’t striving to win. We saw that and (our) girls — you could see — it took about a half an inning for them to catch on. We were trying to keep it from them, but you could see when they caught on that the tears started to pile up and it was pretty emotional.” The Washington-based team went 3-0 in pool play, making them a lock to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Snohomish had won its first two games by a combined score of 21-0. However, they struggled to defeat Central Iowa Little League 4-3. Iowa, meanwhile, won earlier in the day on Monday to improve to 3-1. As long as Snohomish beat North Carolina in the game after Iowa won, then Snohomish and Iowa would have been the two out of the five teams to advance from their pool (Snohomish would have been 4-0; Iowa 3-1; and North Carolina 2-2). But Iowa felt like Snohomish wanted them knocked out of the tournament, which is why it came up with a plan to throw its game against North Carolina. Because Snohomish, Iowa and North Carolina all went 3-1 in pool play with 1-1 records against each opponent, a runs allowed average would have been the tiebreaker to determine which two advance to the semifinals. An 8-0 win for N.C. would have helped the Southeast team win a tiebreaker with Iowa. Iowa protested the game but the Little League Softball World Series did nothing, so the Des Moines Register says they appealed to the governing body — Little League International. Little League International determined there was some funny business, so they forced a game between Iowa and Washington to determine who would advance to the semifinals along with the North Carolina team. I have given this a lot of thought. I still can't decide whether the fact that collusion has seemingly become an annual epidemic within the Little League World Series is more disturbing or hysterical. I think I am leading toward hysterical. We are talking about kids that are like 6 years removed from getting unlimited strikes and hitting off a tee. Kids strictly playing for the love of the game. Leave it to a bunch of asshole adults that are trying to live vicariously through their children to turn a youth baseball/softball tournament controversial. Hell, the LLWS is only billions of dollars, an endless supply of talent, and an illegal gambling ring short of being as convoluted and corrupt as professional sports. How can you not find that funny? I am not even totally against this team from Washington throwing their game in order to keep Iowa out of the playoffs. You've got to do what's best for your team's chances of winning. If you are 3-0 and played well enough to put yourself in a position to be able to take an 8-0 loss heading into the playoffs then you deserve the opportunity to take that loss if it could benefit you in the long run. Let's not act like this concept is unforeseen in sports. The NBA and NHL are both currently dealing with multiple franchises that are intentionally tanking for future draft picks. Hell, the Indianapolis Colts lost their starting quarterback to neck surgery and decided to do everything in their power to lose in a successful attempt to replace him with another starting quarterback. I think my only problem with it is how poorly they veiled their throwing of the game. They didn't just compromise the integrity of the game. They put the integrity of the game in a brown paper bag, shit on it, put it on Little League International's doorstep, and lit it on fire. Starting all their backups? Telling all their players to bunt? Come on, that effort made Daria look like a gym class hero. It makes Sam Hinkie looks like he's winning at all costs. I don't care if you throw your worst starting pitcher out there or tell your players to swing at bad pitches, but at least try to make it look like your trying. Do you know how bad a tank job has to be in order for it to get recognized during a girl's softball game? Kids that young are literally capable of anything. If the shortstop continually kept throwing the ball into the 3rd row of the stands it may seem a little questionable, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Washington has Chuck Knoblauch's daughter on their roster. However, once you start bunting through the order you give the governing body no choice but to take action. South Snohomish and their morally corrupt coaches aren't being punished because they are guilty of gamesmanship, they are being punished because they are being incredibly terrible at gamesmanship. If you are so good at winning that you are that bad at losing then maybe you shouldn't be worried about some team from po-dunk Iowa. Ever think of that Skipper? I Truly Feel Bad For Justin Upton, Even Though He Nailed His Teammate In The Head With A Helmet8/18/2015
Busted Coverage- One of the best parts about baseball is watching pissed off players slam stuff in the dugout. Phones, coolers, helmets, etc. — you name it, I want to see someone destroy it. (Ideally that someone being David Ortiz.)
Padres outfielder Justin Upton attempted to fulfill those wishes Saturday night after getting picked off by John Axford to end the eighth inning. Considering the Rockies led by just one run, it was a pretty big gaff by Upton, so upon returning to the dugout he flung his helmet… right at Yonder Alonso’s head. Yeah, I guess I have to feel bad for the guy that was just standing there minding his own business when he got blindsided by the friendly fire of his teammates helmet. That kind of goes without saying. However, you know who the underrated victim is here? Justin Upton. We have all been there. We have all been in a situation where we were irrationally mad and did something we would probably regret later. The difference is that when we threw our TV remote across the room or punched a hole in the wall when our team blew a big game we were able to get that minute or two of genuine satisfaction before we had to feel overcome with regret. That helmet was still on Upton's finger tips and he was already feeling remorse. He didn't even get to enjoy the release of his own anger. As primitive and animalistic as it seems, sometimes the only thing that can make you feel better is hitting something. That moment that Upton should have been able to spend freeing his body of pent up aggression he was too busy checking on the well being of his own teammate. That in itself is quite the injustice. Yeah, I know. That injustice was caused by his own terrible throw. The only thing he can blame other than himself is his own lack of sufficient motor skills while enraged. However, that's a scenario that most people are familiar with as well. You know when people say hockey players are gripping the stick to tight when they are going through a scoring slump? How about when they say that a football player is trying to hard to score a touchdown every time he touches the ball instead of taking a 3-4 yard gain? Justin Upton wanted so bad to throw that helmet through the dugout that he overcompensated and held on to it a split second too long. Some would say he wanted it TOO bad. It's like when you played kickball when you were younger and tried to peg the guy running home. Whenever you were in a rush and tried to throw the ball harder than you were capable of it would generally end up being wildly inaccurate. It doesn't make it right when that wild inaccuracy ends up causing your teammate to leave the game early to get tested for a concussion, but that doesn't make it any less relatable. You can sit here and call Justin Upton a moron as long as you admit there was an instance where you were just as moronic. Fortunately for you it didn't end up in an emotional swing that would make a pregnant women blush.
I know I am a little late on this, but I was on vacation and finishing my 35th beer was more important than blogging about the 35th dick Rihanna has taken this year. Even if said magic stick does happen to belong my boy Matt Barnes. Anyway, it would be negligent for me to not drape my arm over Barnes shoulder as I stand squarely in his corner. If there is anything I know about Matt Barnes it's that he speaks his mind. That, for better or worse, he says what he thinks. You can say that Barnes acts tougher than he actually is on the basketball court, but don't you dare say that he is full of shit. Especially if all that he is implying is that he had relations or was on the verge of relations with a sexually progressive, to say the least, woman that has an affinity for professional athletes. What I am supposed to believe that Matt Barnes is lying about conquering Rihanna when so many athletes before have already done so? Hell, if Kris Humphries can wife up Kim Kardashian then Matt Barnes can absolutely stick it to Rihanna once or twice. Remember who we are talking about. We are talking about a tatted up, shit stirring asshole. He couldn't possibly be anymore up Rihanna's alley, pun intended. Hell, if he averaged like 15 more points and 3 more assists a game we would be talking about the new school Bonnie and Clyde. Rihanna wouldn't be throwing shade at Matt Barnes or trying to emasculate him with a bunch of hashtags. She would be half naked grinding all over his dick on the cover of every national publication in the country.
This is based on absolutely no sources or any definitive knowledge of my own, but here is what happened. Matt Barnes and Rihanna have been hanging out. Probably fucked a couple of times. She told him to keep it on the hush, because she doesn't want word getting out that's she's banging a backup. He obviously spoke out of turn because he's a backup that happens to be excited about sticking it to the baddest bitch in entertainment. So she's doing what any self respecting popular girl would do in any high school movie ever. She's denying hooking up with a guy that's far less popular than her, because she knows people won't believe that she's getting dick downed by a journeyman shooting guard anyway. It's a story as old as cinema. She may be embarrassed to be seen in public with Matt Barnes, but she's not embarrassed of how good he is blowing that back out behind closed doors. Is it possible that Barnes exaggerated by saying "it's a little past a crush"? Sure, but that's nowhere near the exaggeration of Rihanna saying she's never even met him. That's such an unrealistic lie that it throws every single of Rihanna's claims into question. It's okay Riri, you and I both know what's going on. Matt Barnes dick has the power, but not the prestige, and at this point in your career you think it could hurt your reputation. That's understandable and everything, but it's not believable. Giants' Jon Beason Thinks Quarterbacks Should Be Penalized For Making Dangerous Passes To Receivers8/18/2015 BSO- “In my opinion, I think they should flag the quarterbacks for throwing the ball there,” Beason said, via the New York Daily News. “Back in the day, certain routes in certain coverages said I could not throw this seam route because it’s cover-4, safety’s sitting right on top of there, I don’t want to get my guy killed.”
“Now you throw the ball, guys get hit, they may be hurt, maybe not,” Beason said. “You roll around, the flag comes out. Well, it’s a good play for the offense … So you play to the rules. I think the onus should be on the quarterbacks not to throw those balls. “Then we wouldn’t have those collisions.” I get what Jon Beason is trying to say here. Many times when a flag is thrown for a hit on a defenseless receiver it is the product of the quarterback leading his target into a situation where he could end up being on the receiving end of a big collision. We blame defenders for taking leisure with such situations. In reality, with the speed of the game now-a-days, often times it's damn near impossible for them to make the split second decision to hold up from making contact with a vulnerable offensive player. Now, even though that is understandable, it's downright comedic that Jon Beason thinks a league that is constantly looking for ways to increase scoring would ever punish quarterbacks for their questionable decision making. As a matter of fact, what's even more hilarious is that he thinks that they SHOULD punish quarterbacks for such plays. I'm aware that professional football is becoming increasingly difficult for defensive players. Some would argue the style of play in the NFL is even unfair to those players. With that said, as hard as it is to play linebacker in the National Football League, it will always be more difficult to play quarterback. That's why their always be more elite players at any given position than there will be at quarterback. Quarterbacks are forced to make decisions more quickly than any defensive player is, and they have to do so while being under the pressure of 4-6 outlandishly freakish athletes at any given time. Expecting them not to expose their receivers, tight ends, or running backs to harm once in awhile isn't just some euphoric view of football, it's completely inconceivable. Quarterback is the most cognitively demanding position, and even the best ones are going to fuck up from time to time. Forcing signal callers to give a second thought to the position of every single defender before they throw the ball won't just make the NFL a less offensive league, it will likely get the players at it's most important position put in bodybags. Quarterbacks may be partially responsible for some extremely precarious situations, but that doesn't absolve linebackers and safeties when the take advantage of those situations. What's next Jon? We going to start blaming the girl who's idea it was to go out when their friend gets sexually assaulted? Penalizing the person that introduced the drug user to the drug dealer when when they both get busted possessing narcotics? You know what, it's probably the gun salesman's fault when someone gets murdered with their product. We can't just attribute all violations to a third party that may or may not have put others in a bad position. At the end of the day, it's not their fault when a bad situation gets the best of others. DeAngelo Hall Is Going To Need Quite A Few Ice Packs By The Time DeAndre Hopkins Is Done With Him8/14/2015
Nope, not this time DeAngelo. Not when you just had a second year player make you look like an elderly black woman seeing the casket of a family member that was taken too soon. Not when you got people thinking that the DC sniper came out of retirement. Not when DeAndre Hopkins made you look like Dwayne Wade when a defender accidentally brushes his arm. There are new born baby deers that are laughing at your lack of ankle support. DeAngelo looking like he just got off an hour long ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Looking like he's fresh out the spin cycle. Hope he at least smells clean, because DeAndre Hopkins did him dirty. There ain't a damn thing he can say to redeem himself outside of claiming he fucked Hopkins girlfriend/wife like some Tupac/Nick Kyrgios hybrid. Granted, I am sure there was some selective editing at play, but you can't talk that shit one second and get screwed into the ground by a comeback route the next. Close your eyes and the dizziness will go away faster DeAngelo. Little advice I picked up during my dizzy bat career.
DeAndre Hopkins may not have all that credible of a resume in the NFL, but he's also just a second year player. You can't claim he doesn't have the clout to clown you when you are a cornerback that, considering where you were selected, has underachieved. Maybe you get that pass if you're an All-Pro. Hell, maybe you get that pass if you have a Super Bowl ring or two. You definitely don't get that pass when you're just an above average NFL veteran. Hall has accomplished more then Hopkins to this point, but Hopkins certainly has the talent to accomplish more in the long run. Maybe it was best to just let the internet have some fun with this and then let it die out. Getting some itchy Twitter fingers isn't going to do you any good when you, quite literally, don't have a stable leg to stand on. If that clip above is any indication I don't think DeAngelo Hall is person I would be taking my advice from when it comes to tipping your routes. Hopkins may be a man of few words, but those words are weapons of mass destruction. Ice up DeAngelo. P.S. That wasn't the highlight of DeAndre's career DeAngelo, this was....
So dirty.
Cities Are Debating HOw To Punish Homeless People Because that's Clearly Society's Biggest Problem8/14/2015 Washington Post- Boise, like many cities — the number of which has swelled since the recession — has an ordinance banning sleeping or camping in public places. But such laws, the DOJ says, effectively criminalize homelessness itself in situations where people simply have nowhere else to sleep. From the DOJ's filing:
When adequate shelter space exists, individuals have a choice about whether or not to sleep in public. However, when adequate shelter space does not exist, there is no meaningful distinction between the status of being homeless and the conduct of sleeping in public. Sleeping is a life-sustaining activity — i.e., it must occur at some time in some place. If a person literally has nowhere else to go, then enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance against that person criminalizes her for being homeless. "Homelessness is just becoming more visible in communities, and when homelessness becomes more visible, there’s more pressure on community leaders to do something about it," Tars says. "And rather than actually examining what’s the best thing to do about homelessness, the knee-jerk response — as with so many other things in society — is 'we’ll address this social issue with the criminal justice system.'" You know, it’s a question that we, as society, don’t think about enough, how are we going to go about about punishing the homeless? I got to say, I’ve grinded the gears on this one and I have come up with only one possible solution. You may want to sit down for this. Ready? Perhaps we should just let them do the same shit they been doing. I know, I know. Hot Take City, Population Bob. It’s almost like I am taking it too easy on the people that don’t have a single possession, that doesn’t fit in a garbage bag, to their name. Like I am a homeless apologist or something. How dare I think that not having a roof to live under isn’t punishment enough. Real quick though, what’s a punishment to a homeless person? The only think I can think of is a public stoning. I know we aren’t treating prison likes it’s a punishment, right? Other than the whole forced anal thing, prison is like a goddamn Club Med compared to living on the streets. You get food, even if it is barely edible. You get showers, even if you do come out of them bleeding profusely from the rectum. You get a cell mate that can talk to occasionally. Hell, according to every movie/TV show I have ever seen, you even get an outdoor gym. That’s like the homeless person equivalent of a time share in Hawaii. Sex, food, recess, showers? That’s quite the vacation from sleeping on a park bench smelling like your urine (only your own, if you're lucky). A couple minutes ago we were trying to punish them and now we are trying to overcrowd our prisons with people that would gladly skip behind bars with a gleam in their eye and a smile on their face? How about we just stick to persecuting people that have a negative impact on society, instead of the people that are a mere sidewalk speed bump on our way to work?
I haven’t been bored enough to keep up with the goings on of the 49er’s training camp, but I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say that Colin Kaepernick looks like shit. Who would have thought that the quarterback that failed miserably when he wasn’t allowed to call his own audibles would have a hard time when given complete control of the offense? Say what you want about Harbaugh. The dude may be a psychopath that lacks any self awareness whatsoever, but he’s not an idiot. It Kaepernick was neutered in terms of calling plays then there was a reason for it. Excuse me for implying that the reason might be that he is not very good at quarterback.
You know the old adage, if you two quarterbacks, you really have none. Yeah, well if you are complimenting two quarterbacks then you are really complimenting none. If Blaine Gabbert is considered an imperative piece of your team’s foundation then people better watch out below, because that building is coming down and it’s coming down fast. We aren’t talking about a Bledsoe/Brady situation, or a Favre/Rodgers situation. Those both included two well above average NFL quarterbacks. This is a quarterback duo with one year of solid play under their collective belt. The most popular player on a team on any struggling team is the backup quarterback. We haven’t even started to play meaningful football yet, and the brand new coach of the 49er’s is already giving Blaine Gabbert’s ego public blow jobs. Now that’s what I call lip service! Really lubing it up to make the transition less of a surprise when Kaepernick’s play proves impotent by week 6. Again, I have no idea what kind of camp Kaep is having, but the only reasons you wax poetic about your backup is if you expect him to play or if you want to motivate your starter. If your starter needs motivation a little over a week into camp when he's following up a disappointing season then that's a whole different conversation.
h/t Yardbarker
Some Kid Lost his Internship With Facebook When He Tweeted Out Flaws In Their Privacy Settings8/14/2015 Boston.com- Three months ago, Harvard student Aran Khanna was preparing to start a coveted internship at Facebook when he launched a browser application from his dorm room that angered the social media behemoth.
The app capitalized on a privacy flaw that Facebook had been aware of for about three years: the Facebook Messenger app automatically shared users’ locations with anyone who they messaged. Khanna tweeted about the app on May 26 and posted about it on Reddit and Medium. Marauder’s Map began to go viral. Facebook, never one to miss a trend, quickly caught on. Within three days, Facebook asked Khanna to disable the app. The company also deactivated location sharing from desktops, which meant Khanna’s app wouldn’t work even if he hadn’t taken it down. And the company that Mark Zuckerberg famously launched from his Harvard dorm room withdrew its internship offer from this Harvard student, who apparently made the mistake of...launching an app from his dorm room. Three days after the extension was posted, and two hours before he was supposed to leave to start his internship, Khanna received a call from a Facebook employee telling him that the company was rescinding his summer internship offer. Khanna said he was told that he violated the Facebook user agreement when he scraped the site for data. The next day, Facebook asked him to deactivate the extension. He did, but also updated his Medium post and the extension’s description to make it clear that Facebook asked him to disable the map. Three days after the extension was posted, and two hours before he was supposed to leave to start his internship, Khanna received a call from a Facebook employee telling him that the company was rescinding his summer internship offer. Khanna said he was told that he violated the Facebook user agreement when he scraped the site for data. Oh man, I can’t believe questioning the arrogant CEO of a multi billion dollar internet company didn’t work out for you. I am thoroughly stunned that Mark Zuckerberg didn’t take kindly to a prospective intern tweeting out a known flaw in his increasingly valuable social media site. Who knew that would end in a premature termination from the company? Hey dude, maybe devote an hour or two to a screening of the ‘The Social Network’ before you imply that you know more about privacy settings than a man whose company pretty much relies on their use. Do they not teach ‘Common Fucking Sense 101’ at Harvard? Is thinking rationally just a skill that Zuckerberg picked up outside of class? Of course this dude got canned. That’s what happens when you challenge the intelligence of a guy that stole the preliminary idea for his website from another classmate. You know, the same guy that fucked over his financier once the company started to expand at a rapid rate. Probably should just do whatever you can to not get the attention of that guy when you are trying to turn an internship into a prestigious occupation. Everyone has a guy like this that they have worked with. Just the know-it-all asshole that makes others look bad by being a try hard. The difference is, most of those people already have real jobs. You’re an intern Khanna. Just be a fucking intern. Distribute coffee. Stay out of everyone’s way. Most importantly, just shut the fuck up. People don’t want you around, and they certainly don’t want you hitting them with breaking news that they have known for the last three years. That Harvard education isn’t all that impressive when attempting to work for one of the most famous Harvard graduates ever. I’m not saying that this guy doesn’t have a high paying job in his very near future, but I am saying he might benefit from studying how a chain of command works. |
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