RUGator

Consider the following “hypothetical:”

-how much incentive is there for reporters to investigate “fishy” incidents involving celebrity athletes if the networks they work for are subsidized by companies who sponsor the athletes they cover?

Said differently,

-if company “X” is paying “X” athlete “X” dollars to use their products and that same company pays “X” network “X” advertising dollars, how motivated will that network be to uncover “inconvenient truths” about “X” athlete?

Say what you will about public figures and private lives. There is a price to be paid. And silly questions from an accidental observer.

Whenever I see this figure attached to anything, I think, “but it’s the .1 that concerns me.”

Why would someone spend this much of their “own” money to be a mayor?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/nyregion/24mayor.html?_r=1&hp

Since 1990, here are the teams Nick Saben has coached:

Toledo-1990

Michigan State: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999

LSU: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

Miami Dolphins: 2005, 2006

Alabama: 2007, 2008, 2009

…just sayin.’

Chip Carey (TBS baseball announcer): Please stop talking! I’m begging you. Please!

Bathroom hand dryers: When was the last time your hands actually got dried with one push of the button? Still end up using paper towels (or toilet paper).

Sports “color” commentators: Dave Winfield today on ESPN radio when asked what the Yankees had to do to win- “The Yankees need to get the lead and then they need to hold the lead.” I’m screaming.

Tired of hearing one of my colleagues telling me, “FYI.” It’s tired.

As I watched expert after expert dissecting every aspect of every sporting event and athlete known to man, I pictured how critically important all this information was/is to the lives of so many. And I wondered, “what if we spent half as much time focused on our own lives?”

I swear, Starbursts have gotten smaller over the years. Pretty soon, they’ll each be no bigger than a Skittle.

Eat your heart out, Harvey Korman!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/business/27geithner.html?_r=1&hp

“I found it unwatchable,” my cousin told me after I suggested he see it.

My mentor teacher tossed it back at me after watching it. “I’m not going to waste my time watching David Lynch vicariously living out his perversions.” (well….excuuuuuse ME!)

And with that, I come to my favorite film:

“Mulholland Drive,” directed by David Lynch. The film features Naomi Watts (her first big role) and is essentially a “wild and disturbing ride” through the dark side of Hollywood.

After watching it for the first time, I sort of just sat staring at the screen. Wondering what I had just witnessed, I had trouble shaking the film from my mind for months.

While I wasn’t sure what had happened, I was sure that something had happened. It is disturbing. And I would argue, if experienced as Lynch intended, a journey into the dark side of human nature.

For students of film (or anyone interested in movies), I still recommend seeing it first. Then go to the following terrific review/analysis at The Modern Word.com: http://themodernword.com/mulholland_drive.html

Something very fishy going on here:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/04/24/sports/AP-US-Pitino-Extortion.html?_r=1

Panoramic views of new Yankee Stadium via today’s New York Times.

Please go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/02/sports/20090402-yankees-pano.html?hp

…I had to walk three miles to school. In the snow. In summer.

…we never talked back.

…there was no such thing as “your side of the story.”

…we wore our older sibling’s clothing.

…we swam in the Passaic River. And we were thankful.

…we ate our food uncooked.

…money didn’t grow on trees.

…we went to school when we had “the flu.”

…there was no such thing as air.

…we hunted for dinner.

…gas was free.

…politicians were honest.

…men opened doors for women.

…our parents hit us when we misbehaved.

…we ate our allowance.

…we paid for everything in cash.

…nobody cursed.

…we respected our elders.

…no one lied.

…we just made things up.

…we were just like you.