The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is back in the news again. Rev. Wright gave an exclusive interview to traditionally right-wing newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, guaranteeing that whatever he said would be widely distributed to those who disagree with or even hate President Obama. Attending the 95th annual Hampton University Ministers’ Conference, Wright said that he has not spoken to his former parishioner since Obama became president, and he implied that the White House won’t allow Obama to talk to him.
Just like his indignation comment that was blasted all over the Internet during the campaign (“God damn America”), Rev. Wright has a point, but then his language makes his point moot. “Them Jews ain’t going to let him talk to me,” Wright said. “I told my baby daughter that he’ll talk to me in five years when he’s a lame duck or in eight years when he’s out of office.”
Reverend, you are a political lightning rod, and a sharp politician like the President will not allow you anywhere near him. But it is your out-of-date, 1960s, “radical brother” mindset and your anti-Semitic views that will keep you away from the President. In other words, it’s your backwards ass thinking and your big f@#%ing mouth that are keeping you away from President Obama. Please shut up and go away. And stay away from the media.

Usually nothing excites me as much as Game 7 hockey and we have one coming: Friday night the dreaded, hated Detroit Red Wings will play one game against the Pittsburgh Penguins for Lord Stanley’s Cup. The teams started training camps last September; fought through the 82 game season, and toughed it out through three best-of-seven playoff rounds and six earlier games to this – 60 minutes for the championship. It shouldn’t get any better than this; unfortunately, often game sevens end up disappointing me, and this has the potential to do that.
Never mind the fact than no road team has won in this series; but in the games in Detroit, Pittsburgh looked like it didn’t belong on the same ice. In Game 5, the Red Wings beat the Penguins 5-0 and Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest looked outclassed, outhustled. The beating was so bad that goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled. It appeared that not only would the Red Wings win their second consecutive Stanley Cup, but would do so in Game 6 at Pittsburgh, just like last year.
But Fleury came up big, especially in the third period, making two goals stand up for a 2-1 victory, setting up Friday night. I’ll be ready; I’ll be watching. I just hope the Penguins show up, otherwise, it will be a very short night and the evil Red Wings will have the Cup again.

Other than criminals, can a person make a bad decision or by put into a bad situation and have the bad luck or bad decisions follow them around? There was a cartoon character called “Bad Luck Schleprock” on the Pebbles and Bam-Bam Show ; he had a perpetual black cloud over him, raining constantly, and bad luck always happened to him. I wonder if the same can be said of basketball coach Tim Floyd.
Here in Chicago, he will forever be known as Jerry “The Sleuth” Krause’s fishing buddy and stooge hired to replace Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson as Krause dismantled the Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen Chicago Bulls dynasty that won six NBA Championships in eight years. But Floyd had enjoyed surprising success at the University of Southern California, leading the Trojans to the NCAA tournament three consecutive seasons, a first in the program’s history, and this year he coached them to the Pac-10 tournament title. The Trojans lost to Michigan State in the second round of this year’s NCAA tournament. He had three years remaining on his contract and all looked good. Then bad luck came calling again.
Tim Floyd suddenly resigned yesterday as USC basketball coach following allegations that he gave $1,000 in cash to a man who helped steer former star player O.J. Mayo to the Trojans. Last month, YahooSports.com reported that Louis Johnson, a former associate of Mayo’s, told federal and NCAA investigators that Floyd paid to have Mayo sign with the Trojans. The investigation is ongoing.
Floyd’s teams were 85-50 in four seasons and his teams posted a combined 328-180 record in stints at Iowa State, New Orleans and Idaho. In addition, he was head coach of the New Orleans Hornets from 2003-2004 in addition to his disastrous tenure with the Bulls from 1999-2002
Now, I have no doubt that Tim Floyd will coach again somewhere, and I also believe that he was put in the worst possible position by Krause, who is now a scout for the Yankees. There was no way he could win off-the-court after Jackson was pushed out, and Jordan was sent into retirement (the first time).
But it Tim Floyd is a dirty coach, passing money around to get players, AND dumb enough to get caught doing it, that is a different issue. He can’t cheat and be a victim too.

Two stories for the price of one: To no one’s surprise, Barry Bonds’ wife has filed for legal separation. Liz Watson married the slugger in 1998 after Bonds’ first marriage to Susann Branco ended in a highly publicized divorce in 1994.
If one is to believe Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams’ book “Game of Shadows” which details Bonds’ drug use and infidelity(and I do), he married Ms. Watson, an African-American, after all of the fallout of his first wife being Caucasian.
Bonds probably doesn’t need any more time in a courtroom: he is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to charges of lying to a federal grand jury in December 2003 when he denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs. That trial has been delayed because of a dispute over admissible evidence.
I do not know this woman, but there is a thought of “gold digger” in the back of my mind toward almost any woman who marries a professional athlete, especially if they marry after the athlete has become a millionaire. She stayed with Bonds while he had dalliances on the side (one of the chief prosecution witnesses is a Caucasian young woman who bought a house “with” Bonds and is willing to testify of his drug use). As always, the person that deserve sympathy is the person who had no say in being involved in this: the couple’s 10-year-old daughter, Aisha.
Besides, how can anyone expect to be married to Barry Bonds; no one can love him as much as he loves himself.

As a devoted non-follower/non-watcher of American Idol, I have attempted to know little, if anything about the show other than the fact that Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell are now in my consciousness. However, even I heard about how “rocker” Adam Lambert “was robbed” of winning Idol this past time.
Anyway, one of the magazines that I subscribe to, Rolling Stone, is wasting precious space on a story about his guy, and the BIG revelation is: he’s GAY! Well “whoop-di f@#%in’ do!” Who cares? From what I understand, his singing style comes straight (no pun intended) from the Freddie Mercury school of rock, so anyone watching could have guessed, but these days, with the “factions” fighting over whether gays should marry (they should, of course), having some singer come out of the closet is about as newsworthy as the fact that most of the world’s population took a dump today.
The only way this is anywhere near news would be if it could be proved that people voted against him because they thought he was gay, or if the rumors that AT&T rigged the voting had something to do with his sexual preference. Other than that, grow up everybody – there’s gay people around – live and let live.

There used to be foreign policy between the superpowers called mutually assured destruction. It’s what kept the bombs from flying in the 1950s and 1960s; that is, if either the Russians or the Americans start a nuclear war, the other side had enough bombs to make sure that everyone dies. Certainly the U.S. and old U.S.S.R. would be destroyed (or so close to it that it was mean hell on earth for any survivors).
The madman known as Kim Jong Il, the head of North Korea, obviously does not understand this concept. It wasn’t enough to launch missiles that can reach Japan and the Middle East. It wasn’t enough to engage in nuclear tests at the dismay of the rest of the world’s governments. It wasn’t enough to be reportedly planning to test missiles that could reach the United States. Pyongyang raised tensions a notch more by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper. “Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country’s dignity and sovereignty even a bit,” said the commentary, quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency (and The Huffington Post)
This was the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as “offensive” in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls U.S. attempts to invade. The tough talk came as South Korea and the U.S. lead an effort at the U.N. Security Council to have the North punished for its nuclear test with tough sanctions.
Now, what is the diminutive pipsqueak with the Marty Allen haircut up to? What does he think will happen? The Americans have nukes aimed at North Korea. The People’s Republic of China, trying to build its way into the 20th Century if not the 21st, will do whatever is necessary to keep the region stable. As will the Russians. And they both have far more nuclear weapons than the North Koreans have So, here is North Korea, with a handful of nuclear weapons threatening the stability of the world against countries that have a considerably larger nuclear capability.
While the North Koreans are saber-rattling with its Southern neighbors and the U.S. (the latter of which is bogged down in two wars and has neither the ability or the willingness to engage in an Asian war), who is to say that the Chinese and Russians don’t get together in a historic exercise in détente, and nuke North Korea, or assassinate Il and/or his son and proclaimed successor?
It would be, as Sean Connery said in “The Untouchables,” like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

If Rafael Nadal’s knee keeps him from playing Wimbledon, can anyone else defeat Roger Federer? Should we just cancel the whole men’s draw, give the trophy to Federer and watch the women?
That is a problem sometimes with tennis: lacking a bunch of good players, the sport needs a good Number 1 vs. Number 2 rivalry to be truly interesting. This has been one of the reasons that the woman’s game has been so much more interesting over the past several years – any number of players could legitimately win any given tournament. The Williams sisters and the many Russians dominate the women’s top 10, and any of them could possibly win on the English grass. Looking at the men’s ATP rankings, Nadal is still number 1; Federer is number 2; then, almost 2000 points behind Federer is Brit Andy Murray; then Novak Djokovic who got an early boot in the French clay. Juan Martin del Potro is ranked fifth after appearing in the French semi-finals, but it still remains to be seen whether he can play on surfaces other than clay.
To show you how lame the men’s draw will be, Andy Roddick is ranked sixth in the world, mostly on perseverance. Roddick has never been able to beat Federer, much less Nadal.

One more thing, I don’t care what Pete Sampras says – Roger Federer is one of the best players ever to play, but I still say that Rod Laver is the greatest of all time. Only two men have won “natural” Grand Slams – all of the Slams in the same year: Don Budge and Rod Laver TWICE. Federer and Sampras are tied with 14 Grand slam singles titles, but I say again, how many Slams would Laver have won if he hadn’t lost four years turning pro before the start of the Open era. Remember, Laver won his first Grand Slam in 1962, turned pro, which precluded him from playing in the Grand Slams, returned in the Open era in 1968, finished second in Paris and won Wimbledon, then went on the win all four Slams in 1969 at the age of 31 (by the time he won the U.S. Open). He remains the only player in the open era to win a Grand Slam. Not Borg; or McEnroe. Not Federer or Sampras. Or Agassi (who, by the way with Federer are the only players with Career Grand Slams in recent history). If Laver had today’s equipment, he would be even more formidable.
So, Roger Federer is a great player, one for the ages. There’s no argument there. But he, like all others, pales in comparison to “The Rocket.”

What is it with famous people dying from having sex while being suffocated? It may have been the cause of death of Michael Hutchence, then lead singer of INXS a couple of years ago. This week, it appears to have been the cause of death of actor David Carradine.
Best known for the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu,” Mr. Carradine was found in a hotel room closet in Thailand with a rope tied to his neck and genitals, and his death may have been caused by accidental suffocation. He was in Thailand making a film.
The 72-year-old actor’s body was discovered Thursday in his luxury suite at Bangkok’s Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Police initially said they suspected suicide, though Carradine’s associates had questioned that theory. And it didn’t make sense – Carradine has enjoyed a career resurgence after starring in Quentin Tarrantino’s “Kill Bill” films. He was in a series of funny television commercials for the Yellow Pages parodying his Kung Fu character.
In both Mr. Hutchence and Mr. Carradine’s cases, I haven’t seen that there were any partners involved, questioned, etc. Was this strangulation fantasy masturbatory only? In both cases, was there another person there and involved? Was there robbery involved or just trying to avoid discovery? Strange.
Of course, I remember “Kung Fu.” As a fan of Bruce Lee (who helped create the series but was dejected when he did not win the role for being “too Asian”) the show was, in many ways, like an NBA basketball game: no reason to watch until the final five minutes. Carradine’s character Kaine would wonder into town, befriend or be befriended by some people who were being oppressed and the next 45 minutes would be them being put down until Kaine decided that he wouldn’t be violating his personal oath of nonviolence by kicking the spit out of the local rednecks. I just wanted to see the set-up and the pseudo-psychology of the rest of the show.
Anyway, we will miss David Carradine as an actor, spokesman, no matter what the cause of death was.