Monthly Archives: January 2009

The Mutiny of John Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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It used to be when a team won the Super Bowl, it was pretty much a key in the proverbial job security lock for a head coach. These days if you haven’t won one in the past five years, Shiver me timbers! A pink slip?!you better send your Curriculum Vitae to WorkinSports.com, or some other job search website, because you are done.

The firing of Mike Shanahan from the HC position in Denver a couple of weeks ago did not surprise many people. After all, the last time the Broncos went to the Super Bowl, we were still worried about Y2K. But the firing of John Gruden from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past Friday was not only stunning, but perhaps unwarranted as well.

Here are some of the causes the Buccaneers’ owners gave for firing Gruden:

In spite of how ludicrous it may seem, six years since your last Super Bowl appearance really is an eon in the professional football world.

Offensive inconsistency (a play on words for those who are paying attention)

No playoff wins since the Super Bowl victory. Even Long John Silver would have a hard time justifying this one.

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Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito: The Lamentable Tragedy of…

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Never was there a tale of more woe, than that of Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito, two of the primary suspects in the Meredith Kercher murder trial. Doesn’t have quite the same ring as Romeo & Juliet, but if people find Knox and Sollecito only half as captivating as Shakespeare’s doomed couple, than the defense will be satisfied, I believe. Hey, this article is about me!

In the first day of the trial, the defense’s claim is that Knox and Sollecito were merely ‘two innocent lovebirds’ who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The place happened to be the cottage where both Knox and Kercher were housemates. Both transfer students, Kercher from England, and Knox from the U.S., were allegedly in the house at the time of the murder. Obviously this was the case with the victim, Meredith Kercher, so the dispute is whether or not Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Sollecito, were there as well. Knox is now claiming that instead of being at the cottage, she was smoking hashish at Sollecito’s flat.

Although this case is tragic, another tragedy that is only being touched upon lightly is the errors in judgment that Knox made. First of all, being associated with the likes of Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast native and known drug dealer, is asking for nothing but trouble; Guede is already serving a 30-year sentence for this crime. Secondly, as seen in the case of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, young people have to be a little more cautious with the people they meet when they’re abroad, and how overnight these people become ‘friends’ or someone they ‘fall in love with’.

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Heath Ledger: This Generation’s James Dean?

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All the glitz and glamor that surrounded the Golden Globes, or any Hollywood event for that matter, was at full force this evening. They had to double it up since last year’s ceremony was canceled due to the screenwriter’s guild strike (Whatever happened to that, anyway? It was all the rage at the time; everyone was doing it!). Boulevard of Broken DreamsTears and champagne flowed, but an extra tear was in the eye of award recipients and onlookers alike as the late Heath Ledger received that all too rare posthumous award for his supporting role in Dark Knight, as the maniacal Joker.

Heath Ledger was a young man of 28 when he passed this time last year, January 22nd to be exact, which ironically enough is the day that the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences announces nominations for the annual Oscars ceremony. Now death and coincidences never guaranteed anyone of an Oscar, but I do have to admit that the members of the Academy may look more villainous than the Joker to the American public if they don’t at least nominate Ledger for the award.

But let’s get to the heart of the matter. Is Heath Ledger this generation’s James Dean? Some say yes, some say no. I say maybe. They had a lot of common. They both were nominated and won Golden Globes posthumously, they both passed away before their time, and they both were in a movie where they played cowboys.

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Normal Speed Chase

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One of the distinct traits of the era we live is the acceptance of everything that’s unique or different. As a result, the lines that define normalcy have become faded, if not wiped away altogether. The question must be posed; what is normal? Don't worry; everything is completely normal. It’s a small town in Illinois, and earlier today, this low-key locale made national news as it was host to a high speed chase that occurred Monday morning.

This chase resulted in a shoot out and the death of 57 year old, Robert Sylvester. Sylvester was suspected of robbing four banks prior to yesterday. The cops began chasing him on I-55 and the pursuit ended near Peoria, IL. When he left his vehicle, he jumped over concrete barrier reports say, as well as initiate the gunfight.

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Israel v PLO: Knock It Off Already!

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Want to hear something new? Israel and Palestine are at war. The hot tickets for this annual bout between these two opposing nations are sold out, but don’t worry. Dome of the Rock: Is it next?The like the ’bout’ more than they do the ‘annual’, so chances are they’ll be at again before ’09 is over with. After all, it’s only January. It’s not unreasonable to think a summer rematch would be in order.

Seriously, though. Israelis and Arabs have been fighting for how many thousands of years? You would think that they would have reached some sort of compromise by now. Thousands of years? Some would say all this began when the Palestinians were removed from Israel in the 1967 exodus following Israel’s victory in the Six Day War. This is partially true; but that’s only how long the Nation of Israel and the PLO have been at odds.

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