BEYONCE'S LIP SYNC: WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

The economy slumps, unemployment is still high, and troops are still dying while
fighting for our country. Yet, some people are in a frenzy over whether or not
Beyonce lip-synced her way through "The Star Spangled Banner" at the
Inauguration on Monday? Really? Why do we care?

The "Today" show must think people care because they ran a piece on it Thursday,
a full three days after Beyonce gave a stirring rendition of it. Most of us thought it
was "stirring" until some twitterers and experts believed that Beyonce was mouthing
the song with a pre-recorded version of it.

I guess after the Lance Armstrong and Manti Te'o scandals and other fraud
fests, people are just tired of getting duped. They take it as a personal attack on their
integrity and belief system resulting in bitter outrage. Really?

I say, so what if Beyonce lip-synched. It's not like she's Milli Vanilli and using
the voices of someone else on their way to winning a Grammy-award. She has
incredible talent and we know that it's all her own. Nobody seemed to have much
of a problem when Whitney Houston brought down the house before the Super Bowl
in 1991 with her inspiring version of "The Star Spangled Banner."

Two years ago, Christina Aguilera went "live" with her rendition of the song and
butchered it. People see her today as a special talent, unfortunately for her, she gets
tagged with the, "Yeah, but..." Phenomenal ability, yeah, but she screwed up the
song in front of the entire world. And when artists screw up the national anthem,
people in this country feel it's blasphemous. "How can they do that!?," we ask.

It can happen. Sometimes the sound systems installed in the stadium are off.
Often performers suddenly get feedback in their ears and they lose their focus
temporarily.  Aretha Franklin performed the song "live" during President Obama's
first inauguration when it was bitterly cold and she had some problems getting
everything out crisp and clean. Franklin was harshly criticized for not being
perfect. When you're performing "live", there are  no safety nets. None. If
you crash, you crash hard.

I'm sure Aguilera would love to have a do over and do it by lip-syncing. It's
clean, it's safe, it's almost guaranteed. Beyonce played it safe, so what? If she
made just the smallest of mistakes, the entire country would have jumped all
over her. Should she be considered a fraud along the lines of Armstrong and Te'o?
I don't think so.

Beyonce got to where she is because she is not only talented, but extremely smart.
She made a good decision for her. Move on and get over it, people. There are other
things in life much more important that this.

Read More

MANTI TE'O AND THE 'IMMACULATE DECEPTION'

Freaky. Bizarre. Beyond comprehension. The Manti Te'o scandal has been all
those things and just seems to be getting crazier by the day. When I go through
the checkout line at the supermarket, I'm expecting to see a headline of the National
Enquirer that reads, TE'O TAKES RIDE IN UFO! LINEBACKER CLAIMS
LOU HOLTZ IS AN ALIEN.

On Thursday, Te'o is going to get grilled by Katie Couric in his first interview on
camera since the scandal broke. Last week, for some unknown reason, Te'o
gave Jeremy Schaap of ESPN an exclusive sit-down, but wouldn't allow any
cameras to record the session. It had to be the first time in broadcast history a
famous athlete didn't want to be shown on television, but just heard. Who does
that? Only Manti Te'o.

Te'o must've been afraid that a body language expert hired by a network would
read into his shifty eyes and squirrel-like movements in his chair and call
him a liar. I won't be surprised if Te'o tells Couric his dead girlfriend that
he never met and doesn't exist, is seven months pregnant with his child. Can
we put anything past Te'o at this point? The guy is starting to make Lindsay
Lohan look like a picture of great mental health.

Te'o plays football like a man possessed. It's pretty clear now, that he is still
just a kid who might be a little obsessed. On Wednesday, phone records obtained
by ESPN revealed that Te'o talked with his imaginary girlfriend  more than 1,000
times from May through December. The calls totaled 500 hours. 500 hours?!
Are you kidding me?! In this day and age of text, Twitter, e-mail, and Facebook
nobody talks to family members, much less people they've never met, for more
than five minutes. 500 hours!? That's insane!

This entire hoax has been the mother of all circuses. It makes the one under
the New York Jets tent with Rex Ryan as the ringmaster, look like a puppet show
for elementary school kids. Stephen King, James Patterson, Quitin Tarantino,
and Steven Spielberg could rack their brains together and still not be able to come
up with a story that's as bizarre as this one.

Ronaiah Tuisosopo, the master and creator of this hoax, must either be a diabolical
genuis or just trippin' on Tarantino's LSD. This story is just so mind-boggling, it's
scary. All-American linebacker at the most storied football program in the country gets
reeled in by some imaginary girlfriend, who gets critically injured in a car accident
and dies tragically from leukemia. This entire charade goes on, depending on who
you believe, for at least four months and possibly four years.

I'm nominating Tuisosopo for an Academy award in the category of best picture.
The envelope, please....

As the key figure in this elaborate hoax, Te'o is either incredibly naive or just
not the sharpest tool in the shed. For crying out loud. Do you think Johnny Football
is going on-line to score a date, talks to a person for 500 hours, never meets her,
but  then calls her his "girlfriend"?

Mark Twain once said that truth is often stranger than fiction, but that was long
before this hoax was hatched. Can only imagine how Twain would tag this Te'o
tragedy. Many of us who saw the demise of Michael Vick, the first edition, never
thought we'd see something that would top his dog killing scandal. Then came Tiger
Woods, then came Penn State, and then came Lance Armstrong. Now, we have
the Te'o travesty.

Seriously, is there another scandal out there that's yet to be uncovered that can
top the hoax involving Manti Te'o? Don't think so, unless Skip Bayless reveals
that he's really Tim Tebow's secret lover.

Read More

TIM BROWN TARS BILL CALLAHAN

Nothing surprises us in the sports world anymore. The recent scandals involving

Manti Te'o, Lance Armstrong, and Suzy Favor Hamilton should only confirm that. 

But when Tim Brown and Jerry Rice, both Hall of Fame receivers, accused former

Oakland Raiders head coach Bill Callahan of throwing Super Bowl XXXVIII to
 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

A full 10 years after the Raiders were embarrassed 48-21, Brown and Rice said, 

without any hard facts, of course, that Callahan wanted to stick it to the Raiders 

and let his former boss, Jon Gruden, win the Lombardi Trophy. With a week 

before the real hype starts, the media has picked up this story and is running hard 

with it.

According to both Brown and Rice, Callahan changed the game plan against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers just 48 hours before kick-off. Granted, it may have been

a bad coaching move, but it's hardly reason to accuse Callahan of 'sabatoging'

the organization he was employed by.

OK, let's cut threw all the BS and get some facts straight  before you go to the

water cooler and say to your buddy, "That Callahan is an S.O.B. The guy threw

the Super Bowl because he loved Chucky and wanted his former boss to win

the game. That's what Tim Brown and Jerry Rice said, so it must be true."

There is no way an NFL coach is going to 'let' a former boss win the Super

Bowl by sabotaging it. To think that for even a millisecond, is absurd. Every

coach knows what winning a Super Bowl does for their career and legacy.
There have been only 29 coaches in the history of the game to win the Lombardi
Trophy. 29. That's it, that's all. The Lombardi Trophy is what every coach lives
for. Winning one validates you as a great coach.

If Brown and Rice are to be believed, then Callahan just gave up his shot
at history so another coach, Jon Gruden, could win it instead. How utterly stupid.
John Harbaugh wants that trophy and piece of history. Do you think he's going
to throw the game, just so his baby brother can have it? No, way. Two weeks
from Sunday, they'd probably brawl each other at mid-field if it meant winning
the Super Bowl

Sure, Tim Brown, OK, Jerry Rice. You as players know how much pride and
ego it takes just to make it to the NFL, much less the Hall of Fame. Now, you're
going to tell us that Bill Callahan, a man who paid incredible dues to get to the
top of his profession, is going to lay down for Gruden, his former boss. Are you
saying that he just wanted to stick it to the Raiders and lose simply because he
didn't like the Raiders? Right.

People, do you see how incredibly ridiculous this is? And it's ridiculous that
Rice and Brown said that Callahan's last minute game plan change caused center
Barret Robbins to go off the rails and AWOL. Robbins, you may remember,
went bar hopping, got drunk out of his mind, and didn't show up for the game.
Rice and Brown are blaming Callahan for that, too.

A full 10 years after the fact, Rice and Brown are smearing Callahan's good
name. Why did they wait so long? Why did they choose to talk about it leading
up to the Super Bowl? Interesting. The media is sure to blow this story out of
the water, because after all, it's what the media is great at.

Interestingly, Lincoln Kennedy, a former All-Pro lineman on the team, refuted
the story of Rice an  Brown, but it didn't really get all that much play because
hell, why let the truth get in the way of a sensational story. Kennedy admitted that
changing the game plan so soon before the Super Bowl may have been a bad
coaching move, but it was hardly enough for Brown and Rice to call it 'sabatoge'.

I guess Dick Vermeil 'sabatoged' the Philadelphia Eagles by setting strict curfews
and having long and hard practices before they got blown out by the Raider in
the 1981 Super Bowl. I'm sure Dan Reeves of the Denver Broncos 'sabatoged'
his team before they got destroyed by San Francisco, 55-10, in Super Bowl
XXIV. Must have been his unbearable dress code that he imposed.

When asked for a reaction to the story by FoxSports.com, Gruden texted, "Give
me a break. No thanks."

Let's reiterate one thing. Brown and Rice had no concrete evidence that Callahan
'sabatoged' the Super Bowl. It was just their expert opinion. Rice admitted that
Callahan didn't like him for some reason. Hmmm. An axe to grind, maybe? In
the world of diva's and egomaniacs? Nooooooo. That's never going to happen,
is it?

Callahan's reputation has been dinked forever. People are now going to wonder
about him just because two of his former players accused him of something shocking
without having any facts.

But that's just a microcosm of how are society thinks and works. You don't need
to have any facts, just a hunch, a belief,  agenda, or an axe to grind, and  you
can screw up a man's life and reputation forever.

Look what happened to Bernie Fine. Look what's happening to Bill Callahan.
Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

Read More

KATHERINE WEBB TO BE IN WORST REALITY SHOW EVER

I learned something from the movie, "Argo", I really should've learned a long,
long time ago. No idea, no matter how far-fetched or downright stupid, is a bad
one. If CIA operative Tony Mendez creates an escape plan to get hostages out
of Iran with them playing the role of Canadian filmmakers scouting "exotic"
locations in Iran for a sci-film, anything is indeed, possible.

All you need is one person to believe in your idea and about 50 Iranians to help
make it work. I'm not sure there are 50 Iranians in Hollywood, but there sure
are a lot of people who believe anything is possible, even a show about "stars"
competing in a diving meet.

I'm sure the producer who pitched his reality show, Celebrity Diving to executives
at ABC, was thinking the same thing as he started his presentation. How bout a
reality show  like "Dancing With The Stars" except that the contestants will be diving.
That's  right, into a pool off a springboard. We'll get supermodels that viewers like Brent
Musburger  can drool over and testosterone-fueled athletes like Ndamukung Suh to
make fun of.

It'll be a combination of "Wipe Out" and "Desperate Housewives," or anybody
who is desparate enough to make a fool of themselves to try to revive a career
that's been been going in reverse since they made an appearance on "Little House
On The Prairie" 30 years ago. The executives snap their fingers and say, "That's
the ticket. Let's start on production."

Celebrity Diving is well into production and is set to air on March 19. Seriously.
This is going to be pure comedy. Katherine Webb, the girlfriend of Alabama QB
AJ McCarron is set to appear. Her 15 minutes of fame has been stretched into
a second hour with contracts to model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue
and to be a "reporter" for Inside Edition during the Super Bowl.

Webb has clearly become the new Kim Kardashian, a superstar in-waiting,
tapped on the shoulder by the fame god's, despite having no discernible talent.
Oh, we know the one talent Kardasian had, we're still waiting to see what Webb
has to offer . Maybe executing half-pike with a degree of difficulty of 3.5 will
prove to be it.

Webb previously said she was going to spend more time with her boyfriend,
McCarron, to work on and develop their relationship, but as we can see, that's
not working out too well.  She'll face off against Ndamukung Suh in the first
round of Celebrity Diving. Gee, that's going to be one helluva sight. A 320 lb
rack of flab attempting to pull off the "Triple Lindy" made famous by Rodney
Dangerfield in "Back to School."

I think this show becomes exciting when Suh, upset with the score judge Greg
Louganis (I'm not kidding) stomps on his head and jams a Speedo down his
throat.

Can't wait for all the gossip magazines to have cover stories on the love triangle
between Webb, McCarron, and Suh. Man, I'll be first in line to buy that issue.
Good, grief. Has Manti Teo' signed up to be a contestant? Was Lance Armstrong
not available?

This is going to be the worst reality show since "Skating With The Stars". You
don't remember that one with Bruce Jenner competing in a pink jumpsuit and
matching figure skates? Don't feel bad, you're in good company. The show was
pulled after about 3 episodes. Not sure if Celebrity Diving will last that long.

The first episode of Celebrity Diving will be like a NASCAR event. People
will watch it just to see the 10-car pile up. I'm sure the ratings will be strong
on opening night, but after that Celebrity Diving will go in the tank and disappear
into oblivion.

Read More

TEBOWING, TEO-ING, AND NOW, RAY-ING?

After Tebowing and Teo-ing, there is a new form of expression that is sweeping
the nation. It's called Ray-ing. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis put his signature
(and crack) on this new pose that is now "trending" on every social media vehicle.
The man who has given us the squirrel dance, now has another thing that we'll
remember him for long after he retires. (All-Pro selections and double-murder, as well)

Moments after the Ravens upset the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship,
Lewis, who has turned into Joel Osteen in football pads, got down on his hands and
knees and prayed at mid-field. For some reason, the producer/director  of CBS Sports

used a camera angle that made for an image we didn't really want to see. It was a
moment that had most of American asking, "Really? Did I really see what I thought
I just saw?" Personally, I thought my plumber had jumped onto my television screen
and decided to show off his crack in High-Def. Clicker, please.

Some thought the new pose should be named "Plumb-ing", others thought it had
to fall in line after other well-known players, Tim Tebow and Manti Teo. Whatever
the case, "Ray-ing" has already become in vogue. People, and even animals, in all
walks of life are using the pose in an effort to bring a miracle into their lives, or at
least a well-paying job or the winning numbers to the next $200 million Powerball
jackpot.

Will this new pose called, "Ray-ing" have much staying power? Probably not, but
it's sure to be a hit among plumbers around the world. For years, they have toiled
with their cracks exposed, but still in relative obscurity. IT service men seem to be
getting all the glory these days. Sal Balboni, a plumber from Shreveport, Louisiana,
said the pose by Lewis was appreciated by all the men who wield a wrench while
letting a lot of themselves hang out.

"It was a great moment for us, that's for sure," said Balboni. "He showed the entire
world something that we've long been proud of. I'm hoping to a least get a reality
show out of this. My agent says the phone has been ringing off the hook since Lewis
showed off his crack."

According to sources, Lewis has already been in contact with his lawyers to see
if he can trademark, "Ray-ing". Tim Tebow has already filed a claim to "Tebowing"
hoping to reap millions of dollars from merchandise sales.

Father Fred Pastore, who works at St. Alyosius parish in New Canaan, CT, feels
this could be a big moment for worshippers everywhere, regardless of their faith.
"It took a big man for Ray Lewis to do that pose in front of the entire country. I
could've done without the plumbers crack, but still, it's something that we, in the
church, were extremely proud of."

Ray-ing fever. Catch it.

Read More

MLK AND 'CONTENTS OF CHARACTER'

If Martin Luther King, Jr. got a whiff of what's been going on in the sports world
over the past month, he'd probably roll over in his grave. The former civil rights
who famously said and hoped that his four little children would live in a nation "where
they will not be judge by the color of their skin, but by the contents of their character",
must be wondering what the hell is going on here.

The contents of the character of our sports nation are spoiled rotten and filled
with characters who have perfected imperfect behavior. Need proof? No problem.

On Decmber 13, Rob Parker was on "First Take", ESPN's version of the Jerry
Springer Show, when he called Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III,
a "cornball brother". Parker was questioning RGIII and his commitment to his race.
He wondered if RGIII was really "one of us."  Can't imagine MLK, Jr. would've
liked  hearing that comment if he were alive today.

On December 21, it was revealed that Suzy Favor Hamilton was living up to her
middle name. The three-time Olympian distance runner, who had built a squeaky-clean,
girl next door image, turned out to be a girl who lived a double-life as an escort.
Are you kidding me? Married with children, Hamilton said her second job helped
her deal with her depression. And at $600 per hour, that's what you call great therapy.

Lance Armstrong? Please. The contents of his character couldn't be more wretched.
Liar, cheater, bully, manipulator, con man. Should I continue? The disgraced cyclist
was fueled by PED's and filled with hate for anybody who knew his dirty little, no-so
secret. He actually sued people who were telling the truth. Lance Armstrong is just
one big lie.

The Manti Te'o scandal is filled with a bunch of characters who can't spell the word
it you spotted them the c's, a's, and r's. How does anybody concoct such a story
and use it for their benefit? Nobody knows for certain what role, if any, that Manti
Te'o played in all of it, but he knew this "girl" wasn't actually his "girlfriend" and
rolled with the story and used it to gain more publicity for himself and that' ain't
cool.

I won't go in-depth about the lack of class that Bill Belichick showed after losing
in the AFC Championship game. Nor will I make a big deal of Kevin Garnett of
the Boston Celtics telling Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks that his wife
tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios. But like our society, the contents of people's character
in the sports world has gone woefully wrong.

There needs to be some kind of re-set and re-adjustment because it's getting ugly.
It's ugliness that not even Martin Luther King, Jr. could've foreseen.

Read More

BILL BELICHICK: THE NFL'S BIGGEST LOSER

Class guy. Those two words have never followed Bill Belichick. Not in New

York. Not in Cleveland. Not even in New England where he turned the Patriots

into a model franchise. 

Belichick can be condescending, insincere, and to  many people who have

covered him during his NFL career, the word prick often applies. On Sunday night,

many viewers uttered that word after James Brown of CBS said that Belichick 

declined a request by the network for a post-game interview. It was classic 

Belichick, who earned his sore loser reputation long ago.

Last year, after the Patriots lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl,
Belichick gave NBC the Johnny Heisman stiff arm when they asked for an
interview. Then when he went to the mandatory press conference, Belichick
gave one word answers and the impression that he'd much rather go
through a round of water boarding torture at Abu Ghraib, then be forced
to sit through a media session where he was peppered with questions about
the game.

After losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl in February of 2008,
Belichick headed to the locker room with seconds to go in the game and
didn't bother to shake the hand of Tom Coughlin. Classic Belichick.

Belichick is one of the best coaches in the history of the game, but unlike
Tom Landry, Chuck Knoll, and Don Shula, class or graciousness are not
part of his DNA. I understand that he hates to lose, who doesn't. But his
repeated boorish behavior is getting old. The Hoodie wins more than 70
percent of his games, but when he loses, watch out.

He becomes like the petulant child who just saw the neighborhood bully
steal all his toys from the sandbox. Whaaaaaaaaa. He sulks, doesn't sob,
but makes like somebody just sucked the life out of not just him, but
the entire world.

If you talk to the folks in Cleveland who covered Belichick during his
days with the Browns, they'll probably tell you that Belichick is Lance
Armstrong without the lies, EPO, testosterone or cortisone. He treated a
lot of people badly and made a lot of lives miserable.

I'll never forget my first experience with Belichick during the early 90's. I
was a pup cameraman who was shooting one of his press conferences after
another Browns loss. A local reporter asked Belichick about blowing a
fourth-quarter lead and BB responded, "F&*K you, Jason." That one is hard
to forget. It was my welcome to the NFL moment.

I covered Belichick and the Patriots during the 2005-2006 season when they
rarely lost. But when they did, Belichick made like he was about to be led
to the cross with a thorn wreath around his head. Just an unpleasant guy,
but then again, that's how he was after winning, too.

I admire and respect Belichick for what he has done as a coach. He is pure
coaching genius. I get that. He gets paid to win games, I understand that. I
realize that the decaying of our society began a long, long time go and words
like class, dignity, and respect don't mean all that much anymore. But Bill,
you win all the time. I understand you're not always that happy in victory,
but please, try to show just a little class and graciousness in defeat. Nobody
wins all the time, not even you.

Read More