The NFL reset its deadline for Thursday at 12 Midnight, givjng teams more time to work through contract restructuring and more time for the league to get it's CBA house in order.
The Rams released WR Isaac Bruce while the Raiders still held on the QB Kerry Collins. I think both teams will have their vets back if the CBA matter is cleared.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Ang Lee At The Governor's Ball Last Night
In this photo from Oscar.org, Ang Lee's spotted with movie producer James Schamus and Schamus' wife.
For the 12th year, Wolfgang Puck provided the food for Oscar's major party. What did they have? Well, I got this from the Menu posted online at Oscar.org:
Tray Passed Hors d'oeuvres
Spicy Tuna Tartare in a Sesame Miso Cone
Mini Prime Burgers with Aged Cheddar and Remoulade
Warm Gougeres with Potato, Cheese and Herbs
Baby Potatoes with Caviar and Chives
Steak Tartare in a Black Pepper Parmesan Cone
Smoked Salmon Pizza with Dill Creme Fraiche and Caviar
Duck Sausage Pizza with Leeks and Spinach
Four Cheese Pizza with Tomato and Fresh Basil
Antipasto Assortment
Marinated Baby Artichokes with Lemon Aioli
Tuna Tataki with Sweet Soy
Smoked Salmon "Oscar" Matzo with Osetra Caviar
Chopped Vegetable Salad
Sweet Crab Stuffed Tiny Spanish Peppers
Citrus Marinated Shrimp
Green and White Asparagus with Prosciutto
Celery Root Soup with Fuji Apples and 24k Gold
Pan Roasted Organic Chicken with Black Truffle Risotto
Dessert:
Oscar's "Sweet Fantasy"
Menu Courtesy of Wolfgang Puck
Matt Birk: Matt Fires Off on NFL PA's Upshaw, But Makes No Sense In The Process
The "rant" he went on was just that, because Matt didn't explain exactly what Gene was doing wrong. Note to Matt: when you take time to call someone a name over the way they do a job, at least provide a detailed alternative approach. Or if you're trying to say "everything's fine" then say that, but it reads as if you're saying two messages at once: everything's fine and nothing's fine. Makes no sense to me.
But this rant is also a warning to Gene. It may be a style issue. If Gene is perceived as letting his ego get in the way of player's needs and is not appropriately accessible, it could cost him in the future.
Vikings' Birk rips NFL union boss Upshaw
‘What's going on right now is hurting all of us,’ says former Pro Bowler
NBCSports.com news services
Updated: 6:59 p.m. ET March 3, 2006
Minnesota Vikings center Matt Birk is not happy with the job being done by Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players' Association. Not at all.
Birk sounded off to columnist Mark Craig in Friday's edition of the Minnesota Star-Tribune.
"Don't put this in the paper ... no, wait, go ahead and put it in," Birk told Craig. "Gene Upshaw is a piece of (expletive). Too many guys in the league just accept whatever Gene says. I don't know why no one has called this guy out."
The former Pro Bowler believes the recent breakdown in negotiations between the NFL and the players' union is hurting the sport.
"It's a joke, it really is," Birk said in the paper. "Everyone is making money. A lot of money. You think anyone wants to hear about the money problems of the NFL owners or players? It's bad pub for the league. It's bad for all of us."
Birk, a Harvard graduate, says the prospects of a uncapped season -- something that could happen if a deal is not struck before the end of this weekend -- aren't good for everyone.
"When you go to those CBA meetings, you always feel like you're being sold something instead of being given the straight facts," Birk told the paper. "Through all the meetings leading up to this, it was always: 'The owners don't want an uncapped year. We'll get a deal, and if we don't, so what? There will be an uncapped year and there will be crazy money out there.'
"The reality is that's not the case. And you're seeing that it's not the leverage we were told it would be."
If there is no deal and the cap doesn’t increase, it would leave a glut of players on the free-agent market and many teams without much money to sign them. Next year, the final season of the contract, would be without a cap — and that would contain limitations that could hurt the players, such as raising the number of years of eligibility for free agency from four to six.
"And we'll lose some of our 401(k) and annuities, and some benefits, too," Birk said. "That's a huge deal to the younger guys making the minimum who might not have 10-year careers. Those are guys the union needs to look out for.
On the surface, the dispute is over percentage points -- the union says it wants 60-plus percent of league revenues earmarked for the players; the owners are offering 56.2 percent. That amounts to approximately $10 million per team per year.
"Gene thinks we're making all this money because of Gene Upshaw," Birk told the paper. "No, we're making all of this money because of TV. This sport is huge, and what's going on right now is hurting all of us."
But this rant is also a warning to Gene. It may be a style issue. If Gene is perceived as letting his ego get in the way of player's needs and is not appropriately accessible, it could cost him in the future.
Vikings' Birk rips NFL union boss Upshaw
‘What's going on right now is hurting all of us,’ says former Pro Bowler
NBCSports.com news services
Updated: 6:59 p.m. ET March 3, 2006
Minnesota Vikings center Matt Birk is not happy with the job being done by Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players' Association. Not at all.
Birk sounded off to columnist Mark Craig in Friday's edition of the Minnesota Star-Tribune.
"Don't put this in the paper ... no, wait, go ahead and put it in," Birk told Craig. "Gene Upshaw is a piece of (expletive). Too many guys in the league just accept whatever Gene says. I don't know why no one has called this guy out."
The former Pro Bowler believes the recent breakdown in negotiations between the NFL and the players' union is hurting the sport.
"It's a joke, it really is," Birk said in the paper. "Everyone is making money. A lot of money. You think anyone wants to hear about the money problems of the NFL owners or players? It's bad pub for the league. It's bad for all of us."
Birk, a Harvard graduate, says the prospects of a uncapped season -- something that could happen if a deal is not struck before the end of this weekend -- aren't good for everyone.
"When you go to those CBA meetings, you always feel like you're being sold something instead of being given the straight facts," Birk told the paper. "Through all the meetings leading up to this, it was always: 'The owners don't want an uncapped year. We'll get a deal, and if we don't, so what? There will be an uncapped year and there will be crazy money out there.'
"The reality is that's not the case. And you're seeing that it's not the leverage we were told it would be."
If there is no deal and the cap doesn’t increase, it would leave a glut of players on the free-agent market and many teams without much money to sign them. Next year, the final season of the contract, would be without a cap — and that would contain limitations that could hurt the players, such as raising the number of years of eligibility for free agency from four to six.
"And we'll lose some of our 401(k) and annuities, and some benefits, too," Birk said. "That's a huge deal to the younger guys making the minimum who might not have 10-year careers. Those are guys the union needs to look out for.
On the surface, the dispute is over percentage points -- the union says it wants 60-plus percent of league revenues earmarked for the players; the owners are offering 56.2 percent. That amounts to approximately $10 million per team per year.
"Gene thinks we're making all this money because of Gene Upshaw," Birk told the paper. "No, we're making all of this money because of TV. This sport is huge, and what's going on right now is hurting all of us."
Skip Bayless: Gene Upshaw's Selling NFL Players "Down The River"
On 1st and 10, an ESPN show, commentator Skip Bayless claims that NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw is selling the players "down the river" and should be seeking guaranteed player contracts. He claims that Gene's a tool of the NFL owners.
As usual, Skip's on the wrong side of the argument. Gene is mindful of how the pursuit of totally guaranteed contracts would not only eventually lead to a work stopage, but cut off his players from making money, and turn the fans -- most of which favor the owners position, further against the players in an age where people are just trying to get jobs.
Gene's doing the right thing and has a more complete vision of how to get this deal done.
Village Voice Editor Nick Sylvester Suspended for False Reporting
This kind of practice is unfortunate, as it's easy -- in my view -- to just be honest about the source of news, or not write the damn story at all
Editor's Note: What Happened to That Cover Story?
March 1st, 2006 8:53 PM - Village Voice
Early Wednesday morning, the Voice learned that the concluding section of this week's cover story, "Do You Wanna Kiss Me?" by senior associate editor Nick Sylvester, contained fabricated material. In that section, Sylvester says he met at a New York City bar with three TV writers who had flown in from L.A. to test their updates of pickup techniques from Neil Strauss's book, The Game.
That scene, as Sylvester now acknowledges in the statement below, never happened.
We have removed the article from the Voice website and begun a review of the entire piece. Sylvester has been suspended.
What follows is Sylvester's statement:
Dear Voice Readers,
I did not meet Steve Lookner in New York at Bar 151. The trip and my encounter with him, DC, and Vali did not happen as I reported, or at all. The scene was a composite of specific anecdotes shared to me primarily by the two other parties, DC and Vali; Lookner did not share or take part in these anecdotes either. I deeply regret this misinformation, and I apologize to Lookner for his distress, which I certainly never intended.
Sincerely,
Nick Sylvester
Editor's Note: What Happened to That Cover Story?
March 1st, 2006 8:53 PM - Village Voice
Early Wednesday morning, the Voice learned that the concluding section of this week's cover story, "Do You Wanna Kiss Me?" by senior associate editor Nick Sylvester, contained fabricated material. In that section, Sylvester says he met at a New York City bar with three TV writers who had flown in from L.A. to test their updates of pickup techniques from Neil Strauss's book, The Game.
That scene, as Sylvester now acknowledges in the statement below, never happened.
We have removed the article from the Voice website and begun a review of the entire piece. Sylvester has been suspended.
What follows is Sylvester's statement:
Dear Voice Readers,
I did not meet Steve Lookner in New York at Bar 151. The trip and my encounter with him, DC, and Vali did not happen as I reported, or at all. The scene was a composite of specific anecdotes shared to me primarily by the two other parties, DC and Vali; Lookner did not share or take part in these anecdotes either. I deeply regret this misinformation, and I apologize to Lookner for his distress, which I certainly never intended.
Sincerely,
Nick Sylvester
Rap Collection at The Smithsonian - Village Voice
More proof of the continued integration of America. A great process to watch unfold.
'Old-Schoolest of Collectors'
Grandmaster Flash and the Smithsonian's new hip-hop collection
by Austin Kelley - Village Voice
March 3rd, 2006 3:53 PM
DJs, like curators, are collectors, so when Grandmaster Flash and other hip-hop luminaries met up with some officials from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History the other day, there was some serious collecting to discuss. To begin with, museum director Brent Glass described his institution's grand undertaking: "It's the only museum in the world that has the mission of telling the whole of American history," he said. It's a tall order, but the museum's holdings—nearly three million objects, which include a Pac-Man gumball bank, a bag of brown rice, and over a hundred pieces of Tupperware—give the impression that the curators cast a wide net. Now alongside the S. Newman Darby Windsurfing Collection, the museum will maintain an archive entitled "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life."
The new collection will consist of a custom-made Kangol hat from Grandmaster Flash, some Zulu Nation stickers from Afrika Bambaataa, a noise-maker/keychain from Ice T, and other ephemera. If the objects do not seem earth-shattering, some of the founding fathers of the genre (including influential DJs Kool Herc and Bambaataa, impresario Russell Simmons, and noise-maker maker/actor/MC Ice T were at the New York Hilton to describe the importance of the initiative and also to add to the oral history of hip-hop. "Hip-hop is not only the soundtrack of American culture over the last 30 years," Simmons said, "it's a documentation of a lot that has been left out of our history." Ice T added: "I'm so happy that right now anybody comes and asks me about my music or hip-hop, I can say, 'Take your fucking ass to the museum.' "
In the curatorial spirit, though, Grandmaster Flash seemed particularly attuned to the power of archives and collections. He described it in personal terms. "My father was a serious collector of vinyl records," he said. "The number one rule was: Don't go in dad's records. My father used to work for the railroad. I'd watch him put on his backpack and as soon as I heard the door slam, I would go get a chair, drag it over to the closet, climb up on the chair and wow, look at all those records." Flash wore diamond earrings and a baby-blue Kansas City Royals hat. He smiled mysteriously and looked like he was still under the spell of his dad's records.
"Rule number three was"—He didn't mention rule number two—"never, ever touch the stereo. So I would grab the record, and I'd drag the chair and the record over to the stereo. I would turn on the stereo, and I'd be dancing in the living room. Then I would try to put the record back in exactly the same spot. When my dad came home, he would want to listen to his music and he would notice that something was different. He would go to my mom and say, 'Who's been in my records?' She would say, 'No, Joe, don't do it.' And my father would kick my ass. He'd kick my fucking ass. I'd cry, and my mother would hold me. The next day my father would put on his backpack, and when the door slammed, I'd go into the kitchen and get that chair."
Flash's masochistic persistence and technical curiosity ("I had this incredible urge. I would go in back yards. I would unscrew speakers out of rusted old cars.") paid off. By the time he was twenty, he was a renowned DJ, and a few years later, in 1981 his The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel helped usher in a new genre of recorded music.
After the Hilton event, Grandmaster Flash lingered in the hotel hallway talking about his dad's records, still enchanted by them. His father must have forgiven him eventually. He died of cancer, but in the hospital he told his son, "Make sure you get the records." Flash recalled: "When we went to the house after the funeral, I opened up that closet and just looked at all those records. I cried for a couple days." He paused. "I found all these great records in there. Him and I had never powwowed and talked about what he had. Old Isley brothers and this and that." I asked him where he kept the vinyl now, and he told me about the 20-foot-by-20-foot two-story shack he built for the collection. "There are no categories," he said. "That's the way my mind thinks. When I go in there to get something, I can be in there all day."
Flash gave the Smithsonian a turntable and mixer, but only a couple records (two copies of Bustin Loose by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers). As part of hip-hop's old guard, he had respect for the museum's age and stature, though. "The old-schoolest of collectors is the Smithsonian. Everyone else comes after. Whether they be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or the Experience Music Project in Seattle. They all come after. To be part of the Smithsonian is just monumental."
I asked him if he might donate his record collection some day, but he had other plans. "When I pass, all my objects can go to the most fitting organizations that will treasure them, but the vinyl—I want it melted in a shape of a casket, that's how I want to go."
'Old-Schoolest of Collectors'
Grandmaster Flash and the Smithsonian's new hip-hop collection
by Austin Kelley - Village Voice
March 3rd, 2006 3:53 PM
DJs, like curators, are collectors, so when Grandmaster Flash and other hip-hop luminaries met up with some officials from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History the other day, there was some serious collecting to discuss. To begin with, museum director Brent Glass described his institution's grand undertaking: "It's the only museum in the world that has the mission of telling the whole of American history," he said. It's a tall order, but the museum's holdings—nearly three million objects, which include a Pac-Man gumball bank, a bag of brown rice, and over a hundred pieces of Tupperware—give the impression that the curators cast a wide net. Now alongside the S. Newman Darby Windsurfing Collection, the museum will maintain an archive entitled "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life."
The new collection will consist of a custom-made Kangol hat from Grandmaster Flash, some Zulu Nation stickers from Afrika Bambaataa, a noise-maker/keychain from Ice T, and other ephemera. If the objects do not seem earth-shattering, some of the founding fathers of the genre (including influential DJs Kool Herc and Bambaataa, impresario Russell Simmons, and noise-maker maker/actor/MC Ice T were at the New York Hilton to describe the importance of the initiative and also to add to the oral history of hip-hop. "Hip-hop is not only the soundtrack of American culture over the last 30 years," Simmons said, "it's a documentation of a lot that has been left out of our history." Ice T added: "I'm so happy that right now anybody comes and asks me about my music or hip-hop, I can say, 'Take your fucking ass to the museum.' "
In the curatorial spirit, though, Grandmaster Flash seemed particularly attuned to the power of archives and collections. He described it in personal terms. "My father was a serious collector of vinyl records," he said. "The number one rule was: Don't go in dad's records. My father used to work for the railroad. I'd watch him put on his backpack and as soon as I heard the door slam, I would go get a chair, drag it over to the closet, climb up on the chair and wow, look at all those records." Flash wore diamond earrings and a baby-blue Kansas City Royals hat. He smiled mysteriously and looked like he was still under the spell of his dad's records.
"Rule number three was"—He didn't mention rule number two—"never, ever touch the stereo. So I would grab the record, and I'd drag the chair and the record over to the stereo. I would turn on the stereo, and I'd be dancing in the living room. Then I would try to put the record back in exactly the same spot. When my dad came home, he would want to listen to his music and he would notice that something was different. He would go to my mom and say, 'Who's been in my records?' She would say, 'No, Joe, don't do it.' And my father would kick my ass. He'd kick my fucking ass. I'd cry, and my mother would hold me. The next day my father would put on his backpack, and when the door slammed, I'd go into the kitchen and get that chair."
Flash's masochistic persistence and technical curiosity ("I had this incredible urge. I would go in back yards. I would unscrew speakers out of rusted old cars.") paid off. By the time he was twenty, he was a renowned DJ, and a few years later, in 1981 his The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel helped usher in a new genre of recorded music.
After the Hilton event, Grandmaster Flash lingered in the hotel hallway talking about his dad's records, still enchanted by them. His father must have forgiven him eventually. He died of cancer, but in the hospital he told his son, "Make sure you get the records." Flash recalled: "When we went to the house after the funeral, I opened up that closet and just looked at all those records. I cried for a couple days." He paused. "I found all these great records in there. Him and I had never powwowed and talked about what he had. Old Isley brothers and this and that." I asked him where he kept the vinyl now, and he told me about the 20-foot-by-20-foot two-story shack he built for the collection. "There are no categories," he said. "That's the way my mind thinks. When I go in there to get something, I can be in there all day."
Flash gave the Smithsonian a turntable and mixer, but only a couple records (two copies of Bustin Loose by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers). As part of hip-hop's old guard, he had respect for the museum's age and stature, though. "The old-schoolest of collectors is the Smithsonian. Everyone else comes after. Whether they be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or the Experience Music Project in Seattle. They all come after. To be part of the Smithsonian is just monumental."
I asked him if he might donate his record collection some day, but he had other plans. "When I pass, all my objects can go to the most fitting organizations that will treasure them, but the vinyl—I want it melted in a shape of a casket, that's how I want to go."
78th Annual Oscar: Ratings Down 10 Percent from 2005
This happened because the most decorated movies were not box office blockbusters. Even King Kong failed to break records, but I attribute that to it's December start.
Oscars Ratings Drop 10 Percent From 2005
Associated Press - Mar 06, 08:22
ABC is in for a "Crash" landing in the Oscar ratings.
The Academy Awards were down 10 percent from last year's ceremony, based on preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings from the nation's 55 biggest markets. If the full national ratings follow suit later Monday, this year's ceremony will likely be the second least-watched Oscars telecast behind 2003, when "Chicago" won best picture.
The ceremony, where "Crash" won a surprise best picture trophy, drew a 27.1 rating and a 40 share. Each rating point is equivalent to 1.1 million homes, while the share indicates that 40 percent of the TVs in use last night were tuned to the awards.
Last year's metered markets had a 30.1 rating and 43 share, Nielsen said.
The ceremony's central lesson: Play a real person enmeshed in wrenching drama, win an Academy Award.
It worked last year for Jamie Foxx in "Ray" and this time around for Reese Witherspoon's portrayal of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line" and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the glory-hungry writer in "Capote."
Sunday's Oscars were anything but predictable, however, as the explosive race drama "Crash" denied "Brokeback Mountain" the best-picture Oscar despite the gay Western love story's front-runner status and its best-director award for Ang Lee.
Oscars Ratings Drop 10 Percent From 2005
Associated Press - Mar 06, 08:22
ABC is in for a "Crash" landing in the Oscar ratings.
The Academy Awards were down 10 percent from last year's ceremony, based on preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings from the nation's 55 biggest markets. If the full national ratings follow suit later Monday, this year's ceremony will likely be the second least-watched Oscars telecast behind 2003, when "Chicago" won best picture.
The ceremony, where "Crash" won a surprise best picture trophy, drew a 27.1 rating and a 40 share. Each rating point is equivalent to 1.1 million homes, while the share indicates that 40 percent of the TVs in use last night were tuned to the awards.
Last year's metered markets had a 30.1 rating and 43 share, Nielsen said.
The ceremony's central lesson: Play a real person enmeshed in wrenching drama, win an Academy Award.
It worked last year for Jamie Foxx in "Ray" and this time around for Reese Witherspoon's portrayal of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line" and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the glory-hungry writer in "Capote."
Sunday's Oscars were anything but predictable, however, as the explosive race drama "Crash" denied "Brokeback Mountain" the best-picture Oscar despite the gay Western love story's front-runner status and its best-director award for Ang Lee.
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