Terrell Owens Claims Media Saya He's Selfish Player - AP

T.O. blames media for portraying him as selfish player
Posted: Monday July 17, 2006 8:21PM; Updated: Monday July 17, 2006 8:29PM

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Terrell Owens blames the media for portraying him as a selfish player, although he admits a tendency of saying things about others that he wouldn't want said about himself.

In an interview with Bryant Gumbel airing Tuesday night on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Owens acknowledges dishing out more criticism than he's willing to take.

"The only thing I can really think of is maybe it was the way I grew up, you know," he said, according to a transcript released Monday to The Associated Press. "I got picked on so much, and it's like I feel like I'm still constantly being picked on."

Owens said he doesn't think reporters are necessarily conspiring against him as much as using him "to gain viewers' attention." As a result, he believes that he is "misunderstood." He said other players have been, too, "but I feel like I have been one of the main guys who've been vilified."

Why?

"That's the million-dollar question," he said. "Why me? ... At some point it does get to me. And I can't say it enough. Dude, I'm human and that's what I'm trying to get people to understand."

Owens also discussed his spat with quarterback Donovan McNabb that eventually led to his release by the Eagles.

As he wrote in a recently released book, Owens said he believes McNabb was jealous of the attention Owens was receiving in Philadelphia and that things boiled over when McNabb cursed at him in a huddle after a play. Owens said he took it as more than something said in the heat of competition.

"When I tried to address that after the game, he blew me off," Owens said. "So, that let me know it's more than just being competitive. It was more than that."

Owens is scheduled to report to his first training camp with Dallas Cowboys at the end of next week.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Wecoming Walter Anaruk Of FieldPosition.com

Walter Anaruk runs Fieldposition.com, the most popular NFL football podcast in the World. Walter graciously accepted my invitation for him to join this NFL Business Blog and our team of contributors, Anja Crotts, Bill Chachkes, and myself. I'm totally jazzed to have him here.

Zennie on Fieldposition.Com - Talking About The NFL Hedge Fund Scandal

Fieldposition.com is the number one football podcast on Yahoo! Walter Anaruk is the founder and host of Fieldposition, and someone I was introduced to via our own Bill Chachkes.

Walter was kind enough to seek out my view on the NFL Hedge Fund Scandal. The result is a podcast that you can hear with a click here: NFL Hedge Fund Scandal.

This show starts with Walter and Mark's discussion on Reggie Bush and how he will fit into the New Orleans Saints personnel groupings. Mark says that Saints Halfback Deuce McCallister will not be happy with sharing time with Reggie Bush as the season progresses. Walter says that Deuce wants to win.

They then turn to the matter of Ben Rothlisbugger and the Steelers offense, and other topics.

After that, they turn to the NFL Hedge Fund Scandal, and my talk.

On the whole, Fieldposition.com is an entertaining and informative podcast, and it's no wonder that it's number one in its category.

In this video below, the Israel bombing of Beirut Airport is shown behind a discussion of the reason and rationale for the attacks, this one the second. The MSNBC claim is that Israel believes Hezbollah is moving terrorists to Iran. There are videos which claim that Syrah and Iran are financing Hezbollah.

More on this claim soon...

Rocketboom - Amanda Congdon Tells More On CNET

I just saw a new article that sheds even more light on what Andrew Baron said to Amanda Congdon and which led to the departure of Congdon from the vlog show.

Amanda still claims that she was fired and that Andrew wanted to reduce her role and ownership.

If this is the case, Andrew's in big legal trouble, shood Amanda sue.

Here's the article.

But in case the link's killed...

Here it is below:

What does it feel like to have all this media frenzy over this breakup and over what your future is?

Well, for this to be very public is kind of jarring. I intended with my video to communicate with the Rocketboom viewers because the situation was being (kept) from them for days. And when I put out the video and Andrew put out the notice on Rocketboom.com that I was headed to Hollywood and that I had quit Rocketboom and all of these untruths, I just had to make it clear what really had happened, and so I posted the information on my blog.

One interesting thing is how fast and how far your response to the "official" news spread. In the past, the tools didn't exist for that to happen.
Exactly, yeah that's what's so exciting--the transparency. The corporations can't run and hide anymore from the facts.


So I'm assuming that this is kind of a long way from what you thought you would be getting into when you responded to that ad on Craigslist to go work for Rocketboom?

Yes, you know, I come from the mainstream side of things, from the acting side of things: theater in New York and commercials. And to jump in online and really become totally immersed in Internet culture has been just a growing experience, and it has changed me in so many ways. And it has been so exciting, and I just love how I can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world and how I can make content with people from anywhere in the world.

What's next for you? What are you going to do?

I don't know. I really honestly don't. I think right now I should probably start looking into all the e-mails that I've gotten. I've gotten, you know, about 2,000 e-mails at this point--a lot of them containing different offers and I haven't even been able to really look at them because I've been so busy with the press. So that will be my very next step.

You still own 49 percent of Rocketboom, right?
Yes. I own 49 percent and it's legally registered with the bank.

So that means you have a stake in its future, and I'm curious, from your perspective, what do you think is next for Rocketboom?

I have no idea. I sincerely wish Andrew the best, and I sincerely hope that he is successful with whomever he chooses as his new face since he seems to only be interested in faces.

What is your reaction to Rocketboom not meeting its commitment to get back up and running Monday?
I'm sorry about that, but I'm not very surprised.

Do you think it was a little ambitious then to try to get things going so quickly?
I think the fact that Andrew thought he could replace me within a few days is just very telling about how he felt about me and my talents and skills.

If you have creativity and you have determination and focus, you can make a good video blog.
Do you think you and Andrew can ever patch things up?
If Andrew is interested in working as business partners and is willing to straighten out a lot of the misinformation he has continued to spread online over the last few days, then maybe we could talk. But it would have to be a business relationship only. I don't think that we could ever be friends.

Do you think your fans will follow you to wherever you go next?

Well, they've told me they will. So I am hoping they will keep true to their words. I guess time will tell.

So, I'm curious. Based on the success of Rocketboom, a lot of people are starting video blogs. What advice would you give them?

To make sure that they stick to a regular schedule. If they are going to be up Monday through Friday every week, be up and have a video blog out Monday to Friday every week. Or if you can only commit to weekly or monthly just make sure that you do what you say you're going to do and also take it down a notch and be casual. Don't try to be television because video blogs aren't Internet TV. They're video blogs, and they are much more candid, much more personal.

At the same time, only a few will create successful video blogs. Do you think it's hard for people to believe that maybe it's not quite as easy as it looks?

I think that it's just about creativity. If you have creativity and you have determination and focus, you can make a good video blog. I think it's about doing something that you feel that you are an expert at. What I would recommend for anyone trying to start a video blog is, anything that you feel you know a lot about, that's probably the best topic for you to explore.

Rocketboom - Joanne Colan - "Hottest Woman On the Planet" Replaces Amanda Congdon Today

Andrew Baron hired Joanne Colan to replace the departed Amanda Congdon at Rocketboom. It's now called Rocketboom 2.0, but who's Joanne Colan?

Joanne Colan is "the hottest woman on the planet" according to this blogger. She's also the former MTV Europe VJ, and formerly the music/DJ curator at Table 50.

Her Linkedin bio explains...

Joanne Colan has 7 years experience hosting, writing, co-producing and creating broadcast television and radio for major networks and cable channels across international markets.

From 2000-2004, Joanne was an MTV Networks Europe VJ. She wrote, co-produced and hosted Top 20 Countdown, MTV News, MTV Movie Special and hosted live international events e.g. MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Presents, MTV's Winterjam. Chosen to front the pan-European MTV brand, Joanne's shows were broadcast to over 124 million households in over 50 countries & territories.

Joanne generated top ratings for MTV. Responsible for MTV's European Top 20, she won Best European Satellite Music Programme in 2001 voted by viewers in the What Satellite UK & Europe TV Poll.

Joanne also fronted MTV's World Aids Day Campaigns in the US & South Africa for MTV's news; social awareness divisions.
In 2003, Joanne was instrumental in launching MTV France, hosting the flagship show, MTV Crew, the first ever locally produced live French language MTV France show.

Bilingual in French/English, Joanne worked for TF1, France's premier Network. The channel devised "At 18" for Joanne, a travel show focusing on young adults' lives in lesser known cultures in Armenia, Algeria, Lenanon & Iran. Travelling with a 2 person crew, Joanne delivered in depth personal profiles and rare location coverage under often hostile and unlikely circumstances.

Since the start of her television career, Joanne has built a warm working relationship with favorite British institution, the BBC. Working in the UK as host, writer, researcher and production coordinator for both BBC Radio and BBC Television.

Joanne's first Rocketboom episode was a good one. It starts with her sporting a hockey mask and Andrew Baron sitting on the floor acting as if he's lost his marbles over the whole Amanda episode. Then Joanne goes into Rocketboom on-the-street-host action and does a good job, immediately showing her bli-lingual talent.

I understand that Joanne is also a published vocalist. Joanne's new blog is at http://joannecolan.net .

She's also in this YouTube video...

NFLPA Hedge Fund Scandal - The Word From Kelly McKean at Blue Corner

To get more in-depth answers on the NFLPA Hedge Fund Scandal, I turned to my friend Kelly McKean, who's the founder and Principal of Blue Corner.

Blue Corner is a boutique marketing and capital introduction firm based in San Francisco. They specialize in building relationships with clients who use the services offered by independent research analysts and both alternative and traditional investment managers.

The firm was founded on the belief that by combining industry best practices with integrity, professionalism and hard work, that they can deliver tangible results to their clients.

1. Kelly, what is a hedge fund?

A private investment vehicle whose manager receives a significant portion of its compensation from incentive fees tied to the fund's performance -- typically 20% of annual gains over a certain hurdle rate, along with a management fee equal to 1% of assets.

The funds, often organized as limited partnerships, typically invest on behalf of high-net-worth individuals and institutions. Their primary objective is often to preserve investors' capital by taking positions whose returns are not closely correlated to those of the broader financial markets.

Such vehicles may employ leverage, short sales, a variety of derivatives and other hedging techniques to reduce risk and increase returns. The classic hedge-fund concept, a long/short investment strategy sometimes referred to as the Jones Model, was developed by Alfred Winslow Jones in 1949.


2. What, if anything, can the NFL PA do to recover their losses?

The assets for the rogue hedge fund have been frozen -- I suppose a judge will decide how the assets are returned to investors on a pro-rata basis.


3. The players are suing the NFL PA. Can they win?

I cannot speculate the answer to this. If the Players Association did not perform proper due diligence on the fund, they could be liable.