Chris Henry died this morning - a sad day

Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chris Henry died this morning at 6:36 AM EST after sustaining injuries suffered after he fell from a moving pickup truck driven by his fiancee fiancee Loleini Tonga yesterday. Before I continue, Henry's fall was reportedly not her fault even though they had been arguing; she was questioned and released by police without being taken into custody Wednesday.

Chris Henry


My sympathies are with the family of Chris Henry and of his fiancee Loleini Tonga, and the Bengals and the NFL. I am really sad about this to the point of tears because Chris Henry was really getting his life of track and off to a great future.

Much has been written about his less-than-stellar off-the-field past, much of it the product of a misguided young man. But the Bengals really hung in there as did many in the NFL including former Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Michael Irvin, who must be totally devastated by this development. Irvin was personally involved in helping Henry.

We love people who overcome personal demons and rise to the level of success they so richly deserve. Chris Henry was one of those people. What bothers me is that my prayer that Henry make it wasn't answered, which can only mean God has a better place for him. I'll just have to accept that.

Folks, when you've attended or have been informed of, seven funerals and memorials of friends and relatives in two years, it impacts you. That's what I've been through - four this year alone and two within one week. The latest was Jerry Foster, a friend and a long-time patron of The Alley in Oakland where I go and sing (or try to), who died in his home last week; his memorial was Sunday. I got the call about Jerry as I was boring the plane from Atlanta to Chicago.

Life is not promised to us and we meet or at least see so many people, good people, along this journey, that it's hard to see them go. I will miss Chris Henry, both for his football skill and for his promising future. I will miss Jerry Foster singing at The Alley, using his PDA to read the lyrics of a song he picked out. I'll miss kidding him about his beloved Minnesota Vikings, and talking about their quarterback, Brett Farve.

A sad day of a terrible week.

Tiger Woods divorce? Woods not divorcing before Christmas

Tiger Woods divorce? Tiger Woods partying with Tony Romo of The Dallas Cowboys? Holly Sampson talking about Tiger Woods? The idea that a Tiger Woods divorce from Elin Nordegren, or more accurately Elin Nordegren divorcing Tiger Woods, is all over the news and revealing two things: how insensitive the media is to Christmas, and how most of the blogs and articles are presenting the past as if it was the present.

 Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren still together

There's no one absolute, 100 percent certain word from either Tiger Woods or Elin Nordegren that they're getting a divorce. Nothing. There's no total proof that Elin Nordegren has moved out of the Tiger Woods home, even with reports to the contrary from US Weekly.

A little common sense can go a long way. With Christmas just over a week away, why would either Tiger or Elin just suddenly rip their kids away from a Christmas together, if only just to keep things as normal as possible for them?

Huh?

US Weekly blurts that Elin Nordegren didn't go to the "annual holiday party at the Isleworth Country Club". Uh, why would she? No one would go to any event if they were under the media spotlight that both Tiger and Elin are faced with. It's not only stressful, but risky. The moment Elin shows up and happens to give a friendly hug to some man or woman, the tabloids would go so far as to assume she was dating that person. I'm serious.

It's not too much to ask for an application of a little common sense here. Yes, Tiger Woods acted badly, and the New York Post has a breakdown of his method of operation with his mistresses, courtesy of Jaimee Grubbs:

"Meet me at the Island Hotel," he texted Grubbs, a cocktail waitress, on Oct. 15. "We're in room 905 in Newport Beach under Mr. & Mrs. Bell."

The NY Post reports that "Byron Bell is a longtime pal of Woods."

But the rest of the NY Post account is all about the past and not the present or the future. Porn star Holly Sampson's words were about actions that took place before he was married. TMZ.com has a post about Tiger Woods at Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo's luxury box in the new Cowboys Stadium for the U2 Concert in October. But the photos of Woods and the blonde woman he's standing next to are so blurry one can't make out who she is. To TMZ's credit, that fact is noted.

But the TMZ post is about a past event.

The truth is folks, no one knows a thing except the two of them, Tiger and Elin. But a little nod to the season would give a clue that it's highly unlikely Elin Nordegren would break up the family before Christmas. And I'll bet Tiger Woods is trying to make sure he's got his family together for the holidays. He's asked for another chance so let's see how this plays out before we're ready to declare them separated.

Oh, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Iron Man 2 trailer has Robert Downey Jr. at his best

The Iron Man 2 trailer for the long-awaited 2010 second installment in the movie series about Marvel Comics legendary techno-hero is out today, and it's incredible.

Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark

First, it features a lot of Robert Downey, Jr. as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark out of the Iron Man suit, first in a Senate hearing forcefully telling Senator Stern (played by Garry Shandling) that he's not giving up the Iron Man suit "to America." "It's my property. You can't have it," he yells to applause. "I did you a favor. I've successfully privatized World peace" Stark bellows as he stands flashing double peace signs in a Nixonian fashion.

Second, Stark is obviously in his element. Free of the burden of keeping his Iron Man identity a secret, he has the Stark Expo, complete with the kind of hardbody blondes Tiger Woods would like, and a lot of fireworks. I'll avoid giving away the trailer in a blow-by-blow here, but the short version indicates an even more personal story than the first movie.

Have a look for yourself: Iron Man 2 trailer.

I'm not sure how well all of these actors - Downey, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson - fit together, but I'm convinced Director Jon Favreau can pull it off just by the way he's tirelessly worked to make this new franchise's many parts - human, special effects, production, and story fit together the first time.

It's as if Paramount said "OK. Great job. You can handle this bigger second one, go do it."

I'll bet he's succeeded.

Chris Henry dead? No. In serious condition; prayer request

UPDATE: According to TMZ.com, Henry's fincee Loleini Tonga was questioned and released. She was never taken into custody.

Chris Henry dead is a hot search that's causing a problem; people think the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver is just that.

Chris Henry

Chris Henry's not dead, but his agent Andy Simms of PlayersRep Sports reports that he's battling for his life according to the Associated Press.

WLWT Cincinnati reports that a homicide detective is investigating the Henry accident scene which means they don't think he's going to make it.

That's certainly what Mike Florio at ProFootballtalk.com thinks; I hope he's wrong.

This has been a really hard year for the Bengals. Earlier in the season Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer lost his wife, now this. Terrible.

Stay tuned and I echo Mike Florio by asking that you say a prayer for Chris Henry.

Chris Henry, Roy Disney, Tiger Woods divorce; bad news

You know it's a hard day when Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chris Henry is in critical condition, Roy Disney, Walt Disney's brother, passed away, and rumors are swirling that Elin Nordegren is divorcing Tiger Woods.

Divorce?


And the day's not over.

As I blog this, Chris Henry lay in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C after he fell out of the back of a moving pickup truck driven by his fiancee Loleini Tonga.

Loleini Tonga and Henry reportedly had what is described as a domestic dispute; more on that below.

What's so sad about this news is not just the severity of Henry's injuries - such that some reports declare him dead - but that it seems his NFL career has been marked by more bad times than good times. Henry has been arrested for DUI, assault, and marijuana possession. And when he wasn't in legal trouble he was injured: he was out for the rest of 2009 after he broke his arm in a game against the Baltimore Ravens.

But when Henry is healthy and playing, he's a pass-catching force. The West Virginia Mountaineer joined the team in 2005. But even with his long list of off-the-field problems and injuries, Henry managed to average between 16 and 20 yards per catch during his career.

This year it looked as if Henry was finally balancing out his life, and he was. Ok, he was hurt, but that's the breaks in the NFL, no pun intended. Absent that, Henry was set to get married to Loleini Tonga. But what happened that caused the argument is a story still developing. Pop Crunch has it that Tonga was driving away in the truck when Henry ran after it and her and jumped into the bed, trying to argue with her; he fell off the truck as it was moving.

I close this subject for now, presenting a very cool video created by YouTuber CincyBengals29:

Roy Disney Dies

The nephew of the brother of the man who's history and focus on the urban America of tomorrow, Roy E. Disney, passed away after a battle with stomach cancer. What I remember most about Roy was more about his father Roy O. Disney - during the 70s he was the person who really didn't see his brother Walt Disney's dream of an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) through to reality.

For those of you who don't know, the original concept of EPCOT was a true city within Walt Disney World that would be home to just 10,000 people and always in state of flux. It would be constantly 25 years ahead of its time, and a place that was a living test-bed for all kinds of systems and technologies that were not yet available or used in the open market.

Here's the famous 24-minute film where Walt Disney talks about his vision for EPCOT. It's worth your time; stop what you're doing and watch it. It first aired September 16, 1965 on ABC Television:



The EPCOT that was Disney's vision essentially died with him in 1966. I write that because, as a person who as a kid of 10 years old wanted to work for WED, or what was then called Walter Elias Disney Enterprises, the Disney division responsible for designing EPCOT, I watched in horror as it was transformed from what Walt Disney wanted and you saw, to really a souped-up theme park.

What happened at the time was the Energy Crisis hampered tourism and thus Disney's revenue. Frightened over the prospect of a future without a new theme park to draw visitors, Roy Disney and Cardon Walker, the head of WED at the time, approved a move away from Walt's concept. With that, I lost interest in WED and much of what Disney was doing at the time.

I know some may discussion the development of Celebration, Florida as the real EPCOT, and I give a nod to that observation, but the basic idea that Walt wanted remains not implemented.

Still, Roy Disney was a proud representative of the Disney way and overall carried on his brothers overall legacy. Roy Disney will be missed.

Tiger Woods Divorce

Earlier today I expressed hope that Tiger Woods, the Athlete of The Decade, would overcome his personal issues and save his marriage; but from the reports swirling as of this writing that's not going to happen. Sadly, Wood's wife Elin Nordegren's seeking a divorce.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods Athlete of The Decade, girlfriends, golf, and all

Tiger Woods was named "Athlete of The Decade" by the Associated Press, beating out Lance Armstrong, Roger Federer, Michael Phelps, Tom Brady, and Usain Bolt, and withstanding Theresa Rogers, Rachel Uchitel, Jaimie Grubbs, Mindy Lawton, Holly Sampson, Jamie Jungers, Cory Rist, Kalika Moquin, and all the rest of the other five alleged cocktail waitress and model mistresses.

Here's to Woods' next victory!

That proves Tiger Woods is the chosen one.

In fact, the contest wasn't even close: Woods got 56 of the 142 votes. Even with all of his alleged mistresses and girlfriends, the car accident, and his wife Elin Nordegren reportedly clocking him with one of the golf clubs he may have used on the way to this award, Woods got it.

And get this: more than half the ballots were voted on after - yes, after - Woods' Thanksgiving night accident and the subsequent scandal that rocked his life, and ours.

The Tiger Woods sex scandal aside, for a moment, Woods' play on the golf course has been nothing short of incredible. He's won seven tournaments in 2009 alone and 64 times around the World in the decade, and 12 majors. ESPN points out that Woods has won on every continent around the World.

Woods pocketed $81,547,410 from the PGA Tour events he was in, which is an average of $482,529 per contest.

With all this, and the AP award, Woods' website still reminds us that he's taken a hiatus from Golf. Sad.

Congratulations Tiger Woods! I say, Yippee! Because the poor man has been beaten up so badly and for actions that frankly other athletes and people in the sports business - can we talk for a second? - are just as guilty of that it's ridiculous.

But Tiger's greatest win of all will be overcoming this scandal and saving his marriage.

I hope he does that.

Theresa Rogers photos? Rogers says she's not Tiger Woods mistress

People are searching for Theresa Rogers photos. But get this: a few of the online publications that use the title Theresa Rogers photos, don't have them, or even one. That's really a terrible way to treat the reader. And for someone - Theresa Rogers - who claims she's not Tiger Woods mistress in the first place.

What a relief to find at least one women who will say that, even if so-called 'friends' are outing her as being one of 'Tiger's women', if you will.

And what a relief to find one blogger that has a photo, me:

Theresa Rogers

I guess Theresa Rogers isn't playing the "story for money" game either which makes her really great in my book. I guess Rogers thinks enough of her personal image to steer clear from this stuff and being called 'Cougar' is not helping either. But think about it: how many of these allegations are true and is someone out there just trying to ruin Tiger Woods? There are so many stories flying around - many of them false - it's not funny.

And I'm really sick of the word 'Cougar'. In fact I'm starting to think of it as the N-word for adult women. Or maybe I'm just being too sensitive. Or maybe I should watch Cougartown and get it out of my system.

Whatever the case, I digress.

It looks like, if reports hold, Elin Nordegren, Tiger Woods wife, is seeking a divorce. I certainly hope this isn't the case and what happened to those marriage counseling reports? That was just two weeks ago, right?  See, this comes from  another "source" so I think it needs to be checked and double checked before it's ran with.  But it's a free for all.  And ...er...TIGER.   Dude.  Say something, will ya?  Come on, man.

Stat tuned.