Toby Gerhart named one of Heisman finalists 2009

The Heisman finalists for 2009 have been named and Stanford's Running Back Toby Gerhart is among them. As The Chronicle's Tom Fitzgerald explains, Gerhart, who led the nation in yards gained with 1,736 and 26 touchdowns, would become the second Stanford player to get the award if he won on Saturday. Quarterback Jim Plunkett was the first Heisman winner for The Cardinal in 1970.

Gerhart is up against stiff competition in Texas Quarterback Colt McCoy, Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow, Nebraska Defensive Lineman Ndamukong Suh, and Alabama Running Back Mark Ingram.

While Ingram played for the undefeated Crimson Tide, his numbers are far less impressive than Gerhart's. Ingram rushed for 1,542 yards this season with 15 rushing touchdowns, 11 less than Gerhart.



Meanwhile my Tim Tebow Crying Poll is a virtual dead heat with 34.51 percent who voted that crying was OK, versus 34.69 percent who think he should have not cried, out of 2,776 votes since Sunday. 

Gloria Allred to talk about motherhood, not Tiger Woods, on MyWorkButterly.com

A quick note to post an interesting comment by Bradi Nathan placed at Zennie62.com and which points to her cool new social network for working mothers called MyWorkButterly.com:

When I received an email from Gloria (Allred) this past Friday, 12/4, stating that she was suddenly free for our video interview, I was shocked and thrilled. My partner and I knew she was in the midst of the Tiger Woods case and were originally set to visit her Malibu home on Saturday. We later learned that she cancelled her press conference that, according to her daughter Lisa, was most likely due to a settlement from the parties at hand.

Gloria invited us to her office in LA for a 30 minute interview that I wished lasted all-day. She put her trial aside to talk about all things motherhood and empowerment. Gloria's interview will be loaded to our site, MyWorkButterfly.com, to inspire our online community of return to work and working moms.

This is a woman who should be in the forefront of the news, not Tiger Woods (a man who can't keep his club in his pants!).

Bradi, Co-Founder, www.myworkbutterfly.com

I checked out the new social network and it's really a great online concept. It's fascinating to see how the social networking industry is so segmented with portals for working moms like MyWorkButterfly.com and others for parents and kids in sports teams like MakeItPro.com.

I'll look out for the Gloria Allred interview!

Tiger Woods wife moves out; porn star Holly Samson 8th woman

UPDATE: Woman rushed to hospital Tuesday morning released.

Tiger Woods wife Elin Nordegren has reportedly moved out of their home and in with friends in the Windemere, Florida neighborhood they live in. Meanwhile Porn Star Holly Sampson is listed as the 8th woman to have had an alleged affair with the World's Greatest Golfer. This is a sad series of developments, as it appears Woods life as he and we knew it is crumbling before our collective eyes.

Holly Sampson

Radar Online.com lead with the story "Elin Nordegren moves out" that was confirmed by the Chicago Sun Times. There's no more new information on that report as of this writing or if she took their two children with her. That information needs to be included here.

Separated? 

Meanwhile, Porn Star Holly Sampson has not denied sleeping with Tiger Woods and Fox News claims that while Samspon is the 7th woman allegedly linked to Woods, there's an 8th, a 9th and a 10th woman as well.

Beyond the 8th woman, who's I can explain in a moment, I think it's irresponsible of Fox News to allege there's a 9th and 10th without evidence that is even a child of deductive reasoning. Let's recap how many women have been connected with Woods to date:

1. Rachel Uchitel - The National Enquirer-outed nighclub executive who denied sleeping with Woods but later admitted it after two other women stepped forward.
2. Jaimie Grubbs - The San Diego cocktail waitress who gave US Weekly her recording of Woods alleged voicemail to Grubbs that she remove her name from her phone because his Wife was going to call her.
3. Kalika Moquin - While linked to Woods by a source to Radar Online and other gossip pubs, Moquin has denied any relationship and not given any additional statements. She's the marketing manager at The Bank Nightclub at Bellagio in Las Vegas.
4. Jamie Jungers - The 26-year-old Las Vegas entertainer-for-hire model is the fourth woman who came forward on Saturday. She claimed she was going to tell her story to a British publication, but has yet to do so.
5. Mindy Lawton - Of all the women connected to Woods, 34-year-old Mindy Lawton is closest to his home in Orlando, and was said to have worked at a local restaurant called Perkins Diner. They carried on a 14-month affair (starting in 2006 and ending in 2007) which was said to have been documented by the National Enquirer, which never ran the story.

Lawton's proximity to Woods gave the World its closest look at the golfer's "off-course" lifestyle, consisting of meetups with friends and party girls in VIP areas of places like The Blue Martini in Orlando.   Lawton reportedly took their affair seriously, so it is no wonder that she's allowing her story to be told far and wide - she's pissed.

Mindy Lawton

6. Cori Rist - A source told the New York Post that the 31-year-old Upper East-Side dwelling Rist met Woods at a New York Nightclub called "Butter" then flew her to places where he had golfing engagements.
7. Holly Sampson - The first, and hopefully for Woods the last porn star to make this list, Holly Sampson was introduced to the British Daily Mail via another unnamed source. Sampson has made 85 movies from Lingerie or Bust to Diary of a Horny Housewife. Holly Sampson has not confirmed or denied that she slept with Woods as of this writing.
8. Name by Michael O'Quinn - Michael O'Quinn has said he also represents a woman who allegedly had an affair with Woods, but since O'Quinn has not come forward, that woman has to be "Number 8" because he has said he does not represent any one else.

Fox News claims there's a 9th woman and a 10th woman but has no media partner to confirm that assertion as of this writing. Unlike "Number 8" which can be linked to Michael O'Quinn, there's nothing, not even mention of an unnamed source to justify the introduction of a 9th or 10th woman.

I think Fox News is trying to advance and move the search pattern of this story to favor its own website, which is a terrible process to use in this or any news story.

Now, with all of these reports coming fast and furious, our attention should turn to Woods and his mental state. I have no idea, and the media does not seem concerned to know, how he's doing.

I've got to believe all of these affairs, some real and many questionable, may in some way be connected to the passing of his father Earl Woods, who was so central to Woods development as a man and a level-headed celebrity.

Finally, I wonder why Woods selected nightclub executives and waitresses as opposed to sports executives and lawyers or Stanford coeds?  Woods was at Stanford for just two academic years before his golf life took over and he turned pro in 1999.  Maybe he didn't get the full experience of a Cardinal education, complete with all of the amazingly talented female leaders that come from The Farm.  

I don't know.  I just don't know. 

Stay tuned.

Blind Side Number 1 Movie, Michael Oher video interview

The Blind Side, the amazing true story of how Baltimore Ravens Offensive Tackle Michael Oher emerged from homelessness to become an NFL star with the help of Ole Miss Alum Leslie Ann Toughy, now reached the level of the number one highest grossing movie in America last weekend.

According to Nikke Finke at Deadline Hollywood Blog, the feel-good pict gained a total of $129.2 million to date and scored $20.4 million last weekend with $6.8 million on Friday and $8.5 million on Saturday.

What's interesting about the Sandra Bullock movie is its' real star, Oher refuses to see it. According to Sports Illustrated, he's focused on being a better player in the NFL.

I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Oher at the 2009 NFL Draft and recording what turned out to be the only readily available online video interview.

In the video, Oher talks about his past life saying that "I still can't believe it" regarding his new stardom, but really lights up when the conversation turns to the playing field. Oher mentioned that he liked going against Florida Linebacker Brandon Spikes, who talked to him during the game, calling him by Oher's middle name, Jerome. Oher: "He would say "Martin? Jerome in the house? He's a funny guy."

For more NFL and college football news and views, listen to Football Reporters online at this link, where you can  listen to a nationally-represented panel of coaches, draftniks, and bloggers like me on last Thursday's BlogTalkRadio show, or tune in to the next program.

Window at home in Georgia

Testing mobile blogging from my Blackberry.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Overheard in New York: a cool blog that's a good example for Oakland

I figured I'd save video-blogging for Monday and just cyber-walk over to New York to see what was happening in the blogsphere there. Being in Georgia for about a third of the year gives me a weird national perspective that I bring to my Oakland and Bay Area blogging and vice versa. (Also there's just more coin in national video-blogging.) But also I have something like eight city blogs so I have to pay attention to what's happening in those towns anyway; eventually I wind up looking at the whole damn country.

Just to keep on my toes I typed NY blogs, found a blog directory called NYCbloggers.com , then meandered into Noisiest Passenger, which recommended a blog called Overheard In New York.

A random guy, listening..

Much of the blogging in Oakland and San Francisco leans toward the art scene or the politics arena (except the sports blogs, which do just that). Nothing wrong with that but in New York the blogging tends to be more about crap that happens in urban life. Much like some of my video-blogs like the Angry Cab Driver, but in text. Such is Overheard In New York.

Overheard In New York is just that: a blog consisting of what the blogger actually heard someone say, somewhere in in New York. I would think the rule is the saying had to actually happen, and I think it would make a better video-blog, but its entertaining. No, the sayings are not about other people, so defamation is not a concern.

Here's a taste of what's there:

Teenage boy: We should go hang out in Park Slope.
Teenage girl: No, we shouldn't. The yuppies will run us over with their strollers.


--Long Island City


Overheard by: Sunny

And...

Girl to friend: What's the difference between penguins and puffins?
Friend: Well, for one thing, puffins are birds.


--Central Park Zoo, Penguin/Puffins Exhibit

And..

Drunk girl to another: There's like 7 miles of cock out there and I can't even get 7 inches.


Friend: I'd be happy with 4 inches.


--Chaos Club

Or...

Little boy: Mommy, mommy!
Mom: What?
Little boy: Can I please have this? (holds up Transformers toy)
Mom, laughing: Yeah, the tooth fairy's gonna have to come a lot more for you to afford that.


--Target

And...

Girl: Yeah, like I mean, I would definitely say that I was in the best shape of my life when I had my eating disorder.
Guy, after long pause: Uhhhhh... at least you're honest!


--Fordham University


Overheard by: Rachel

You get the idea.

It's a good example of how bloggers in Oakland and San Francisco can better represent what happened around them rather than what they chose to look at. It's said that there are 178 bloggers in Oakland alone but to me it seems like there are only 10 or 15 at best who are active. Then within that group there's a few that have a narrow set of interests, then exhibit a kind of clique approach, writing about the same topics and identical perspectives weekly.

Because they have a small, but loyal readership that talks to each other, that group thinks their blog set is more widely read than in reality. In all, it makes for a rather boring mix of text and almost no video. We as a collective can do better at showing Oakland and San Francisco as they really are.

As for me, the International scene's getting more and more interesting. Now if I can only link all of them effectively I'll have a better Zennie62.com

SNL Tiger Woods skit has Blake Lively playing Elin Nordegren

The SNL Tiger Woods skit is totally off the hook. It aired last night on the popular NBC Saturday Night Live telecast hosted by 'Total Babe for Tiger Woods' Gossip Girl's Blake Lively, (@itsmelively).

Blake Lively

Tiger Woods is played by Kenan Thompson and Lively is his wife Elin Nordegren. The setting is a CNN Situation Room report where SNL actor Jason Sudeikis is Wolf Blitzer. CNN breaks to a new Tiger Woods report explaining another accident that covers for the fact that she kicked his butt after his misstatements during press conferences!

Blake Lively does more of a German than Swedish accent, but who's paying attention to that?

Oscar buzz: Live Action Short Films paired to 10 from 71

AMPAS, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, announced that out of 71 entries, 10 films advanced in the voting process for the three to five nominees that will make up the Live Action Short Film category at the 2010 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The movies, listed in alphabetical order by title and with their production company, are:

* “The Door,” Juanita Wilson, director, and James Flynn, producer (Octagon Films Ltd.)
* “The Ground Beneath,” Rene Hernandez, director, and Kristina Ceyton, producer (Passion Pictures)
* “Hotel,” Tim Conrad, director-producer (Oyster Films)
* “Instead of Abracadabra,” Patrik Eklund, director, and Mathias Fjellstrom, producer (Direktorn & Fabrikorn)
* “Kavi,” Gregg Helvey, director-producer (Gregg Helvey)
* “Miracle Fish,” Luke Doolan, director, and Drew Bailey, producer (Druid Films)
* “The New Tenants,” Joachim Back, director, and Tivi Magnusson, producer (Park Pictures)
* “The Response,” Adam Rodgers, director, and Sig Libowitz, producer (Look at the Moon Productions)
* “Short Term 12,” Destin Daniel Cretton, director-producer, and Michelle Steffes, producer (Destin Cretton)
* “Sidney Turtlebaum,” Tristram Shapeero, director, and Daniel Jewel, producer (Third Man Films Limited)

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee paired the list from 71 to the 10 listed. Now, AMPAS Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will cast their votes for the final nominee safter screenings that are coming to San Francisco, as well as Los Angeles and New York in January 2010.

The favorite in this area is hard to determine, but Steve Pond over at The Wrap has done a great job of presenting each movie with a video where available. Please take time to read his blog!

Pete Carroll with grad student - Charlie Weis says he didn't say it

The talk in sports is former Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis mistaken blast on USC Coach Pete Carroll during a wide-ranging interview with Irish Illustrated. Before I get to some of the other notable comments Weis made, let's focus on the one that's got everyone talking and produced some confusion with me.

Pete Carroll and Charlie Weis (ESPN)

First, Weis makes a profound statement to Irish Illustrated:

Q: You talked about the negativity with the media and the community, and the irreparable harm that it’s done on your family.
CW: What people don’t understand is that in the day of the Internet and tweeting and everything else that’s out there, when people put things out that are not based on fact, they all come back to your family. They all come back. As hardened as I am and as many blows as I’ve taken, I’m still standing, fellas. They didn’t beat me down. But they beat my wife down and they beat my son down. Hannah doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. So they didn’t beat her down.


But the pain that Maura went through and Charlie went through, I’ll never forgive them is the term. You can take all the shots you want at me. Fire away, but you have to understand that when they’re personal, they go directly to your wife and kids, and that’s really inexcusable. Those people really should be ashamed of themselves. As a matter of fact, I’ll make sure that the next time I’m at the Grotto, I’ll light one for all those people so that maybe they can see the light and stop being so vindictive. It’s a shame. It really is.

Here Coach Weis is right on. In the old days of media, nasty, lying, and insulting letters to the editor never saw the light of day; now Internet comment trolls are allowed to get away with murder. (Which is being curtailed slowly because they're harming website ad sales.)

But then Coach Weis goes off and says this:

Q: Is it frustrating to you Pete Carroll, for example, portrayed in one way…
CW: Let me ask you this question: You guys know about things that go on in different places. Was I living with a grad student in Malibu, or was I living with my wife in my house? You could bet that if I were living with a grad student here in South Bend, it would be national news. He’s doing it in Malibu and it’s not national news. What’s the difference? I don’t understand. Why is it okay for one guy to do things like that, but for me, I’m scrutinized when I swear. I’m sorry for swearing; absolve my sins.

Now given what Charlie Weis himself said in the same sentence, why would he go and do that? It feeds the same animals Weis says writes things he does not like regarding his family. Plus, it makes Weis look like a troll.

Coach Carroll, very upset, said this to USC sports information director Tim Tessalone:

“It’s untrue, it’s irresponsible, and it’s incredible he’d be talking about me like that,"

The Weis got wind of the Internet tidal wave and backtracked, saying...

“In no way was I trying to take a shot at Pete,” Weis said in a phone message. “What we were talking about was how the rumor mill can affect people’s lives. When I was asked a specific question like that, I responded like, 'This is the same crap that I’m talking about.' You start saying things like this and one thing, this guy does this and I do that and all of a sudden the Internet takes it all over the place.


"So, in no way was I trying to take a shot at Pete. I feel if I offended Pete, I will run Pete down and apologize. ... In no way do I have any idea what’s going on in anyone’s life other than the fact that rumors on the Internet can affect coaches' lives in a very, very negative fashion.”


“In no way would I be disrespectful to that guy,” and “All I know is that he kicked the crap out of me five times.”

I know for a fact Weis and Carroll don't like each other much, so Weis let a little of his reported issues with Carroll slip. It's not Coach Weis' finest moment.

It's too bad Coach Weis couldn't go out with class. He says he's going to coach for an NFL team next year. But here's hoping he thinks twice before he talks about other coaches in the future.

Also, Irish Illustrated should have used video rather than be accused of misquoting Weis.

Tiger Woods alienates black community with white lovers? Garbage!

The Associated Press' material can be a howler at times. The latest funny was this title: "Tiger Woods alienates black community with white lovers" which was conceived and written by a writer at the AP who presents his take on what the "Black Community" is and who represents it by turning to the old mainstream media standard, the legendary Tom Joyner.

Now, I love Tom Joyner, so it's not his fault; I'm aiming at the AP's 39-year-old Jesse Washington, who, while African American, has no idea what the "Black Community" is.

Jesse Washington

In a time when interracial dating is common, and black women with white men in commercials are more common than the opposite, its downright silly to complain about Tiger Woods' choice of female companions, blonde, brunette, or polka-dot, Rachel Uchitel, Jaimie Grubbs, Jamie Jungers, Kamile Moquin, Cori Rist, or Mindy Lawton.

Besides, why would any woman regardless of color want to be compared with or take the place of the alleged mistresses Tiger Woods has been linked to, given the PR backfire that can ensue?

Jesse Washington's AP-blasted take is a reflection of a certain part of Black America
that no longer represents the sum total of Black America: those who racially segregate themselves and hate any image of racial mixing for fear that it may result in the devaluation of their blackness.

Washington (who's background includes work in Detroit and New York City) reflects a part of the East Coast's Black Community that's far more hardened against and critical of interracial dating than on the West Coast, in San Francisco or Los Angeles or Oakland. I'm black and I'm certainly not the kind of person Washington implies "we" are. Moreover, many African Americans are not like that at all and root for Tiger Woods to overcome his problems.

What's interesting is Jesse Washington cherry-picked his sources to make the article he advanced. For example, he went to Tom Joyner as a source rather than The Root, the Washington Post-backed black blog site where Terence Samuel's blog post on Tiger Woods mentioned nothing about race.

And the study Washington references refers to adolescent interracial romance and not the adult American population. Washington should know that two studies referenced in the USA Today explain that interracial dating is so common in the Millenial Generation that the new generation "doesn't blink at interracial relationships."

And on a personal note, my mother and her friends and family, all black, still root for Tiger Woods. My African American friends who send emails and texts all want Tiger to succeed. So this idea Jesse Washington is advancing - that Tiger Woods' is in some way "alienated" from the black community - is just pure garbage with all due respect to Mr. Washington, who's overall work I enjoy.

I just disagree with my brother.

Tiger Woods 4th mistress - Media loses count of alleged affairs

Ok Tiger Woods 4th mistress is a headline, even as we have alleged mistresses number 5 and 6, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

What's going on?

What's going on is at this point the media's not paying attention to details. Read my previous blog post for the right update on all of this.

But if you're keeping score, here's the list of alleged affairs: Rachel Uchitel, Jamie Grubbs, Kalika Moquin, Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton Tiger Woods alleged 5th and 6th affairs

Ok, within two days we've seen three more women surface claiming to have had affairs with Tiger Woods, and so many new names the media's losing count: Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Jamie Jungers was alleged mistress number four, but what happened was that an Orlando lawyer named Michael O'Quinn surfaced reporting that he represented the 4th mistress. But that was questionable because Jamie Jungers lives in Las Vegas and gave her story to a British tabloid. So that pointed to a 5th woman and possibly a 6th woman.

Now we have both and it means that my video presenting the first three will have to be revised, but here it is if you need a "who's who" background:



Again, that was Rachel Uchitel, Jamie Grubbs, and Kalika Moquin.

Now and again we have Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Jamie Jungers

So lets put them all in a row: Rachel Uchitel, Jamie Grubbs, Kalika Moquin, Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Of these, Rachel Uchitel and Jamie Grubbs are confirmed. Kalika Moquin's not talking. Jamie Jungers story seems shaky to me. Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton are new, but Mindy Lawton's the one backed by Orlando lawyer Michael O'Quinn, even though her really detailed story is described in a British publication Mail Online.

The New York Daily News has Cori Rist as reportedly an NY Upper East Side 31-year-old Manhattan "nightclub goer" (which can't be her profession) who claims to have met Woods at a nightclubs called "Butter" and then he flew her to tournaments.

Now we're into Silly Season.

So why is Cori Rist in our midst if her story is of a shaky trist? Because some unnamed source blabbed to the NY Daily News. But geez, is that all it takes to get on Tiger Woods "alleged affairs" list? That's ridiculous.

Cori Rist is not talking and the NY Daily News could be fishing for attention (ok, they got it) so scratch Cori Rist from your list for now.

We've got to start calling out this crap when it happens rather than getting caught up in the numbers. Society has no shortage of low-lifes who will spread bad lies about a person just to do it and because they don't feel good about themselves. The Tiger Woods issue is fertile ground for this.

The NY Daily News should have really fleshed out that story before going public with it.

By contrast, the Mindy Lawton story in the Mail Online is more fleshed out. It's a story of Mindy Lawton, the "$8-an-hour-waitress" who had an alleged affair with Tiger Woods that was reportedly chronicled as far back as 2006 then reportedly kept out of the media for years until a tabloid sting in 2007 came close to outing Tiger's affair.

The Mail Online's article, written by Sharon Churcher and Caroline Graham, starts like this:

Perhaps he didn't notice the SUV parked across the road. If he did, he wasn't troubled by its blacked-out windows or any nagging hint of familiarity about its presence.


In fact, if Tiger Woods thought so much as twice about what he was doing, then Mindy Lawton had no inkling of it as they enjoyed a secret assignation in Tiger's Cadillac Escalade 4x4 in a church car park soon after daybreak during a Florida spring.


But every move of that alfresco encounter was recorded by a surveillance team of reporters and photographers from one of America's biggest-selling tabloid magazines. It was a scoop - the first example of what we now know to be a pattern of infidelity on Tiger's part.

Yikes.

The Mail Online explains all of this reportedly happened right in Orlando in Tiger Woods backyard as Lawton worked at Perkins, a dinner near the Windermere home of Tiger and his wife Elin Nordegren reportedly ate. And then when his management company got wind of a tabloid sting then reportedly (that word again) when into overdrive and made a deal to kill the story.

The source for that view is Neal Boulton, who was an editor with Men's Fitness at the time. Men's Fitness is the magazine that Tiger Woods reportedly agreed to be in as an exchange for the National Enquirer which was going to run with the story. Both the National Enquirer and Men's Fitness are owned by American Media Inc.

But Gawker reports that American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker is calling Neal Boulton a "disgruntled former employee" and the Gawker author who revealed this, Hamilton Nolan, wrote that Boulton once stiffed him for a freelance article he wrote for Boulton, so he's biased against Boulton.

Geez.

It's the financial agendas and personal issues like that one which color the Tiger Woods story and will continue to do so in the future.

Stay tuned.