Saturday, July 29, 2006

Ann Coulter Says Bill Clinton Is Gay On "The Big Idea" - David Letterman Fires Back



Conservative political pundit Ann Coulter gets a lot of airtime for being a jerk when the cameras roll (I don't know her, so I can't comment on what she's really like, but I'll bet she's a blast in person). Ann makes comments that are designed to piss someone off, but in this media-driven culture she makes a lot of money doing it. It's like I told my Mom, all a media producer cares about his that you're talking about one of their personalities (and at times hating that person's the most bankable emotion you can express -- at least from the media producer's point of view).

But there's such a thing as a little too much of a thing and Ann may have hit that point. Take this video where talk show host David Letterman reports that Ann Coulter said former President Bill Clinton was Gay on Donny Deutch's show "The Big Idea" on CNBC. Letterman's staff made up a response where Bill Clinton said "Well, I did tell her I was Gay, but that was only to give her an excuse for why I didn't hit on her." The video then continues with this statement from Letterman's staff: "Bill Clinton, Gay only when it comes to evil, crazy b----."

But it's statements like that, and the one where she claimed to have sent "that white powder" to the NY Times, that have caused several papers in her conservative base of the South to drop her column. Perhaps we're seeing the beginning of the end of her popularity. I certainly hope so. She seems to be making money from being a little off and not in a good way.

Here's the video:

San Francisco Bay To Breakers - Video Two




This is the second of a four part video series on my San Francisco Bay To Breakers run this year -- my 18th time as a participant. I decided to take my camcorder and film as I went along; I don't know that anyone's done this before from start to finish.

The Bay To Breakers run goes from the intersection of Howard and Spear Streets in San Francisco's Financial District (Bay) to the Great Highway on Ocean Beach at the Pacific Ocean (Breakers). It's a 7.7 mile course through the heart of San Francisco; a trek made by over 70,000 people on the third Sunday in May.

Some people dress in costume; others in nothing at all. Look carefully at the people passing me. It's a freak show at points. What I like are the bands playing all kinds of music as I go. So that song you hear isn't a soundtrack, it's the real thing from a band.

SF Bay to Breakers Video One | SF Bay to Breakers Video Two
Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

San Francisco Bay To Breakers - Video One




This is the first of a four part video series on my San Francisco Bay To Breakers run this year -- my 18th time as a participant. I decided to take my camcorder and film as I went along; I don't know that anyone's done this before from start to finish.

The Bay To Breakers run goes from the intersection of Howard and Spear Streets in San Francisco's Financial District (Bay) to the Great Highway on Ocean Beach at the Pacific Ocean (Breakers). It's a 7.7 mile course through the heart of San Francisco; a trek made by over 70,000 people on the third Sunday in May.

Some people dress in costume; others in nothing at all. Look carefully at the people passing me. It's a freak show at points. What I like are the bands playing all kinds of music as I go. So that song you hear isn't a soundtrack, it's the real thing from a band.

SF Bay to Breakers Video One | SF Bay to Breakers Video Two
Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

ESPN - First Rounders Get Signed: Ravens Sign Ngata; Cowboys Lock-Up Clayton; Steelers Ink Santonio Holmes; Reggie Bush Remains

John Clayon and Len Pasquarelli For ESPN

Roundup: Ravens reach agreement with Ngata
ESPN.com news services

The Baltimore Ravens reached agreement Friday on a five-year, $11.9 million deal with first-round choice Haloti Ngata, the 12th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

Ngata, a 6-foot-4, 337 pounds defensive tackle from Oregon, was considered one of the key offseason additions to the Ravens' defense because he is a big, body along the defensive line who will eat up blockers and make it easier for middle linebacker Ray Lewis.

"I'm really relieved that it's done and I can go play football. I couldn't afford to miss too much time because I only had that one minicamp," Ngata told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It was a good deal. The Ravens were very fair to me."

-- John Clayton

Cowboys hammer out deal with Carpenter
The Dallas Cowboys completed their draft choice signings by striking an early Friday agreement with first-round selection Bobby Carpenter of Ohio State.


The 18th player chosen overall, Carpenter will sign a five-year contract with a maximum value of $11 million, including $7.5 million in guarantees.

A tall, athletic linebacker (6-foot-2, 256 pounds), Carpenter possesses the kind of size head coach Bill Parcells has long favored at the position. He is the son of former New York Giants and Houston Oilers running back Rob Carpenter, grew up around the game, and has a strong sense of the league.

A starter in 26 of his 50 appearances for the Buckeyes, Carpenter finished his college career with 191 tackles, including 23½ tackles for losses, 14½ sacks, three interceptions, seven passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two recoveries.

Not surprisingly, given his bloodlines, Carpenter is an instinctive player with good diagnostic skills. Although the Cowboys have retooled their linebacker corps over the past two seasons as they continue to transition to a 3-4 defense, Carpenter should vie for playing time as a rookie.

-- Len Pasquarelli

Holmes agrees to five-year deal with Steelers
First-round draft pick Santonio Holmes reached terms on a five-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a deal that apparently does not include added contract language protecting them against additional off-field problems.

By reaching terms with Holmes minutes before coach Bill Cowher held his first full-squad meeting of camp, the Steelers locked up their last remaining unsigned player. Earlier in the day, they signed third-round pick Willie Reid, the former Florida State receiver.

Holmes, a former Ohio State star wide receiver, has been arrested twice since being the No. 25 pick in the April draft. He faces an Aug. 15 trial on an assault charge involving a woman in Columbus, Ohio, who is the mother of one of his three children. He also pleaded innocent to disorderly conduct charges brought Memorial Day weekend in Miami.

Despite Holmes' off-field problems, which clearly agitated Cowher and cast doubt on whether Holmes has the maturity and focus to be a productive NFL player, Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said the team is protected enough by the standard player's contract.

-- The Associated Press

Bills reach agreement with McCargo

The Buffalo Bills have reached an agreement in principle with one of their two first-round draft choices, defensive tackle John McCargo.

McCargo, a 6-foot-2, 302-pound three-year starter at North Carolina State, agreed to a five-year deal worth more than $8 million that included $5.2 million in guarantees. The Bills began practice Friday morning, and McCargo, the 26th overall pick, will try to get to camp at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. for the afternoon practice.

It's likely, given the turnover in Buffalo, that McCargo will battle for a starting spot as a rookie. At worst, he figures to be a part of Buffalo's tackle rotation in 2006 and log considerable playing time. McCargo has a nice mix of power and quickness and can play either tackle spot. He is one of three former Wolfpack defensive linemen chosen in the first round of this year's draft.

He had 134 tackles in 30 appearance, all but one of them as a starter.

The Bills still have to work on safety Donte Whitner, the eighth pick in the draft.

-- John Clayton and Len Pasquarelli

Jaguars sign first-round pick Lewis
First-round draft pick Marcedes Lewis signed a five-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday, a day before the team opens training camp.

The tight end, chosen with the 28th overall pick, is expected to back up veteran Kyle Brady. But the Jaguars are counting on rookie's versatile skills to help replace Jimmy Smith, who abruptly retired in May and left the team with little experience at receiver.

Lewis' deal is worth about $7.5 million, with a little more than $4.8 million in guaranteed money.

Linebacker Clint Ingram, a third-round pick from Oklahoma, also signed Friday. He had been the last unsigned rookie.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Bill Clinton on Current Israel-Lebanon Conflict

Leave it to former President Bill Clinton to shed light -- a clear light -- on the Israel-Lebanon conflict, as he does in this video. President Clinton informs us that Hezbollah presents a problem in that they hide within civilian communities as is the case in Lebanon and thus any attack on them will cause innocent people to die.

If that's the case -- and the Israelis know that -- then a sustained invasion is really almost a form of exterminating a whole group of people for the actions of a scant few. It seems like a perfect vessel for Anti-Arab forces to carry out a campaign of race hate. And the US under President Bush is right in support of those people who may very well have a kind of extermination in mind.

Here's President Clinton:

Israeli Kids Shown Signing Bombs Sent To Lebanon

I had to post this because I just plain could not believe what I was seeing. Israeli kids -- kids -- signing bombs that were then sent over to Lebanon to kill. It's painful not only to watch this go on, but to not only see one person's inhumanity to another played out for all to see, but to witness youngsters doing something that they will certainly regret later in life.

YouTube - "Crawley Kids In A Tilgate Park"

You've got to see this. Someone decided to hook up the power wheel end of a motorcycle to a small kids carosel and in such a way that the playground machine spins. It seems the Crawley kids thought it was a good idea to sit in the middle of the carosel while it spun faster and faster. Watch what happens when it goes too fast...

ROCKETBOOM? BOOM OR BUST? Randy Wicker Reporting




While Amanda Congdon makes videos of her getting fired from fast food joints, Andrew Baron shows the audience at the gathering of the vlogger group NYVideo.org how Amanda's departure has impacted Rocketboom's traffic -- it's way up -- and sponsorships sales have increased as well.

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by Randolfe Wicker with a No license (All rights reserved) license.

Amanda Congdon Get's Fired...From A Fast Food Restaurant



Ok, it happened in a video. It's really a cool new video that Amanda and her friends produced and is now up on her Amanda Unboomed site.

Amanda's still not decided on her future as of this writing. Here's hoping that something clicks, soon.

Vince Young Signs - NFL Rookie Signing Tracker



Vince Young signed with the Tennessee Titans Thursday. Young, the No. 3 overall pick out of Texas, agreed to a five-year deal, with an option for a sixth, with $25.7 million guaranteed and an overall value that could reach $58 million with option and roster bonuses and salary.

That would top the six-year, $54 million deal with $26.5 million guaranteed for the top draft pick, defensive end Mario Williams of Houston. That essentially means Young has opened the door for Reggie Bush's agent to argue that his client deserves a contract at least as good as Vince Young's.


Latest Transactions From Scout.com

Atlanta Falcons - Signed second round pick CB Jimmy Williams

Dallas Cowboys - Reached contract agreements with third round pick DE Jason Hatcher and sixth round pick DT Montavious Stanley

Detroit Lions - Reached contract agreements with RB Brian Calhoun, fifth round pick OL Jonathan Scott, sixth round pick CB Dee McCann, seventh round pick LB Anthony Cannon

Jacksonville Jaguars - Reached a contract agreement with first round pick TE Marcedes Lewis.

Minnesota Vikings - Reached a contract agreement with first round pick LB Chad Greenway

New York Giants - Signed 1st round pick DE Mathias Kiwanuka

New York Jets - Reached a contract agreement with first round pick C Nick Mangold

World Trade Center - Kevin Cosgrove's 911 Call From 105th Floor Of 2 World Trade Center

This is absolutely the most chilling and shocking video I have seen from September 11, 2001 -- 9-11 -- to date. It features Kevin Cosgrove's plea for the New York Fire Department to come and get he and his co-workers out of the building as fire races through it.

As I watched this, I wondered why there were not helicopters with water hoses going up there, or at least copters that could get close enough to get someone down. I don't know. I realize that it was dangerous, but I feel like something could have been done.

Here's the chilling video. Remember that as a warning. Regardless, it's something people must see. If only to understand the magnitude of the power of the disaster and why we should never let that happen again.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

New NFL Player Agents Not Prepared - Profootballtalk.com



This was bound to be the result of so many new players coming into the athletic representation game, and some at such a young age. Until the NFL Players Association starts actually enforcing its own rules and regulations without prejudice -- again, without prejudice -- this pattern of allowing green agents will continue. Good for Profootballtalk.com to point to this problem. IT seems the way things are going, some player would be better using a Verbot (pictured) to negotiate their contracts.

TEAMS PISSED AT NEW AGENTS

In conversations we have had today with several NFL front office personnel, the same point is being hammered to us: the newer NFLPA Contract Advisors are increasingly pissing off NFL contract guys with their lack of preparation and/or "I am the sh-t" attitude. Club statements to us such as "the guy has no fu--ing clue what he is doing, " "it's a joke how stupid some of these guys are" and "don't they have to pass a test or something?" are some of the mild complaints we are getting from the management side.

We were the first to acknowledge that the absence of a definitive CBA and the inherent conflict between what the player wants and what the team is willing to pay is the basis for some of this frustration. But as noted on this site before, the increased dollars going to players has caused more individuals -- whether competent or not -- to enter into the agent business and entice players to sign with them for a variety of reasons other than their competence (think green paper, female companionship and method of transportation, but not necessarily in that order).

As one experienced front office type told us "Hell, they don't even talk to their own union before they do these deals. The benefit of sneaking things past them is almost outweighed by the friggin' time I waste dealing with some of these knuckleheads."