Saturday, November 12, 2011

He Really Knows How To Drill His Players

In addition to the embarrassing title of his biography "Touched" by Jerry Sandusky, this picture emerges from Sandusky's instructional video

Jery Sandusky grabs a kid's ass

Friday, November 11, 2011

The TallSkott School of Crisis Management

Many years ago TallSkott chatted with some girls on the internet and made a plan to meet them at the Staten Island Mall. When he got to the meeting place he saw the girls were unattractive and he called his father for advice.
"Dad what should I do?"
"Be a man, Scotty. Go meet with them."
TallSkott ignored this advice and stood up the ugly girls.

But even TallSkott would not have done what Penn State Assistant Coach Mike McQueary did.

McQueary, by his own account, witnessed Jerry Sandusky anally raping a young boy in the shower. And the first thing he did was call his father to ask for advice.



And his father told him he should leave the premises immediately and come to his house. Don't confront Sandusky, don't make a noise or something to let Sandusky know you're there and certainly don't call the cops. Call your father, and then leave the scene.

You witnessed a crime. Your first instinct should be to protect the child. Then you call police. The fact that he decided to call his dad first, and to think about his own career before the welfare of the child, is leading to the rise of a lot of conspiracy theories.

Did McQueary know he had some reason not to report Sandusky to police? Was he rewarded for his silence with an assistant coaching job?

And that's what makes this whole situation so difficult. With as much as we do know, there is still a lot we don't.

McQueary, who was initially hailed as the only person willing to report this behavior, is now being cast as a villain for his inaction. He even received death threats. And that is why he will not be on the sidelines for the game against Nebraska. If Paterno got fired for his dithering, I think McQueary deserves the same fate.

I Can't Wait to Take This Luckbox to Atlantic City

Fresh off his big win playing Deal or No Deal in Maine Chase had an even bigger score at Point Pleasant, this time playing Wheel of Fortune.

The game starts with you spinning the wheel to see how many tickets you are playing for. Chase spun and landed on the tiny sliver with the silver 500 (the highest point total).

Then you see a puzzle with a few of the letters filled in, then you get to choose 3 letters from among all the other ones that are actually in the answer. We picked N, E & T, and got 500 tickets for each letter. Then we solved the puzzle "INDEPENDENT FILMS" and saw our winnings, 3500 tickets.

The tickets printed for what seemed like days. They just kept coming and coming until there was a huge mess on the floor.




Then we realized the machine had run out of tickets are we were still owed 1100. When they refilled the machines, the tickets came pouring out again. Chase was in awe, people were in shock, everyone was making a huge deal out of the little boy who won more tickets than they'd ever seen.

And after the game machine spit them out we had to feed them into another machine to count them. And turns out each ticket was actually worth 10, so in total we got more than 38,000 tickets.



We traded them in for 140 tickets to the rides (normal value: $50) and Chase also got a Mack from Cars. And we still left with a voucher for another 2000 tickets.

In all we spent about $12 on games ($3 on the winning Wheel of Fortune) plus an extra $6 in parking because we had to stay an extra hour to do all this.

My only regret is that it took me so long to post this.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

This Could Get Worse

A new rumor surfacing this morning threatens to the take Penn State Scandal down an even more disturbing road, if that's even possible.
Mark Madden, a reporter for the Beaver County Times, said on WEEI in Boston that some reporters are looking into allegations that Sandusky pimped out young boys to rich donors. Essentially running a child prostitution ring.
You can argue that it is irresponsible for him to report a rumor, with no basis in fact, especially one so explosive in nature.
But personally I like having access to all information and I will sift through it myself and decide what is true and what isn't.
Also keep in mind Madden has been way out in front of this Sandusky story.
Here's what he wrote:

"If Paterno and Penn State knew, but didn't act, instead facilitating Sandusky's untroubled retirement - are Paterno and Penn State responsible for untoward acts since committed by Sandusky?"

In April. He wrote that in April, 7 months before this story broke. So maybe he is once again out in front of this story. That is a sad thing to think about.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Song of the Week

"Paranue"
The classic capoeira song from the legendary movie "Only the Strong."

JoePa Must Go...NOW!

Joe Paterno announced he will retire as Penn State football coach at the end of this season. He should leave now.
Paterno was mostly exonerated in the indictment of Jerry Sandusky because he said he never learned of allegations of this nature against Sandusky until 2002.
In 2002 when he was told by Mike McQueary that Mcqueary saw Sandusky raping a little boy in the shower Paterno passed the report on to his supervisors.
And that is where Paterno fulfilled his legal obligation, and why he has not been charged with a crime.

But I say Paterno failed miserably in his moral obligation. Maybe some crimes you could look the other way. If your friend robs a bank, you can look the other way. But not for child abuse.

a smiling Joe Paterno allowed a sexual predator to go free for years

Let's take Paterno at his word. He never heard any allegations about Sandusky until 2002. And when he did hear about it, he was only told of "inappropriate sexual conduct" between Sandusky and a boy, not anal sex.

Even if that were true, he still should have done more. He never followed up with his supervisors. They never reported it to police. And so for 9 more years this pedophile was free to work at his charity for troubled boys.

And this is why it makes me sick to see admiring throngs outside Paterno's house demanding that he keep his job. He admits to willfully ignoring sexual molestation charges against his former right-hand man and deserves to suffer no consequences?

adoring crowds support Joe Paterno

And speaking of consequences, I think JoePa should also face criminal charges for lying to investigators. First of all, he said he McQueary never told him he witnessed Sandusky having anal sex with the kid. McQueary says he did tell him that. And Curley and Schultz were charged with lying about the exact same thing.

Second of all, Paterno said he'd never been made aware of any allegations about Sandusky prior to 2002. But there was a police report about a 1998 incident. And even though charges were never filed in that case, it's almost implausible to believe Paterno didn't know about it.

This is likely what happened: Paterno knew for years about Sandusky's ways. After the 1998 incident, he forced Sandusky into retirement in 1999 and hoped it would go away. In 2002, he finally reported Sandusky to his superiors but he encouraged them never to report it to police. He barred Sandusky from ever bringing young boys to the facility again.

But he never tried to get counseling for his friend. He never tried to find the boy, the alleged shower victim. He never kicked Sandusky out of the program, he was around the team as recently as last week. He never followed up with Curley and Schultz about the 2002 accusation. And he never reported anything to the police.

For all those reasons...Joe Must Go...NOW!

Now That We Lost Heavy D, What Are We Gonna Do?

In 1995 I went to a summer program at Syracuse University before my senior year in high school. My roommate was a real asshole but he had a good collection of rap CDs. So before we left I asked him to make me a mixtape of the best songs from those CDs. That song included "Nuttin But Love" by Heavy D. I know it is not Heavy's best known work but I think it typifies what people liked about him. Rhythmic beats, curse-free lyrics and a fun, upbeat, non-combative style.

"Nuttin But Love"



Heavy D, nee Dwight Myers, died yesterday at the age of 44. He collapsed on the sidewalk in front of his home and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Official cause of death is not yet known. At one point he weighed over 300 pounds but had slimmed down in recent years.


"Now That We Found Love"



Many people, including myself, were surprised to learn Heavy D was so young. He first came onto the scene in 1987 when he was only 20,


"Candy Rain - Remix"



It wasn't just rapping, in later years Heavy D acted in a lot of movies and TV shows. He was one of the auto repairmen (along with John Witherspoon and Katt Williams) in the garage owned by Tracy Morgan in "The Tracy Morgan Show." Which was actually a great show before Tracy Morgan became a caricature of the cariacture he was playing.

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

The NFL is Poop - Week 9

You Can't Spell Elite Without Eli
When Eli Manning was asked during a radio interview this summer if he thought he was an elite quarterback in the class of Tom Brady, he gave the only answer he could reasonably expected to give "yes." We all know he is not in Brady's class, based on track record, but for one game (the second time?), he was better. Manning is not always perfect, throws a lot of interceptions, but he does have a knack for leading 4th quarter drives. The one in the Super Bowl cemented his place in Giants history forever. This one, cemeneted his status as an elite or near-elite quarterback.



Here's the Difference Between Good and Elite QBs
Right now I would rank Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers as elite quarterbacks. Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler and Eli Manning would be in that next group. Leaving out Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning to simplify. All 6 of those guys have great arms, are really good passers and have some good results in the past. The difference is the elite guys don't make as many mistakes (interceptions). Sunday's Chargers-Packers game was a perfect example. Both quarterbacks had great days, combined for nearly 700 yards passing and 8 touchdowns. And San Diego actually had a chance to knock off an unbeaten team but Rivers threw 3 interceptions (0 for Rodgers), 2 of which were returned for touchdowns.

Pats Are Gonna Be Pissed
Either the Patriots are going to be really angry or they'll be in big trouble after this weekend's game against the Jets. Right now, the Pats have lost 2 in a row and they haven't scored more than 20 points in three straight games. That's after scoring 30 or more in their first 5 games. Even though they are number 1 in passing yards, they're last in passing defense. And they seem to have problems on both sides of the ball. This is a huge game because the Patriots already lost to the Bills, meaning they'd have to climb over two teams in the division. And with the AFC North so deep, it might be hard to get a wild card at 9-7.

Where Did That Come From?
Just a few days ago the Chiefs were streaking to the top of the AFC West and the Dolphins were winless and hoping for Andrew Luck. Then all of the sudden Matt Moore became a competent quarterback, the Dolphins D clamped down on the running game, and the Fish had a 31-3 victory.

Leader in the Clubhouse
The Dolphins' win, the one last week by the Rams, and the Colts latest loss to the Falcons, mean Indianapolis has the inside track on the first pick in the NFL Draft, which will almost surely be Andrew Luck.

Julio Jones runs away from the Colts, sending Indy to its 9th loss of the year

This could present an interesting conundrum. As you know, the Colts already have a quarterback, but he is hurt, and even though they just signed him to a new contract (I guess that was pretty foolish) they may have to consider drafting Luck. Apparently this is not sitting well with Peyton Manning who wants to come back to his job next season. I think if the Colts do get the top pick, they should trade it for a couple draft picks to help smooth the transition when Manning really does retire. What do you think?




Brief Rant about the Redskins
John Beck stinks. He can't throw. Until a completely useless touchdown at the end of the game the Redskins had 3 points in 118 minutes with Beck at the helm. They have got to go back to Rex Grossman. But the Shanahans will be stubborn and stick with the guy they like. Beck is so bad that Roy Helu set a franchise record for catches in game. He caught 14 balls, because Beck can't throw downfield. Another ignominious team record: Graham Gano kicked a 59-yard field goal. I was rooting for him to miss because I didn't want his name in the team's history.

Picture of the Week
A cool shot right down the line of scrimmage during the Dolphins-Chiefs game.



Shifting of Power
Every week I try to pick a team from each conference to play in my hypothetical right now Super Bowl. It is getting harder and harder to find a good AFC team. The power has clearly shifted to the NFC. Green Bay, Detroit, San Francisco and the Giants all look better right now than anyone in the AFC. The Patriots lost 2 in a row, including one to the Steelers, who just lost to Baltimore, who almost lost to the Cardinals and they did lose to the Jaguars.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Green Bay Packer 45 Cincinnati Bengals 13

Cincinnati gets the nod almost by default, but they have won 5 in a row. They have a really good defense and Andy Dalton is turning out to be a pretty good quarterback for a rookie. The Packers are just awesome and they are two wins away (Vikings, ExpensiveCornPrices) from being undefeated going into the early Thanksgiving Day game against the Lions.

Monday, November 07, 2011

This Is Too Serious to Even Make Fun of the Penn State Alumni

Penn State and its alumni are a frequent target of my humorous barbs on this site. Not today. This time I am calling for Joe Paterno's resignation not because he's a senile, old fool but because of his lack of action after very serious allegations were made against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.



Sandusky, 67, was a longtime Paterno assistant until he retired in 1999. Even after his retirement he was given unfettered access to university facilities. Sandusky used his position as a Penn State coach to lure young boys whom he originally met through his charity, called Second Mile.

Sandusky started the charity to help troubled boys. According to the grand jury's indictment, he molested them. 8 victims are named over a period of several years.

Sandusky invited victims to his home, they slept over, he gave them tickets to Penn State games and drove them to Eagles games. And he often gave boys a tour of the Penn State facilities, culminating in showing them the shower.

Victim #1 started sleeping over at Sandusky's house in 2005 and 2006 when he was in 6th or 7th grade, so roughly 11 or 12 years old. Sandusky would come down to the basement where the boy was sleeping and "crack" the boy's back. It became a bedtime ritual. Then Sandusky moved on to rubbing the boy's butt, then blowing on his bare stomach, then sucking his dick. The boy claims Sandusky performed oral sex on him 20 times. And he did it to Sandusky once.

Victim #4 says Sandusky rubbed his genitals on his face and even put his dick in the boy's mouth. And ejaculating! He said Sandusky also tried to put his finger and his penis in the boy's ass.

The other victims claims fall short of those, mostly that he showered with them, touched them, and made them uncomfortable. Perhaps if they didn't resist he would have done more to them.

This is right out of the child molester's handbook written by Michael Jackson. Pick on underprivileged boys from bad family situations. Start slowly, so those that object right away don't have real charges. And most importantly, you need to have people who will cover up for you.



And that's where victim #2 comes in. Graduate assistant and former QB Mike McQueary went to put sneakers in his locker at 9:30 one night. He saw the lights and the showers on, and heard what sounded like people have sex. He saw a naked boy, who looked to be about 10, with his hands on the wall, being anally violated by Sandusky.

Doing the right thing, McQueary told Coach Paterno the next day. The matter was never reported to police. Paterno, AD Tim Curley and another university VP Gary Schultz all claim McQueary only told them of inappropriate behavior, not sexual activity explicitly.

Even so, they decided taking away Sandusky's keys to the locker room was sufficient punishment.

Curley and Schultz have resigned, they are charged with crimes. Paterno, who was not charged, should resign too.

This is not just an embarrassment. This is a trusted member of the coaching staff using his positions, and the university's facilities to systematically engage in sexual molestation of young boys. And it's clear university officials including Joe Paterno allowed this to happen.

What Do You Give Me For? Kris Humphries and Taylor Lautner

What do you give me for the Kim Kardashian's soon-to-be ex-husband Kris Humphries and Twilight star Taylor Lautner?






Story Suggested by Damino

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Weekly Picks

Lack of power didn't hurt me too bad last week. Though I got off to a bad start I closed the show with two of my easiest victories of the year. Still looking for teams to totally reverse course from their performance last week.

ARIZONA -2 1/2 st. louis
St. Louis was 0-6 and just pulled a huge upset of the Saints. I think they still stink. Unfortunately the Cardinals stink too. But I like them at home in this one, even though Kevin Kolb is out and John Skelton, the pride of Fordham, is starting.

OAKLAND -7 denver
I'm going to keep picking against Tebow. Even his own coaches don't believe in him. They are just doing this to get the fans off their back.

NEW ORLEANS -8 tampa bay
The last time the Saints played the ExpensiveCornPrices they lost, and rebounded by delivering one of the biggest ass-kickings in history. Then they went out and lost to the Rams. They bounce back again.

BUFFALO -2 1/2 new york jets
This spread makes it look like people think the Jets are the better team. It's ok to believe in the Bills now. And if you do, you have to pick them giving so few points at home.

BEST BET
KANSAS CITY -4 miami

Another spread that seems way too small. The Chiefs have won 4 in a row and seem to have their problems figured out. The Dolphins have a lot more problems and they haven't got answers to any of them.

Last week: 2-3 (3 points)
Season: 21-19 (23 points)
Best Bets: 1-0 (5-3)
Home Favorites: 0-2 (8-8)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (0-0)
Road Favorites: 2-0 (6-6)
Road Underdogs: 0-1 (7-5)