Tanith Belbin's Badunkadunk

Four years ago we fell in love with U.S. ice dancer Tanith Belbin. But little did we know we were contributing to her disordered eating. According to a New York Times article Belbin has spent the last four years getting stronger and adding weight, 10 pounds supposedly, from 105 to 115 (she's 5'6"). Now she is better able to hold herself up since her legs and core are stronger.

"She never binged, purged or used laxatives, she said, but she restricted her calories to the minimum. She would eat a small breakfast, then later snack on celery or a few almonds to get her through the day. After practices, she was too weak to lift her arms. Once in her apartment, she would stare blankly ahead, sapped of energy.

When she could not control her hunger, she would eat a huge dinner and find herself two pounds heavier. It horrified her."



Here's what she looked like in 2006, bones and ribs visible:



And here's what she looks like now, not a major difference but a little more to her:

Reason Why I Love Mrs. Poop #415,779

While watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Mrs. Poop sent me this e-mail:

"I think the man doing the announcing for the dog show is getting too much pleasure out of calling the female dogs bitches."

What's The Point of Winning a Bronze Medal if You Can't Use It To Get Girls to Pantomime Fellatio?

U.S. snowboarder Scotty Lago was sent home from the Olympics after some pictures surfaced of behavior unbecoming of an Olympian. At least according to the USOC. Lago and a female posed for photographs with the bronze medal he won in the halfpipe. Perhaps in a bit of Maplethorpian photography, the picture shows Lago with his shirt up, the girl on her knees, and the bronze medal precariously close to his junk.

Ice Dancing Is Like Kissing Your Sister

Of the 23 couples who will be competing in ice dancing at the Olympics, four are brother-sister combinations. That can be complicated when the compulsory dance is the sensuous tango.
All you need to know about how weird this will be is evidenced in this picture of John and Sinead Kerr:



The Wall Street Journal explains how these teams deal with the awkwardness.

Valentine's Day Review

I never listen to reviewers because they don't have the same tastes as I do and they aren't looking for the same things as I am.

That said, I still can't understand how anyone would have hated this movie.

There were no blue people in it which I guess is a bad thing.

The story was a little discombobulated because there were so many concurrent plots, but not so much that it was confusing or jarring.

It wasn't even that sappy. The only fair review I saw said it was too cynical about love, which it might have been despite the fact that every storyline ended with a kiss pretty much. And if you're going to hate a RomCom because it has a happy ending, then you should probably stay home. And take a bath. While making toast.

I would have added a little for eye candy for the fellas. There was McSteamy, Wolfboy and some other guy shirtless but Jessica Biel's giant ass was totally wasted.

Anne Hathaway was the sexiest female in the movie but she just doesn't do it for me.

Three reasons to go see Valentine's Day:
1) Shirley MacLaine's arms. I can't explain you just have to see on the big screen.
2) Taylor Swift's performance. Seriously she like totally stole the show. I wish five years ago I bought stock in Taylor Swift. Now she's 200 a share like Apple but I still see her becoming the biggest star of song and screen in the next 10 years.
3) The outtakes during the credits. Its a 2-hour movie but give it two more minutes, the last one is really subtly funny.

Since its only fair to judge movies against their peers and what they're trying to accomplish I give it 3 stars as a romantic comedy. It was entertaining, not boring, not annoying, not cheesy, not bad.

What the Fuck Are the Knicks Doing?

The Knicks are trying to clear enough cap space to sign two players to maximum contracts this offseason.
That was Donnie Walsh’s stated goal when he arrived and he is willing to spare no expense to do it.
Essentially Walsh traded Jordan Hill, the right to swap 1st rounders in 2011 (unless it’s #1 overall) and the 2012 1st round pick (top 5 protected) to get Jared Jeffries $6.9m contract for next season off the books.
He also got rid of problem child Nate Robinson but that wasn’t a salary cap move.
In the two deals the Knicks got Tracy McGrady, Sergio Rodriguez, Eddie House, Bill Walker and JR Giddens all of whom come off the cap at the end of the year.

So did Walsh accomplish his goal?
He has $17.7m committed next year to Eddy Curry (yikes!), Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Toney Douglas.
A max player like LeBron will get $16.7m.
If the cap falls to around $53m (expected because of the recession) the Knicks wouldn’t be able to sign two max players (they’d still need to sign at least 6 more players to at least the NBA minimum).
They could sign a max guy and another guy to just short of the max, maybe LeBron and Joe Johnson. Or instead of Johnson, David Lee for $10m per season and still have $4.9m to spend on another player.

Here’s the list of guys potentially available this year:
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Tyson Chandler, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd.

Best case scenario LeBron, David Lee and a serviceable point guard.
Worst-case (reasonable): Amare and Ray Allen. They need to use this money to build for the long-term.
Even better case: when Curry’s money comes off after next year they use it to sign Tony Parker.

As much as it kills me to give up basically four years of first round picks (though we will have one in 2011) the Knicks have to go for this 100%, if they half-ass it their chances of landing LeBron or Wade diminish. I think this is the right move for the long-term health of the franchise, go scorched-earth and make your best effort to sign the best player in the league.

TON's Favorite Olympian Ever

Meet Norwegian cross-country skier Petter Northug, bronze medalist in the individual sprint.

I Told You Not to Fuck With Me

An argument on a bus in Oakland escalates after the older white gentleman asks the younger black man "how much you charge me for a spit shine?"
The black guy thought he was tough, thought:



Damn that guy got knocked the fuck out. Not sure what happened before the chick started recording but it seems like this guy may have made a racially insensitive remark. I still think the black guy pushed it too far and I'm glad he got his comeuppance. Number one rule of street fights: Strike first, strike aggressively.

Great Scottie

Perhaps the biggest favorite in dog show history, Sadie the Scottish Terrier, winning the Westminster Dog Show.

Sadie has won 112 Best in Show Ribbons in her illustrious career.



While I prefer a bigger dog like 2006 champ Rufus and Mrs. Poop prefers one with floppier ears like 2008 champ Uno, we know greatness when we see it.

Unfortunately Sadie’s moment was ruined by some people from PETA. While I don’t hate PETA the way most people do (I appreciate their mission and think they have good humor on most topics but they should chose their battles better, ie stick with hot naked chicks in anti-fur ads) I’m angry that they chose to upstage Sadie. Their signs said “Mutts Rule” and “Breeders Kill” protesting the fact that dog show dogs are purebreds in an effort to encourage people to adopt mixed breed dogs from shelters instead of buying purebred dogs from often unscrupulously breeders.



But it’s not Sadie’s fault she’s a purebred or that’s she’s dominating the dog show circuit. I guess there will always be haters.

You Blew It!

For four years Lindsey Jacobellis has stewed over her loss in the snowboard cross at the 2006 Olympics and had to deal with the public embarrassment. In case you’ve forgotten like the incredibly obnoxious Mrs. Poop Jacobellis was the prohibitive favorite and cruising to victory when she did a trick (“dude she did a method!”) causing her to fall, and get passed. She won a silver but blew a chance at the gold.

Four years later, she won her opening heat and was leading the semifinal run when she lost her balance and overcorrected right into the flag on the other side. That’s an automatic DQ and four more years of waiting for the next chance to embarrass herself.



But that’s not as bad was what John Shuster did. Shuster who won a bronze medal in curling in 2006 under skip Pete Fenson, is now the skip himself, and he’s failing miserably. The skip gets the last rocks and he blew two major chances against Germany. Then with a chance against Norway in the 11th end, Shuster had the hammer, and an easy shot to the button for the win. He went right past the button and cost the U.S. the match. Horrible.

What Do You Give Me For? Emmanuelle Chriqui and J-Woww

E would be rolling over in his grave (if he were a real person) but what do you give me for Emmanuelle Chriqui (Sloan) and J-Woww?

Song of the Week

"Shots" - LMFAO
I think Nails and Master Bates were singing this at my wedding

Jim Beam Should Have Ponied Up $3 Mil to Put This On During the Super Bowl

A great Jim Beam commercial reminds of those great Days when Diesel was still a puppy.

John Wall's Hidden Message

When Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman were wearing “Natinals” jerseys during a game, the only message we took from that was the Washington Nationals are a second-class organization.

The latest misspelled jersey incident is leading to great deconstruction. Kentucky guard John Wall showed up for a photo shoot with Coach John Calipari and some of his teammates in a jersey that said “KENTCUKY.”




Coach Cal tweeted the photo, and eagle-eyed Kentucky fans pointed out the error.

Coach Cal says he knew of the mistake before uploading the picture and before the photo shoot began.

But now conspiracy theorists say the so-called mistake was actually a secret message.

With the “C U KY” on his jersey Wall was sending a hidden message that he is leaving for the NBA after this season.

Get this straight: It’s not a hidden message, or a secret message. It’s a fact. John Wall is entering the NBA Draft the earliest day he can. And he’s going to be the #1 pick. Let’s just hope the Nets can spell Nets correctly.

Jinxed and Loving It

One week after appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a "hyper-sexualized position" skier Lindsey Vonn appeared inside the magazine's swimsuit in several "hyper-sexualized positions" this time wearing only a bathing suit -- or less.
But all this exposure maybe wasn't so good for Vonn whose Olympic dream may be in doubt thanks to a shin injury.
Bad weather postponed her event so she may be able to recover in time to participate.

What Do You Give Me For? Jeremy Schaap and Rep. Anthony Weiner

What do you give me for ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap and New York Congressman Anthony Weiner?

Bob Knight Breaks Down the 2-3 Zone

The thing that got Bob Knight fired from Indiana is the same thing that makes him a great color analyst for college basketball games. In the words of Butch McRae’s mother, Bob Knight “don’t take no shit.”

Knight is no-nonsense. He’s not interested in making himself the show or selling books and coining catchphrases. He just wants to wear sweatshirts and talk about the game. And the way he breaks down the game is better than anyone else ESPN has.

Here’s Knight breaking down Syracuse’s 2-3 Zone:

Blogging is So Yesterday

It turns out blogs are for old people. Young kids don't have the patience for blogs, most of them can barely make it all the way through a 140-character tweet.
A new study has found that young people are losing interest in long-form blogging, as their communication habits have become increasingly brief, and mobile. Tech experts say it doesn't mean blogging is going away. Rather, it's gone the way of the telephone and e-mail -- still useful, just not sexy.
The study, released Wednesday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, found that 14 percent of Internet youths, ages 12 to 17, now say they blog, compared with just over a quarter who did so in 2006. And only about half in that age group say they comment on friends' blogs, down from three-quarters who did so four years ago.
Pew found a similar drop in blogging among 18- to 29-year-olds.
Overall, Pew estimates that roughly one in 10 online adults maintain a blog -- a number that has remained consistent since 2005, when blogs became a more mainstream activity. In the U.S., that would mean there are more than 30 million adults who blog.
The Pew study found, for instance, that the percentage of Internet users age 30 and older who maintain a blog increased from 7 percent in 2007 to 11 percent in 2009.
So why are young people less interested in blogging?
The explosion of social networking is one obvious answer. The Pew survey found that nearly three-quarters of 12- to 17-year-olds who have access to the Internet use social networking sites, such as Facebook. That compares with 55 percent four years ago.
More young people are also accessing the Internet from their mobile phones, only increasing the need for brevity. The survey found, for instance, that half of 18- to 29-year-olds had done so.