If You Don't Expect Too Much From Me, You Might Not Be Let Down

The first time Dwight Gooden let me down I was 8 years old. He missed the 1986 World Series victory parade and subsequently got suspended for the first two months of the 1987 season.
30 years later, he's still a disappointment.

I signed Chase up for a pitching clinic with Dwight Gooden. It was supposed to be one hour of instruction, and one hour of meet and greet.

Gooden never showed up. We got a refund and since we were there anyway, their instructors worked with the kids, so Chase got some free pitching lessons.

And he also got a life lesson, if you don't expect too much from people, you might not be let down.

Crack is Wack

The news shouldn't have come as a surprise but to many it did. Whitney Houston dead at the age of 48. An autopsy has yet to confirm it, but Houston may have drowned in the bathtub due to a combination of drugs and alcohol she had taken. For years Houston abused her body with drugs and it finally caught up to her.



While I feel badly for Whitney Houston, all that talent, all that money and unable to find happiness, I'm not saddened by her death. And I certainly don't consider it tragic. Her own horrible choices led her to this.

But unlike Michael Jackson, Houston hurt no one but herself, so it is a little less unseemly to celebrate her talents while mourning her passing.

Here is Houston at her best, in 1991 at the Super Bowl, singing the National Anthem:



And of course, we can always thank Houston for being the inspiration for this bit of classic comedy, from Randy Watson:

DMX Has Seen Better Days

The recent legal troubles of rapper DMX:
On May 6 DMX was arrested for a January traffic incident.
He was photographed by stationary traffic cameras on the Loop 101 freeway in Scottsdale, Arizona. The cameras caught DMX driving a bright yellow 1966 Chevy Nova II — with a large "DMX" decal on the windshield (way to be inconspicuous) — well over the posted 65 mph speed limit.
Simmons was photographed driving 100 mph, and then, one minute later, another camera caught him driving 114 mph. Less than three minutes later, DMX was caught on camera again, this time driving 101 mph.



Three days later he was arrested again after police searched his house as part of an animal abuse investigation that started last year. When a SWAT team came to search his house he hid in a bedroom. During the search they found weapons, drugs and five pit bull puppies, which were taken to a nearby prison where female inmates will look after them.



And on Friday, the Mayo Clinic in Arizona said DMX checked in under a fake name (Troy Jones) in order to evade payment. DMX was complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath and was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Nothing Worse Than Wasted Talent

Dwight Gooden elected to accept a one year and one day prison sentence instead of reinstatement of his probation for his latest violation -- using cocaine. Gooden admitted to having a problem with cocaine and obviously does not believe he can stay clean on the outside. Had he elected for probation, another slip would have cost him at least 5 years behind bars.

There's Nothing Worse Than Wasted Talent

Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and Mike Tyson, a picture from better days.

Huge Disappointment

It's been about 5 years that Bill, Mike and I have been following the career of a brash, young, black, Jewish boxer out of Brooklyn, Zab Judah. We saw him get the crap knocked out of him by Kostya Tszyu and then attack the referee for stopping the fight. Now he lost to some guy named Carlos Baldomir in a unanimous decision. Judah of course thinks he deserved to win, but this loss will cost him a scheduled fight against Floyd Mayweather. Nothing worse than wasted talent.

The Sad Story of Maurice Clarett

Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett is accused of robbing two people in an alley behind the Opium Lounge (a spot frequented by Daren Lynch) in Columbus, Ohio.
One alleged victim, Lucas Nyarko, said they were approached by a man dressed in black, who told them he needed something. Nyarko said the man pulled up his shirt and showed them a gun tucked in his pants. The man moved the gun to the front of his waistband and told them to empty their pockets.
Nyarko said after he handed the man his cell phone, a woman came out of the nightclub and yelled, ``Maurice!'' in greeting to the man, who hugged her. He then carried the woman, who police said was bar owner Tashona Corvi, toward the SUV, put her down and got in the vehicle.
He got away with only a cell phone.
Clarett was once a top running back and as a freshman led Ohio State a national title. Since then his life has gone straight into the toilet. He tried to turn pro and lost his eligibility. He made accusations about Ohio State's program. He got really fat and really slow. He blew a chance to make the Broncos over the summer. But reportedly he was going to get another shot with an NFL team as soon as today. A team could have signed him today and sent him to NFL Europe. But that won't happen now.
There's nothing in the world worse than wasted talent.

Calogero in Trouble

Crazy story in the New York Post:
Lillo Brancato, who played C in the Bronx Tale and got shot in The Sopranos, played a role in a cop killing this weekend. Brancato and a friend were at a Bronx Strip Club. They broke into an abandoned apartment trying to score some Valium. They broke the window but the fat guy couldn't go in, so C had to. He found no drugs.
I'll let the post tell the rest:
The pair of would-be burglars were walking away when they were confronted by Officer Daniel Enchautegui, 28, who lived next door. Armento pulled out his father's old .357-magnum revolver and fired two shots, striking the officer in the spleen, authorities said.
Enchautegui fired back and hit Armento several times, including once in the penis. Brancato was hit twice in the chest. Both were in stable condition yesterday.