Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill's Shocking Admission

Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill admitted to not knowing something about football that a lot of fans can rattle off the top of their head.

Last night on HBO’s series, Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins, Tannehill told back up Dolphins QB Matt Moore that he doesn’t know what division each team is in.

"I'm so lost on the whole divisions," Tannehill said.  "I know our division and that's about it.”

Moore was shocked and asked Tannehill if he could name the four teams in the NFC north, even giving him a starting point with the Green Bay Packers.

“Green Bay, Minnesota…. the Giants,” Tannehill answered.

After a little chuckle Moore moved on to ask Tannehill if he can name the NFC east teams.
 

“NFC East… the Chiefs?” Tannehill asked.

Moore busted out in laughter and asked,  “How do you not know this?  It shocks me."

Tannehill explained that he wasn’t a big NFL fan as a kid growing up and never invested his interest in liking just one team, so he never got to know the divisions.  He said he does know most of the team's conferences.

Well, the Chiefs are in the AFC West, not the NFC East, so he still has some learning to do on which conference each team is in, let alone getting to know each team’s division.

At least Tannehill knows which teams he needs to be out in the Dolphins' division, so that can be seen as a good sign.

The Dolphins play their final pre season game tonight in Dallas against the Cowboys starting at 8:30pm ET.

Colts vs. Redskins; South Florida Rookies Steal Show

All eyes were on the #1 and #2 picks of the 2012 draft in Saturday's game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Redskins, but two other rookies scored the first touchdowns for each team.

The first quarter ended scoreless with the #2 pick, Robert Griffin III, leading the Redskins down the field.  The drive was capped off with a 2 yard touchdown run by rookie running back Alfred Morris, from Florida Atlantic University. 

The #1 pick, Andrew Luck, responded by leading the Colts to a score on a 31 yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, from Florida International University.

Morris, a sixth round draft pick, and Hilton, a third round draft pick, are no strangers.  Both played their college football in the Sun Belt Conference meeting each year in the Shula Bowl.

Morris finished the game with 107 yards on 14 carries and a TD and may have locked up a spot on the roster.  Hilton caught 4 passes for 54 yards and a TD and may receive playing time during the regular season based on his productive preseason play.

Washington came out on top over Indianapolis 30-17.

RGIII and Luck both had solid numbers.  Neither are expected to play again until week 1 of the regular season.

Washington's last preseason game is Wednesday night at 7pm ET against Tampa Bay.

The Colts last preseason game is Thursday night at 7pm ET against Cincinnati.

Chad Johnson Missing From Twitter

It's been an astonishing 19 hours since Chad Johnson last tweeted.  Something must have happened to him.  He rarely goes half an hour without a new tweet.

Well, something did happen.  He headbutted his wife during an argument and was arrested on a domestic violence charge.

It's going to be rough for Chad in a cell while he detoxes from tweeting.

I'm sure he'll relapse and be right back to tweeting once he gets bailed out today.

It will undoubtedly be an interesting tweet.  The next most interesting one will be when he tweets about getting cut from the Dolphins.

Pittsburgh Steelers George Zimmerman Connection

Tonight the Pittsburgh Steelers open up pre-season play against the Philadelphia Eagles.

For the Steelers sake, let's hope they have a better year than the guy sporting one of their jackets in this photo.

LeBron James is Jesus

LeBron James compiled the first ever triple double in Olympic basketball history in USA's blow out win over Australia yesterday.

His out of this world play is quickly turning him into a basketball God.

I work for a Florida Home Inspection company and going through some reports today I came across the proof that LeBron really is the chosen one.

World Peace Violence

Metta World Peace finally did it. He out Rodmanned Dennis Rodman. World Peace is now officially the craziest man to ever play in the NBA. 

When I first heard the news that Ron Artest legally changed his name to Metta World Peace in September of 2011 I immediately wondered how long it would take before his name change became sad irony.  Well, seven months later it happened.

World Peace will undoubtedly be suspended and it's possible he'll be banned from the league.

Remember, this is the same guy that went into the stands and fought Detroit Pistons fans back in 2004 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.  

If you get a second change to play in the league after being involved in the Malice at the Palace and still aren't grateful enough to restrain from elbowing a man in the head as hard as you can, than you don't deserve the privilege to make millions of dollars playing a game.

Hey, maybe he was sending a message with his vicious bow throw.  Maybe he was just symbolizing that world peace is not obtainable because violence even comes from World Peace.  Yea... I doubt it.

Born in Queensbridge projects in Queens, New York, the artist formally known as Ron Artest had a rough upbringing.  While that's never an excuse to elbow a man directly in the temple, it may explain a little about why he's so aggressive and let's face it... crazy.

This interview with Artest after a game in 2009 where he was ejected might explain a little where his aggression comes from as well.

Google Ads Is A Scam

Google has the opposite mentality of Robin Hood.  Google steals from the poor and gives to the rich.

In the middle of the night on March 19^th Google ransacked my blog, took down all of my Google AdSense advertisements, and pillaged all of my earnings while blocking my Google Ads account.  Google Adsense sent me an email saying they “determined that (my) AdSense account poses a risk of generating invalid activity.”

Un-coincidentally I’m sure... I was supposed to be getting my first ever check from Google Ads at the end of this month.  I finally reached my threshold to receive pay.

I’ve had this blog for nearly four years now and in the last couple months I started writing more, which generated more of a viewership.  Once I started writing again I noticed my Google Ads were missing from my blog, so I did some research and found out they were not showing because a pin number was sent to me that I never received.  Of course, Google never notified me of a pin number being sent to me or why my advertisements were removed.

I requested my pin, received it this time, and got my Google Ads back.  Readers of my blog noticed the advertisements, which related to the stories I write, and clicked on them.  My profits were doubling each month.

I read more into the possible reasons for why my account was blocked and wrote an appeal last night at 10pm.  Once I submitted the appeal a page popped up stating it would take about a week to hear back from Google about their decision.

In the Terms and Conditions it states that you are not allowed to generate clicks on the advertisement links by encouraging people to click on the links, which makes absolutely makes no sense.  As a friend of mine said, “If you opened a store and told your friends about it and they showed up and bought things that would be awesome.”  To me, it’s all a part of advertising.  No matter how those people get there, they got there.
 

I can understand a spam automatically generated system that send people directly to the site being a problem, but when people are literally clicking on an advertisement because it interests them then I don’t see the problem.

I did encourage people on Facebook a couple times to notice the new advertisement links, but never told anyone to click on them a bunch of times so I can earn more money.  If people did do this, I can’t control that, but Google sure seems to have the intelligence to figure out which clicks were valid or were invalid.

But just because they seem to have the intelligence doesn’t mean they do have the intelligence.  Remember to never assume.. you know how the saying goes.

Well, I received my appeal answer much earlier than I expected.  In fact, I received it at 12:45am this morning, not even three hours after I wrote the appeal!  That tells me I received a generated response and I never had a chance.  I mean really, who is working that diligently on my blog appeal between 10pm and 1am on a Sunday night/Monday morning east coast time?  I don’t care where you are in the world.

As I’m sure you can tell by how this blog has gone, my appeal was rejected.  I wanted to ask Google exactly why my request was denied even after my very detailed appeal explaining what my blog is about and what could have possibly happened, but of course an explanation from Google is not an option.

I called Google's contact number and spoke to a person who said she can't give me any information and that none of Google's products provide human customer services.  I asked for her name and she said, "Agent ID 3036."  I laughed and asked, "So they don't even let you give out your name?"  She chuckled and said, "No they don't."  No joke... this just happened to me a couple minutes ago.

So little old Edwin The Bear found a way to get a piece of Google’s pie and as soon as I was about to have my piece handed over, the Google AdSense Nazi said “No Check For You!”

So now, the advertisers that received views from my blog get their money back and benefit from the views I gave their websites.  I'll be contacting those advertisers in hopes to get them back on this blog, which includes Baseball Express, ITT Tech, NBA.com, and others.

Good one Google!   Congratulations on being the Sheriff of Nottinghnam!

Just to be clear, I will continue writing blogs and will use this Google blockage crap as motivation.

My own advertising business is coming soon…

Karma Hits Frank Haith and Missouri Like a Hurricane

In the Florida Gators NCAA Tournament basketball game tonight starting at 6:10 there's two things that will very noticeably be missing, the Missouri Tigers and their head coach Frank Haith.

Instead the #7 seed Gators will play the #15 seed Norfolk State Spartans, who upset the #2 seed Tigers in the first round of the West Region.  The upset feeling Missouri fans are enduring is nothing compared to the upset feelings Miami Hurricanes fans have towards their former head coach Frank Haith.

The NCAA is still investigating the Hurricanes for violations.  The most publicized investigations are on the football side at Miami, remember the whole "Death Penalty" thing ESPN was pushing, but there are clearly serious on going investigations with the basketball players receiving improper benefits during Frank Haith's tenure as well.

The Hurricanes are in this year's NIT Tournament and were one of the teams that were on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.  One or two more wins and Miami would be in the big dance.  And one or two of those wins could have easily happened if three Hurricanes players were on the court.

Senior forward DeQuan Jones missed the first ten games of the season due to suspension for the allegation that former UM booster and current felon Nevin Shapiro gave $10,000 to one of Haith's assistant coaches to recruit Jones.  Jones was originally going to sit out the entire season until one day before his appeal he was reinstated.  The 'Canes went 6-4 during that time span.  Frank Haith received no suspension. 

With the possibility of more suspensions looming, UM head coach Jim Larranaga did a masterful job keeping his players focused on the current season. The 'Canes won nearly every game they were supposed to win while also pulling out a couple they weren't supposed to win, including wins at Duke and at home against Florida State.

The Florida State game UM won is one of those many memorable moments that can be added to Larranaga's coaching resume.  Before the game started,  Junior center and Miami's leading re-bounder Reggie Johnson was suspended indefinitely due to his family receiving travel benefits from another member of Haith's staff at UM.  Johnson sat out one game.  Miami destroyed the Seminoles 78-62.  Frank Haith received no suspension. 

In the ACC Conference Tournament Miami played the 'Noles and looked to strengthen their bid to be in the NCAA Tournament with a win.  Before the game, Junior guard and Miami's leading scorer Durand Scott was suspended six games due to the NCAA finding he received impermissible travel benefits from an unnamed staff member of Haith's at UM.  Miami lost to FSU 82-71.  Scott averages 12.9 points a game.  Frank Haith received no suspension. 

After Missouri's loss to Norfolk State, Frank Haith won't be participating in important games he thought he'd be playing in, similar to what his former Miami Hurricanes players faced all season.

Karma hit Haith and Missouri like a hurricane.

Miami plays tomorrow hosting Minnesota starting at 9pm in the second round of the NIT.  UM defeated Valparaiso in the first round.

FAU Baseball Limping Into Conference Play

The FAU Owls baseball team (11-7) started off the season hot winning six of their first seven games, but since then cooled off drastically winning just five of their last eleven.

FAU went to Alabama and swept the Crimson tide in their three game series opener.  ESPN took notice, ranking FAU #15 in the nation in their power rankings at the time.

The Owls returned home winning three of a four game set against the Manhattan Jaspers, who were in the Gainesville regional of the College World Series last postseason.

Then FAU traveled to Miami losing 10-5.  FAU looks for revenge against the Hurricanes next Wednesday night, March 21, at FAU Baseball Stadium.

Princeton then traveled to town for a four game series and the Owls looked like they had a Hurricane hangover as they lost 11-4 in the opener.  Saturday was slated for a double header where FAU won the first game 9-1.  In that first game the Owls top player, senior right fielder Alex Hudak (the player's name I love announcing most), ran down a foul ball in the top of the ninth with the team up 9-1, slamming into the fence, flipping over it, and breaking his ankle.  FAU tied the series 2-2 with Princeton, but lost their leader for 4-6 weeks.

Next the Owls traveled to Gainseville to play the Florida Gators and were annihilated 16-1.  In the mean time they lost their number 2 hitter Robert Buckley to an injury for 4-6 weeks, found out Junior pitcher Jeremy Strawn was done for the season, and that last year's closer and this year's professional prospect Senior Hugh Adams is done for the season as well.

FAU bounced back to demolish Boston College at FAU Baseball Stadium 13-4 the night after their embarrassing loss to the Gators, but if they only knew what a wacky weekend they had in store coming up against the boys from New Jersey, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

FAU owned the Rutgers in their all time series 16-5 coming into it, but the Scarlet Knights ended up taking two of three from the Owls in Boca Raton, Florida.  The Owls lost their normal lead off man and starting center fielder Junior Nathan Pittman indefinitely due to a hamstring injury on a bunt for a base hit attempt during the weekend.  The weekend also included the Owls third baseman going 3-4 in a game while making three errors, a Rutgers player scoring with every base he reached being because of an error by the Owls third baseman, a 6-2-3 ground out for a Rutgers player on an overthrow from the Owls shortstop being backed up by the catcher who caught the Rutgers player turning for second at first base, and finally Rutgers catcher Jeff Melillo throwing a bat over his team's dugout while on deck, then losing his bat twice during a 15 pitch at bat before striking out with the bases loaded.  If anyone would have caught Melillo's bat toss while on deck it would have made Sportscenter's Not Top Ten plays for sure.  Melillo wore brand new batting gloves the next game.  Whew, what a weekend.

Finally there was tonight's game, where FAU defeated the Fordham Rams 8-5 and luckily had no injuries. Fordham still has their third basemen Brian Kownacki, who was on Sportscenter's Top Ten highlights two years ago because of his amazing front flip to score a run over an Iona catcher.  

Now the Owls are getting ready for the beginning of the games that matter.  Their conference schedule begins Friday night at 7pm with a trip a few miles down south to face their arch rival, the FIU Golden Panthers, in a three game series.

Miami Marlins Home Opener Last Night (With Photos)

The Miami Marlins played their home opening game at the new stadium last night, defeating the Miami Hurricanes in a split squad Spring Training contest 7-6.

The Marlins started pitcher Mark Buehrle, who threw three innings, allowing three runs all coming in the bottom of the third.

The Hurricanes started pitcher Andrew Suarez, who looked more impressive than Buehrle.  Through his first three innings he kept the Marlins scoreless and struck out UM alum Gabby Sanchez.  Suarez was drafted by the Blue Jays straight out of high school, but didn’t accept the offer, electing to play near his home town for the U instead.  Remember his name.

Hanley Ramirez homered to opposite field, but the big ugly home run piece of “art” out in left center isn’t working yet so no one had the privilege to witness the monstrosity in action.

Ramirez played well at third base and looked as happy as he’s ever been in a Marlins uniform.  I was a little worried in the beginning of the game when Buherle was getting ready to throw the first pitch and Hanley was still standing in the infield as shown below, but he eventually figured it out.

The ‘Canes stud catcher Peter O’Brien pulled a screamer that Ramirez fielded cleanly, along with multiple other put outs by the Marlins new third baseman.

Bad weather was in the area a couple hours before the first pitch was scheduled and the roof was closed for play.  That idea is already a win in the book for the Marlins.

Billy the Marlin was at the game and has a slightly altered look.  His fins are now multicolored just like the new Marlins colors.

As for Marlins every day starters there was John Buck at catcher, Hanley at third, Gabby Sanchez at first, and Logan Morrison in left field, who left the game with a strained arch.  Austin Kearns and Aaron Rowand rounded out the outfield.



It was nice how both teams implemented the Miami flavor based on their players.  Alexander Fernandez pitched for the 'Canes, son of former Marlins pitcher Alex Fernandez.  Elih Villanueva, a Miami native, pitched in relief for the Marlins.  And of course the fan favorite of the night Gabby Sanchez played.

My Personal Experience

The stadium looks like a huge UFO landed in the old city of Little Havana.  It looks out of place to say the least.

The drive down wasn’t fun either.  If you want no problems make sure you have a Sun Pass for the Express Lane on I-95 or you’ll be caught in bumper to bumper traffic every time there is a 7o'clock game during the weekdays.  We left at 5:15 and got down there at about 6:30 from Fort Lauderdale.  The ride home was much smoother only taking about 30 minutes.  Next time I’ll remember my Sun Pass for the drive down.

I sat in row 2 behind home plate, but be aware that row 2 doesn’t really mean row 2.  It’s really row 7.  There’s rows A, B, C, D, E, and 1 in front of you, not to mention the ground level seats that are  8 to 10 rows deep depending on which section you are in.

I went with my three month old son for his first ever ball game, and with my fiancé.  Of course we got on the big screen.  Cameramen love catching daddies dancing with their babies, especially when they’re wearing the new team colors.

All in all it made for a pretty nice experience, but be sure to remember what garage you parked in.  They are all identical and there were plenty of people confused as to which one they parked in… including me.

The Real Reason Mike Stanton Wants to be Called Giancarlo is Because of Me

You may have heard recently that the Miami Marlin's 22 year old slugging right fielder Mike Stanton now wants to be called Giancarlo Stanton.

He's been called Mike, which is part of his middle name Cruz-Michael, since he was a kid, but now he wants to go by his first name.

Giancarlo has yet to give a real reason for the sudden name change this season, but I know the true reason, and it's me.

Last season for the majority of Marlins games I attended I sat in the front row in right field with my fiance and a couple friends.  Of course the reason we sat there was to be as close to Stanton as possible.  He's like the Marlins' Babe Ruth.

Every inning Stanton ran out to right field my friends Sam Lay, Edmar Curiel, and I would scream, "Giancarlo, throw me a ball!"  He never tossed a ball our way, he'd always throw it to a kid, but he definitely remembers us yelling to him.

Throughout every inning Edmar would yell, "Giancarlo, be ready, it's coming your way, rob him!"

Oh yea, it's no coincidence that's why he wants to be called Giancarlo.  It may have a little to do with the new Latin coach and players they picked up this off season as well, but it's mainly because of us.

We'll be at the Marlins first ever game played in their new stadium tomorrow night.  They're playing a split squad against the Miami Hurricanes.

We won't be in right field, and Stanton won't be playing, but I'll get him to admit it sooner or later.  Stay tuned.

Remembering Kevin Love's Face Stomp of Luis Scola

Big man Kevin Love won the three point competition last night in part of this weekend's NBA All-Star festivities.

Love will be playing in the All-Star game tonight, as well.

Love normally seems like an easy going, easy to get along with kind of fella.  

But as Luis Scola knows, you don't want to piss this 6'10" 260lb. man off or he'll stomp your face in.

Here's the video remembering when Kevin showed no Love to Luis Scola's face earlier this season.

Jeremy Lin Bringing Back Racism

After the Knicks loss last night to the Heat Jeremy Lin won’t be bringing back home a win, but there is one thing he’s bringing back… racism.

Our old friend that’s been around as long as people have had different color skin is in the forefront all because of an Asian that can play some ball.

It all started when Fox Sports writer Jason Whitlock tweeted that “some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight,” after Lin’s impressive performance against the Lakers.

Actually that same night there was a fan that had a sign that said Lin is “The Yellow Mamba.”  A play off of Kobe Bryant’s nickname, “The Black Mamba.”  Both seem pretty racist to me.

Then came that stupid girl Angie with the video, I think she’s faking by the way, where she asks out Jerry Lin of the New York Giants and says she likes black guys.  Here’s the video.

Next was that coward Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s remark about how Lin’s only being glorified because he’s Asian and that blacks accomplish what he has all the time and don’t get the same praise.  Yea, because no one ever talks about how good LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are.  What a jack ass.  I sure wish he’d man up and step in the ring with Manny Pacquaio so he could get the ass whooping he so well deserves already.

And the grand finale, of course, is the play by play guy’s remark, and the ESPN headline, “Chink in the Armor,” after the Knicks first loss with Jeremy Lin starting.  By the way, while I do think it’s something that is more for radio or a comedy routine, it definitely did its job because everyone was talking about the story that otherwise would have barely received any views.

Comedian Jim Norton yesterday on Big 105.9FM’s the Paul and Young Ron Show said he can see where that headline would have offended some people.  It’s like if there was a really good black hockey player then after their first loss the stories headline read, “The jig is up.”  He’s at the Hard Rock Hollywood Hotel and Casino's Improv this weekend and has plenty more where that came from.

All in all, while the Jeremy Lin story is remarkable, the thing I like most is its bringing back the humor in racism.

Face it, racism will always be around.  We might as well laugh it off.  I just wish someone would give ESPN the memo to lighten up a little.

On an extra note, here’s some more recent racism from a top high school football recruit’s tweet.

FAU Baseball Returns to Boca Raton Tonight

Florida Atlantic University baseball is back in Boca Raton tonight.

The Owls play Manhattan with the first pitch set for 6:30pm.  

Tomorrow there's a double header with the first game slated for 1pm and the second for 5pm.  The final game of the four game series starts on Sunday at 1pm.

FAU went to Alabama last weekend and swept a three game series from the Crimson Tide with the scores being 5-2, 9-2. and 9-4.

The best PA Announcer in the world, me, will be back at it for my second season.

While I do have my own twist I can promise you the old school traditional FAU won't allow me to do the PA like Will Ferrell at the Chicago Bulls vs. New Orleans Hornets game. 

Hope to see you tonight.

Morning-After Pill Sold in Vending Machine

Obtaining a morning-after pill is now as easy as buying a soda.

Shippensberg University, located in Pennsylvania, is selling the Plan B pill in a vending machine located at the college’s student clinic.

In that same vending machine are condoms and pregnancy tests.

A spokesperson for the school says the decision to sell the pills came after a survey found that roughly 85% of the students supported the idea.

The school says it’s not trying to encourage student sexual activity.

Making the pill as available as a Coca-Cola sure isn’t discouraging student sexual activity, either.

Coins Cost More To Make Than They're Worth

The U.S. government is trillions of dollars in debt and there’s one solution that could help a little.

Currently it costs more money to make pennies and nickels than they are worth.

It costs 2.4 cents to make a penny and 11.2 cents to make a nickel, according to a CNN report.

Considering that 4.3 billion pennies and 914 million nickels were created in 2010, that adds up to over $200 million that could be saved without the rarely used coins.

Abe Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson won’t be upset with eliminating the coins, either.  They're already on paper bills, well, if we bring back the two dollar bill that is.

The U.S. treasury and government are looking into a cheaper way to create the coins, but have yet to find a solution.

Here’s an easy solution… stop making them.

Best Cardboard Sign At Basketball Game Ever

Alabama college basketball isn’t typically the most exciting thing to watch, but there's now a reason to tune in, at least when they’re playing at home.  

Freshman Jack Blankenship created a new twist to the cardboard sign meant to distract opponents.

Normally the sign will be of a celebrity, or of an opposing player, but Blankenship made a sign of his own face.

And what a face it is.  He and his friends have an inside joke going with this face and Blankenship decided to blow it up for Alabama basketball home games.

Blankenship is an aspiring comedian and plans to open a comedy club in Alabama.

His face has put him on the map and well on the way to his goal.

Tickets Handed Out For Vanity License Plate

Vanity license plates are commonly seen out on the road, but if you’re thinking about getting one you may want to do some research.

A Washington D.C. native, Danny White, constantly receives tickets for his vanity plate that says, “No-Tags.”

Whenever a car doesn’t have proper identification a DMV employee enters “No Tags” in Washington D.C., which prompts the system to give White’s vehicle a ticket.

According to White, this problem has caused him to receive over $20,000 in tickets.

White still refuses to change his plate even though each time he gets a ticket he has to take time off work to fight it in court.

That’s dedication to a joke, but if you don’t have that same dedication you’ll be paying to switch your vanity plate back to normal if you don’t do your research.

Alabama's Relentless Recruitng Efforts

Checking the mail box is a daily routine in everyone’s life.

Throwing out junk mail is just as routine.

Most mail is consistently junk from companies trying to sell new features, but no company is on the same radar of flooding a mail box as the University of Alabama.  

High school junior running back Alvin Kamara opened his mailbox and found 105 recruitment letters from Alabama.

Instead of tossing them in the trash like junk mail from Comcast wanting you to upgrade to Xfinity, Kamara is keeping every Alabama recruitment letter in a shoe box.

It’s no wonder Alabama is one of the best football teams in the country year in and year out.  When a kid receives that much paper from a college football team it makes him feel wanted.

Kamara, of Norcross High School in Georgia, is also being recruited by eight other schools, including Alabama’s in conference rival the University of Florida.

Kamara is visiting UF this weekend.

Here’s some tapes on the stand out four star recruit.

Olympic Swimmer Proposes to Girlfriend After Receiving Gold Medal

Here’s a Valentine’s Day special video.
 

Olympic swimmer Matt Grevers proposed to his girlfriend, fellow swimmer Annie Chandler, while on the stand after receiving a gold medal at the Missouri Grand Prix.

 Enjoy.

FAU Professor Started Whitney Houston's Career

Whitney Houston passed away over the weekend, as everyone knows, but here’s something most people don’t know.

 

Houston first started singing professionally at 15 years old in the Michael Zager Band.

 

Zager is currently a professor at Florida Atlantic University.

 

Houston’s first ever solo, “Life’s a party,” was performed while she was a part of the Michael Zager Band and is currently displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

 

While Zager enjoyed watching her rise to fame it hurt him to see Houston’s recent struggles.

 

Here’s Whitney at the top of her game singing the Star Spangled Banner before Super Bowl XXV in 1991. 

 

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Didn’t “Like” an “Awesome” Idea

Imagine on Facebook instead of clicking on a button for something you “like” you click on a button for something you think is “awesome.”

Facebook's Director of Engineering Andrew Bosworth that it was an “awesome” idea, but founder Mark Zuckerberg didn’t “like” it.  Read more about the decision here.

Instead of the "awesome" button being implemented it was the "like" button that hit Facebook in February 2009 after a couple years of testing and tinkering, according to Bosworth.

There’s controversy over the “like” button’s origin as rival FriendFeed’s website has a “like” feature as well.

No way Zuckerberg would ever steal an idea, right?

NBA All-Star Voting

Yesterday was the last day to vote for the NBA All Stars.

Voting consist of two guards, two forwards, and one center.

My picks for the Western Conference are Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, and Andrew Bynum.

Picking the guards for the West is a no brainer.  Kobe’s averaging over 30 points a game.  Brian Westbrook gets an honorable mention, but Paul’s all around numbers gives him the edge.

Of course Durant is on the ballot and probably keeps his team mate Westbrook’s stats down just a bit.  The other forward position is a toss up with  Love getting the nod with slightly better numbers than Blake Griffin with the reasoning basically being that Griffin plays with Paul.  It could be said that Griffin would put up more if he didn’t have Paul sharing the stats, but without his point guard who knows if he’d continue the same production.

There’s not much going on with the center position in either league and Bynum is the West’s clear cut favorite.

My picks for the Eastern Conference are Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwight Howard.

Picking the guards for the East is easier than expected.  With Wade being injured part of the year it gave way to a possibility of his spot being taken, but the only people close to Wade and Rose are Deron Williams and John Wall.


When you consider that Williams and Wall play with basically no other superstars and still have worse numbers than Wade then you can’t give them the starting nod.

Of course James is a starter and considering his production being shared with Wade and Bosh makes each of their production that much more impressive.  Staying with the theme, Bosh put up better numbers than Carmello Anthony, Amar’e Stodimire, and every other forward in the East even while playing with Wade and James.

Again, the weakest position in the league is center and Dwight Howard clearly is the only worthy candidate for the Eastern Conference.

Playing with a superstar helps better your game, but when you are a superstar yourself it cuts into your own numbers.  It’s the sacrifice you take to win championships compared to winning statistical categories. 

When you can play with other superstars and still put up the best numbers in the league that’s what makes you an All-Star.

Brian Westbrook and Blake Griffin get the snubs on my list of starters because their co-superstar produces just enough to keep them from having the top numbers at their respective position.

In Griffin’s honor, here’s his most recent spectacular dunk where he facializes Westbrook’s team mate Kendrick Perkins.

This Weekend's Funny Sports Moments

There's three funny sports moments from this past weekend that caught my attention that I'll bring to your attention in case you missed them.

Let's start first with what some will consider hilarious with others finding it completely obnoxious.

UFC fighter Chael Sonnen won unanimous decision over Michael Bisping Saturday night.  Here's Joe Rogan's post fight interview with the always entertaining Sonnen.  The interview starts 1:38 into the video.



Another moment came from the Dan Patrick show when he interviewed Howie Long on Friday.  Dan asked Howie how it was to work with Terry Bradshaw.  Howie told a story that Terry told to the NFLon Fox Pregame crew.

Bradshaw said he was down because of his dog.  He said they were outside and Terry was working on his car.  Bradshaw had a bucked filled with gas.  He walked away, came back, and his dog drank the whole bucket.  His dog ran around and around the whole yard then finally collapsed.

Dan said to Howie, "The dog died."  Howie said, "No, he ran out of gas."

Funny man Bradshaw.

Last, and certainly not least, I'll leave you with something everyone but Chicago Bulls guard John Lucas finds funny.  Even Lucas will find this amazing like the rest of us.

Of course it's LeBron James alley-oop dunk over Lucas' head on Sunday. 



After the game LeBron said he didn't even know Lucas was there.  Honestly, he said that.

Early Funny Super Bowl Advertisement

Here’s an early funny Super Bowl advertisement that can be caught on television now.

It’s a Papa John’s commercial featuring Jerome Bettis, Peyton Manning, and the Papa himself, John Schnatter.

Manning plays a referee about to perform the coin toss.

Bettis is surprised to see Manning as the referee who jokes saying, "Hey, a man's got to work."  Peyton was injured this entire past season (just in case there's anyone in the world that didn't know).

Bettis calls tails, but Manning says he calls heads, something that really happened to Bettis when he called the infamous overtime coin flip for the Steelers on Thanksgiving Day against the Lions where the referee, Phil Luckett, heard the call incorrectly.

The funniest part is at the end.  Notice how excited the Papa is to be in between Jerome and Peyton when they each say Papa John’s Slogan, “Better Ingredients.  Better Pizza.  Papa John’s," and then drinks his Pepsi.

The Papa performs a classic spas’ out maneuver.

Funny On Air Banter Between Mark Cuban and Local Miami Radio Show Host

Today it was Paul Castronovo’s birthday of Big 105.9’s Paul and Young Ron Show.

 

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called Paul to wish him a happy birthday during the show this morning and asked him what he’ll do to “tear it up.”

 

Paul said he’ll be celebrating Saturday because of his show going on air starting at 6am during the weekdays.  On Saturday he’ll be betting on pony’s, having a dinner with a chef cooking for buddies, then catching the Jimmy Buffet concert that night at the American Airlines Arena, somewhere Cuban knows about.

 

Cuban said, “Yea, last time I was down there I had a big party.” 

 

Of course he was referring to his Mavericks beating the Miami Heat in the finals at the Triple A last season.

 

Later in the interview Paul got him back for Miami fans asking Cuban, “How was your Christmas?” 

 

The Heat defeated the Mavericks this past Christmas Day.

Ed Hochuli Long Winded Explanations

NFL referee Ed Hochuli sure loves explaining the rules of football.

Listen to him explain the rules of overtime for the playoffs during last night’s NFC Championship game.

He had two other long explanations during the game.  One was the Vernon Davis touchdown and the other was when the ball hit off the 49ers return man’s knee.

Today Jim Rome talked about Hochuli’s explanations and read a funny email around 2:20pm eastern time.

It read, “We don’t think Ed Hochuli was long winded at all.  He got right to the point.  Regards, Women.”

If Ed can drag out an NFL ruling this much, just imagine what his wife can do when she talks about her day.

Ed has plenty of long penalty and rule explanations that can be viewed on You Tube with multiple blunders.

I leave you with part of a Hochuli instant classic, last night’s “uncontroverted” Veron Davis touchdown review.

Bobby Bowden vs. Howard Schnellenberger in the Battle of Florida Tomorrow Night at FAU

Tomorrow at FAU’s new on campus football stadium is the inaugural Battle of Florida, North vs. South College All-Star Game.

The game features legendary coaches Bobby Bowden, coaching the north, and Howard Schnellenberger, coaching the South.

Schnellenger leads the all time coaching series 3-2-1 over Bowden.

The rosters consist of players that are NFL draft eligible and were either born in Florida, played high school football in Florida, and/or played college football in the state of Florida.

Tickets range from $12.50 - $50. 

The game airs live at 8pm eastern tomorrow night on Fox College Sports with Kenny Albert doing play by play,  Gino Torretta doing color, and Sid Rosenberg on the sideline reporting.

Michael Irvin Speaks About LaDainian Tomlinson's Comments

LaDainian Tomlinson didn’t hold anything back when interviewed on Showtime’s Inside the NFL.

He was asked about the controversies surrounding the New York Jets this season.

“It's as bad as I’ve ever been around,” Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson added that he wishes head coach Rex Ryan wouldn’t make such bold predictions and he defended the work habits of Mark Sanchez.

Michael Irvin weighed in on Tomlinson’s comments during his radio show at about 11 this morning.

Irvin said it’s never good to bad mouth your former employer about your relationship.  The next person that considers employing you will remember your comments.  They will be hesitant to hire you based on the fact you may bad mouth their organization once you two part ways.

It’s just like what happened with Tiki Barber.  Tiki can’t get a job in football or on television, Irvin added.
 

Irvin’s radio show co-host "Captain" Curtis Stevenson said, “It’s a good life lesson.”

And it’s a lesson Tomlinson may learn the hard way.  There's a chance that LT's mouth just cost him a chance at signing with an NFL team as a free agent this off season and a chance at signing a contract with a television network once he retires.