“When you can’t dunk anymore you’ve got to find some way to make it to the news,” said Spurs G Manu Ginobili after nearly killing an AT&T Center bat with his bare hands this past Saturday night. As you might’ve guessed, PETA’s Amanda Schinke found the incident a tad less hilarious than most of the sporting blogosphere.
To bludgeon a 4-ounce animal to death, it takes either a small man or a totally unthinking one—with no respect or consideration for lives humbler than his own. This is a time when athletes in particular need to be on their best behavior around any animal and show that they have brains and a heart, not just reactionary brawn.
Bats always try to avoid contact with humans, and there are plenty of easy ways to keep bats out of a basketball arena (or your home). We hope that the next time someone’s life is on the line, Manu Ginobili will take just a few seconds to think before he acts.
I was stuck in the long walk-up line for tickets last night as the Dallas Stars visited their AHL farmhands in Cedar Park, providing me with my first glimspe of the incredibly generic Cedar Park Center. As such, I cannot comment with authority on what sort of pregame video presentation the hosts came up with, and despite the having access to so many of Tom Hicks’ resources, I am going to guess their efforts weren’t nearly as impressive as this two year old clip from an Anchorage collegiate program.
Top that, Ted Baxter. It’s been said that local news programs cannot possibly compete with the the internet, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc. And that’s usually correct, but in this instance, Ernie’s accomplished the near impossible — he might actually cause a few dozen more persons to watch Fox’s NYC affiliate’s evening newscast, just on the off-case Anastos might once again say the first thing that popped into his head.
9News.com and The Denver Post reported earlier today that Thunder I, longtime Broncos mascot, passed away this weekend at the Littleton Large Animal Clinic. There’s a particular scene in Albert Brooks’ “Real Life” that comes to mind, and I certainly hope Pat Bowlen wasn’t told they’d “lost” Thunder I.
Thunder, known as Thunder, Sr., retired after the 2003 football season, according to Denver Broncos.com.
He was an Arabian stallion and served for 10 seasons until he turned 21. That means he was 27 years old when he died.
Thunder, Sr. was owned by Sharon Magness-Blake and made his debut for the Broncos at Mile High Stadium on Sept. 12, 1993 for the Broncos’ victory over the San Diego Chargers. He appeared at both Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII.
A Fox/AP report claims a Florida high school baseball coach was suspended after attempting to inspire his young charges through the slaughter of a defenseless snake.
Palm Harbor University High School second baseman Zach Sobel says Jeremy Albrecht told the team last week that they were “snake-bitten” and needed to stop their losing streak.
So, Sobel says, the team bought and killed a snake, then buried it on the field during the school’s spring break.
The coach wasn’t present.
The above report doesn’t mention if killing the snake was an effective means of ending the streak, but if the Yankees can’t beat Alfredo Simon today, Joe Girardi might want to consider it.
Monta Ellis wishes he’d thought of this story, as provided by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s Paul Hoynes.
OF David Dellucci, who will miss at least the first three games of the Cactus League season, told reporters Saturday morning that he suffered a cut left thumb when an alligator bit him while he was saving a boy while fishing near his home in Baton Rouge, La.He hooked two of the three reporters gathered around him hook, line and sinker before coming clean.
Dellucci said he smashed his thumb while trying to close the tailgate of his trailer on Feb. 1. He called the Indians with news about the mishap right after it happened and reported to camp early to get it checked out.
As reported in an earlier post, Dellucci needed three stitches to close the cut. Then he needed surgery on the thumb to reclose the cut properly and reattach the nail to the nail bed.
Dellucci told reporters he wrestled with the alligator to free the boy, but “the gator got me on the thumb.”
After telling the truth, Dellucci laughed and said, “There are about 10 or 15 guys in this clubhouse who still think that story is true.”
Darkhorse rookie Jonathan Squibb bested the likes of Glutieus Maximus, Obi Wing, Da Disposal, Frank Da Fraud and Hank the Tank to win this years “locals only” Wing Bowl yesterday at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA – Jonathan Squibb, a skinny 23-year-old from Winslow Township, N.J., is the new Wing Bowl champion.
Super Squibb, as he is known, tore through 203 wings – 23 more than second place finisher Not Rich and 50 more than third place eaters Hank the Tank and Da Disposal – while chomping his way to glory and a brand new Mini Cooper automobile.
Going into the competition, the Rutgers University and Winslow Township High School graduate was ranked with 9 to 1 odds by 610 WIP talker Al Morganti, who created Wing Bowl at the sports talk station 17 years ago as a diversion for sports fans mired in a pro sports championship drought.
“Nobody believed in me but my family, but I knew I could do it,” said Squibb, who is “in career transition.”
He planned to celebrate tonight with family and friends. What was his secret?
“It’s more up here than down here,” he explained, pointing first to his brain, then his stomach.
A number of federal perjury charges against Barry Bonds were dropped yesterday, but who really cares about the Sultan’s legal machinations compared to his success pitting his wits against defenseless animals vicious wildlife? From Christensen Arms.com (link culled from MetsBlog) :
I just got back from Canada with John Mogle and I can’t tell you how pleased I am with my Christensen Arms 300 Ultra Mag. I had taken it out previously on a hunt and couldn’t believe how light it was. But what’s really impressed me the most is for a 300 Ultra Mag there is so little recoil. With this super wide whitetail closing in, the only thing I had to worry about was putting the crosshairs on the front shoulder, and the rifle would do the rest. One blast is all it took and I left Canada with an amazing whitetail that scored 193.
I just wanted to tell everyone at Christensen Arms thanks for building such a tremendous rifle.
Keep up the great work and God bless,
Barry Bonds
California
For the second Olympiad in a row, Zara Phillips is unable to take part because of an injury to her horse, Toytown. But this is nothing compared to the evastation of Stephen Hendry’s career when his cue was broken on a flight back from Thailand in 2003. Phillips’ horse will get better, Hendry’s cue did not. He won seven world championships with that cue; with other sticks in his hand, he has won none.
So I think he’s best placed to comprehend the heartbreak of a great sporting partnership sundered by mishap. Hendry bought his cue for just £40 at the age of 14 – and, for 20 years, the pair of them bestrode the snooker world like a spotty colossus with a massive rod. Phillips and Toytown similarly are a world-class team, winning gold at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games. But on different horses, she’s won very little. One wonders what great things Toytown could have achieved with that cue.
Unfortunately, by London 2012, Toytown will probably be too old to compete. His Olympic dream is over and Zara Phillips said of this in June: “It’s absolutely gutting and heartbreaking … for him, who – he should be going to the Olympics … and he can’t get to go whereas hopefully I’ll get to go again but … I wouldn’t want to go this year on anyone else but him anyway.” That’s terribly sweet although, to be honest, I think she could have gone and just not told him. I don’t think he would have found out. And anyway, what’s he going to say? Personally I think it’s OK to eat animals so I don’t have any problem at all with the idea of lying to them. I don’t think we owe them the truth – I’m not sure they could handle it.
While the Phillies’ 8-2 loss to Atlanta last night coupled with Mike Pelfrey’s steller performance against the Cards dropped Philadelphia to 2 games behind the Mets in the NL East, there’s a much bigger picture to consider this morning. All-Star 2B Chase Utley’s received praise from a local monthly for his efforts on behalf of needy kitty-cats, an initiative that not affords him considerable praise and respect from this corner (ie. there’s about 28 cats living in a house behind mine that would surely love the run of the Utley Estate), but I’m doubly impressed the Philly superstar would dare risk ridicule from persons who think owning a cat is like OD’ing on Depo-Provera.
Though I’m no hurry to see F-Mart become his era’s position-player answer to Scott Kazmir, Giles wouldn’t be nearly as useless playing right field for the Mets as Evan Roberts made it seem this morning on WFAN. Giles’ HR totals have decreased considerably over the past few years, which Roberts sneeringly implied had something to do with PED’s. Without knowing anything for certain about Giles’ chemical intake, he’s also been toiling for the past 5 seasons at Petco Park, the place where pets fly balls go to die.
J-Roll had the best vantage point in the house for all but one at bat of the Phillies’ 3-1 loss to the Mets Thursday afternoon. It was fascinating to hear ESPN’s resident baseball expert Stephen A. Smith hail Jimmy Rollins yesterday as someone who “does what he says he’s going to do”, while his Mets counterpart, Jose Reyes, “is a shell of his former self”.
Said shell hit a game winning 3 run HR last night, while scoring the first run of Wednesday’s matinee after walking and stealing second in the third inning. Reyes also leads Rollins in every important offensive category save for doubles this season. At what point will commentators have to acknowledge that not only has Reyes successfully rebounded from a poor second half of the ‘07 season, but for the 2nd time in 3 years he’s a legit MVP candidate?
If the events of two nights ago generated a near-suicidal overreaction from this corner, the most recent pair of Mets wins over Phillies revealed the former to have exactly the sort of poise I doubted they’d summon. Virtually every discussion about the infuriatingly erratic Oliver Perez has to include the disclaimer, “he’s occasionally lights-out brilliant”. Today was one of such occasions, and Perez (12 K’s, 7.2 IP, 1 solo bomb allowed to Jayson Werth) resembled a bona-fide No. 1 starter rather than the strike-zone phobic enigma who seems to take the mound every other start.
Perez wasn’t alone on the redemption front ; Carlos Delgado, nothing short of a pariah in May, once again came thru with a game changing blow, the first baseman’s opposite field, 2-RBI double off J.C. Romero breaking a 1-1 deadlock in the last of the 8th. Delgado was 2-for-17 entering today’s game against Romero, but as Gary Cohen was quick to cite, “that was a different Carlos Delgado”. Likewise, Aaron Heilman, possibly the most widely despised Notre Dame alumnus this side of Mike Golic, induced Met-killer Werth to fly out to Beltran with the bases loaded in the top of the 8th.
How tremendous was 79 year old Jamie Moyer (7 IP, 2 hits, 3 walks, 1 run, 6 K’s)? Even Johan Santana wants to criticize Moyer’s teammates for the lack of run support. In all seriousness, you’d have to go back to some of the Mets’ epic NL East battles with the Cards (’85, ‘87) and Pittsburgh (’90) to recall regular season games at Shea that seemingly had so much at stake. Neither team is likely to go totally into the tank between now and October, nor are the Marlins, so let’s hear for it for what oughta be an awesome final two months.
On an entirely different tip, if Wilpon TV’s talking heads wanna champion the joys of raising kitty-cats, more fucking power to ‘em. “Time to man up and get a dog”, Mr. Mottram? Hey, if we’re gonna be all size queen about it, how about really confirming your manhood by getting two dogs?
I live with a pair of dogs, two cats and assorted other dangerous critters (one of whom runs a hosting company). Ron and Keith are guilty of many aesthetic crimes, but owning felines isn’t one of them. Let’s stamp out pussyphobia in our lifetime.
Hey, Everybody! It’s been a while since your jerkface editor —- a man so disliked, this blog’s Ballhype ranking will soon be higher than Barry Zito’s jersey number —- allowed me to bring my wit and wisdom to CSTB. And I sincerely wish he wouldn’t bother! While the rest of you are watching “Around The Horn” and pondering another night ALONE, I’m producing future generations of champions. I’m like the Marv Marinovich of horses.
But I digress. I was all set to provide my Belmost Stakes predictions when someone provided me with a clip of WFAN’s Chris Russo talking trash about my boy, Big Brown. I’d like to know, where does this mental midget get off questioning the smarts of a superior athlete who’s just one race away from the Triple Crown, merely because he’s a horse?
WFAN’s website provides no information regarding Russo’s SAT or Wonderlic scores, and curiously his years at Oxford are totally ignored in his biography. But if the station employed a host that mocked Jews, Women, African-Americans, Diet Coke-addicted Fatso’s or Southside Johnny by challenging the intellectual capacities of any of the above, advertisers would be very quick to leave a sinking ship. Clearly, WFAN management has learned nothing from their previous mistakes. It’s a very short gallop from “nappy headed ho’s” to “carrot-eaters” and I’m appalled that no one else covering this nonsense —- Mushnick, Best, Raissman, I’m calling you guys out — found this worthy of critique.
Fenway Park’s in-house red-tailed hawk, which had a run-in with a young fan last week and received a standing ovation on Opening Day, has been named the official mascot of the Lowell Spinners’ Yankees Elimination Program.
In the wild hawk’s honor, the Spinners, the Sox’ Class A affiliate, are bringing a red-tailed hawk from naturalist Jonathan Wood and his Raptor Project to the Spinners’ Aug. 4 game.
“The red-tailed hawk has created quite a name for itself. . .at Fenway Park,” said Tim Bawmann, vice president and general manager of the Spinners, which has convinced 75 youth baseball teams in 50 New England communities since 2006 to change their names from Yankees.
“The fans have accepted the hawk as part of Red Sox Nation,” Bawmann said. “I would not recommend Yankee fans wear Yankees apparel that night.”
While I’ll still maintain the Spinners have nothing on the Brockton Rox when it comes to creative promotions, presumably the organization took some pride Thursday evening in rehab alumnus Keith Foulke (still shown on the front page of the Spinners’ website) earning his first save since 2005 in Oakland’s 3-2, 12 inning win at Toronto. After starting the season 0-22, A’s right-fielder Travis Buck has been on a tear, going 7 for his next 16 including driving in a pair of runs with a double in the top of the 12th off Brandon League.
As reported by George Castle of the Indiana Munster Times, not only did Ward’s comment not start a clubhouse brawl, it passed as serious analysis of the Cubs’ 3-2 win over the Astros Sunday at Wrigley. The win contained two other noteworthy events. The first: Soriano broke out of an opening week slump with a home run and a perfect toss-out of Astro Michael Bourn from field to plate. The second item of note: for the first time in years I saw Kerry Wood in a Cub uniform without Hatin’, as he pitched a perfect 9th and recorded his third save. For both my sake and Wood’s, the Cubs have decided to rest him tomorrow. A perfect Wood inning took a lot out of both of us.
Still, Daryle Ward wasn’t kidding about Zambrano, whose W came on the heels of a 15 banana spree after leaving Opening Day with forearm cramps. Zambrano took two cures to heart on Sunday, listening to pitching coach Larry Rothschild on strikes and adopting the dietary skills of Japanese hot dog eating champ Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi (or David Wells) by downing a bushel of bananas leading up to Sunday’s game – here summed up by Mike Nadel of The Springfield Journal-Register: “Fifteen,” [Zambrano] said. “At least 15.”
A series of tests convinced doctors that the Cubs’ talented right-hander tended to cramp up partly because his diet lacked potassium.
“I feel like a monkey now,” Zambrano said. “Sometimes I feel full. Too much banana.”
He got to 15 even without having eaten any Sunday, when he took a banana break and pitched the Cubs to a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros …
Mostly, though, Zambrano helped himself by eliminating the two things that have caused him the most trouble over the years: walks and cramps.
It was just the sixth time in 182 career starts he avoided any walks. Having issued only one free pass in the opener — a game the Cubs lost despite getting 6 2/3 shutout innings from Zambrano — he has his lowest two-start walk total as a big-leaguer. His 1.32 ERA also is significant because he traditionally struggles in the season’s first month.
“I’m (pretending) this is June,” Zambrano said. “I am throwing the ball where I want, using all my pitches. Like my coach told me in spring training: ‘Get the first pitch in for a strike and that will be the key for you all year long.’”
See? For those who say Larry Rothschild doesn’t know what he’s doing, he invented the saying: Strikes are good.
Zambrano had to leave the opener because of forearm cramps. Nothing new there. He’s been making early exits because of cramps for much of his career.
The Palm Beach Post’s Jose Lambiet reports there’s a member of the Florida Marlins pitching staff who has accomplished the near impossible (ie. making Scott Olsen and David Samson look sensible by comparison) :
“We want the Marlins to make him agree to stop,” said the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition’s co-chair, attorney Barry Silver.
On Saturday, he sent a strongly worded letter to Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. “They have 10 days from Monday to reprimand the player for behavior that isn’t one of a role model. If they don’t, we will be persistent. We’ll infiltrate the fans and pull out signs. We’ll picket. If we’re willing to have 27 people arrested, it’s obvious we’re committed.”
In a Feb. 21 interview with The Palm Beach Post, Kensing talked about his hobby in these terms: “The pilot’s pretty good. He gets right next to them. We spot them, he flies in sideways, glides and we shoot them.”
As a matter of fact, Kensing thinks it’s so much fun that he now wants his own chopper.
An outraged Dan Liftman, a green-minded aide to U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, took the clipping to the monthly meeting of Silver’s crew.“I thought it was pretty sick,” said Liftman, who took part in the FPL protest but wasn’t arrested. “That’s his fun? Shooting animals from a helicopter? I think that’s a little crazy.”
Said Silver: “When killing becomes mechanized, it’s all too easy. Scientific literature makes it clear that when someone engages in violence against animals, that person is more likely to commit violence against people.”
When asked for a recap, Kensing seemed anything but apologetic.
“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “They can come at me if they want to.
“We make money off our land. Those pigs destroy everything. Each litter, which happens three times a year, is gonna have 12 pigs, and 60 percent are females.”
This isn’t totally bad news for Loria — another two dozen tickets sold to protesters could well double paid attendance at an April home game.
Because I’d rather not gross anyone out this Monday morning, I’ll spare you the details of what happened the time I left Johan Kugelberg in charge of my apartment. However, I can say that after reading about what happened when Kiki Vandeweghe (above) and wife Peggy hired a pair of CSU students to watch his home and animals, Johan is no longer the Worst Pet Sitter In The World. From the Denver Post’s William Porter (link swiped from True Hoop) :
What all parties agree on is that Kiki and Peggy Vandeweghe hired twins Amy and Jenny Eskola to house sit their Cheesman Park manse.
Keeping Jenny company was the Vandeweghes’ schnauzer, Meister, and the bird, a variety of parrot called a conure. The birds are renowned for their beauty and sociability, although these virtues were apparently lost on the dog.
So it was curtains for Sweet Cheeks.
“It was horrible,” Jenny told me. “The cage was broken beforehand and the door was fastened with a twist-tie, and the bird somehow undid the tie.”
The conure enjoyed its brief freedom. Then the dog decided it was supper time.
“Meister bolted out of the room,” Jenny said. “I went in and there were little feathers all over the place.”
The Vandeweghes have refused to pay the young women for their housesitting. The sisters say they’re owed about $700, which is the $50-a-day fee they had earned up until the fur flew. So it’s off to small-claims court.
“I don’t know if we’re ever going to see anything, but it’s a shame,” mother Debbie Eskola said. “The girls have to earn their spending money so it’s a big deal for them. For Peggy Vandeweghe, it’s a pair of shoes.”
“These days, with steroid scandals clouding many top sports, doubts waft like sawdust in the bull arena too,” writes the LA Times’ Dee Dee Correll, “and Big Bucks (above, left) finds himself facing a question about what makes him a winner.” It seems one of the Professional Bull Riders Tour’s most fearsome beasts is going to submit to drug testing. And all this time, I just figured B.B. had an intense workout regiment.
Big Bucks, a past world champion, is a celebrity in his universe. His owners say he’s steroid-free and they don’t mind that he’s been the first to undergo testing — they just don’t want him to be unfairly singled out.
Testing for steroids is becoming more common in horse racing, but it’s virtually unheard of in the rodeo world.
Neither the International Professional Rodeo Assn. nor the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn. tests animals, and their officials said they hadn’t heard of anyone else taking the PBR’s approach.
It’s a decision that will prompt some internal discussions, said Cindy Schonholtz, animal welfare coordinator for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn. in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Despite their pursuit of testing, PBR officials say they don’t expect to find many, if any, problems. Steroids might not have been uncommon about a decade ago, they think, but usage probably tapered off as owners realized the downside: sterility that rendered the bulls useless as breeders.
“I just don’t think there’s a lot of abuse out there,” said Texas veterinarian Gary Warner, who works closely with PBR and helped develop a bull steroid test.
Though steroids could make a bull more aggressive — possibly desirable in the arena — they probably don’t make him bigger, Warner said, primarily because once the steroid is injected, the bull can’t be forced to work out to build muscle.
Even if the bull did bulk up, that’s not an advantage in the ring, Warner said. “These guys have to express athleticism more like a dancer. They’re graded on how high they kick, how tight a circle they move in.”
But good performers sometimes face accusations, he said. “That’s where rumor mills get started, and management gets caught in the middle,” Warner said. “I know those cowboys, and they’re awful good folks. But who’s to know? My hat’s off to PBR. It will solve the problem of everyone pointing the finger.”
As far as Texas bull owner Jerry Nelson is concerned, steroid use is “still an issue.”
“You can tell by looking at some of those bulls and their sizes. It’s just like human beings. You can tell who’s on it and who ain’t,” he said.
While currently out-of-work utility dude Shea Hillenbrand has been portrayed as a loose cannon / clubhouse cancer on numerous occasions, the LA Times’ Kevin Baxter shows the softer side of the man who once called Theo Epstein a fag (link culled from Baseball Think Factory).
The Hillenbrands collect animals the way other couples collect fine art. Between the farm and their nearby home, they have more than 90 animals, many of them rare and exotic, ranging from a Galapagos tortoise, an Australian wallaby and several miniature horses to three llamas, a zebu and a few head of cattle adopted just hours before they were to be shipped to a slaughterhouse.
Next month, the Hillenbrands will turn a huge swath of the farm into a petting zoo for inner-city kids and children with disabilities or special needs. There are also plans to make the farm a refuge for abandoned or abused animals.
And those are just the latest in a series of projects the couple has undertaken to help both animals and children, with much of the work funneled through their nonprofit foundation Against All Odds.
“We just have a passion for animals and we’re in a position where we can share it with other people,” Shea Hillenbrand says. “It’s all about the kids, to come out and experience it. There’s no place around here that will be able to compare with what we’ll be able to offer these kids.”
And on a recent birthday, Jessica, whose father, veterinarian Dean Rice, is a former head of the Phoenix Zoo, gave Shea a giant aldabra tortoise. Now the couple’s collection has grown so large they are building a new home — one that will include an aviary — on the edge of Marley Farms, which was named after Jessica’s first dog.
“It’s like Dr. Doolittle,” Hillenbrand says. “We have animals everywhere. If you don’t get along you can’t stay.”
Well, maybe. But did Doolittle ever come home to find one of his miniature horses in the kitchen, munching carrots out of the refrigerator? And how many times did Doolittle’s pig get into the house through the doggy door? Or what about the time Jessica, home alone in bed with a horrible cold, had a goat named Willie Mays jump over a wall, find its way into the house and urinate on her sheets.
“And goats pee,” Shea adds helpfully, “for like a minute and half straight. They don’t hold back.”
the follow press release from PETA was served up by Repoz. Possibly while eating a burger, possibly not.
Bikini-Clad Beauties to Converge on U.S. Courthouse as Slugger Faces Steroid-Related ChargesFor Immediate Release: December 6, 2007
Contact:
Nicole Matthews 757-622-7382
San Francisco – Wearing nothing but lettuce-leaf bikinis and holding signs that read, “Meat Contains Drugs–Go Vegetarian,” a pair of sexy PETA Lettuce Ladies will hand out free faux-turkey sandwiches outside the federal courthouse in San Francisco on Friday as Barry Bonds answers to charges of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from an investigation of steroid use in Major League Baseball.
Date: Friday, December 7
Time: 9 a.m.
Place: U.S. Federal Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco
While Bonds and others may have voluntarily doped up to enhance their performance, turkeys and chickens are forced to consume growth-enhancement drugs that make them so top-heavy that they can barely walk. The birds’ hearts, lungs, and legs are so taxed from the excess weight that the animals will often die from heart attacks or become crippled and unable to reach water. Humans, in turn, ingest these dangerous drugs when they eat the animals’ flesh.
“The growth-promoting drugs given to chickens make them grow faster than Barry Bonds’ hat size,” says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. “The best way to keep dangerous antibiotics, hormones, and other toxic chemicals out of your body–and help animals at the same time–is to go vegetarian.”
Operators of Paul Brown Stadium want permission from the city to kill birds that have been pooping on Bengals fans.
Pigeon droppings have been falling on patrons and into their food and beverages, according to a letter to the city from Eric Brown, managing director of Paul Brown Stadium Ltd., which runs the stadium for Hamilton County, which owns it.
He asked in his letter that stadium employees who are familiar with firearms be allowed to shoot birds a few days prior to an event, adding that company officials believe the shooting to be a “cost-effective way to get this problem under control.”
So long as the “stadium employees who are familiar with firearms” include Chris Henry, I’m all for it.
“Is Ozzie G a size queen?” is the question posed by RW370’s Rob Warmowski, which might be one way of explaining the trade of Tadahito Iguchi.
It’s probably well-known by now that some White Sox, freed of October commitments,took a trip up to Minnesota to do a little animal killing. While there’s nothing gay at all about affectionate men bonding in the woods to “bag” a “bear”, White Sox LHP Mark Buehrle, DH Jim Thome, RF Jermaine Dye and C AJ Pierzynski’s recent no-girls-allowed hunting trip had the unintended effect of showing exactly what’s on skipper Ozzie Guillen’s mind:
“The kill, which seemed to be a proud moment for the whole group, came in for a little ribbing from manager Ozzie Guillen, who said the bear was not even as big as pitching coach Don Cooper.”
Believe it or not, the squirrel’s actions closely resembled those of Ratatosk, or “gnawing tooth,” a squirrel in Norse mythology that climbed up and down a tree that represented the world. Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic scholar and poet, recorded the story in his 13th-century work “Prose Edda.”
As the story goes, Ratatosk carried insults as it traveled to opposite ends of the tree, fueling a rivalry between the evil dragon residing at the bottom of the tree and the eagle perched at the top.
“Oh, that’s perfect,” said Roberta Frank, a professor of Old Norse and Old English at Yale University, when told of the squirrel’s antics at the stadium.
Frank was born in the Bronx and is a Yankees fan. She said in a telephone interview yesterday that in the Bronx version of this myth, the Yankees would probably represent the eagle and the rival Red Sox would represent the dragon. The Yankees, after all, are the home team this week, more or less making them the good guys. And if there were a sports team identified with an eagle, it has to be the Yankees, who have begun any number of postseason games with a visit from Challenger, the bald eagle who swoops in from center field.
But being the eagle is not such a good thing, Frank noted.
“The dragon will destroy the world in Norse mythology,” she said, adding that the eagle would be on the losing end of a battle that was only made worse by the malicious squirrel.
(you’ve not really tasted nacho cheese until you’ve licked it off the chest of The World’s Scrappiest Human)
Though I have no reason to believe the threat to public health described below has anything to do with Rex Hudler’s periodic attacks of the munchies, that’s as good an excuse as any. From the Orange County Register’s Gwendolyn Driscoll.
Discarded peanut shells, the remnants of hot dog buns, sticky ice cream wrappers and nachos coated with tangerine-colored cheese carpet the stands of Angel Stadium – about 15 tons of garbage on average per game, according to stadium officials.The refuse can sit out for more than 12 hours before it is collected, a time lag that may help account for the 118 vermin violations that county officials logged at stadium kiosks and restaurants over the last 2 ½ years.
Of those reports, 33 represent “major” violations, in which “rodent activity” was observed by health inspectors in a “critical area” of 18 stadium food venues.
“It should be zero. A restaurant is closed down for these kinds of things,” said Richard Sanchez, the director of environmental health for the county Health Care Agency.
In about the same period, San Diego’s Petco Park had two vermin violations and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles had seven, records show.
In the 412 routine inspections of Angel Stadium food venues conducted by the Health Care Agency since 2005, vermin violations were found 25 percent of the time. Major vermin violations were 33 percent of all major food safety violations found at the stadium. Sanchez said that health inspectors generally see pest-related problems at Orange County restaurants “less than 5 percent of the time.”
Just to show you I’m not all about bad news this Sunday morning, here’s an early clip from the Angels’ 2007 Season Highlights DVD :
…there were complaints that the bear (shown above) was being treated poorly because he was being “forced” to participate against people in a pizza-eating contest. That’s true.
“He loves pizza. Pepperoni is his favorite. We think he’s Italian because he likes pizza,” said Mazzola, whose heritage is Italian.
Lakota has been taking on all comers since the fair opened Wednesday. A large pizza is placed in front of the bear. Any volunteer who wants to participate can win $100 by eating the entire pizza before Lakota finishes his pizza.
Lakota remains undefeated.
No truth to the rumor that Reds interim manager Pete Mackanin planned to try Lakota at 1B until Wayne Krivsky overruled him.
While the nation is flipping out over Michael Vick’s alleged atrocities, ESPN NY’s Max Kellerman would like you to know that if you had bacon this morning, you’re “complicit in a far greater moral crime than anyone involved in a dog fight.” (mp3 link culled from The Starting Five)
This morning, PETA sent an urgent letter to Louisiana State University (LSU) Chancellor Sean O’Keefe urging him to permanently scratch live animal mascots from the LSU team rosters and use only humans in tiger costumes instead. PETA’s letter comes in the wake of the death of Mike V, the school’s Bengal tiger mascot, who died last Friday of complications from surgery. Mike was 17 years old. PETA points out that according to wildlife experts, tigers and other large carnivores suffer extremely in captivity because they are denied the opportunity to engage in many behaviors that are natural and important to them. PETA also reminds O’Keefe that replacing Mike with another tiger would mean taking a cub from his mother months before the two would normally part, causing both mother and cub to suffer severe stress and trauma.
“Most college teams—and all major professional teams—use human mascots, who are far more capable of interacting with fans than scared animals are,” says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. “The biggest tribute that LSU could pay to Mike would be to make sure that no more of these magnificent animals are forced to live a life of deprivation just to make a public appearance a few days a year.”
Though you might not be down with PETA’s tactics or philosophy, no one can dispute Ms. Leahy’s claim that human mascots are far more capable of interacting with fans.
“Ostrich was phenomenal. Warthog was outstanding. A little different taste, but it’s really good,” the San Diego Padres’ David Wells (above) said while recounting his 3 week trip to Africa. “Hardebeest, wildebeest, gazelle, all that stuff. Very, very tasty. It’s just the zebra you don’t want to eat. We shot them for bait. For lions.”
Even a dik-dik, a furry little antelope, ended up on Wells’ dinner plate after he “double-lunged it” from 30 yards with his bow.
“That was probably one of the best eating things I had,” he said. “It doesn’t sound good. Cute little suckers, too.”
“It was scary, though,” he added.
Boomer frightened? This is a man, after all, who’s gotten into his share of trouble on both coasts, learned to play baseball by playing catch with members of the Hells Angels in a rough-edged San Diego neighborhood and said in a book that he had a “skull-rattling hangover” when he pitched a perfect game for the New York Yankees in 1998.
“Yeah man, you don’t know if you walk around a tree and there’s a lion coming right at you,” Wells said after throwing a bullpen session this week. “There’s a lot of things that can go wrong over there. A lot of things.”
Wells’ teammates feasted on Colorado pitching today in an 11-3 decision, PED enthusiast Terrmel Sledge (3 for 5, 3 runs scored), whose leadoff HR served up by Rodrigo Lopez was the former’s 4th round-tripper of the spring.
When attending Phillys annual Wing Bowl, it is always advised to be aware of potential hazards (vomiting drunks, hurled projectiles, Hugh Douglas vocal performances, etc). You can also add negligent tailgaters to the heads-up list as the following incident involving the ever-haphazard former Phillies closer/1993 World Series goat Mitch Williams illustrates. From the Philadelphia Inquirer :
Poor Mitch Williams.
A wild thing happened to the former Phillies pitcher in the predawn darkness Friday outside the Wachovia Center before the WIP Wing Bowl.
Waiting on a friend, he pulled his ‘06 Chrysler 300 into a parking spot. Soon, “I smelled something kind of burning in my car,” Williams says. “I got out, finally, and saw smoke. I was trying to get the hood open, and I couldn’t get it open, and I looked underneath.”
Someone had left a barbecue grill smoldering in the lot, and it ignited the car’s engine.
As the French might describe it, vehicle flambé.
The car, he says, is a loss. But he did save his golf clubs in the trunk
While Philadelphia Inquirer scribe Frank Fitzpatrick is not particularly reknowned as a Mushnick-type scold, this mornings annual WIP610 Wing Bowl appears to have triggered the following salvos fired at Hostile City Phandom in his Morning Bytes column:
Come with me down the rabbit hole to Philadelphia, where, as Alice said, “nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t.”
The “Rocky” statue is art. Slot machines and traffic equal riverfront beautification. And a man (El Wingador) who stuffs fried food into his Tabasco-stained face until he vomits is a restaurateur.
(not El Wingador, but the far more humble Dr. Slob)
Then there are the sports fans.
We believe ourselves to be the epitome of loyal, knowledgeable fans, but in truth are famous for embarrassing ourselves.
Here are three more reasons why Philadelphians are not the world’s greatest fans:
1. The Wing Bowl: If nothing else, this rodeo for the repulsive, this bacchanal for bozos, makes Eagles games appear respectable.
Where else but Philadelphia could organizers fill a major-league arena with drunks and slobs who arrive at dawn to ogle women willing to demean themselves and to watch grotesque adults strive to make themselves puke?
And the more grotesque they are, the more we celebrate them.
El Wingador, one of the event’s ex-champions, has opened a restaurant. That’s like John McEnroe opening an etiquette school. Photos of a drooling El Wingador, his face a Jackson Pollack canvas of condiments and cholesterol, must be quite the appealing appetite aphrodisiac.
2. Donovan McNabb: You’re one of the most talented quarterbacks in football. You’re personable and well-liked in the locker room. You’ve produced perhaps the most successful era in your team’s history.
So, since you play in Philadelphia, what’s your reward?
Constant abuse.
McNabb practically carried the team to three NFC championship games and a Super Bowl. Yet the perpetually whining fans here would have you believe the Eagles would have been better off with Ron Powlus.
Instead of appreciating McNabb’s considerable skills, they prefer to attack his character, his family, his intelligence, his passing ability, his sideline demeanor, his hairstyle, his clothes, his eyewear, his agent, his friends, his postgame comments, his facial expressions and his race.
And if he ever gets enshrined in Canton, they’ll all swear they loved him.
3. The Phillies: To hear Philies fans talk, you’d be convinced the team had lost 100-plus games a season since 1993.
Actually, for five of the last six years, they have contended for a playoff spot. I know, they’ve never won more than 88 games in any of those years. But how many did the world-champion Cardinals win in the 2006 regular season? (83).
All it takes here is one extra-inning loss early in the season and fans start abandoning the bandwagon the way the music-drunk rats fled Bremen.
Those same people complained for years about the Phillies’ lack of talent, then drove one of the franchise’s greats, Bobby Abreu, out of town because they didn’t like his demeanor.
PETA would like to offer a lifetime supply of cruelty-free hand cream to any NBA siss … excuse me, superstar who’d be willing to give the composite ball another shot. Recreational players and NCAA athletes have been using composite balls for years without experiencing scratches or scrapes—but we understand that the delicate hands of pampered NBA superstars are far more sensitive than those of your average Joe who actually has to work for a living.
The hand cream comes in a variety of scents, including “Filthy Rich Organic” (perfect for any overpaid millionaire) and “Peaceful Patchouli”—Nash, we have a whole case of that set aside for you. Maybe by taking care of your own skin a bit better, you can allow cows who would otherwise meet their end in
the slaughterhouse to keep theirs.
Shaq, as one of the players who has been most critical of the composite ball, perhaps you’ll volunteer to be our test case—since you’ve only played four games all season, surely you have time to work a moisturizing routine into your schedule. Or LeBron, maybe you’re interested. The NCAA has used the composite ball for years—so it’s not only an education that you missed out on. Maybe you just need some more time to adjust.
Though JD of the Straight Shot (above, left) claimed that Isiah Thomas’ job was safe for the duration of the 2006-07 season (echoes of Danny Ainge insisting that Doc Rivers’ position was secure even if the Celtics lost every game on the schedule), the Cablevision kingpin made the following observations at Knicks practice Tuesday, as quoted by the New York Times’ Howard Beck.
“I believe that this could be the team that could ultimately compete for a championship. Probably with more changes over time, and I’m certainly not suggesting it’s going to happen this year, but you see a lot of very promising aspects to the team.”
As optimistic as he sounded, Dolan said it was “just too early” to say whether the Knicks were showing sufficient progress, or to know what to make of Eddy Curry’s newfound dominance. (He has scored at least 20 points in 10 straight games.)
“Is this really progress, or is this an aberration?” Dolan said rhetorically. “Your final conclusion has to be, it’s just too early.”
The funny thing is, the Knicks’ very progressive 8-15 record strikes me as being less about Thomas’ failings as a coach and more about the squad his team president has assembled. Fortunately, Zeke is too classy to pass the buck in this instance.
The man in black seems committed to bringing in a sixth coach in six years if the situation calls for a new face and philosophy.
“I’m a recovering alcoholic, I know about denial,” Dolan said with a chortle. “And if what you’re asking me is whether I’m going to go through denial about whether (Isiah’s) done his job or not, I’ll do my best to be honest. But then I have all of you to keep me honest.
Like a Tsunami without warning, Screamin’ A. Smith appeared and shouted, ‘IT’S THE BIBLE BELT, COME ON!’ as if Iverson were a born criminal and destined to play in a din of iniquity like Philly.
What’s Smith going to say about Minnesota? ‘RANDY MOSS AND DAUNTE WANTED OUT, AND ALLEN DOESN’T LIKE TO PARTY ON BOATS!’
Boston? ‘IT’S COMMON KNOWLEDGE BOSTON IS A RACIST CITY!’
Sacramento? ‘ALLEN PERSONALLY TOLD ME HE’S NEVER SEEN A COW, AND DOESN’T WANT TO!’
Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t like it. Two-time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash isn’t crazy about it. Journeyman sub Mark Madsen has pledged to do everything “in my power” – however limited his sphere of influence may be — to block it.
But Dan Shannon loves it. “It’s very exciting,” he said.
O’Neal, Nash, and Madsen all play in the National Basketball Association, which, for the first time in 35 years, is introducing a new basketball for the upcoming season. O’Neal, Nash, and Madsen all like the old, leather ball better. Shannon is a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He has enthusiastically endorsed the new ball, a microfiber composite that, among other attributes, requires that no cows be killed to make it.
“We see this as a major victory,” Shannon said. “We have been corresponding with the NBA over the last few years and I am glad that they did the right thing. I’m pretty sure we had something to do with it, although they might not say it.”
To which NBA operations chief Stu Jackson said, “PETA had absolutely nothing to do with this. We have a better product.”
More than one NBA coach has suggested the new ball controversy will die a quick and painless death, much like the initial controversy last year over Stern’s mandated dress code. NBA players don’t like change; most everything about their working lives involves consistency and luxury, whether it’s shoes, clothes, travel, or per diem.
Said Rivers, “I think there’s a resistance to change in all of us. Whether it’s cheerleaders, a dress code, a new ball, whatever. People don’t like change. I just think that’s the way life is.”
PETA, meanwhile, has so embraced the new ball that it is celebrating by awarding two tickets to an NBA game, as well as a composite ball, to the winner of a contest sponsored on its website. Two lucky runners-up will get the new basketball.
It might be training camp time for the Washington Wizards, but Wizznutzz is in mid-season form.
G!!!
We are still alive & full of peyote, just taking a break to brush up on our Halo 2 skills — which might make you think we’re young. But truly, peyote is an old person’s hallucenegogocicc and WE’RE ANCIENT. For instance, when you wrote “any knowledge of Greystone Hall’s Scary Carey” in your Tigers playoff posting we collectively spit out a whole mouthful of Bartles & James. You see, despite our love of all this Wiz, one half of our team is a Detroit native. Greystone Ballroom was our stomping grounds, and Scary Carey was the person we often wanted to stomp, especially when he promoted a show featuring Uniform Choice and a bunch of hippies called Dinosaur showed up instead. Or maybe it was The Fluid. Either way, HIPPIES. And then there was the time that we walked into the Greystone and saw a horse fucking someone. On VHS, not live, but it was still a horse fucking someone. Scary Carey offered to refund our money.
We took him up on it, but not before meeting a lad called “Mute” who didn’t speak but had the letters M-U-T-E on his knuckles. But why was he at a punk club if he couldn’t hear? BUT WE DIGRESS. Just the offhanded mention of Scary Carey was reason enough for us to reaffirm our love for you, G. In your honor we’re gonna pop in a DVD of a horse fucking someone (hey, we got over it) and play some Negative Approach REALLY FRIGGIN SOFTLY. It’s meditation time, friend, it’s meditation time.
Washburn lives in a pretty remote part of Wisconsin, a two-hour drive from any medical facility. That’s why the Mariners’ training staff plans to meet with Washburn’s wife, Kerrie, next week in Seattle to go over the pitcher’s daily offseason rehabilitation schedule.
Something else that will keep Washburn busy this winter is his fledgling business of raising deer for breeding purposes. Washburn owns 58 deer, which he raises in pens on his ample property.
Within the past year, he also invested $50,000 on a 50 percent share of a buck, nicknamed Tonto, whose value he now pegs in the $150,000 range. Tonto weighed in at 177-3/8 pounds a year ago, but has since grown larger and will be weighed again next week.
Semen from top bucks can be worth thousands of dollars depending on the animal’s quality.
Washburn knew next to nothing about the industry, or how lucrative it can be, until a friend introduced him to it. “I started reading up on it,” he said. “Obviously, now, I know a lot more than I did.”
CBC chairman Guy Fournier (above) has become the target of anger and derision in his home province after falsely claiming that Lebanon permits bestiality and for granting a lengthy interview on the joys of bowel movements.
On Sunday night, Mr. Fournier, appeared on one of Quebec’s most-watched television shows, Tout le monde en parle, ostensibly to apologize for a magazine column he wrote making the unfounded bestiality claims.
In his Sept. 9 weekly column for the magazine 7 Jours, Mr. Fournier included the following nugget: “In Lebanon, the law allows men to have sexual relations with animals as long as they are female! Doing the same thing with male beasts can result in the death penalty.”
The show’s host, Guy A. Lepage, then moved the discussion along, digging up a little-noticed interview Mr. Fournier gave last May to a small French-language radio station in Toronto, during which the CBC/Radio-Canada chairman rhapsodized about defecation for more than 10 minutes.
Mr. Fournier recounted a train trip in the early 1960s during which a friend named Michel said going number two was as pleasurable as having sex.
“From that moment, I started paying closer attention — and I have to tell you, I quickly realized that Michel was entirely right,” Mr. Fournier said.
“And the most extraordinary thing is that, in the end, as you grow older, you continue to go poop once a day if you are in good health, while it is not easy to make love every day. So finally, the pleasure is longer-lasting and more frequent than the other.”
He also advised against distractions while on the toilet. “There are even people who push the heresy to the point of doing Sudoku or crosswords rather than concentrating on the pleasure that they would have doing the thing,” Mr. Fournier told his radio interviewer. “It is just as heretical as if you read the National Post while making love. It is not to be recommended.”
“GG Allin would have agreed,” writes Jim Hoffman, supplier of the above link. Fournier resigned as CBC chairman yesterday, so that’s one less distraction he’ll contend with the next time he’s on the can.
Emperors loved shark fin soup because it was rare, tasty and difficult to prepare. The soup is served at wedding banquets by families eager to show appreciation to their guests. And Hong Kong and Beijing government officials — not to mention thousands of businessmen hoping to close the next big deal — swear they absolutely have to treat their guests to shark fin soup as a show of respect and honor.
“This is the very basic dish for business dinners in Hong Kong,” said Tan Rongde, 56, a banker. “If you don’t order that, you will lose face.”
“Putting our ecosystem in great peril is certainly not a part of Chinese culture that I know,” Mr. Yao said in an e-mail message Friday afternoon, from Guangzhou, where he was preparing for a game. “How do you maintain this so-called tradition when one day there is no shark to be finned?”
Mr. Yao and two other celebrities — the Olympian Li Ning and the pop star Liu Huan — have joined WildAid, which insists that sharks are endangered because of China’s ravenous appetite for skinning off the fins and boiling them for days in a special broth (critics say they’re sometimes finned alive and then thrown back in the sea).
But how is Mr. Yao’s move playing at home, in a country that says a banquet is not a banquet without shark fin soup?
He double-dribbled, suggests Zhu Dongqing, 46, a construction company manager, as he sat along fashionable Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Mr. Zhu said Chinese wouldn’t readily give up the soup, which sells for up to $100 a bowl in Hong Kong.
“Chinese people, we just eat shark’s fin,” he said. “It’s part of our culture. Yao Ming, it’s a good idea. It’s good to protect the environment. But if my children want to go out and eat shark’s fin because they think it tastes good, I’ll still take them.”
Others said Mr. Yao, who plays for the Houston Rockets, was doing the right thing, but they’d still love to try one of the world’s most expensive soups.
“If one day I could eat shark’s fin, of course I’d eat it,” said Chen Yanran, 18, a Shanghai music student, who may not know that the actual shark fin part of the soup has no taste at all, it’s just like rubber. “It’s a delicacy, and expensive, something the average Chinese can’t eat.”
Not only have I suffered the indignity of losing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe to a chicken on Mott St. (I kept waiting for Paul Lynde to say something vaguely salacious), but I am pretty certain I was beaten at MLB2K6 last night by the simian above. At least it sounded that way over the space-age headset.
Going by the old axiom “you are what you eat”, The Last Angry Young Man (above, center) will soon be one big bag of Monkey Chow. (thanks to Sally for the link) Describing his attempt to go an entire week consuming nothing besides ZuPreem Monkey Chow as “Morgan Spurlock and William Shatner rolled into one”, TLAYM might be on to something. Legend has it Tim Roth and Paul Giamatti did the same thing in preperation for Tim Burton’s remake of “The Planet Of The Apes.”
Hey, everybody! As a long time reader of CSTB, I’m honored to finally have a chance to contribue to this fine forum. I’ve been telling Wilbur for years that I deserved a blog of my own, but he keeps stealing all of my great ideas. Sad enough that he tried to pass himself off as a baseball know-it-all to my close personal pal, Leo Durocher, but now it’s Ed’s time to shine!
Anyhow, like many of you, Wilbur and I cracked open a couple of cold ones late yesterday afternoon and prepared to watch NBC’s coverage of the Preakness Stakes. Every year, Wilbur accuses me of having a crush on Bob Neumeier and frankly, that joke got old the first time. Can’t a horse admire a man’s head of hair without some jackass making all sorts of “bareback mountain” references?
But I digress. Unless you’ve been living under a rock or you edit CSTB, you’re aware that Preakness favorite / Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro suffered a terrible injury yesterday and might soon be euthanized. Or murdered, as I like to call it. Did anyone suggest having Bo Jackson put down when he no longer had anything to offer the sporting world?
I’m not gonna tell you I was a big fan of Barbaro going into this year’s Triple Crown, but like I said to Wilbur at brunch yesterday, anyone named after the former drummer for Babes In Toyland is a-ok with me.
I was trying take my mind off yesterday’s tragic events with a little light web surfing last night, and I came upon the following headline from what I’m told is supposed to be a “funny” sportsblog :
I’m sorry, but I just don’t get it. I’m as open minded a horse as you’ll find, and I enjoy the odd bit of “edgy” humor down at the stable just like anyone else. For instance, that Joe Rogan guy. F-U-N-N-Y! But this sort of joke is just nonsensical. For one thing, Barbaro wasn’t cheating, he was just trying to get a little edge on the competition. Certainly no worse than Barry Bonds, who somehow managed to get a standing O from A’s fans yesterday. And the fried rice jibe is just sick. Newcomers to this great country have it tough enough as is without insensitive creeps implying their cusine is based on dubious ingredients.
I can’t for the life of me understand how anyone, let alone an award winning blogger like this Mighty MJD fella, would so relish the suffering of another living creature. He’d better hope he never crosses my path, or I’ll put a hoof up his ass.
An Ohio University football player has been charged with smacking a police horse while officers were directing students away from a brawl outside a bar.
Twenty-one-year-old Corey Logan pleaded not guilty yesterday in Athens Municipal Court and denied intentionally hitting the horse. The 233-pound junior tight end from Columbus says the animal bumped him with its head on Saturday, and he flinched and accidentally hit the horse with his elbow.
But Athens police officer Randy Gray, who was riding the horse named Chip, says Logan struck the horse between the eyes with the heel of his hand.
One of today’s top stories on ESPN.com is taken from Toronto’s Globe & Mail ; the tale of a 41 year old mom from Northern Quebec who tangled with a 700 pound polar bear who’d accosted her kids while playing street hockey.
There’s no truth to the rumor that the brave woman, Lydia Angyiou, is being flown to Torino to feature on Team Canada’s penalty kill for tomorrow’s Olympic quarterfinal against Russia.
Police last night swooped on the Celebrity Big Brother house to seize the controversial “gorilla coat” worn by transvestite pop star Pete Burns.
The Dead Or Alive singer, who has worn the bizarre coat a number of times since entering the reality TV show house, told fellow guests that it was made from the fur of an endangered species.
He instantly clashed with fellow contestant Jodie Marsh, now evicted, who told him the coat was cruel.
Channel 4, who host Big Brother, was immediately inundated with complaints from viewers concerned about animal welfare.
A Police spokeswoman confirmed this afternoon that the coat had been handed over to officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary.
Transvestite Pete Burns could face jail over his “gorilla-skin” coat, a Government minister warned yesterday.
The fun-loving Dead Or Alive star (above) has outraged Jodie Marsh by claiming his fur coat is made from the endangered animals.
Now the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has stepped in to say Burns may face “serious consequences” if the claim turns out to be true.
When Burns said he was offended by Marsh’s autobiography, in which she spilled details about her ex-boyfriends, the glamour girl retaliated.
Jodie said: “Well, I think it’s low that you wear a monkey coat. “It offends me every time I see it on your back.”
Burns hit back: “That thrills me. I get off on the fact my coat offends someone who put her boyfriend’s dirty underwear in a book.”
He added: “I wish I had a sable coat and a chinchilla dressing gown and every other fur I could lay my hands on.”
Trading in endangered species carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.
It certainly wasn’t any natural disaster or accomplishments of the local 5, 9 or 11 (Sonics, Mariners or Seahawks), but was, in fact, according to the Times’ Danny Westneat, but was the heartbreaking story of the King County equestrians.
“In a visit home, during which Ichiro also spent weeks filming a dramatic role for January’s three-part series of the popular Japanese detective show “Furuhata Ninzaburo,” (above) he met with Sadaharu Oh, who will manage Japan’s team.”
I would put anything past Ichiro, but I seriously doubt his wisdom of doing this. I would love to see the finished product, though, of course.
The shooting of a sparrow on the set of a Dutch world record domino-toppling attempt sparked outrage among animal lovers and led to threats to staff.
TV firm Endemol said it felt “terrible” about the killing. The head of a bird protection agency appealed for calm.
A special website received thousands of messages of condolence, but some say the bird did not do itself any favours by knocking over 23,000 dominoes.
The bird’s detour into the exhibition centre in the northern city of Leeuwarden earlier this week proved disastrous. Staff had spent weeks setting up four million dominoes.
The bird’s fate was sealed when it knocked over 23,000 and organisers feared it could knock down more. An exterminator cornered the sparrow and shot it.
The backlash followed as soon as the news got out – especially as the common house sparrow was put on the endangered list in the Netherlands last year.
A tribute website was set up attracting more than 24,000 hits, the Dutch animal protection agency threatened to investigate, and radio stations offered bounties for anyone who could knock down more of the dominoes before the event.
The bodyguard who once protected tiger tamer Roy Horn of the Siegfried & Roy magic duo claims that Siegfried Fischbacher is a “tyrant” who overmedicates and humiliates the ailing Horn, who is still recovering from a tiger-mauling incident.
“Siegfried was a tyrant and had loud, explosive outbursts at the plaintiff and at Roy,” says the civil suit filed by Louis Mydlach, a former Siegfried & Roy insider.
“[Fischbacher] forced Roy to take medication, even when Roy begged to not be medicated,” the suit claims.
Siegfried is also accused of refusing to hire competent medical workers to look after Horn’s day-to-day needs, and painting a picture in the media of the “amazing physical rehabilitation of Roy” when those close to the star knew “it was all propaganda.”
Mydlach says his role changed from that of security guard to caretaker, “in all the undignified matters concerning his debilitating condition … including personal care cleaning, bathing and various bathroom duties.”
If you took your kid fishing this summer, there are animal-rights people who are saying you are a bad parent.
The fact that the folks at PETA think that way is no shock, but they are trying to get at you through your kids, which is totally unacceptable.
PETA supporters began passing out graphic flyers to youngsters on Sept. 24, a day celebrated by sportsmen as National Hunting and Fishing Day but recognized by antis as Fish Amnesty Day.
The flyer says “Your Daddy Kills Animals” and tells your children to ask your daddy why he’s hooked on killing.
PETA is seeking out our children and using shocking campaigns to spread its anti-animal-use agenda.
The fact that fishing is a fun, wholesome activity that gives families the opportunity to share time in the outdoors is totally lost on these people.
I agree with Moran that this sort of propaganda is entirely unacceptable. Surely there are mommies hooked on killing, too?
Thanks to Lyle Hysen for forwarding the following item from Female First (which, if I’m not mistaken, he shouldn’t be allowed to look at).
SIR PAUL McCARTNEY’S amputee wife HEATHER MILLS McCARTNEY lost her prosthetic leg during a violent confrontation with security guards at JENNIFER LOPEZ’s New York office. .
The incident happened on Tuesday (13SEP05) as the former model-turned animal rights activist attempted to deliver a People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) DVD showing creatures being killed for fur to Lopez, following a demonstration at which the 37-year-old pleaded with fans to boycott the superstar’s music, movies and clothes because she uses fur in her fashion range Sweetface. .
They’ve got a problem with the caps lock over at Female First, a nasty condition not nearly as serious as losing one’s prosthetic leg, but a dangerous one just the same. Perhaps an educational DVD is in order?
