Unbelievable.

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor has died from the gunshot wound he suffered early Monday when he was shot in his Miami home.

"He did not make it through the night," said Taylor's attorney, Richard Sharpstein, who called the incident "a ridiculous unnecessary tragedy."

Taylor died in the Miami hospital where he was taken after being shot once in the leg early Monday morning. The bullet severed his femoral artery. Police are investigating the shooting as a possible home invasion.

Taylor's death comes after what had been interpreted as optimistic signs following hours of surgery.

Taylor had squeezed a doctor's hand and made facial expressions early Monday evening, Redskins officials and a family friend said, providing some hope after he emerged from seven hours of surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He had been "unresponsive and unconscious" until that point and doctors had feared possible brain injury or death, according to Taylor's attorney, Richard Sharpstein.

Signs had seemed good up to that point, but I guess the reports were overly optimistic. It will be interesting to find out why the reality was so different from what we all thought.

My deepest sympathies to Taylor's family and teammates.

Posted by: Greg at 11:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Of all the absurd marketing strategies I've encountered in my life, this has to be the most arrogant.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the NFL Network demanding the channel's representatives stop encouraging fans to leave the cable provider.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the outspoken chairman of the league's NFL Network committee, has urged customers of Comcast and other large cable providers who don't carry the network on a basic tier to switch to satellite or other cable services that do.

The channel's IWantNFLNetwork.com website includes a box titled "MAKE THE SWITCH." Above a field to enter a zip code, the text reads, "Switch to a TV provider that will bring you NFL Network, not hold you hostage."

The letter, dated Monday, contends that such actions violate the contract between the network and Comcast.

The only problem is that Comcast is supposed to be carrying the NFL Network as a basic cable station, but has instead packaged it as a premium challenge. The NFL, seeking to serve the fans, is urging them to shop around for their product and purchase it where they get the best deal -- a strategy which will bring them more fans.

By the way, Comcast -- your service here in Houston has sucked so bad since you took over from TimeWarner that I'm considering a change anyway -- but the NFL Network issue will be a factor in my decision on which alternate provider to get my service from.

Posted by: Greg at 03:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let's honor every one of them.

We need to take this one viral, folks. If you've got a website site, put it up.

By the way, the alternative rock group 3 Doors Down is openly supportive of our military, as shown in this earlier video.

H/T Ragnar of The Jawa Report

Posted by: Greg at 12:46 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Looks like that home run ball may need to be branded with prison stripes, not just an asterisk.

Barry Bonds, who holds two of baseballÂ’s most cherished records, was indicted in San Francisco today on four counts of perjury in connection with his testimony about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

He was also indicted on one count of obstruction of justice. The charges stem from his testimony to a federal grand jury in December 2003 when he denied knowingly taking steroids.

Whispers about Mr. Bonds’s record-setting performances — becoming the career home-run leader with 762 and the single-season record-holder with 73 home runs in 2001 — grew louder because of his links with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. The lab, also known as Balco, has been the subject of a federal investigation on illegal steroid use. Other athletes, including the former track star Marion Jones, have pleaded guilty in connection with the case. Ms. Jones recently returned the five medals she had won in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

But Mr. Bonds’s lawyer, Mike Rains, said: “I am utterly confident that this case will absolutely dissipate when the misconduct of the government comes to the forefront in this case. Barry is innocent of the charges, this is ridiculous.”

So let's see.

Bonds testified that he didn't knowingly take steroids.

He's now been indicted for perjury because of that testimony.

If he is convicted, that should be a sufficient basis to conclude that he did, in fact knowingly take steroids.

Seems to me that should be a sufficient basis for MLB to ban him from further connection with baseball, and from the Hall of Fame. Heck, one could legitimately argue that it is sufficient grounds to nullify his home run records.

Posted by: Greg at 10:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Maybe she can get them into the same ritzy rehab that she and her Hollywood pals spend time in.

Paris Hilton is being praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India.

Activists said a celebrity endorsement such as Hilton's was sure to raise awareness of the plight of the pachyderms that get drunk on farmers' homemade rice beer and then go on a rampage.

"The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them," the 26- year-old socialite said in a report posted on World Entertainment News Network's Web site. Her comments were picked up by other Web sites and newspapers around the globe.

Last month, six wild elephants that broke into a farm in the state of Meghalaya were electrocuted after drinking the potent brew and then uprooting an electricity pole.

"There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn't chased them away. And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago. It is just so sad," Hilton was quoted as saying in Tokyo last week. She was in Tokyo to judge a beauty contest.

Gee, if only she could, like help some, you know, people. Instead she appears to want AA for elephants.

Posted by: Greg at 12:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You know, given Cruise's frequent box office failures.

Tom Cruise’s new film “Lions for Lambs” didn’t even crack the top three at the box office, and “Tom is not happy,” says a source close to the actor. “Lions,” Cruise’s first release since “Mission Impossible: III,” is also the first film to come from Cruise and Paula Wagner’s United Artists studio.

“Tom wanted to really hit a home run with his first United Artists movie,” says another source. “It was more about how the industry was going to view him than the moviegoing public that Tom was worried about.”

Oh, I see. it isn't how the little people who buy tickets to the movies view him. Rather, it is how the insiders in the motion picture industry view him that matters.

Could that be why he stars in movies that are critical and commercial failures as often as he stars in hits?

And could that attitude explain why Hollywood really doesn't attract viewers like it used to? After all, when the consumer doesn't matter to the producers, the result is lower sales.

Posted by: Greg at 11:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's a neat story about high school football, and how a small town program has become a source of pride for a local community.

Their photos are on the cards traded over at the elementary school, and their exploits are on the lips of the old men who gather at the Second Cup Cafe each morning. They are the sons and grandsons of this north Kansas town, and for 30 autumns now, the Smith Center Redmen have puffed up the chests of folks here.

They are a high school football team, a superb one that has won 51 games in a row and three consecutive state championships, and has outscored opponents this season, 704-0. They are more than that, however, to the 1,931 people here who all know one anotherÂ’s names: The Redmen are proof that hard work and accountability still mean something.

The trading cards, for example, are not about hero worship. Each player and cheerleader signs a contract pledging to remain alcohol-, drug- and tobacco-free. If they break that promise, they must go to the elementary school to explain to the children why they were kicked off their team, and their cards are revoked.

Interest in the town’s youth is not limited to worshipful talk in its cafes, either. As many adults cruise Main Street as teenagers on weekends, and the Jiffy Burger remains a nexus for three generations of Smith Center denizens — except for Friday night, of course, when the Redmen (10-0) will travel to Oakley (11-0) to face the Plainsmen in a playoff game.

“What we do around here real well is raise kids,” Smith Center Coach Roger Barta said. “In fact, we do such a good job at it — and I’m talking about the parents and community — that they go away to school and succeed, and then pursue opportunities in the bigger cities.

“None of this is really about football,” he added. “We’re going to get scored on eventually, and lose a game, and that doesn’t mean anything. What I hope we’re doing is sending kids into life who know that every day means something.”

I've noticed the connection between athletics and making responsible citizens. At the school where I teach, athletes are held to a high standard, and we have seen well-over a hundred young men reach college on football scholarships that allow them educational opportunities they might not have gotten otherwise. Our other sports programs have had similar, if smaller, success. It sounds like Coach Barta of Smith Center, Kansas, has accomplished something similar with his program, which is as more important in my eyes than the phenomenal athletic success.

I'll be pulling for the Smith Center Redmen this weekend, hoping that they can manage another undefeated season and a 52-0 winning streak -- just as I will with my own school's shot at a seventh straight undefeated regular season.

Posted by: Greg at 12:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Some folks are going to want to make this about a split withing the conservative movement. It is far from it. Instead, it is a simple contract issue.

Five authors have sued the parent company of Regnery Publishing, a Washington imprint of conservative books, charging that the company deprives its writers of royalties by selling their books at a steep discount to book clubs and other organizations owned by the same parent company.

In a suit filed in United States District Court in Washington yesterday, the authors Jerome R. Corsi, Bill Gertz, Lt. Col. Robert (Buzz) Patterson, Joel Mowbray and Richard Miniter state that Eagle Publishing, which owns Regnery, “orchestrates and participates in a fraudulent, deceptively concealed and self-dealing scheme to divert book sales away from retail outlets and to wholly owned subsidiary organizations within the Eagle conglomerate.”

Some of the authors’ books have appeared on the New York Times best-seller list, including “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry,” by Mr. Corsi and John E. O’Neill (who is not a plaintiff in the suit), Mr. Patterson’s “Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America’s National Security” and Mr. Miniter’s “Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror.” In the lawsuit the authors say that Eagle sells or gives away copies of their books to book clubs, newsletters and other organizations owned by Eagle “to avoid or substantially reduce royalty payments to authors.”

The authors argue that in reducing royalty payments, the publisher is maximizing its profits and the profits of its parent company at their expense.

I'm not familiar enough with the publishing industry to tell whether the suit has merit or not. I'll be quite interested in seeing what becomes of the case, given Regnery's prominence on the right. But rest assured, the result will not be the end of conservative publishing.

Posted by: Greg at 10:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess this means that there will be a marked rise in the quality of television programming as the writers of the crap walk the picket line.

Film and TV writers resolved to put down their pens and take up picket signs after last-ditch talks failed to avert a strike.

The first picket lines were set to appear Monday morning at Rockefeller Center in New York, where NBC is headquartered.

In Los Angeles, writers were planning to picket 14 studio locations in four-hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day until a new deal is reached.

The contract between the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producer expired Oct. 31. Talks that began this summer failed to produce much progress on the writers' key demands for a bigger slice of DVD profits and revenue from the distribution of films and TV shows over the Internet.

Writers and producers gathered for negotiations Sunday at the request of a federal mediator.

Neither side seems interested in budging.

And so expect reruns and reality shows.

And an increase in book sales and DVD rentals.

Even better, perhaps the networks could simply go black, raising the quality of their programming even further as Americans realize that they don't miss the garbage at all.

Posted by: Greg at 11:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Matt Schaub is out. Sage Rosenfels is in. Depending on how he plays, we may end up with a quarterback controversy here in Houston. But wth Andre Johnson and Andre Davis both injured, do we have enough of an offensive threat for Rosenfels to shine and create that controversy? Or do we drop another game that we should have won due to the lack of depth that all the injuries have exposed? Sadly, I fear that it will be another long day for those of us who cheer for the Houston Texans.

On the other hand, we still have some really hot cheerleaders.

Posted by: Greg at 09:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've always liked Joe Torre -- and I am glad to see him land on his feet after being dissed by George Steinbrenner.

And what sweet revenge -- manager of the Dodgers!

Joe Torre grew up in Brooklyn rooting against the Dodgers. Now, a half-century after they moved west, heÂ’s their manager.

Torre was hired by Los Angeles to succeed Grady Little on Thursday, taking the job two weeks after walking away from the New York Yankees.

“Joe Torre comes with a great resume,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said on a conference call. “What he’s done the last 12 years is as powerful as any manager in recent memory.”

The winningest manager in postseason history, Torre moved from one storied franchise to another, agreeing to a three-year, $13 million contract. He becomes the DodgersÂ’ eighth manager since they left his hometown, where he rooted for the rival New York Giants.

“As a kid growing up, you didn’t like them,” Torre said on WFAN radio in New York before the hiring was announced. “As a player, to me the Dodgers were the Yankees of the National League because ... you either loved them or you hated them.”

There's a little Dodger Blue in every American, and to see Joe Torre end up in Los Angeles seems appropriate. And for hm to manage the two most loved -- and hated -- franchises in America is quite a feat.

Now if he could only have been hired by the Cubs, so that he could have helped them leap forward into the sort of post-season success that they haven't seen in a century.

Posted by: Greg at 10:10 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Why are folks upset over KitnaÂ’s costume?

Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna and his wife dressed up as a naked man and a fast-food drive-through attendant at a teammate's Halloween party, depicting an embarrassing moment for one of the team's assistant coaches.

Now Kitna is getting some flak on local TV and in a newspaper column. Kitna said he was just trying to have fun, but regrets the scrutiny the costumes created.
"If I would've known this, I wouldn't have done it because I didn't want to try to bring attention to it," Kitna said Wednesday while surrounded by reporters and television cameras.

Defensive line coach Joe Cullen pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and guilty to impaired driving after he was arrested twice last year, once in August 2006 after police said he was driving nude through a Wendy's drive-through lane, and a week later when they said he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

Especially since the butt of his joke doesnÂ’t seem too troubled by the Halloween silliness.

"When we talked yesterday, the first question out of his mouth was, `Did you win?' He seemed to not have a problem with it."

I’m curious – had he appeared as Senator Larry Craig, would there have been this controversy? And let’s be honest here – if this is the worst dirt you can dig up on Kitna, there really isn’t anything to complain about. No guns, no dead dogs, no drugs. Lighten up, folks.

Posted by: Greg at 10:02 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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