Friday, February 13, 2009

Next up, Lane brags about how he doesn't tip

For those still unclear on whether Lane Kiffin is a shrewd newcomer to the SEC shaking things up with a "Spurrier on steroids" attitude or just a tone-deaf jerk, you got another clue yesterday. In what's becoming a daily occurrence, Tennessee again "clarified" one of Coach 5-15's remarks. The person who was supposed to pick Kiffin up at the airport was 25 minutes late. He apparently thought bragging to Sports Illustrated that "within five minutes" he fired the person in charge of that would make him sound tough and decisive. Actually, it makes him sound like a really petty jerk, especially given today's economy and the enormous salary Coach Daddy Has a Super Bowl Ring! is being given. Tennessee now says no one was fired, although numerous staff have been transferred out of the football office. How many more high profile lies do you think they'll have to correct before someone muzzles this clown?

There's a potentially very important court decision which came down yesterday. As usual, when a student-athlete challenges one of the NCAA's ridiculous rules in court the player wins. In this case, the rule involves the NCAA's ban on drafted baseball players with eligibility having lawyers represent them in contract talks with major league teams. There's no reason at all for that, other than the NCAA loves to place as many restrictions on athletes as they can. Hopefully this will stand up all the way through the courts.

Congratulations are in order for Erin Andrews, who retains her title as Playboy's Sexiest Sportscaster (do not click link if going to playboy.com is a bad idea on whatever computer you are using) for another year by edging out Lee Corso. I think Erin does a fantastic job with the role she's asked to play. I've known her since she was at UF and whenever we happen to talk it seems she's remained remarkably normal as a person despite the obsessive fanbase she's developed over the past few years. Keep in mind, in 2000 Erin was at the Final Four dancing as a Dazzler. Her looks have unquestionably aided her quick rise, but there are lots of gorgeous women who simply don't have the talent or the work ethic to succeed in sports. Erin's more than proved she's got both.

David Letterman's on a roll right now. Coming off that hilarious interview with Joaquin Phoenix the other night, he's now got U2 coming in for a full week of shows in early March. I'm assuming they're going to tour at some point, which is good because that's just about the number priority band left for me to see that I haven't caught at least once.

One final thing before the weekend - please don't be "that guy" constantly making a global warming comment in winter. This isn't about whether you believe the theory of it or not. I have friends on both sides of that debate, but it's never been suggested by even the most ardent proponent of climate change concern that somehow it will not get cold in winter or that every day in summer will go to 120. A few days ago it was particularly cold, and over and over I heard people say variations of "so much for global warming". Today it's 76 degrees here - unusually warm for mid-February - which has nothing to do with potential global warming either. The "joke" is seriously played out, so please let it go. I'll be in Athens Saturday to see UF get back on track in hoops against UGA. See you back here Monday.

3 comments:

GatorBull said...

I love that Erin Andrews gets put right next to the Top 10 Banana Jobs. Way to go Playboy!

And U2 is worth every penny in this dismal economy. Make sure you get a chance if they do tour.

Jeremiah said...

I found it amusing that people have commented on various message boards that they thought Letterman's interview with Phoenix was a trainwreck and cringe-worthy. I guess they've never watched Letterman on Late Night back in the 80s and early 90s. I thought the interview was fantastic with vintage Letterman. It was Letterman at his absolute best, ripping off one-liners and jokes at the expense of his guests right to their face. I suspect this was prearranged because Joaquin has always been a notoriously bad interview, so if he was 100% serious, I'd have a hard time believing he'd agree to be on the show. Nevertheless, Joaquin was channeling some serious Andy kaufman there and Letterman just dropped one incredible line after another. The apology to Farrah Fawcett and the "wish you could've been here, Joaquin!" comments were priceless. I'm not worthy, Dave! Good stuff.

Unknown said...

As somewhat of a skeptic of global warming (or "climate change" as They call it now), I agree with you about the stupid global warming jokes. Not only are they not funny, but people who say that one colder-than-average winter disproves global warming are discounting the credibility of the less ignorant skeptics out there.
I can't say "Man, it's pretty damn cold out here for Gainesville" without some stand-up comic piping in with "Yep, this is global warming!" or "Where's Al Gore?".
As much as I think global warming is at best WAY over-hyped and at least a complete scam, those people make me hope that every cube of ice melts and every square-inch of land gets covered in boiling hot water just so I can get in their faces-- "Uh oh guys looks like global warming reared its ugly head again! Haha!".