Margo Dydek 7 ft fmr WNBA basketball player dies of heart attack at 37

This is very sad.

Daily Mail

A seven-foot-tall former women's basketball star has died of a heart attack at the age of 37.

Margo Dydek, who was pregnant with her third child, collapsed at her home in Brisbane, Australia, last week.

The Poland-born former WNBA star was put in a medically induced coma but died earlier this morning.

Cathy Roberts, the operations manager for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League, where Dydek was head coach, said that Dydek was at an early stage in her pregnancy and that her unborn child had also died.

Dydek was the No. 1 pick in the 1998 WNBA draft by the Utah Starzz. She also played for San Antonio, Connecticut and Los Angeles.

The seven-foot-two Dydek, who was affectionately nicknamed 'Large Marge', was once said to be the tallest active professional female basketball player in the world.

She held the record for most blocks in a WNBA career, with 877 in 323 games, and led the league in blocks nine times, from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2005-07.

On August 27, 2008 Dydek signed with the Los Angeles Sparks following time away from basketball due to the birth of her first son in April 2008.



More here

Hedge fund honcho David Einhorn named minority owner of Mets

For suffering Met like myself, we’re hoping that this guy someday free us from the Wilpoms. Also I have theory that Einhorn may have a lot to say whether or not players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran stay with the team. Why pay $200 mil and then break up the team?

New York Post

The debt-ridden Mets have agreed to sell less than 49 percent of the team for $200 million to a Manhattan hedge-fund manager, the team announced today.
David Einhorn, who is president of Greenlight Capital Inc., will buy the minority stake in the franchise pending approval from Major League Baseball.
“Having an opportunity to become part of the Mets franchise is exciting beyond my wildest childhood dreams. I spent my first seven years living in New Jersey and rooting for the Mets," Einhorn said.

"In 1975, I even dressed in a homemade jersey as a Met for Halloween. I have been a baseball fan for my entire life and have enjoyed teaching the game as the coach of my daughter’s little league team."
The Mets lost $51 million last season and expect to lose upwards of $70 million this season.

The team was hoping to close on a deal by June 30 so it could use the investment cash to fund day-to-day operations and repay some debt. The Mets took a $30 million emergency loan from MLB last year.

MLB pressured Sterling Enterprises, which owns the team, to raise money after it lost $500 million in Bernie Madoff's funds and found it difficult to bankroll the franchise.

Fred Wipon, principal owner of the Mets said of Einhorn "Equally important, David’s intelligence, integrity and success in both business and civic affairs provides us with another perspective in evaluating what is best for this organization and our fans, and we welcome his input. In partnership with David, we look forward to achieving our ultimate goal of again becoming World Series champions."

Einhorn co-founded Greenlight Capital in 1996 and is also the author of the book "Fooling Some Of The People All Of The Time," which detailed his battle with the investment firm Allied Capital.

"I look forward to partnering with the Wilpon and Katz families through the good seasons, the tough seasons and especially the championship seasons,” Einhorn said.

Also in New York Post
The man who's on the verge of owning part of the Mets is a shrewd investor who doesn't back down from controversial calls.

In 2002, David Einhorn went public with his doubts about Allied Capital and bet the stock would fall.

Then he withstood a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into whether he was conspiring to drive down the company's stock, Allied stealing his phone records, and then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer promising his own inquiry, New York magazine reported.

Einhorn didn't give up and ultimately Allied was exposed and its stock collapsed

The episode was the basis for his book "Fooling Some of the People all of the Time," which also pointed out the daunting issues investors face.

He also doubted that Lehman Brothers was forthcoming about its finances, something he made clear in a call with the company's chief financial officer, the magazine reported.

"The conversation was reminiscent of the ones I had with Allied," Einhorn told the magazine in 2008. "We had our questions, we were organized, but she was evasive, dishonest. Their explanations didn’t make any sense."
Lehman later failed. Einhorn had shorted the stock, a bet against it.

Just yesterday he went after Microsoft, saying it's time for CEO Steve Balmer to go.

"Ballmer's continued presence is ruining your stock," he said, according to Business Insider.

But he doesn't always wager against companies.

Filings this month showed that he bought GM shares.
And he's long been an Apple fan, holding 837,500 shares of the high-flying stock, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Einhorn clearly has been a baseball fan for some time. In the first letter to investors in his Greenlight Capital, he and then partner Jeffrey Keswin signed off with a quote from Ken Griffey Jr.

"I don't consider myself a home-run hitter. But when I'm seeing the ball and hitting it hard, it will go out of the park."

Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew dies at 74

Story in the Mercury News
Harmon was before my time, but everything I read about him describes his swing as ferocious. He was the Minnesota Twins version of Mickey Mantle

Here’s an interview with Killebrew along with some footage of his best work.


RIP Harmon!

Justin Turner Drives In 5 RBIs, Mets Beat Astros 7-4

This is a slow blogging day. So why not add a little sports to the crazy mix at TLT?

It’s good to see a player finally get a shot to play everyday in The Show. Justin Turner, who paid his dues in the minors, is getting a chance to shine with my beloved New York Mets.

Mets are 2 games under .500. I’m just sayin’…


CBS Sports reports at the end of Mets spring training, Justin Turner was sent to the minor leagues and told to be ready in case he was needed in New York.

As manager Terry Collins put it: “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Now he knows.

Turner homered and drove in a career-high five runs, and Jason Pridie hit a go-ahead single and stole home to help the New York Mets beat the Houston Astros 7-4 Sunday.

“He loves to play and here’s his chance,” Collins said. “You spend a few years in the minor leagues and you’ve been able to play for a while and you say ‘If I just had a chance, if I just had a chance.’

“Well, here’s his opportunity and he’s making the most of it.”

Turner hit a tying, two-run double in the Mets’ four-run fifth inning, and later scored the go-ahead run. Turner tacked on a three-run homer in the sixth and the Mets won for the seventh time in 10 games.

“Any time you drive in some runs you feel pretty good,” Turner said. “It makes it nicer to get an at bat every day and get comfortable and make adjustments from at bat to at bat as opposed to from day to three days.”

More details here


This is how Justin hit'em in the minors.

Wife Michi Nogami-Marshall arrested after Miami Dolphins star receiver Brandon Marshall is stabbed with kitchen knife

Brandon Marshall is an asshole! He always has been since he entered the league. I’m sick and tired of these pampered athletes that don’t know how to act in civil society. Ya’ take a player out the ghetto, but ya’ can’t take the ghetto out of the player.

I don’t know what went down between him and his wife. But with his sordid track record, I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt that she was indeed defending herself against this creep!


Daily Mail reports Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall is in hospital after allegedly being stabbed by his wife in the early hours of this morning. Michi Nogami-Marshall, has been arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

She told officers she stabbed him with a kitchen knife while defending herself, according to a police report posted on the South Florida Sun Sentinel's website.
She is in jail on a $7,500 bond. Marshall was taken to Broward General Hospital in Miami where he underwent surgery for a stab wound to the stomach.

No vital organs were pierced. Doctors have told representatives of the player that he should make full recovery in two to three weeks.

Marshall said he wanted to leave hospital immediately, but doctors advised against it in case of infection to the wound.
In a statement, Marshall's agents Harvey Steinberg and Kennard McGuire said: 'This is a very difficult time for Brandon and family, thankfully he will make a full recovery.

'We simply ask that his privacy is respected.'

This isn't the first time Marshall suffered a serious injury during the offseason. During the 2008 off-season he suffered a bad laceration to his arm when smashing through a television set at his home. Marshall initially said he slipped on a McDonald's wrapper but then admitted he also was involved in 'horseplay' with a family member.

More details here

It’s baseball season and time to remember Lee Elia’s famous meltdown

In April 1983, the Chicago Cubs got off to an 5-14 start. This is the famous profanity filled tirade



Un-bleeped version



Bonus: Tommy Lasorda famous tirades

Video: Annoyed Tennis Player David Ferrer Launches Ball at Crying Baby during match

I thought tennis was supposed to be the gentile sport?

The Blaze reports a baby was bawling, and Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinalist David Ferrer wasn’t too happy, either.
Trailing in his match and annoyed by the crying, Ferrer directed a forehand lob toward the infant after losing his serve midway through the second set Wednesday.



I guess you find the biggest jerks on the tennis court as well. If I was the kid’s father and the ball hit the baby, there would be one less tennis player in the world.

Wild Video: Sports Reporter Ben Higgins Nearly Run Over During Live Report

Was that Lindsey Lohan or Charlie Sheen driving the SUV?

The Blaze reports KGTV-10’s Sports Reporter Ben Higgins doesn’t skip a beat–he continues his report about the NCAA basketball tournament unfazed, eventually saying, as you can see in this version of the clip, “back live here in Tucson, and just barely….”

What a professional.



Check the blood alcohol of the driver!

St. John’s lucky charm Steve Lavin’s Hottie wife Mary Ann Jarou

I graduated St. John’s, class of 85, with Chris Mullin. But, I don’t seem to recall Louie Carnesecca’s wife looking like this.

New York Post reports that St. John's is expected to storm the NCAA tourney this week with one of its strongest squads in recent memory -- but their good-luck charm sits behind the bench.

Mary Ann Jarou, the stunning wife of freshman coach Steve Lavin, is the Red Storm's rock.


Known as "Miss Mary," the plucky, petite Midwesterner has caught nearly every game in her husband's remarkable first season with the Johnnies, including those in Alaska.

"It was live, breathe, eat basketball," said Jarou, 33. "The team is like a family."

More details here

HS star Wes Leonard dies after winning shot

Tomorrow is never guaranteed for any of us. It’s a tragedy to bury a child. I can’t think of any worse a pain.

Go hug your kids tonight extra tight!

CBS News reports a Michigan high school's star basketball player collapsed on the court and later died after making a game-winning layup in overtime to cap his team's perfect season.
Wes Leonard of Fennville High died Thursday night, Holland Hospital spokeswoman Deb Patterson said. A cause of death was determined to be an enlarged heart.
Paramedics performed CPR on the 16-year-old before he was pronounced dead at the hospital, Patterson said.

Leonard, a junior, was "by far the best player on that basketball team — outstanding athlete," said coach Mike Miller, whose Bridgman team lost 57-55 to Fennville Thursday night.

"All of Bridgman's thoughts and prayers are going toward Fennville right now," Miller told The Associated Press Friday morning.
Leonard was a multi-sports star at Fenville High School - as a quarterback, he helped take the football team to the playoffs, CBS affiliate WWMT in Kalamazoo reports. (Watch video at bottom of story).
Grief counselors were on hand at the high school on Friday, the district said.

More details here

MLB loaned cash strapped New York Mets $20 million

Mets fans, like me, don’t care much about Fred Wilpon’s financial problems.



We want to see a winner on the field!



So, if the Mets can’t be run like a big market New York team should, it’s time for the Wilpons to sell the team and ride off into the sunset

The New York Post reports that Major League Baseball loaned the Mets more than $20 million in November in a bid to shore up the cash-strapped team, sources told The Post.

"We did receive a loan from Major League Baseball in November," the Mets said in a statement. "Beyond that, we will not discuss the matter any further."

The team’s principal owner, Fred Wilpon, and his partners are scrambling to line up an investor to purchase as much as 25 percent of the team in the wake of a lawsuit brought by the bankruptcy trustee charged with clawing back billions for victims of Bernie Madoff.

The trustee, Irving Picard, has sued the team for as much as $1 billion, alleging Wilpon and his partners knew — or should have known — about Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme.

Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff have insisted they will maintain majority ownership of the Mets despite the suit, although a financial adviser to the team recently said they would consider selling a bigger stake.

The November loan from the MLB suggests the team was experiencing a cash crunch before Picard’s suit against them became public

Trump interested in buying New York Mets

As a Mets I think its safe to say that a majority of Mets fans would leap 20 feet into the air if Donald Trump became the new owner of the New York Mets. I’ve writtten about Trump buyint the Mets more than oince on this blog.

So, if this report is true and if the Wilpons are willing to step aside and let an aggressive owner like Trump take control of the franchise, it would make Mets fans as giddy as kids on Christmas morning.

Keep you’re fingers crossed, Mets fans!

UPI reports that U.S. real estate developer and television celebrity Donald Trump says he's interested in buying a majority stake of the financially troubled New York Mets.

Current principal owner Fred Wilpon has said he's looking for investors in the team after being sued in December by the trustee for the victims of Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernard Madoff, who claims Wilpon, his family and co-Mets owner Saul Katz made more than $300 million from Madoff's activities.

Wilpon and Katz claim they were among the victims of Madoff's multibillion-dollar investment scam.

While Wilpon has said he's looking for minority stakeholders, Trump told Tuesday's New York Times he's only interested in buying the team outright if the current owners are willing to sell a majority share.

Trump, a native of the New York City borough of Queens, told the newspaper he arranged to meet Wilpon about two weeks ago but the meeting has yet to happen.

The Mets had no immediate comment to the Times on Trump's comments.

Christina Aguilera doesn’t know the words to National Anthem she sang at the Super Bowl because she trusted lyrics found on Wikipedia

If somebody is gonna sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, you’d think they’d be better prepared than relying on Wikipedia, a favored site of Liberals.

The Daily Mail reports that Christina Aguilera made an astonishing gaffe by botching the lyrics to the American National Anthem as she kicked off the Super Bowl on Sunday night.

The 30-year-old singer performed a throaty rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner to open the NFL championship - but sang incorrect lyrics that matched an error from Wikipedia.

What she should have sung in the middle of the song was: 'Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.'

But what she sang instead, as over 100 million people watched, was 'Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming.'

That error matches one that used to exist on the Wikipedia entry for the Star Spangled Banner Lyrics.
Wikipedia is a user-generated online encyclopaedia that depends on the community for accuracy.






More details here

Top 10 memorable NFL coaching rants Viseo

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday

Bombshell Report: Mets owners in much worse financial shape than claimed

This article in the New York Post has uncovered that Fred and Jeff Wilpon are in a much greater financial bind than they said last week.



As a Mets fan for nearly 40 years, I have learned to never take the Wilpons at their word. If its true that the Mets are 700 million dollars in debt, then the Wilpons may indeed be trying to sell the Mets outright at the highest possible price.



May only wish is that the next owner has extremely deep pockets and would refuse to play second fiddle to the Yankees.



That would be a Mets fans dream.



The New York Post reports that the New York Mets owners are in a much tighter squeeze than they are letting on, The Post has learned, and they may be forced to sell a controlling stake in the team.



Fred Wilpon and his ownership team have been shopping a minority stake in the Amazin's to Wall Street titans and other deep-pocketed investors for at least three months, said a source who was approached.



Potential investors stand to get little or no say over the team, despite the high debt load and hefty asking price. "Why would I put up a couple hundred million and get no rights?" said one prospective buyer who passed on the offer.



Wilpon said Friday in a conference call announcing that the owners were seeking to sell a 20 to 25 percent stake that "it is prudent for us to explore our options at this point," implying that the process had just begun. In reality, the process has been going on for months, sources told The Post.



The team, owned by Sterling Equities, which is controlled by Wilpon and his son, Jeff, is worth between $750 million and $1 billion, once source said.



Forbes last year pegged the value at $858 million.



But the team has roughly $700 million of debt, and that should be subtracted from the valuation when calculating what an owner's stake is worth, sources said. Using the $858 million valuation and the $700 million in debt, a 25 percent stake in the free equity amounts to just $39.5 million -- not the $200 million asking price.



While Sterling's 60 percent stake in its cable network, SportsNet New York, could be worth hundreds of millions, it cannot be used to attract minority investors to the team, sources said.



Sterling would have to distribute any proceeds from the sale of its SNY stake to lenders under the terms of their credit agreement, according to three sources close to the situation.



Also, it cannot borrow any more against the team or SNY under the loan agreements, said a source with direct knowledge of the team's finances. The Wilpon family already raised more than $200 million this summer by borrowing against the Mets and SNY, sources said.



The Wilpons have been trying to replace roughly $750 million they lost by investing with convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, a source said. In addition, they are now in settlement talks with Irving Picard, the trustee for the Madoff estate, who claims Sterling is a "net winner" that withdrew $48 million more from two Madoff funds than it invested.



Looking to raise several hundred million but hemmed in by debt, the Wilpons may be forced to sell a larger stake than they wish.



"If they can't find a buyer, they will need to sell a majority stake six months from now," said a source.



The Mets declined comment.

Incredible Video: Phoenix Suns Fan Dunks Himself

This guy is lucky he didn’t break his neck or worse. This may have been a half time show at a Suns game. A man flies in the air and goes through the hoop.

From Terez Owens

Wilpons willing to sell part of New York Mets

A Mets fan wish: Fred Wilpon, please sell the Mets and get out from under Madoff debts

I know this is wishful thinking, but sometimes wishes do come true. Fred Wilpon’s Sterling Equities announced that they are in the process of seeking limited partners to buy minority interests in the New York Mets.

I’d wager that 10 out of 10 Mets fans would hope, beg, or pray that some filthy rich individual like Donald Trump or Mark Cuban would give the Wilpons an offer they couldn’t refuse.

But, Mike Francessa of WFAN stated today on the radio that he’s been told by Fred Wilpon on more than one occasion that he intends to pass the team to his grandchildren.

That’s his right, it’s his property to do as he wishes.

However, long suffering Mets fans who live in the shadows of the New York Yankees and the millions they spend year after year to put a winner on the field, think otherwise.

The New York Post reports that Mets owners on Friday said they’re considering selling 20-25 percent of the team to "strategic partners" because of the financial uncertainty created by the lawsuit filed against them by the trustee in the Bernie Madoff bankruptcy case.

Fred Wilpon said the decision to offer part of the team was not made under pressure from Major League Baseball.

"At the outset I want to emphasize what we are discussing today has not and will not affect the Mets day-to-day operations and control," the Mets CEO said.

"Let me stress, at the end of the day, we may or may not do anything."
Jeff Wilpon, the team's COO, said the offer does not include interest in SNY or Citi Field.

The team said in a statement they have hired investment bank Allen & Co. to explore alternatives, including adding “one or more strategic partners.”

Adviser Steve Greenberg said he expects "robust interest" in the part of the team available, which could be worth over $200 million.

Last spring, Forbes estimated the Mets were worth $858 million, third in baseball behind the Yankees ($1.6 billion) and Red Sox ($870 million).

While Sterling Equities, the entity that is the Mets’ principal owner, is working to settle the suit, it wants to “address the air of uncertainty created by this lawsuit, and to provide additional assurance that the New York Mets will continue to have the necessary resources to fully compete and win.”

The Mets finished 2010 with baseball’s sixth-highest payroll at $127.6 million in going 79-83. They have not attempted to sign any top free-agents, instead adding pitchers Chris Capuano ($1.5 million) and Chris Young ($1.1 million).

In December, Irving Picard, the bankruptcy trustee trying to recover cash for Madoff's victims, sued Sterling Equities, which was a big Madoff client.

The suit, filed under seal in Manhattan bankruptcy court, did not state how much of Madoff's phony investment gains Picard was looking to claw back from Sterling but previous court filings hint that Wilpon's wallet could be $48 million lighter should Picard win.

More details here

I think the Wilpons are in worse shape than their letting on. They can’t pay back 50 million? That doesn’t even get you a decent #3 starter.

Time will tell.

Here’s a New Yorker rooting for the Steelers

Yes, I’m rooting for the Steelers to beat the New York Jets. Hey, I’m a Giants fan that would love nothing more than the Black and Gold crush Rex Ryan’s big fat mouth.

Steers strike back, Queers take it in the ass. Texas Rangers take game 3 World Series

The Steers are back home in Texas and properly took care of business (Rangers 4 Giants 2). I took a lot of ribbing from Queer fans (San Francisco Giants fans, Giants rooters, Homo freak supporters) that took offense to my original post, Steers against the Queers.

But, hey I’m a tough New Yorker that can take it. You think I give a hoot if I get called a Homophobe. Pleeeeease, lets get real here. You know the sticks and stones thing?

The Rangers are still in the hole, but quite capable of winning the next two in Texas (red state) and off the Queerland (San Francisco/blue state/pot smoking) we go.

Go Rangers!

P.S.

If you want Political Correctness, don't visit this site. You've been warned!


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T.J. Lavin in Coma after Major BMX Crash (Video)

CBS News reports that BMX Star and MTV personality T.J. Lavin is in a medically induced coma after crashing his bike at an event in Las Vegas Thursday night, TMZ reports.

Lavin was competing in the Dew Tour event when he lost control of his bike going over a dirt ramp and hit the ground hard, TMZ reports.

More details here




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