Starting Five
1. Boston
A few thoughts: No one has claimed responsibility, and whoever perpetrated this act (working solo or more than one person) was not a suicide bomber, i.e., he/she/they were not about dying for their cause…. hence the odds increase that whoever did this is acting more as a lone wolf… there were too many people taking too many photos and shooting too much video of the finish line area; the bomber is on someone’s camera… Did the bomber plant the bag there for maximum media affect? So that the crime would be televised?… My heart goes out to the three people who lost their lives –and their families– but also to the people who suffered life-altering injuries, particularly loss of limbs. People such as Jeff Bauman, 27, (below), who was there to watch his girlfriend run. Particularly cruel… Boston is a university-infested city, drawing students from all over the world. You will recall that the Virginia Tech gunman and the Denver theater gunman were disaffected college students at or near the time that they committed their mass murders. Is it anything? Maybe not. Is the FBI looking into it? No doubt.
Bauman would lose both of his lower legs to the blast.
The woman who appeared on both the covers of Tuesday’s New York Daily News and New York Post (I’ll leave it to you to speculate as to why) is Nicole Gross, a former swimmer at the University of Tennessee. Gross, 31, a personal trainer at the Charlotte Athletic Club, suffered a broken leg and ankle. Her sister, Erika Brannock, 29, had to have one leg amputated below the knee. They were both there to watch their mother, Carol Downing, 57, who was running the marathon.
Gross (right) and her mom, Carol, before the race.
2. Au, Shucks
You know what is not worth its weight in gold? Gold! Earlier this week the most precious of all metals endured its worst two-day sell off in 30 years, plunging to a two-year low of $1,321 per ounce (which, according to this story, would make it cheaper than cocaine… which you cannot legally invest in). Anyway, the price of gold has already dipped 18% this year.
I have some bad news for you…
3. A few pearls of wisdom courtesy of a recent Rolling Stone interview with comic Louis CK. On putting in the years versus being an overnight success: “It’s understandable for people to want all their favorite things to happen, but the crazy thing is to think that they can avoid all of the hard things. To want everything that you ever dreamed of, to the exclusion of anything hard, that feels common to me now in a way that is hurting people. They’re ignoring how much good there is in being present for the hardest parts of your life…the worst thing happening to this generation is that they’re taking discomfort away from themselves.”
On our reaction to violence (and remember, this interview took place over a month ago): “What most people do with these events that happen, the violence in our country, is really disgusting, which is to pore over it. Everyone congratulates each other about how upset they are…every time there’s a tragedy in America, there’s all this gawky fascination and a lot of (***in’) exploitation. There’s a lot of (****in’ ) Nancy Grace…”
4. Just so everyone knows. This is Adam Scott, Masters champion, Aussie, and studly bachelor. And this is Adam Scott, actor (“Party Down”, “Parks & Rec”) who is not Aussie but who is kind of a leading man. Earlier this week the latter went on Conan to let everyone know he’d heard enough of the jokes. So, Are we having fun yet?
5. Final night of the NBA’s regular season. For 14 of the league’s 30 franchises, it’s “Win or Lose and Go Home.” What to watch for: Golden State’s Stephen Curry, who has buried 16 three-pointers in the past two games, needs just two more to break the NBA single-season record of 269 set by Ray Allen in 2006. The Warriors visit Portland, who have lost 12 straight contests by an average margin of 14.5 points per game. Ouch.
The East Bay’s most accurate shooter since Rick Barry
Reserves
A beaver is not a creature to be trifled with. A 60 year-old man in Belarus was killed last week when attempting to take a photograph with one and while this video is of a separate beaver attack, you can sort of get the picture why it’s best to avoid them.
We also recommend avoiding Biebers
Farewell to Pat Summerall, 82. Before he teamed up with John Madden to create arguably the best broadcast duo in NFL history, Summerall and Tom Brookshier created the NFL highlight show genre with “This Week in the NFL.” Here they are doing the open for Super Bowl XII, Dallas versus Denver, in New Orleans.
“Could I BEEE any less excited?” NBC is bringing Friends back for a full season. In 2014. I was wondering what had happened to Gunther.
Can I buy a vowel because O. My. God!
Remote Patrol
Utah Jazz vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers
ESPN, 8 and 10:30 p.m.
If the Jazz win, then the Lakers must defeat Houston in order to make the playoffs. If the Jazz lose, the Lakers are not only in but could overtake the Rockets for the seventh spot in the Western Conference by defeating them. Either way, both sides draw either Oklahoma City or San Antonio, so good luck with that.
The Lakers opened the season 0-3 and it seems as if they’ve been chugging uphill to make the playoffs ever since. It all comes down to this evening, a home contest versus the playoff-bound Houston Rockets at Staples. If the Utah Jazz lose earlier in the night at Memphis, then the outcome here becomes irrelevant. If the Jazz win, though, L.A. must beat playoff-bound Houston in order to qualify.
Louis CK – BULLSHIT. I know NO ONE, NOT EVER, who has “congratulated” anyone including themselves over how “upset they are” over some tragedy. That’s not just a crock but a 2-ton load. BULLSHIT. You foam at the mouth at people who offer up “thoughts & prayers” but THIS, you commend?
And speaking of the dreaded “T&P”, the father of Martin Richard put out a statement last night thanking all those who knew his family & those who were total strangers that had sent their, wait for it…. “THOUGHTS & PRAYERS”. Guess he didn’t realize they were from “sanctimonious reactionist sheep”. (Note – this last quote was not by jdubs but by one of his twitter followers). Sorry, guess I’m still miffed, I’ll move on from it now.
You mentioned previously how so many tragic things happen in April, the “crulest month”. I grew up on a farm that my family/ancestors have owned since the Civil War. One day when I was a kid, we were visiting one of the older farmers (in his 80s) on our road & the only thing I ever remember this man saying was that bad things happen in April because “humans have trouble with the atmospheric & weather changes” from winter to spring. Once we got back in our car, I laughed & laughed & told my Aunt that guy was a certified loon. 40 years later & I’m thinking he was possibly an idiot savant.