Starting Five
We all thought they’d pin it on this guy.
1. If Convicted, He Could Receive…The Dip
A 22 year-old employee at Disneyland, Christian Barnes, is arrested after a bottle filled with dry ice explodes in a trash can in the Toon Town section of Disneyland. Lead investigator Eddie Valiant will be on the case as soon as he checks out of an alcohol rehab center in Malibu. There’s a Toon Town section of Disneyland?!? Where have I been? Honestly, if they don’t have a barber shop that offers a shave and a haircut for two bits, I don’t know why they’d even bother to open the section.
2. And What of the Court of Public Opinion?
On “Costas Tonight” on NBC Sports Channel last night — I swear I only tuned in to watch “CrossOver” –, your eponymous host has a Paterno family spokesperson, a Paterno family attorney, and former Pa. governor Dick Thornburgh on to discuss the lawsuit they are filing against the NCAA. They insist that there was no “elaborate cover-up” (who ever said that it was elaborate?) while Costas reminds viewers that Louis Freeh and NCAA prez/bully Mark Emmert were invited to appear, but declined. I was, shall you say, Touched by this idea. Because if the Paterno family wins this lawsuit, everyone will switch course and decide that Joe Paterno committed no sins of negligence or omission while dozens of prepubescent boys were sexually assaulted by a man he knew and employed for three decades.
As for elaborate cover-ups, where’s Bob’s gray hair? He’s 61.
Maybe I should get back with Chandler.
3. Courteney Cox and David Arquette finalize their divorce. “Do you know the way to Cougar Town?”
Gronk
4. New England Patriot tight end Rob Gronkowski is scheduled to have back surgery after already having undergone four forearm surgeries.
5. Moments after this took place, both John Calipari and Rick Pitino booked tickets on a non-stop flight to Kenya.
Read some of your tweet ‘conversations’ about Paterno, PSU, Sandusky. Have a question – so, you’d say Ariel Castro’s brothers, his daughters, neighbors, co-workers, EVERY kid he ever drove on a schoolbus for years ALL “had to know” he held 3 kidnapped/repeatedly raped & assaulted young women for over a DECADE in his house?
And what about all the serial rapists/killers/pedophiles that lived & continued to commit their crimes for decades? How many times do you hear/read of “utter & complete SHOCK” by those who “knew” & or lived with the the perps? That would be ALWAYS.
I don’t have any idea what Paterno, the other coaching staff, the AD, or the President of Penn State knew or didn’t know about JS. Or when they knew it. Just know that “evil lurks in the hearts of (some) men” & sometimes, many times, just the Shadow (& apparently YOU) know.
I didn’t go to Penn State, nor was I a huge fan of Paterno. I had thought he became increasingly cranky over the years & should have retired 10 years before he did. I admired his football achievements & especially that almost every man that went through his program spoke glowingly of the Coach for what he taught them on & off the field. When the story broke, I was as shocked as everyone. And hoped “the truth” would be proven, that Sandusky would go to prison, & that the victims & their families could begin the long process of healing.
However, the ‘Freeh Report’ was a disgusting joke. Three-four months of “investigation” into a 10-15 year time period? When they had NO supoena power & no one was under oath? It was not just a ‘rush to judgement’, it was a desperate & despicable intent by the university & the NCAA to isolate/blame/eradicate “the cancer”, put it “behind them” & move on as quickly as possible. Same thing’s been done for centuries by all bastions of power whenever their fiefdom/power is under attack.
And if all future crime “investigations” are based largely on what was said, inferred, “intended”, hinted or actually NOT SAID in emails, then our legal system is doomed.
Thoughts & prayers for you today Jdubs, thoughts & prayers.