Michael Jackson Dead at 50

The King of Pop is dead.

There will never be another entertainer like him.

Say what you will, as a musical entertainer Michael Jackson had no equal. The first concert that I ever attended was the Jacksons Victory tour which took place at the height of Michael Jackson's popularity.



I was thirteen years old.

I distinctly remember witnessing hundreds of teens crying in uncontrollable hysterics while listening to his music during the concert. It was unbelievable. To this day I've never seen anything like it.

The first VHS video that my family ever owned was "The Thriller" video directed by John Landis. We must've watched that thing a thousand times.

He was an entertaining actor too.

He notably appeared in "The Wiz" which was directed by Sidney Lumet and the 3D Disneyland attraction "Captain E.O." which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas.









Big names...I know.

If that wasn't enough, he was directed by Martin Scorsese in the short film / music video "Bad".



Of course, later in his life he was known more for the controversy that was generated in his wake. At best, he was ridiculed for his eccentric behavior, at worst, he was accused of being a child molester.




But what was undeniable was his incredible music.

I remember going to Club 70's on Sundays in Hollywood. Every time Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Till you get Enough" played the whole club rocked, literally EVERYONE in the club would dance. People would come streaming out of the bathroom, people would stop drinking their drinks, strangers would grab strangers just so they wouldn't have to dance alone. People would be doing the moonwalk. Grabbing their crotch, spinning, the whole deal.

It was classic.

The song symbolized the height of that evening's festivities.

Cause it was all down hill from there.

Rest in Peace Michael Jackson.

Los Angeles Lakers 2009 NBA Champions

Photo courtesy of Robert Gauthier/ Los Angeles Times


It's been a long, brutal road since the Los Angeles Lakers last won the NBA championship in 2002.

Chick Hearn passed away. Kobe Bryant was charged with rape. Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined the team. Lakers lost to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA finals. Shaquille O'Neal was traded for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler. Phil Jackson left the Lakers. Rudy Tomjanovich was named head coach, then retired soon after. Lakers missed the playoffs. Shaq won a championship with the Miami Heat. Phil Jackson returned to the Lakers. Kobe Bryant demanded a trade. Lakers acquired Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown. Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics, of all teams, in the 2007 - 2008 NBA Finals.

Then we finally have today.

I have to admit, although it's great to celebrate a championship for the Lakers and their fans, it wasn't a fun ride.

I'll be the first to admit that I've been critical of Kobe Bryant and the franchise during this time and I still mourn the loss of my favorite player Shaquille O'Neal.

It's hard for me to just forgive and forget the horrible road it took to get to this position again.

But I've been a fan of the Lakers since I first learned to dribble a basketball. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was my favorite player growing up and I cried when Magic Johnson was forced to retire prematurely.

So I recognize and celebrate the significance of a NBA championship for the team and the fans of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Some milestones in this series win include the first NBA Finals MVP for Kobe Bryant.

Phil Jackson won his tenth NBA Championship as a head coach. The most for any coach in the history of the NBA.

Derek Fisher won his fourth NBA Championship, all with the Lakers.

The Lakers won their 15th NBA title in the franchise's history.

Congratulations to the 2008-2009 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2

 

I found this image of Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2 via Dark Horizons and also through the blog of my friend Lon Harris.

Not sure what to...um...make of it.

Word is Rourke will be performing his role speaking in mostly Russian. He also spent some time in a Russian prison preparing for the role.

Nice.

No doubt Rourke is back. But what is up with that costume?

Dude, looks like a silly extra in an episode of Farscape.

I liked the first Iron Man movie.

But ironically what I liked about the film had nothing to do with the action or comic book elements.

I pretty much just enjoyed Robert Downey Jr.'s take as Tony Stark.

Truth be told, I thought a lot of the movie felt kinda silly and the action felt almost like a television movie of the week. Especially in comparison to The Dark Knight. Almost like an A-Team television reunion.

Well...maybe not that bad. But close.

I'm sure it was just the limited budget. I trust Jon Favreau. I'm sure he'll deliver a great movie with a bigger budget.

And I'm sure there's an excellent explanation for that outfit that Rourke has on.

Right?

King LeBron James the Loser?

LeBron James finally apologized to the media and fans for skipping the mandatory news conference following the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sort of.

David Stern fined the NBA star $25,000 for not taking his media medicine and for refusing to discuss the Cavaliers disappointing series loss.

Stern stated, "He asked that I express to the media, the Magic and the fans his apology, and particularly the young fans, because he knows he has a responsibility to all of our fans, and that sportsmanship is appropriate whether you win or whether you lose. He understands why it was necessary for me to fine him $25,000 for missing the media availability."

Much has been made by the media and fans for LeBron James not congratulating the Orlando Magic players after losing the series, which is customary and for LeBron James leaving the arena in an insolent huff without talking to anybody.

Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports even went so far to call LeBron James a loser.

A...LOSER.

Not as a player in a game either...but a loser in terms of his character.

Ouch.

He has a point. Little League players are taught to congratulate each other after games. If we expect it from our kids shouldn't we expect it from our most revered athletes?

Supporters of LeBron James will say that it's his competitive fire, his fear that he'd say something he'd regret. The anger and disappointment in the series loss being too much for him to explain appropriately.

But isn't this what he's paid for?

He's paid to entertain, which includes taking his lumps when things go bad. If he gets the acclaim when they win, then he should get the blame when they lose.

It's unquestionably immature and poor behavior from someone who should know better.

The question I have is....why are we surprised?

We're talking about a guy who's nickname is "KING JAMES" and "THE CHOSEN ONE".



Seriously folks.

"THE CHOSEN ONE" as in The Savior, in essence "a basketball god".

Poseidon is the "God of the Sea". Apparently, according to the media, LeBron James is the "God of Basketball".



We're supposed to be surprised when "The King" ignores the pleas of his subjects? Or when a "god" ignores the humble prayers of his worshipers?

This is what we get when we anoint someone as all powerful.

I've stated before that I hate the media coverage of LeBron James. Not sure how the inappropriate media coverage of James got started, but it is now spinning way out of control.

We've gone from playfully calling players "Magic" and "Dr." to giving a talented player, who hasn't won a championship yet, a deity status.

I thought calling Michael Jordan, (Air) an element was pushing it.

But calling LeBron James a god?

Not only a god, but one that we must sit back in awe of and "witness"?




It's sickening.

What's worse is that the media is now shifting attention away from the deplorable behavior of LeBron James and towards the Cleveland Cavaliers so-called "crucial off-season". Crucial because the team must make moves to keep LeBron James in Cleveland.

Cause they must appease the God with a suitable sacrifice.

It's disgusting.

So...apparently... the Cavs have to give LeBron James a championship on a silver platter in order to make it enticing for him to stay?

Instead of expecting LeBron James to lead a team to a championship, the front office MUST build a "Dream Team" around him or he'll bolt to another team as a free agent.

How did things get turned around like this?

Truth is, LeBron is just looking for an excuse to leave and I say good riddance. If he wants to play in Europe or worse with the New York Knicks more power to him.

He'll learn that changing teams doesn't equal winning a championship.

Winning a championship takes unquenchable desire, overcoming intense adversity, displaying unquestionable heart and proving one's unmatched talent.

Greater players than LeBron have been unable to win a championship. Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Karl Malone and Dominique
Wilkins to name a few.

It's one of the few things, LeBron, "a King" cannot summon on a whim or "a god" cannot conjure at will.

Sunday Scores and More

My friend and former Mahalo.com co-worker Jon Moncrief has decided to start a radio show on the Sports Journey broadcast network.

Guess who he asked to be his co-host?

If one has visited this site before they'll note that besides movie reviews and posting trailers, I'm also an opinionated and passionate sports fan. I've always been a big follower of athletics, especially of the local teams and boxing. But since I've worked the past several years covering sports news, as well as doing extensive sports research for Mahalo.com and I have spent the majority of my life in media and theater performance, this feels like a logical next step.

The title of the show is Sunday Scores and More and our premiere episode streams at 10AM Eastern, 7AM Pacific on June 14, 2009 at http://www.sportsjourney.com/ on the Sports Journey network. Each show is archived for download so if one misses it live they can still catch it at their own convenience. The show will air at the same time every Sunday.

The host and creator of the show is Jon Moncrief. He has been in the sports industry for most of his life. He is currently a writer covering the Los Angeles Kings for Examiner.com. He has also written for publications such as That's Life Magazine, The Bergen Record, The Florida Times-Union, AllSports.com, and New Jersey Blitz Magazine. He was lead writer for 4CHOSEN The Documentary, which won Best Documentary Film at the 2008 Garden State Film Festival. Jonathan also was lead writer for North Jersey Sports Showcase in 2004.

Since he's a big East Coast guy, he has asked me to provide some West Coast flavor and perspective to the show. Besides listening to us blab, Crief (short for Moncrief) has lined up an impressive line-up of guests and personalities from the sports world.

So please visit Sports Journey.com and check out the show. Should be lots of fun.

The Boyfriend Experience

My friends over at Totally Sketch have created a parody trailer of the film The Girlfriend Experience starring porn star Sasha Grey and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

The clip is funny without seeing the original trailer. But for proper perspective first watch the trailer for The Girlfriend Experience.



Here's the well made parody trailer directed by the talented Michael Gallagher and starring my friend Lon Harris.



Hilarious.

Totally Sketch comes out with funny original videos every Thursday. Check out the official site at http://www.totallysketch.com/.

Sad day for Baseball

Baseball earned another black eye with the news today that Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games for violation of the Major League Baseball drug policy.



Very sad news, especially for die hard fans like me.

Manny Ramirez Suspended for Illegal drugs

Manny Ramirez was suspended by Major League Baseball today for 50 games.

After the announcement of his suspension was made, Ramirez released a statement, he explained, "Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me,unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."

Now...I believe...and reports have confirmed that "the personal health issue" Ramirez is referring to is for sexual potency. The kind of performance enhancing that Major League Baseball could care less about.

So the culprit is supposedly... a fertility drug?

Ramirez will reportedly lose about $8 million dollars for his missed time with the Dodgers.

Wow.

Now I'm not a doctor, so I don't know what positive effects a sex drug will have on a Major League Baseball player's swing, but this seems a little excessive. Doesn't it?

He lost $8 million in salary because he needed help to get it up? He's too good to use Viagra?




Reportedly, the drug in question, hCG, is also used to help an athlete restore testosterone after a steroids cycle use, to restart the bodies' natural testosterone.

Now THAT'S interesting and more than suspicious.

I know the situation says otherwise, I'm not naive or stupid but I still find it hard to believe...that a guy in Manny Ramirez's current situation would use a drug like this to cheat at baseball, especially at this point in his career. It's not like Manny was in a contract year. He JUST landed his big contract. It makes no sense for Manny to use performance enhancers now. Andruw Jones landed a big contract from the Dodgers and sucked ass last year. He's still getting his money. They don't take away money from you when you suck ass. They just get angry at you and try to get rid of you.

I know he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer but man....

It makes more sense to me that Manny needed help to get it up in the sack, not on the baseball diamond.

I'm not a famous multi-millionaire so I wouldn't know, but I assume that when you are, attractive women tend to throw themselves at you in new and creative ways. He's been a multi-millionaire for way over a decade now....that's a lot of women being creative trying to get his attention.

Something tells me he needs a little more than whispering sweet nothings in his ear to get his juices going.




Ramirez was reportedly devastated by the news, he stated "I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

I think the Dodgers will be fine without him. The ironic thing is that Manny usually takes about 50 games off during the season with a fake injury anyways. So losing him for a short while, this early won't hurt too much and the Dodgers, who play in the horrible National League West aren't in any danger of missing the post season because of this.

The damage done by this news will be on Manny Ramirez's legacy. History is not kind towards reported cheaters. No matter if he meant to cheat or not.

Ramirez will return from his suspension to the Dodgers on July 3, 2009.

I imagine he'll be in bed "working out" during this free time...getting his money's worth I hope.

Pacquiao Defeats Hatton

Awesome display of boxing superiority by Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao.

Manny Pacquiao destroys Ricky Hatton

Wow.

That's all I could say after watching another lopsided victory by Manny Pacquiao.

I honestly didn't have a good feeling going into this bout. Manny proved me wrong...again.

Logic dictates that a man fighting at 140 pounds for his entire career would have a marked advantage over a fighter who is fighting at that weight for only his third time.

Manny surprised me again with a brutal second round knockout. He knocked down Hatton twice in the first round in a fierce display of boxing superiority.



The key to the fight was not only Pacquiao's punching power, but also an excellent game plan by legendary trainer Freddie Roach.

Roach stated, "Ricky is wide open for the right. He always cocks his fist back before he throws it. He fights the same way over and over. I've studied every tape I could get for two months. I know him like I know my own fighter."

Pacquiao noted, "He punches his hands before he throws a punch. He's a sucker for a right hook. I knew he'd be looking for my left. It was nothing personal. I was just doing my job."

He sure did, that knockout will be on highlight reels for years to come.



As for the extremely likable Ricky Hatton, after a few tense moments when he didn't move after being knocked out, Hatton went straight to the hospital with little comment to the media.

Hatton later stated, "It was a hard loss, but I'm okay. I really didn't see the punch coming but it was a great shot. I know I'll be okay."

Hatton's father confirmed his son's good health after the brutal knockout. Ray Hatton stated, "He's perfectly all right. They've checked him out. He's had all the tests and everything. He's not got a mark on him."



As for the motor mouth trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., he was left virtually speechless. Mayweather flapped his gums these past several months during the promotion of the bout, with silly, insulting poems and made a habit of constantly belittling trainer Freddie Roach, calling him "Freddie the Roach Coach".

Mayweather stated,"I really felt Ricky would get him. I don't want to go into it more than that."

Ha.

The day after the fight, Mayweather called for Hatton to retire. In typical Mayweather style he included a backhanded insult of Pacquiao.

Mayweather stated, "I would suggest he retire. At the end of the day, it's his decision. He tried twice. He failed twice. He lost to my son and to lose to someone below that, it's time to leave the ring. He made a good profit. Sometimes you have to go when your prime is still there."

Witnessing the event were celebrities such as Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Jay-Z and P Diddy.

They watched a systematic, shocking destruction of a proud, talented and honorable fighter in Ricky Hatton and the cementing of a legend in Manny Pacquiao.

With the victory, Pacquiao becomes only the second boxer in history to win six titles in six different weight classes. Oscar De La Hoya, who Pacquiao previously defeated, is the only other boxer to accomplish the feat.

The Passing of Nick Adenhart

After watching last night's frustrating loss to the A's, I went to bed with the comfort that today would be a new day. I looked forward to the chance for the Angels to turn the page on a bad ending to a good game. Little did I know that before I would wake up this morning, a tragedy would unfold that would profoundly effect this season and many more seasons to come for the Angels and their fans.

The day started normally for me. I drove to work listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN. The recap played every ten minutes of how the Angels blew the lead, despite six strong innings from the young pitcher Nick Adenhart. When I arrived at work, I clocked in and started my work day. Before I was even completely settled in at work, I was already daydreaming about coming home to my family and watching the Angels game on the big screen tonight.

I was briefly chatting on AIM with my wife, when she informed me of the tragic collision. The news was being reported on TV.

At the young age of 22, Nick Adenhart had passed away, the victim of a senseless traffic collision. Two others were also killed, while one was in critical condition. The culprit, a man who made the poor decision to attempt to drive home under the influence of alcohol and with his license suspended. He ran a red light with his mini-van, striking the coupe Adenhart and three friends were traveling in.





Reports trickled out about how the man was humble, well liked and respectful to people he came in contact with. He overcame adversity in his career by recovering from tommy john surgery and worked hard to try and bounce back from a disappointing debut last year in the majors.

Last night's game was seen by many as a turning point professionally for him. It was a coming out party for a pitcher who was once seen as a prospect and was now a legitimate major leaguer. His father had even flown out from Maryland to watch the best game of his son's Major League career.

I have never met Nick Adenhart or even watched him play in person at the stadium. But I have to admit that this news has affected me more than I ever expected. It has affected me as a fan of the Angels, as a father, and as a fellow human being.

My deepest condolences go out to the family, teammates and fans of this obviously well-liked and talented young man.

One more Angel in heaven.

A right hander who had amazing potential and reportedly great heart.

The Face of Shakespeare?

Apparently this is the face of William Shakespeare.




The portrait is dated around 1610, which would mean it was done about six years before his death. It was unveiled today to the press. It is believed to be the only painting of Shakespeare made during his lifetime. The image also reportedly sheds some more light on who the Bard actually was. According to experts, the image contradicts previous notions that he was a struggling artist. Reportedly the garment that Mr. Shakespeare is wearing in the portrait is the clothing of someone of upper class, not working class. The intricate lace on the collar supposedly being the main clue of his wealth.

Also Shakespeare has previously been seen in portraits as balding. Such as this famous drawing which was made AFTER his death.



Maybe people remembered him wrong? Jealousy maybe?

Who knew? Turns out Shakespeare did resemble Joseph Fiennes after all.



Which should make the ladies happy.

Here's the full pic.



Handsome devil. Don't you think?