Nope, none. Not D-Wade, not Bron Bron. Nobody: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has always been lauded for his self-motivation and drive to be the best. It’s a good thing he has that internal ambition, because according to Bryant, he’s gone through his 16-year career without a true rival on the exterior to push him to succeed. “I didn’t have one,” Bryant said after scoring 38 points in the Lakers’ 115-107 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Despite Bryant’s acknowledging that it’s not just another game, he wouldn’t characterize his relationship with LeBron James as a rivalry. “Not for me,” Bryant said. “I get up for everybody just the same, to be honest. It’s hard for me to turn my meter up any higher than it normally is.” OK, Bryant was asked, how about Dwyane Wade? After all, Wade plays shooting guard just as Bryant does, Wade has one Finals MVP trophy to Bryant’s two, and Wade has to be close to as competitive as Bryant or else he wouldn’t have given Bryant that hard foul across the face in the All-Star Game. “He’s too young,” Bryant said. “He’s too young. When I came into the league, he was in elementary school.” Bryant is three years older than Wade, but was already a seven-year veteran when Wade was drafted in 2003. Bryant said it is “a little late in the game” for him to develop a rivalry with any current NBA player, so instead he is chasing names in the record books rather than in box scores from the 2011-12 season. “At this point my rivals, in terms of what I have left to accomplish in my career, (left the game) when Magic (Johnson) and Michael (Jordan) retired in ’98,” Bryant said, referring to the second of Jordan’s three retirements that came after he won his sixth and final championship with the Chicago Bulls. “That’s it. In terms of what I’m looking to accomplish, that’s about it.” The San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan won four championships to Bryant’s five throughout their shared careers, but Bryant said while the Spurs might have qualified as a team rival to his Lakers, Duncan’s individual rivalry came against Shaquille O’Neal as a fellow big man. “He was never in my position,” Bryant said. “He was more Shaq’s rival than mine. As a team, the Spurs were always a team that we had to go through. So from that standpoint, yes, but in terms of personally, no. I’ve outgrown them all, from A.I. (Allen Iverson) when I first came in to (Tracy) McGrady to Vince Carter and so forth and so on.” Bryant said that he developed the desire to win multiple championships from an early age. “It’s always what I want to accomplish,” Bryant said. “That’s what you set your goals at. Growing up, watching them, they’ve always won multiple championships and that was always something that I felt like must be done. So, my goal originally when I was a kid and so forth, and when I was a teenager, always started from gauging them.” Although he makes a valid point, someone is certainly feelin himself wayyyyy to much. Source More On Bossip! Where’s Johnny Gill? A Gallery Of Women Eddie Murphy’s Allegedly Chopped Down Over That Ex? Joe Budden Tweets Pics Of His New Boo Thang…Thoughts? Girl Fight??? Rumors Swirl That Piff-Puffin’ Rih-Rih Ain’t Feelin’ Papa Hov Because He Gave Her Song To New-Booty Look Alike Rita Ora! Dancing With The Cakes: The Hottest Women In The History Of Dancing With The Stars
Weezy, Diddy, Cee-Lo, and more performed at Caesars Entertainment’s Escape to Total Rewards concert on stages in Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans and Chicago Thursday. Check HipHopWired.com To Read The Rest And Peep Photos From The Events
Looks like the wedding is on and poppin for J-Hud and her wrestler boo !!! Via Radaronline: At last! More than three years after she accepted boyfriend David Otunga’s proposal, Jennifer Hudson is moving full speed ahead with their dream wedding. The nuptials will take place later this year in Chicago, her hometown, an insider tells Star. “Jennifer loves spending time downtown. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had it in the heart of the city,” says the insider. “There will be around 500 guests. She feels she deserves to have a big, gorgeous wedding, since she’s waited for so long. She’s giddy with excitement!” The 30-year-old Dreamgirls Oscar winner and WWE star David, 31, delayed the nuptials after the murders of her mother, brother and nephew in October 2008. The Hudson family is still suffering through an agonizing trial. And Jennifer may honor her loved ones’ memories by holding the ceremony at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, where Donald Trump graciously accommodated her relatives during the funerals, the insider explains. “It’s a warm spot for her.” Congrats to them. SplashNews More On Bossip! Where’s Johnny Gill? A Gallery Of Women Eddie Murphy’s Allegedly Chopped Down Over That Ex? Joe Budden Tweets Pics Of His New Boo Thang…Thoughts? Girl Fight??? Rumors Swirl That Piff-Puffin’ Rih-Rih Ain’t Feelin’ Papa Hov Because He Gave Her Song To New-Booty Look Alike Rita Ora! Dancing With The Cakes: The Hottest Women In The History Of Dancing With The Stars
The Miami Marlins blew away the baseball world during the offseason with an attitude (and wallet depth) that we’ve never seen before, but big changes probably should’ve been expected before the season even ended. With the announcement in late September that boisterous former Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen would be taking the helm in South Beach, the Marlins showed that they were ready to command… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Amazin’ Avenue Discovery Date : 01/03/2012 16:23 Number of articles : 2
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Bernie Mac gets his just due. A sign bearing the name of the late comedian Bernie Mac has been raised over a street in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. About 200 people, including his widow Rhoda McCullough, daughter Je’Niece McCullough and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, gathered Tuesday on a corner near the home where he grew up. Je’Niece McCullough says she hopes renaming the street Bernie Mac Street reminds people “they can do whatever they want to do in life.” Mac, born Bernard McCullough, died in August 2008 at age 50 from pneumonia complications, after suffering from sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease. To celebrate, we’re all going to the kitchen and grab some milk and coooookies. R.I.P. to the great. Pic via WENN More On Bossip! TwitterFiles: Out-Of-Pocket Nicki Minaj Stans Go HAM On Jill Scott After She Tweets About Exorcism Grammy Performance! Which NBA Player Was Hanging Out With This Boobed Out Beck During All-Star Weekend? A Lil Black Matrimony-dom: Comedian Kel Mitchell Weds His Boo Thang Asia Lee Take The Advice: People That Got Together When Everyone Told Them Not To
His office says she’s lying, but something tells us she ain’t. Karen Lewis, the Chicago Teacher’s Union President, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have a testy relationship at best. But it wasn’t always that way. The two leaders met privately last year ahead of Emanuel’s inauguration. They went for dinner and to attend a dance — both are fans of the art form — and to develop a working relationship. “We were both seeing who the other person was,” she said. Lewis said she got her answer about Emanuel’s character rather quickly. “In that conversation, he did say to me that 25 percent of the students in this city are never going to be anything, never going to amount to anything and he was never going to throw money at them.” She said the comment took her aback, and she looked at him askance. “Even if you feel that way, you can’t say that to me,” she said. “And he sort of poo-pooed it and we moved on.” The Mayor’s Office said Lewis made up the anecdote. “That’s simply false,” said Emanuel Press Secretary Sarah Hamilton. “The Mayor is committed to making sure that every single child in Chicago has access to an excellent education, which is why he is fighting so hard to transform the Chicago public schools that have failed our children year after year.” Lewis says the mayor says one thing in public and another in private. “I’ve only been in office a year and a half — I’m a classroom teacher — and nobody told me that when you say crazy stuff you’re not supposed to discuss it. And we talk about transparency and opening things up and having a real conversation about things… If you say one thing privately and another thing publicly, then how do we negotiate that?” During the interview, which will play in full on Friday’s edition of Ward Room the Television Show, Lewis said what really rubbed her the wrong way about the comment, and what prompted her to speak out, was that the mayor is often seen walking and talking with students who could be the very same ones she says he said he would never help. You can tell this chick ain’t been in politics but for a minute cuz she threw ol’ Rahm RIGHT UNDER THE BUS! Might be bad news for her, cuz that guy is super well connected and has been doing his line of work for a long time. Poor kids of Chicago though, riiiight? Source More On Bossip! Stand By Your Man: Rihanna Is In Full Support Of Chris “Gimme Dat” Brown While He Awaits Word On Cell-Phone-Stealing Charges, Sends Lyrical Sub-Tweets About Getting Him Back! Exhibitionists Pt. 1: The Most Revealing Celebrity Twitpics Of All Time Matrimony-dom: Evelyn Lozada Spills The Beans About Her Wedding Plans With Chad Ochocinco! Jesus Take The Men’s Wearhouse Card: The Funniest Photoshop Pictures Of Jaheim’s Blue Suit [Photos]
Tyler Perry’s new movie “Good Deeds” came in at number two over the weekend grossing $16 million dollars on the big screen! In addition to that, the always charitable Perry did another good deed off screen. The Atlanta filmmaker blessed a Chicago pastor who had been living on an icy rooftop of an abandoned motel for three months in order to draw attention to gun violence. The pastor presided over 10 funerals last year for slain young men, all of them younger than 25. The 43-year-old Rev. Corey Brooks, who is also the father for four, ended his 94-day vigil on Friday after a $100,000 donation from Tyler Perry! Perry’s donation took Pastor Brooks over his goal to raise $450,000 to buy and demolish the dilapidated Super Motel on Chicago’s South Side, which had become a haven for prostitution and drug dealing. Now, Brooks is seeking to raise money to build a community center on the site. Source: Urban Christian News RELATED: Tyler Perry Pays It Forward In “Good Deeds” [TRAILER] Tasha Smith & Michael Jai White On Tyler Perry: “All His Work Is Not The Same!” Tyler Perry Responds To Kim Kardashian Casting Criticism: “I Thought, What Better Person!”
“Nothing will come from this if you win!” joked Seth Rogen as he opened his hosting gig at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards . “Absolutely nothing. This won’t help you get paid anymore — if anything, it proves you’ll work for nothing.” That may be painfully true for many of the indie film nominees honored today at the annual Spirit Awards, held in a tent on the beach in balmy Santa Monica. But what does it mean that the night’s big winner was the Harvey Weinstein-backed awards season juggernaut The Artist ? The Oscar frontrunner swept the Spirit Awards Saturday in a precursor to what most pundits expect will transpire Sunday night at the Academy Awards ; the black and white silent film took home four awards, including Best Feature, Best Director ( Michel Hazanavicius ), Best Actor ( Jean Dujardin ), and Best Cinematography, further sealing its grip on the 2012 awards race. Along the road to Spirit Awards victory, the $15 million The Artist went up against the likes of more conventional indies. (Rules of eligibility includes films made for no more than $20 million.) In the Best Cinematography category, the Weinstein-backed favorite competed against, for example, Evan Glodell’s Bellflower , a film shot on a production budget of $17,000; for Best Feature it vied with 50/50 , Beginners , Drive , Take Shelter , and The Descendants . Additional winners on the night included Dee Rees’ Pariah , Alexander Payne’s The Descendants (which won Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Shailene Woodley), Asgar Farhadi’s A Separation , Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn , and Christopher Plummer for Beginners . (Full winners list here .) In other words – on the whole, not quite so different from the field competing tomorrow at the mainstream Oscars. Maybe that’s why, after Rogen’s fantastic Hollywood-skewering opening monologue, the Spirit Awards started to flag a bit in, well, spirit. By the time the absent Jean Dujardin won Best Actor about halfway through (co-star Penelope Ann Miller, the film’s mascot for the night, accepted on his behalf) the certainty of Artist domination seemed to loom in the air. Once Michel Hazanavicius arrived, fresh from the LAX runway with a police escort minutes before his name was called as Best Director, the sweep was sealed. Would any non-Oscar frontrunning independent filmmaker honorees have gotten the VIP treatment all the way down the 10? Were these the Oscar rehearsals, or the preeminent celebration of American independent film? Well, at least the show had its moments. Highlights included Rogen’s monologue; John Waters acting as MC for the night; Michelle Williams accepting her trophy with a nod to the very first Spirit Awards she ever attended, back when she wore her own clothes and cut her own hair and felt at home in the “room full of misfits, outcast, loners, dreamers, mumblers, delinquents, dropouts – just like me.” Backstage, winners trickled in throughout the night, sharing their own perspectives on craft and the awards show mania. Christopher Plummer , Best Supporting Actor: The jovial Plummer kicked off the winners’ room. “[Michael’s father, his character] was a true character and was written with such affection, such a lack of self-pity. It was fun to do, it made me so relaxed. His marvelous humor against all odds [is] a marvelous lesson to everyone who goes through cancer and dying. He treated it with a sort of carefree sense of humor, no self-pity at all.” Hinting at his next gig on an HBO project, Plummer addressed his continuing career at age 82. “I have to [keep acting] because I may croak at any moment – I have to keep going!” How did he keep from being upstaged by Cosmo the dog on the set of Beginners ? “We had a little private talk, and now that you mention it Cosmo and Uggie , I think our Cosmo was much more human than Uggie . Uggie was just a trickster – our dog had soul .” Shailene Woodley , Best Supporting Actress: “I’m so grateful,” Woodley began. “I don’t know if ‘surprised’ is the right word. I think gratitude kind of fills it all. It’s been such a beautiful experience for me in my life and totally transformed me as a human being, so I’m grateful to have been a part of the film and to have learned so many valuable amazing lessons.” “Every single person involved in the film was incredibly positive and had such gentle, kind, graceful souls. Being on the film as an 18-year-old and experiencing that right as I was about to start my life on my own, it was kind of the catalyst for me coming into my own. I don’t think there are words for me to express my gratitude for that.” As for the Oscars, Woodley has love for the Help star she went up against during the Golden Globes. “I am so stoked for Octavia [Spencer] – she is so awesome! She’s such a nice human being. [Pause] This is crazy. I was not expecting it and I got up there and said um a lot, I’m sure I’m going to be mortified when I watch it.” The Artist crew, Best Feature/Best Actor/Best Cinematography/Best Director: What did producer Harvey Weinstein bring to the film? “His weight,” joked producer Thomas Langmann, who credited Weinstein with taking a chance on The Artist when most backers balked. “We kept going to try to finance this meeting and we had very short meetings… nobody wanted to hear about this one. People told me this is against conventional wisdom. We managed to find the money and wanted to shoot here in Hollywood…” “This movie was made to be a tribute to Hollywood and cinema and especially American cinema. So to come back… and be rewarded by the Hollywood community, is a dream come true.” How’s life treating director Hazanavicius, who’s been on a nonstop tour through the home stretch of his award tour? “It’s not the worst job you can find,” he answered. “You come, you receive awards, everyone is smiling at you and is nice and they tell you you’re talented and have a very funny, charming French accent. [The police escort from LAX] was great. That was the best part.” “It’s physically tiring but the energy is so good that you don’t really feel it,” he said. “We’re really excited and are enjoying every moment we can enjoy.” Looking back to the beginning of their journey, did Weinstein promise the Artist crew he could get them to the Oscars? “Harvey knows how to promise things like that, yes. Sometimes he’s right.” Michelle Williams, Best Actress: “My friend was joking that until now I have been the Susan Lucci of the Indie Spirit Awards!” Williams said, beaming. “I have been luckier and luckier to be working with better and better people.” On how she found her way into Marilyn Monroe: “In a way you had to remove the fact that she was an icon, because that was too daunting… and think of her as an ordinary girl. There wasn’t a direct path in to her, I found. The only way in was time, so much time, and in a way letting her dictate, letting her take shape — letting all this information take shape instead of me trying to control it.” “I just do some work. I just sort of keep my head down, which is a very sort of Montana attitude. There’s this Amish thing, this Quaker thing I like – ‘Eyes to the ground and heart to the skies.’ I just keep focused.” Steve James, dir. The Interrupters , Best Documentary: “It means a lot for a film like this because this is a film about urban violence in Chicago, and when we were making it we never would have anticipated the reaction the film has gotten in the past year. It means a lot for what the film’s about and for us as independent filmmakers – I’ve been doing this now for 27 years, so it means a lot.” Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
