Beano Cook, one of the country’s most well-known college football experts, has passed away from unknown causes. He was 81. A University of Pittsburgh graduate, Cook worked for 10 years as a sports publicist for that school before eventually catching on as an ABC studio commentator in 1982. He then joined ESPN in 1986 and was given the nickname “Cardinal of College Football” due to his vast knowledge of the sport. Most recently, Cook joined ESPN’s Ivan Maisel on a weekly podcast. “He was one of a kind,” George Bodenheimer, ESPN executive chairman, said in a statement. “There never was and never will be another Beano. His combination of humor, passion, love of college football and his engaging personality left an indelible mark on the sport and touched anyone who knew him. Cook also served in the U.S. Army for two years and we send our condolences to his loved ones.
Khlomar’s matrimony-dom might don’t make it… Khloe and Lamar just celebrated their third anniversary , but will they make it to their fourth? According to National Enquirer Reports: KHLOE KARDASHIAN scored a slam dunk when she was asked to co-host “The X Factor” – but the prospective gig has left her hoops-playing hubby Lamar Odom feeling like he’s been fouled! According to insiders, Lamar, 32, is incensed that 28-year-old Khloe is going back on her word to dedicate this year to starting a family and supporting his NBA comeback in Los Angeles. “Khloe told Lamar that this was going to be his time – she even agreed to put the third season of their reality show on hold so he could concentrate on getting his confidence back on the basketball court,” said a source. In April, Lamar was listed as “inactive” with the Dallas Mavericks and did not play for the remainder of the season. But he got another shot when he was traded to the L.A. Clippers in June. “Khloe promised that his career would be the priority,” continued the insider. “She also agreed that they would spend more time together in an attempt to have a baby. “They’ve been trying for three years without any luck. And Khloe’s been gung-ho about alternative conception methods – including IVF. “But now she is going to be totally consumed with ‘The X Factor,’ and he’ll be spending a lot of time on the road with the Clippers. So they’ll see less of each other than ever.” The couple celebrated their third wedding anniversary on Sept. 27, but now friends say there’s so much tension between them that they may not make it another year. In an interview earlier this year, Khloe insisted that women should “put [their] husband first,” and added that “part of being married is knowing when your husband needs your support.” But when Simon Cowell asked Khloe to be co-host on “The X Factor’s” second season with “Extra” hunk Mario Lopez, she seemed quick to put Lamar’s needs on the back burner. She’s been telling pals the offer was simply “too good” to turn down. “It will bring her huge exposure, a large paycheck and make her an even bigger name,” noted the insider. “Lamar is really hurt and angry. He can’t help feeling betrayed by Khloe’s decision to spend more time on her career than on his. It’s like she’s choosing money over love.” Tell that ninja to sit his big depressed azz down somewhere! What if he ends up inactive again? Then he’ll be glad his wife has paper to pay all the bills they’re generating in that house. Do you think Lamar has a point though? If they’re trying to get pregnant shouldn’t Khloe be resting and taking it easy instead of working on a demanding TV set? WENN
Wouldn’t you be embarrassed every time someone asked you for your address? Seven months after starting a petition to rename their Columbia street, C00n Hunt Court, residents officially have their new street — April Wind Court. According to The Grio : “For more than 175 years, the word “c00n” represented racism and bigotry against African-American people. Whether those charged with the naming of the streets of Thunder Hill named Coon Hunt Court with cruel intention or honest mistake will remain a mystery. Today, that no longer matters,” April Wind Court resident Ambrose Lane Jr. said during Monday’s unveiling ceremony. “We come here today to right the wrong, to correct the mistake, to continue James Rouse’s vision and dream of an inclusive, neighborly, and multiracial Columbia community,” Lane Jr. said. Lane Jr., the son of a civil rights activist, was one of six residents living on the Oakland Mills street who, with the help of County Council member Calvin Ball, spurred the name change. “I am pleased to be part of creating a new chapter for this neighborhood and making it more inclusive. By working together, we were able to accomplish this efficiently and quickly,” Ball said. “I want to thank all the county departments, staff and the Planning Board — all of them made this reality.” In July, a petition to change the name was accepted by the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning. On Sept. 7, the Planning Board unanimously voted to approve the name change. Street names in Thunder Hill come from the titles of paintings by Andrew Wyeth, and although there was no “C00n Hunt,” there was a piece entitled “The Coot Hunter,” named for a type of bird found in Maine. Resident Khari Lane said watching the neighborhood rally around the change was motivating. “To finally have it done here in 2012, it’s more of a representation of how our culture is changing,” Lane said. County Executive Ken Ulman said his parents moved to Columbia to “raise a family in a community that embraced the values of diversity, acceptance and opportunity.” “The fact is, the street name “C00n Hunt Court,” does not represent those values,” Ulman said. “Your new name and your new identity in the community begins today free of negative racial connotations.” Sad it took more than 40 years to get this changed. Images via facebook
You know when your Dad calls you out you’ve got some changes to make! No longer the flavor of the month, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has mustered only one win in the first full month of the NFL season, with his team at 1-4 at the bye week. According to The Grio : Newton has come under criticism for a variety of things, including his demeanor at post-game press conferences following a loss. Even his father, Cecil, agrees that Cam needs to be a bit less deflated and downtrodden. “Is it something he needs to change?” Cecil Newton told WFNZ’s The Drive with Taylor and Marc. “Well yes I guess so.” “I know he hasn’t been responsive in some of his interviews [after losses] but he has been like that since he was seven years old,” said Cecil Newton, who explained that he did the spot in order to “take some of the heat off” Cam. “It’s difficult, there are some things that I don’t touch and don’t tell him what he should and shouldn’t do.” As to the things that are causing the Panthers to lose so many games, Cecil Newton agrees with coach Ron Rivera’s assessment of Cam. “I think he’s just pressing,” Cecil Newton said. “I think he’s maybe trying to do too much. I know my son, he is going to go back into the lab, tweak some things, work hard, and come out better. He is not in the business of making excuses. He is going to come back better.” Hope Cam knows how lucky he is to have a supportive Dad in his life and cuts the bull! Images via facebook/GQ
The first half hour of Here Comes the Boom is so good moviegoers might be fooled into expecting something better than an obvious wish fulfillment fantasy so patently implausible it’s almost insulting. Sadly, those moviegoers would be wrong. Star, producer, and co-writer Kevin James creates a witty, confident everyman in the first act, only to sacrifice him to the pic’s demands for formula and sentimentality thereafter. James plays Scott Voss, a Boston high school biology teacher sunk in a bog of laziness and apathy. He’s the kind of cartoonishly bad educator who arrives late to class every morning and ignores his students while reading the paper with his feet propped on his desk. Yet Scott’s extremely likable all the same: he’s smart, funny, and not too jaded to be inspired by Marty (Henry Winkler), the goofy but saintly music teacher. There’s even a hint of sexual charisma in his failed flirtations with the school nurse (a pleasingly age-appropriate Salma Hayek). The plot gets rolling when the principal (Greg Germann) announces that budget cuts will force the imminent shutdown of the music program. Knowing that Marty is the school’s best teacher, and the father of a surprise late-in-life baby, Scott vows to raise the $48,000 needed to keep the music program running. This promise first leads him to teaching citizenship classes at night school, then inexplicably becoming a cage fighter. Here’s a thought experiment: Is there any way Scott’s four-month journey from middle-aged lug with a few spare tires to mixed-martial artist fighting against professional pugilists half his age could work? Maybe if James was replaced with Tom Hardy or one of the Expendables in their prime. James’ arms are as thick as most men’s calves here, but he still looks more like he’s eaten a professional fighter than become one. It doesn’t help that the movie makes the mistake of having Scott recover as quickly as Wile E. Coyote, further defying its viewers’ suspension of disbelief. Scott’s hare-brained scheme to join the UFC world doesn’t just give the film a serious plausibility problem. It also lowers the character’s IQ by several dozen points even before his opponents punch him repeatedly in the head. Scott just doesn’t seem as smart afterward. The jokes get lazier too. The sharp zingers of the first act are blunted into broad gags, though the pic’s one gross-out scene — which stems from James’ consumption of a batch of bad homemade applesauce — is a hilarious surprise. Worst of all, the sheer unlikelihood of Scott’s victory sends the movie on the fast track to Clichéville, where underdogs win every fight and all fat slobs are secret mensches who deserve hot tamales like Hayek. Luckily, Here Comes the Boom has retired UFC fighter and sports personality Bas Rutten to inject some wild-card energy back into the film. A craggily handsome Dutch giant with a body built for hurting, Rutten is an UFC superstar and one of the hyperviolent league’s most winsome advocates. He’s also a delightfully affable screen presence and pretty much saves the film from drowning in its own cheesiness. Rutten plays Nico, a former fighter and current aerobics instructor who’s a student in Scott’s citizenship class. Nico doesn’t think Scott has what it takes to succeed as a MMA fighter, but he’s a supportive friend and a dedicated coach. Rutten’s character comes with an injured neck in his backstory, so the only ones duking it out in the ring are James and some anonymous muscleheads. The fight scenes are cursory and exist only to trace plot points, not to provide visceral thrills. There’s no movement, no chase, and thus no pleasure. The film’s climactic brawl, between Scott and a tattooed tornado of muscle (MMA fighter Krzysztof Soszynski), is shot UFC-style, at close range with leering, lo-res cameras. The black wire cage that locks the fighters in the ring feels claustrophobic. And yes, there is an alarming amount of blood. Here Comes the Boom is the first R-rated movie in James’ career, and thus feels like a risky project despite its reliance on well-worn tropes. The movie gives the genial actor a makeover by knocking out Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Zookeeper and replacing them with an edgy tough guy who sweats blood and knocks strangers out cold. You know, for the children. It’s that weird dichotomy between gooey values and enthusiastic violence — both the character’s and the film’s — that makes Here Comes the Boom so schizophrenic — and therefore, so interesting. It’s too bad the film’s far-fetched premise and R-rating will mean few viewers will be eager to swallowing James’ strange concoction of sugar and blood. Inkoo Kang is a Boston-based film journalist and regular contributor to BoxOffice Magazine whose work has appeared in Pop Matters and Screen Junkies . She reviews stuff she hates, likes, and hate-likes on her blog THINK-O-VISION . Follow Inkoo Kang on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Actress Shakur Sozahdah in GUCCI…… directed by Joseph Labisi, Crowley Walnuts from SugarTime Sports on Vimeo . Directed by Joseph Labisi, Crowley Walnuts.
Or just another way to pick up pretty girls? From the football field to downward dog. Not only is Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson completing anger management counseling for head butting his ex-wife Evelyn Lozada , but RadarOnline.com can reveal he’s also taking up yoga. The former NFL player – who was dropped by the Miami Dolphins earlier this year – visited Clear Gardens Yoga Studio in Inglewood, California on Oct 3 in a bid to better his body and mind. “I met him at a local restaurant and approached him about coming to my new yoga class,” studio owner Selena Collins tells RadarOnline.com exclusively. “He was so keen, he came to the studio after his meal to check it out, making a special stop even though he was on his way to the airport. He told me, ‘I’ve never done yoga before, but I think it’s something I should do. I’ll definitely be back. “He was really a very cool guy,” said Collins who posed for a photo with Chad. “With everything that is going on in his life at the moment, yoga would be a great way for him to find inner peace and the meditation aspect would be beneficial too. We can’t wait to see him when he is back in Los Angeles.” Johnson – who was sentenced to probation and domestic violence awareness classes after pleading no contest to domestic battery charges last month – has spoken candidly about how he plans to control his anger issues. ‘I’m trying to find out how can I channel my anger when I’m in situations to where I would pop off,’ he said in an interview on Showtime’s Inside the NFL. Maybe yoga will do the trick. Clear Gardens Yoga
No wonder the Jets ain’t isht… SMH. Via NYPost : Jets owner Woody Johnson was asked if it was more important for him that his team have a winning season or Romney wins next month’s presidential election. “I think you always have to put country first,” said Johnson, who is the chairman of Romney’s campaign in New York, on Bloomberg TV’s “Money Matters.” “I think it’s very, very important not only for us, but for our kids and grandkids that this election come off with Mitt Romney and Ryan as president and vice president.” Johnson vented his frustration with the Jets’ 34-0 loss to the 49ers on Sunday. “The coaches and I were not happy with what happened yesterday, and the players aren’t either,” Johnson said. “So our job now . . . we are still leading in the AFC East , but that performance was absolutely unacceptable.” Like his coach Rex Ryan, Johnson had to fend off questions about Tim Tebow replacing Sanchez as the team’s starting quarterback. “There’s going to be more pressure, but this quarterback can get the job done,” Johnson said. “He really can. He had a bad day, the whole team had a bad day. Receivers have to be in the right spot. A few plays here and there, which is the norm of football today that went against us . .. and it could have been a different game.” The question about the 2-2 Jets’ starting quarterback situation have grown as Sanchez has struggled the past three weeks after a stellar season opener against the Bills. “It doesn’t mean Tim Tebow is going to be starting next week, but it’s a question that’s going to be asked more frequently if this progresses because it’s unacceptable,” Johnson said. “We failed in all three areas — offense, defense, special teams — and we let our fans down.” Sounds like this guy is oblivious to the fact that BOTH his teams are losers. Photo Credit: Dale Stephanos
A news agency in Iran has published a report claiming that white, rural Americans would rather vote for its own head of state, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, than U.S. President Barack Obama. Slight problem: The report was by the Onion. Quoting The Onion, Iranian news agency Fars (more like FARCE, are we right?!) cites a fake poll that says 77 percent would rather have a drink or watch sports with Ahmadinejad. A made-up West Virginia resident is quoted as saying: “I like him better.” The West Virginia resident also believes Iran’s president “takes national defense seriously” and wouldn’t let “gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does.” The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the powerful Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), does not credit The Onion for the report on the survey. Iran banned alcohol after its revolution in 1979, while homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment or death and the nation’s media and politicians often refer to the U.S. as the “Great Satan.” That and they’ve apparently never seen The Onion. What a terrible place!
