Everyone hates Tiger

Tiger Woods is scheduled to give a statement this morning at 11:00am on ABC, NBC, CBS, and ESPN regarding his recent scandal and his future in the sport of golf.  Players, sponsors, and members of the media alike are all speaking out about their displeasure with his timing and handling of the "press conference." 

Ernie Els  did not mince words when telling Golfweek his opinion on the timing of the Woods statement; Woods scheduled his appearance on the Friday of the Accenture tournament in Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Florida.  "It’s selfish,” he said. “You can write that. I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament.”

The Golf Writers Association voted overwhelmingly to boycott today's conference due to a breakdown in negotiations over the terms.  Journalists are angry Woods will be speaking via closed-circuit camera from a location a mile away from them and will not be taking any questions.  They released a statment saying in part:

“I cannot stress how strongly our board felt that this should be open to all media and also for the opportunity to question Woods,” said Vartan Kupelian, president of the 950-member group. “The position, simply put, is all or none. This is a major story of international scope. To limit the ability of journalists to attend, listen, see and question Woods goes against the grain of everything we believe.
The GWAA also believes strongly that its presence, without the ability to ask question, gives credibility to an event that isn’t worthy of it."

The public criticism marks a shift in the usual deference afforded Woods in the golf world and could mark a permanent end to his overwhelming power and dominance in the sport.

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Alicia Keys' coverage appears spotty

Alicia Keys' coverage appeared "spotty" as she arrived in London's Heathrow Airport in advance of her performance this week at the 2010 Brit Awards. I wonder what happened to Swizz Cheese?

Carmelo and La La are gonna get hitched!

After fifty-leven years dating, a gaggle of kids, and numerous rumors of cheating, Carmelo Anthony and his lady love La La Vasquez have set a date to get married.

Evander Holyfield's wife has cancelled the restraining order

Evander Holyfield and his estranged wife have reconciled and decided to seek marriage counseling from TV's Dr. Phil.  They released a statement saying:

“We are in agreement that we both are moving forward to reach out to meet with Dr. Phil one-on-one as we believe he is the one who can help us at this time…We each admire and respect Dr. Phil for his down to earth and heartfelt approach in working with couples and relationships in a positive and uplifting way.”

The Dream "Love King"

Jennifer Hudson Got Milk?

Oscar and Grammy Award-winning artist Jennifer Hudson is the lastest star to participate in the "Got Milk?" campaign.  Jennifer explained why she chose to promote the dairy product:

“[Milk] was definitely a part of my upbringing for sure,” she said. “I definitely want to have that on my kitchen table.”

I think Jennifer looks great in her photos, but I have to ask:  either she has a phenomenal post-baby fitness routine or someone deserves the photoshop of the month award.  Now don't get me wrong, I love sistergirl's curves, but we all know she's got a dunk.

Sade's soldier of love is a direct hit

After a 10 year hiatus from recording, soul songstress Sade has shown why her popularity endures by selling over half a million copies of her new album Soldier of Love in its first week.

Rihanna "Rude Boy" Behind the scenes video

To all you haters who said she looks like a boy

To all you haters who said she looks like a boy, Teyana Taylor uploaded these Twitpics to her Twitter account to let you see just how thorough she really is.  Those abs are fierce and I want this chicks hair!  It's beautiful.  Go mama!

Kevin Eubanks has had enough

NBC has announced that Kevin Eubanks, bandleader and long time side kick of late night host Jay Leno, will be stepping down from his position sometime after the Tonight Show with Jay Leno resumes in March.  An insider told CNN Kevin wants to try new things.  Unofficial reports say the feud between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien over whether or not Leno could take back the Tonight Show helm after relinquishing it to O'Brien only a few months back left a bad tast in Eubanks' mouth.  No word on whether Eubanks will take his band with him when he leaves.  We wish Kevin the best.

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This brother won a gold medal

In a repeat of his gold medal-winning performance in Turin four years ago, Olympic speed skater, Shani Davis, won gold again in the 1000 meter race yesterday in Vancouver with a time of 1 minute 8.94 seconds.  He edged out the competition by 0.18 seconds by pumping his arms and summoning his last reserves of energy to cross the finish line. 
“It doesn’t matter what it looks like, just as long as you get across the line as quick as you could,” he said with a laugh.

Davis is the first skater to win that event twice at the Olympic Winter Games.  He is was the first African American to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Games when he won his first gold four years ago at the games in Turin, Italy; he is also only the third American male to win more than one speed skating gold medal.

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BAD subway station to be memorialized

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has brokered an agreement to immortalize the subway station where Michael Jackson filmed his 1987 short film BAD. The Scorsese-directed story takes place in the Hoyt-Schermerhorn stop of the G-train. The Partnership plans to have an artist-created mural adorn the side of an office building belonging to real estate company Beneson Capital.

"We see this as a great opportunity to potentially establish Hoyt-Schermerhorn’s role in American pop culture and as a tourist destination to attract people to a part of Downtown Brooklyn already rapidly growing," Joe Chan, president of the partnership told The Post.

The planned tribute comes on the heels of a previously-rejected memorial to the King of Pop. Last fall, the MTA rejected City Council member Letitia James’ suggestion to erect a plaque and to rename the station after Michael Jackson.

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No civil rights charges in the Sean Bell murder case

The United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday that after a "careful and thorough review" it will not pursue federal civil rights charges against police officers involved in the 2006 shooting death of Sean Bell citing insufficient evidence.

 there is not enough evidence to prove that New York Police Department detectives "acted willfully" when they fired approximately 50 bullets at Sean Bell and his friends the night of November 25, 2006.  Bell, 23, had been at a nightclub in Queens for a bachelor party with friends hours before he was to marry the mother of his two young children.  The shooting occurred after an altercation with the plainclothes detectives in a parking lot.  Neither Bell nor his friends were armed.  Two of his friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, were seriously injured when the officers opened fire.

Detectives Gescard Isnora, Marc Cooper, and Michael Oliver -- who fired his gun 31 times that night, pausing to reload his weapon -- were acquitted of all charges in April 2008 prompting a statement from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg saying the acquittal was "inexplicable...and...unacceptable...it sounds to me like excessive force was used."  Rev. Al Sharpton, Bell's fiancee and 200 others were arrested in the ensuing widespread protests sparked by the verdict.

Tuesday's DOJ statement explained that federal criminal civil rights charges hinge on prosecutors establishing that officers deliberately deprived the victims of their constitutional rights, and intended to break the law.

 "Neither accident, mistake, fear, negligence nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation," the statement says.  Rev. Al Sharpton released a rebuttal statement expressing his "extreme disappointment in the decision" and saying he may join with the Bell family in a civil lawsuit "to try and bring some justice...Fifty shots on an unarmed man who engaged in no crime is intolerable."

Source:  CNN

Kobe covers GQ

Kobe Bryant dishes about his proudest moments, his mistakes, and his game--on the court and off--in the next issue of GQ Magazine on the stands February 23, 2010. 

On his relationship with Shaq:

“The biggest mistake I made was responding to what he was saying about me. Once I responded, now that made it seem like I was part of that whole thing. It’s like, Okay, these two are against each other. As opposed to just staying quiet, which is what I’ve been doing the last few years. Let him say what he needs to say.”

On how his win-at-all-costs mindset doesn’t carry over to the rest of his life:

“What people see on court is another side of me; it’s not me. That dark side that’s coming to get you – ha ha! I’m not losing this fucking game – that’s not who I am. That’s part of me. Off the court, I’m completely different.”

Read more at:  GQ.com

Beyonce's daddy has to pay up--for the time being

The judge in Matthew Knowles' paternity case ordered him to pay $8,200 a month in child support, retroactive to February 1. He is also responsible for all of the medical expenses related to the prenancy and birth that are not covered by insurance.  Alexsandra Wright claims she had an 18 month relationship with Matthew and that he fathered her child, Nixon. Lawyers for both sides discussed long-term support amounts which reportedly ranged around $20,000 a month.  Knowles' attorney asserted his client has already paid $10,000 towards hospital expenses related to the birth.  The parties are scheduled to take a DNA test March 1, and the long-term support issues hinge on the outcome.  It sounds like we might not need Maury for this one...