Hump day came and went with a lot of bizarre stories including Dennis Rodman talking about Kim Jong-Un again, St. Louis SUING the NFL, the tragic passing of Charlie Murphy, and more controversial news in North Carolina regarding the HB2 bill.
Dennis Rodman on Kim Jong-Un: “He knows basketball shit.”
One of the most unusual athlete controversies of the past few years has involved former Chicago Bulls’ star Dennis Rodman’s repeated trips to North Korea. Rodman started going there in 2013, and has made further trips since. Rodman appears on Wednesday’s episode of Undeniable with Joe Buck (airing on AT&T/DirecTV’s Audience Network at 8 and 11 p.m. Eastern), and when asked about North Korea and dictator Kim Jong-Un, he both spoke of Kim’s basketball knowledge and said he didn’t understand why his trips there were seen as so political:
“He knows basketball shit. I mean, a lot. He asked Michael [Jordan] to go, and he said no. Then he asked me and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll go.’ But I didn’t know anything about the politics. Because I wasn’t going there for that. I was going there just to meet the guy. It wasn’t about politics. And everyone wanted to keep making this big hiccup about ‘Why’d you go over to North Korea? Don’t you know who this guy is?’ That wasn’t the goal for me.”
“I just wanted to make history, because not too many people have a conversation with him. And people made that such a political stand, and I’m like ‘Whatever, man.’ But you know what, I’m glad I went. Because I was just part of history. Not a lot of people have went there over the years. And I didn’t go there for political reasons, I went for sports. If people are uncomfortable with that, I’m sorry.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvEQ-qLgDXc
The city of St. Louis is suing the NFL over the Rams’ move to Los Angeles
The city of St. Louis is accusing the NFL of failing to follow the league’s own policies regarding relocation of a franchise and is taking them to court over it.
The City of St. Louis, St. Louis County, and the St. Louis Convention and Sports Complex Authority filed a 52-page lawsuit against the NFL seeking payback for potential revenue lost as a result of the Rams leaving for Los Angeles. The potential revenue lost could escalate into the “tens of millions of dollars,” according to a report from KMOV.
“The Rams, the NFL, through its member teams, and the owners, have violated the obligations and standards governing team relocations by seeking and approving the relocation of the St. Louis Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles, California, despite the fact that the Rams failed to satisfy the obligations imposed by the League’s relocation rules and the fact that relocation was not supported by the required statement of reasons or the adopted relocation standards,” a statement from the lawsuit reads. “In so doing, Defendants have breached their contractual duties owed to Plaintiffs. Defendants also have made intentionally false representations to Plaintiffs, have interfered with the valid business expectancies of Plaintiffs, and have unjustly enriched themselves. Defendants are responsible to pay damages to Plaintiffs and to make restitution of profits.”
Charlie Murphy passed away tragically on Thursday, years after introducing us to Leroy Smith
Comedian and performer Charlie Murphy died on Wednesday at the age of 57. The older brother of Eddie Murphy, Charlie had leukemia and was undergoing chemotherapy. According to TMZ, Murphy’s family was shocked by the death, believing that his condition was improving with treatment.
But since we mostly traffic in sports here at Awful Announcing, we’d like to highlight one of Murphy’s more sports-related comedy sketches. “Get Your Basketball On” was produced for Funny Or Die in 2009, long after Dave Chappelle retreated from public view and Comedy Central’s millions, and Chappelle’s Show had gone off the air. In the sketch, Murphy portrays Leroy Smith, a master basketball motivator who beat out Michael Jordan for the last spot on the varsity team. As Smith puts it, he’s the “world’s most influential influence on Michael Jordan.”
Future ACC boycotts could result in UNC and NC State leaving the conference
Of all the boycotts over North Carolina’s HB2 legislation—which eliminated anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people and legislated who could use which bathroom—the ACC’s was among the most powerful.
Now, North Carolina representatives Bert Jones, Chris Millis, Mark Brody and Jeff Collins (all Republicans) have proposed a bill that would make sure the conference never boycotts again.
The legislation states that if “a conference within an intercollegiate athletic association” enacts a boycott on the state, any public school in that conference will send notice that it “intends to withdraw from the conference no later than when the assignment of its media rights expire.”
North Carolina lawmakers file bill that would pull #UNC + #NCState from @theACC if #ACC boycotts the state again after #HB2 fallout. @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/6xDhUZGFvz
— Alex Rose (@AlexRoseNews) April 12, 2017
Quick Hits
– Guess which NFL team has gone the longest without a player being arrested? THE RAIDERSSSSSSSS.
– Say hello to the first Head Coach in Vegas Golden Knights history, Gerard Gallant.
Gerard Gallant will be the Vegas Golden Knights first NHL head coach. Quality hockey dept in Vegas.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 13, 2017
– An inspiring letter from GM David Griffin helped urge Cavs to rally back from 3-1 deficit vs. Warriors.
– Middle Tennessee football players were suspended over puppy abuse, but their coach doesn’t condemn their actions.
“I am aware of the situation and have talked to the players involved. The players explained to me that the puppy urinated inside and they were simply spanking it as a form of discipline. They told me there was never any intent to harm the dog. This was an important teaching moment. I talked to them about other approaches that should have been considered in this situation. And I pointed out how disciplining a pet in such a manner could be misconstrued, especially with the impact of social media.”
– Josh Brolin is taking over the superhero villain universe.
The fuck, Fox! You can't play 2 characters in the same universe!! Josh Brolin was in Sicario and I was in Sabrina The Teenage Witch. pic.twitter.com/AQCRp1aWKg
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) April 12, 2017
– LeBron James continues to be an amazing human being, will open a public school for at-risk kids in 2018.
How has Bron not won a Nobel Peace Prize yet?https://t.co/KxA2r2X4Xn
— Pegs (@B_Pegs) April 12, 2017
– Tommy Tuberville, yes that Tommy Tuberville, may run for Alabama Governor.
– The new Transformers trailer came out and there are a lot of swords and robots in it.
– Burger King is trying to set off your Google Home in new commercial.
– Bettor wins $42,000 on $60 Rickie Fowler-Sergio Garcia parlay.
https://twitter.com/BovadaLV/status/851873445495414784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthecomeback.com%2Fgolf%2Fbettor-wins-42000-60-rickie-fowler-sergio-garcia-parlay.html
– Zach Collins enters NBA Draft, becomes Gonzaga’s first ever one-and-done.
– Over at Awful Announcing, are NBC’s over-the-top packages, including the new $70 track one, a vision of the future?
– Also over at Awful Announcing, honoring David Letterman’s mom, arguably the most famous Olympics correspondent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=706&v=kkxpfKDuevg
A Random “The Office” Video:
I should’ve done this when I was a camp counselor.
One Last Glorious Moment of Procrastination:
brb watching planet earth
