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It’s always surprising to learn about superstars who’ve flaunted in public the image of a hero, but turn out being monsters behind closed doors.
According to a new book “Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton,” the Chicago Bears legendary running back abused painkillers in his retirement, eventually becoming suicidal.
According to the book, written by Jeff Pearlman, Payton mixed Tylenol and Vicodin and kept tanks of nitrous oxide in his garage. At one point he got a hold of Ritalin from a friend whose son was prescribed the drug.
An excerpt of “Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton,” by Jeff Pearlman, will appear in the Oct. 3 issue of Sports Illustrated, and describes the Hall of Famer as suicidal, abusing pain medication and dealing with a crumbling family situation.
Payton, who retired after the 1987 season as the then-all-time leading rusher in NFL history, was depressed and suicidal in the mid-1990s. Pearlman cites a letter from Payton to a friend, in which Payton said he imagined himself killing those around him and then turning a gun on himself.
The book further delves into the details of his extramarital affairs. During his induction into the Hall of Fame, both his wife and mistress attended, obligating Payton’s personal assistant, Ginny Quirk, to baby sit the grown women and keep them from basically killing each other.
The football player’s life came to an abrupt halt when he became deathly ill from a rare liver disease and bile duct cancer. He died in 1999.
“Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton” will be released Oct. 4.
One by one, our NBA stars are finding other means of employment as the NBA lockout forges on.
The Washington Post reports that Delonte West, who made a little more than $1 million last year with the Boston Celtics, has taken a warehouse job with the Regency Furniture store in Brandywine, Md.
During his seven-year NBA career, West, 28, has been paid about $14 million, according to the Post. But West tweeted this week that he needed a second job “to stay afloat during the lockout.”
As previously reported, Kobe Bryant is reportedly signing with a team in Italy. But an overseas move is not allowed for West. During the summer, a judge rejected his request to be allowed to work abroad, because he’s on probation stemming from a weapons case.
After that decision came down, West, currently a free agent, tweeted that it was time to put his pride aside, and that he had applied for work at Home Depot. Apparently, that gig never came through.
It’s pretty much a done deal that Kobe Bryant will play in Italy during the NBA lockout, but scheduling in the Italian league remains a hurdle.
The NBA superstar for the Los Angeles Lakers would be paid $3 million for the opening 40 days of the season according to an Associated Press report on Friday.
“We have reached an economic deal,” Virtus president Claudio Sabatini told a local radio station. “There’s still some things to arrange, but at this point I’m very optimistic. I would say it’s 95 percent done.”
The deal should last about 10 games and would allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout ends.
Sabatini wants to create a special schedule that assigns Bryant’s games to Italy’s biggest arenas.
“This is an important investment and a unique chance for the city of Bologna and all of Italian basketball,” Sabatini said. “I’m hoping everyone wants to collaborate.”
Well it looks like that’s not going to be the case because of a couple of haters in the Italian league. It seems two teams refuse to alter their schedules to accommodate Virtus and Bryant.
A person familiar with the negotiations said smaller clubs Cremona and Varese were refusing to alter their schedules. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing.
Sports Show Sunday with Coach Jordan. Who looks promising for the Super Bowl? Do you play Fantasy Football. What teams are favorite or need lot of help this season?, lol Tune and discuss with Coach Jordan the NFL Footbal season.
SHOW: “Talk 2 ME”
TIME: 4:00pm to 5:00 pm PST
(eastcoast 7pm – 8pm)
PHONE: 646-727-2914
Thank you for your participation, and fun!
Lennisss
Get ready for a remake of Sparkle. The 1976 hit movie with Irene Cara, Lonette McKee and Philip Michael Thomas is being remade. The new version will star season six American Idol Winner Jordin Sparks. She will play the title role made famous by Irene Cara. Whitney Houston will play her mother. Mike Epps will play the bad guy the role of “Satin,” who beat “Sister” and got her hooked on drugs. This will be Whitney Houston’s first movie role since the Preacher’s Wife in 1996.
Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson recently celebrated her 30th birthday.She’s featured in the Best Dressed issue of People magazine.
Why did Rapper/Actor T.I. end up back in jail? T.I. was released from jail a month early. He had served 11 months behind bars on a parole violation. He was let out early for good behavior. When he left the Arkansas facility, it was amid a lot of fanfare…. as in a fancy tour bus equipped with cameras. He is doing a reality show for VH1 and producers were on hand for his release. Well prison officials had a fit despite the fact that the guards were taking pictures with T.I. in front of the bus. T.I. was out of jail for one day when he was sent back to serve out another 30 days. Officials claim he was supposed to leave in a van with his wife and manager not a fancy tour bus equipped with cameras. T.I. is expected to be out by the end of the month. I’m sure all the details will be in his new book and VH1 reality show.
Did Tea Party favorite and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin have some “cooked rice” in her past? In a new tell all book by Joe McGinnis, The Rogue: Searching For The Real Sarah Palin, the author talks about Palin and drug use, extramarital affairs, and a college one night stand with NBA Superstar Glen Rice. The explosive book comes out September 20th.
Tyler Perry has been named Forbes magazine’s highest paid male entertainer.Perry, who just turned 42, has made over $500 million with his Madea franchise alone.
What’s going on with Singer Lionel Richie? Richie has delayed work on his latest music project and he had to cancel some concerts.
Producer/Composer Nile Rodgers of Chic fame is writing a book. The book, Le Freak, is coming out next year. It will detail his music career and his battle with cancer. Rodgers has worked with Diana Ross, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Madonna and Sister Sledge.
Actress Meagan Goode is shooting shown reports that she is joining the VH1 show Single Ladies. Goode says she wants to concentrate on movies.
The dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is taking place on October 16th.
It’s going to be a boy for Fantasia. The former American Idol winner is on bed rest and
| Friends of the late Singer Teena Marie are worried about her 19-year old daughter Alia Rose.The popular singer passed away over the Christmas holiday in 2010, and many wondered about the future of her daughter. Rose was devastated when Marie died. Rose recently took suggestive pictures of herself that were posted online. She wasn’t naked, but taking provocative pictures can get you in trouble.
It was a good weekend for Comedian Kevin Hart. His movie documentary, Laugh At My Pain, took in over $2 million at the box office. The movie cost $750,000 to make. Can you get married and pay just $199? Yes, if you are Comedian and Actor Eddie Griffin. He got married last week, and that is how much he paid when he married longtime girlfriend Nia Rivers.
Is there a shakeup in the future for ABC’s Good Morning America? George Stephanopoulos may be out and Sports Anchor Josh Elliott may be his replacement. Elliott used to work at ESPN, ABC’s sister cable network. Stephanopoulos has been cited for being too short against the other hosts of the show Robin Roberts and Laura Spencer. I think his problem is he seems uninterested in the lighter segments. He may return to his old position on the show This Week also on ABC. |
”Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of Martin Luther King” reveals the little-known story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s fraternity days as a member of the country’s first black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, when he was a 23-year-old divinity student in Boston. Produced by Rainforest Films for Bl ack Entertainment Television (BET), the half-hour special, to be broadcast at 7 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Aug. 28, was supposed to coincide with the much-anticipated official dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial statue on the National Mall. But because of Hurricane Irene the dedication ceremonies have been postponed. The statue was scheduled to be dedicated on the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s “Dream” speech.
Dr. King’s APA frat brothers were instrumental in making the $120 million, 30 feet tall King Memorial a reality. The special, co-executive produced by Rob Hardy and Will Packer, will feature never before seen footage and first-hand accounts about a part of King’s early life that few people know about. “We did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions about this period in King’s life,” said Hardy. “We got first hand accounts of what happened during those times. We included information to show people what a fraternity is and information about Alpha Phi Alpha in case they didn’t know. This special will give an account of what Dr. King did when he was in the fraternity.”
Pausing, Hardy added, “King was drawn to Alpha Phi Alpha because a lot of people who were influential in that day, including Paul Robeson, Thurgood Marshall, and Duke Ellington, were all Alphas.” Hardy said that the special will include first hand accounts from King associates who knew King during the burgeoning civil rights movement, including when King was arrested in Montgomery and how other Alpha members raised the bail money to get him released from jail. “We also have King speaking at the 50th anniversary of the fraternity, and that was the first and only time he spoke at an Alpha convention,” said Hardy. We have broadcast footage of that speech which has never been heard.” Although Hardy said that King pledged Alpha Phi Alpha in 1952 and was proud to be a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, he said that the future civil rights leader downplayed his association in the fraternity.
“There’s not a lot of detail about King’s life in the fraternity and we spoke with Ambassador (Andrew) Young who said that that was deliberate. King never publicized that he was an Alpha man because at that time he didn’t want to create any more divisions between black people. He felt we were all in the same struggle so he didn’t want to create any more divisions where people viewed him as separate because he is in a fraternity or he’s an Alpha. He just wanted everybody to view him as, ‘We’re all common people on a mission for civil rights’…he was more about solidarity.” Hardy said King’s fight for social justice greatly influenced his fraternity brothers. “The Alphas began launching student sit-ins because they saw King speak at this convention. Because King spoke to the brotherhood, he inspired other brothers to do the same thing and to take a nonviolent approach towards civil rights.” Actor and author Hill Harper serves as host and narrator of the production. “Hill traveled to Boston, Atlanta, D. C. and Dayton to meet some of the people who actually knew Dr. King,” said Hardy, who also told us that Harper and Dianne Ashford served as producers on the project.
We have a feeling that Kobe is gonna like this story … a lot. It’s come to light that the now retired Shaquille O’Neal violated his man card by doing some snitching on his then Miami Heat teammate, Dwyane Wade. Yep, while flirtin’ and frontin’ with noted Newsweek reporter Allison Samuels, Shaq let it be know that Wade was cheating on his girlfriend Gabrielle Union with another actress, Lauren London. It all went down in an email to Samuels who he was also hittin’ on: “I want you or Rihanna,” he told the reporter. But the thing is, Samuels was trying to hook O’Neal up with some ladies all along. Check out the email exchange between the two, originally posted by Miami New Times.
Samuels: Hi. Sesslielopez@gmail.com. [FYI, the email address bounces back]. Or I can give her your info? She’s not in the c ountry until Wed so maybe then is better because she hasn’t answered me about something else I asked her about. Also she asked about your personal life and I told her_whatever it is_-I’m sure you had it under control. Still waiting on Robinne’s response.
Shaq: Sesslie aintdat fine whts robins last name
Samuels: You are so wrong! Robinne Lee_she’s on Tyler Perry’s show sometimes. Do you know Lauren London_I don’t_but I know James Lassiter knows how to reach her. You ever dealt with her_is she cool? Sharon Leal??
Shaq: Loren is d wade’s girl im not wrong sesslie aint my type u r
Samuels: What about Gabrielle and Dwyane?
Shaq: He gottem all I want u or rihanna
Samuels: Rihanna is too young_19– she is just legal and you know I’m very chatty and you said you didn’t like that!!!!!
Shaq: Yeah but I told u had a crush on me and u wouldnt chat about us i kn o
Samuels: No_I’m chatty in a relationship_not to others. You just decided I had a crush on you huh?? When did you decide that?
So the email exchange basically details Shaq saying that Wade is cheating on Gabby with Lauren and that he wan ts Rihanna and Samuels, too … just in case you couldn’t read through the muckery. Like we said, we think Kobe’s somewhere grinning like Cheshire cat right about now. We’ll keep you updated on new developments.
SIDEBAR: Shaq grow the fuck up!! period! Don’t you have 6 kids.
A California federal judge has rejected NBA superstar Gilbert Arenas’ attempts to block VH1’s “Basketball Wives” and turned down a request to stop former fiancé Laura Govan from appearing on the show and mentioning his name, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Further, Shed Media, the producers of the show, have successfully convinced the judge to grant an anti-SLAPP motion that strikes all of Arenas’ claims as an impingement of free speech except for allegations of a publicity rights infringement. This means the judge dismisses the claim, but is allowing Arenas to file an amended complaint.
The Hollywood Reporter’s legal blogger Eriq Gardner writes: The just-released decision comes as a huge relief for VH1, which plans to debut the latest LA-based season of “Basketball Wives” on Monday. In recent months, the show has been hit with a number of lawsuits and legal warnings from various NBA players including Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard. Arenas’ lawsuit got the furthest, requiring Judge Dolly Gee to examine whether Govan’s association with a show titled “Basketball Wives” could establish a connection to Arenas’ likeness and trademark. The judge says yes – that it will be likely that Govan will discuss Arenas on the show and that the show’s raison d’etre is to spotlight female relationships with professional basketball players like Arenas. Even if the show is careful about overtly touting such a connection between Govan and Arenas, media outlets will spot it. According to the decision: “In an age of tabloid journalism and celebrity obsession, news outlets frequently uncover and publicize connections between celebrities. For example, in the run-up to the 2008 election, it was widely reported that then-Senator Obama was a distant relative of then-Vice President Cheney, though presumably neither individual sought to be associated with the other.” In sum, there’s no escaping the fact that Arenas becomes part of this show in some form.
However, mere appropriation of Arenas’ name and likeness doesn’t necessarily equate to misappropriation, writes the judge… “On the record currently before the Court, it appears that any references in BWLA to Arenas will be incidental to the show’s plot as a whole. At its core, the show is about the women who have or have had relationships with basketball players rather than the players themselves. Thus, the show appears to be transformative.” Further, the judge finds there’s also fair use to Arenas’ name because there’s a matter of public interest involved. Observers might find it odd that a silly VH1 reality TV show could qualify as such importance under the First Amendment, but Judge Gee clarifies: “Arenas suggests that any discussion of his family life is not sufficiently related to his celebrity to render BWLA’s use of his identity a matter of public concern. This contention is belied by the tens of thousands of Twitter users who follow Arenas as he tweets about a variety of mundane occurrences. “Judge Gee then goes on to note there’s little evidence of “actual malice,” thus ridding of the defamation claim, and that the show’s advertising doesn’t imply any endorsement on Arenas’ part, thus nixing the commercial misappropriation claim. As for Arenas’ trademark allegations, the judge finds there isn’t any likelihood that viewers will be confused. “Although Arenas’ marks are strong,” writes Judge Gee, “they are completely dissimilar to Shed Media’s title. No one would confuse Arenas with a basketball wife.” Arenas will be resigned to watching the show, and if he spots any gruesome misappropriation of his likeness, can refile an amended complaint in the next couple of weeks. But given the show will have come out and the judge’s stated conclusion he’s unlikely to prevail, we can say that Arenas has been soundly trounced on in court by the mother of his four children.