FameCrawler : hall of fame

Sunday Cute Shot: Patrick Ewing and Daughter

Whit Honea — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:04:00 GMT

Meet 11-month-old Alexis. Alexis is the very cute daughter of NBA legend Patrick Ewing. Patrick Ewing was a monster in the paint while playing basketball. I can't help but think he might be a bit softer now.

Photos

Tony Gonzalez is a Hero

Whit Honea — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:01:00 GMT

Tony Gonzalez is on pace to be among the best, if not the best, tight ends of all time. Tight end is a football position and any resemblance to his ass is purely coincidence- and no, I'm not going to look.

Gonzalez was eating dinner in Hunnington Beach with his wife, his brother and his baby daughter when a patron at the next table started choking. This wasn't just heavy coughing and watery eyes choking, this was the everyone freezes and/or freaks-out kind of choking, like in the movies.

The choking man, Ken Hunter, had a piece of meat lodged in his throat and his dining companion started yelling, "He can't breathe, he can't breathe."

Gonzalez, who has never been trained in the Heimlich maneuver, realized that nobody else was going to act so he "jumped to his feet, wrapped his long, sinewy arms around the stricken man and began to squeeze. After a few seconds, the meat popped out and Hunter, a shipping company manager in Huntington Beach, recovered."

After the incident Hunter told the media, "Tony saved my life."

The story was so big that Gonzalez received a letter from President Bush (he can write?) and was even approached by Barack Obama at a campaign stop to discuss the heroics.

From the NFL:

"I never anticipated what an impact this would have," said Gonzalez, who arrived in River Falls on Thursday for the Chiefs' training camp.

"But now, looking back, I think with all the negative stuff that's in the media these days about NFL players and athletes in general, when a story like that comes out, it really grabs people's attention. I know it was an incredible situation the way it came down. I believe things happen for a reason. Hopefully, there'll be a domino affect."

Chiefs president Carl Peterson was traveling in Europe when his star tight end made news off the football field.

"Nothing surprises me about the abilities of Tony Gonzalez," Peterson said. "Thank God he was there, in the right place at the right time and reacted the way he did. The story was all over the world."

Shortly afterward, Peterson happened to run into Steve Tisch, part owner of the New York Giants, in France.

"We hugged each other and right away he said, `Hey, how about your tight end saving that guy's life?"'

Good for Tony Gonzalez and lucky for Ken Hunter, kind of pathetic for everyone else in the restaurant.

Source/Photo

It's True: Mindy McCready Admits to Underage Affair with Roger Clemens

Whit Honea — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:23:00 GMT

The Rocket is having a tough time. What do you suppose is worse, being accused of steroid use during a legendary baseball career or being caught lying about having an affair with a minor?

That's a tough call. Both involve moral and legal issues. Granted, the steroid issue is being contested and the case against him does look overly staged, but to have Mindy McCready, the country singer identified as Clemen's mistress for over 10 years, admit that she "cannot refute anything in the story," well, you can't come back from that.

We've explained previously how Clemens, father of four boys, and McCready, mother of a two-year-old son, met when she was 15. This doesn't hold well for Clemens.

Is that an understatement?

Source

In the Case of Pierre Lacroix, a Picture Really Does Say 1000 Words

Whit Honea — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:41:00 GMT

This picture is actually a couple of years old. It is from the night that Pierre Lacroix stepped down from the post of GM for the Colorado Avalanche. Yesterday he was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

What does this have to do with anything? Did you see his grandson Max in the photo? How sweet is that? Grandparents love that stuff, and I'm pretty fond of it myself (but don't tell anyone, I have an image).

Photo: Celebs and Bubs

Justin Timberlake: Madonna Shot Me in the Ass

sweatpantsmom — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:35:00 GMT

Looks like in return for introducing her at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Madonna gave Justin Timberlake a booty call. No, not that kind. When Timberlake felt ill one day the Material Girl pulled out her own B12 syringe and ordered him to "drop em."

After pulling up his pants, “she looked at me and said, ‘That’s top shelf,’ and that was one of the greatest days of my life,” Timberlake said.

So did Madonna and Justin really play doctor? “Everything he said is basically true," Madonna confirmed. "But I didn’t say ’drop ’em,’ I said, ’pull your pants down.”

[photo: People.com]

Justin Timberlake To Britney Spears: You're a Wannabe

sweatpantsmom — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:05:00 GMT

If I had to guess, I'd say no way Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears will ever be hooking up in the future. While introducing Madonna at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on Monday night, Timberlake made a couple of references to ex-girlfriend Spears. One of them, uh - not so nice.

"[Madonna] has still found time to kiss someone I may or may not have publicly kissed myself while I was in the audience” Timberlake said. “Of course you know I was talking about Sean Penn."

Timberlake ended his remarks with this jab:

"The world has always been full of Madonna wannabes and I might have even dated a couple."

Ouch. Ouch.

The Mitchell Report: Baseball, Dads and Steroids

Whit Honea — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:00:00 GMT

The Mitchell Report was released today. It is the findings of an investigation by George Mitchell into the steroid use of major league baseball players. There are lots of names on the list, 77, and many of them are fathers. That's why you're reading about this on FameCrawler.

I have a problem with the report for a number of reasons, among them it relies almost exclusively on the plea-bargained testimony of just a few men and it was conducted by an ex-Senator, which means the guy is most likely an idiot, who is also part of the Boston Red Sox management team. Guess how many prominent Red Sox players are mentioned? None. I find it hard to believe that those unshaven cowboys in Boston are the only pure of heart players in all of baseball.

What does my opinion mean? Not much, other than the fact that I'm not alone in such thought and that baseball should have considered it. They've allowed many a loophole for players named, guilty or not, to avoid penalty or scrutiny and have instead provided the opportunity for MLB to get a big black eye. We shall see how it plays out.

Among the players named: Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees, Miguel Tejada of the Houston Astros, Eric Gagne of the Milwaukee Brewers and Paul Lo Duca of the Washington Nationals, Barry Bonds, Kevin Brown, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa and the late Ken Caminiti.

Apparently the players were giving an opportunity to explain themselves to Mitchell prior to the release, but only Jason Giambi did so.

This could have huge implications for the game and everyone involved. I'm guessing Mitchell isn't the only idiot in this post (not counting me).

Source/Photo: MLB

Gere's Boy Proves Theory: The Only Thing More Boring than Watching Baseball is Listening to People Talk About Baseball

Whit Honea — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:01:00 GMT

Richard Gere and his son, Homer, took in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown yesterday. Homer also took in 40 winks.

Actually, I love baseball, and the idea of being there to see Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. being inducted seems pretty cool. Homer, being a Yankees fan was obviously too upset to appreciate the moment.