Newz Forum: OTHER: Anna Benson, the Houston 1836, Greg Aiello, inconsistency at the NCAA plus more..

I wonder if the Mets traded Kris Benson to the Orioles because it was advantageous for them to get Anna Benson and the media circus she creates away from the team - or was it because Kris Benson is a mediocre pitcher and they were seeking to upgrade their pitching staff to 'slightly above average'. The Orioles have 'subtracted by adding' in this case. Benson has been a sub-.500 pitcher for his career and now he is going to be on the mound for a real train-wreck of a team. If he wins 40% of his games next year, that will be a good season for him. Meanwhile Anna Benson is in mid-season form when it comes to publicity seeking. As of now the single most dangerous place in Baltimore is that piece of real estate between Anna Benson and a TV camera.

Anna Benson will be taking up poker. That's right; she is taking lessons and plans to play against the pros. She was in the World Series of Poker last year but didn't hang around very long. She said, 'I'm really hoping to amass an empire with this poker. I love to give money away to charities, to change people's lives.'

Memo to Anna Benson: The best way to wind up with a small fortune playing poker is to bring a huge fortune to the table with you.

Anna thinks it's 'cool' that she will be an athlete now since people consider poker a sport. I'd send her off to read my previous rant on 'What is a Sport and Who is an Athlete' but I doubt it would make any difference. Frankly, I've had enough of Anna Benson; with her clothes on, she's an annoying bimbo; and with her clothes off, she's just another exhibitionist. She's not a celebrity; she never will be. What she may aspire to becoming is a much more attractive version of Tonya Harding - and that's not much to wish for in life.

MLS moved the San Jose Earthquakes to Houston recently and named the new team The Houston 1836. Wow, that's a snappy name indeed; I hope the marketing folks there are really good at their jobs... When I first heard the name, I was confused because my mind immediately went to San Antonio - not Houston - because 1836 was the year of the battle of The Alamo. And since one of the ideas was to relocate this franchise in a city with a large Latino - and specifically Mexican - population, making any allusion to The Alamo didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. It turns out that 1836 is also the year that Houston was founded as a city, hence the name. If you go to the team website, you'll see that prior to naming this team, fans were 'given the opportunity to vote for the team name'. If that is the case - and Heaven forfend, I wouldn't even hint that the team owners rigged the vote count - I wonder what the losing names in this contest might have been:

The Houston Mucous?

The Houston Snooze?

The Houston Icecaps?

In the wake of all the rhetorical gas about the officiating in the Super Bowl - no, the game was not fixed - Greg Aiello, NFL VP for Public Relations, said, 'Overall, it was a well-officiated game. No question about it.' He made this comment a couple of days after the game so he had the time to reflect on the game and to look at the taped replays when he said that. Here is what I take from his comment:

If I am ever on trial for any matter that might involve any jail time as a consequence of the outcome, I definitely want Greg Aiello on the jury. I wonder whom he thinks shot Lee Harvey Oswald...

I know that consistency is the hobgoblin of the small mind and so let me demonstrate the smallness of my mind for a moment. The politically correct geniuses at the NCAA can't seem to generate any consistency in their rulings when it comes to offensive nicknames/mascots for colleges and universities. Consider:

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux: The name is offensive; the mascot is offensive; the NCAA banned both.

University of Illinois Fighting Illini: The NCAA ruled the name OK upon appeal but the mascot - Chief Illiniwek - is still offensive; the NCAA banned Chief Illiniwek.

University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish: The NCAA never challenged the nickname and the logo of the 'bellicose leprechaun' received no sanction from the NCAA.

This situation only makes sense to the NCAA, Dr. Myles Brand and Greg Aiello...

Finally, an observation from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times regarding the recent arrests (plural) of Chris Henry, WR for the Cincinnati Bengals:

'Chris Henry, the Bengals' rookie wideout, has been charged with possession of a concealed firearm in Florida just over a month after being charged with possession of marijuana in Ohio, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

'Something tells us this isn't what the Bengals had in mind when the drafted him as a possession receiver.'

But don't get me wrong, I love sports... ... ...

Curmudgeon