Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Unnacceptable: Call for Urban Meyer and a university in Florida to apologize

Bobby Knight, who coached for a university in Indiana would shamelessly berate reporters. Mike Gundywas slime when he berated a female reporter over an article and then refused to point out what exactly was wrong with the article. We see it all the time. We see coaches being allowed to bully the media and all while making millions of dollars and exaggerated glory in the process.

Urban Meyer is the latest coach to completely overstep his bounds. He has threatened to blackball an Orlando Sentinel reporter for doing a little thing like reporting the truth. The reporter accurately reported a quote that a player made and Meyer condescendingly chastised the reporter. (For more context read this article).

The University of Florida and Urban Meyer need to apologize. There is absolutely no excuse for that type of behavior. No excuse. And until an apology is made, A University in Florida will no longer retain the title of 'The University of Florida' until they restore their honor.

Picture: Urban Meyer, the coach at a university in Florida.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Go back to bed: Kyle Orton will be the Broncos starting QB

Kyle Orton is the Denver Broncos starter. An website article headline stated Orton was going to be the the Broncos quarterback. Thinking the Boise State Broncos might have made the bold move of replacing the true 2009 Heisman trophy winner (unofficial) with some Orton guy, I clicked on the article.

The article of course was about Kyle Orton being the Denver Broncos quarterback next year. Their coach, Josh McDaniels made the announcement to quell buzz about whether the newly acquired Brady Quinn would get the job. Well Shots Heard is glad that is settled. The Broncos can go 8-8 for a third year in a row, Orton can be the continue his quest to be mediocre quarterback in league history (Trent Dilfer was disqualified when his Ravens won a Super Bowl). We will not have to hear sports reporters desperate for a headline drone on about how the boyish Josh McDaniels is a young prodigy of Bill Belicheat, er Bill Belichick that is.


Picture: Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels and quarterback Kyle Orton.

Picture 2: Painting of Boise State quarterback, Kellen Moore

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Another former Tiger Woods mistress talks

On her website, Veronica Siwik-Daniels, an 'ex porn-star' who's stage name was Joslyn James has listed over hundred of over 1,000 texts between her and Tiger Woods. Some of the explicit text messages were meant to show her side of the story, according to her. Naturally, Shots Heard thinks she is more interested in laying a framework to capitalize on the notoriety than trying to 'clear' her name since her actions simply do not do that. Ironically the very issue she is hoping to capitalize on, is going to damage Tiger Woods financially to the tune of millions of revenue dollars.

During the final three text messages between them, Tiger Woods cursed at Siwik-Daniels. Woods told her that she 'almost ruined (his) life.' What a peach, huh? That must be why he wants to come back and play at The Masters in Augusta, Georgia.



Picture 1: Tiger Woods with Veronica Siwik Daniels in the picture box.

Picture 2: The Woody Bunch. Tiger Woods and some of his alleged mistresses.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Reali ESPN?

Tony Reali joined ESPN in 2000 and in 2002 was the stat boy for the show, 'Pardon The Interruption.' He went on to host 'Around The Horn' in 2004 after ESPN presumably refused to pony up the dough to keep host, Max Hellerman. ESPN is notorious for not wanting to pay the 'talent.' Just ask Dan Patrick or Stephen A Smith who are two of the 'biggest' ESPN 'personalities' ever. But ESPN's decision to replace Hellerman with 'stat boy' Tony Reali is possibly the best example of ESPN's alleged cheap management style.

Its not bad that the 'stat boy' got a promotion. That is just what the 'American Dream' is all about. But promoting him to host of one show while he kept his job as stat boy on PTI is pathetic! This arrangement that started in 2004 continues to this day!

ESPN would like you to just unconsciously figure that Reali is so popular that it is good for him to be on a second show even in a small capacity. And if he is already on set then that is just efficient right?

Wrong. People pay high premiums for their entertainment. And if ESPN is truly the 'World Wide Leader' in sports then they should reward their consumers with a diversity of talent and viewpoints for that matter. Further, as a big institution with monopoly protections (or rather oversights) it is their responsibility be the proper engine to reward upcoming talent.

ESPN has made the calculation that any talent spawned by using an intern or 'lesser known' in Reali's spot as stat boy would only lead to higher contracts down the line. But again, we are making a lot of millionaires out of the 'talent' and entertainment executives. This package deal of savings that Reali is giving ESPN is just cheap. And do not even get us started on Mike Greenburg doing Sports Center when he has a healthy enterprise going with 'Mike And Mike In The Morning.'

Picture: Tony Reali effectively gives ESPN the package deal of being a host on one show and stat boy for another show.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Egg Coloring Pages Collections

mandala easter coloring pages

Who like egg coloring page? Eggs are highly nutritious food and good for health. Would you also like to eat eggs?

If you like to eat the eggs, then your body will grow healthy and strong. Especially when combined with vegetables and fruits. Hmm .. the more your digestive health.

To increase our interest in eating the eggs, let us download coloring pages and Color eggs using color pencil that you have. You are free to use dyes.


egg coloring pages
easter coloring pages
easter coloring sheet
eggs coloring pages

another download source:

Egg Coloring Pages Collections

mandala easter coloring pages

Who like egg coloring page? Eggs are highly nutritious food and good for health. Would you also like to eat eggs?

If you like to eat the eggs, then your body will grow healthy and strong. Especially when combined with vegetables and fruits. Hmm .. the more your digestive health.

To increase our interest in eating the eggs, let us download coloring pages and Color eggs using color pencil that you have. You are free to use dyes.


egg coloring pages
easter coloring pages
easter coloring sheet
eggs coloring pages

another download source:

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

2010 Vancouver Olympics: A dozen reflections

1. Gold medal hockey game: USA vs. Canada

The USA did not truly 'stun' Canada by beating them in an earlier round. Canadadian fans just had an unfounded sense of entitlement. It was obvious that the Canadians, Russians, or Americans all had a great shot at gold.

The championship game was epic. Needless power plays were not called by the refs and the players stuck to hockey more than fighting. The Canadians looked a little old but also a little more skilled and disciplined. That is why it helped that they were able to attain a 2-0 lead. But the Americans hung in there and Zach Parise scored the game tying goal with their goaltender pulled and only 24 seconds left in the game!

The game went to overtime and the four on four skating format was interesting. It made the overtime more about scoring and did not allow teams to sit back and play checking defense. The more aggressive team on offense clearly was going to have an advantage. In Canada's case it helped to have a guy like Sidney Crosby who has a rocket wrist shot. He scorched the game winner past USA net minder, Ryan Miller. Miller was the MVP of the tournament, but it was the Canadians who were celebrating on their home ice.

This was easily the biggest game in hockey history since the 1980 Lake Placid miracle game of the 1980 Olympics.

2. An unsafe course results in the death of Olympic bobsledder.

The Death of Georgian bobsledder Nodar Kumaritashvili was shocking. But perhaps more shocking is that in this day of architectural innovation, that it was possible for him to fly off of the course and into a cement pillar when it was known that these guys would be flying down the court at ninety miles per hour.

3. Medal Counts

With national pride at stake, medal counts are watched in every Olympics. Fortunately the prowess of the individual athletes overshadowed the count. But still we love our medal counts. The Americans won a Winter Olympics record 37 medals but perhaps more remarkably, the Canadians proved that they truly are winter pioneers by winning a record 14 gold medals. That is an impressive feat for a country of only about 37 million people.

4. Russian ice dancers do not cave to political correctness

Media outlets have no problem playing up political correctness to get readership up. In these Olympic games, the media outlets cried wolf over Russian ice dancers, Oksana Domnina and Maxin Shabalin costumes that portrayed Canadian aboriginees. The Russian skaters made some modifications, but ultimately gave the pretend do-gooders the finger. Although they did not get gold for their performance, they do get the Shots Heard gold medal for courage.

Shots Heard condemns the media for automatically portraying anything and everything that interperets or celebrates other ethnicities as 'offensive.' Just because the media went and found a couple Canadian aboriginees that did not like it, does not make it offensive. If something is not apparently offensive to at least a strong minority of our diverse populus then there is a reason for that. If we are going to celebrate 'diversity' then we cannot expect people walk on egg shells. It is ridiculous and again Shots Heard condemns all media outlets that ran with this supposed controversy.

If a small group of people want to cry about something that truly does not matter then I will give them the same advice that is often given to children when they cry: Suck it up!


5. 'Clean living' Torah Bright Olympic heroics in stark contrast to the Tiger Woods era of shame

Noted Mormon, Australian snowboarder, Torah Bright won gold in the half pipe and she is expected to make at least a million dollars in endorsements after winning gold at the 2010 Olympics. Other outlets believe she will become the highest grossing Australian athlete ever.

The lame stream media will sell the idea that the world is starving for a clean living athlete. And maybe that is true, but really?. Even in the wake of starting to clean up Major League Baseball, we see the media pushing the angle of fans lamenting the moon shot homeruns. Also, the fact that she is hot and athletic are certainly bigger factors than her seeming purities.

Nonetheless, Shots Heard strongly endorses the value that society should put a much higher premium on the character of people who are getting endorsement deals. Nike continued their endorsement deal with the dog killer, Michael Vick. They simply made a calculation that they would sell more shoes with him than without him. The millions of people they were alienating by keeping him on the payroll did not even enter into the equation.

And what about Kobe Bryant? He committed adultery and quite possibly rape. The media tells us that we've forgiven Bryant. But do we really agree with rewarding him with huge endorsement deals that ultimately drive up the prices of our products? Shots Heard would submit that the answer to that question is an emphatic NO!

Recently Proctor And Gamble CEO, Robert McDonald said that they would not be advertising with Tiger Woods (for now) because neither party needed the "attention." Apparently the lying, adultery and apparent cheating via steroids was not enough for Mr. McDonald to make a value judgment. This is coming from the largest supplier to families, mind you! ESPN and the rest of the lame stream media had no problem giving Mr. McDonald a pass on his weak minded reasoning.


If Proctor And Gamble had any sense they would immediately announce the signing of athletes like Torah Bright and the permanent parting of ways with Tiger Woods. But companies like Proctor And Gamble actually believe that winning (even if it means cheating) is everything. They are hoping that the world 'forgives' Tiger Woods soon enough and that they can get back to business as usual. They do not care to indict bad decisions, they care about their bottom line.

6. Shawn White is the new Tony Hawk

Shawn White was clearly the best snowboarder in the 2006 Olympics. But it was still close back then and he was barely able to squeeze out a gold medal in the half pipe in those Olympics. In 2010, he was getting way higher than any other snowboarder. As a result, he was able to pull of tricks that no other snowboarder could pull off. Or should the tricks be called illusions?As Gob Bluth says it, "Tricks are for whores." Well it was no illusion, Shawn White is for real and he has taken his place as the new Tony Hawk of our generation.


7. Apollo Ohno becomes the most decorated American Winter Olympian

Speed skaters have a relatively short shelf life compared to athletes in most other sports. The best skaters are usually in their late teens or early twenties. At 27 years old, Ohno was a grandpa on the ice! He knew he would have to come to the Olympics as prepared as possible if he would want to continue enhance his glorious Olympics career. And he did just that by doing three a day workouts and following a strict nutritional program. In five months he says he could lift twice as much could when he started. He lost 20 pounds while taking his body fat percentage down to 2.5 percent.

In the 1500 meter final, in the last couple of laps Ohno found himself competing against a trio of South Koreans. Historically, the South Koreans are very envious of Ohno's dominance and have been verbal about it. It was obvious that they would do what it took to obstruct him from gold and their legal interference was working until the last turn when two South Koreans wiped out. Ohno was able to dodge the crashing skaters. Second place was never so fun.

In the 1000 meter race, Ohno overcame a slip to get bronze. 'Overcoming' was a heavy theme for Ohno in the Olympics. In many races he started in the outside spot and would finish in the top two spots (out of four) to advance during various rounds in competitions.

In the 500 meter race, Ohno was disqualified from a silver medal on what should have been ruled incidental contact against Canadian skater Francois-Louis Tremblay. Asked about whether he thought it was a bias call, Ohno wasted no time stating that he believed it was a hometown call. To his credit, he voiced his displeasure with a smile and did not oversell it. That can be tough to do in the heat of the moment. Many athletes say 'no comment' to avoid the idea of being perceived as 'sore loser.' Ohno was able to walk a fine line though.

In the 1500 meter team race, Ohno was invaluable to the American team. Although he was unable to make one of his patented comebacks on the last two turns, he did have enough savvy to make sure that he held onto third place for the bronze. And earlier in the race he saved the American from disaster when the American skaters missed an exchange, he quickly stepped in and skated that leg of the race. Had he not been Johnny on the spot, the Americans would have been to far behind to even medal.

Ohno's three medals in the 2010 Olympics brought his total to eight medals, giving him the most for any American Winter Olympian. Ohno may or may not be around to add to that record at 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Shots Heard believes that he will ultimately be the Brett Favre of speed skating. Do not expect him to stay away. Ohno has taken a year off from speed skating before and was unable to stay away though.

8. Minnesota Native Lindsey Vonn defies the odds to become the greatest American women's alpine downhill skiier of alltime

Minnesotans are proud of their native sons and daughters. Ask them to name famous Minnesotans and they will easily rattle off names like Charles Lindbergh, Prince, Judy Garland, Sean William Scott, Jessica Biel, William Mayo (Mayo Clinic), Charles Schulz, Betty Crocker (fictional), Paul Bunyon (fictional), Bob Dylan, F Scott Fitzgerald, Joe Mauer and the Andrews Sisters. Add Lindsey Vonn to the list.

There is a strong geographical reason that hockey players come from Minnesota and not downhill alpine skiiers. There are a lot of frozen lakes and no big mountains to ski down.

The Land of 10,000 Lakes is actually the land of 11,842 lakes. The combination of being in the northern latitude of the country and the winds that blow off of those lakes creates colder temperatures. The dense forestry also helps to prevent snow from being quickly dried up by the sun. As a result, Minnesota is the coldest state in the continental United States. Consequently hockey players enjoy many months of hockey weather on the lakes and local outdoor ice rinks. Neighboorhoods are built with ice rinks that look like vacant rodeo playgrounds in the summertime, but in the winter they are getting plenty of use.


In most parts of the state, it is hard enough for a kid with a sleigh to find a 20 foot hill to slide down. Naturally skiiers have similar struggles in finding down ski areas. Minnesota's highest point is in the boondocks of Northern Minnesota on Eagle Mountain. The lowest point is Lake Superior at 607 feet. Simple math tells us a Minnesotan would be hard pressed to find a 1500 foot drop to ski down. Therefore it is going to be a rarity for people that grow up in Minnesota actually succeed at dowhill alpine skiing on the world stage.

Vonn grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota, located only about eight miles south of Minneapolis. Burnsville is the site of Buck Hill, which is one of three ski areas in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. As someone who has literally laughed at the idea that the hill with a ski lift existed while driving past it on the 35 Interstate, I can personally relate to how remarkable it is that the 'greatest Amerian woman skiier' grew up practicing at a ski range that is smaller than the bunny hills at many ski resorts.

But how much of a disadvantage it was to grow up in Minnesota is debatable and probably marginal. Shortly after winning a Junior Title in Italy at age 14, her family moved to Vail, Colorado. The move allowed her to train in more traditional surroundings. Later in life, she did some of her training with fellow gold medalist Julie Mancuso in the majestic mountainry of the Lake Tahoe, California area.

10. Bode Miller - The party boy partially atones for his 2006 Olympics antics

At the 2006 Olympics, Bode Miller was more concerned about partying than living up to his potential. He failed miserably in all five of his events. He had been considered by many experts to be the skiier with the most potential at the time.

Miller did not come to the 2010 Olympics in great shape, but he was serious while he was there. Notably, he never did explicitly express regret for his actions in 2006. He just tried to purvey that he was taking this Olympics seriously. He earned gold, silver and bronze medals. Nothing will ever bring back 2006, but for his sake he did show that he could win on the big stage.

The media was fond of selling Miller as being a changed man that had matured. They were fond of talking about how he had changed after having a two-year-old daughter. But Miller had the daughter out of wedlock and their is little proof that her birth made him more serious as a skiier.

Likely what Miller probably cares most about is securing at least another six figures in endorsements and a little more street credit in the party scene. Afterall the babes have to love a gold medal. We will probably never know exactly what his motivations are, since Miller is more tight lipped about his excesses these days. Instead he is more diplomatic in his approach and Shots Heard certainly cannot fault him for that.

11. Johnny Weir proudly represents America

At the 2006 Olympics, figure skater, Johnny Weir was abrasive and self centered. By the 2010 Olympics, Werr still had his flamboyance, sexual ambiguity and quirks like being a committed Russofile (person that loves Russian culture).But Weir was more subdued and more precise in his skating. And he was more professional in explaining himself during interviews. In other words, he was much more mature.

The media still tried to play the sexual identity card. They did their best to create stories about perceived homophobic people within the media or general population. They played up the is he gay angle like we were living in 1999. Their coverage overshadowed his valiant efforts to do be a quality skater that proudly represented the United States.


In Shots Heard's book, Johnny Weir is great if only for wearing fur despite the potential threat that PETA might throw blood on him at any time.




12. Two major streaks are over

- For the first time in 62 years, the Americans were able to win the Gold in four man bobsedding. Do I hear a call for Cool Runnings Two (movie sequel)? Afterall did we not just see four bad-ass mothers that took crap from nobody? Feel the ride, it's bobsled time!

- For the first time since 1964, the Russians did not win the gold in the figure skating pairs event. That seemed destined to happen once the judges were taken off of the Russian payroll. The Russians were caught bribing a French judge in 2002. The bribery gave the Russians an undeserved gold medal that year. They had been suspected of bribing judges for decades.

Picture 1: A Canadian audience celebrates Canada's 3-2 championship overtime win over the USA in hockey.

Picture 2: Georgian bobsledder, Nomar Kumaritashvili's fatal crash.

Picture 3: Russian skaters, Oksana Domnina and Maxin Shabalin unapologetically wear their Canadian Aboriginee costumes.

Picture 4: Australian Mormon snowboarder won gold at the 2010 Olympics.

Picture 5: Shawn White proudly and fashionably wears an American flag styled bandanna.

Picture 6: Apolo Ohno poses with two of the three medals he earned at the 2010 Olympics.

Picture 7: When she was not crashing, Lindsey Vonn was winning medals at he 2010 Olympics. She won a gold and bronze medal. She crashed in her other three events.

Picture 8: Bode Miller displays the cockiness that brings him good attention from some groups and scrutiny from his detractors. He is shown using two giant snowballs to represent his manhood.

Picture 9: Johnny Weir, American figure skater

Picture 10: Johnny Weir believes in modern facial treatments as well as other more enhanced grooming techniques.

Picture 11: The American bobsled team is excited after their gold medal run.