As we say each year at this time, television has its Emmys, music has its Grammys and sports has its dummies.
There were the obvious ones this year: John Daly, O.J. Simpson, Pacman Jones, Terrell Owens, Sean Avery, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, Plaxico Burress, Isiah Thomas. In some cases, too obvious. In other cases, too pathetic.
These are our dummies for 2008:
This item is NOT brought to you by Ben-Gay
The American Family Assn. is a Christian organization with a website called onenewsnow.com. It filters out the word "gay" in online reports and replaces it with "homosexual." That sort of editing doesn't usually get much attention. Those who might be offended aren't likely to frequent the site. But it did create a stir when U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay won the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials.
The Associated Press story, as reported on onenewsnow.com, read: "Tyson Homosexual was a blur in blue, sprinting 100 meters faster than anyone ever has.
"His time of 9.68 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials Sunday doesn't count as a world record, because it was run with the help of a too-strong tailwind. Here's what does matter: Homosexual qualified for his first Summer Games and served notice he's certainly someone to watch in Beijing.
"It means a lot to me," the 25-year-old Homosexual said.
Now they call him Tatum Bellhop
Denver's Tatum Bell is a good running back. But beware. He comes with baggage, not necessarily his own. A day after he was released by the Detroit Lions and replaced by Rudi Johnson, Bell was caught on a hidden camera removing two Gucci bags from the team's training facility. They belonged to -- who else? -- Rudi Johnson. After initially denying he touched the bags, which were filled with Johnson's clothes, Bell said it was an honest mistake. Johnson was reportedly "miffed."
A really cheesy promotion
Someone at a Papa John's pizza restaurant in the Washington area had a bright idea: Hand out T-shirts before a Washington Wizards-Cleveland Cavaliers playoff game at the Verizon Center with a photo on the front of LeBron James, a caption that read "Crybaby" and a Papa John's corporate logo. It was soon pointed out to Papa John's executives that they also have restaurants in Ohio -- more than a dozen, in fact, within 12 miles of the Cavaliers' arena. They responded by offering 23-cent pizzas to Ohio residents, with proceeds going to charity.
What do you mean Brits don't have pools?
