Uncommon Sense

Terrell Owens attempts suicide — report (UPDATED)

I am a life-long Dallas Cowboys fan who hungers for another Super Bowl championship, or two.

So I was thrilled when Jerry Jones signed wide receiver Terrell Owens, with baggage and all, to wear a star on his helmet.

In professional sports, it's all about winning and on the field, few are better than T.O., even if he is a jerk. He made the Cowboys a better team.

Off the field, though, there may be few with as many problems as Owens, as evidenced by the report out of Dallas that he tried to take his life with an overdose of prescription pain medicine.

Whatever you think of his antics, he deserves your prayers for a quick recovery — whether or not he plays for the Cowboys ever again.

For more, read the Dallas Morning News' Cowboys blog.

I just caught a piece of a Dallas Police Department news conference, during which a spokesman declined to confirm or deny that Owens had attempted suicide.

"I hope he does die"

Mike Lowell

Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell summarizes why so many Cubans and Cuban Americans like himself are rejoicing at the news of Fidel Castro's ill health, or better:

“Castro killed members of my family,” said Lowell, who was born in 1974 in Puerto Rico, after his parents fled Cuba.

“My dad had to pack up his suitcase at 10 years old with his three brothers, who had nothing. And my mother was 11 years old and my grandfather, who’d been a dentist for 15 or 20 years, had to go back to school to be (politically) re-educated,” he said.

“My cousins were political prisoners. My father-in-law was a political prisoner for 15 years because, at 19, they asked him if he agreed with communism and he said, ‘No,’ so they sentenced him to death. That’s not the way to live. I know it’s terrible to say, but I think of all of that and I hope he (Castro) passes away.

“I don’t care if he dies,” Lowell said. “There are so many people who have died because of him and there’s been so much wrongdoing and so many human rights violations that I hope he does die. That sounds bad, but it’s the truth.”

Read the rest of the story in the The Boston Herald.

Zidane butts into Cuba

I know this video was making the rounds earlier in the week, in the wake of the "Fidel is Finished" rumors, but it is still hilarious.

To see the original version, go here.

Heat's stroke burns the Mavs

In the end, the Heat were the better of two great teams.

Their superstar, Dwayne Wade, was better than ours, Dirk Nowitski.

So was their superstar coach, Pat Riley.

And in the clutch — no moreso than halfway through the fourth quarter of Game 3 last week — Miami made all the shots when they counted.

Congratulations to the Heat and their fans, who have already started to remind me that when it comes to picking NBA champions, I'm still an amateur.

Bad NBA poetry

The Diesel goes down.

The Mavericks get screwed.

The NBA reveals its view on the Shaq-Kobe feud.

Despite the setbacks, I'm sticking with my original prediction — Mavs in 6!

(H/T to the Dallas Morning News for the photo.)

Mavs in 6

Twenty-six years ago, I was at the Dallas Mavericks' very first regular season game, a 103-92 upset of the San Antonio Spurs.

A few years later, I was at the Moody Madness game.

And a few years later, I got to see live three thrilling playoff games against the L.A. Lakers.

None of that matches the thrill that Mavericks fans felt the other night when the team clinched its first appearance in the NBA Finals.

And now they get to play Shaq.

Cool.

At the risk of offending Uncommon Sense's many readers from South Florida, I'm picking the Mavericks in 6.

Dirk, Josh Howard, Jason Terry and the rest are too strong. Dampier and Diop are good enough to slow down the Diesel.

The Dallas Morning News has 10 reasons Dallas deserves to win.

It's nothing but trash talk.

10. The Bible Belt vs. the Bikini Belt: WWJP (What would Jesus pick?)

9. Our most colorful billionaire, Ross Perot, ran for president; Miami's most colorful billionaire, Wayne Huizenga, ran a garbage truck.

8. They have American Airlines Arena. We have American Airlines Center and American Airlines.

7. No one ever asked, "Who Shot Crockett and Tubbs?"

6. Our Gov. Bush is a higher achiever than their Gov. Bush

5. Our owner blogs better than their owner.

4. Our native footwear – cowboy boots –are better for butt-kickin' than theirs – flip-flops.

3. They have South Beach, we have the Trinity River ... OK, they got us there, but don't look for Calatrava bridges over Biscayne Bay anytime soon.

2. We don't call the arena district "Victory" for nothing.

1. If David Hasselhoff is for us, who can be against us?

The Miami Herald promises a response when the series moves to Miami next week.

Come on, Miami, how do you respond?

Shot of the day

Even if you are like me and find golf to be a total bore — unless it involves Tiger Woods — you will be amazed at this golf shot today by Fuzzy Zoeller.

Bad Catholic girls (Updated)

These girls should not be smiling

(Scroll down for update)

The Catholic University of America, my alma mater, Class of '89.

What the school is suppose to be about is right there in the name.

Our values are right there for the world to see.

Yes, it is a college campus, not a seminary or a convent, and everything that goes on at a college campus, goes on there, as well.

Beer.

Sex.

Wild parties.

The stupid things you do when you combine all of the above.

At least they were there 20 years ago when I was a student. I'm sure things haven't changed.

But now they have the Internet.

And the ability to combine stupid acts with easy to use computer software that allows them to share their stupidity with the world.

Exhibit No. 1: The Catholic University Women's Lacrosse Team.

These girls — I won't call them "women" and definitely not "ladies" — held an initiation party for its freshman players — complete with a male stripper.

They took pictures.

And then they put them on the Internet.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

It's the kind of story that makes me wish I was back up in The Tower.

Now, the school is investigating, but how much effort is it really going to take to figure out what was going on? In the wake of scandals involving men's lacrosse and women's soccer teams at Duke and Northwestern, respectively, CUA officials will have no choice but to come down hard.

There is no alternative.

Just look at the pictures.

There were underage students.

There was beer.

There was a male stripper, performing simulated sex acts with at least one of the players.

Shameful.

As dumb as it was to place the pictures on the Web, that was not their greatest sin.

CUA has rules about this sort of thing, especially for situations when students display a blatant lack of common sense.

However, what they did, did not affect me.

Except that it has hurt the good name — a name that is more than words strung together — of a place I love.

Those girls should be ashamed.

I know I am.

UPDATED, 11:45 a.m., May 19, 2006

CUA alumna Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online is similarly outraged, and takes a look at some of the larger issues.

A great Cuban baseball story

The Miami Herald this morning has a great sports feature story on Eddy Rodriguez and Yonder Alonso, players on the University of Miami baseball team, and their shared bonds as teammates, best friends and native Cubans.

Both of their families left Cuba when they were 7, Rodriguez's on a rickety boat, Alonso's on an airplane.

Rodriguez's mother Ylya sums up perfectly why her family — and so many other Cubans — left their homeland.

''I thank God every day. ... We had food in Cuba, but no freedom."

Read the whole story here.

(H/T to Babalú.)

Cuban on Cubans, and "The Lost City"

When not following his basketball team to what hopefully will be an NBA championship, Mark Cuban, the maverick billionarie owner of the Dallas Mavericks makes and distributes movies.

Through their 2929 Entertainment, Cuban and his partner Todd Wagner develop, produce and distribute films, television programs and home entertainment products.

Along with his money, Cuban has brought to Hollywood the same brash style that rankled the NBA — and truth be told has contributed greatly to the Mavericks' success since he bought the team in 2000. Cuban has caused a stir among movie moguls by, among other things, challenging the traditional movie-making business model and simultaneously releasing movies on three mediums — at theaters, on DVD and on pay TV.

Creatively, he has been a hit, too. Cuban/Wagner's 2929 Productions' co-produced "Good Night, and Good Luck," George Clooney's Oscar-nominated film about Edward R. Murrow and Joseph McCarthy.

2929 Entertainment's holdings include Magnolia Pictures, which on April 28 will release "The Lost City," Andy Garcia's movie about pre-revolutionary Cuba.

Earlier today, I e-mailed Cuban a few questions about "The Lost City."

A couple hours later, he responded.

Uncommon Sense: What was it about "The Lost City" that made it an attractive acquisition for Magnolia Pictures?

Mark Cuban: Because it's a very beautiful film with wonderful performances and a great message.

US: Andy Garcia has made it very clear that he is not a fan of Fidel Castro and communism. Do you think his politics will hurt how the movie performs at the box office?

MC: I don't think so. I think it will probably help.

US: The obvious audience for this movie — Cubans and Cuban Americans — can be found throughout the country, but the film, at first, will only be a limited release. Was there any thought to simultaneously releasing "The Lost City"on various platforms, i.e. theater, DVD, pay TV, etc. so that it would be more readily available to more people?

MC: I think there will be a lot of support for this movie. We wanted to make this more traditional since we didn't actually produce the film.

US: How has your view of Cuba, Cubans and Cuban Americans been affected by your experience with "The Lost City?"

MC: I'm still a capitalist and always will be.

Why should non-Cubans go see "The Lost City?

MC: Because it's an amazing, entertaining film.

US: Which is tougher — making and distributing movies or building a successful NBA team?

MC: The NBA. You can make unlimited number of movies. :)

For more about and from Cuban, read his blog.

For more about "The Lost City," read my previous posts here, here and here.