“Choose your words wisely’ because I’m ‘the most powerful man in the building,” is allegedly what Jim Leavitt said to University of South Florida (“USF”) player Joel Miller after allegations surfaced that the USF football coach had grabbed the sophomore walk-on by the throat, hitting him twice in the face at halftime of the Louisville game on November 21, 2009.
According to FanHouse, an online sports news site that broke the story, the month long investigation found that Leavitt “inappropriately grabbed the throat and slapped the face of a student athlete” and that his denials were “consistently uncorroborated by credible witnesses … [and] contradicted by a number of credible witneses,”
Needless to say, Leavitt no longer works in the building after the USF Board of Trustees fired him.
Leavitt’s firing makes three coaches within six weeks to either quit or be fired for abusive treatment.
University of Kansas coach and 2008 football coach of the year, Mark Mangino resigned last month after allegations of physical and psychological mistreatment of players were made. Last week, Mike Leach, head coach of Texas Tech, who was also named the 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year was fired after he allegedly ordered a player who had received a concussion to sit in a dark equipment shed.
In 2004, NCAA president Myles Brand, who as University of Indiana president fired the hotheaded chair throwing Bobby Knight in 2000, instituted a strategic plan that mandates that “individuals at all levels of intercollegiate athletics will be accountable to the highest standards of behavior”.
The days of Bobby Knight and Woody Hayes seems to have come to an end as Universities and the NCAA chooses to no longer tolerate abuse, no matter what type of program the coach had built.
We appear to now be in the kinder and gentler era which may be considered a contradiction in terms when it comes to a contact sports such as football.
Jim Leavitt is credited with one of the fastest program turnarounds in the history of college sports, leading the University of South Florida from a nonexistent program 13 years ago to a bowl contender which regularly sells out Raymond James stadium in Tampa.
Leavitt’s emotions were known to rise to the point where he’d at least once head-butted a locker hard enough to bloody his own forehead. “He could be a bully, vindictive,” writes Tampa Tribune columnist Joe Henderson.
Leaavitt maintains his innocence in the Miller matter . The allegation is “absolutely false,” Leavitt told the Associated Press. The coach said he was “disappointed” with his dismissal.
USF defeated the Northern Illinois University Huskies 27-3 in the International Bowl at Toronto on Jan. 2.
What’s Your Take On The Matter? Register and/or sign in and sound off!
President Umaru Yar’Adua of Nigeria, who has not been seen in public since Nov. 23 has become the real “international man of mystery”. Yar’Adua’s disappearance has touched off a firestorm of controversy in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. Experts say government in the major oil-producing nation has basically ground to a halt.
Nigeria’s media is filled with contradictory accounts, with some saying Yar’Adua, who has a history of ill health, is on the mend, while others say he lies in a coma in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. Outside experts say they don’t know what to believe and are concerned that Nigeria could descend into political chaos if the mystery of the president’s whereabouts is not solved soon.
‘A Country That Matters’
“We are talking about a country that matters,” says John Campbell, Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies of the Council on Foreign Relations, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007. Campbell reckons Yar’Adua is probably not dead, but he is not sure what to believe. “Since he has been there (at the hospital), virtually no one has seen him except his wife,” he says.
The president probably is still alive because If Yar’Adua were to die, his Muslim faith would require an almost immediate burial, Campbell adds. Yar’Adua is unusual as Nigerian politicians go. For one thing, he only has one wife. Yar’Adua also is the first Nigerian president to have a university degree. Experts say he is not especially popular,
For now, the Obama administration seems to be remaining on the sidelines. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department had no immediate comment. Royal Dutch Shell Oil Plc. (RDS.A), whose presence in Nigeria dates back seven decades, and Chevron Corp (CVX), which has extensive offshore interests there, declined to comment to DailyFinance as did Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM). The head of a delegation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce visiting Nigeria this week could not immediately be reached.
No Impact On Oil Production, Yet
“So far there is no immediate sign of the President’s absence having any impact on Nigeria’s oil production or exports, although it is clearly provoking political controversy in the country,” says Platts Chief Editor Richard Swann, in an email to DailyFinance.
A group of Nigerian politicians recently asked Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud about President Yar’Adua’s rumored presence in the kingdom, demanding information on the state of the president’s health. Some media reports said Yar’Adua recently spoke to several political leaders.
But as the Daily Nation of Kenya points out on its website “none of the three key officials of the Yar’Adua administration spoke directly on the said telephone conversations, which allegedly took place with the President.”.
Observers Questioned His Election
According to the Times of London, Nigerian opposition leaders are demanding “visual proof that the Nigerian President is still alive and fit to govern.” Rumors abound in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, that Yar’Adua’s cronies are doing his work for him, such as signing the country’s budget. A lawsuit in Nigeria seeks to get a court to rule that it is unconstitutional for a president to travel abroad to seek medical attention without transferring power to the vice president.
Yar’Adua is a chemist by training who came into power in 2007 in elections that outside observers claim were not fair. The European Union claimed that 300 people died during the campaign, according to the BBC. He along with Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, were hand-picked by former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo.
Muslims and Christians share Nigeria’s top job in an unofficial understanding, meant to preserve peace in the country of more than 115 million, which may be undermined by the president’s absence, according to Campbell.
Disappearance Comes At Critical Time
Worry about Yar’Adua’s whereabouts comes at a tricky time in U.S.-Nigerian relations. A Nigerian man has been charged with trying to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day. President Obama also is counting on Nigeria to help fight Al-Qaeda’s growing influence in the region. None of these policy goals of the U.S. government would be possible without a political leader in Abuja.
Unfortunately, as Richard Downie of the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes, no one has a clue where he is or even if he is still alive at a time when the U.S. is increasingly dependent on Nigerian oil.
What’s Your Take On The Matter? Register and/or sign in and sound off!
I stand humbled in front of every Baltimorean tonight, regardless of what button you pushed, uptown or downtown, have lots of money or none. I am your humble servant who will work tirelessly on your behalf.” These were the words Sheila Dixon spoke in a speech at her victory party after being elected as Baltimore’s first female Mayor.
Dixon will resign next month as part of a plea deal reached on Wednesday, thus bringing a years-long corruption investigation to a close. It also ends the tenure of the city’s first female mayor.
Sheila Dixon (right) Faces The Media After Entering Guilty Plea
Dixon, 56, will be sentenced Feb. 4. Under the terms of the agreement, in which she added a guilty plea in a perjury case to last month’s jury conviction for embezzlement, she will cease leading the city that day.
She may not hold any city or state position for at least two years. She is to perform 500 hours of community service and pay $45,000 to charity. None of her attorneys’ fees can be paid with public money. If she completes her probation within four years, her criminal record will be wiped clean.
She will probably be able to keep her $83,000 pension, which she would begin collecting the moment she steps down.
A teary Dixon announced her resignation hours after the court proceeding, choking up as she said it was “with great sadness” that she would leave office. She did not apologize but said there would come a time after sentencing when she could give her full side of the story.
The first black woman elected to the City Council presidency, Dixon has been a public official for 23 years. The former kindergarten teacher and international trade specialist was raised in West Baltimore, where she still lives. She was elected to the City Council in 1987 and won two citywide races for City Council president. Her term as City Council president was marred by questions about whether she improperly steered taxpayer money toward her sister, Janice, and a close friend, Dale G. Clark.
Her two marriages ended in divorce, and she has two children — a daughter, Jasmine who attends college, and a younger son, Joshua. She is a member of Bethel AME Church, and she’s known for her devotion to physical fitness, holding a black belt in karate.
She may be best known outside the city as the aunt of professional basketball player Juan Dixon, whom she helped raise after his heroin addicted parents died from AIDS.
After Mayor Martin O’Malley (D) was elected governor in 2006, Dixon assumed the city’s top job. She was elected in her own right the next fall and has been a popular mayor whose signature programs include recycling, homeless services and street repaving.
Dixon will turn over power to City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Both are Democrats.
Stephanie Blake-Rawlings At A News Conference on 1/8/10
Rawlings-Blake did not attend the news conference at City Hall. She later released a statement calling this time “sad and difficult” for Baltimore and vowing a smooth transition of power. She did not mention Dixon.
Rawlings-Blake will be sworn in as mayor on Feb. 4, the day Sheila Dixon’s resignation takes effect.
State prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh said he was satisfied with the court outcome, which he said was a good deal for the city.
“It was time for this case to come to an end,” he said. “It’s time for the city of Baltimore to move forward with a new mayor. This is a disgraced mayor.”
The prosecutor, who has been investigating Dixon since March 2006, said that the mayor’s defense team approached him about a week ago and that plea discussions began in earnest Monday.
Dixon’s attorney, Arnold M. Weiner, said she agreed to the deal because she felt she would otherwise “be dragging the city and the people of the city behind her” through what could have been years of court battles. He also said Dixon’s pension was a driving factor.
The agreed-upon sentence of “probation before judgment” in both cases, Weiner said, “was necessary for her to preserve the pension.”
Roselyn Spencer, head of the city’s employee and elected officials retirement systems, said Dixon is eligible to begin collecting her annual pension immediately on stepping down.
But it was clear in the courtroom that Dixon had mixed feelings about her decision.
When Judge Dennis M. Sweeney asked whether she was entering the plea deal voluntarily, Dixon replied, “Basically.” Later, as a state prosecutor read the facts of the perjury case, Dixon exclaimed, “Your honor, those things are not true.”
On the perjury charge, Dixon pleaded guilty under the Alford rule, meaning she did not admit guilt but acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her.
That case, which was to go to trial in March, involved lavish presents from her former boyfriend, developer Ronald H. Lipscomb, in late 2003 and 2004 when she was City Council president. Dixon did not report the gifts, which included a $2,000 gift certificate to a local furrier, shopping sprees and pricey trips to Chicago, New York and Colorado, on her financial disclosure forms, a violation of law punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Dixon was indicted almost a year ago. Those charges were thrown out for technical reasons, and she was reindicted months later on one set of theft-related charges and a pair of perjury charges.
On Dec. 1, a jury of 12 Baltimore residents found her guilty of embezzlement, a misdemeanor, for misusing retail gift cards donated to her office by developer Patrick Turner. Dixon spent about $500 in Target and Best Buy cards to purchase a game system and other items for her family and staff members.
As part of Wednesday’s plea deal, the prosecutor will not pursue any criminal charges from his investigation of Dixon, and Dixon will not fight the jury conviction.
What’s Your Take On The Matter? Register and/or sign in and sound off!
Martin Lawrence returns to TV, executive-producing an African-American comedy for cable network TV One.
“Love That Girl!” is set to premiere January 19. It is the latest effort by independent producers to serve an audience on cable that’s been largely neglected by studios and broadcasters since the merger of the WB and UPN.
Without so much as a pilot order, writer-director Bentley Kyle Evans (“Martin,” “The Jamie Foxx Show”) shot four episodes of “Love That Girl!” on a shoestring budget of $1.2 million.
Evans called in favors from friends and colleagues to shoot the episodes over five days in a converted warehouse. Although self-financing a pilot has become more common as producers struggle to break through an increasingly consolidated studio landscape, producing four entire episodes is rare if not unheard of.
The project is described as a sexy comedy following a young divorcee who returns home to Southern California and takes a job in her father’s real estate business while living with her unemployed brother. It stars Tatyana Ali (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “TV One Access”).
Tatyana is also starring in the BET Internet web series entitled Buppies.
“It’s great to be back in the television game and working with a network like TV One,” Evans said. “If executed properly, this will represent a whole new model for producing and delivering quality scripted series to the television market at a reasonable cost.”
Marking the first originally scripted program to air on the Black cable network, TV One will show “Girl!” over a three-night period starting January 19. TV One is available in approximately 50 million homes. It has typically featured specials and syndicated programing, including repeats of “Martin,” which is one of the network’s top-rated shows.
If the episodes score a certain ratings, the network will pick up 13-26 additional half-hours.
In addition to Lawrence,and Evans, Jeff Franklin (“Full House”) Raphael Saadiq and Trenton Gumbs are acting as executive producers.
As a result of TBS drawing large audiences from Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns”, black comedies are experiencing a revival on cable.
“Payne” had a modest launch, first being tested on several local stations before moving to the nationally distributed TBS.
With Comcast now taking over the majority interest in NBC Universal, expect to see more original programming from TVONE. Comcast the largest cable company owns a significant stake in TVONE.
The Comcast/TVONE relationship puts TVONE on equal footing with the Viacom owned BET, and is a true contender to booty shaking network, who recently launched Centric as a way to compete with TVONE.
Other than The Game, and The Unit (reruns) which are excellent programs, the Centric channel is just a repeat of some the old BET programming.
On the Original BET, is the entertaining “Mo’Nique Show”. The Oscar nominated actress shares the same time slot with the hot new George Lopez’s talk show entitled “Lopez Tonight”, which appears on TBS.
What’s Your Take On The Matter? Register and/or sign in and sound off!
MEMPHIS, Tenn. —Willie Mitchell, a record producer, label head and musician who worked with Al Green and other stars, died Tuesday January 5, 2010.
Al Green and Willie Mitchell (right)
Mitchell who was 81, died at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis at 7:25 a.m., more than two weeks after he suffered cardiac arrest Dec. 19, said his son, Lawrence Mitchell.
Born in and raised in Ashland, Mississippi, Mitchell was educated at Rust college ocated in nearby Holly Springs. There he mastered the trumpet. Pappa Mitchell as he was affectionately called was influenced by jazzmen Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown. His own direction would however be different.
In 1954, following army service, he settled in Memphis, where he led the orchestra at the Manhattan Club and the house band for the Home of the Blues label.
Willie Mitchell owned Royal Studio a scruffy, slightly makeshift-looking room where Buddy Guy, John Mayer and many others recorded their music. Thousands of hours of great music soaked into the walls of the studio.
In 1961, Willie began working for Hi Records, an independent Memphis label that had made an impact on the jukebox market with funky instrumentals. Mitchell himself had a few minor hits during the 60s with similar fare, such as Buster Browne and Soul Serenade. Over the years he would issue more than a dozen instrumental albums.
His position at Hi shifted gradually to the other side of the control-room window, as he supervised sessions and drew together the peerless rhythm section of the drummer Al Jackson and the three Hodges brothers, Charles, Teenie and Leroy.
In 1970, with most of Hi’s original partners dead or out of the business, Mitchell became the company’s executive vice-president and quit touring as a bandleader. The following year he met Green and, as the music historian Charlie Gillett wrote in The Sound of the City, “used all his experience to galvanize [Green] into a series of masterly performances in the early 1970s. Hi Records found itself a true star in Al Green who crooned, his way as a crossover artist.
In the late 70s, however, Green exchanged soul singing for soul-saving. With its star lost to the church, Hi floundered and was eventually sold. Mitchell, who kept the studio had become known internationally for his skill at cojouring blues-based music with tints of orchestral strings and brass, without sacrificing the intensity of the original hue.
In 1975, he contributed as both arranger and engineer to Rod Stewart’s album Atlantic Crossing. Over the next three decades, he would be hired repeatedly by artists who recognized the ambience he could bring to a recording. Among them were figures as diverse as Tina Turner, Keith Richards, the Memphis bluesman Preston Shannon and the Scottish band Wet Wet Wet, whose debut album he produced in 1987. Resuming his association with Green in the mid-80s, he produced the album Going Away, and again in this new century, they worked together on the albums I Can’t Stop and Everything’s OK.
Green, also from Memphis, was flying to Australia and unavailable for comment Tuesday. However, Green said recently “Willie is like my brother, my father.
Mitchell also helped the career of singer Ann Peebles in the 1970s. Even in later years, Mitchell stayed busy at his studio, working with then-emerging talents like Mayer and Anthony Hamilton. You can hear Mitchell’s organ driven sounds accented by strings in Anthony Hamilton’s “I Can’t Let Go”. The captivating song is reminiscence of a Mitchell produced AL Green hit.
Most recently, he wrote string and horn arrangements for Rod Stewart’s new album of R&B covers.
In 2004 the stretch of South Lauderdale that included Mitchell’s Royal Studios was renamed Willie Mitchell Boulevard. The neighbourhood might have changed in 30-odd years but the premises are little altered. According to many, the place felt like a cathedral of soul, or a family home.
E.J. Friedman wrote “Pops was a very private man, but so generous. To a fault, sometimes. I wish I had learned more of what he had to teach me when he was here” on his twitter account and Blog.
“He treated me like a son,” said Otis Clay. “I learned so much from him … how to survive in a business that isn’t always kind.”
Mitchell himself probably would have shrugged off such a comment. “This business, man, it’s not so hard,” he said. “If you got the heart and the ears, you can make it. That’s really all you need.”
Mitchell received a Trustees Award from the Grammy Foundation in 2008.
As a trumpeter, Willie Mitchell and his band provided the musical entertainment at several New Year’s Eve parties for Elvis Presley at Presley’s Graceland home.
Although he had passed the day-to-day management of the studio to his grandson Lawrence (“Boo”), he continued to drop by most days, and was working on various projects, including a new unreleased album by Solomon Burke, until he was slowed down last September by a broken hip.
Family members said funeral arrangements have not been made, but there will likely be private services and a public memorial.
Other survivors include daughters Yvonne and Lorrain, stepson Archie Turner, grandsons Archie and Lawrence, granddaughter Oona and nine great-grandchildren.
What’s Your Take On The Matter? Register and/or sign in and sound off!
returns to TV, executive-producing an African-American comedy for cable network TV One.