P.J. Carlesimo out as coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
I put “firing” in quotes because Carlesimo was acting as an interim coach: as you may recall, the team fired Avery Johnson in December. (Wasn’t he great in “Spenser: For Hire” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”?)
Carlesimo went 35-19 as interim coach, and the Nets did go to the playoffs. But apparently that wasn’t good enough, and the team is looking for a change.
Firings: Mike Dunlap, Charlotte Bobcats head coach. One season, 21-61.
Obits: Richie Havens. NYT. LAT. A/V Club.
E. L. Konigsburg, noted author (From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
This is one of those little tidbits that I find fascinating: “From the Mixed-Up Files…” won the Newbery Medal in 1968. That was Ms. Konigsburg’s second book. Her first book, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth
There will probably be more to say about this tomorrow, but Allan Arbus has also passed away.
In other news, while I was out and about having fun, Lawrence was working. Specifically, he’s been posting video of the Travis County DA being arrested for DWI, and of the DA in jail.
And what do I have to offer to compare with that? Pictures, maybe?
Here we see the elusive Mike the Musicologist. While Jim attempts to throw a net over him, let me tell you about Mutual of Omaha…
And one for my great and good friend Weer’d Beard: ducks!
I was out of pocket pretty much all morning and much of the afternoon for something that didn’t quite pan out. (Lousy Sapril weather.)
However, Lawrence was covering the beat for me.
Lawrence Frank out as head coach of the Detroit Pistons. 54-94 over two “seasons” (in quotes because Frank was hired during the 2011 strike).
Byron Scott out as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Three seasons, 64-166.
Doug Collins has “resigned” as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, but is apparently staying on as a “consultant”. So this is probably closer to a real resignation than “jumped before being pushed”, but I note it anyway. Three seasons, 110-120.
Tim Pernetti is apparently out as Rutgers AD over the Mike Rice scandal.
Also out: Jimmy Martelli, aka “Baby Rice”, an assistant coach.
Both of these are being spun as “resignations”, but my reading between the lines is that they were more like “I’m quitting now before I officially get canned.”
Some notes from the legal beat to get things started:
Javaris Crittenton is being charged with murder and “gang activity”. Crittenton is a former NBA player with the Lakers, Wizards, and Grizzlies. You may remember him as “that guy who got into a locker room altercation with Gilbert Arenas that ended with guns being pulled and a 38-game suspension”.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, Louis C. Taylor has been freed from prison. Mr. Taylor served 42 years before his release: he was convicted of starting a hotel fire in 1970, when he was 16, and sentenced to 28 life terms. However, it looks like the evidence used to convict Mr. Taylor was questionable, and (if I read the article correctly) the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence.
And:
Of course they believe Mr. Taylor was guilty. God forbid they should admit someone served 42 years for what may not have even been a crime.
Senator Smith is accused of trying to bribe his way onto the ballot for the mayor’s race in New York City.
Wait. What?
In case you were wondering, Robert “Ratso” Rizzo’s trial on corruption charges is scheduled for September. Ratso’s former assistant, Angela Spaccia, is asking for a separate trial.
From the department of things that suck: noted SF author Ian Banks is dying. Many of my friends, including Lawrence, are big Banks fans. I never got into his work, personally: the only Banks book I own is Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram
Firing watch: Mike Rice out as basketball coach of Rutgers after video of him acting like an a–hole becomes public.
In great haste, because I am tied up and down with stuff:
Tubby Smith out as coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Sources are reporting that Ben Howland is going to be fired from his position as men’s basketball coach at UCLA.
The team went 25-10 this year, and lost on Friday to Minnesota.
The Tampa Bay Lightning (wait, they play hockey in Florida?) fired coach Guy Boucher.
Well, isn’t this special. Julie Roe Lach, the NCAA’s chief enforcement officer, has been fired. You may remember Ms. Lach from such hits as “my people totally f–ked up the Miami investigation”.
Is Sherlock Holmes in the public domain? Or is he under copyright?
The scholar in question is Leslie S. Klinger
What can you say about the only college Greco-Roman wrestling program in the country? What are they going to do if wrestling is no longer an Olympic sport? I don’t know, and I wasn’t going to say anything until I read this:
Wait. The Federal Government was funding a wrestling program? On the God-forsaken Upper Peninsula of Michigan?
Competition tractor restoration. No snark here: I think this is nifty. (And, really, it isn’t any different than car shows, is it? Indeed, thinking about it some more, this might also be worth noting as an example of how the mass media is out of touch with the rest of the country.)
Been busy all afternoon, first chance I’ve had to blog, but still ahead of FARK:
The University of Southern California has fired men’s basketball coach Kevin O’Neill.
O’Neill was 48-65 overall at USC (this was his fourth season there), and 7-10 so far this season.
(I don’t think any other major college basketball coaches have been axed yet this season. Am I wrong? Tell me in comments.)
The first question I had when I heard this was: are they going to even have a ceremony, if nobody was elected? Answer:
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired their general manager, Brian Burke. The Maple Leafs, as I understand it, play an obscure sport known as “hockey” which is popular in Canada.