Patriots lineman Hill found dead after accidental drowning

The NFL and the New England sports community suffered another tragic loss when the body of Patriots defensive end Marquise Hill was found a half a mile from where he fell into the waters of Lake Pontchartrain Sunday night.

Hill, a third-year player and Louisiana native who played collegiately at LSU and won a National Championship with the Tigers in 2003, was riding a jet ski with a female companion Sunday after dark when tragedy struck. The rough waters located near a busy shipping channel contributed to the water crafts overturning, and the fact that neither rider was wearing a life vest only exacerbated the situation.

By all reports Hill, an exemplary player, role model and human being who was able to swim, made an attempt to rescue his female friend, who could not. The friend was found unharmed, clinging to a piling, but Hill could not navigate the strong current and was washed away despite rescue attempts by an alert bystander on shore and numerous search groups.

Hill's tragic death comes on the heels of the sudden passing of two Denver Broncos players this off season, corner back Darrent Williams from a fatal gunshot wound on New Years Eve, and running back Damien Nash from an apparent heart attack after a charity basketball game in February.

The Boston sports family also has endured unexpected deaths in the past eight months: Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach in October; Celtics guard & playoff legend Dennis Johnson, also from a sudden heart attack in February, two days before Nash; and former Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley, whose painful, paralyzed life came to a abrupt end in April.

Combined with the recent deaths of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock, USC kicker Mario Danelo, and former Eagle Andre Watters, and there has been more than enough disturbing confirmations that even our most physically gifted and athletically talented people cannot escape the harsh realities of the real world.

R.I.P., Marquise.

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Why are so many athletes dying?

I had been pondering covering this topic for days now, ever since I heard the news that former USF player Javon Camon died after a helmet-to-helmet collision in a minor league indoor football game, the latest casualty in what appears to be a depressing and accelerating trend: athletes dying suddenly under a bizarre variety of circumstances.

Obviously when an athlete or celebrity dies the story is magnified because of the public's familiarity with the person, even C-listers and minor leaguers. Therefore I thought perhaps it was just my imagination making it seem like the number of athletes to die in the past 6 months from unexpected circumstances was exceptionally high. Until I started to compile a list (morbid, I know, but inherently this is a sad subject.) Here are some of the recently deceased athletes and the reasons behind their unfortunate demise:

• Cory Lidle P, NY Yankees (private plane crash, Oct 06)
• Bryan Pata DE, Miami Hurricanes (shot in his yard, Nov 06)
• Darrent Williams CB, Denver Broncos (shot in a limo Jan 1, 07)
• Mario Danelo K, USC Trojans (fell from a cliff, Jan 07)
• Keeley Dorsey RB, USF (collapsed after workout, Jan 07)
• Damien Nash RB, Denver Broncos (collapsed at home, Feb 07)
• Javon Camon DB, World Indoor Football (game hit, Feb 07)

Seven athletes in less than six months, and I'm not even including former players like NFL DB Andre Waters from a self-inflicted gunshot wound last November or former NBA great Dennis Johnson last week after an unexplained collapse. These were all active, apparently healthy young men who fell victim to a strange assortment of unfortunate events, leaving family, friends and fans mourning and scratching their heads, wondering why.

Of course I don't have the answer to the rhetorical question I posed in the title. How could anyone have a logical explanation when the various causes of these passings range from the freakish (Lidle, Camon) to the unforeseen (Williams, Pata) to the unexplained (Nash, Danelo)? None of these players were out patrolling the clubs looking for trouble, a la Pac Man Jones, although Williams' death was reportedly the result of a nightclub altercation. The scariest part of this is that for every accident that has happened there is another accident waiting to happen, like a Tank Johnson, Stephen Jackson or with any active member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

The hair is standing up on the back of my neck as I am typing this piece because a news story has just come on reporting that a bus full of college baseball players travelling through Atlanta has plunged off an overpass and crashed onto the road below, killing at least six occupants, including four young players.

And the disturbing trend continues.

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Basketball great Dennis Johnson is dead

Former Boston Celtics guard Dennis Johnson passed away this evening after conducting a practice for his D-League basketball club in Austin, Texas. He was 52.

All reports state that Johnson seemed fine during and immediately after the practice. But while he was standing outside the team's facilities joking over a parking ticket with a team employee he collapsed and never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Johnson played in the NBA for 14 seasons, won 3 NBA titles and is considered to be one of the greatest defensive players of all time. After earning the Finals MVP trophy for Seattle in 1979, the man affectionately known as DJ was traded to Phoenix, where he spent three seasons before being traded to Boston in 1983. He was well known for shutting down the best player on the other team, and his handcuffing of Laker great Magic Johnson in the 1984 Finals is the stuff of legend.

Growing up a Celtic fanatic I remember DJ as being the calming influence on those dynastic teams of the '80s. Bird was The Man, McHale was the Second Banana, Chief was smokin' his peace pipes and Ainge was like a pre-neutered pit bull. But DJ was like the cool uncle of the group, always guiding the team with a firm hand, dishing the rock at the appropriate times to the proper superstar or hitting a huge money shot/clamping down on the opponents' hottest hand when necessary. As a fan you just felt more comfortable with DJ on the court, a true mark of a great player.

Interestingly enough DJ had not been elected to the Hall off Fame as of this past year for reasons that have been contemplated by columnists everywhere. This omission comes despite the fact that the man averaged 14 points & 5 assists for his career, made 5-All Star teams, 6-All Defensive first teams and with Bird helped complete one of the most historic basketball plays of all time...

... I can still remember the game like it was, well not yesterday but just a few years ago: Boston vs. the HATED Pistons, 1987 Eastern Conference Finals Game 5. The Celtics trailed 107-106 with just seconds to play. As Isiah Thomas prepared to inbound the ball it appeared as if the C's were headed to Detroit for Game 6 facing a 3-2 deficit. Then The Play happened, and the sound of Johnny Most calling it will echo in the ears of basketball fans for decades to come:

"and there's a steal by Bird...underneath to DJ- he lays it in!"

Bird gets all the credit for the steal, but what would he have done had DJ not come streaking in from mid court and hit the slicing, reverse layup that won the game and propelled the Celts to a hard-fought 7-game win?

That play would mark the beginning of the end for the Celtics dynasty. The previous spring #1 draft pick Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose 2 days after the draft, and after DJ helped Boston advance past Detroit they lost to the Lakers in the '87 Finals; the team has not made it back to the championship since.

In the ensuing years age, malaise and tragedy would combine to derail the Green Machine. Playoff one-&-done appearances became the norm, a coaching carousel produced no "next Auerbach', Bird retired before the '92-'93 season and then beloved guard Reggie Lewis died suddenly in 1993. This season started with the death of the architect, Red Auerbach, and has seen the team lose a franchise-record 18 consecutive games en route to another possible #1 draft pick.

But Celtics fans will always have the great memories, and when it comes to that category DJ was responsible for more than his fare share, including one of the greatest memories of all time.

RIP, DJ. You will be missed, but you will not be forgotten.

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Anna Update

The comparisons between Anna & Marilyn are eerie

It's only fitting that the controversies surrounding Anna Nicole Smith's death are as bizarre and unbelievable as they were during her life. if not more so. Like the starlet she modeled her career after, Marilyn Monroe, Anna led a fast, flashy life and died a mysterious, tragic death before the age of 40.

Appropriately in Hollywood (Fla.)

While zillions of stories circle the blogosphere following the zaftig model's death yesterday afternoon many have proven to be the result of rumors and speculation. Almost anyone could have predicted the circus-like atmosphere that is shrouding her death because the woman lived in a constant such state, but the shit that has been coming out since her demise sounds like fodder for pulpy paperback novels and E! True Hollywood stories.

A few of the items that have come forth in the past 28 hours include the police verifying that prescription drugs were found in Smith's hotel room but not any illegal drugs, as had been reported on many sites, and no prescription drugs were found in her stomach, according to results of her autopsy. Also her strange (not estranged, the dude is just odd) husband Howard K. Stern is reportedly the executor of Smith's will, which would make it tricky for him to collect any possible financial windfall the SC might award due to the fact that one person cannot be the executor and beneficiary of a will. Sucks to be you, Howie!

Anna's daughter Dannielynn is the likely bene-ficiary due to the passing of her son Daniel, and depending on who is determined to be the girl's father- Stern or former Smith boyfriend Larry Birkhead- will decide which man gets to cash in his golden ticket.

Which brings me to the oddest part of this wild odyssey; someone else has thrown his hat into the ring of fire that is the paternity issue of little Dannie-lynn, and this guy ain't a photographer, a lawyer, or a octogenarian billionaire. No, this one is a prince. Or at least a wannabe prince. Prince Frederick von Anhalt, better known as Zsa Zsa Gabor's (yes, she's still alive & kicking at 90) 65-year-old husband, is now claiming that he fathered the 6-month-old baby because he had been having an affair with Smith for at least a decade. Excuse me?! What the f**k is that all about?!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder.

Other developments include Anna's mother, Virgie Arthur, arriving in the Bahamas to begin looking into who will take custody of the baby; news that Stern & Smith had bought a 39-foot boat in Florida and that they were planning to take it home to the Bahamas today; and G. Ben Thompson, another rich old dude Smith hooked up with, arrived in the Bahamas as well. Not to check on the baby's well-being, but to change the locks on the house Anna had been staying in for the past 6 months. Why did he do that? Because he owns the property and had been haggling with Smith to vacate the premises for months before her death.

All of this has happened in a little over 24 hours.

I shudder to think what lies ahead in this sad, sordid saga.

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Anna Nicole Smith found dead

Anna Nicole Smith, 11/28/67- 2/8/07

The tumultuous, tragedy-filled life of model/actress Anna Nicole Smith came to an abrupt end at around 2:00 pm today when she was found unconscious in her hotel room at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Although the official cause of death has yet to be determined, 9 out of 10 armchair doctors are laying money on a drug overdose or complications from excessive, prolonged drug use.

The 39-year-old buxom blond's life had been filled with contro-versy, tragedy and legal drama for much of the past 10 years. Her son, Daniel, died in the Bahamas three days after Anna gave birth to her daughter, Dannielynn, last September. It was determined that Daniel, 20, had a lethal combination of drugs in his system when he collapsed in Smith's hospital room.

Following that horrible event, a paternity suit developed regard-ing the true father of Dannielynn; Smith claimed it was her long-time friend & lawyer, Howard K. Stern, while her ex-boyfriend, photographer Larry Birkhead, claimed he was the biological father.

Smith's journey from working-class country girl Vickie Lynn Hogan to international sex symbol began when she graced the cover of Playboy in 1992. Soon the voluptuous platinum blond was draw-ing comparisons to Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, and by the time she was named Playmate of the Year and spokesmodel for Guess? Jeans in 1993, she was an object of lust for millions of heterosexual men, yours truly included, of all ages from all over the world.

But the magic carpet ride of photo spreads, B-movie roles and enjoying life to the fullest started to unravel when she married billionaire J. Howard Marshall in 1994. The starlet was just 26 while her new paramour was a robust 89. The controversial pairing brought both unrelenting claims of "golddigger" from the press and disgusted reactions from her fans as she was seen smooching and hugging the dodgy, geriatric oil tycoon.

Marshall passed away just over a year after they married and im-mediately Smith was embroiled in a nasty dispute over the dis-tribution of the Marshall fortune. She joined forces with one of Marshall's sons in a claim against his other son, E.Pierce Marshall, as to who should receive the majority of his estate. Although nei-ther had a written claim to the fortune, Smith swore that Marshall promised her half of his assets shortly after they wed.

After numerous judgements for both sides and more than a decade of legal wrangling, the case has yet to be resolved. Recently, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, but unfortunately Smith will never get to see its conclusion.

The firestorm of controversy, supposed heartbreak, and public ridicule led Anna down a dark path of overeating, drug addiction and ultimately self-parody. Her television series, The Anna Nicole Show, debuted on E! TV in 2002 and immediately brought those realities into clear view for the whole world to see. A bloated, incoherent and disgusting Smith waddled through life with her manslave Stern in tow, while a bewildered-yet-innocent looking Danny hung on as his mother embarrassed herself time and time again in front of the cameras.

The show was cancelled in 2004 after overexposure made the once-adoring masses sick of the behemoth, babbling former babe. Ironically, after that she began to rehab-ilitate her image-sort of; Anna became a spokeswoman for weight loss program TrimSpa and shaved at least 100 pounds off her ample frame. Still busty & boisterous, Smith soon stumbled into controversy again when she made a slurred appearance at the 2004 Amer-ican Music Awards, rekindling rumors of drug and/or alcohol abuse. These rumors persisted right up until Daniel's death; many blamed the young man's demise on the years he had spent watching his mother turn into an addicted, cartoon-like character.

But something tells me that the woman who was truly larger than life in life will become an even grander figure following her tragic death. Like the woman she has been compared to most, Marilyn Monroe, she lived hard and died young under mysterious circumstances. Stories like that only serve to help legends grow, and the legend of Anna Nicole Smith will live on long past this day.

The only question left is, who will play her in the inevitable biopic?

R.I.P. Anna Nicole.

And thanks for the memories.

The early years

Playboy material

Guess? what I've got?

Two reasons why she made it big

Goodbye, Vickie Lynn

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Taking a moment to mourn two American legends

I have been remiss in my responsibilities regarding the goings on in the world of entertainment & pop culture by not covering the passings of two American icons.

Iwao Takamoto died Monday of heart failure in Los Angeles at the age of 81. Who the hell is Iwao Takamoto, you may ask? None other than the inventor of one of the best cartoon characters of all time, Scooby Doo.

Mr. Takamoto went to work for animation giant Hanna & Barbera in 1961 after learning how to draw while he was interred at a California prison camp during WWII. Years later Mr. Takamoto created the character known as Scooby Doo, and the series that began in 1969 remains one of the longest continually-running programs in television history.

I remember back in my days as a cereal-slurping little rug rat I lived for the Saturday Morning Cartoons, and the life blood of my fixation was Scooby Doo. The show came on super early, like 7:30, so it would still be kinda dark and quiet, and I remember that stupid show used to scare the crap out of me. I know, I know, how can a show with 2 hip chicks (Daphne & Velma), their debonair, "platonic" friend (Fred), a kooky, unkempt buddy (Shaggy) and their ravenous dog, Scooby, scare the shit out of a 7-year-old?

It was that freaking haunting music and the creepy way the zombie/ghost/sea creature/insert villain here would moan and ramble after the kids that got my hairs to stand on end. I also remember being relieved when the meddling kids would finally solve the mystery and Scoob & Shag would go share a ginormous hogie that I would feel relieved that everyone was safe for another week.

There is a great article here from Slate that sums up the impact that Scooby and the gang have had on our society for so many decades.

Bottom line is many Americans owe one of the simple pleasures of their childhoods to this man. Domo arigato, Mr. Takamoto, and may you be served Scooby Snacks for the rest of eternity.

The other death that hit many people hard was that of Momofuku Ando, better known as the genius who invented Ramen Noodles.

Yes Mr. Ando is the man behind the food that has fed millions of starving college students and those looking for a fast, filling little meal for decades. He is the sole creator of the dried brick concoction that when combined with boiling water forms a hearty bowl of twisty noodles. Beginning in the early 1950s, Ando came up with his cheap yet satisfying food product as a way to combat the poverty and starvation gripping his native Japan after the WWII. After coming up with the cellophane-wrapped ramen product for his company, he also invented the other coed favorite, Cup O' Noodles.

Was this guy a living God or what?!

As with my Scooby story the roots of my love for Ramen are deeply embedded in my childhood. When I was growing up every one had Ramen or Cup O' Noodles in their home- it was that staple you had to have in case no one wanted to cook or you just needed a quick fix snack. My problem was that the one Cup, or bag, was just not enough to satisfy my appetite.

That's when my stroke of genius was applied to the product that Ando perfected- I put twice as much water in the pot, used two packets of noodles, and then used double broth packs to achieve a super bowl of delicious Ramen delight; brilliant!

I still use this innovation to this very day- in fact I have been on a Ramen bender lately; my wife can't restock our shelves quick enough. Part of that is because I use the two pack method, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The only drawback to my approach is you must have matching flavors or the plan is ruined. I mean I love the shit, but I would never cross-pollinate a beef flavor with say a teriyaki chicken or a shrimp. That would be freakin' crazy!

(BTW, my personal favorite is the beef)

I just wanted to say R.I.P., Mr. Takamoto and Mr. Ando, two Japanese men (Takamoto was born in America to Japanese immigrants) who have provided Americans with the perfect culture combo since the '60s.

Well I gotta go now; I need a (double) bowl of Ramen beef with a Scooby marathon on the side (original series only, not the bastardized Scrappy version or the hideous movie adaptations.)

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