L.egal T.rouble

By Tony Mangia

DANCING WITH THE BARS

It's not surprising about the mess ex-Giants and football icon, Lawrence Taylor, got himself into last week---it's the sheer stupidity. Taylor's fast, blitzing style of play not only pleased fans but that same recklessness has also followed him off the field too. The alleged rape of a sixteen year-old girl in an upstate New York Holiday Inn was the latest in a long-line of the ex-linebacker's criminal offenses and convictions. The "runaway" was dropped off at Taylor's room by a pimp who allegedly punched her for, at first, refusing to go. What did Taylor do after he was done with her? He gave the beaten and black-eyed girl $300, sent her on her way, and hit the hay. The girl notified her uncle of the alleged rape and he called the authorities. Police said Taylor was sound asleep when they knocked on his hotel room door a few hours later. He was denied a request to use the bathroom and was led away in handcuffs.

Taylor was charged with third-degree rape and solicitation of a prostitute and is out on $75,000 bail. His attorney, Arthur Aidala, denied the charges and claimed Taylor was a "family man" and "he didn't know the girl was underage." Any time those two phrases are mentioned in the same breath, something just can't be right. "As with any celebrity, Mr. Taylor is a target," Aidala claimed. That same notoriety is what charmed courts and kept him from prison in the past.

Taylor's battles with drug and alcohol demons are well documented. He admitted smoking crack the night before games and beating drug tests by using other people's "clean urine." His play on the field had many players and coaches overlook any infractions that occurred. Fans adored his roving, balls-out play. The more devastating a hit, the better. There wasn't a bar or night club where he didn't have drinks lined up and paid for by his admirers. He WAS that vaunted Giants defense which won two Super Bowls--tough and unyielding---just like his persona and lifestyle. The crime that prosecutors are now charging Taylor with now is so repulsive that none of his past supporters can say anything. What's scary is most people don't seem to put it past Taylor. His open admissions of his past trangressions have come back to haunt him. Giants owner, John Mara refused to comment on the charges and all that his ex-teammates can say is that they thought he cleaned up his life. Taylor's current, and third, wife called it a "setup."

Most Valuable Prisoner

It's been over ten years since Taylor was arrested for drugs. He claimed in his book," LT:Over the Edge", he would go through $1000 worth of crack in a night. He was busted for buying cocaine from an undercover agent in 1996, but police reported finding no drugs in his hotel room in the latest incident---only a bottle of liquor. In 2009, he was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident---then driving two miles without a front tire and, before that, tax evasion charges and bankruptcy.

There aren't a lot of things that haven't been said about L.T. in the media. It all comes down to too much. Too much adulation. Too much partying. Too many incidents. Taylor is not some tragic figure who deserves our pity. He needs help plain and simple. In a best case scenario, Taylor's claim he unwittingly paid for an underage prostitute will be proven. Not much light at the end of that tunnel--a light jail sentence and divorce--if he's lucky. The roar of thousands at Giants Stadium now becomes the silent stares of twelve of his peers in a jury gallery.

There is talk of banishing Hall of Fame members for criminal actions. Where do you start? The violence of football is glorified as macho--a man's sport. Its what separates the members of Canton from the run-of-the-mills. Does a DUI constitute banishment? How about assaults and drug convictions? How do you distinguish the man on the field from the man off it? The 1986 NFL MVP has been given many chances and Taylor seemed to benefit from them. This time a young girl is involved in the most sordid of crimes---rape. Lawrence Taylor has let down too many people for too long. If he is found guilty, even the most ardent fan will find it hard to remember Taylor as a gifted athlete. He will get his day in court and, this time, it seems even the staunchest of a Lawrence Taylor goal-line stand may not help.

Heineken Bodies...

The Philadelphia Story

By Tony Mangia

BUY ME SOME PEANUTS AND CRACKERJACK.
I DON'T CARE IF I EVER GET ZAPPED.

Watching a Phillies game these days is nothing less than electrifying and I'm not just talking about a Roy Halladay strikeout, a Chase Utley double play turn or a Ryan Howard blast. I'm talking about zero-tolerance Philadelphia's newest fan favorite--tasing. It's the newest security conundrum from the city that first brought you stadium municipal courts with holding pens and famously booed Santa Claus at an Eagles game. Now, a hilarious video of a towel-waving nineteen-year-old kid getting tased, in the outfield by a Philly cop, is a YouTube sensation.

Philadelphia, a city that banned hoagies (maybe if they were called HEROS) from entering stadiums after 9/11 for security concerns---that mozzarella could be a plastic explosive---is now at at the center of controversy, again, because of its police department's use of excessive force. They even banned cheesesteaks for god's sake! Oh come on. Philly is the home of the late-70's Flyers 'Broad Street Bullies' whose smack down style of play caused the NHL to revise its rule book and add about fifty pages of new disciplinary regulations. I can't believe the outcry. I love the support.

At the center of the controversy is the Penn State student who ran onto the field waving a white towel. He was chased by three lead-footed security personnel and a real cop. This is AFTER the teenager called his father to ask his permission to disrupt the ballgame. After a "I don't think its a good idea" reply from his dad, the jerky kid responded like any other teen would do after getting advice from his pop--he did exactly the opposite! While running around like a scared matador waving a white cape for about sixty seconds, the cop brought the stray doggie down with a direct hit to the rib cage. A stunt that would have only been seen by those fans in attendance, and been forgotten by the next pitch, would now would be seen by millions. The stunned jackass went down like a well...a stunned jackass. Now the public and police want to review the officer's use of a taser and his lack of restraint in taking down the lawbreaker. Police review the officer? Penn State should review the student's application at its university and his father should be slapped around for siring the goofball. What kind of kid calls his father for his blessing to break the law? Maybe that Chicago father and son team who jumped Kansas City first base coach, Tom Gamboa, in Comiskey Park a few years ago? The same lunkheads who dropped a knife at the foul line.

Citizens Bank Park erupted in cheers as the shocked teen went down. He could've been felled by a 9mm for all they knew and, as the convulsing kid laid on his stomach waving his his white terry like a surrendering Frenchman, the roar got louder as the crew corralled the spastic colt. Philly fans have a long record of stadium disobedience and intolerance. Go back a few years to when some Duracells were thrown at J.D. Drew's head up until last month when some freak purposely puked on a police captain's daughter to understand why jails were first installed in the bowels of the Vet. Many other stadiums have followed suit and now have their own mini-Alcatrazs alongside the player's locker rooms. The Oakland Raiders have a whole section for such culprits. They call it loge seating.

GOODBYE KATE SMITH

I say, to hell with the usual seventh inning stretches. No more sing-alongs like "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" inside Wrigley Field or "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium. Milwaukee almost gets it right with the sausage races and it was close to perfect when that opposing player took a bat to the sweet Italian one. Just pump up the Metallica and set some lanky teenager free in the outfield during the stretch and sic three or four really fat and out-of-shape security guards on the speedster. The wranglers could be armed with tasers and stun guns under their yellow 'SECURITY' wind breakers. See if that wiry little punk could evade his chubby hunters while AC/DC blasts through the loudspeakers. The crowd goes wild when a guard clutches his chest. The fun ensues as the teen races around the bases and his predators huff and stumble around the infield. MMA and the X-Games combined. Royals and Pirates fans might actually show up for the seventh inning alone. Bill Veeck would have loved it.

...be a lady by wearing M.A.C Superglass Collection

Jimmy Choo president:: Tamara Mellon

Tamara Mellon, the British president and co-founder of Jimmy Choo posed completely nude for "INTERVIEW MAGAZINE" photo shot by Terry Richardson, covering her privates with a kitten and wearing only Jimmy Choo stilettos. The 42-year-old Mellon, told Interview magazine "I wonder what they'll say at the next board meeting."

2011 Bentley Mulsanne

YEAR: 2011
MAKE: Bentley
MODEL: Mulsanne
PRICE: $300,000

Money vs. Manny

By Tony Mangia

Mayweather Win Brings Talk of Pacquiao Matchup...Again

Now the real fight begins. They'll be lawyers, doctors and fight officials throwing words, reports and regulations at each other like jabs and hooks in the ring. Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s dismantling of Shane Mosley on Saturday backed up Mayweather's claim that he is the true welterweight champion. Manny Pacquiao's camp has boasted that title was his after he soundly beat Joshua Clottey in March. Really, both of these fights were only semi-finals leading up to what the people consider the real championship fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. The only thing holding back the biggest payday in boxing history is whether or not Pacquiao will submit to Mayweather's demand of taking blood and urine tests on his timetable.

After getting rocked by a Mosley right in the second round in Las Vegas, Mayweather proved why experts claim he is the greatest "pound for pound' fighter in the world. His decision over "Sugar" might have tilted that unofficial title in his favor. Luckily for boxing fans---and boxing-- -both men can fight in the same weight class, so maybe we can finally lay to rest all of the debates and see the real thing. Or can we?

Oscar De La Hoya---who has fought Mayweather and Pacquiao and lost to both---said, after he saw Mayweather's precise 12-round decision over Moseley, that he thinks Mayweather (41-0) is the best fighter of this generation and maybe of all time. Many said the same thing about Pacquiao after he battered Clottey. Critics of Mayweather rail that he has never defeated a legitimate welterweight but now the victory over Mosley, a three-time champ clams them up. Clottey was outclassed by Manny and 'turtled up' the whole fight leading many to agree Mosley is a superior fighter and competitor. Still Pacman diehards will suggest that Mosley was 38 years old and on the exit ramp out of boxing. He did have Mayweather in trouble in the second round but claimed his "neck tightened up" and "couldn't finish the job." By the seventh round, Mosley looked his age, leaving "Money" dominating the next ten rounds.

To Pee or Not to Pee

The pressure now seems to be squarely on Pacquiao's shoulders. Mayweather will not fight him without Olympic-style testing and that is final. Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, said he will not agree to drawing blood within 24 days of the fight because Pacquiao believes that any blood drawn will leave him "feeling tired" because is smaller in size. He has agreed to blood tests before the 24 day cutoff. "If Manny takes the test we can make it happen," says Mayweather," If he doesn't, we don't have a fight."

Saturday's fight was a huge draw and---no small fault of Mayweather---Money lived up to his nickname and made close to $40 million. Mayweather proved his drawing power along with his fighting power. He proved he can take a punch from a strong fighter and recover. Pacquiao was a cat toying with a ball of yarn in his decision over Clottey--outpunching his opponent an incredible 1200-256--and proving he has amazing stamina and energy. Now he can prove his greatness by fighting Mayweather and exploiting Money's rare, but occasional lapses in defense.

Mayweather stepped up and backed up his bravado on Saturday---he boasted that he is better than Sugar Ray Robinson AND Muhammed Ali. He can't fight them but, immediately, there was that familiar murmur of a fight with Pacquiao, possibly in November. Talks fell through last December because of the blood-testing requirements and people became suspicious of Pacquiao's refusal to test and blamed his interest in campaigning for senate in his Philippine homeland while the media claimed Mayweather was ducking Pacman by using the blood testing as a excuse. Right now, Mayweather has the edge by virtue of beating a more substantial opponent.

Both fighters don't need each other---or the cash. Mayweather seems content with taking his "Experience" on the road. Japan, Dubai and England are only a few of the places where he could fight for millions. Pacquiao has his political aspirations to keep him busy. Boxing really needs this fight. It is the most hyped event that never happened. The purse would be staggering---the largest ever. The welterweight division is loaded with good fighters---Andre Berto, Miquel Cotto--- and in the midst of them all rise Mayweather and Pacquiao--two different boxers with the interest of fans and the fight game in their hands. The solution should be simple. There must be some sort of middle ground. How much blood actually has to be drawn? Test the fighters up to 24 days before and directly after the bout. Just don't leave the fight outside the ring in some medical lab or lawyers office.