Drew_From_That_Marquette_Place's Xanga

Monday, August 01, 2005

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 16:24:36 GMT

I'm going to start using my new site.

Goodbye xanga...I hardly knew ye...

http://marquetteprophet.blogspot.com

Monday, August 01, 2005

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 15:06:52 GMT

Dear anyone with a heart:

I have to drive for a long, long time in a few days. I leave on Sunday to drive to Washington D.C. with Lauren to get her stuff out to her apartment.

Raise your hand if you want to make me a mix-cd. I'll take as many as I can get.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:30:12 GMT

I have a sad announcement to make:

In a short period of time, I will no longer be updating my xanga site. Instead, I am converting to blogspot, a site that reminds me a lot of upsaid (for those of you that remember upsaid, my long lost love, it was a LOT more convenient to use). I'll give the url of my new site once I'm done formatting it and making it look pretty.

In the meantime, a collection of MU students and I are creating an MU all-stars blog. Look for a few of my own posts, along with the deep thoughts of my fantastic MU friends. The site is being wacky and not allowing us to add more contributors, but as soon as the error is fixed, we plan to make the blog circle "jesus huge". FYI - that's pretty big.

http://wearemarquette.blogspot.com

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Wed, 27 Jul 2005 13:06:05 GMT

Friday, July 22, 2005

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 17:00:37 GMT

Seems like an article week, mostly b/c there's nothing else to report. I'm still working, I'm still getting less sleep than I should, and I'm still a big Twins fanatic.

This article, though, I think is kinda fascinating. The question of the day: Should the insanity defense be abolished?

'I see dead people' movie line plays in Rocori trial

Jill Burcum, Star Tribune

July 22, 2005 ROCORI0723

Before Seth Bartell was killed in the 2003 shootings at Rocori High School, ''I see dead people,'' a line from the Bruce Willis movie ''Sixth Sense,'' was a running joke around his family's home.

Today, the movie and its famous catch phrase, which always made Bartell laugh, took center stage in the insanity defense phase of the murder trial of John Jason McLaughlin.

McLaughlin, now 17, was found guillty on Monday of killing Bartell and another student, Aaron Rollins.

As the Bartell and Rollins families looked on, prosecutors played a clip from the 1999 movie to make the point that McLaughlin is faking mental illness and that popular culture, movies and TV, have inspired symptoms he's reported.

McLaughlin's attorney has claimed the teen has paranoid schizophrenia and was insane when the shootings occurred on Sept. 24, 2003.

The clip showed three dead people hanging in a stairwell at a school attended by the film's young lead character, played by Haley Joel Osment. The bodies are dressed in old-fashioned clothing.

McLaughlin has reported similar hallucinations, according to court documents. He has described dead people dressed like Pilgrims hanging in the detention center where he has been held.

Seth Bartell's mother, Kim, said outside the courtroom that the movie brought back memories of her son. It also angered her.

''It just clocked in my mind. This all came from the movie. After this morning, I just feel like they have been carrying on a huge lie,'' she said, referring to the defense attorney and expert witnesses who have testified that McLaughlin is mentally ill.

Other hallucinations McLaughlin has reported may have been inspired by pop culture, said Kelly Wilson, a psychologist called by prosecutors.

Wilson testified that the movie ''A Beautiful Mind'' may have been where McLaughlin got the idea to say he has seen drug enforcement-type people living in the woods near his Cold Spring home.

''A Beautiful Mind,'' starring Russell Crowe, is about a mathematician with a mental illness, who thought he met government agents in remote settings.

Wilson, with the Minnesota State Security Hospital in St. Peter, also noted that McLaughlin has said his hands turn tie-dye colors underwater. She said this idea has been featured on the long-running TV cartoon ''The Simpsons.''

Asked if there's evidence McLaughlin has seen the movies and the TV show, prosecutor David Voigt said, ''stay tuned.''

The prosecution plans to call witnesses that will say that the teen has seen the movies and TV show. This morning, Wilson testified that McLaughlin's family owns the movie ''A Beautiful Mind.'' It also appears as though McLaughlin has seen both movies at the detention center.

Wilson came under fire from defense attorney Dan Eller, who pointed out that Wilson's conclusions about malingering or feigning mental illness differ significantly from other mental health experts who have examined McLaughlin.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 13:07:55 GMT

Two articles to make your day a little more interesting:

First, the #1 trick play in sports...
1. The Barking Dog Trick. One time I was watching SportsCenter and they showed a highlight from what was either a high school or junior high basketball game. This kid was on the right baseline and suddenly he bolted for the door, ran through the lobby and came back into the gym through the door on the left baseline. Needless to say, he was wide open. His teammate threw him the ball, Stu Scott yelled "Holla!" and the kid buried a jumper. I thought it was the greatest thing ever until I saw the Barking Dog Trick. You remember the highlight: last second of a high school game, a kid drops down on all fours and starts barking like a dog. Opponents can't help but watch, and the dogboy's teammates take advantage of their disinterest to score the winning basket.

It's pure genius, but I always felt bad for the kid who had to bark. If your coach tells you to assume a canine position at a pivotal point in a game, that's pretty much an indication that he doesn't exactly consider you to be clutch.

Second, Sports Illustrated's IDIOT OF THE DAY!!!
T-ball coach allegedly solicited `hit' on player
AP
Published July 17, 2005

A Pittsburgh-area T-ball coach allegedly paid one of his players $25 to hurt an 8-year-old mentally challenged teammate so he wouldn't have to put the boy in the game, police said Friday. Mark R. Downs Jr., 27, of Dunbar, Pa., is accused of offering one of his players the money to hit the boy in the head with a baseball, police said. Witnesses told police Downs didn't want the boy to play in the game because of his disability. Police said the boy was hit in the head and in the groin with a baseball just before a game, and didn't play, police said. "The coach was very competitive," state police Trooper Thomas B. Broadwater said. "He wanted to win." Downs was arrested and arraigned Friday on charges including criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault and corruption of minors. He was released from jail on an unsecured bond. The alleged assault happened June 27. The boy's mother asked state police to investigate her son's injuries because she suspected Downs wanted to keep the boy off the field, despite a league rule that required each player to participate in three innings a game, Broadwater said. League organizers investigated accusations against Downs before the T-ball season ended earlier this month but could not prove that he did anything wrong.

EDIT: We'll make it 3 articles.

Stotts adds to staff

James has eight years of experience as NBA aide

By CHARLES F. GARDNER
cgardner@journalsentinel.com

Posted: July 20, 2005

Brian James, who got his start in the National Basketball Association coaching game with Doug Collins, has been signed to a multiyear contract to join the Milwaukee Bucks coaching staff, the team announced Wednesday.

The 49-year-old James has served eight years as an NBA assistant, including three seasons each with the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors and two seasons with the Washington Wizards.

James spent the past two years as an advance scout for the Seattle SuperSonics and an NBA analyst for ESPN.com. He also worked on Wizards' telecasts during the past two seasons.

The appointment of James leaves Bucks coach Terry Stotts with one assistant position to fill. James joins holdovers Bob Ociepka and Mike Sanders, who were on Terry Porter's staff before his firing on June 22.

The Bucks tried to hire Collins as their head coach, and if he had accepted the job, James would have been part of his staff.

James coached under Collins in both Detroit and Washington, and he helped Collins with the Eastern Conference team in the 1997 NBA All-Star Game.

In Washington, James became familiar with Bobby Simmons, who spent the first two years of his pro career with the Wizards. Simmons, a free-agent guard-forward, recently agreed to a multiyear deal with the Bucks.

Before coming to the NBA, James coached high school basketball in Illinois for 18 years. He spent six years at Glenbrook North, where he compiled a 139-34 record and coached Collins' son, Chris, who went on to play at Duke.

James is a graduate of Illinois State and has a master's degree in educational administration from Northeastern Illinois. He and his wife, Julie, have three children, Christopher, 20, Dayna, 12, and Brady, 8.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Tue, 19 Jul 2005 14:33:31 GMT

Quick summary of my life right now:

- Addicted to online poker. Specifically 10-person tournaments.
- Waiting to hear from D.C. about my Fall internship.
- Work is still boring.
- Starting to get ready for the LSAT and starting to look at law schools.
- Twins make me very, very sad.
- R. Kelly = GOD. If you haven't heard his urban operetta "Trapped in the Closet", you need to. The music video is amazing too. While you're at it, listen to "sex weed" and "sex in the kitchen".

Anyone up for the Twins game tonight? If not, I'll go to frisbee, but I'd prefer a good, cheap baseball game.

Subquestion: If we go to the game, is anyone up for making a "we're college kids and need to pay off our student loans" sign to try to get the lottery tickets that FSN gives away?

EDIT: Because I know everyone loves my articles...

Man accused of impersonating Steelers quarterback

Saturday, July 16, 2005

By Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

He's not 6-foot-5. He's not 23. He doesn't wear No. 7. And he doesn't have a goatee. In fact, Brian Jackson doesn't resemble Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in any way.

But that didn't stop the car salesman from duping a woman into believing he was Big Ben in order to go out with her, authorities said.

Now Jackson has a date of a different kind -- in court.

Detectives from the Allegheny County district attorney's office yesterday accused Jackson of harassing a woman named Mary Groft, who broke off contact with him this month after seeing through his alleged deception.

It wasn't the first time Jackson used the black-and-gold to facilitate his love life, authorities said.

In September, he reached deeper into the Steelers depth chart and impersonated fourth-string quarterback Brian St. Pierre to woo a woman named Julie Valo, the affidavit said.

After a few weeks, Valo figured out Jackson's ruse and told him she wanted nothing to do with him, the affidavit said. He harassed her, however, by following her and surprising her at various places, according to the affidavit.

The investigation isn't over.

"We believe there are other victims out there," Mike Manko, spokesman for the district attorney's office, said yesterday.

A handcuffed and shackled Jackson appeared at noon before District Judge Oscar Petite Jr. to be arraigned on criminal mischief and two counts of harassment.

Accompanied by his attorney, Paul Boas, Jackson, 31, respectfully answered questions. He said he was a car salesman from Baldwin Borough who lives with his fiance. Authorities, however, supplied a home address of Abel Avenue in Brentwood.

Petite released Jackson on his own recognizance and ordered him to be evaluated at the jail's behavior clinic before his July 25 preliminary hearing.

Boas declined comment and hustled his client from the Pittsburgh Municipal Courts building.

Roethlisberger's agent, Leigh Steinberg, however, was happy to speak, having been the victim himself of an impersonator. The movie character Jerry Maguire was loosely based on Steinberg, and someone once tried to pass himself off as the sports agent at a Las Vegas casino to secure credit.

"These are the unfortunate difficulties inherent in celebrity. People need to be careful, to ascertain the validity of claims that anyone makes who purports to be a celebrity," Steinberg said yesterday.

"Fortunately for an athlete as prominent and ubiquitous and identifiable as Ben, it's not normally a difficulty."

True. But St. Pierre might be a different story. Standing behind Roethlisberger, Tommy Maddox and Charlie Batch in the quarterback line of succession, St. Pierre has hardly been in the limelight.

In September, the affidavit said, Valo met Jackson on the South Side, where the suspect told her he was St. Pierre. The two exchanged phone numbers, and they were in touch for two to three weeks, the affidavit said.

Valo told investigators that the ersatz quarterback would sign footballs for neighborhood kids and autographs for anyone who asked. The ruse was so deep that Jackson would discuss his "teammates," talk about Steelers information and tell Valo when he was going out of town, the affidavit said.

He even told her to watch a game.

That was Jackson's undoing.

Valo turned on the Steelers one day and saw Brian St. Pierre on screen. Despite sharing a first name, Brian Jackson was no Brian St. Pierre.

After the game, the affidavit said, Jackson called Valo and she confronted him. He told her she was "crazy," according to the affidavit, and said he looks different on TV.

Valo didn't buy it, and told Jackson they were through. She told him not to contact her again, but he persisted, according to authorities. A man pretending to be Roethlisberger -- investigators believe it was Jackson -- called her, as did a woman posing as Big Ben's girlfriend.

Valo told authorities that Jackson called her as recently as July 7.

In June, authorities said, Jackson adopted Roethlisberger's identity. He approached Groft in a pizza shop on Brookline Boulevard wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, according to investigators.

Jackson told Groft that he was a friend of Roethlisberger and that she was Big Ben's type. They exchanged phone numbers, and then Groft and the faux Roethlisberger spoke for several weeks until they set up a date.

Jackson showed up at Groft's house July 6, when he presented her with an autographed football, posed with neighbor Larry West for a picture, and then signed West's football jersey, the affidavit said.

Authorities charged Jackson with criminal mischief for ruining the $75 jersey with a fake autograph.

When Groft got home from her date, West showed her a newspaper article about Roethlisberger. She called Jackson's bluff and told him not to contact her anymore, but he continued to call her, the affidavit said.

The investigation was initiated by the National Football League's security representative in Pittsburgh, Mark Ninehouser, a former Pittsburgh police sergeant, and turned over to detectives Frances Laquatra and Randall Ricciuti of the district attorney's office.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 13:33:32 GMT

Dear citizens of Edina,

Anyone want to watch the Twins game with me tonight? I'll be celebrating Joe's 21st b-day for dinner, but I'd like to watch as much of the game as possible (hopefully all of it).

John?

Hagen?

Anyone?

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 15:31:56 GMT

ESPN's page 2 had a good explanation for the Twins in their new rankings:

15. Minnesota Twins (48-38)
They're the middle of the pack. They're the middle of the pack in runs scored, total bases and OPS. Middle relief is their strong suit (all Juan Rincon puns intended, of course). They play in the middle of the country and in the central division. They almost always impress and almost never inspire. It's not that they're not good. They are good. It's just that, well, nobody much cares. And the good news, if you're a Twins fan, is that this is why they sneak up on the rest of us just about every year. And the bad news, if you're a Twins fan, is that, well, nobody much cares.

Oh, and if you don't read/like this article, you're not a true Twins fan.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=ursu/050713

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:12:53 GMT

blahhhhhhh soooo bored at work. Can't....work....must...be....productive.

Damn the internet.

Drew_From_That_Marquette_Place's Xanga

Monday, August 01, 2005

Monday, August 01, 2005

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Friday, July 22, 2005

'I see dead people' movie line plays in Rocori trial

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Stotts adds to staff

James has eight years of experience as NBA aide

By CHARLES F. GARDNERcgardner@journalsentinel.com

Posted: July 20, 2005

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Man accused of impersonating Steelers quarterback

Friday, July 15, 2005

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

By CHARLES F. GARDNER
cgardner@journalsentinel.com