March Madness Key Dates on the road to Arlington Texas and the NCAAFinal 4

Selection Sunday
March 16

First Round
March 18-19
UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio)

Second-Third Rounds
March 20, 22
First Niagara Center (Buffalo, N.Y.)
BMO Harris Bradley Center (Milwaukee)
Amway Center (Orlando, Fla.)
Veterans Memorial Arena (Spokane, Wash.)

March 21, 23
PNC Arena (Raleigh, N.C.)
AT&T Center (San Antonio)
Viejas Arena (San Diego)
Scottrade Center (St. Louis)

South Regional
March 27, 29
FedExForum (Memphis, Tenn.)

West Regional
March 27, 29
Honda Center (Anaheim, Calif.)

East Regional
March 28, 30
Madison Square Garden (New York)

Midwest Regional
March 28, 30
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)

National Semifinals
April 5
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)

Championship Game
April 7
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)

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When You Pay To Much For Cable

When you pay too much for cable you get depressed.

When you get depressed you go to a seedy hotel.

When you go to a seedy hotel, you meet an attractive dancer.

When you meet an attractive dancer, you give her money for baby supplies.

When you give her money for baby supplies, her husband punches you in the nose.

Don't get punched in the nose, get rid of cable!

 

 

Inspired by real events as reported by WBTV:

 

According to the Salisbury Police report, a 56 year old man called police to report that he had been assaulted at the Economy Inn on Bendix Drive..

According to police, the man said he was talking to "an attractive dancer" who was staying in room 203.  The dancer had earlier borrowed $80 from the man in order to purchase "baby supplies."

When the man asked the dancer about his money, she became upset and called for her husband.  The husband and the alleged victim argued, the husband punched the man in the nose and told him that if he ever talked to his wife again, he would kill him.

The dancer and her husband then got into a green Oldsmobile Aurora and left the hotel.  The alleged victim was not able to get a license tag number.

 

 

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In Case You Missed It: A Rock Hill Perspective on Maurice Bessinger

The following appeared in the Rock Hill Herald and later The State. The author of this op-ed is none other than Andrew Dys.

Mr. Dys is a New York native, but he gets credit for time served and good behavior while bouncing from small paper to small paper. Shelby, Gastonia and since 2000 Rock Hill. Never heard of him? Well you're not alone but read on...

Maurice Bessinger 1931-2014

Andrew Dys:

Maurice Bessinger was a defiant racist to his last breath, but Rock Hill’s Elwin Wilson and the Friendship Nine proved that racism can be forgiven.

A South Carolina symbol of racism and hate is dead.

Maurice Bessinger claimed that slavery was good for black people, that whites were superior to blacks and that the white race should be kept pure.

Bessinger defiantly flew the Confederate battle flag over his Columbia-area Maurice’s BBQ joints. He handed out pamphlets that claimed slavery was great. He refused to serve blacks in his restaurants. He used Christianity to rationalize segregation and slavery.

Bessinger’s life stood as testament to the cancer of America that never died in some whites – hatred and fear of blacks.

Bessinger believed the races must be kept separate because blacks are less than people. He believed that slaves, who were beaten or killed for learning to read or presuming to be human, were treated well.

In 2014, that is obviously preposterous. In 1961, it was the law.

“This was a man who at least you could see coming,” said Willie McCleod, who has lived in Rock Hill and South Carolina all of his 71 years, except when he was serving in the Army. “He believed that stuff his whole life. He was wrong. Period.

“He was like so many people who tried to use scripture...my Bible of God, to teach segregation and say that slavery was right. Racism was spread through people like him, from pulpits and in churches.
They indoctrinated people with their racism. But at least you could see him and his hate coming. His hate didn’t sneak up on you.”

McCleod is not just any old black black man who grew up the South.

In February 1961, an 18-year-old McCleod and eight other young black men spent a month in the York County prison farm to protest segregation. On this very day 53 years ago, McCleod was on a hunger strike and in solitary confinement, after three weeks of back-breaking work on that farm.
Those men, eight students at Friendship Junior College and a civil rights activist, will forever be known as the Friendship Nine. Each was convicted of trespassing at a whites-only lunch counter in Rock Hill, and instead of paying the fine chose jail to prove that racism was wrong.

The “Jail, No Bail” movement that changed America forever was born right here in Rock Hill – which for a few years was home to a Maurice’s BBQ, out near the Rock Hill Galleria.
“Racism – then and now – is taught,” McCleod said. “It is not passed on from generation to generation. It is something people teach their children, or that people learn from others who hate.
“It is not a sickness of the blood, but a disease of the spirit and mind.”

Bessinger, McCleod said, “believed he was right,” in endorsing racism his whole life.
But not everyone who beat up and taunted blacks and burned crosses died with that hate.
Rock Hill’s Elwin Wilson died last year at 76, his heart cleared of hate. He earned a smile that will last through eternity.

In 2009 – after reading in The Herald about the heroics of civil rights pioneers in Rock Hill, after watching the swearing-in of President Barack Obama, the first black American president – Wilson unloaded his hate.

“I need to tell some people I am sorry,” were the first words Elwin Wilson spoke to me – words that started an avalanche that reached around the globe. “I hated blacks, and I was wrong.”

Wilson apologized for his past as a Ku Klux Klansman and for beating up McCleod and the other protesters. He apologized for the May 9, 1961, beating of two protesters at Rock Hill’s bus station.

One of those protesters, John Lewis, would later became a congressman from Georgia.

Wilson asked McCleod and he asked Lewis for forgiveness and both men said absolutely, they did
forgive him. Racism was the enemy, not the man who had been taught to hate. Wilson apologized for hating the first black neighbors he had, and everyone else with dark skin he came across, for almost seven decades.

In a few weeks, a children’s book about the Friendship Nine will be published. It will teach that hating blacks was wrong and standing up against racism is right. It is a book about courage to change the world, courage shown by people such as Willie McCleod.

Like the Friendship Nine changed America, Elwin Wilson changed America. He remains the only person to apologize for personally beating Lewis and others, for a lifetime of hatred. Nobody else in Rock Hill, much less Maurice Bessinger, ever had the guts to say that participating in a life of hating blacks was wrong.

Wilson was honored across the country with awards and commendations. He embraced Lewis, and Lewis cried and said, “Mr. Wilson, I am honored to call you my friend.”

McCleod also embraced Wilson after he apologized. The men shook hands that day in January 2009, and that courage of both men will remain in Rock Hill and South Carolina and America forever.
What started in this newspaper with Wilson’s apology to local protesters became proof that racism could be excised not with a scalpel, but with the magic powers of the human heart.

Wilson, a changed man, became my friend. We talked at least every week. I went to his house many times. Wilson was sick at the end.

His last words to me were, “I did what was right.”

Elwin Wilson died three days later. He will be remembered forever – as will Willie McCleod and the other men and women associated with the Friendship Nine – for his courage.

Maurice Bessinger died this week. Nobody will ever use the word “courage” to describe him.

CP's Take: I knew Maurice Bessinger, and a good many men just like him and while I didn't agree with his point of view I'd say he had plenty of courage.

First, he was a veteran having served 3 years in Korea, he was also a Christian, and family man who loved his state and spoke his mind. He started cooking bbq when in was 9 years old. At one point he owned 17 restaurants and was president of the South Carolina restaurant association.  As far as refusing to serve to blacks, well that might have been the case in the 1960's, but in the last 20 years you would find blacks and whites dining side by side.

Yes rumor has it that he once had a sign that read "The law makes us serve niggers, but any money we get from them goes to the Ku Klux Klan". Arthur Godfry the famous entertainer owned a Palm Beach hotel that had a brass plaque that read "No Dogs or Jews Allowed" in the 1960's as well.  As with Bessinger it was just the way things were at the time.

Bessinger enjoyed robust business until the issue of the confederate battle flag came around. He stood his ground and won the battle but lost the war. Many people have said it destroyed his business, in fact getting the boot from Harris Teeter had to hurt, but you would never have known it. Bessinger always wore $1,000.00 suits and drove the best cars.  I've read where some people have even posted comments that they were certain the "racist went straight to hell".  Well I guess they have their opinions, but wrong as he was, at least he wasn't pandering to the latest fad of the politically correct crowd and in this day and age takes some kind of courage.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/02/25/3291408/not-all-racists-died-with-hate.html#storylink=cpy

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CMPD Officer May Have Had Prior Issues With Porn

CP has learned that CMPD Officer Thomas Allen may have had prior issues with his photograpic hobby and his apparent attraction to porn.

Several anonymous sources tell CP that Officer Allen may have photo shopped images of young girls in his collection. It has also come to light that Officer Allen may have also sought out professional help in the way of rehab for porn addiction apparently in an attempt to mitigate the pending charges. 

One report indicates that Officer Allen may have been in intensive therapy as early as three months ago, which would coincide with Chief Monroe's statements regarding the length of the investigation.

If this is true again one wonders why was the public kept in the dark for so long?

Which news reporter prompted the charges and the heads up for the "perp walk"?

Comments made on this blog seem to indicate that several people knew of Officer Allen's "hobby" and apparently looked the other way.

Makes you wonder when the other shoe is going to drop, since the whole episode has a Jerry Sandusky stink to it.

CP's take: There has to be more to this story.

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"WHITE ONLY" Party Post Leads To Racial Meltdown

An innocent post of Facebook became a firestorm of comments for Charlotte promoter Darrell Bonaparte.  Early yesterday he posted this simple request.

****LOOKING FOR A FEMALE DJ TO HOST AN ANNUAL ALL -WHITE PARTY/CHARITY EVENT***** This is a major fundraising event for the Charlotte Los Bravos, Inc. Seeking a talented female DJ to bring the music. Summer Event. I can be reached at 704.890.2771 for more details.

Shortly after and number of "Facebook friends" replied with either interest in the job or offering suggestions and recommendations.

But lacking coffee Cedar Posts read ALL-WHITE as WHITES ONLY.

I honestly had to get some coffee to figure this out. I really was having a hard time understanding why you were promoting a white folks only party!

But as the morning went on some people apparently became outraged, called him racist, posted and later deleted comments critical of Darrell's WHITE ONLY PARTY.

Finally it got too much for Darrell.

***ALL WHITE PARTY*** I cannot believe I have to explain this, but an All White Party is NOT advertising as a party for white people only. No one is being racist. Oh my God! I cannot believe the responses we are getting. Please stop. It's about wearing outfits that are all white.

By the end of the day 90+ likes and nearly 100 comments later the firestorm finally died down. But some of the comments are priceless.

Check out some of the crazy comments on Darrel's Facebook page here.

The most common post was SMH "Shaking My Head" followed by many calling out "ignorant people" for not getting the gist of Darrell's post. But racist, and bigot also came along for the ride.

About ALL WHITE PARTIES - get this, as with much of culture in the US, (hold on to your boots), the idea for all white parties started nearly 30 years ago in the AIDs ravaged Gay community of Miami.

More recently and who hasn't been invited to Sean Combs aka (Puff, P. Diddy, Puffy Daddy, now just Diddy) annual ALL WHITE PARTY in the Hamptons.

CP's Take: It's a cultural thing, like "Step" "All White Parties" are pretty common knowledge within the black community. While it took me a while to figure it out I'm not ignorant. Of course I have to remember most the people using the term use it incorrectly, which makes them naïve not ignorant, at least I would hope.

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Nigel Anderson Is Upset With Sprint's "Straight Talk" Cell Phone Plans

Nigel Anderson is an openly gay New Yorker who is offended by Walmart's "Straight Talk" cell phone marketing plans.

Nigel recently caused a scene at a local Walmart running through the store demanding to speak to a manager and shrieking "where are the gay talk phones?" he was later arrested.

 

 

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WCCB Talks With One Of Thomas Allen's Former Students

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - News cameras were rolling as Officer Tom Allen was led from police headquarters in handcuffs Wednesday afternoon.  A few hours later, he was booked into the Mecklenburg County Jail.  Allen's accused of secretly taking inappropriate photographs of four teen girls in CMPD's Explorer program.  It's a summer program for high school students interested in police work.  A program Allen has overseen since 2002.  

Police Chief Rodney Monroe says, "Allen's behavior is totally unacceptable. He violated the public's trust and needs to be, and will be, held accountable." 

Monroe says the investigation into Allen started back in October after a supervisor got suspicious. Allen was immediately suspended, and remains suspended without pay.

He allegedly took the photos of the girls, ages 14 to 16, in 2011 and 2013.    The pictures were taken with a 35 mm camera during physical training exercises: sit ups, push ups, running.  The girls didn't know Allen was allegedly focusing on their underwear. Monroe says no one knew.  "He committed these offenses in front of other people," says Monroe.

Search warrants--not yet made public--were served at Allen's home.  His computers and thousands of pictures have been reviewed.  Monroe says there's no evidence of child porn.   "It never occurred to me that he would do any of that stuff that I heard on the news," says Explorer program graduate Christian Coe.

Coe says he's now studying criminal law in part because of Allen's mentorship.  He calls Allen a great, genuine guy.  Coe went on several week-long trips with Allen.  He believes so much in the officer, he says he'll wait until Allen has his day in court.  Coe says, "As of now, I can't really say I'm disappointed, because I don't know if he actually did anything." 

Allen has been cited for termination. Because of his tenure, he can appeal the decision.  Over the course of his CMPD career, Allen's been in direct contact with about 700 youth.  So far, CMPD has interviewed about 180 of them. There have been no other reports of inappropriate contact.

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The Charlotte Observer's Weather Hype

Got to love how they hype weather radar return at the Charlotte The Observer: 

Radar Return From The Charlotte Observer

Within the last hour a few heavy showers and sporadic thunder and lightening moved through the area. The Charlotte Observer, above shows "scary red and yellow" while the Nation Weather Service below shows yellow and plenty of green. The real truth is this was a non-event but with the alarms and hype you would expect that the area was covered with multiple tornados.

 

Radar Return From The National Weather Service

Of course it depends on how you set the colors on the computer. The weather biz is big money where hype and armageddon drive page views. But this is just wrong.

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Danica Patrick Queen of the Bitch Face

First I'm a Danica fan, I'm glad she's still at it although admittedly surprised. But she's a marketing madman with career earnings north of 15 million, and millions more in endorsements and you can't fault her for that at all.

Not bad for a High School drop out, with a GED (Good Enough Degree) from Roscoe, IL. Plus she far more entertaining than the Kardashian bimbos.

Dancia, is hot, not like the WAG's of SI or Maxim, but she's sexy because she is so damn angry all the time and untamed. Her bad girl I'll kick your ass image is epic even if her driving isn't.

But her bitch face is starting to freeze. She needs to win or those frown lines are going to be forever lines. At 31 she the camera is not kind to those frown lines.

Now about Richard Petty's jab, "The only way Danica can win a Sprint Cup race is if everyone else stays home".

Tony Stewart quiet for more than a week finally mouthed off, telling fans and reporters that Dancia should stuff a checkered flag up the King's ass.

"If I were her, I'd take it over there and cram it up his ass, if it were me," Stewart said while appearing on the Performance Radio Network program "Fast Talk Live" Wednesday. "But that's just me."

The visual of that isn't very applealing, but Tony's always been a crude jackass.

Petty is 76, which gives him the right to say just about what he wants as long as it doesn't include the letter "N" reffering to African Americans or Germans.

Had the "King" said this about any other driver it would have received little attention.

But Danica is special.

Here's the thing about old guys, Richard has been saying this little quip for weeks. He's been getting a lot of mileage and laughs out of it, and like old guys do when they get a positive reaction to a joke or one liner they tell it again and again and again. Same joke day after day to which everyone politely laughs even though they have heard it a half dozen times. So when someone sticks a microphone under his brim he just hit the replay button.

Richard Petty was getting the same amount of attention from these quotes in 2012 'Lots of drivers can drive fast, but very few drivers can race. Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs".

While Danica Patrick has a lot of detractors, and I'm not likely to put a Go Daddy hat on my head (ever) she has been finishing races, and more than a handful in the top 20,with a few in the top 10. From any sponsor's point of view that is good.  But because she's the only woman in the field she get all the attention of someone who is a perennial second place finisher.

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Official Starting Line-Up for Sunday's Daytona 500

Clint Bowyer does a barrel roll and sticks the landing like the cool cat he is during Thursday's Duel 2

Pos	No.	Driver	Sponsor
1	3	Austin Dillon #	DOW Chevrolet
2	78	Martin Truex. Jr.	Furniture Row Chevrolet
3	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General Toyota
4	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express Toyota
5	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
6	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
7	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford
8	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation Chevrolet
9	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard Chevrolet
10	27	Paul Menard	Peak/Menards Chevrolet
11	98	Josh Wise	Curb Records Ford
12	33	Brian Scott (i)	Whitetail Chevrolet
13	43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford
14	21	Trevor Bayne (i)	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
15	47	AJ Allmendinger	Kroger/USO Chevrolet
16	42	Kyle Larson #	Target Chevrolet
17	38	David Gilliland	Love's Travel Stops Ford
18	40	Landon Cassill (i)	Hillman Racing Chevrolet
19	31	Ryan Newman	Caterpillar Chevrolet
20	15	Clint Bowyer	5-hour Energy Toyota
21	14	Tony Stewart	Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
22	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald's Chevrolet
23	26	Cole Whitt #	Speed Stick Gear Toyota
24	32	Terry Labonte	C&J Energy Services Ford
25	16	Greg Biffle	3M Ford
26	52	Bobby Labonte	Phoenix Construction Chevrolet
27	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy Chevrolet
28	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Chevrolet
29	23	Alex Bowman #	Dr. Pepper Toyota
30	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal Ford
31	55	Brian Vickers	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota
32	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's Chevrolet
33	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Ford
34	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Nationwide Insurance Ford
35	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford
36	7	Michael Annett #	Pilot/Flying J Travel Centers Chevrolet
37	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota
38	4	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet
39	36	Reed Sorenson	Golden Corral Chevrolet
40	51	Justin Allgaier #	Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
41	30	Parker Kligerman #	Swan Energy Toyota
42	66	Michael Waltrip	BlueDEF/AAA Toyota
43	34	David Ragan	CSX - Play It Safe Ford

Editor's note: Drivers marked with "#" signifies a rookie; a "(i)" signifies a driver is not eligible to earn points

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