Putt-putt in church? It's a thing.
The Rochester Cathedral, which is part of the Church of England meaning it's an Anglican parish and the second-oldest in the country behind just Canterbury, has erected a nine-hole mini golf course with a bridge theme. The idea, according to Rev. Rachel Phillips, a canon at the cathedral, is to help people understand the importance of building bridges with the people around them. It's a noble idea and I'm all for it. Anything that gets people into church and doesn't involve sins of the flesh should be encouraged. Not everyone is a fan, though, with plenty of disapproving comments online. Guess it isn't the fairway to Heaven the church hoped. You may now groan.
Anyway …
Well, lookee what we have here
So the World Swimming Championships are over and that means it's safe to share a podium again. You'll recall my diatribe last week about China's Sun Yang, the one swimmer who caused the podium heartburn in South Korea late last month. Mack Horton of Australia was one of those who decided he didn't want to be seen with Yang on the podium because of Yang's drug cheating.
Seems the Aussies have their own apparent juice-piggery to deal with now as one of its swimmers, Shayna Jack, has tested positive for Ligandrol, a drug commonly used by bodybuilders to help build muscle mass. It's also banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Now, the way drug testing goes, each tested athlete provides an A sample and B sample. The A sample is always tested first and no matter the result – positive or negative – the B sample comes next to confirm the A sample result. Both of Jack's samples came back positive for Ligandrol and let the backpedalling commence.
Jack sang the same tune every other drug cheat does when the results were made public on July 27, claiming she didn't know how in the world Ligandrol came to be in her pee-pee but that isn't the reason for the controversy. The fan-hitting formaldehyde came in the form of Swimming Australia neglecting to make the positive test public.
Here's another interesting piece: Leigh Russell, Swimming Australia's CEO, said on July 29 that the reason the test hadn't been made public earlier is because the B sample results weren't known. Also, Jack was sent home from a pre-meet training camp prior to the start of the championships for what Swimming Australia said was for personal reasons.
That is turning out to be a giant pile of warm bull by-product rather quickly because Jack's A sample results were given to her on July 12, followed by the B sample results on July 19. Anyone who can do Grade 1-level subtraction can figure out that between July 19 and July 27, there were eight days. Personal reasons. Remember that.
In any case, this whole thing has blown up in Swimming Australia's face and Jack is now facing a four-year ban from the sport unless she can prove to the Australian Sport Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) that she didn't take the drug. She can't say it wasn't there because it was found in both samples. It was there. All she can hope for is leniency and a reduced sentence and that's my prediction.
I think three months will be sufficient. After all, that's what Yang got for testing positive for a banned substance and playing stupid afterward.
And finally …
Good Idea: Going to court to settle a genuine legal matter.
Bad Idea: Going to court because of a missed call.
Why this is even seeing the inside of a courtroom proves why tort reform is desperately needed.
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Anthony LeMon, an attorney in New Orleans, has managed to get a judge to agree to get National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell to give a deposition under oath. Why? It all goes back to the blown call in the playoff game back in January between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams, the call which saw the Rams advance to the Super Bowl.
For those who don't remember, a quick recap: Tommylee Lewis of the Saints was drilled by Nickell Robey-Coleman of the Rams before the ball got to him. Pass interference, yes, and it wasn't called by any of the officials on the field. Saints fans kvetched and moaned about how the NFL was against them and it was all a conspiracy, yadda, yadda. Sounded like nothing more than a re-hash of Toronto Maple Leafs fans who still crap on Kerry Fraser's name for his non-call in 1993.
Anyway, the judge in the case, Nicole Sheppard, is allowing things to proceed with depositions scheduled in September. Three game officials will also be deposed in addition to Goodell. LeMon, who's claiming the NFL committed fraud by allowing the call to stand, says if he receives any money – he's asking for $75,000 in damages – it will be donated to a charity which deals with neuromuscular diseases. That's noble and I can get behind that.
But every other lawsuit filed regarding this play has been thrown out of court and this one should as well. If this is what LeMon is doing in his spare time, he needs to find a new vocation. Reminds me of GNWT lawyers who fight traffic tickets on work time when they should be doing their jobs.
Until next time, folks …