In my quieter moments, I sometimes wonder why I’m
so cynical. Trust me, the thought always passes, but I have asked
myself why I can’t get on board the way other people can.
Why couldn’t I, a cancer survivor, concentrate
on all the good work Lance Armstrong was doing in the fight against the
disease? (Because the money he raised was built on a steaming pile of
lies and syringes.)
Why was I so quick to cast doubt on a 16-year-old swimmer who won an
Olympic gold medal by swimming her final leg faster than the men’s
champion did in the same event? (Because the sport’s dirty history
demands doubt.)
Why couldn’t I have celebrated Tim Tebow as a
good kid instead of dwelling on the fact he’s a below-average
quarterback? (Because being a good quarterback, not a Tebowing
proselytizer, is sort of the whole idea in the NFL.)
Why couldn’t I trust college-football coaches
when so many fans think college football is just about the greatest
thing there is? (Because most of the coaches turn out to be like the
latest snake, new Eagles boss Chip Kelly, late of the University of
Oregon.)
Why do I have to question everything? (You mean like I am right now?)
Then the Manti Te’o story comes along, and my faith in cynicism is renewed.
By now, you’ve likely heard the head-scratching
news: Lennay Kekua, the girlfriend of Notre Dame’s All-American
linebacker who died of leukemia in September — the woman who launched
1,000 heartfelt stories about the grieving star — never existed. The
school and Te’o say he was the victim of a hoax.
It’s a bizarre tale that raises twice as many questions as it answers.
Why did Te’o refer to Kekua as his “girlfriend’’ if the two of them, as Notre Dame’s athletic director says, had never met?
Why did Te’o’s father say his son and Kekua occasionally met in Hawaii?
If Te’o were so devoted to Kekua, why didn’t he visit her in the hospital or go to her wake/funeral?
Why did Te’o continue to talk about her publicly after he became aware of the hoax?
A former teammate told ESPN, that Fighting Irish
players knew the woman wasn’t Te’o’s girlfriend, thought Te’o had met
her just once and believed that the linebacker played along with the
story as it became bigger.
Here is what I have come to believe after 30
years of doing what I do: The first instinct, the instinct not to
swallow what is being ladled out to you, is usually the right one.
Especially at places such as Notre Dame, where the narrative is built on
a warm cushion of mythology, never mind the dead football videographer
or the girl who committed suicide after accusing a Notre Dame player of
sexually assaulting her.
I don’t always feel good about the way I am, but
I’m glad more often that not that I am skeptical and cynical. When you
view people as human, you’re a lot less likely to be hoodwinked or
disappointed.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t have fallen for the
Te’o story. If I had sat down with him and he had talked about his
deceased girlfriend, I would have written that column without a second
thought. And I can’t think of a reason I would have questioned his
story.
I had the opportunity to write about Te’o’s last
home game in November, but had an immediate aversion to it. There was
something too much about it. Too many
adoring fans. Too Hollywood an ending. Too Notre Dame. I wrote about the
Irish’s road to the national title game instead.
Why the cynicism? Because I believe we’ve gone so
far in building up athletes that they’re almost unrecognizable as human
beings.
Have you ever met someone who is completely
honest, loyal, nonjudgmental, understanding, sensitive, giving, patient,
selfless and gracious? Neither have I. Even the people we most like,
appreciate and look up to have their shortcomings. That’s because
they’re human.
But then I hear Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick refer to Te’o as “the single most trusting human I’ve ever met.’’
Isn’t it funny that whenever a coach, GM or
athletic director talks about someone as “the nicest” or “the smartest”
or the something-est, it invariably is the best player on the team? It’s
never the ball boy or the student manager or the third-string center.
Why do we feel the need to heap superlatives on someone who, because of
genetics, can jump higher or run faster than other people?
We really, really wanted to believe the story about Te’o’s girlfriend, didn’t we?
Better to approach sports with an arched eyebrow. You’ll save yourself a lot of pain.
Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Beverly Hills police Lieutenant Mark Rosen told reporters outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles that Houston was pronounced dead at 3.55pm (local time) on Saturday in her room on the fourth floor of the hotel. Her body remained there and Beverly Hills detectives were investigating.
Dead at 48 ... Whitney Houston. Photo: AP
"There were no obvious signs of any criminal intent," Rosen said.
Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said the cause of death was unknown.
Rosen said police received a 911 call from hotel security about Houston at 3.43pm on Saturday. Paramedics who were already at the hotel because of a Grammy party unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate the singer, he said.
Top-selling artist ... Whitney Houston bows after performing "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California in November 2009 Photo: Getty Images
Houston's end came on the eve of music's biggest night - the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to cast a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony.
Her longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner on Saturday, and a representative of the show said it would proceed.
Producer Jimmy Jam, who had worked with Houston, said he anticipated the evening would become a tribute to her, and he expected there to be one at the Grammys as well.
Divorced ... Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Photo: Reuters
Houston was supposed to appear at the gala, and Davis had told The Associated Press that she would perhaps perform: "It's her favorite night of the year ... (so) who knows by the end of the evening," he said.
Houston had been at rehearsals for the show on Thursday, coaching singers Brandy and Monica, according to a person who was at the event but was not authorised to speak publicly about it. The person said Houston looked disheveled, was sweating profusely and liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on her breath.
Two days ago, she performed at a pre-Grammy party with singer Kelly Price.
Whitney Houston has died, aged 48. Photo: Michael Clayton-Jones
The Reverand Al Sharpton said he would call for a national prayer on Sunday morning during a service at Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
"The morning of the Grammys, the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird," Sharpton said in a written statement.
In a statement, Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said Houston "was one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades".
Star attraction ... Whitney Houston, pictured here singing in 1988, shot to fame in the Eighties. Photo: Getty Images
"Her powerful voice graced many memorable and award-winning songs," Portnow said. "A light has been dimmed in our music community today, and we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, fans and all who have been touched by her beautiful voice."
At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale.
Whitney Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hilton. Photo: Getty Images
She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanour and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.
Mega star ... Whitney Houston Photo: AFP
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
A Beverly Hills police crime lab truck leaves the Beverly Hilton. Photo: AFP
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang back-up for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told Good Morning America.
"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.
Lieutenant Mark Rosen confirms Whitney Houston's death. Photo: Reuters
Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with Whitney Houston, which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. Saving All My Love for You brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. How Will I Know, You Give Good Love and The Greatest Love of All also became hit singles.
Another multiplatinum album, Whitney, came out in 1987 and included hits like Where Do Broken Hearts Go and I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity",
A Beverly Hills Fire Department representative investigates at the loading dock outside the Beverly Hilton. Photo: AP
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the Soul Train Awards in 1989.
"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."
It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.
In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with The Bodyguard. Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.
It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You, which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and The Bodyguard soundtrack was named album of the year.
She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher's Wife. Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, My Love Is Your Love, in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut It's Not Right But It's Okay.
But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time The Preacher's Wife was released, "[doing drugs] was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."
In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumours spread she had died the next day. Her crude behaviour and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, Being Bobby Brown, was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack", was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album I Look To You. The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on Good Morning America went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Cancelled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.
Inside Prince William and Kate’s Extraordinary palace reception
Guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s reception for their closest friends have described the “magical” night in Buckingham Palace after the wedding. The new Duchess of Cambridge changed into another flowing white gown by Sarah Burton, for the evening reception. Prince Harry seemed to have control of the minibus microphone as he left the party with other guests in the early hours of yesterday Just as Prince William had pledged that his late mother should share “in all the fun and excitement” of his engagement by giving his bride the ring she once wore, so the sons of Diana, Princess of Wales made sure that she was not forgotten in the royal wedding celebrations.
Prince William and his best man, Prince Harry, both paid tribute to their mother in their speeches at the intimate evening reception on Friday night, telling their closest friends and family “how much she would have liked to have been here” as Prince William married Kate Middleton. The emotional moments when both Prince William and Prince Harry remembered their late mother in their respective speeches followed an evening reception at Buckingham Palace, described by one guest as “the most magical party imaginable”.
The Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding may have been a happy occasion, but Sir Elton John's tears may be a giveaway to his mixed emotions on the day. While no-doubt happy for Prince William and Kate Middleton, the singer was returning to Westminser Abbey, where close friend Princess Diana's funeral service took place 14 years ago.
The Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding may have been a happy occasion, but Sir Elton John's tears may be a giveaway to his mixed emotions on the day.
Prince William and Kate Middleton drive out of Buckingham Palace in Prince Charles's Aston Martin. The Royal Couple, Prince William and Kate surprised crowds as they drove out of Buckingham Palace in a vintage car decorated with the number plate “JU5T WED”.
In the most informal part of the Royal Wedding celebrations, Prince William and Kate Middleton waved from the convertible while an RAF rescue helicopter flew overhead. Prince William and Kate emerged from the palace gates at about 3.35pm in a dark blue Aston Martin DB6 MkII belonging to the Prince of Wales. The car, which runs on bioethanol fuel distilled from surplus British wine, was festooned with red, white and blue streamers tied to the bonnet, rosettes on the windscreen and an “L” learner plate on the front.
Prince William and Kate have broken with tradition to issue an emotional message thanking well wishers for their support. In the heartfelt message printed at the beginning of their souvenir program, the Royal Couple, Prince William and Kate say they are deeply touched by people's reactions as they prepare for "one of the happiest days of our lives".
The bride and groom say Prince William and Kate have been "incredibly moved" by the affection shown to them since their engagement. The depth of Prince William and Kate's devotion to each other has also emerged in a very personal wedding message. A piece of paper, seen resting on the back seat of bride-to-be Kate's car, and believed to be part of a wedding reception speech, has given a brief taste of the couple's devotion.
Kate Middleton's wedding ring was fashioned by Welsh jewellers from a piece of Welsh gold given to Prince William by his grandmother The Queen, the palace said today. Prince Harry, younger brother of Prince William and best man, will carry the gold band into Westminster Abbey and pass it to the bridegroom, who will place it on the bride's finger during the wedding ceremony.
It has been made out of a piece of gold from the Clogau St David's mine at Bontddu in north Wales, the source for Royal Wedding Rings since the 1920s.The Queen gave the gold to Prince William shortly after Prince William and Kate announced their engagement in November.
Prince William greets Public on eve of Royal Wedding
Prince William surprised well-wishers camped outside Buckingham Palace with a brief walk-about on the eve of his wedding as London prepared for the biggest royal celebration in 30 years. The 28-year-old Prince William said he was nervous and determined just to "get the lines right" when Prince William married his live-in partner of eight years Kate Middleton at 11am London time (8pm AEST).
Deborah Lee, one of the hundreds who have turned the mall into a camp site to get prime positions for the pageantry, said she was thrilled to meet Prince William when he emerged onto the Mall from St James Palace, a few hundred metres from Buckingham Palace.
PRINCE William and Kate Middleton spent their last night as singles several miles apart – Kate in a small luxury hotel, Prince William at Clarence House, both surrounded by family. Prince William and Kate will next see other tonight at Westminster Abbey for the Royal Wedding watched 'round the world.
Kate arrived at the boutique Goring Hotel in central London about 5.45pm local time accompanied by her sister and maid-of-honour, Pippa, and their mother, Carole.The 29-year-old bride-to-be, dressed in a black print dress and white jacket, appeared relaxed and smiling as she ran her fingers through her long, straight hair and waved several times at the crowd gathered behind police barricades to watch the bridal party arrivals. A white canopy, designed to shield Kate from cameras as she leaves tonight in her still-secret wedding dress, extended from the hotel onto the pavement outside.
Prince William, 28 was to dine overnight at Clarence House, a four-storey royal residence on the Mall, with his father, Prince Charles, brother, Prince Harry, and stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall.
Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton have chosen three of their favourite songs for Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding day - Jerusalem, and two others with a strong association with Wales.
The rousing words of 'Guide me, O thou great redeemer' - better known today as the Welsh rugby anthem Bread of Heaven - is the first to be performed on the wedding day. Prince William of Wales is also the vice-royal patron of the Welsh Rugby Union. The hymn was also sung at the funeral service of mother of Prince William, Diana Princess of Wales in 1997 and at a memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of her death, so it may have bitter sweet memories for the Prince William .
When Prince William was born, Britons rejoiced at the sight of him in his mother's arms. Prince William was heralded as a king in waiting who would take the Windsor dynasty into the next generation and the next century.When Princess Diana died, and Prince William and his younger brother Prince Harry trudged behind her funeral cortege, much of that outpouring of grief was transformed into affection for the young princes, with many around the world hoping the boys could somehow transcend their loss and find happiness.
So it's no surprise that Prince William — now an earnest Royal Air Force helicopter search and rescue pilot — enjoys the public's goodwill as Prince William prepares to marry Kate Middleton and begin the next phase of a journey that is expected to see him follow Prince William's grandmother and his father to the throne.
Tweet A smiling Prince William and Kate Middleton arrived at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday night to run through their wedding ceremony. Prince William , 28, wore a charcoal grey suit and Kate Middleton, 29, wore a black dress as they arrived in a chauffer-driven Range Rover at sunset. Best man Prince Harry, 26, and the maid of honor, Kate's sister Pippa Middleton, 27, arrived in a silver van. They were flanked by two motorcycle police officers.
It was Prince William and Kate Middleton's last rehearsal before Friday's wedding, according to multiple news reports. Prince William and Kate were quickly ushered into a side entrance. "It was really surreal," says Carolyn Houghton from Medford, Ore. "In America, the crowd would have been screaming. But here, everyone was very quiet and orderly. But I do wish they would have stopped and waved for a minute."
Within touching distance of their wedding, you might expect Prince William and Kate Middleton to be making frantic last-minute arrangements for the biggest day of their lives. But Prince William and Kate Middleton looked anything but a couple who are about to take their vows in front of two billion people as they adopted a distinctly low-key approach to their preparations.
Prince William enjoys a game of football ahead of his wedding. Just 48 hours before she becomes a royal bride, Miss Middleton was spotted unloading a cardboard box from Tesco from her car at Clarence House. The Prince William , meanwhile, played five-a-side football in Battersea Park, south London, wearing a thrown-together kit of mismatched socks, shorts and T-shirt.
Thousands of Victorians are getting in the Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding spirit, with celebration parties planned across the state and a live telecast shown at Federation Square. Crowds are expected to flock to the city hub, which has confirmed it will show the Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding live on the big screen on Friday, April 29.
Prince William and Kate Middleton's big day will also be celebrated in pubs across the city, making the tough decision to ditch the Carlton v Sydney game in favour of the royal spectacle. And as royal watchers keenly wait for Kate's wedding dress to be revealed - and to compare it with the gowns of earlier royal brides Princess Diana and the Duchess of York - many are planning private parties to follow the Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding live broadcasts from 7pm
Prince William : Desire for normality Dominated Prince's early adulthood
Flight Lieutenant Prince William Wales aspires to be both real and royal, and a desire for normality has dominated his early adulthood. Will marriage help him to maintain the balance between public duty and private happiness?
Nobodies may fantasise about being princes, but not so avidly as some princes hanker to be nobodies. The last time Prince William had the thrill of being unknown was in Botswana’s Okavango Delta last year. “The locals haven’t got a clue who I am, and I love that,” Prince William said.
When Prince William walks his university sweetheart Kate Middleton down the aisle on Friday, it will be the next step for Princess Diana's eldest son, Prince William on his journey to becoming king. Prince William has overcome the tragedy of his mother's death when Prince William was 15 to become the great hope of the British Royal family in the 21st century.
Opinion polls show a majority of the public want the 28-year-old second in line to the throne to leapfrog his father Prince Charles in the order of succession and take the throne after Queen Elizabeth II. Such a move is highly unlikely, but it is a measure of popularity of Prince William . Where Charles is stuffy, traditional and surrounded by staff, his eldest son, Prince William has managed to lead a relatively normal life by Royal standards.
Your boyfriend thinks you're crazy and most of your girlfriends "have plans". But you've managed to find one contact in your phone, workplace or on Facebook, who shares your dirty little secret. You both want to watch the Royal Wedding on Friday night. You both want to watch the Prince William and Kate's Royal Wedding on Friday night.
Micro-sculpture artist Willard Wigan's work showing Prince William and Kate Middleton in an eye of a needle.
You do have options and you are not alone. There are thousands of people all over Sydney planning parties to watch Prince William hitch his wagon to Kate's.
