The News Of …

Boston Red Sox public address announcer Carl Beane (the voice of Fenway Park whose booming baritone called ballplayers to the plate for two World Series champions) died on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack while driving. He was 59.
“We are filled with sadness at this tragic news” – Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said in a statement issued by the team that attributed the death to a heart attack. “His legion of friends with the Red Sox and the media will miss him enormously, and all of Red Sox Nation will remember his presence, his warmth, and his voice.”
The Worcester district attorney said that Beane died in an accident after his car, an SUV with a spare tire cover stitched to look like a baseball, crossed the double yellow lines and left the road before hitting a tree and a wall. He was pronounced dead at Harrington Hospital in Southbridge a short time later, according to a release from D.A. Joseph D. Early Jr.
A longtime fixture in the Red Sox media who provided radio reports and gathered sound for broadcasters, including The Associated Press, Beane landed what he called his dream job when he won a competition for the job announcing the lineups at Fenway Park after the 2002 season. In his second season, he announced the home games of the World Series when the Red Sox won the championship to end an 86-year title drought.
“His voice was pretty unique” – Sox DH David Ortiz said Wednesday before Boston’s game in Kansas City. “I’m pretty sure everybody is going to remember that forever.”

Carl Beane.

Read the rest of this entry »

George Lindsey, better known as the grinning (beanie-wearing Goober from the classic rural comedy ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ and ‘Hee Haw’) has died on Sunday at age 83.
According to a press release from Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home in Nashville, Tennessee, the actor passed away after an extended hospitalization.
Lindsey is best remembered as Goober Pyle, who was featured on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ from 1964 to 1968 and on ‘Mayberry RFD,’ which succeeded it from 1968 to 1971.
The actor reprised his jovial character (a service station attendant) on the show ‘Hee Haw’ from 1971 until it went out of production in 1993.
‘Goober is every man; everyone finds something to like about ol’ Goober’ – Lindsey said in an Associated Press interview in 1985.
Goober was added to the cast of characters on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ when actor Jim Nabors, portraying Gomer Pyle, left. Goober Pyle, who had been mentioned on the show as Gomer’s cousin, replaced him.

George Lindsey.

Read the rest of this entry »

According to NASA’s calculations – Saturday night is when the moon will hit your eye like a big pizza pie, to paraphrase Dean Martin. It’s “super moon” time.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is letting its enthusiasm show in a new video on the subject. “The timing is almost perfect” – it notes. At 11:34 p.m. EDT, May’s full moon will reach perigee – the closest point to Earth in its elliptical pattern – and “only one minute later, the moon will line up with the Earth and the sun to become gloriously full.”
For a bunch of scientists, that’s pretty poetic talk.
The moon will appear 14 percent larger than other full moons of 2012. “The swollen orb rising in the East at sunset will seem super indeed.”
This doesn’t sound like a super moon – it sounds like a super duper moon.
Anthony Cook, astronomical observer at Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory, is a little more measured in his view of the upcoming phenomenon.
It will be 30 percent brighter, yes, but that’s 30 percent brighter than the moon is when it is at “apogee” – the farthest point in its elliptical orbit around the Earth – he said.
“I’m a little skeptical that most people would casually see that this full moon looks huge compared to the one that rises six months from now” – he said. “You’re talking about a fairly small size difference in something that’s already small.”

Super moon 2012.

Read the rest of this entry »

Adam Yauch (the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper and the most conscientious member of the seminal hip-hop group) has died. He was 47.
Yauch’s representatives confirmed that the rapper died Friday morning in New York after a nearly three-year battle with cancer.
Also known as MCA, Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland in 2009.
At the time, Yauch expressed hope it was “very treatable,” but his illness caused the group to cancel shows and delayed the release of their 2011 album – “Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.”
He hadn’t performed in public since 2009 and was absent when the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.
“Adam Yauch was a pioneer who broke ground with his music and introduced hip-hop to a wider audience” – said Terry Stewart, president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Adam 'MCA' Yauch.

Read the rest of this entry »

The man best known for helping single people find love is now single himself.
Chris Harrison, host of ABC’s hit reality dating shows “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” has separated from his wife Gwen. The couple, who had been together for 18 years, confirmed to People magazine that they decided to split “after much heartfelt consideration.”
“Though we have made this incredibly difficult decision to separate, our love and mutual respect remain, and we look forward to sharing in the lives of our wonderful children” – the two said in a joint statement.
The couple have two children – Joshua, 9, and Taylor, 7.
Harrison hosts the new season of “The Bachelorette,” which premieres on May 14.

Chris Harrison.

Read the rest of this entry »

Junior Seau’s apparent suicide stunned an entire city and saddened former teammates who recalled the former NFL star’s ferocious tackles and habit of calling everybody around him “Buddy.”
It also left everyone wondering what led to Seau’s death Wednesday morning in what police said appeared to be a suicide. He was 43.
“I’m sorry to say, Superman is dead” – said Shawn Mitchell, a chaplain for the San Diego Chargers. “All of us can appear to be super, but all of us need to reach out and find support when we’re hurting.”
Police Chief Frank McCoy said Seau’s girlfriend reported finding him unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest and lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful. A gun was found near him – McCoy said. Police said no suicide note was found and they didn’t immediately know who the gun was registered to.
Neither Mitchell nor Seau’s ex-wife knew what might have led to the former first-pumping, emotional leader of his hometown San Diego Chargers to kill himself.
“We have no clues whatsoever” – Gina Seau said. “We’re as stunned and shocked as anyone else. We’re horribly saddened. We miss him and we’ll always love him.”

Junior Seau.

Read the rest of this entry »

Atlanta fire officials say they have put out a 4-alarm blaze at filmmaker Tyler Perry’s studio that damaged a building at the complex.
Atlanta Fire Department spokesman Capt. Jolyon Bundrige says there were no reports of injuries from the fire that started before 9 p.m. Tuesday at Tyler Perry Studios. Officials said in a news release it was extinguished about an hour later.
He says the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the complex was not immediately known.
A spokesman for Perry didn’t immediately comment Tuesday evening. The studio’s website says the complex includes a 200.000-square-foot studio, five sound stages and a 400-seat theater in southwest Atlanta.
In March – pop star Cee Lo performed for donors at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at the studios.

Tyler Perry.

Read the rest of this entry »

Once a moment of national unity, the political battle over Osama bin Laden’s death intensified Monday as presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought to minimize the role President Barack Obama has carved out for himself in killing the terrorist leader.
The president’s re-election campaign has raised questions about Romney’s willingness to assassinate the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. Obama authorized the U.S. military raid in Pakistan that ended with bin Laden’s death after a decade in hiding one year ago this week.
Romney pushed back Monday, saying “of course” he would have made the same decision.
“Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order” – Romney said, referencing the former president in his answer to a reporter’s question after a campaign appearance in New Hampshire.
Romney was scheduled to appear Tuesday in New York City with firefighters and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to help mark Wednesday’s anniversary of bin Laden’s death. Obama and his national security team will be featured in a NBC prime-time special Wednesday night that reconstructs the operation from inside the White House Situation Room.
Obama said Monday that the anniversary is a time for reflection, not celebration.
“I hardly think you’ve seen any excessive celebration taking place here” – he said at a White House news conference. “I think that people, the American people, rightly remember what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice somebody who killed over 3.000 of our citizens.”
But Obama is using the successful military operation to help maximize a political narrative that portrays him as having the courage to make the tough calls his opponent might not.

Bin Laden.

Read the rest of this entry »

Seven people, including three young children, who died when their minivan plunged 60ft and landed in a ravine on the grounds of a zoo, have been named by police.
Police identified the dead adults as Jacob Nunez (85) and Ana Julia Martinez (81), both from the Dominican Republic, and their daughters, Maria Gonzalez (45) and Maria Nunez (39) and three grandchildren. Police say Gonzalez was driving.
The children were identified as Jocelyn Gonzalez (10), the daughter of the driver, Niely Rosario (7) and Marly Rosario (3), both daughters of Nunez.
The 2004 Honda Pilot apparently flipped over a 4ft high iron fence before landing upside-down on the property of the Bronx Zoo, Americxa’s largest city zoo. The cause of the crash was unclear, and police didn’t confirm how fast the van was traveling. A city official said the guardrail’s height would be one of the safety issues investigated.
The SUV was headed south on the Bronx River Parkway when it bounced off the median, crossed three southbound lanes and hit the curb, causing the vehicle to become airborne, continue over the guardrail and plunge 59 feet, police said.
“Obviously, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed” – FDNY deputy Chief Ronald Werner said. “It hit something that caused it to become airborne.”

Bronx Zoo van crash.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bryce Harper couldn’t say enough about Matt Kemp, the guy who had just spoiled his major league debut.
Someday, that’s the kind of player the Washington Nationals rookie might become.
Hardly fazed by playing in front of a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium, the 19-year-old Harper showed some of the eye-popping talent that made him the first player picked in the 2010 draft, singling in his third at-bat, hitting a sacrifice fly and nearly nailing a runner at the plate with a perfect throw from left field.
That wasn’t enough to avoid the Nationals’ third consecutive loss, as interim closer Henry Rodriguez blew a two-run lead in the ninth. Kemp led off the 10th with the fifth game-ending home run of his career as the Los Angeles Dodgers roared back for a 4-3 win Saturday night.
“Seeing him hit a bomb, that’s just terrible. But he’s a great player, great hitter” – Harper said before reciting some of Kemp’s gaudy stats. “I know if I had a No. 1 pick, he’d be it. He knows how to play, he knows how to hit. He’s an unbelievable player.”
Much the same has been said about Harper, who three years ago appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated alongside the headline: “Baseball’s Chosen One.”
He did not disappoint in first crack at the big time.

Bryce Harper.

Read the rest of this entry »