Redskins in the Redzone vs. the Rams

Jim Zorn's play calling appears questionable

after the Redskins fail to get a touchdown

in Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams

Here was the Redskins play calling in the redzone in a 9-7 victory against the Rams. Obviously, the Redskins failed to get a TD in the redzone; many have questioned the play call down the stretch.

1.

1-10-STL19	(7:10) C.Portis left tackle to SL 8 for 11 yards (J.Laurinaitis).
1-8-STL8	(6:25) C.Portis up the middle to SL 7 for 1 yard (O.Atogwe, D.Vobora).
2-7-STL7	(5:50) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass short middle to C.Portis to SL 3 for 4 yards (C.Ryan). Shovel pass
3-3-STL3	(5:10) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short middle to D.Thomas.

Zorn called 2 run plays on 1st down. The shovel pass to Portis might as well have been looked as a delayed handoff. Campbell threw a pass on the money to Devin Thomas; however, the pass had a lot of heat on which made it difficult to catch and ultimately Thomas dropped the pass.

2.

1-8-STL8	(8:55) C.Portis up the middle to SL 10 for -2 yards (L.Little).
2-10-STL10	(8:15) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short middle to M.Sellers (D.Vobora).
3-10-STL10	(8:10) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short right to A.Randle El (R.Bartell).

Campbell was hurt by a dropped pass by Mike Sellers. On 3rd down, there was pass interference on the play but because Jason Campbell threw it way over Randle El, the pass was deemed uncatchable and therefore no penalty was assessed.

3.

1-7-STL7	(8:00) C.Portis left end to SL 7 for no gain (G.Gibson).
2-7-STL7	(7:25) C.Portis right guard to SL 5 for 2 yards (W.Witherspoon, C.Long).
3-5-STL5	(6:40) Lateral from 17-Cambell C.Portis pass incomplete short right to C.Cooley. Penalty on WAS-W.Montgomery, Offensive Holding, declined.

The Redskins ran the ball two times and even when they looked to pass, Portis made the throw, not Campbell. Even worse was the fact that since it was 3rd down, the Rams had to expect some sort of passing play from the Portis toss outside.

4.

4-1-STL20	(3:47) C.Portis left tackle to SL 11 for 9 yards (J.Wade, O.Atogwe).
1-10-STL11	(3:00) L.Betts left end to SL 7 for 4 yards (J.Laurinaitis, J.Wade).
2-6-STL7	(2:20) L.Betts left end pushed ob at SL 4 for 3 yards (O.Atogwe).
3-3-STL4	(2:13) C.Portis left guard to SL 2 for 2 yards (L.Little, O.Atogwe).
4-1-STL2	(2:00) C.Portis left end to SL 4 for -2 yards (D.Vobora).

On the Redskins final drive, the Redskins chose to run it all 5 times in the red zone in an effort to kill the clock. Eventually the Rams caught on and stopped the Redskins on 4th and short.

Analysis

- Jason Campbell had 1 completions from 4 passes in the redzone. His only completion was a shovel pass to Clinton Portis which may has well been classified as a running play.

- 2 of Campbell's incompletions were the result of dropped passes. One of Campbell's throws was a throw away because of too much pressure

- The Redskins ran it 5 out of 5 times on 1st down inside the redzone.

- The Redskins averaged only 2.8 yards per carry inside the redzone.

- Redskins averaged only .57 yards per carry inside the 10 yard line on.

- The Redskins averaged .8 yards per passing play inside the redzone including Portis's pass to Cooley.

Overall, the Redskins were ineffectively a combination of the play on the field but also the play calling by head coach Jim Zorn.

OT: Obama calls Kanye West a Jackass

Nearly four years after saying that George W. Bush doesn't care about black people, President Obama calls Kanye West a "jackass" for West's conduct at the VMAs. Obama's comments were supposed to be kept off record until Terry Moran of ABC News tweeted about; the tweet from Moran's twitter account has now been removed.



It would be funny if the Republicans began to reach out to Kanye West. But I don't think West's outburst was that bad and it wouldn't surprised me if it was staged by MTV.

The Washington Wizards' Players Predictions Before the Season

Arenas, Butler, and Jamison have different approaches

as the 2009-10 season begins

Here is what Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison have to say about the upcoming 2009-10 Washington Wizards season before it opens and each have different levels of optimism before the season starts.

Gilbert Arenas has been known to make bold predictions in the past; he predicted big things for the Wizards in the 2007-08 season before re-injuring his knee. Now Gilbert Arenas understands that his team needs to prove it on the court before they get any accolades.

Arenas in a Washington Times article says this:
"Where did we finish in the East last year?" [Arenas] asked. "Last. Then until we prove ourselves, that's what we are. You can't predict. Anyone can guess where we're gonna be at. But until the ball goes up in the air, we're last in the East. We took some steps in the right direction this summer, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what I saw. If you wanna say stuff, it's just for conversation, just for the chat rooms. And it's all great and wonderful, but it doesn't mean anything."


Caron Butler is a little bit more bold in a Washington Wizards Interview citing that this team: he believes the Wizards are ready to compete this season.

Now that [Arenas] has the confidence, I think the sky is the limit. You can expect big things out of Agent Zero. We definitely need him because we are ready to win this season.

Surprisingly, the most bold teammate is none other than the veteran leader and captain Antawn Jamison. Here's what he has to say in Wizards Insider.

"I've been around here for six years and championship talk wasn't a norm around our locker room. That's all we're talking about now," Jamsion said, with less than two weeks remaining before training camp. "If we stay healthy, I think we can compete with the upper echelon of the NBA."

And don't try to tell him that he is raising the bar too high.

"I don't care," Jamison said. "What you mean raising the bar too high? We won 19 games last year and I'll be honest with you, we didn't have a lot of our horses. But I don't have anything else to play for. I'm not going to sit here and sugar coat things because it's not the right thing to say. I believe it.

"I believe playing the game the right way and staying healthy, we can compete with Boston, we can compete with Cleveland and Orlando and if you can compete with those teams, you can put yourself in that category as far as teams that can contend for a championship," he said.

While it's technically true that all team's are championship contenders from the first game of the season, they are realistically 5-6 teams that are truly considered contenders given the lack of parity in basketball. At this point, the Wizards are not among them: the short list among most experts includes:

1. The LA Lakers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Denver Nugggets
4. Orlando Magic
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. San Antonio Spurs

Still, nothing is to say the Wizards cannot move up in that list, especially if Gilbert Arenas is back close to 100% as noted by LeBron James, Andre Iguodala via twitter, and Wizards' coach Flip Saunders. Upsets can happen; for instance, few predicted that Orlando would make it to the NBA finals at the beginning of the 2008-09 season.

It may be surprising that Jamison is the one who makes the more assertive predictions. However, he is already 34 years old and even if his game relies on his craftiness as opposed to his athleticism, he relizes that he only has a few years left in his prime to compete for a championship.

Footage of Gilbert Arenas Playing in DC

It looks like Gilbert Arenas is healthy- skip to 5:38 to see Arenas doing a monster slam in pickup game Goodman Summer League in Barry Farms, Washington DC.

New Jersey Nets Brilliant Marketing Strategy

The New Jersey Nets obviously do not think much of their team as indicated by their new season tickets promotion. They are offering 5 reversible jerseys- one side is a Nets jersey, the other is a team they will be playing in those games. Devin Harris turns into Dwyane Wade, Courtney Lee into Kobe Bryant, Brook Lopez into Dwight Howard, etc. If the Nets are getting blown out, fans can simply switch sides.



The "come and see the other team strategy" will most likely offend the die hard Nets fan. The marketing scheme is also ruining expectations of an average Nets fan; who would only want to show up if their team is winning. Even if you are a fair-weather fan, why would you ruin a Kobe or Wade jersey with a New Jersey trademarks.

Pistons Hire Kuester as their Head Coach!?

The Detroit Pistons: Where Mediocrity Happens

The Detroit Pistons just hired John Kuester as their head coach. Kuester is the same guy who led George Washington University to a 1-27 record, one of the worst ever in NCAA history.

One has to wonder what the Detroit Pistons are doing, they have had their share of dubious moves in the past. Like firing Flip Saunders and replacing him Curry, or trading Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Detroit had made it to the conference finals the past 5 years but this past season failed to record a playoff victory in their first round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Ben Gordon signing for $55 million is also a questionable move. Gordon is bit redundant on a roster that already has Richard Hamilton. Sure Gordon is a few years younger than Hamilton, but he's also smaller and less of a defender. Also factor in that the Pistons had given Hamilton an extension last season. The Charlie Villanueva deal could work out in their favor, he had a solid year for the Bucks, although at this point in career he doesn't play much defense.

The Pistons figure to be nothing more than a mediocre team. In fact, they could be on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around.

Hedo Turkoglu: from Orlando to Portland to Toronto: Part 2

Hedo attempts to play solid defense

2. Portland Trailblazers

Yes, Portland almost signed Turkoglu because they believed that he could lead the Blazers deeper into the playoffs. The Blazers lost a 5 game series to the Houston Rockets; although the Blazers may be better than the Rockets by the fault with Yao Ming potentially being injured for the nextseason and Ron Artest leaving for the Lakers.

I still don't know whether sigining Turkoglu would have lead for a legitamate chance for a ring. After all, Portland already has incredible depth in the small forward position with guys like Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Nicolas Batum, and Martell Webster who are all several years younger than Turkoglu.

You may remember Rudy Fernandez playing ion Spain's Basketball team and posterizing Dwight Howard. Fernandez is also an exceptional 3 point shooter. If the Turkoglu deal was to be consumated, reports were that he was "unhappy" and could have pushed for a trade out of Portland. Such a trade probably would have had Portland not receiving fair value to Fernandez who the Trail Blazers value quite highly.

Rudy Fernandez: the Spaniard Who can Dunk

Still, Portland already has a lot of young talent with players like Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Fernandez, Batum, Bayless, Outlaw, and Webster. It may have been wise for them to have a quality veteran on the team like Turkoglu. A deep run in the playoffs for these young guys would be indispensiable for them moving forward.

3. The Toronto Raptors

Chris Bosh's respone to Turkoglu signing via twitter

@chrisbosh: IF IT'S TRUE..Let's get it cracking H Turk!!

Brian Colangelo also overpaid to get 30+ year old international player in Steve Nash when he was the GM of the Suns. They already have a franchise caliber big man in Chris Bosh and a reliable point guard in Jose Calderon. They drafted DeMar DeRoazan out of USC, who instrumental in the Trojans sucess of winning the Pac 10 tournament and been compared to a much rawer version of Vince Carter,. And let's not forget about Andrea Bargnani, the number 1 pick of the 2006 NBA draft, who is playing in a contract year. It looks like Toronto have the pieces to be competitive for a playoff spot.

It is possible that Chris Bosh bolts to another team and the Raptors would be stuck rebuilding around a 30+ year old swingman. Toronto best case scenario is probably the 2nd round of the playoffs since the Eastern Conference is top heavy with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic.

Hedo Turkoglu: from Orlando to Portland to Toronto: Part 1

Turkoglu Laying Out Kobe

After giving a verbal commitment to the Portland Trail Blazers, Hedo Turkoglu changed his mind to sign with the Toronto Raptors . Turkoglu is scheduled to make $53 million over 4 years, and only $3 more million over the life of his deal in Toronto; and it's questionable whether Turkoglu will acutually receive more money since tax rates may be higher in Canada.

Turkoglu, a native of Turkey, is believed to have signed with like Toronto because it has a diverse internation community, including a Turkish contingent. Signing with the Raptors also allows him to stay in the Eastern Conference, where he's more familiar with his opponents especially since he's spent the past 5 years in Orlando.

Let's see how this signing determines the following teams that Turkoglu has affected;

Too bad Orlando doesn't have an anti-aging machine to get this Vince Carter

1. Orlando Magic

Turkoglu was key in Orlando's run to the finals especially in running the team's offense with Jameer Nelson injured for most of the postseason. Yes the Magic did acquire perennial all star Vince Carter who overall is a better player than Turkoglu. However, it remains to be seen if Carter can be an equal facilitator and have similar chemistry like Turkoglu had with his teammates.

Even if Carter is an adequate replacement for Turkoglu, there is a chance that they will not be as deep as they were last season since they had to give up pieces to get Carter. They traded Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tony Battie for Carter and Ryan Anderson. The Magic may also risk losing Marcin Gortat, a quality big man who was offered more than $30 million over five years. So in recap, the Magic have acquired Carter and Ryan Anderson but will lose 3 starters from the team that made their run to the Finals in Turkoglu, Lee, and Alston and could lose up to 2 quality backup bigs in Gortat and Battie.

Orlando's sucess this year will hinge upon

1. How Vince Carter will mesh with his teammates.

2. If Jameer Nelson can recover from shoulder surgery; Nelson made the all star team prior to his injury

3. Role players develop like Pietrus and Anderson into bigger roles

4. If Dwight Howard develops his inside game; remember he's only 23

5. Whether Orlando can acquire a solid piece in free agency like Rasheed Wallace or Shawn Marion

6. Whether Orlando can resign Gortat.

Zach Morris Interview

Zach Morris talks about his new tv series and a possible reunion with the class from Saved by the Bell

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Kobe's Angry Face

Or is it his constipated face...

LeBron Sitting at Home (More Puppets)

Reddick vs Morrison in the NBA Finals

NBA Finals brings Back Marquee College Players- Sort of

In 2006, JJ Reddick and Adam Morrison were the two leading scorers in the nation.  Now, the two players will each have opportunity to get a ring but in much smaller roles.  Reddick's playing has diminished as Courtney Lee has returned from a broken nose.  Michael Pietrus has also essentialy relegated Reddick to the bench with his superb bench play; he alone outscored Cleveland's bench in the Eastern Conference finals.  

At least Reddick has played in 12 games and has started in 8 of those games.  Morrison, a number 3 pick, is not even on the LA Lakers active roster.  Shannon Brown, what was thought to be a throw in in the Radmonovic for Morrison deal with the Bobcats has been a pleasant surprise to the LA Lakers and has really helped their depth in the point guard position.  Brown's dunk over the Chris "Birdman" Anderson catapulted a comeback  

Morrison's biggest mark on the team has been in practive but not in a positive way.  Morrison fought with fellow teammated Sasha Vujajic in practice as described in the story below.

Vujacic and Morrison were guarding each other in the Lakers’ 4-on-4 halfcourt practice, and Morrison loudly and angrily told Vujacic that he was sick of Vujacic’s grabs and elbows. Vujacic argued that Morrison was the one who initiated the problem by wrongly using his knee. The two argued for several minutes despite teammates and coaches trying to intervene, and when play resumed the two continued to go at each other with Morrison grabbing Vujacic’s jersey and the arguments sparking anew several times later.

* * *

Sitting on the baseline, Kobe Bryant was smiling. “I wasn’t even going to move,” he said later. “A lot of meowing going on out there. The claws coming out.”

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=4244

Morrison had a reputation for being soft even when he came into the NBA.  He famously started to cry when his team was eliminated in 2006 NCAA tournament.  Here is how NBA Live chose to market him when Morrison was a rookie.

'And when I get to the NBA, more people will cry'

It will be interesting to see which former college super star can luck out and piggy-back on his team success and get that NBA ring.  

ESPN Experts Jinx?

The so called experts at ESPN have mostly picked the LA Lakers to defeat the Orlando Magic as shown below. 

However let's look at what the experts have said in the past.  Here's what the experts predicted in the Eastern Conference Finals.

To top it off, here are ESPN experts' picks for the NBA Finals in 2008 where the Boston Celtics prevailed in 6 games against the LA Lakers.

So even if the Lakers are the favorites, the game still has to played on the court and if Orlando has to like their chances.

Obama dooms Magic?

President Barack Obama has picked the LA Lakers in 6 games to beat the Orlando Magic in 6 games.  This could scare some Magic fans since Obama correctly picked the NCAA Men’s Basketball winner earlier this Spring.   This shouldn’t be shocking news considering that Obama proclaimed Kobe Bryant as the best player nearly a year ago. 

 

But maybe Obama, like most experts is underrating the Magic.  After all, Dwight Howard and company just pulled off an upset against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.  Howard has been overlooked all season long over more star powered perimeter players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade.  It will also be up to the rest of Magic starting five and bench to continue to play solid offensively with their point shooting and solid defense.  I'm picking the Magic to win especially if they get all star point guard Jameer Nelson back. 

LeBron/Kobe Puppet Ad Spoof

Ryan Zimmerman has a hitting streak going; does anyone care?

Zimmerman has a 29 hit streak going but
has received little national coverage

After Ryan Zimmerman extended his hit streak to 29 games against Randy Johnson by putting together a 4 hit game with 2 home runs, the Nationals 3rd baseman has not drawn the headlines from national media. You have to figure that a player doing this in a bigger media market like New York would be leading off Sportcenter.

Even fans in Washington are having trouble showing up to games. Attendance is down from 29,005 to 19,409; one year after opening up a new state of the art stadium, Nationals Park. Who can blame them since the Nationals have the worst record in the league at 10-20. The Nationals need to start winning games for their fans to show up but it's hard to do when the talent isn't there, especially in the pitching department.

Kobe just being Kobe

The real question is what will Kobe have to do to actually get suspended.  

"That's Kinda of Gay"

Redskins vs. Cowboys Miracle Finishes

Dwayne Wade's Game Winner Against the Bulls

In the closing seconds of double overtime, Wade steals the 

ball from John Salmons and hits a game winning 3 at the 

buzzer.

Bills Could Benefit by signing Owens

The Buffalo Bills have just signed T.O. to a 1 year deal worth  $6.5 million.  This isn't a bad proposition for the Bills if T.O. still has anything left in the tank at 35 years of age.  Owens should be extra motivated to prove his critics wrong and earn another big payday this following offseason.  The Bills would clearly be the beneficiaries in the 2009-10 season.  

Terrell Owens is generally regarded as a lockerroom cancer, but evidence suggests that teams play worse without him, where it matters most in wins and losses.  The San Francisco 49ers during T.O.'s last season were 7-9 but were 2-14 the following season without the disgruntled wide receiver.  The Philedelphia Eagles started the season 4-3 but after they suspended Owens for the rest of the season, the Eagles finished the season 1-8.  While the Philedelphia Eagles finished the following season 10-6, people tend to forget that the team started 5-6 and only went on winning streak with Jeff Garcia at the helm instead of Donovan McNabb.   As a Redskins fan, I hope this trend continues with the Dallas Cowboys.

Terrell Owens is generally seen as a scape goat for a team's failure in recent years.  Perhaps its easy for the national media to criticize Owens when he is often outspoken.  His brash comments usually offend his starting quarterbacks who are not used to such crticism.  

Still, it remains to be seen how Terrell Owen's is the root of all the Cowboy's problems.  For instance, I fail to see how Tony Romo's decision making will improve simply with T.O.'s departure.  Maybe the Cowboy's problems weren't a lack of chemistry but a lack of talent. 

T.O. Cut by the Cowboys

It turns out Dan Snyder didn't get 

the biggest name in free agency... yet.  

ESPN is reporting that wide receiver Terrell Owens has been cut by the Dallas Cowboys after three seasons.   T.O. has been blamed by many in the national media for Dallas's lack of chemistry, which barely missed the playoffs in tough NFC East.  It has been reported by ESPN that Ownes has been complaining about not getting as many touches and even indicated that tight end Jason Witten gets so many passes because he's good friends with QB Tony Romo.

Still, not all of Dallas's problems can be blamed on T.O.  When the team had a chance to clinch a playoff berth against the Eagles, the Cowboys ended up getting blown out 38-3.   It will be interesting to see how well Dallas can play without him.

If Dallas ends up moving on, they already have some pieces in place.  They gave up multiple picks last mid-season for 1 time Pro Bowler Roy Williams.  They already have Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton.   Look for Dallas to run the ball more with Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice.

In the meantime, Dallas has certainly hurt T.O.'s options in free agency.  Teams like Seattle and Cincinatti could have wanted the six time pro bowler but have already spent big money on other free agent wide receivers (TJ Houshmenzadah and Laverneus Coles).  I doubt teams like the Eagles and 49ers, who have plenty of cap room and have big needs to fill the wide receiver position, will recruit Owens since they have already had the pleasure of dealing with his on and off the field.  It will be interesting to see whose Owen's potential suitors will be.  

Kobe Raps with Tyra Banks

Kobe is so hardcore that he even has a verse in Italian.

Breaking Down the Haynesworth Deal

Jim Zorn Introduces another high profiled player in Washington

The Washington Redskins made a big splash in free agency yet again by going after the biggest name in free agency. The Redskins ended up offering Haynesworth a 7 year deal that could be worth up to $105 million and $115 with incentives. However, the Redskins have in essence signed Albert Haynesworth to a 4 year deal worth much less.

Peter King from SI explains:

Haynesworth, barring a miracle, will never see the fifth year of the contract. In essence, he signed a four-year, $48-million contract Friday with the Redskins. That will carry him through his 11th season, in 2012 (barring a work stoppage in 2011, which is a real possibility).

So essentially, the Haynesworth signing turns out to be $12 million a year for the first 4 years. Dan Snyder, owner/GMs, lures free agents is by offering more guaranteed money than other team. These contracts are often backloaded and restructured later if a player stays longer than 4 years (see Clinton Portis, Chris Samuels, Jon Jansen, Cornelius Griffin). And other times a player are just let go if the team does not want to extend the contract (Marcus Washington and Shawn Springs in 2008).

The signing did address a glaring weakness of the Washington Redskins defense; the inability to create pressure on quarterback without sending an extra defender and stopping power runners. While the Redskins defense ranked 4th overall in yardage allowed, they were 28th in the league in forcing turnovers. The Redskins were also overpowered by teams with power running games. The Redskins lacked size on their defensive line especially with two finesse rusher in Andre Carter and Jason Taylor. Tennessee was 22-7 the past two seasons (including postseason games) when Haynesworth was on the field and 1-4 when he wasn't.

The Haynesworth signing is still a high risk proposition. Haynesworth has not played a full season in the 7 years since he has been in the league. His attitude both on and on off the field has been questioned. He received a 5 game suspension for stomping Dallas Cowboy's Andre Gurode who is still on the Dallas Cowboys.   The incident is cited as turning point in Haynesworth's career who underwent anger management, and has been a more effective player on the field since.

Maybe Dan Snyder signed Haynesworth

because he hates the Cowboys

Haynesworth has also been allowed to free-lance in Tennessee meaning he is often allowed to rush the passer instead of staying back to stop the run. One has to wonder if Haynesworth will be given the same privledge under defensive coordinator Greg Blatche, who gears his defense to stopping the run first and then the pass. Blatche has been more stringent in the past especially with ex Redskins Jason Taylor, who was forced to play out of his natural position. If Haynesworth plays out of a team concept, one has to wonder if the Redskins scheme be as effective, which was 4th overall.

At the end of the day, the Redskins look like they have upgraded their defense with this particular signing that will force turnovers.  There are still many questions that need to be answered.

Devin Harris with an insane buzzer beater

Devin Harris of the New Jersey Nets hits an incredible shot with 1.8 seconds left. The Nets did not have any timeouts to advance the ball. Iguodala appears to have knocked the ball out of Devin's hands, then Harris grabbed out of the air and threw up a shot that gave the Nets a 98-96 victory.

Christian Bales Goes Crazy

Christian Bale, star of the new Batman series, goes on a tirade for someone walking on the set of the Terminator 4 movie. Bale uses a few bad words...

Michael Phelps is a Hippie

Maybe all the potheads will start buying Michael Phelp's endorsed speedo

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Olympic great Michael Phelps has acknowledged “regrettable” behavior and “bad judgment” after a photo in a British newspaper showed him smoking marijuana.

In a statement released to The Associated Press, the swimmer who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games conceded the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World.

Phelps said: “I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”