Hasheem Thabeet entering NBA draft, verbal agreement with BDA sports

Calvin Andrews, Carmelo Anthony's agent, will be representing Hasheem Thabeet when he announces that he is leaving UConn for the NBA. BDA Sports and Thabeet have a verbal agreement that covers the full extent of his future contract. Representation in the upcoming 2009 NBA draft will be directly handled by Calvin Andrews.

It is common knowledge that Thabeet is a lottery pick lock with some sites projecting him as high as the 2nd pick. Since UConn is already under investigation from the NCAA due to the Nate Miles text messaging fiasco it can't help the program's image to have a current student under representation of a sports agency prior to the completion of the regular season.

To summarize NCAA Bylaw 12.3.1, a player is supposed to become ineligible when they agree (orally or in writing) to be represented for the purpose of marketing in that sport. One might ask, what kind of program has Jim Calhoun been running up in Storrs? Are these just conveniently timed transgressions or has Calhoun been complicit in violating NCAA regulations for a longer period? It should be interesting to see if the forthcoming investigations actually end in sanctions for the program and what if anything they uncover in regards to Calhoun's involvement.

When I contacted BDA Sports' home offices in Walnut Creek, CA to ask Mr. Andrews for a comment in regards to Thabeet I was informed that he would not take my call.

wants for sale

these guys have a good thing going on at Wants for Sale. They make a painting of what the want and then price it for what said item costs. So for a painting of a beer it's $7 dollars and for a bottle of Aspirin the price is $9.99. You get the idea. Pretty cool idea and it seems to be doing well for them. Adds an interesting dynamic to the form versus function argument.

Some selected pieces below, check out their site for more. Wants for Sale

drug dealers are resourceful/creative: Part II

It's been a while since I've posted any interesting drug smuggling busts here at tier 1 but thats only because the DEA hasn't found any worth mentioning. You see the DEA releases a monthly collection of never seen before smuggling tactics and/or new drugs and usages. So finally this last month they busted some guy trying to bring 192 Churros stuffed with Cocaine. And I thought, 'there you go, that's worth a post'.

COCAINE SMUGGLED IN “CHURROS” (“SPANISH DOUGHNUTS”)
AT JFK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Photo 9

The DEA Northeast Laboratory (New York, New York) recently received a submission of 192 “Churros,” each containing a plastic-wrapped cylinder of an off-white powder, suspected cocaine (see Photo 9). The exhibits were seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel from mail arriving at JFK International Airport (New York) on a flight from Guyana. Each individual “Churro” was approximately 3.0 inches long by 0.75 inch in diameter. Analysis of the powder (total net mass 1.15 kilograms) by GC/FID, GC/MS, and FTIR/ATR confirmed 82.2% cocaine hydrochloride, adulterated with levamisole (not quantitated). This was the first submission of “Churros” (or of any type of fried food) being used as a concealment technique to the Northeast Laboratory.

[Editor’s Notes: “Churros” (sometimes called “Spanish doughnuts”) are fried-dough pastries.]

* * * * *

I love the DEA's note that explains the Churro. Great.

Crank 2: Red Band International Trailer

hell yes

rip Bill Davidson, Pistons owner

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson, a noted philanthropist who was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame last year, has died. He was 86.

First owner in sports to dedicate a private plane for team travel.

He privately funded the Palace, one of the best venues in any sport.

First owner to win a Stanley Cup and NBA Title in same year(2004).

Thanks for all you did in Detroit Mr. Davidson.

Audi Shark Concept

The brainchild of Turkish design protege Kazim Doku, the Audi Shark is a conceptual futuristic four-ringed hovercraft that won Audi's most recent design competition. The styling borrows elements from the R8, TT and S5, and looks thoroughly Audi right down to the LED lighting. A front-hinged canopy and air foils replacing the wheels are straight out of sci-fi, though. It's a compelling vision of the future in which we'd love to take a ride, and it isn't Doku's first prize-winning design, either. His Ustuminki concept made the final cut in Peugeot's 2007 design competition, while his door-less KA-Design concept won first prize in his native Turkey's Ototrend competition. The Audi contest awards Doku with a 70% scholarship to the prestigious Domus Academy, but he tragically had to turn it down as he couldn't put up the remaining 30. If you're interested in helping Kazim out with a little tuition cash, pretty sure he'd be glad to hear from you through his website.

Mayor: Vancouver plagued by ‘brutal’ gang war

Host of 2010 Olympics has seen 29 shootings since late January

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Gang violence is tarnishing the international reputation of Vancouver as it prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the city’s mayor said Friday.

“Vancouver has never been known for this, so in terms of our international reputation it is a problem, and we need to bear down and deal with it,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said during a news conference.

Police have blamed a hike in violence in part on a drug turf war spawned by a Mexican crackdown on drug cartels — local gangs battling over a dwindling supply of smuggled drugs reaching Canada from Mexico.

“As police, we’ve always been told by media experts to never say or admit that there is a gang war,” Vancouver police chief Jim Chu said Friday. “Well, let’s get serious. There is a gang war and it’s brutal.”

There have been 29 shootings in the Vancouver region since late January, 12 of them deadly, according to police.

“They appear all to be gang-related. Some of them still have question marks attached to them,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Pat Fogarty, head of the region’s gang task force.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said the increasing violence should not worry people planning to attend the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Officials say a total of 15,000 police officers, private security and military personnel will be providing security for the games.

Local authorities say they stepped up actions to curb the gangs and their violence.

At a news conference Friday, police announced the latest in a series of gang arrests — two reputed leaders and three soldiers. They displayed an array of handguns, a bullet-proof vest and an assault rifle — all seized during the arrests. Five other gang arrests were announced earlier this week.

Chu said police strategy is to detain gang members on as many charges as possible.

“As long as it gets them off the street and into a jail cell, where innocent members of the public can’t be hurt, we’ll continue to pursue them this way,” Chu said.

Competition Winning Border Crossing Oasis, Mexico-USA

With this proposal for a border crossing for pedestrians between Mexico and the United States, Belgian firm OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen, in collaboration with Wonne Ickx, won the first prize in an international design competition back in 2005. Not necessarily the latest competition news, but the architectural and political issue of construction projects along the US-Mexican border remains highly explosive and, yet, unresolved.

This is how the architects describe the project:

“An oblong volume provides a border crossing for pedestrians between Mexico and the US, and interrupts the endless demarcated boundary. A nine-meter high wall defines a no-man’s-land between the two countries. Within the white walls a grid of palm trees imposes order on a large, shaded garden. Pavilions for passport control and administration are spread around here and there, becoming part of the garden. The oasis is a point of reference in the vast Tex-Mex landscape, hidden within the open landscape by its walls. In all its simplicity it raises questions about the desire for the promised land.”