Jason Taylor: Former Dolphin pro football player, no Super Bowl wins,
2nd place winner on Dancing with the Stars… What does all of this
mean? It means that Jason had better be careful - last week he was
still riding high on television but next week he may have to ride off
into the sunset. Why? Because he’s challenging Bill Parcells and
that’s not good!

Parcells is a powerful man in the NFL, much more powerful than Jason.
A few phone calls with negative information can forestall Jason’s
career, unless he decides to be a pro-dancer!
What you do from this point, Jason, and how you do it, is very
important to your future. Get your football career back on track and
in writing - then go dancing.

Me dancing next? I don’t think so.

Clint Eastwood says Spike Lee should shut his face. Spike Lee says
Eastwood is an angry old man. All of this over Spike’s comments about
Eastwood not casting any black actors in “Flags of Our Fathers”.

Eastwood says that black troops were assigned to munition companies and
didn’t take part in the flag raising moment which is the focus of his
film. Eastwood says that including black actors in that moment would
not be inaccurate. He says about Lee, “This guy has lost his mind. A
guy like him should shut his face.”

Spike retorted by saying, “First of all, the man is not my father and
we’re not on a plantation either. He sounds like an angry old man
right there.”

Spike goes on to say that he’s a student of history and he knows the
history of Hollywood and its omission of the one million African
American men and women took part in World War II. That, however, does
not mean that they took part in the flag-raising moment at Iwo Jima,
which, I presume, is Clint’s point.

Clint mentioned that when he made “Bird” in 1988, the cast was 90%
black because that was historically correct. Even then, Clint says
that his production was criticized by Spike Lee, who complained why
would a white guy be making that picture? Clint’s reason? Because I
was the only one who made it. Spike could’ve made the picture, but he
didn’t.

Eastwood’s next film is about Nelson Mandela. Entitled “The Human
Factor”, it tells the story of Mandela’s fight against apartheid in
South Africa. Vowing to stay true to the story, Clint said, “I’m not
going to make Mandela a white guy.”

In an AOL poll out this weekend, the question was asked whose camp are
you in, Clint’s or Spike’s. When I last checked, 91% of the people
voting are in Clint’s camp. Whatever that means, there it is.

Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner is being offered fifty million bucks to perform stud service at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky. Dude! Just think how much Wilt Chamberlain could have made with his self-proclaimed stud service to thousands of women. Wow! Too much to add up - he’d have been a cazillionaire or more.

Also, let’s not forget the Bears linebacker, Lance Briggs, who allegedly has fathered three kids with three different women in two years. And he’s still young with plenty of time for more.

Put it in a bottle and sell it, Dude. You, too, may get an offer of stud service.

Hollywood’s gone completely baby crazy, married or not. “I don’t want to get married, but let’s have a baby” appears to be the Hollywood pitch, and mostly it’s coming from women.
I don’t want to name names, but they (and you) all know who they are. They want walking, talking, peeing, pooping, dolls. Forget about motherhood - most pay someone else to handle those responsibilities. They want to dress up and show off their little human toys, then hand them back to the nanny.

Hey, remember back in the day when getting pregnant out of wedlock was a big no-no? It was down right bad, not acceptable at all. Hollywood has totally reversed that idea. They make the pregnancy announcement - but won’t name the father. “It was a hit and run thing and I didn’t get the license number!”

At the Cannes Film Festival they screened the documentary, “Tyson”. At
the end Mike Tyson was given a long standing ovation by the viewers.
I’m not at all surprised. I’ve long experienced the fans in Europe and
once you have worked hard to elevate yourself from an “also ran” they
will always show their respect for your celebrity status. The
acknowledgment is there without judgment. In this case, they love Mike
as a heavyweight champ of the world - at one time feared by all.
However long ago it was, it was. They will always remember and they
will always show their admiration.

This is one big difference from the way Americans treat celebrities.
Americans put the celeb on a pedestal, then they start looking for the
next star they can use to knock the present star off their pedestal.
In America, no matter whether you’re a sports star or a movie star, your
only as good as your last slam dunk, touchdown, or hit movie.

Musicians go to Europe, especially jazz musicians. When the audience
cools in America, musicians have known for a long time that they’ll
have a warm audience waiting in Europe along with an opportunity to
continue exploring their creativity. They know they aren’t controlled
there by “what’s new” and “what’s in”. The appreciation level is so
much higher.

I remember when we lived in Rome and went to see the Ink Spots only a
few years ago. They are long forgotten here but drew standing room
only crowds at a huge venue in Rome. Years ago Marvin Gaye went to
Europe to renew himself and came back stronger than ever with so many
great hits.

What am I saying? In the U.S., those who drive a Ford strive to drive a
Mercedes. Those who drive a Mercedes, want a Rolls - and those who
drive a Rolls usually feel that the Rolls makes them important and they
can buy anything. Sometimes I think the values are placed on the wrong
thing . It should not be the result of the hard work, but respect the
hard work itself. Respect the bumps and bruises it took to get there.
Respect can never be taken away after all the glitz and glamour is gone.

The NFL is in meetings concerning the rules and regulations of the
upcoming season. I have a couple of ideas that I think they should
seriously consider:

First, I’m a former Marine, did my duty, served my country, love the
flag and certainly will fight for what it stands for. Now, having said
that, let me relate my unyielding patriotism to this country and talk
about some football.

Before a game, the locker room is full of anxious
players ready to do battle, and after hearing a “Knute Rockne” speech
by an inspirational coach, they run outside ready to take on the enemy.
Then suddenly we stop, gear ourselves down a notch, and sing the Star
Spangled Banner. I’m most definitely okay with the anthem, but wonder
why it needs to be played at this time? Why not play it after the
players are finished warming up? It’s damn hard to regain that high
energy you had when you first ran onto the field from the locker room.

Second, football is supposed to be a contact sport. The 5-yard contact
rule should be extended to 10 yards. The rule says you can’t bump or
touch a receiver after he goes past 5 yards, but I say make it 10 yards
and give the pass defender an even chance. When I played, you could
bump the receiver all over the field prior to the ball being thrown.
Once the ball was in the air, you couldn’t touch him. There was an
even chance between the receiver and the defender. This no-bump rule
strongly favors the receiver, so 10 yards makes it more interesting.

The NFL commissioner received 8 more video tapes from Patriot’s former employee, Mat Walsh. These tapes (allegedly) show that the Pats were taping signals from other teams. So? What good are they?

At games, and pre-game practices, there are signals being flashed all over the place. As you look across the field at the opposing team giving signals to their team on the field, how do you know who is flashing the fake signals and who’s sending the signals that are real. Most importantly, even if you know which signal is real, how fast can you signal your own team that same signal? No way there is enough time to figure out the signal being sent, then get that info to your own team, then have them ruin the opposing team’s play or defense. Are you kidding?

Teams have been doing this for years and years. No big deal. Usually they spied to see if the team you were playing showed any new offensive formations - something you hadn’t seen before - so you could prepare your defense for them.

Now, about this jerk Matt Walsh, what the heck was his motivation to spill the beans in the first place. And, once the commissioner fined the Patriot’s, why couldn’t this bozo just let it alone? This is all a big to-do about nothing.

I remember when I was playing, we used to be given information on opposing teams, then we’d practice their new defensive formations, right down to some of our players wearing the opposing players jersey numbers, especially the numbers of the running backs or receivers. We never asked how they got the information, we just used it. We’ve been there, done that. We weren’t the first - and the Patriots won’t be the last. So forget it!

I think the NFL draft is a total waste of TV time and a big waste of the NFL owners’ money. High draft pick means big time salary and bonus. The size of the salary is no indication that the player will be a high class player or make any contributions to the team. What happens to all the Heisman winners?

Most of them usually take the big money and ride off into the sunset. If a player is not drafted he is called a “free agent” which means he is free to try out with any team of his choice. Obviously, he is going to pick a team that needs a player in his position. If you are a wide receiver you don’t want to go to a team that already has 5 wide receivers, you pick a team that needs you.

The undrafted free agent had a lot of successful players on the FNL roster, i.e. Warren Moon, Antonio Gates, Kurt Warner, Priest Holmes, to name a few.

There should be invitations sent to the players offering them a chance to try out for their team. You would get better players that are fighting hard to make the team, not the Numer 1 or Number 5 draft pick who knows he has the team made.

It was pretty much like that in the “old days” — still the best days. Even gas was cheaper.

I watched what was supposed to be “the big fight of the year”. Didn’t happen. Instead, Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe gave us a slow dance of hugging and holding.

Hopkins showed good defensive skills, but no offense. Calzaghe won with aggressiveness, certainly not with hard punches. Calzaghe threw twice as many punches as Hopkins - and according to CompuBox, he scored more punches than anyone ever has against Hopkins.

Still, the “fight that wasn’t” was a bore. Can’t believe that Judge Adelaide Byrd actually had Hopkins ahead on her card. What was she watching? Not only that, during his post-fight interview with Max Kellerman, Hopkins made it clear he thought he had won the fight.

See ya later, Bernard. You had a good run.

Especially if you are talking bad about LeBron James when you are playing against him. He might hear you. Washington’s DeShawn Stevenson said that LeBron was just an “overrated” average player. What? No, he didn’t!

We are in the first week of NBA Playoffs, the best of seven. This is the third season that the Cavs and the Wizards have met in the post-season. This is Act III, and game one is now history with LeBron doing his thing. And the Washington players are telling DeShawn to shut up.

During game one, LeBron made the play of the week with a high flying dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. Stevenson may have been trying to motivate himself or his teammates, but he also motivated LeBron.

My advice, DeShawn… keep your mouth shut, or speak very quietly. LeBron may hear you.

The Cavs in seven.

(Last minute check by Wardrobe Department (Nancy Robinson)

Okay, in case you have forgotten, I’m still a movie star! Presently I’m working on a film shooting in Kansas City, my ol’ stomping grounds with the Chiefs.

The movie is entitled “Last Ounce of Courage”. This film is different than the many movies I’ve made because this time I get to use my acting chops and don’t have a chance to kick any butt. It’s a little slow for me but I welcome the chance to show my other wares.

The film is basically about the separation of church and state, which is sometimes a tough political problem. In this case, the mayor of a small town decides to hang Christmas decorations on the front of City Hall, a violation of the constitution. You can’t promote your own religion on government property without putting all faiths on display. I play the ACLU lawyer that rides into town to inform the mayor he’s in violation, and it all goes to court. We have a political courtroom battle. This time my fight is only verbal, but per my contract as always, I win the fight and the mayor is obligated to remove the Christmas decor. Unfortunately, he’s hell bent to leave them up, causing the people in the city to take sides leading to an even larger problem. Okay, that’s enough free information - I’ll let you know when it’s finished.

The film is directed by Darrell Campbell and produced by Steve Marks.