I didn't see anything in the paper this morning about "Dancing With the Stars."
It could be I missed it. Maybe the story was buried somewhere near "My 2 Cents Worth" or the Health section.
Maybe the paper had an early deadline or something. Like 8 p.m.
All I know is, if this was a sports story about a smiling little sweetheart from West Des Moines who was appearing in front of millions of viewers on national TV, it would be all over the paper.
Carolyn Washburn might even write about it on Twitter.
The editors probably would've even had hard-working reporter Dan Johnson [no relation to Shawn Johnson, as far as I know] drive to Los Angeles to cover it.
Oh, well. I didn't see anything in the paper about Tim Floyd giving O. J. Mayo $1,000 either, but that's how it goes in the journalism business these days.
Skip the news and spend time on the copy desk talking to each other about how you're going to spend your furlough week.
[Hey, wait a second. I checked the sports section again, and there's a two-paragraph item about Floyd and Mayo at the bottom of page 5. I'll check it out as soon as I find my magnifying glass].
I didn't watch "Dancing" last night [hey, I can't keep up with everything. I'm supposed to be retired, you know], so I've been trying to get up to date this morning on who's in and who's out.
A guy who comes to the sportswriters' lunches told us the other day he tapes the appearances of Shawn Johnson [pictured at the right], so I'll check with him later today about the latest performance of West Des Moines' Little Princess.
News dispatches on the Internet have already informed me that Johnson and the the guy she dances with [I forget his name all the time] are finalists, so that's all that matters to me and every other Iowan.
I've also learned that Ty Murray, a rodeo cowboy who kept telling TV viewers about how bad a dancer he was, finally convinced everyone that he, indeed, can't dance. He and his partner have been voted off the show.
I've been writing that I think "Dancing" is fixed, just like all the old game shows were fixed. Further indication of that came when Melissa Rycroft, who the entertainment writers call the "jilted 'Bachelor' contestant," is a "Dancing" finalist.
That tells me ABC-TV wanted to make things right for Melissa.
I also don't believe that crap about the voting from viewers. The announcer never tells us how many people voted for this dancer or that dancer.
For all I know, the "audience voting" is phony. I wonder if they even count the votes.
I know ABC really, really likes Shawn Johnson and her million-dollar smile, so it's no surprise to me at all that she's a finalist.
In the long run, I guess that's all I care about.
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Back to Tim Floyd and O. J. Mayo [pictured at the left].
Floyd is the former Iowa State basketball coach who now is at Southern California.
Mayo played one season for him in 2007-2008.
Yahoo says Floyd "made a direct cash payment to a man who helped deliver Mayo to the Trojans program, according to Louis Johnson, a former member of Mayo’s inner circle.
"Johnson, a one-time Mayo confidant, has told both NCAA investigators and federal authorities, including the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney’s Office, that Floyd gave at least $1,000 in cash to Rodney Guillory, a man who allegedly lavished Mayo with improper benefits while the guard starred for the Trojans.
"Such an act would constitute a major NCAA violation for USC, which is the subject of an ongoing three-year investigation into alleged improprieties in both the football and men’s basketball programs."
Ir'a hard for me to believe they've got Tim Floyd mixed up in something like this. They must have him confused with the UCLA coach.
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I sure hope they're able to save all the hockey teams in Des Moines. Just don't plan on me buying any tickets. I especially want the Chops' fans -- all 23 of them -- to be happy.
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Speaking of teams that need help, I'm assuming that new basketball practice floor at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City is on schedule. I'm 100 percent certain the new practice court will help Iowa's men's team. Lisa Bluder's women's team seems to be doing all right without a practice floor.
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An editorial in the paper is headlined "Iowa should revive passenger trains." I think so, too, but it's not going to happen. So forget writing editorials about it. It's a waste of time and space.
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All I know is, I'm glad they shot that guy last night at Glen Oaks.
