Whitney's Drug Habit, Bobby Brown not responsible

Whitney Houston's brother has revealed he introduced her to drugs.

Michael Houston has admitted he started experimenting with cocaine and crack cocaine in the 80s and his younger sister followed his lead.

During an intense appearance on 'Oprah's Next Chapter' with his mother Cissy, Michael was quizzed by Oprah Winfrey about his and Whitney's substance abuse.

Quoting a passage from Cissy's tell-all book 'Remembering Whitney', Oprah enquired: ''Your mother writes in her book that you were doing drugs with your sister. You mother writes, 'I was shocked and confused, I didn't understand it then and I still don't.' How does it feel to hear your mother say that?''

Michael replied: ''It's painful, I feel responsible for it, I let it go so far. We were together most of the time, with her following behind me. I taught her to drive, we played together, everything you do together growing up. And then when you get into drugs you do that together to and it just got of hand, you know? This drug (cocaine) is rough.''

Bobby Brown has been erroneously blamed over the years for introducing Whitney to drugs, an accusation that has turned him villain in the eyes of many, especially at the demise of Whitney.

Although Michael didn't excuse his actions he did claim cocaine was a fashionable thing to do in the 80s when it came into prominence in the U.S..

He said: ''You gotta understand at the time ... the 80s ... it was acceptable.''

It has long been believed that Whitney's ex-husband Bobby Brown played a big part in her downward spiral into drug addiction, but Cissy's claims and Michael's admission suggest she had tried drugs before meeting Bobby in 1989.

The 'I Will Always Love You' hitmaker died in February 2012 as a result of accidental drowning and the ''effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use''.

Whitney had an amount of cocaine in her system at the time of her passing.

Football world is divided over Hazard and Ball boy incident!

Twitter reaction to Tycroes ball boy incident during Swansea's semi-final victory over Chelsea

Thursday, January 24, 2013

LeeMacGregor

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TWITTER came alive last night Tycroes ball boy Charlie Morgan appeared to be kicked by Chelsea's Eden Hazard during the Swans' Capital One Cup semi-final.

With the Swans holding the advantage, and time running out, Charlie Morgan, the 17-year-old son of club director Martin Morgan, got hold of the ball after it had gone dead.

In a bizarre series of events, the teenager ended up lying on top of the ball, with the 22-year-old midfielder kicking at the ball and ball boy.

A Twitter account, which appears to belong to the ball boy - Charlie Morgan™ @CHARLIEM0RGAN - tweeted before the game: "The king of all ball boys is back making his final appearance

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#needed #for #timewasting"

The account's followers rocketed after the game, and cuttently has more than 80,000 – more than four times the amount of people who were at the Liberty last night.

Twitter was divided, with some calling for the player to be locked up and others saying the ball boy deserved it.

Here are some of the tweets:

Richard Williams @rwilliams1947 - I don't care if the ballboy had stuck a pin in the ball and deflated it. Hazard's action immature, irresponsible, stupid, reprehensible.

FourFourTom @FourFourTom - Swansea's ball boy - @CHARLIEM0RGAN - you, my friend, are truly a king among men!

Stan Collymore @StanCollymore - Hazard deserved red(violent conduct rule). Kid is a prat. Ball boy job is to give ball quickly .End of. Is that enough of an opinion?

Ryan Jones @RyanJonesOnline - I've watched that ball boy incident several times now and I think it's a TRY he definately grounded it over the line!! #trytime

JWS @JWSlfc - Hazard has just turned 22, and the ball boy is nearly 18. It's not like a 35 year old man has punched a 7 year old in the face.

Matt Coates @_Coatesy - You couldn't script it... apparently the ball boy's dad is Martin Morgan who owns Morgans Hotel. Where are Chelsea staying tonight? Superb!

Mark Smith @marksmithcomedy - According to his twitter, this was his last game as ballboy. This is just like in the films when the cop gets shot just before retirement.

Ian Wright @IanWright0 - To be fair, the ballboy, and hazard acted poorly. It was something you don't see everyday! Can't help smiling. Congrats Swansea by the way.

Robbie Savage @RobbieSavage8 - First and foremost you can't kick a ballboy but hazard was surely just trying to get the ball back,wasn't malicious !

Richest clubs in the world!

By Greg Stobart

Manchester United remain the highest earning Premier League club, but their revenues continue to lag behind Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, as revealed by Deloitte's 2013 Football Money League.

According to Deloitte's report, published today, seven of the world’s 12 richest clubs by revenue are based in England as champions Manchester City enter the top 10 for the first time.

United are third on the list despite their revenues declining three per cent to £320.3m in 2011-12 from £331.4m the previous year, largely down to their early exit in the Champions League and failure to win the Premier League title.

FOOTBALL'S MONEY LEAGUE

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European champions Chelsea stay fifth in the league with £261m revenues while City move up five places to seventh thanks to a 51 per cent growth in revenues to £231.1m following their title success, participation in the Champions League and a long-term partnership with Etihad Airways.

However, English clubs are still some way behind Spain’s big two in the Money League, the top six of which remained unchanged for the fifth successive year.

Real Madrid top the money list for the eighth consecutive year with a record turnover of £414.7m while Barcelona complete a La Liga one-two after the Catalan club reported revenues of £390.8m.

The Premier League has consolidated its position as the dominant financial force in world football in the Money League, with seven teams in the top 20 and a further four English clubs were just outside the top 20 for revenues in the 2010-11 season (Everton, Aston Villa, Fulham and Sunderland).

Arsenal (sixth) keep their place in the Money League, while Liverpool’s commercial power keeps them in the top 10 in ninth place, even though the Anfield club has not participated in the Champions League since the 2009-10 season.

TOP FIVE CLUBS IN THE MONEY LEAGUE
	1. Real Madrid
	2. Barcelona
	3. Manchester United
	4. Bayern Munich
	5. Chelsea

Tottenham drop to 13th in the list after failing to qualify for the Champions League, with revenues decreasing by 12 per cent to £144.2m while Newcastle are the only new entry, replacing Valencia with £93.3m turnover.

“Manchester City’s rise up the table comes down to a combination of their on pitch success and improved commercial deals,” said Mark Roberts, senior consultant within the sports business group at Deloitte.

“Arsenal are well in their sight but the decisive factor next year will be City’s commercial deals as they will be hit by not qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League this season.

“I would expect to see City overtake Arsenal in the next couple of years providing they continue with their success on the pitch.”

In 2012, the Premier League announced new domestic live broadcast rights deals worth just over £3 billion for the three year period from 2013-14, a 70 per cent increase on the previous value with top clubs set to make £20-30m more per year.

Next year, England will expect to break its record representation of eight clubs in the Money League and could even make up half of the top 20.

THE DELOITTE TOP 20

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Roberts added: “The most there has been in the list is eight but I think we could be seeing as much of half of the list represented by the Premier League in the near future - it remains the financial powerhouse of European football.”

All revenue figures in the Money League report are based on the 2011-12 season or the most recent available calendar year. It focuses on the revenue generated by each club, not expenditure such as wages and debt management.

The ‘big five’ European leagues are all represented in the Money League, with Italian giants Juventus climbing to 10th after winning Serie A last term. German side Borussia Dortmund are the joint-highest climbers after rising five places to 11th.

Commenting on the impact of UEFA’s financial fair play break-event requirement, Paul Rawnsley, a Director in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte said: “Whilst the Money League covers clubs’ revenue performance, there is an increasing focus within European football on clubs achieving more sustainable levels of expenditure relative to revenues, particularly given UEFA’s financial fair play break-even requirement.

“Disciplined and responsible governance structures and financial management within European football, whilst providing the platform for investment in facilities and youth development, should only be encouraged.”

My fears

     A nation blessed with brains and beauty, a giant that should be roaring and crushing lesser mortals, created and birthed as a child of circumstance, continuously raped by the those that should have taken good care of her. I have always wondered where Nigeria started getting it all wrong, the mindset at Independence?
 
     A country that had unity, yet divisive mindset. The regions worked they said, but I wasn't born yet, how can I be sure it worked. With the suspicions, backstabbing and schemings that greeted that era. A country that would have been a great giant got blinded by sectionalism , ethnicity and religious fights and fanatism bordering on stupidity. Welcome to Nigeria, a country that is a child of circumstance, carefully failing all who believed she was made to be great.  Is the independence to blame for the woes of this great nation? Independence was supposed to usher in expansive living, constructive and positive thinking, growth and development, research, breakthroughs, wealth creation and the building of a great mature and leading nation. But alas!,she stumbled and staggered, everyone became agitated, a civil war that could have been avoided.
     
     Do we blame the war? What of the oil that was discovered? Some call it the cursed black gold, cursed eh? This same oil that has transformed deserts like Dubai and turned places that goggle would not been able to map as economically viable regions. We are in Nigeria, the pride of Africa, a country where wealth and poverty share boundary, with each consciously and jealously guarding their territory. A fusion of greed, avarice and lack of patriotism gave rise to conscienceless looting of what belongs to all by a few privileged heartless people who were supposed to lead and direct the affairs of a great nation such as ours.
     Some blame the military, I strongly disagree, show me who I any of the past republics who genuinely put the affairs of the nation above regional politics, self elevation, class creation and elitist existence. The military committed blunders and set development backwards, but they were weaned and trained by the experts who were supposed civilians. I blame our fathers and even this generation because when a country breeds a generation of docile people, the country is in trouble. I cringe when I see the number of people jostling for international passports at immigration offices spread round the country, I see the faces of youths who have lost hope, who believe that their future lie outside these shores because the have been waiting to become the leaders of tomorrow, a tomorrow that seems not to even be in the nearest future because the reins of power still lie firmly in the hands that held them before their mothers were married.

    The worst that happened to us as a nation was entrusting our future to conscienceless leadership.We have been paying the price of docility, a price that seems to become costlier at each turn and twist, a price we may not finish paying in our lifetime if we do not wake up and realize that we owe no debt. I wish those days will come back, those days that now seem like fables, when my father told me that they were on scholarships to school, had rooms in the university, had allowances paid to them, had dining halls where food was served, had jobs after graduation, where you could make a choice as regards the appointment to take up, when no godfather was required to land a juicy appointment and things were evenly distributed on merit. I can on and on, and I will. I will because my heart is heavy and I have fears.

Greatness

Greatness is what everyone aspires for at one time or the other in their lifes. I wonder why that fire, zeal and drive dies down,I wonder what douses that fire that burns in the eyes of every kid out there. It burns from birth and gives us that extra, which makes us feel invincible at one point or the other in our journey through life.

I once felt like I was not going to die, like I wouldn't beg, crawl or ask for things. I had these feeling that everything will fall into place at the right time. They never do, unless we make them happen. We make things happen for, we will and it comes to pass, we believe and it gets done. I know for one that we come to that point where we know that they just have to happen as we want them to. We wonder sometimes if people have magic wands because they make things happen and it seems as if everything falls into place for them.

The TRUTH is nothing just happens, we make them happen and comes through hours and years of seasoned preparations. That is the first step towards being great. PREPARATION. The scout motto says "be prepared always". Preparation sets the motion for other things to begin to fall into place even if they have to squirt through. You want to be a professor, can you be one without getting formal education? Even stars and celebs have hours of intense preparation, the glitz that follows just comes with the field. Football stars will tell you how many hours they place on that training pitch to achieve that blend of perfection and accuracy that comes on that field of play. Nothing just comes to you without preparation. The first step will be carefully digested and treated in this forum.