Olympic great comforts racer after disappointment in Vancouver. By Katie Uhlaender
Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Sport
No matter what the results are for an athlete in the Olympic Games, to participate in the Olympic movement is indescribable. To hear “USA” screamed by not only your family but also by other nations’ people who you have touched and inspired is an experience that truly teaches you what the Olympic spirit is.
After going through four surgeries (from breaking my kneecap twice) and losing my father less than a year before the Olympic Games, it was a huge accomplishment for me to qualify for Vancouver. It was even more insane to have the fastest starts despite being barely six months from my last surgery. (Too bad I didn’t drive down the track as fast as I ran to curve one.) The Olympics is something we work years for, and it is over in minutes — everything has to be perfect.
Nike is the only sponsor I have, and it’s a small deal, but they are full of love for their athletes. They noticed that I was unsure of what was next, and that I was a bit disappointed in the way things had gone down leading into my race since I had really wanted to bring home a medal for my country and my father. Nike sought to remind me what I was a part of, so they told me I was going to watch long track with Carl Lewis!
A lot of my disappointment came from how I wanted to walk away from the race prepared, with everything in place, and somehow I allowed that not to happen. I worked so hard for four years, and I walked away wondering what if? Carl listened and said the key to success is finding a support group you can depend on and one person within that group that will look you in the eye and say, “You will be Olympic champion.” At this point I could feel my eyes watering up, and I realized that one person had been my father. I was crying in front of Carl Lewis!
I was so embarrassed, but I couldn’t help it. He looked at me as though he was about to start crying as well, and told me how he had also lost his father at 23. I was shocked! He assured me it was going to get better, and asked me what I thought my father would say to me now. He told me my father had been around long enough to make sure I was ready to go out and be the woman he raised me to be, to represent my country and my family name, and to know he has left me with the tools and the knowledge I need to win. I need to let go, and once I’m able to do that my father will be even closer to me. I need faith that I am prepared to face life without him. The rest will come. It’s about finding that person that I can count on no matter what in this new chapter of life without my father. No one will replace him, but it’s time to grow and evolve into, hopefully, that Olympic champion he knew I could be. Carl helped me realize I can’t do this alone, and it will be very important to find that key support.
He reminded me what the Olympics are truly about: educating and inspiring those around us to live life with passion and integrity. Those were the basic principles my father taught me, among many other life lessons, and I am honored to be a part of that. There are so many athletes here that have inspired me and picked me up, and not all of them were American. It’s not about nation, it’s not about glory; it is about inspiration.
The rapper recently joined the social networking service to much fanfare, quickly amassing more than 172,000 followers.
The prolific MC, however, hasn’t exactly tweeted with the same fury with which he released countless mixtapes. But his sparse messages have been received well, for the most part. They typically feature poetic refrains without much context.
“If we are all here for a reason, I’m just visiting,” he wrote in one message that’s been characteristic of his output.
But a backlash was started by some fans and comedian Lil Duval, who created the topic “#LilWayneDeepTweets.” The tagged posts poke fun at the overly philosophical nature of the rapper’s messages. As a result, Lil Wayne tweeted that if he wasn’t wanted on Twitter he would leave.
Lil Wayne protégé Nicki Minaj, herself a healthy Twitter user, has some advice for the “Lollipop” superstar.
“Less poetry,” she told MTV News from the red carpet of BET’s “Rip the Runway.” -> BET’s “Rip the Runway.”
But the female MC urged Wayne not to quit the service, despite the fact that he only has a few days of freedom left; he’s set to begin his one-year jail sentence in New York this week.
“We want to hear what you have to say, Lil Tunechi,” she said, using Wayne’s Twitter handle.
From the looks of things, it doesn’t appear that Wayne will give up on Twitter just yet.
About 12 hours after tweeting that he would leave, the rapper began sending messages again.
“My problem is that I aim to please, and it seems as if [I] need a higher target,” Wayne wrote. “But for now, ‘Bullseye.’ ”
Wayne plans to release lots of videos before he goes to jail on Tuesday — check out ‘Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1.’ By Shaheem Reid
Lil Wayne in “Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1″
Photo: Courtesy of Nino Brown
Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1
“Three days, y’all — let’s party!” Lil Wayne said on Saturday (February 27). Now that his dental surgery is done, Weezy is expected to begin serving his year in jail on weapons charges Tuesday, but he’s making sure he’s seen and heard before his departure. Of late, Weezy has taken to Twitter (much more on that in a minute) and Ustream to communicate with fans. On Saturday evening, Weezy and his favorite videographer, DJ Scoob Doo, sent MTV News a clip we’re going to call “Nino Brown: The Road to Rikers, Part 1″ (as in Rikers Island, the New York jail that Wayne’s heading to).
In the clip, Wayne promises to grant fans a look at what his life is like as he prepares to go to jail.
Shot Saturday afternoon in the guest house of his Miami home, Wayne had the Tennessee vs. Kentucky NCAA basketball game playing in the background on his big-screen TV.
“This is for my real fans,” Wayne said. “People who wanna know what I be doin’. I’mma let y’all in.”
From there, Wayne, who recently tweeted that he was giving up Twitter (although he’s tweeted since then), urged his fans to follow him at his page, “@liltunechi.”
“I just opened that up,” Weezy said. “I got almost 200,000 followers. I need more followers. I saw Drake had like 400ꯠ followers. I need more followers than Drake.”
Wayne then gave background on his nickname.
“My nickname is Lil Tune — my grandmother named me that,” he explained. “She’s passed. My grandmother, her name was Mercedes Carter. She named me Lil Tune. We just threw the ‘Chi’ on there. Like Gucci, I say ‘Tunechi!’ ”
The clip ends with Weezy shouting out all his children, their mothers and his own mom.
Wayne will be shooting footage right up until he goes to court on Tuesday — check back with MTV News for more!
Wayne and Scoob Doo recently released the DVD “The Nino Brown Story, Part 2.” It can be found on djscoobdoo.com.
This week’s episode of Tool Academy 3 gets super meta. The Tools break down the fourth wall, then the fifth, then have a protein shake and punch out the sixth.
The Tools and Toolettes must learn about modesty this week. Trina does a little bit of art therapy with the Tools to start things off. She has the Tools draw how they see themselves, and then has their partners draw how they see their Tools.
I thought Daniel’s only skill was glow-sticking. But his drawing skills are surprisingly above average. For example, his haircut in real life is exactly how he pictured it, no more or less ridiculous. He must look in the mirror every morning and silently mouth: “Nailed it.”
Here is Jacob’s self-portrait. He’s in a tanning bed, lifting weights, and drinking ‘protein baby.’ His portrait is tiny on the canvas, symbolizing how “small” he feels inside. But there’s something a little…exaggerated about how little he’s exaggerated his self image. Trina asks him if he’s just giving her what he thinks she wants to hear. And he says, “Yes.” So I think “No,” because he’s a pretty bad liar.
Christie’s portrait of him is surprisingly similar, right down to the features and floating protein source. How did they not win the first week’s communication challenge? They’ll have Tool Academy’s psychic challenge in the bag.
Courtney’s self-portrait reveals her insecurities about her big hips and weight. I wonder if including her Smet T-shirt is also part of her negative self image. It begs the question: which came first, the Christian Audigier, or the self-loathing?
Kyle’s portrait of Jennavecia is all symbolic: messy colors and chaotic lines symbolize the “craziness” of her lifestyle. He is truly the Jackson Pollock of Tool victims.
Jordan’s self-portrait also had a lot of symbolism. Behind the hair and the faux-Christianity is a tiny Jordan operating the robot’s four buttons: Tan, Gym, Hair, Sex. It’s like Jersey Shore meets Meet Dave.
Angelo cries while showing off his self-portrait. Then he also beats his portrait up as he tells a story about growing up poor. I can’t tell if Angelo is also just telling Trina what she wants to hear. There’s just something cartoonish about his behavior.
So Dayna draws a cartoon Angelo crying.
Tommy’s portrait has a watch with the words “No real time, but blingin,” because he has an amazing watch that doesn’t work. Nothing on his rosary beads, though. Maybe it could say, “No real belief in the miraculous power of praying to our Most Blessed Virgin Mary, but blingin.”
Kate’s portrait has arrows that show what she wants to see more of from him. Though really it looks like it’s just pointing to sweat problem areas.
Still can’t get over how realistic Daniel’s self-portrait is.
This is society judging Daniel for not having a job or finishing school, which Daniel says is “so shallow.” Here’s another point where therapy feel-goodness and self-esteem building goes too far.
After the session is over, Angelo and Kevin get into a shouting match because Kevin thinks Angelo’s tears are fake. Tool Academy’s really trying to pack in the gender and sexuality issues this season, but they’ve yet to tackle the strange male habit of getting within makeout distance of a guy in order to intimidate him.
And now the challenge. The Tools and Victims have to sit behind a one-way mirror and watch a focus group who will see the interviews from Cancun…
…while Trina watches. Just to keep it straight: this is Trina watching the Tools watching a focus group watching the Tools.
And you are watching Trina. Mind=blown?
Tommy loses his cool after the focus group says his girlfriend should dump him. “I can’t handle this right now,” he says while storming out of the Academy. What a baby. If Dominos can take it, he can.
You know how when there are a bunch of dogs in a kennel, and if one gets really excited then they all start barking and howling, and you gotta go in there with a spray bottle and a ton of Pupperoni just to restore order? That’s what happens next. Tommy’s outburst sets off every other Tool.
Jacob gets mad at Kyle for talking to his girlfriend.
Then Daniel and Lesley start fighting over Lesley having a conversation with Kyle.
Jacob does his flexing thing, though it feels less intimidating now that I know how he sees himself. And that’s what matters the most.
Madness. Trina has to grab her elegant wrap and swoop in there.
Daniel tries to explain his argument: “I can’t turn a ho into a housewife.” No prizes for this challenge.
It’s elimination time. Why don’t we get to see the Tools decorating their uniforms? Then we could have seen Daniel add “PLUR” to the back of his jacket. This probably should have been written across his forehead backwards, because he forgets every rule of PLUR this week. Also, blaming society for judging you for not having a job (for seven years! Is this the fault of the last recession?), doesn’t impress Trina either.
Jordan gets his badge. Now it’s between Daniel and Jacob. Tommy is confused and surprised because they call Daniel’s name first, yet he doesn’t get the modesty badge. Never trust the order of elimination call-outs. They always try to trick you. That’s just a rule of reality TV. How else would American Idol be able to turn a five minute elimination into two hours of prime-time TV?
Instead of pleading with Lesley, Daniel tells her that he loves her but is not “in love” with her. I would argue that he is neither.
Daniel goes off into that good night, while Lesley takes the limo. It’s hard to think this of this ending as funny, because it’s hard to celebrate two parents breaking up. But at least Lesley has one less child to take care of.
Check out additional shots from this week’s Tool Academy.
In this episode, Frank asks Kerry to pull his finger.
That right there is greatness in a nutshell.
When we resume, everyone’s still reeling over last week’s Danattack, which found violence as a proposed answer for compassion and freakiness, alike.
Melody, purveyor of compassion, was particularly hurt. She says that the girls can look forward to defending themselves against the infliction on their sanity that is Dana. Well, Melody, you can’t really look forward to hell…but we can!
The girls are gathered. Today they’ll be writing a screenplay that explores their vision of what life after the basement with Frank will be like. It will come as a great shock to you that none of these women are particularly gifted at predicting the future or writing, for that matter. It’ll be an even greater shock that incompetence does not make for hilarious material. This one’s kind of disappointing all around, I gotta say. Even the girl with all the potential in the world doesn’t really make good on it:
Cathy thinks that it may be weird to perform this while the parents are watching. If Annie’s debacle last week taught us anything, it’s that as long as you avoid the words “balls” and “b***j**,” you should be fine.
The performances will take place in the kitchen. It’s transformed into a set via a standalone door. If VH1 ever goes scripted, prepare to see a lot of those. One standalone door makes all the difference, as we see.
Anyway, the funniest things about these little scene studies is the way production categorizes them via their title intros. Cathy’s, for example, is turned further into a porno:
Oh, all of these also involve Frank coming home from work and then hanging out in the kitchen. There’s a lot of food talk. Cathy’s produces sexy results like, “I’ll skip dinner and just go for dessert instead!” She says, “I’m gonna go make some coffee? Want some?” He replies, “Mmm, yeah. I want some of you first, though!” Fun stuff like that, you know. It really is pitch-perfect porno dialog in its abysmally unrealistic way, if that’s what she’s going for.
They get into a bed prepared on the floor. I believe Frank says, “Sit on my face,” at one point.
This is all, of course, scandalous (or scandalishious, even). Susan compares it to a “Cinemax show,” not that in her 59 years, she’s ever watched such trash. In an interview, she wonders if Cathy is in heat. Isn’t everyone, though?
Next up is Melissa.
Melissa says that her scene is “traditional” and “suburban” with some comedy thrown in. Really, Christmas dinner with my family again so soon? In actuality, this means that she employs the “talents” of some of her friends to play brats.
Dana, who seems to be gunning for Rex Reed’s title of the campiest critic in New York, interviews that this scene is a “nightmare of everything a man doesn’t want in his life,” including poorly behaved children. It is a rather curious scenario. Susan says, “You think I want my son to be white trash, living in a trailer park?” Melissa interviews, in contrast, that she thinks life with her “looked fabulous.” She does not specify if she means trailer fab or fab fab.
Then there’s Felicia:
Felicia’s script finds her saying things like, “I was even able to cut corners in some areas. I know how much you love money.” That’s clever in a way that show’s she’s been paying attention to Frank’s “career,” and that strokes VH1’s ego by acknowledging its past success. Smart and smarter. Frank interviews that Felicia is too perfect.
Given his logic for the eliminations so far (good is bad, up is down, bikini is porno), “too perfect” might be a signal of trouble ahead. Felicia, you in danger, girl.
Next up, Kerry:
Basically, an alternate title could have been Knocked Up…with Children.
During their scene, Kerry chastises Frank for smoking, winning Susan’s approval. These girls are as diabolically overachieving as sleep deprived AP students.
Dana announces that her play may be “more detailed” than the other girls’.
And so it is. She flaps her gums so much, it has a butterfly effect on my soul. It’s chaos inside me, trust.
Susan interviews, “What is this, Gone With the Wind?” Gary replies, “It’s gone with somethin’!” Well, look at the natural born dialog writers we’re witnessing. They don’t even need pen and paper! No wonder why they want to test these girls’ screenwriting skills - they’re essential for fitting into this family.
Finally, there is Melody.
Susan takes exception to her wearing a negligee and kissing Frank.
Well, after all, she had to take exception to something! In the end, Kerry wins, scoring her first solo date with Frank. Susan interviews that she’s happy Kerry won, “…she just better ease up on the tanner.” Like I said: she had to take exception to something! Taking exception is just what she does.
While Frank and Kerry attend their date, the rest of the girls are banished to an outside dinner with the ‘rents.
“It was fun today watching you ladies,” Gary tells them. Doesn’t that go without saying by now? It’s kind of the conceit of this show, no? They talk about the scenes. Melissa doesn’t actually want four kids — I guess she olive oil was talking when she wrote that? She thinks she’ll go back to Minnesota, which is something Susan does not want for Frank. Speaking of kids, Melody wants some, too. She says that she wanted her scene to be from the heart. Dana openly laughs at this.
Dana interviews, “Do they realize she’s almost 50?” Probably not, since she’s 35. Also, I’m not sure how old Dana is, but let’s say she’s as young as you can possibly be on this show: 21. If she’s 21, then by her logic, she’s almost 35, which is, in her words, almost 50. She’s old, Melody’s old, I’m old, we’re all old.
Almost incoherently, Dana asks Melody, “Is there like an age with you being a little bit older than, like, the girls here? Is there like an age where you would say, ‘I think it would be better to adopt’?” Here is Melody’s reaction:
“I think it’s much smarter to wait these days,” says Melody. It’s so true — ovaries are taking longer to settle down as we progress as a society. She mentions something about emotional problems and anger problems and not having enough experience in life to raise a child. It’s all very vague and, you know, pointed. Dana interviews, “I can’t control my temper and I have an anger problem? She can go screw herself.” Maybe she will to celebrate just being proven right over the course of two sentences?
Meanwhile, Kerry and Frank dine outside.
Frank toasts to a beautiful evening and a “better night.” Kerry nods solemnly as if this means she’ll have to be part of a ritual sacrifice when they get home. Lighten up, it’s just proposed implied sex!
They talk about the normal things people talk about on these shows. Kerry thinks no one in the house is better for him than she is, and she’d love to stay with him after the cameras stop rolling if he picks her. You kind of can’t comment on what will happen when the cameras stop rolling when they are rolling. Rolling (and not) changes everything.
They talk about the other girls. Now Kerry hates that she’s fighting with her friend Cathy over a man. She stops short of smack talking her friend, though. That’s pretty righteous. In fact, Kerry suggests she’s an all-around good egg when Frank asks her about the other girls and the only one she has any real smack to talk about is Dana. And she even does this kindly, saying that Dana is “very beautiful” and “attractive,” but that she has a bad temper and threatens violence. Kerry goes even further to clarify that she isn’t worried about Dana “as a person.” For all that diplomacy and kindness, I give you this wonderfully flattering shot of Kerry:
Kerry says she likes him so much that if he picked someone else, she’d be happy for him. That’s a stock answer, but it’s a good one. Someone take her to a softball field, because Kerry’s batting a thousand. Frank says that she says she’s there for him, but he wonders if she really feels it? Frank wants to see how much she feels it. Is that pressure? Nope, just gas: it is here that he asks her to pull his finger. She’s certainly not feeling that. Bravo, Kerry. Every move has been impeccable. You win this episode. Your prize is…the real prize that is Frank (temporarily).
Back at home, Melissa informs Dana that Melody is trying to get everyone against her because of the menopausal implications at dinner.
“I don’t really care, I’m not speaking to her anymore, she doesn’t exist and she has a saggy vagina, I€™m over it,” says Dana. I love that when Dana says, “I’m over it,” inevitably everything that has led up to it suggests otherwise. Just one more thing that makes her special!
Melissa plays the fence (to put it in Danaspeak), and reports to Melody that Dana said, “Did you see how I called that old vagina out?”
Thing is, Dana didn’t call Melody an “old vagina,” she commented on Melody’s “saggy vagina.” There’s a difference, and Dana’s words are worth getting right.
We then see Dana on the phone, being screamed at by her mother for not picking up the phone when she calls.
Dana’s mom seems like an absurd off-shoot of a stage mom: a psychic mom. “Shape up your clairvoyance or ship out,” is probably something Dana’s mom tells her daughter regularly. Dana recaps the argument regarding Melody’s womb and vagina. “You’re misunderstood,” her mother says, quickly adding, “Did you punch her in her face and knock her the f*** out?” I love the way that moms always seem to know best. I mean, duh, the best way anyone’s going to understand Dana is by concussion. Why change logic when you can change minds…manually?
Melody walks by and this wonderful exchange commences:
Melody: Dana, are you off the phone? Dana: Donât even talk to me. I’m not a fake bitch. Melody: Yeah, you’re just a bitch.
Ha, for someone so nice, Melody’s tongue sure is sharp. What a little triumph of the human spirit that retort is!
Frank arrives home and instead of strapping Kerry to a table and carving out her soul, he does some pre-elimination scramble talks with the girls.
Melissa calls Frank out on labeling her proposed domestic scenario with him a “nightmare.” She says she was trying to make it funny. She didn’t take it to the “La La Land level,” she just took it to the funny/cute level. Isn’t it up to him to decide that? Also, these people and their logic make me feel like everything exists at the La La Land level.
Frank discusses the Dana situation with Melody.
“I just don’t like her,” says Melody, explaining all about Dana’s aggression. Frank asks if she’s used fighting words, and obviously she has. Melody says she heard Dana’s mom said that she was going to beat Dana up if Dana didn’t beat Melody up. Ah, the cycle of not being there to make friends starts at home. Society weeps because of it; industries are founded upon it.
Speaking of not being there to make friends, Dana reminds us that she isn’t (again!), which could only mean one thing:
It’s time for elimination. Frank takes a poll, and asks who he should eliminate. Dana says Melody, Melissa says Felicia and everyone else says, duh, Dana. Frank obviously doesn’t care — he just wants to rattle some cages. Melissa interviews that she didn’t want to say Dana because they’re friends. Not according to Dana’s frequent proclamations, you’re not!
Kerry’s called first, prompting Susan to shout out, “She’s one of my favorites!” Pigmentation and all? Things go the way they do, and it finally comes down to Melissa and Dana. Melissa’s vision of the future “scared the s*** out of” Frank, while Dana is a menace to the sanity and well-being of the house. Guess who’s staying! Another wonderful exchange with Dana ensues:
Frank: Well Dana, you’re definitely not popular. Dana: I’m not here for them, I’m here for you, so… Frank: Well that’s good because I like you. Dana: Thank you. Frank: So step forward. Dana: Thanks, baby!
So, Dana’s staying, Melissa’s going.
Melissa’s exit interview is, in a word, cordial.
Melissa says she doesn’t necessarily think her elimination is unfair. She says that any of the girls that are still here are going to be great for Frank. “Unfortunately it’s not me, but that’s OK.” The girl who was there to make friends isn’t there anymore! Would ya look at that!
Felicia hilariously interviews that she thinks Dana should have gone home. “She’s just a fake person, I mean, she’s just very hotheaded and she thinks she’s the s*** but she’s from upstate New York, and I donât dig it.” I love that in Felicia’s view, being the s*** and coming from upstate New York are at odds. I don’t know if I agree (do I even know anyone from upstate New York? Tiffany Pollard, I guess), I just like the catty nature of her rationale. The logic on this show is breathtaking.
Speaking of! It’s time for the toast and Melody finds herself with a glass for Dana. She offers it and Dana says, “Not from your hands!”
Melody must then give it to Kerry, who gives it to Dana, who finally accepts it.
Dana interviews that she’s not there for them, but for Frank (I had no idea!), and if they want to be fake that’s their deal. Then something magical happens. Dana punctuates her proclamation with a brief flip of her hair…
And it’s just so characteristic and oblivious and, as a result, hilarious, that all of a sudden I feel like I’m on board with Dana. She’s just so self-assured and…she’s just so her that I’m kind of fascinated. I love that her hair differs in practically every interview…
It’s all variations on a crispy, multi-tonal theme. And her aggression manifests itself in the most unpredictable ways. She is clearly a mind-boggling person.
I look forward to figuring her out. Or not! Either way: obsessed.
