'I love that she is asleep right now and does not have the slightest clue of what we have planned. She looks tasty doesn't she?'
-NYPD cop Gilberto Valle
Funny how this story is censored by CNN, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC "News" in USA... Because we need a bigger Police State sticking hands in Miss America's vagina to keep us safe, that just bought 1.5-BILLION bullets for Fatherland Security!
'Cook her over low heat, keep her alive as long as possible': NYPD 'cannibal' cop who 'kept files on 100 women he planned to kidnap, rape, kill, cook, and eat' held without bail and could face LIFE in prison
•Gilberto Valle 'created list of up to 100 victims with a picture of each'
•He 'used law enforcement databases to carry out surveillance on them'
•He 'outlined plans to cook and abduct women in emails to co-conspirators'
•Had one file entitled: 'Abducting and Cooking [victim's name]: A Blueprint'
•Valle, who has been with department for six years, in court on Thursday
Oct 26, 2012 -- A New York police officer allegedly plotted to kidnap up to 100 women, roast them in his oven or over a fire, and eat them, federal authorities said.
According to a criminal complaint, Gilberto Valle, an active New York Police Department officer, discussed "kidnapping, cooking and eating body parts of women" with an with an unnamed witness.
The duo allegedly discussed using chloroform to knock their prey out, then bring them back to 28-year-old Valle's kitchen, where the officer said he had a big enough oven "if I folded their legs."
Slow cooking her on a spit over an open fire or roasting her alive in a cage were also considered.
Valle, who was reportedly stationed in Harlem, was arrested on Wednesday at his home in the New York borough of Queens.
The co-conspirator, who has not been identified, was not charged and there was no further detail about the individual or others involved.
The US attorney's office for Manhattan said referred to multiple co-conspirators.
NYPD precinct where Cannibal Cop plotted his feast using NYPD database on women
No women were harmed, but FBI acting assistant director Mary Galligan said the stomach-churning allegations were beyond comment.
"The allegations in the complaint really need no description from us. They speak for themselves," she said. "It would be an understatement merely to say Valle's own words and actions were shocking."
New York police chief Ray Kelly called the case "bizarre."
The FBI learned about Valle's plan in September when it found that he'd spent months discussing details on emails and instant messages from his home computer, according to the complaint.
Mommy with cannibal cop
A search of his computer allegedly revealed files kept on at least 100 women, each with a name and photograph and often personal details such as address and descriptions.
Valle is said to have illegally used law enforcement databases to draw up a target list of women.
Then he concocted a "plan to abduct and cook an identified woman, researching methods of disabling and drugging women, and agreeing with at least one other individual to kidnap a woman in exchange for a sum of money."
During one online conversation that took place in July between Valle and the unidentified co-conspirator, the complaint says, Valle was asked: "How big is your oven?"
Son of Son of Sam?
Valle allegedly answered: "Big enough to fit one of these girls if I folded their legs."
Further discussing the culinary aspects of the plot, the co-conspirator allegedly asked Valle what his "favorite cut of meat" was and advised against using a spit over a fire.
"Spitting kills the girl. Have to put her into a kind of cage," the co-conspirator wrote.
"I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus," Valle allegedly responds. "Cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible."
Although no murders took place, Valle allegedly went as far as meeting one of his intended victims. The co-conspirator asked him "How was your meal?" to which Valle is alleged to have replied: "I am meeting her."
The ghoulish meeting took place, the FBI says, in a restaurant.
According to the complaint, Valle was preparing to do the kidnapping, for which the co-conspirator promised to pay him $5,000 a victim.
"This is very risky and will ruin my life if I'm caught," he allegedly wrote. "I really need the money and I can't take under $5,000."
Chief Manhattan federal prosecutor Preet Bharara said: "Gilberto Valle's alleged plans to kidnap women so that they could be raped, tortured, killed, cooked, and cannibalized shock the conscience.
"This case is all the more disturbing when you consider Valle's position as a New York City police officer and his sworn duty to serve and protect."
Valle faces up to life in prison if convicted on a kidnapping conspiracy charge and five years if found guilty of illegally accessing an official computer.
Despite the horror movie quality to the alleged plot, online news watchers were quick to start cracking jokes.
On The Daily Beast, one reader referred to the NYPD's mission to protect and serve, then quipped that Valle was "taking the second part seriously."
I'm calling bullshit. She only "won" 1 Indycar race in her career (mechanics won it in the pits) as Indycar died and went bankrupt. She has never won a NASCAR race, usually qualifies in 30th position. TV ratings boost!!!!! When I attended a racing school in Daytona back in 1994, the owner/instructor told the class Dale EARNhart never had to put his car through tech inspection at the Daytona 500, which is pre-approved cheating. Dale was raking in $40-million/year or more in advertsing contracts, which NASCAR/Daytona Motorsport Group got a cut of. This was diring a dinner with Mike Joy, the ESPN sports commentator, who agreed with that observation. Looks like GoDaddy Girl is getting the same Don King treatment. Experts say all pro sports are rigged as to who wins the big games, and the teams share the payout so the "loser" teams don't get too butthurt. Pro teams get fined $100,000 after they refuse to play their 3 best players then lose a big game, "because their star players needed a vacation." College is perhaps the same way, including at UT. Gambling, TV advertising and team sales are multi-billion business. I wonder if that was Pat Head's big secret to success? -The Dragonater
Knoxville News Gatekeeper and Associated Press tell yet another big stinkin pile of crap lie
21 February 2013
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick has won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any race in NASCAR's top circuit.
Dan Ika lost her boobies -- can you help her find them?
It was the biggest achievement of her stock-car career.
"We have a lot more history to make and we're eager to do it," Patrick said.
Patrick went out eighth in the qualifying session Sunday and covered the 2½-mile superspeedway in 45.817 seconds, averaging 196.434 mph.
She waited about two hours as 37 fellow drivers tried to take her spot. Only four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon even came close to knocking her off.
"That's a huge accomplishment," team owner and fellow driver Tony Stewart said. "It's not like it's been 15 or 20 years she's been trying to do this. It's her second trip to Daytona here in a Cup car. She's made history in the sport. That's stuff that we're proud of being a part of with her. It's something she should have a huge amount of pride in.
"It's never been done. There's only one person that can be the first to do anything. Doesn't matter how many do it after you do, accomplish that same goal. The first one that does always has that little bit more significance to it because you were the first."
Gordon was the only other driver who topped 196 mph in qualifying. He locked up the other guaranteed spot in next week's season-opening Daytona 500.
"It's great to be part of history," Gordon said. "I can say I was the fastest guy today."
The rest of the field will be set in duel qualifying races Thursday.
However the lineup unfolds, all drivers will line up behind Patrick's No. 10 Chevrolet SS for "The Great American Race."
Patrick joked about wanting to get Monday and Tuesday off, but then quickly realized her accomplishment likely will result in more attention and more demands.
"I feel a scheme coming on," she said. "I feel a plane coming. I feel nervous."
Patrick has been the talk of Speedweeks. Not only did she open up about her budding romance with fellow Sprint Cup rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr., but she was considered the front-runner for the pole after turning the fastest laps in practice Saturday.
And she didn't disappoint.
She kept her car at or near the bottom of the famed track and gained ground on the straightaways, showing lots of power from a Hendrick Motorsports engine.
"It's easy to come down here in your first or second year as a driver and clip the apron trying to run too tight a line or do something and scrub speed off," Stewart said. "That's something she did an awesome job. Watching her lap, she runs so smooth. ... She did her job behind the wheel, for sure."
The result surely felt good for Patrick, especially considering the former IndyCar driver has mostly struggled in three NASCAR seasons. Her best finish in 10 Cup races is 17th, and she has one top-five in 58 starts in the second-tier Nationwide Series.
She raced part-time in 2010 and 2011 while still driving a full IndyCar slate. She switched solely to stock cars last season and finished 10th in the Nationwide standings.
She made the jump to Sprint Cup this season and will battle Stenhouse for Rookie of the Year honors.
But taking the pole will make her the talk of the town for another week. She also won the pole at Daytona for last year's Nationwide race.
This is considerably bigger.
The previous highest female qualifier in a Cup race was Janet Guthrie. She started ninth at Bristol and Talladega in 1977.
Patrick shattered that mark Sunday, putting her squarely in the spotlight for the next week. It's a position she's comfortable in, evidenced by her racing career, her television commercials and her sudden openness about her personal life.
"I think when pressure's on and when the spotlight's on, I feel like it ultimately ends up becoming some of my better moments and my better races and better results," Patrick said. "I don't know why that it. I'm grateful for it because the opposite of that would be I probably wouldn't be here today, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in. I guess thanks mom and dad. Thanks for the genetics. Thank you for all that.
"I just understand that if you put the hard work in before you go out there that you can have a little peace and a little peace of mind knowing that you've done everything you can and just let it happen."
I heard they brought Earnhardt Sr.'s special restrictor plates out of retirement for her. Wink, wink--nod, nod.
Can anyone spell R I G G E D ??
Doubting its the first pole she's ever been on top of...
sitting on the pole
will she have her left turn signal on the whole time?
Checking her oil Her tank is now full
Trying to erase the INDY fail by changing to NASCAR.
she acts like a big dumb slut for GoDaddy
hope she doesn't get rear ended to many times
I wouldn't mind hitting her rear end
Does this fire-suit make my butt look big???
The conspiracy mounts. Think about where sports are going. First the NFL with the Patriots winning the Super Bowl right after 9/11. Later it comes out that they were cheating to get it done. Then right after Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl. Later it comes out that they too were cheating with their bounty program while the NFL turned a blind eye to illegal hits. Now Nascar follows suit. Do you really think that Danica won the pole? Of course not. The clock accidentally started keeping time a few tenths of a second after she started her time trial thus giving her a faster lap time. The proof will be that she will not lead even one lap. Sports have entered the realm of bullshit fantasy. There is no more realism in sports today. Let the chips fall where they may.
Nascar's ratings are sagging faster than a 50 year old biker chick's tits. So they rigged the clocks to put Danica on the pole in hopes of higher ratings. I would rather watch Danica pole dance than sit on the pole, personally. Maybe watching her sit on a pole would also be better.
A good driver based on what? You mean based on her inability to finish a race? Maybe based on her ability to crash a car. The truth of the matter is that she has never won a Nascar race. She has never even come close to contending for a championship. Plain and simple, she sucks. There are drivers who have lost their ride because they weren't productive enough yet are way better racers than Danica. Nascar is bullshit.
She will be guzzling so much fuel this year...I hope they have the catch-can ready.
A catch-can under her chin to catch all the cum she guzzles.
Don't get me wrong, I like Danica. I'd love to fuck her ass and shoot a couple loads down her throat. However, as far racing is concerned, she has no business in Nascar.
I'd love to watch Danica pole dance or sit on a pole. That would be pay-per-view worthy. She needs to stick to what she is good at and that is pleasing a man's cock.
Maybe they can have an in-car camera so that we can watch her shift gears. I'll be she handles that stick like a real pro! I wonder if her pussy gets wet when she gets too close to the outside wall on the track?
Danica might not be much of a driver but she sure is hot. She is hotter than most porn stars and prettier than most Hollywood actresses. What a delicious piece of ass! Yummy!!!
I can't believe all these big belly, toothless shitheads who are claiming only cheating allowed the stunningly beautiful Mrs. Patrick to take the pole because they are so very intimidated by a woman who can drive faster and better than they can. What a herd of gob smacked losers.
Cheating did it, period. You are the toothless idiot. Danica can suck a long hard one. I'll shoot a load up her ass or down her throat. That's about all she's good for.
How much of your life have you spent watching televised sports, attending games, talking about sports, listening to sports radio, checking websites for updated scores, and then taking in SportsCenter or another highlight show at the end of the day? How much of your thoughts have been consumed with the upcoming game? How many nights have you stayed awake wondering how your team blew that huge lead? How often have you reminisced about that impossible comeback win as if you played in the game? How much money have you emptied out of your pocket on tickets, DirectTV packages, bets, jerseys, hats, trading cards, autographs and overpriced beers over the course of your lifetime?
What if all of that time, emotion, and money has been wasted on a lie? What if the action on the field isn’t what it appears to be? What if you, and millions others like you, have been duped – outright lied to – by those franchises you hold so dear to your heart, all in the name of making an easy buck?
Well, my friend, it has happened. And although your name might not be “Mark”, you have certainly become one to those running the carnival known as professional sports.
When a win seems too good to be true - it is. When an impossible turn of events changes the course of a game - it is. When the story of an improbable underdog rises to the top like some sort of Hollywood screenplay - it is.
The leagues, hand-in-hand with the TV networks which pour billions of dollars into professional sports, have fixed their own games to squeeze every ounce of drama they can out of each season and to ensure you remain committed to their sport and glued to your TV.
This website is dedicated to shining the light into those dark corners and exposing professional sports leagues and their athletes for the money grubbing hypocrites they are. Some may call these sports conspiracy theories. I call them the truth.
How do you rate Eslick and the 1200cc Buell's "win" over the Japanese 600s? None of the above 91%. It's a sad and pathetic joke. We are now, officially, a laughingstock. MotoGP World Champion Kevin Schwantz says, "It's interesting to see an 1150 cc winning the 600 class. It's a little bit funny."
The top points scorer in Superbike will cash a $3500 check in 2010 DMG Superbike. Which is the same amount paid to the Daytona 200 winner.
I paused and asked Roger Edmondson, as only one man who has known another man for twenty years can, "What the hell are you doing? Why are you getting back into motorcycle racing?"
From the expression on his face, Roger didn't appreciate my question, but he never looked away. He said, simply, almost sternly, "I have unfinished business in motorcycle racing." He glared at me for a few more seconds and then walked away, I think muttering a good-bye. Later came the still cloaked in mystery "purchase" of AMA Pro Racing and sad events which led to AMA Superbike racing in America devolving into a farce.
Post-sale, a smart businessman or entity might have tried to fuse the racing scene into one will behind them, the rising tide raises all craft approach. Not these guys.
Along the way, Edmondson's comments and the actions of DMG managed to offend nearly everyone but Erik Buell. He told some of the Japanese manufacturers, the ones who had invested to build the championship into one that, at times, rivaled WSBK, that they would now have little say in the running of the series, that DMG wasn't in the business of selling motorcycles (the latter words so unimaginably toxic in today's racing climate) and told the riders that they have the comfort zone of an insect in terms of track safety.
The resulting damage was so vast that there are still people today who are convinced that DMG only bought the Superbke series with an intent to destroy it, to silence those pesky riders, drive away the Japanese factories, to turn the Daytona 200 into some kind of club race, and position the series for a glorious return to Loudon.
If Edmondson really is gone (many people seem to be skeptical that he hasn't just moved to a puppeteer role) then the DMG folks may have an opportunity here for a possible second and very final chance at redemption. Where it should start on this journey is at the beginning.
The AMA should release all details of the sale of AMA Pro Racing assets to DMG. How much money they received, what was purchased and where that money is now. And if the AMA won't disclose this, then AMA members should demand of Rob Dingman, the AMA's President and CEO, an explanation of how the AMA could sell an asset which brought in nearly ten million dollars to the association and then just decide not to tell the members any details about it at all.
Cheat on Sunday, bankrupt on Monday. Buell Motorcycle Company officials thanked the company's customers, employees and dealers for an unforgettable ride, following today's announcement by Harley-Davidson, Inc. that it will discontinue the Buell product line as part of Harley-Davidson's crash business strategy to export US jobs and loot investors.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc. since 1998, Buell Motorcycle Company was founded in 1983 by Erik Buell and produced more than 135,000 motorcycles. Over the past 26 years, Buell motorcycles won numerous design accolades and awards, and countless races and championships around the world, including the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship in 2009, competing agaisnt bikes half its size.
Buell will continue to supply parts to dealers to support racers who want to go racing next season. However, the racing support program and contingency will be discontinued. Fuck you Eslick.
The news that Harley was dropping two lineups came as the struggling manufacturer also said that its third-quarter income fell 84% to $26.5 million, or 11 cents a share, from $166.5 million, or 71 cents a share, a year ago.
In July 2008, Harley wasted $109 million buying MV Agusta, which will be sold at a massive loss to shareholders, rather than use that money to build a Buell factory. The Italian company produces the F4CC model that sells for $120,000 and includes a wristwatch. Good riddance.
The NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs $250,000 on Friday for sending four players home Thursday before their game Thursday night in Miami.
Commissioner David Stern said in a statement that the Spurs "did a disservice to the league and our fans" when they didn't bring Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili or Danny Green to Miami for the final game of their six-game road trip.
"The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case," Stern said. "The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way."
Teams are required to report as soon as they know a player will not travel because of injury.
The league's statement said the Spurs were in violation of league policy reviewed with the board of governors in April 2010 against resting players in a manner "contrary to the best interests of the NBA."
After that meeting, Stern said owners had discussed the issue of sitting healthy players but that there was "no conclusion reached, other than a number of teams thought it should be at the sole discretion of the team, the coach, the general manager, and I think it's fair to say I agree with that, unless that discretion is abused."
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We all know the wheels are falling off the Tiger Woods bandwagon at a record pace. The man has gone from the top of the sporting world to a punchline for a string of bad jokes. His marriage is in ruins, his image is shattered, and his marketability has vanished overnight.
As the revelations and rumors of numerous affairs mount with each passing day, another bombshell rumor—one that is far from being substantiated—has dropped: the story of Tiger's doctor being linked to performance enhancing substances.
What the hell happened to Tiger Woods?
How did a once fan-friendly face become yet another poster child for all that is wrong with modern athletes?
Perhaps, and I write this knowing full well that much of what follows is conjecture, perhaps Tiger's problem began when he became buddy-buddy with the likes of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.
In his heyday, Jordan was the NBA, the same as Tiger became the PGA. But Jordan was never a saint. As his reputation and fame grew, so did his ego. He quickly spun out of both the Chicago Bulls' and the NBA's control.
Jordan was womanizing behind his wife's back. Jordan had a serious gambling issue (one that I believe led directly to his first "retirement" that may have instead been a NBA mandated suspension in order to seek help for an addiction). Jordan was, in reality, a first class jack-ass.
But the NBA couldn't touch Jordan. They couldn't afford to. He meant too much money to too many corporations (Chevy, McDonalds, and Nike to name a few). He was the league's meal ticket and came at a time that the NBA deperately needed the attention he brought with each championship won.
The sports media as well refused to turn on MJ. Reporters needed access to him to get their puff pieces written. Jordan was known to kick reporters out of the locker room if they dared question him or show him in any sort of negative light. Jordan played them, and in return, everyone got what they wanted.
Sound anything like Tiger Woods?
So one day, Jordan and Tiger meet up thanks to Jordan's love of golfing. They become friends. Stories are exchanged. And once his divorce was finalized, a single Jordan begins to entertain Tiger.
Then Charles Barkley enters the scene. Barkley, too, befriends Tiger. Barkley himself has some gambling issues (of course, that isn't a "problem" for Barkley because, as he once said, he "can afford to lose $10 million gambling") and other related baggage (DUI, anyone?).
The pair introduce Tiger to the high life. The downfall has begun.
Soon rumors of Tiger's gambling begin. Nothing confirmed, but nothing necessarily illegal either. This wouldn't surprise anyone as Tiger is as competitive as any athlete out there, and its that competitiveness that drives many a gambler to his ruin.
Then the women come into the picture. Jordan, always the player, knows what fame and fortune can bring. Tiger, as we've all discovered, plays along.
What Tiger learns from Jordan and Barkley is how the fame game is really played. Jordan, being too big for the NBA to punish, becomes Tiger's role model. He may think, "if Jordan could do all this and not face any trouble from the NBA or the adoring media, what's gonna stop Tiger Woods?"
What Tiger fails to understand is that the media of 2009 is a far cry from the media of 20 years earlier. Jordan wasn't faced with the 24/7 coverage Tiger Woods now faces. And the PGA doesn't have the pull the combined forces of the NBA and NBC once did.
Tiger quickly learns that what may have been true for Jordan and Barkley, that they were "too big to fail," doesn't necessarily apply to him. But it's now too late. The cat's out of the bag, and Tiger's wrecked because of it.
I don't believe Tiger's not responsible for his own problems, but could Jordan and Barkley been the worst role models for Tiger to have? Could befriending them been the beginning of the his end?
The Supreme Court today decided not to hear the appeal in the lawsuit brought by disgruntled New York Jets fan Carl Mayer against the New England Patriots over the “Spygate” scandal. Mayer, a lawyer, was suing the Patriots on behalf of all Jets’ fans, seeking millions in damages for essentially cheating.
By not hearing this case, the Supreme Court not just upheld the lower court’s dismissal of Mayer’s suit, but in a very real sense helped prove that a league like the NFL could legally fix its own games.
What this case boiled down to was this: the Patriots “cheated” by improperly videotaping opposing teams’ coaching signals. They then used that knowledge to win more games. This was something the Patriots’ coaching staff participated in for years, likely dating to when Head Coach Bill Belichick started with the team in 2000.
The NFL finally “caught” Belichick and the Patriots in 2007. Both were subsequently fined: Belichick for $500,000 and the Patriots organization for $750,000 plus a first round draft pick. They have not won a championship since the Spygate scandal broke.
Mayer’s suit alleged that he and other Jets fans had been duped by the Patriots. He argued that they deserved their money back for the games between the two teams played at the Jets’ home stadium, the Meadowlands, because for those seven years, the playing field was clearly not level.
The lawsuit originally reached all the way to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. It was here that two revelations were made.
The first was that the Patriots’ lawyers argued that had Jets fans known the Patriots were cheating via this illegal videotaping system, they would have still purchased tickets to the games.
In essence, lawyers for the NFL stated that fans are such suckers for NFL football, cheating or not, they’ll purchase tickets to any game played.
Yet the larger, more important fact to come from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals was this—as directly quoted from the precendential opinion of Circuit Judge Cowen: “At best, he [Mayer] possessed nothing more than a contractual right to a seat from which to watch an NFL game between the Jets and the Patriots, and this right was clearly honored.”
In other words, your NFL ticket gives you a license to see a NFL game. It doesn’t mean it has to be played by any specific rules, or that the rules must be enforced, or that the game has to be legitimate. If you paid good money and witnessed a rigged game—no matter—you paid to see a NFL game, and that is what they provided to you.
As Cowen also wrote, “Mayer possessed either a license or, at best, a contractual right to enter Giants Stadium and to have a seat from which to watch a professional football game. In the clear language of the ticket stub, ‘[t]his ticket only grants entry into the stadium and a spectator seat for the specified NFL game.’ Mayer actually was allowed to enter the stadium and witnessed the ‘specified NFL game[s]’ between the Jets and Patriots. He thereby suffered no cognizable injury to a legally protected right or interest.”
To make matters worse, Cowen concluded with this: “We do not condone the conduct on the part of the Patriots and the team’s head coach, and we likewise refrain from assessing whether the NFL’s sanctions (and its alleged destruction of the videotapes themselves) were otherwise appropriate. We further recognize that professional football, like other professional sports, is a multi-billion dollar business. In turn, ticket-holders and other fans may have legitimate issues with the manner in which they are treated….Significantly, our ruling also does not leave Mayer and other ticket-holders without any recourse. Instead, fans could speak out against the Patriots, their coach, and the NFL itself. In fact, they could even go so far as to refuse to purchase tickets or NFL-related merchandise….However, the one thing they cannot do is bring a legal action in a court of law. [emphasis in original].”
The Supreme Court upheld this decision. This is just further proof of how the NFL can mistreat its fans, perhaps even fix their own games, and legally get away with it.
The Super Bowl. Is there a bigger event in sports today? The NFL is the most popular and most successful business in the sports world and their championship game is so popular its watched by millions around the world. It cost $3 million for a 30 second ad during the game. With this much focus and attention being drawn to one particular game, its important for the NFL to "put on a good show". In the 80's and 90's, it wasn't always a good game. There were quite a few blowouts. The Bears blowing out the Patriots 46-10, San Francisco blowing out the Broncos 55-10, then blowing out the Chargers 49-26, the Cowboys destroying the Bills 52-17... I think you get the idea. These games were over by halftime. The Super Bowl was getting to be known as the "Super Blowout". Nobody was watching by the second half and advertisers were not interested in buying ad time during the second half since less people would see it. The match ups were somewhat boring as well. What story was there behind San Diego vs San Francisco? They're both California teams... so what? Dallas and Buffalo... nothing in common, no story. There was hardly any story behind the match ups. Well that was until the 2001 season. Everything then magically changed.
St. Louis Rams vs New England Patriots 2001 - In wake of 9/11, the NFL decided to make the theme of the Super Bowl a "patriotic" one. This was the year of the infamous "tuck rule". Oh you know, that play where Brady does a pump fake, resets, gets hit, fumbles, Oakland recovers the fumble, Brady goes the sidelines and puts his head down, Belichick takes off his headset, Oakland gets ready for a kneel down... but suddenly the refs get together, review the play and say that the fumble was actually an incomplete pass. Uhhh yeah sure... The Patriots were allowed to keep the ball, they score a TD, win the game and then go onto the Super Bowl. The Patriots playing in the patriotic super bowl, what a coincidence! Not only that, but they go on to win with a last second 48 yard field goal. The whole nation (except St Louis) was so happy to see the Patriots do our our country proud by winning the Super Bowl!
Oakland Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2002 - The Raiders old coach Jon Gruden leaves Oakland and takes the head coaching job in Tampa. Less than a year later, wouldn't you know it, Gruden is facing his old team in the Super Bowl. What are the odds of that happening?
Carolina Panthers vs New England Patriots 2003 - The Patriots failed to make the playoffs in 2002, which gave some conspiracy theorists a reason to believe that what they did in 2001 was the work of the NFL especially with the whole "tuck rule" incident. Well that Pats make it back to the Super Bowl and its almost an exact replay of the game from two years ago. Ricky Proehl scores a late TD for the other team to tie it, Vinateri kicks a field goal to win it in the final seconds. Yay for "America's team" again.
New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles 2004 - Not since the 70's Steelers have we seen 3 Super Bowl victories in 5 years. What a story it would be if "America's Team" the Patriots won 3 out of 4. They would be a dynasty and possibly the greatest team of all time!
Seattle Seahawks vs Pittsburgh Steelers 2005 - In this season the Super Bowl location is Detroit. Kind of an odd place for a big game, but not unprecedented, it was there in 1982. Wouldn't you know it though, future Hall of Famer and Steelers RB Jerome Bettis was born in Detroit and he let it be known that this was going to be his last year. What a way to go, winning the Super Bowl in your hometown. Going out on top! What a story!
Indianapolis Colts vs Chicago Bears 2006 - For the last several seasons, the Colts were one of the top teams in the league, but could never quite get over the hump. They had great regular season records and every year you would hear about Tony Dungy possibly being the first black head coach in the Super Bowl. Finally it was he year and wouldn't you know it, he would be coaching against another African American coach Lovie Smith. The two were already very good friends and would make history together by being the first two black head coaches in the Super Bowl with one of them being the first black coach to win the Super Bowl. Great feel good story!
New York Giants vs New England Patriots 2007 - It was discovered earlier in this season that "America's Team" was a fraud. They got caught cheating during their championship seasons and the public was outraged. Outraged that it happened and outraged that the NFL merely gave them a slap on the wrist when they were caught (They also destroyed the evidence of the cheating, which is very odd to say the least). People were starting to say that the cheating was the only reason they won. What could save the face of the NFL and the integrity of the league? Ohhh how about a 16-0 regular season without cheating? Then go into the Super Bowl 18-0 with the chance to be called the greatest team of all time. Unfortunately for the NFL, the Giants won the Super Bowl in the final minute causing the Patriots to go 18-1. But you know what? A team blowing their chance at perfection in the final minute of the last game is a huge story!
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals 2008 - When long time head coach Bill Cowher retired, the Steelers had a choice to make. Who do they make the next head coach? Current OC Ken Whisenhunt, offensive line coach Russ Grimm or Rooney Rule candidate Mike Tomlin. The Steelers, of course, went with Tomlin, while Whisenhunt and Grimm went off to the desert in Arizona. Wouldn't you know it, one year later, its Tomlin vs Whisenhunt and Grimm in the Super Bowl? What are the odds, right? Especially since the Cardinals hadn't even been to any type of championship game since 1947. The Steelers win, Tomlin shows the Rooney's they made the right choice and Pittsburgh is known as "Sixburgh".
New Orleans Saints vs Indianapolis Colts 2009 - In the Saints 42 year history, they have never even made it to the Super Bowl. They were the laughing stock of the league for decades. The "Aints", as they were called, only had one good player even worth mentioning and that was QB Archie Manning. He was the lone bright spot on a very dark franchise history. With Hurricane Katrina destroying the city of New Orleans it really is a fantastic story that this city was able to be rebuilt and recover. Wouldn't it be great though if the Saints actually went to the Super Bowl too? Heck, not only would it be great if they went to the Super Bowl, but what if they were to go up against Archie Manning's son, Peyton?! Wouldn't that be an awesome story?!
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Green Bay Packers 2010 - Green Bay's first round pick from 2005, Aaron Rodgers, didn't get to start in his first NFL game till 2008 thanks to the "evil" Brett Favre holding him down. At the beginning of the year, Favre wanted to give it one last go to win a Super Bowl before retiring. However the "evil" Favre wasn't very good, he lost to his old team twice, got injured numerous times, watched his consecutive games streak come to an end as well as his career. Meanwhile, in the city that the "evil" Favre used to dwell, a new hero comes to the light in the form of Aaron Rodgers, the guy Favre was trying to hold down. Rodgers first championship season is also Favre's last year. As Favre's light is extinguished, Rodgers light shines brightly through the NFL world as he offers more promise to Green Bay than the "evil" Favre ever did.
That's a pretty incredible span. 10 games in a row with an intriguing storyline. Half of them were decided by 4 points or less. Only one game was won by more than 14 points. With the exception of the Patriots lost perfect season, all of them are considered to be "happy endings", at least in the minds of the NFL/average American football fan with no interest in either team. A dynasty, history being made, going out on top, former allies matched up against one another. It was quite the decade huh?
I'm not saying that the NFL is "fixing" their games, but its naive to think this is all happening naturally. It went from being just two really good teams playing each other, most of the time it ended up in a blow out, to every game is really close and has an intriguing back story for the media to hype for two weeks prior to the game being played. The NFL needs this game to have it all and for the last 10 Super Bowls, it has. Coincidence or fixed? You tell me.
Another example of failure to countersteer, police state death squads and 4-hour rescue? Further proof the illegal 30mph "speed limit" has increased the death rate 400%
DEALS GAP, TENN. -- A North Carolina woman was killed in a motorcycle accident Monday afternoon on “The Dragon.”
It was the fourth fatality of the year on the curvy mountain stretch of U.S. Highway 129.
Judy Hatley Harris, 62, of Wilmington, was riding a 1996 Yamaha southbound behind her husband’s motorcycle.
Harris cut into a wide curve on Mile Marker 4, and her motorcycle dropped off the right hand side of the road and could not recover, according Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Cory Russell, who investigated.
The motorcycle laid down and struck a stump, causing Harris to go about 75 feet down an embankment, Russell said.
Harris was wearing a helmet, according to the report. Harris’s husband was not involved in the crash and was not injured. No other vehicles were involved.
Rural/Metro and Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies, as well as the Blount County Rescue Squad, were also on the scene.
Other fatalities on ‘The Dragon’ this year:
• Sept. 28: Sean R. McMillin, 24, of Cherry Point, N.C., was killed in a motorcycle wreck near Mile Marker 7. He was a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, stationed in North Carolina.
• June 15: Harley Hogue, 53, of Naples, Fla., was killed near Mile Marker 8 after losing control of his motorcycle while negotiating a sharp right-hand curve.
• June 6: John W. Henson, of Carencro, La., was killed when he tried to negotiate a sharp right-hand curve while riding his 2006 Honda motorcycle near Mile Marker 4 and the vehicle crossed into the southbound lane and left the road.
Triumph rider with 2 weeks total experience on bike fails to countersteer, whacks Corvette, causes sportbiker to nearly die. Forest rangers to cut down red trees as a distraction to wobbly riders. US129photos.com gets best video proof yet of failure to countersteer.
Max fee for nonconsentual towing (police-ordered tow after crash) is set by THP or county towing contract (usually zero dollars to $25 max), not by a towing company charging $500 to $1,500.
Anybody heard anything about how the rider is faring? Our understanding is that he was taken down by some fluids from an earlier wreck on the Gap. He left in an ambulance this afternoon, but we haven't heard anything since.
do know is that it was at 4.2 and he went quite a ways off the mountain after losing it in the fluids from the earlier Harley/Vette wreck. He was conscious and in pain, and his helmet took a hard hit and he had some confusion. I believe he was flown to UT.
prayers sent. saw the harley/vette crash around 1, came back through around 3:30ish just after he went off... saw and smelled the oil everywhere. had no idea someone crashed at the time, just saw a few riders in that pulloff standing around. once the ambulances and fire trucks started rolling by the overlook, figured it mustve been bad
Here it is:
Broken back
Fractured skull
Broken neck
Both lungs collapsed
Lacerated Liver
On a ventilator at the moment
Able to move legs,toes,fingers
Outlook prognosis Good
Is he known as usedtobefast on here?
Yes.
My question is this. Back when i worked for a tow company, we had the city contract. We had to clean up ANY AND ALL reminants of a wreck. No matter how much oil dry we had to use. We were told several times by the thp that if something happened in the spot where we did not clean up that we would be held liable. How come the idiot drivers in tow trucks that frequent up there dont clean the road any better!?
Same here Drop. I worked for AAA for 5yrs. back in Cali. and we were required when called out on a 180 (accident call) to clean up any, and all debris on the seen (less human haz-mat). This included; any vehicle fluids, parts, glass and such alike. Although I have seen several sloppy cleanup scenes since moving out here, so I'm not surprised. The first thing that popped in my head was the 'cause and effect' here. This chain of events started with a rider taking his attention away from the road to wave at a camera man. Is it possible to say that photogs on the side of such a road is too much of a deterrent from ones attention to the road itself? This is a sincere question, not a rhetorical one. It is very hard as a seasoned rider myself to hear of such an incident. Godspeed to Jeff at such a hard time. I really do hope everything turns out okay man.
My experiences with the tow.companies up there are to charge 500-1500to winch a bike up, screw whats in the road. As long as they can rape the riders they are fine. Hence ive never used ANY of their services and never will.
I'm the Corvette driver from the Triuph/Vette accident earlier that day. I witnessed the oil spill cleanup after the motorcycle was put onto the wrecker truck. Lots of talk about the fluid spill causing the later, much more serious accident in the same spot. I'm gonna post what I saw of the cleanup process in a separate post.
McDonalds and other companies do occassionally hire costumed characters to get your attention which takes away from your concentration on the road. Same thing.
I'm NolaVette from New Orleans (Gretna) Louisiana. I'm the guy driving the red Vette that collided with the Triumph cruiser on Tuesday the 16th at about noon. I heard about the discussions on this forum concerning the accident your friend, Jeff Had in the same spot as my incident. First of all I hope he's eventually OK.
This is chain of events immediately after the collision between me (Corvette) and Ron (Triumph cruiser). The photographer who shot the photos asked a passing motorist to call the troopers and also wreckers for the vehicles. There is no cell phone service up on the mountain. About an hour later the trooper arrived and began his investigation. He listened to our verbal accounts and also looked at the same photos you've all seen. A single wrecker arrived from Blount Wrecker Services to retrieve the motorcycle only, which meant there was no wrecker for my Vette. Trooper called on his radio to have another one sent up from a different company. Once the 2 guys from Blount had the motorcycle tied down on their truck they proceeded to clean up the oil spill. They used a shovel to dig dirt from the roadcut to spread onto the oil on the road. They took a fairly long time to do this whil I waited for my wrecker to arrive. After about 10-15 minutes working the dirt into the oils pill the trooper walked over to them and talked with thema bit and then they wrapped up the cleaning and left the scene. I did not see them use anything other than dirt and I have no idea if this is standard procedure. Before the first truck arrived I was very worried about motorcycles driving over that oil spot and we were trying to get them to slow down as they passed over it because I knew it had to very slippery. I wanted let everyone know what I saw and also to let everyone know that the wrecker service that picked up my Vette had not even arrived until after the oil cleaning process had taken place and the trooper spoke with the Blount truck crew. I don't even want to name the Wrecker service that picked up my car to avoid any confusion which happens easily on these forums. I hope that helps. I had a couple of feet to spare on the right side. I was watching him the whole time wondering when he was gonna finally whip the damn thing back onto his side of the road. Then the airbag popped me in the face.
Your account of the clean up process is typical. I don't like to wear tinfoil hats, but I wouldn't put it past Butler's (I am aware they weren't the crew in this instance) to do a half assed job and if, by accident, some more business is drummed up, win. A killboy tip: using the shale stones that are common along the highway up there to write "OIL" in the road as a warning is an effective measure. It washes away once it rains....along with the oil. Thanks for the 1st hand account. It's cool to hear from someone who was involved.
You can see the point when the rider target fixates, he stands the bike straight up and gives up trying to avoid the crash. Even though he runs wide at first, he still has it leaned over trying to bring it back into his lane. Once he sees the 'vette, the bike stands straight up. That's a natural response to a panic situation that you have to learn to break. I've done it myself, and it is hard to change.
I cleaned up all the pieces from the Triumph/Vette wreck and hauled them out on Thursday. So the debris is now removed. There is gray sand embedded into the trees that Jeff hit so I assumed that they put down EZ Dry (cat litter). It must be just grinded pavement then.
And no, dirt is not the standard for cleaning any fluids from a vehicle. We were always required (if on 180 rotation) to carry absorbent (kitty litter) on our rigs for accident response. It's sad to hear they used dirt.
How many wrecks occur in non-photographer-set-up corners? What's the ratio? I'm not up there a huge amount, by any means, but of the five or six accidents that have happened while I've been up there haven't been in any of the photog corners... (that number doesn't included slayin'er down in the parking lot trying to pull out either) Beyond that... if the photos hadn't been posted of the first wreck, would this thread even exist? or would there only be a "Get Well Soon, Jeff" thread that would have a mention of a previous wreck in the same corner, earlier in the day. I'd say this particular incident is getting sensationalized. But that's just me...
Yes, some people do tend to show off for the camera and that gets them in trouble, but there is also another side to this. When I first started riding the Gap I always rode much more careful in front of the photographers because I did not want to appear on the interwebs as an example of a Ohio clown. So by that token it is also possible that they have reduced accidents.
I have a tidbit to add here, as a friend of mine was in the Deals Gap area at the time of this incident ... and recognized the bike in the Vette collision as one that he and a few others had helped pick out of a ditch on NC 28 earlier on the SAME DAY! In doing so, he obviously had an opportunity to speak with the rider. Three weeks of riding experience. THREE WEEKS. Deals Gap is not the place to learn how to ride ... particularly on a bike that is probably a bit on the heavy and cumbersome side.
PJFZ1 WINS THE PRIZE: "I'd bet that the Rider in the pic sequence that started this thread was missing at least one of the needed skills, and most likely more of them.. I wonder if he knew how to brake while leaned over and tightening his line? Did he have any idea of how much traction was available? If he ever practiced countersteering to snap the bike around a hazard?"
I think this is one of the more interesting threads in recent ETR history. There is nothing wrong with a spirited debate. Lots of great points to consider and draw your own conclusions (and perhaps help someone avoid/prevent future trouble).
Used2befast photo by The Dragonater
Looks like that sportbiker's camera caused that crash, since it was visible in the slayerhater's mirror.
Full 1-hour exclusive interview by The Dragonater on Pirate News TV plus Rep Goode's campaign stop in Blountville Tennessee, home of the Bristol NASCAR race, discussing Operation Northwoods:
Listen to the interview of Rep Virgil Goode on the Pirate News Radio Show broadcast by WBCR 1470 in October 2012:
Constitution Party nominee for president, Congressman Virgil Goode, spoke at the Blountville TN courthouse, that was previously bombed and burned down (along with the entire town) by the Federal govt in the Battle of Blountville. His platform requires elimination of the IRS, elimination of the income tax, and elimination of the private foreign "Federal" Reserve Bank that counterfeits all so-called "dollar bills" out of thin air then loans them at interest to the fed govt, then steals 100% of fed income tax to pay back the $1-billion/day interest. Goode was not so happy when asked about Operation Northwoods, which he said he'd "never heard of" as a Congressman from 1997 -2009. Obama ordered Homeland Security to buy 1.5-billion hollow-point bullets that cannot be uesed for war, hunting or target practice...
The Battle of Athens Tennessee in 1946 - Actually the voter shot was only trying to vote and did not have a gun, and he was a BLACK veteran (psyop alert!). Malingering Sheriff Cantrell snuck out of the jail in an ambulance using a false identity, never to be seen again.
"America's top military leaders drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for war. Code named Operation NORTHWOODS, the plans included assassination, sinking boats on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities. The plans were developed as ways to trick the American public and the international community into supporting a war."
—David Ruppe, ABC News, Friendly Fire - U.S. Military Drafted Plans to Terrorize U.S. Cities to Provoke War With Cuba, May 1, 2001
"We could blow up a drone (unmannded) vessel anywhere in the Cuban waters. The presense of Cuban planes or ships merely investigating the intent of the vessel could be fairly compelling evidence that the ship was taken under attack. The US could follow with an air/sea rescue operation covered by US fighters to "evacuate" remaining members of the non-existant crew. Casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation. We could develop a Communist Cuba terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Flordia cities and even in Washington. The terror campaign could be pointed at Cuban refugees seeking haven in the United States. Use of MIG-type aircraft by US pilots could provide additional provocation. Harassment of civil air, attacks on surface shipping, and destruction of US military drone aircraft by MIG type palnes would be useful. An F-86 properly painted would convince air passengers that they saw a Cuban MIG, especially if the pilot of the transport were to announce that fact. Hijacking attampts against US civil air and surface craft should be encouraged. It is possible to create an incident which would demonstrate convincingly that a Cuban aircraft has attacked and shot down a chartered civilian airliner from the United States. An aircraft at Eglin AFB would be painted and numbered as an exact duplicate for a civil registered aircraft belonging to a CIA proprietary organization in the Miami area. At a designated time the duplicate would be subsituted for the actual civil aircraft and the passengers, all boarded under carefully prepared aliases. The actual registered aircraft would be converted to a drone. Take off times of the drone aircraft and the actual aircraft will be scheduled to allow a rondevous. From the rondevous point the passenger-carrying aircraft will descend to minimum altitude and go directly to an auxiliary airfield at Eglin AFB where arrangements will have been made to evacuate the passengers and return the aircraft to its original status. Meanwhile the drone aircraft will continue to fly the filed flight plan. The drone will be transmitting on the international distress frequency "MAY DAY" message stating it is under attack by Cuban MIG aircraft. The transmission will be interrupted by the destruction of aircraft which will be triggered by radio signal. This will allow IACO radio stations to tell the US what has happened to the aircraft instead of the US trying to "sell" the incident. It is possible to create an incident that will make it appear that Communist Cuban MIGs have destroyed a USAF aircraft over international waters in an unprovoked attack. On one such flight, a pre-briefed pilot would fly Tail-end Charlie. While near the Cuban island this pilot would broadcast that he had been jumped by MIGs and was going down. This pilot would then fly at extremely low altitude and land at a secure base, an Eglin auxiliary. The aircraft would be met by the proper people, quickly stored and given a new tail number. The pilot who performed the mission under an alias would resume his proper identity. The pilot and aircraft would then have disappeared. A submarine or small craft would distribute F-101 parts, parachute, etc. The pilots retuning to Homestead would have a true story as far as they knew. Search ships and aircraft could be dispatched and parts of aircraft found."
—Jewish Zionist General Lyman Lemnitzer, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff at Pentagon, Memo to Secretary of War Robert McNamara - Subject: Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba - Operation NORTHWOODS, March 13, 1962 (declassifed 2000, now a public record at US National Security Archives at George Washington University in Washington DC)
VIDEO DOWNLOAD: Jewish Fox TV's Lone Gunmen pilot episode - Broadcast in March 2001, re Jewish General LL Limnitzer's Operation Northwoods plot by Pentagon, CIA and Jewish Ike/LBJ White House to hijack a US airliner by remote control and crash it into the Jewish Rockefeller's World Trade Center, declassified in 2000
Keywords: Lori Cannon, Leighann Word, Knoxville Zombie Walk, Walk with a Zombie, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Walking Dead, Undead, naked zombies, nude zombie strippers, gatlingburg, deals gap, dragon, us129, halloween, fright night, fearfest,
Photo by MARK A. LARGE. Rural/Metro ambulance service personnel, Blount County firefighters and Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies hoist a motorcyclist up an embankment Friday morning following a crash on “The Dragon.” The man, a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, was pronounced dead on arrival at University of Tennessee Medical Center. ETR Police State forum is so dead there's no comment on this sudden death.
MARYVILLE, TENN. -- Officials worked two accidents on Calderwood Highway Friday, one of which occurred on the section known as “The Dragon” and resulted in the death of a North Carolina man.
Sean R. McMillin, 24, of Cherry Point, N.C., was pronounced dead on arrival at University of Tennessee Medical Center after a motorcycle wreck near Mile Marker 7 on “The Dragon.” McMillin was a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was stationed in North Carolina.
McMillin was traveling south on The Dragon when he lost control of his 2005 KTM 525 motorcycle in a curve and went off an embankment at around 11:45 a.m., according to a Blount County Sheriff’s Office report.
McMillin fell about 75 feet down the embankment. The Blount County Fire Department ropes team carried McMillin up the embankment. He was taken via Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to UT Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the report states.
It was the 15th traffic fatality in Blount County this year. The Sheriff’s Office Traffic Safety Unit worked the accident.
Four-hour rescue time kills bikers on the Dragon:
Two-vehicle wreck
Blount County deputies also responded to a two-vehicle accident on Calderwood Highway at around 3:45 p.m. Friday. Margaret Williams, 64, of Stable Crossing, Maryville, was traveling south on Calderwood Highway near Baumgardner Road when her Ford Taurus crossed the double yellow line and struck a pickup truck driven by Judson Pinkerton Jr., 29, of U.S. 411 South in Maryville.
Pinkerton’s truck flipped onto its top and skidded about 100 feet. Both drivers were trapped inside their vehicles and had to be extricated by Blount County firefighters.
Williams and Pinkerton were both taken via Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to UT Medical Center. Hospital staff said they did not have Williams listed as a patient. Pinkerton was still being treated in the emergency room Friday night and his condition was not immediately known.
Williams was wearing a seat belt and air bags deployed in her vehicle, the report states. Pinkerton was not wearing a seat belt, according to the report.
There were no passengers in either vehicle and no citations have yet been issued in connection with the crash, police said.
Photo by SCOTT KELLER. Family and friends of Dwight Woodard, killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer last August on the Dragon, have mounted a campaign to ban trucks longer than 30 feet from traveling this section of U.S. Highway 129. A request on this cross, placed in Woodard’s memory near the crash site on the Tail of the Dragon, requests support for that campaign.
MARYVILLE, TENN. -- The past year hasn’t been easy on Pat Thompson. It didn’t get any easier in August, a year after her son, Dwight Woodard, was killed in a traffic accident on “The Dragon.”
The state had presented a charge of vehicular homicide to a Blount County grand jury against the driver of the tractor-trailer that struck Woodard as he was riding his motorcycle Aug. 3, 2011.
On Aug. 5, 2012, the grand jury returned a “No Bill” against the driver, Bobby Frank Coleman, and the charge was dismissed. “I was not happy about it and am still not happy about it,” Thompson, a Wartrace resident, said.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol report, Coleman was coming around a curve and was in Woodard’s lane when the accident happened. Woodard died while en route to the hospital.
While Thompson didn’t agree with the grand jury’s findings, she said she’s focusing on trying to make roads like the Dragon a safer place for riders and drivers alike.
No traffic ticket nor arrest for trucker who murdered Ike Woodard, despite ban on all trucks on US129 at Deals Gap in NC
A safer dragon
Something she and her son, Kevin Woodard, who is a truck driver for Nabisco, have already done is attempt to persuade the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to ban tractor-trailers longer than 30 feet length from using the Dragon. Citing a detrimental economic impact on commerce if a ban was placed, TDOT Commissioner John Schroer said in a letter to U.S. Rep. John Duncan Jr. dated Oct. 19 that the department would not do so.
Thompson said she plans to continue to push for Tennessee to place signs warning truck drivers that using the roadway could be dangerous. She said North Carolina already has signs up warning trucks of the dangerous curves and hopes Tennessee will follow.
Thompson said she’d also like for map makers such as Atlas to mark these roadways to warn truck drivers that roads like the Dragon are especially dangerous for tractor-trailer usage.
Thompson said if the highway was deemed a historic route, that trucks could be banned. She explained that she recently learned it was used heavily by Native Americans for trading purposes and that a historic designation might lead to a tractor-trailer ban.
“That’s what we’re hoping we can do,” Thompson said. “There’s several historic roads in Tennessee that trucks aren’t allowed to be on.”
Suit still pending
An engineering forensics group out of Knoxville that Thompson hired recently completed a reconstruction of the crash that killed her son. She said its findings in the crash closely mirrored that of state investigators, but was more detailed and showed proof that Coleman was taking up both lanes of travel. She has asked Blount County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Desmond to present it as new evidence in another grand jury indictment against Coleman. Yet since its findings essentially paralleled that of state investigators, she was told it likely could not be used, but has not yet heard back on a final decision.
Thompson has also spent the last year preparing for a lawsuit she and other family members of Dwight Woodard, including two daughters he left behind, have filed against Coleman and his employer, the Blackshear, Ga.-based Thom’s Transport Company, Inc. She said a hearing has been scheduled for April.
One aspect of comfort for Thompson during the last year has been two witnesses at the scene of her son’s crash that provided police with their account of what happened — specifically, that Coleman was taking up both lanes of the roadway.
“We all feel God sent them as Dwight’s Guardian Angels,” Thompson wrote in a letter to the Daily Times. “They talked with Dwight and comforted him until the ambulance arrived ... I feel we would have never known what really happened to Dwight and the truck had they not been there at the time of the accident.”
While her son can’t be brought back, Thompson said she hopes a similar tragedy can be avoided in the future.
“There’s a huge importance there (roadway safety),” she said. “We just can’t figure out what we need to do to get it done.”
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MARYVILLE, TENN. -- Ronnie Summey is disappointed in the Blount County judicial system.
After learning Sept. 10 that a Blount County grand jury had cleared a father and son who allegedly shot him in a hunting accident on Dec. 3 last year by returning two no bills, Summey was speechless.
Donnie Ray Radford, 60, Allegheny Loop Road, Maryville, and his son, Derek Ray Radford, 33, Old Railroad Bed Road, Maryville, were charged with reckless endangerment on Dec. 12 last year after the accident.
Arrest warrants said the Radfords shot at a black bear that was treed by dogs during a bear hunt near Calderwood Reservoir. Calderwood Highway was directly behind the tree that the bear was in. Summey and other hunters were standing along the highway.
Summey, 59, a former Maryville High School track coach and former Sequoyah High School head football coach, was reportedly hit in the groin area by one of the slugs from either Donnie Redford’s 12-gauge shotgun or Derek Radford’s .44-caliber Magnum rifle, which were fired toward the highway, according to the warrants.
Law enforcement located shell casings believed to be from the shotgun and rifle in the area.
The reckless endangerment charges were “an E felony that can result in prison time of one to two years,” according to the Blount County District Attorney’s office.
“Basically, I’m very, very frustrated,” Summey said during a recent interview with The Daily Times, expressing his displeasure with the grand jury results.
“I was bear hunting on Dec. 3 on a Saturday morning and a friend brought me back in my truck. We were out there on ‘the Dragon’ around the curve and there’s some commotion going on like it was in a car wreck. We stopped and we were standing in the road and were there for about 10-15 minutes, and these people were shooting at a bear, and the next thing I realized, I was shot in the groin area.
“My friend got me off the mountain to a country store, and the ambulance took me to the UT Medical Center,” he said.
Didn’t want plea
Summey said he was in the hospital for a few days and needed surgery and was recuperating. The first hearing was held on Jan. 27 in Blount County General Sessions Court in front of Judge Michael Gallegos, with the charges being addressed and another hearing scheduled for the Radfords to appoint attorneys.
Another hearing was held on April 13, where Summey retained Blount County Assistant District Attorney Shari Tayloe.
“I was the victim,” Summey said. “I wanted to pursue this in the courts. After they retained counsel, and after two to three hearings, Judge Gallegos heard these cases and the debate. The defense lawyers wanted to go through the TBI and see if they were eligible for judicial diversion. Their lawyers came to her and wanted to make a plea. The plea was put on the table, and they agreed to one year of revocation of their hunting license, and they agreed to pay out-of-pocket medical expenses at $3,000, and it could be more than that.
“I didn’t want the plea because I kept coming back saying I was the victim, and I didn’t want these characters spanked on the hand,” Summey continued. “So, they offered the plea, and I was encouraged to take it and refused. I stood by my position.”
Summey said that he told Blount County District Attorney Mike Flynn that he wanted to pursue the matter in court.
Roll of the dice
“I want these guys to pay for what they did and their reckless behavior,” he said. “(Flynn and Tayloe) did advise me about the possible scenarios if I didn’t accept the plea deal. They explained to me it’s a roll of the dice.
“I had the mind-set that was I wanted these people to pay. I was willing to put my faith in the Blount County judicial system and the grand jury. Apparently my decision to pursue this through the judicial system and the grand jury was a grave mistake.”
Summey explained that during the grand jury’s decision on Sept. 10, most of the evidence was presented by Clint Smith, an officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). Smith declined to comment on the case when contacted by The Daily Times.
“Common sense tells me coming off a plea deal that they were willing to step up to the plate and take responsibility, and admit guilt for their carelessness,” Summey said. “But apparently the grand jury said, ‘No, you guys just live your lives and we’ll just move on to the next case.’
“This ruling, in my opinion, sends a terrible message to the agents of the TWRA, as well as law enforcement,” Summey continued. “These people give hunters a bad name and put them in a false light. At this point in time, I will absorb my out-of-pocket money and deal with the long-term effects of this injury, while these two individuals are free to hunt and go about their daily lives with absolutely no punishment from the Blount County judicial system.”
May file suit
Summey said he is heavily leaning toward filing a civil suit.
“Only time will tell,” he said. “This thought came to my mind. If there was a VIP that suffered the same kind of injury that I did, would the grand jury have come up with the same ruling? I think not.
“For those people who might say, wrong place wrong time, I would ask for them to look at it from my point of view. There are people who couldn’t care less about what happened, but if they were in my shoes they would have similar feelings like I do. I want these guys to be held accountable.”
Flynn said Wednesday that he has had discussions with Summey to get a better understanding of why the grand jury made its decision.
“He didn’t understand what a grand jury does,” Flynn said. “The officer presents testimony, and the defendants and the attorney weren’t there and judge wasn’t there. The officer presented the evidence, answered questions and the grand jury deliberates and votes. They are not allowed to tell, but it takes 12 votes to return an indictment, and apparently there weren’t 12 votes.
“My guess would be legally the Radfords were charged with reckless endangerment, but if they acted recklessly, it was a question of whether they were reckless or negligent,” Flynn continued. “If they were negligent, it’s not a criminal case. The grand jury would have to find they acted recklessly. They obviously didn’t.”
Several phone calls to the Radfords for comment went unreturned. In the meantime, Summey said as the result of his injuries he has some disability, but it hasn’t halted him in his everyday life.
“I am walking and I am hunting again,” he said. “There could be some long-term damage, I don’t know. But the bottom line is there’s no accountability. I have a major problem with that and I am disappointed in the judicial system.”
A Tennessee police officer has been charged with vehicular homicide for allegedly killing a motorcyclist by running him off the road with his patrol car. The police car reportedly swerved into the path of the approaching motorcycle. If convicted, the officer could face three-to-six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
September 3, 2001
Rockford, TN - A police officer in Tennessee has been charged with vehicular homicide for allegedly killing a motorcyclist by running him off the road with his patrol car, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.
A grand jury in Blount County, Tennessee, on August 29, 2001 indicted Rockford Police Sgt. James Ray Johnson on the criminal charge. If convicted, the officer could face three-to-six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Johnson is free on a $25,000 bond pending a September 10 court appearance when a trial date will be set.
On March 10, Johnson was patrolling old Knoxville Highway in the Rockford area just south of Knoxville when he got a report from a Blount County deputy sheriff that a speeding motorcyclist was coming up behind him. Johnson told investigators he turned on his emergency lights when he saw the motorcycle approaching, hoping to get the rider to slow down. Instead, Johnson said, the rider lost control of his machine, hit a guard rail and then slid into the police cruiser.
The motorcyclist, Philip Laton, 27, a father of three and a corrections officer at the Juvenile Detention Center in Knoxville, was killed instantly.
Later, a witness came forward to say that the police car had swerved into the path of the approaching motorcycle, killing Laton. The investigation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol included a review of videotape from a camera mounted on Johnson's cruiser, which, investigators said, confirmed the witness' account.
Johnson has been on paid administrative leave since the crash. Meanwhile, a $3 million wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Blount County Sheriff's Department and the Rockford Police Department.
See also:
"The Knoxville News Sentinel reported March 14th that Rockford Tennessee police officer Sgt. James R. Johnson has been suspended indefinitely with pay following an incident which claimed the life of a 27 year old motorcyclist identified as Phillip Layton [who was a police officer riding his sportbike to work at the Juvenile Jail in Knoxville]. The initial investigation into the accident by Tennessee State Trooper Ron McDonald reported that Layton struck the rear of Johnson's patrol car. Later however, witnesses reported that it appeared the police cruiser swerved into the motorcycle which sent it into the guardrail. Trooper McDonald said in a press release that 'after reviewing police video from the Rockford car, it appears the witnesses' account is true.' McDonald has since turned over the investigation to the Highway Patrol's Criminal Investigation Division and the Blount County District Attorney General. According to the News-Sentinel, a source close to the investigation and who has seen the police video says that Johnson received a radio call from a Blount Co. Deputy who told him that a motorcycle was approaching him at a high rate of speed. Johnson had just finished a traffic stop and turned off his blue lights which turned off his video camera. When the motorcyclist appeared, Johnson turned on his blue lights thereby reactivating the camera. As the motorcyclist approached the cruiser and attempted to pass in the left lane, Johnson allegedly moved his cruiser into the left lane. Moments later the tape shows the motorcycle going down the highway without the operator. Johnson first reported that the bike struck the rear of his patrol car, later when investigators arrived, Johnson said the motorcycle hit the guardrail and bounced into the side of his car. The officer had 2 prior suspensions and one involved failing to notify his superior officer that he was involved in a high speed chase. Family members of the victim have filed a $3 million dollar wrongful death suit. Rockford City attorney David Black refused to comment on the suit because the investigation by the Tennessee State Patrol is still incomplete. Black called the incident 'tragic' and confirmed that there is a grand jury investigation currently underway. Sgt. Johnson is a former deputy with the Blount County Sheriff's department. Blount County is home to at least part of the famous run known as 'The Dragon.' Deals Gap is known to motorcycle enthusiasts the world over as a thrilling road to ride. Many sportbike riders use the twisting, turning road to test the limits of their machines as well as their nerve and abilities. As a Blount County Deputy, Sgt. Johnson routinely patrolled this stretch of highway. A source who refused to be identified told Dixie Rider that Johnson may have had a grudge against motorcyclists after an incident in which he chased one particular rider down The Gap and was unable to catch him. Another deputy was waiting at the bottom of The Gap and stopped the individual. The source goes on to say that the motorcycle operator was a doctor ['Doc'] who had received an emergency page and was en-route to the hospital. After confirming the doctor's excuse, Johnson was forced to release him and this is the basis for the grudge. However, this incident could not be confirmed. Several motorcycle rights organizations, such as ABATE and the AMA (American Motorcyclist Assoc.) are conducting independent investigations into this incident."
—DixieRider.com, "Police Officer Kills Motorcyclist While Attempting Traffic Stop," May 2001 [The doctor - Doc Wooten - was later RADARed at an alleged 172mph, was arrested by Blount County Sheriff's deputies, and then tortured in the back seat of the patrol car - by leaving his full leathers on, turning the heater on high, and rolling up the windows on a hot sunny summer day. This might have murdered him by stroke or heart attack. The doctor was also responding to a page for surgery in the Emergency Room of Blount Memorial Hospital. It is not known if that was the same police officer who murdered police officer Micky Laton.]
"A Rockford police officer has been charged with a vehicular homicide in the death of a Knoxville [police officer] killed in a motorcycle crash on March 10, 2001. The charge against Sgt. James Ray 'J.R.' Johnson, 33, of Maryville, came in an indictment returned Aug. 28 by a Blount County Grand Jury sitting in special session. Laton was employed as a Corrections Officer at the Knox County Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Knoxville. Laton was divorced, but he had full custody of his three minor children. Soon after being notified of the indictment and the warrant for his arrest, Johnson surrendered to authorities at the Blount County Justice Center. Escorted by fellow Rockford police officer Bill Allen, Johnson entered the Justice Center through the sally port where people in custody are turned over to corrections officers. The accident report made at the scene by Tennessee Highway Patrol Officer Ronald McDonald, stated that Laton lost control of his 1997 Honda CR900 as he tried to pass Johnson's cruiser, hit the guardrail and skidded into Johnson's patrol car. McDonald said that two witnesses came forward two days after the accident and said Johnson swerxred his cruiser into tile path of the motorcycle, sending it careening into tile guardrail. Thc witnesses are reportedly Tennessee state highway troopers. Since the accident, Johnson's friends claim he has been labeled as a 'motorcyclist hater,' although Johnson owns a motorcycle and has ridden for over a decade. In addition to the criminal charges, he is named as a defendant in a $3 million lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by Laton's ex-wife on behalf of her three minor children, ages 7, 8 and 9. Named in the same lawsuit are Rockford Police Chief Robert Simerly, City of Rockford, Blount County Sheriff James L. Berrong and Blount County. Johnson was released after posting a $25,000 surety bond. He awaits a 9 a.m., Sept. 10 appearance in Blount County Circuit Court."
—Teresa Helton-Garrett, Knoxville Journal, "Rockford police officer charged with vehicular homicide," September 6, 2001 [Note: the Rockford Police Department was terminated as a result of this homicide]
Her tank is now full
