DramatistDreamer

Thanks @Nothin'ButAttitude ! I'll take a look at this tonight

Speaking of Ed Bauer, so Michelle was his biological daughter with Claire? What happened to Claire? I don't recall them bringing her back for Michelle when Maureen died and I'm surprised at this. Did GL kill Claire off or something?

Kate McKinnon is quickly overtaking Amy Poehler as doing the best Hillary impersonations, that was so . Larry David did a funny skit about Bernie where he talks about the similarities between Bernie and Millenials- both have huge plans but neither have an idea of how to get them accomplished. I wish I could find the clip because it was so funny!

I'm reviving this thread because TV One is finally beginning to upload Unsung episodes to their website again. I've already missed the Sugarhill Gang, Patrice Rushen and Donell Jones episodes. I don't mind Donell Jones so much and the Sugarhill Gang has been part of hip hop retropectives on VH1 and the like but I know virtually nothing of Patrice Rushen outside of her music. I'm hoping that the webmaster will at least upload that episode retroactively.

"Strong but flawed..." Wow, Shonda should be HRC's new speechwriter, that was compelling as all get out! It's so ironic that people flock to these characters on TV but a real life woman in charge is almost not allowed to have any visible flaws at all.

And you are so bored you'd rather be anywhere else…LOL Yes! Well, I was watching the tennis online during the debate breaks wondering when the debate would be over.

...and like those professors who use the same lesson plan for twenty years running? Does anyone know how many of these debates are left? I feel like everything's been said several times by now.

Gotta keep a sense of humor (even Sharapova cracked a mini-joke durin her Press Conference), so I thought I'd post this. Kind of cheeky but you can't help but giggle when you read this http://tenngrand.com/2016/03/09/facebook-chat-the-tennis-world-reacts-to-sharapova-announcement/

Honestly, I often take polling with a grain of salt. I watched the Democratic debate on Sunday and came away convinced that it would be very close between Hillary and Bernie, with Sanders having a slight edge. If you think about what was happening in Michigan, people are consumed with the water crisis and Bernie's message is perceived to speak to their issue (dissatisfaction with government) at this time, while Clinton's somewhat more optimistic view (how the economy has come along since BHO came into office) may not have been in the front of many voters' minds. I don't know what to take from this tweet but maybe this may have factored into things?

It was on WADA's Watch List but I'm not sure for how long. It much mainly some Russian athletes taking it, but as the numbers started grow, it started to gain notice. The former Russian male figure skater, Yevgeny Plushenko said that Russian athletes were popping meldonium like they were Vitamin C tablets. Morality aside, what strikes me as scary about this drug that the even the Latvian manufactures claim that the drug was only supposed to be taken for 4-6 weeks! I'd be worried about what long term effects this drug could have on my body.

I don't have a subscription to The Times of London newspaper so I couldn't read the full article but from what I did read, Sharapova was warned "no less than 5 times that the drug she was taking was to be added to the banned list".

Yeah, because it was illegal. To me, what a person does within the legal limits of the league is fair game. If other players, or analysts think it's wrong for players to do things/use things to help then heal or win, I would just give a big middle finger to them. If it's legal, do it. How many "illegal" wins did Maria have? Less than 10 maybe? That not big of a deal (to me). I think she should give all her winnings in 2016 back - maybe spread out the money to the opponents she beat. Actually, at the time of injection, it wasn't: http://espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=4383289 It just strikes me as idiotic that someone would use a drug that most self respecting doctors wouldn't prescribe and is only made in one Eastern European country but then again, but you're right, she had the right until it officially went on the banned list to ingest this drug. Hopefully, 20 years down the line she won't end up like those East German woman but that's her right too. But seriously, WADA sends you a letter with a link to the banned substances list, you're taking a shady drug made in only one country, click the damn link.

Oh I suspect WADA will be looking into Djokovic's hyperbaric chamber (or whatever that oxygen egg he uses) sometime in the near future (LOL). Yes, players do use things to heal faster and they've also faced penalties for doing so. I remember Tamira Paszek got an injection of her own stem cells to help her heal and she was penalized for it. And I can only speak for me but I definitely wasn't saying poor Martha, as she needs no sympathy- she may have started at 18 but at 28, she has no one to blame but herself. I think the situation is sad situation for tennis which barely gets ink for the good things about it but obviously gets lots of news coverage for the bad things. As it is, I personally would be concerned about my health having taken a drug for 10 years that 9 out of 10 Doctors claim they would never prescribe to any young woman her age or in their childbearing years. I think the investigation needs to make sure it includes an interview with that Doctor. It's a fact that warnings went out as early as September of 2015 that this was headed to the Banned Substances list and the Russian Sport Federation urged their players to stop taking this drug, even setting up a Recall. Every other Russian athlete knew that this had become a banned substance (even the ones who failed the drugs test) except for Sharapova apparently. A drug you can only get in exactly 1 country (Latvia) that is not approved for sale in the U.S. and many other Western countries. I try not to judge but at the very least, this is a case of gross negligence and disregard for long-term health.

She had at least two shoulder surgeries and neither helped get her back to professional form. She was out quite a bit before she announced her retirement, probably she was trying to rehab the shoulder and ultimately called it quits. This NYT article about Sharapova offers a lot more detail about the situation: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/sports/tennis/maria-sharapova-failed-drug-test.html?smid=tw-share A few Doctors have said they would never prescribe this medication to a young woman of childbearing age. In one interview that I listened to last night, one Doctor said for an irregular EKG, he would've prescribed Fish Oil, so the explanation does not make sense to him. Sponsors are currently deserting Sharapova left and right, I must admit, the situation looks sad.

Yeah, marijuana. Capriati is remembering things the way they never were. When I first discovered these Twitter rants I felt sorry for her but I got a chance to read a few myself and she was espousing some weird and disturbing ideas so I avoid even looking nowadays, I take people's word for it when they claim she's gone off the rails again. One last thing I'll mention and then I'm just going to leave it alone because I'd rather see how this investigation pans out from here on out: A Russian blogger stated that apparently Russian athletes had been warned in October about meldonium and there was a recall across all sports. In the AP article, some Russian ice dancer did claim that she wouldn't knowingly take a supplement with melodronium as she had been warned against taking it by the Russian Sports Federation, so the blogger's statement does make sense.

Wow that was quick! What did she have to say? I didn't read them. Several people told me that she has been ranting on Twiter about how her career was taken for doing far less than some are being accused of now. Then someone told her that the substance was not banned when Sharapova started taking it a decade ago and it recently became and Capriati then proceeded to ask why. Although I heard she proceeded to rant further about her own missed opportunities. She's probably still ranting now.

According to CNBC, Nike has suspended its relationship with Sharapova after her failed drug test. Apparently the drug is not sold in the U.S., Australia and I believe not in Western Europe either (definitely not FDA approved) and is only made in Latvia. It seemed to have been popular with a number of athletes from the former Soviet Union. And per usual, Jennifer Capriati has taken to twitter to rant.

Well, Cilic appealed his and the time was brought down from his original time for suspension. Sharapova has taken the blame publicly and not requested the B sample to be tested so I don't know whether this is an option in her case. I did just read that the ITF starts with 4 years for intentional, 2 years for unintentional, 1 year for "no significant fault" and 0 years for "no fault". The last option is completely out since Sharapova has publicly assumed responsibility. The question is, which of the other 3 options will the ITF apply in her case?

A journalist from the Daily Telegraph tweeted 2 years for unintentional use, 4 years if use was intentional. I'm treating all of this talk as speculation though.

If you're an athlete in the age of WADA, it's your health/life, your name and your career on the line, so you need to make sure that you keep abreast of what's going on, especially if you are on medication. I'm not fully clear on whether this was fully FDA approved either. If the letter was sent out in September of last year, there was warning of a looming ban on the horizon. Someone will have to go back and read the transcript. I thought she said she read a part of it but didn't look too closely at the full list but didn't read the full letter. I don't want to be suspicious but quite a lot of Russian athletes have been failing drugs tests as of late (even though Maria spends most of her time in the U.S.) and at least 3 other Russian athletes have failed tests for this same Meldonium. Weird and confusing.

The ban was announced in September 2015, Sharapova said she didn't read the letter. And three other Russian athletes have also been banned for using the same Meldonium (one just announced earlier today before Maria). Some people within the tennis world are saying they expect a 3-6 month ban, at the least. Just read that Sharapova's lawyer announced that she has been provisionally suspended and she will not be asked for her B sample to be tested.

It has to be. I heard both her parents are there. What else could it be other than retirement. I don't trust ESPN either. Dayum! Failed drug test!

If this wasn't being livestreamed (I work on my laptop), I wouldn't even bother. I admit to still being somewhat curious but I've avoid Social media for most of the day because there is too much speculation and I'm becoming annoyed. The Countdown Clock has me though.

So Chris McKendry of ESPN tweeted that Sharapova's announcement is likely NOT about retirement. Then why have this Press Conference now?

Her management company apparently decided to create a You Tube page with livestreaming of this announcement, complete with Countdown clock! WTF, are you kidding me?