Gossip Folk

Yesterday I heard the news that Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey officially separated. Can't say that I'm all that surprised, based on what we all saw in their 2 seasons of Newlyweds on MTV.

What's interesting to me is that it seemed like the tabloids have been reporting that for months, if not more than a year, about their separation. All along, both sides fiercely denied the stories, from what I can remember. But in the end it looks like they turned out to be 100% right.

I honestly don't follow the "celebrity" gossip as much as some people, so I can't write that much in depth on the subject. But as a general observation, I'm starting to wonder if maybe these entertainment shows and magazines actually do know a lot more than we give them credit for.

Like with the whole Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie love triangle, it started with just rumors that Brad and Angelina had a thing developing on the side. Like Nick and Jessica, they all blew off the stories at the time. But next thing you know, Brad and Jennifer break up. And since then, what do you know, a relationship between Brad and Angelina seems to be revealing itself more as time passes.

Of course, there's the times when it's pretty obvious that the stories are being manufactured or blown out of proportion to attract more attention. When you take a picture of Matt Damon kissing some actress as they're shooting a movie together, and use it to suggest that those two are hooking up, that tends to not be so credible. Or if you run a headline in huge font that asks a question like "Is J-Lo marrying her 90 year old gardener?" and then force readers to turn to page 28 to find out the answer is "No", you can't realistically expect me to fall for that trick more than 8 or 9 times before I get wiser.

I'm just wondering if maybe there's really something to these "experts" and their analysis, like how they read between the lines and break down quotes of what the celebrities say in interviews to figure out what they're really thinking.

Or there's also the more obvious stuff such as a couple not showing up to an event together, not wearing their wedding rings, etc. Although with those kinds of things, I suspect it could all just be games their publicists play to work the media. You gotta think that when the celebrities say or do certain things in public, they must know that it's going to be studied under a microscope by people who do it for a living, so they better be extra careful. Some of the "clues" they drop might be subconscious, but it's hard to tell sometimes.

Then again, maybe these gossip shows are just throwing random crap out there to see what sticks, and when stuff actually comes true, they take credit for it for breaking the news first. When it doesn't, it's easily forgotten.

Maybe I just lack understanding of the industry, like there is some sort of hierarchy of gossip magazines with varying levels of credibility Like I get the sense that US Weekly is one of the most "respected" sources, while other magazines on the same rack may not be as believable.

Now that I think about it, the same stuff happens in the sports world too, except not in the "who's dating who" kind of story. More like who's getting traded, who's getting fired, who wants to move from one team to the next. I've lost count of the number of times a rumor comes out that some coach is about to get canned, followed by the team publicly denying it and giving him a "vote of confidence", then a few days or weeks later they give him the ax anyways.

Or if any of you follow college recruiting, the rumors that fly on the internet seem to come true more often than you would expect, all coming from nameless "sources". One kid will name School #1 as his leader, then all of a sudden another school's name will pop up, followed by his parents and coaches saying "no, the School #1 is still his leader, we still like them the best", but in the end everyone is surprised when he dumps School #1 for School #2.

The whole Larry Brown "saga" of last year might be the best example. All of a sudden he decides to take time off from the Pistons because of health reasons. Meanwhile everyone is speculating that he is unhappy in Detroit, and it's all a ploy to get him released from his contract, so he can take the position as the Knicks' coach, which was his dream job all along. Not saying he completely made up his health problems, but look at where he is now. Coincidence? I think not.

Anyways, what is my point in all this? That we should all run and believe whatever rumors we hear on Access Hollywood or read in US Weekly? Of course not. As much as we as a society need to be grateful to the industry that brought us such brilliant nicknames as "TomKat" or "Brangelina", I don't think it's the greatest idea to take these people's word as gospel.

After all, most of us probably remember the day Princess Di was killed in a car accident as her driver was trying to outrun paparazzi. Don't be fooled by the pretty faces of Maria Menuous or the tower of manhood that is Pat O'Brien. These aren't the most respectable people who are bringing you all those photos and dishy details.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't believe the "celebrities" themselves either (and certainly not their "publicists" of all people). Someone denying a story has almost as little credibility as someone floating a rumor, at least it seems to be the case with these things.

So yeah, don't believe anyone, and you're good.

*****

Eric Gordon Verbals to Illinois

By the way, I can't mention the subject of college recruiting in a blog, without including a note of excitement for the newest future star of Illinois basketball, Mr. Eric Gordon!

As many Illini bball fans know, there hasn't been a whole lot to be happy about as far as recruiting goes in the past few years. In fact there's been a lot of downright terrible moments I could name. Just a few days ago I was reading a feature on Jon Scheyer in my ESPN the Magazine that made me want to puke. Among the highlights, "[Coach K] really gets me. I feel like he has my whole life planned for me", and him talking about facing racism on the court for being white. Poor, poor Jon.

Honestly, I didn't think I would ever see us win a recruit over Duke, and that just makes this news all the more notable. Hopefully this will be a watershed of more to come, but that remains to be seen.

Of course, as I've said before, recruiting and high rankings aren't everything. It's definitely nice to get guys who stay 3 and 4 years to watch them develop, instead of players who play one year and then declare for the NBA. But from everything I've heard about this kid, it sounds like he's going to be a great player, with a great background and attitude. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing him in that orange jersey in 2007 and beyond. Assuming nothing big happens before then, of course. After all, we did witness the Bill Self/Villenueva debacle only a few years back. But I'll not ruin this fine moment with talk of those things right now.