The Daily Roundup for June 20

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Matt Kemp Covers ESPN Magazine

Matt Kemp covers the latest issue of ESPN Magazine. THIS WAS HOW easy Kemp had it: Baseball wasn't even his first choice.

Growing up just outside Oklahoma City, Kemp was a sophomore when his high school basketball team, the Midwest City Bombers, won a state title, led by Shelden Williams, the future Duke star and NBA veteran. By his senior year, Kemp was an Oklahoman All-City selection, averaging 20 points a game. He got some offers to play in college as a guard, but at 6'3" and not getting any taller, he realized his best shot at going pro would be on the diamond. He spent his senior year playing hardball year-round, the first time he'd done that, and scouts began turning up at his games. Kemp, a baseball player but not a baseball guy, assumed they were college scouts. "I had no idea you could get drafted out of high school," he says with a laugh.

He knows he will lift that trophy before his career is over.
The Dodgers liked his body: quick, strong hands that could catch up to any major league fastball and flick it over the fence, a cannon for an arm and those long, powerful legs that made him look like he could fly. The game could be learned; those tools could not. Despite the fact that he'd been playing baseball year-round for only a season, LA took him in the sixth round of the 2003 draft and offered him $130,000. That was more money than he'd ever seen. Though Kemp's father had been in his life, he was raised by his mother, Judy Henderson, a registered nurse. "We definitely weren't poor growing up, but we weren't rich," Kemp says. The bond they shared only strengthened when Kemp was 13. Judy had given birth to a second son, Tyler, who was born premature, weighing 1 pound and 1 ounce and without a set of fully developed lungs. But Tyler fought on well past any doctor's expectations. 

On the days that Judy would leave at dawn to be by Tyler's side at the hospital and not come home until after dark, Kemp got himself to school, did the cooking and finished his homework alone. When Henderson needed a soft word, Kemp was there. "If it wasn't for him, I don't know if I could have made it," she says. Tyler died shortly after his first birthday, but Kemp considered his brother the strongest person he'd ever known.

As a pro he excelled immediately, hitting 18 home runs in A-ball at age 19 and smacking 27 homers and stealing 23 bases the following season. Catcher Russell Martin spent some time with Kemp in the minors. Those were fun days, Kemp at one point cramming as many as five teammates in a three-bedroom house by partitioning off parts of the living room. Martin says Kemp was the self-conscious one, always dressing fashionably but quick to withdraw and fall silent when criticized. Martin remembers Kemp being so green he would be thrown out on the base paths standing up, but he was also the best player among them. "You just knew he could be a superstar," Martin says.

In 2006, just four years after he started taking baseball seriously, the Dodgers called up the 21-year-old Kemp. His first game was at RFK Stadium the afternoon before Memorial Day. "I'd never been in an outfield that big," Kemp says.

That year was Ned Colletti's first as Dodgers general manager. "When I got here, I saw a guy with more talent than most, who had probably played less baseball than most," says Colletti. "That can be a tough combination because you have great expectation, but you can't microwave experience."

The following year, Kemp hit .342 in 98 games. And in 2009 he hit .297 with 26 home runs and 34 stolen bases and led all major league centerfielders with an .842 OPS. He took home the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and helped the Dodgers to the NLCS for the second year in a row.

But his gaudy numbers did not endear him to Dodgers veterans. In 2007, Jeff Kent chided Kemp and other young players for lacking professionalism and the desire to close out a season as strong as the Dodgers had started it. Dodgers infielder Nomar Garciaparra recalls a time he sat next to Kemp in the dugout and offered some constructive criticism: Kemp had all the tools to be an MVP someday, but he had to care enough to become one. "So many of us saw how special he was," says Garciaparra. "He'd listen, but sometimes he took it the wrong way. He'd take it like he must be doing something wrong, and he'd go into instant defense mode. It was sort of like him against the world." Go HERE for the rest of the interview.

Meagan Good & DeVon Franklin Are OFFICIALLY HITCHED!

Saturday, Meagan Good married producer and preacher DeVon Franklin at a ceremony in Malibu, CA. And a few early pics popped up on Twitter. During an earlier interview, Meagan revealed that the nuptials would have, "a bayou-themed kind of Spanish mosque, a very enchanted-y Twilight feel."

And a few of the couple's friends tweeted congrats to the couple.

Will Packer tweeted,
Congratulations to @meagangood & @DeVon_Franklin two amazing ppl inside & out. Those were the most beautiful vows I've ever heard!

Lyrica Anderson ‏said,
This wedding @MeaganGood and Devon is One of the most Beautiful things I've experienced !! Congrats to a beautiful and blessed Marriage!

Tracey Edmonds ‏said,
Happy Saturday Family! Beautiful day/evening sharing & celebrating love at @MeaganGood & @DeVon_Franklin wedding. Hope u r enjoying 

urs!!!Congratulations, love and blessings to @DeVon_Franklin & @MeaganGood who just JUMPED THE BROOM!!!!!!

Comedian/Actor (Meagan's Jumping The Broom co-star) DeRay Davis tweeted:

Happy For my fam @MeaganGood & @DeVon_Franklin gettin married 2day! My lil grown homies doing the grown thang!

@DeVon_Franklin @MeaganGood your wedding was so beautiful and so filled with love. Wishing u a lifetime of happiness! Xxoo

And because the religious twosome remained celibate throughout their courtship (and wed just 2 months after announcing their engagement), we're sure they had a very long night! And a long morning and even longer afternoon.. Not mad at that. Meagan is officially off the market fellas.

Raffles van Excel Describes Whitney Houston Death Scene

Whitney Houston’s friend is describing in great detail the frantic scene that unfolded minutes after the singer’s death in February.
Raffles van Excel tells Britain’s “Sunday Mirror” he’s still haunted by it and that it still keeps him awake at night.

He says he knew Houston was already dead when he saw her bodyguard, Ray Watson, pumping the singer’s chest.
Van Excel says Houston was naked and lay rigid on the carpet of the Beverly Hilton Hotel suite, adding that water was still pouring out of the bathtub where Houston was discovered unresponsive.
He says he grabbed a towel to cover her up as Watson gave up trying to revive Houston and began crying in his hands.

A coroner’s report later said Houston died of an “accidental drowning” and that heart disease and cocaine use contributed to her passing. Van Excel also told the “Sunday Mirror” that Houston was “good at hiding her drug habit,” saying she had everybody fooled. Looking back, he says he thinks Whitney may have had a premonition about her passing. 

He says she started carrying a Bible around everywhere she went and would read from it all the time, adding that Houston kept talking about “leaving America.” Van Excel says he initially thought she was going to Switzerland. Now, he says he realizes she meant “she was leaving this world.”

Demi Moore Headed Back to Rehab

Demi Moore's daughters are on the verge of staging an intervention for their mother amid fears she's slipped back into drug use.
Demi Moore just finished a stint in rehab earlier this year, but her daughters and friends are on the verge of staging another intervention because she’s “spiraling out of control” again.
Radar Onlinesays:
“Rumer, Scout and Tallulah are so concerned about their mom that they’re considering if they should stage an intervention,” a source close to the girls [revealed].
“They don’t know what to do to help her, and they’re starting to wonder if she needs help again.”
“Demi has been doing things that make them worry that maybe she isn’t staying sober and they’re not happy about her behavior.”
And on top of everything, she’s been neglecting to take her calcium supplements. With an estimated 44 million Americans over the age of 50 already suffering from osteoporosis, low bone density just isn’t a risk Demi needs to be taking right now.

Drake and Crew Refusing to Cooperate

While Chris Brown and his pals have already given statements to investigators regarding his bloody brawl with Drake over Rihanna at W.i.P last week, Drake and company are refusing to comply with police requests for an interview...

Drake's attorney tells the New York Post,
"Why would he turn himself in when he did not commit any wrongdoing?"
Furthermore, members from Drake's posse tell TMZ,
"We're no running-to-the-police ass n**gas."
In the mean time club W.i.P has been shut down for safety violations and an investigation is ongoing.

In a statement to the media New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly insisted arrests would be made if warranted after the investigation was complete.

MEANWHILE…………………..

Meek Mill Speaks Up About Chris Brown/Drake Nightclub Brawl

Rapper Meek Mill recently spoke with XXL about the Chris Brown and Drake nightclub brawl.

Read Meek Mill’s statement below:

“Chris and Drake, them two was there but its other people that be around that take shit to the next level. Things just happen in the club. I seen girls in there throwing bottles, all types of shit. All types of people. I never seen Chris Brown or Drake throw a bottle and I was there.”
When XXL asked Meek if he threw a bottle during the melee, the Philadelphia MC offered two words: “Fuck no.”
“What [Brown] tweeted was just that me and Meek Mill ain’t got no problem. I talked to him immediately after that, on the phone afterwards, like immediately, like, ‘There’s nothing there, this-that-and-the-third.”

“Chris Brown be in clubs. He be around situations like this. Things get out of hand that don’t mean it’s out of hand with me and him or whoever, not even him and Drake.”

So what do you think about it now?

Nicole Scherzinger: Reporting For UK X Factor Duty

She’s always a beautiful sight to behold, Nicole Scherzinger was spotted at the “X Factor” auditions in Newcastle, England.
The former Pussycat Dolls frontwoman winked at the shutterbugs as she greeted fans, all the while looking stunning in a strapless green dress with silver snakeskin heels.

Nicole has been named the new judge on the UK version of the “X Factor” after being booted from the American branch of the talent show.

She tweeted, “I’m so excited to join the UK X Factor family. It’s where I got my start, so it feels great to come full circle. I can’t wait to see what talent the UK has to offer and to help inspire and bring out the best in these artists.”

2012 MuchMusic Video Awards: The Show, The Winners

It was certainly the place to be as the 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards took over the streets of Toronto, Canada in the grandest of fashion.

And, as is the tradition with this gig, there were plenty of famous faces and big performances at the LMFAO co-hosted event making it an extra-memorable evening.
With winners being named in between stage efforts from the likes of Justin Bieber (All Around the World/Boyfriend), Katy Perry (Wide Awake), Kelly Clarkson (Dark Side/Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)) and Nelly Furtado (Big Hoops (Bigger the Better), the grand prize of Video of the Year ended up being doted upon Carly Rae Jepsen - who also topped the Most Streamed Video of the Year and UR Fave: Video categories during her success-laden night.

Leading the field with seven nominations, Marianas Trench ended up garnering two of those with their wins including Pop Video of the Year and Cinematographer of the Year honors while Perry, Bieber and LMFAO were among the other triumphant acts.

Here ARE some of the winners

Video of the Year
Marianas Trench - "Fallout"
WINNER: Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe"

Down With Webster - "She's Dope"
Drake - "Headlines"
Hedley ft. P. Reign - "Invincible"

Post Production of the Year

WINNER: Down With Webster - "Big Wheels"

Marianas Trench - "Fallout"
Shaun Boothe - "Let Me Go"
The New Cities - "Heatwave"
These Kids Wear Crowns - "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

Cinematographer of the Year
City And Colour - "Fragile Bird"
Hedley ft. P. Reign - "Invincible"
Kreesha Turner - "Rock Paper Scissors"
WINNER: Marianas Trench - "Fallout"

Shawn Desman - "Moneyshot"/"Something Stupid"

Director of the Year
Aleesia ft. Big Sean – "Kiss It Bye Bye" Directed by RT!
WINNER: Danny Fernandes ft. Josh Ramsay & Belly – "Hit Me Up" Directed by Marc André Debruyne

Down With Webster – "Royalty" Directed by Chris Wong
Marianas Trench – "Haven't Had Enough" Directed by Kyle Davison
Nelly Furtado – "Big Hoops" Directed by X

Pop Video of the Year
WINNER: Marianas Trench - "Haven't Had Enough"
Anjulie - "Brand New Chick"
Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe"
Hedley ft. P. Reign - "Invincible"
Victoria Duffield - "Shut Up and Dance"

Jeannie Jones Returns to DC Radio

Radio personality Jeannie Jones was spotted at Lux on Saturday
Meow! After months of being off radio airwaves, Jeannie Jones is back on D.C. radio. This time she’s ditched WKYS-FM for WPGC-FM, the station’s direct market competitor.
Michel Wright, WPGC alum, tweeted her congrats saying, “Congrats @jkittyofthecity Always nice to be working doing what we love. A good fit for u @WPGC Wish you’d joined us for BirthdayBash tho.”

DJ Heat, producer for Miss Free in the Morning said, “All radios up!!!! @jkittyofthecity is back on @WPGC !!!! Now til 2pm!!! Meow!!!”
Midday host Sunni tweeted, “Everyone give a warm welcome to @jkittyofthecity back to @WPGC! Heyyy”
There’s no word on when Jeannie‘s regular timeslot will be. just tune in to find out. Welcome back Jeannie! Meow!

Chris Bosh Baby Mama “Allison Mathis” Applies For Food Stamps

Sources are saying that Miami Heat star Chris Bosh’s baby mama, Allison Mathis, has fell upon hard times and had to apply for food stampsin recent days.
Bosh’s former live-in galpal Allison Mathis was laid off from her gig as a secretary in a construction company and is so down on her luck that she was forced to apply for federal food assistance. Mathis may also see her home go into foreclosure because the child support Bosh is paying doesn’t cover her mortgage!
Believe it or not, says Carey, Bosh pays her a mere $2,600-a-month in child support!

According to state guidelines, someone like Bosh whose yearly salary is in the $18 million-range should be paying about $30,000-a-month. So Carey asked a judge to adjust the child support.

Stacy Francis in ATL Club Fight

The infamous Stacy Francis, best known for her messy fight with Whitney Houston over Ray J just days before the pop superstar's death, was spotted throwing hands again at club in Atlanta over the weekend...
According to Straight from the A Stacy got upset after someone tried to take a picture of her 2 year old daughter, who happened to be in the club with Stacey after midnight.
Stacy demanded the picture taker delete the photo and when she refused Stacey swung on her.

Witnesses say Stacy's daughter was left crying and confused as her mother and the picture taker came to blows right there in front of her.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West head out for a romantic dinner in Paris

They're clearly still in the honeymoon stage of their relationship, but there's nothing like a trip to Paris to put a couple in the romantic mood.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were last night seen cuddling up as they enjoyed a meal in the French capital.
Kim, who looked chic in a pair of tight black leather trousers and a black blazer nipped in at the waist, clung to her rapper beau as the pair arrived for some food at the Ferdi restaurant in the French capital.

Kim wore her hair pulled back into a slick high pony tail, and as usual kept the focus of her make-up on her eyes, with smokey shadow and liner.
Meanwhile, Kanye wore a black zipped jacket and jeans as he enjoyed the evening out with his girlfriend.

As well as cuddling up inside the restaurant, the pair were also seen giggling as they shared a joke, looking entirely smitten with each other.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Kim said one of the things that attracted her to him is the fact he is older than her.
'I always dated five years younger. My whole thing was completely different, and now I just love that I'm with someone that's a couple years older than me,’ she explained.
Following their dinner, the pair headed back to their hotel, with Kanye taking the wheel of the $380,000 Lamborghini Kim bought him for his 35th birthday.

The reality star appears to be embracing Paris with open arms - though she has hesitated before enjoying one or two local attractions.
She tweeted a picture of a plate of snails with garlic butter, writing 'To eat or not to eat'?
For Kim - who recently admitted that she is an especially fussy eater, and has all her food delivered in freezer bags - the delicacy must have presented quite the challenge.
The couple have been making the most of their mode of transport - the $380,000 Lamborghini Kim bought Kanye for his birthday

The couple are making every effort to make a pubic show of solidarity, and a source confirms last week: 'Kanye's trying really hard to get Kim's family on side.'
'Kim's mom asked her to keep all her relationships out of the public eye following her disastrous 72-day wedding farce with estranged husband Kris Humphries.'

Bobbi Kristina Won’t Attend Father Bobby Brown’s Wedding

Bobbi Kristina Brown reportedly won’t attend her father Bobby Brown’s wedding this weekend. The singer and his fiancée Alicia Etheridge planned to tie the knot in Hawaii in front of friends and family. However, 19-year-old Bobbi Kristina apparently decided to remain in New York and miss out on the nuptials.

‘Bobbi Kristina wants nothing to do with the wedding and instead opted to stay in New York, where she’s shooting scenes for her upcoming reality show for Lifetime at Midtown restaurant The Hill,’ reports New York Post.

Bobby and Alicia have been engaged since May 2010, when he proposed during a performance in Florida. The couple are parents to two-year-old son, Cassius.

Shaunie Says It Wasn't Me

With rumors swirling that three of the ladies from Basketball Wives would be getting their pink slips [click here if you missed that], insiders claim Shaunie O'Neal found out about the situation online just like everyone else...

According to TMZ Basketball Wives executive producer Shaunie O'Neal has been telling friends that the firings were not made by her and that her production partners Shed Media have been keeping her out of the loop ever since she began speaking out against the direction the show was headed.

Insides claim Shaunie is upset with the decisions being made and is threatening to walk.

AND FINALLY FROM THE PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART FILES
“GO STUPID”

Ahhh okay, now I know why Big Sean says “ass” so many times. Odd how it still only barely does it justice.

HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM

BREAKING NEWS: Bobby Brown’s Sister Sold the Whitney Casket Photos!

                                                                              
FOLLOW EFREM ON TWITTER!

BREAKING: Whitney Houston Casket Case: Bobby Brown’s Sister Sold the Photos

According to Rollingoutmag.com It is now being reported that both Whitney Houston’s family and the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J., have identified the person who leaked the photos to the National Enquirer as Bobby Brown’s sister, Tina.

Reports are floating around that Tina had the means, the motive and the access to commit this act. However, the Houston family has yet to confirm any reports either way. It’s being said that the reason the Houston’s stopped the internal investigation is because they know who did it. Whether or not they confirm that it is Tina, or “out” the person who did it, remains to be seen.

This is surely going to add to the already tensions between the 2 families. It is reported that the person was paid somewhere in the 250,000 to 500,000$ range. However funeral owner Carolyn Whigham who has always denied her or her employees had anything to do with it. Now is considering legal action over the way her business was treated regarding this situation. 
Story is still developing!

Was George Junius Stinney executed in the U.S. at 14??

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DEATH ROW DISASTER? Was the youngest person to be executed in the U.S. for the murder of two white girls innocent? 

He stood just 5ft 1in, weighing only 95 pounds and when police led George Junius Stinney to the death chamber in 1944 he was, at the age of 14, the youngest person to be executed in the U.S.
He was so small that large books had to be placed on the seat so his head could reach the electrodes.
Stinney, of Alcolu, South Carolina, was convicted of murdering two white girls after police said he confessed to the murders.
But now a lawyer is determined to prove Stinney was innocent and is calling Claredon County district attorney in South Carolina to reopen the case.
The two girls who died were eleven year-old Betty June Binnicker and 8-year-old Mary Emma Thames.

THE CASE FOR STINNEY

South Carolina attorney Steve McKenzie believes George Junius Stinney was innocent because there was no physical evidence tying him to the murders.
The 14-year-old's confession was coerced, Mr McKenzie adds. There has even been a suggestion that he was told he could have ice cream if he confessed.

Mr McKenzie points out that there were no witnesses to his confession, only police officers were present.
He added that there is nothing to indicate guilt and that, in a town where whites and blacks were separated by the railroad tracks, Stinney did not stand a chance in a case involving two white girls with an all-white jury.
They went missing one day after they were riding their bikes while looking for flowers on the wrong side of the tracks in a small working class town of Alcolu.
At that time whites and blacks were separated by railroad tracks.
The girls were later found dead in a ditch, murdered with a railroad spike, thegrio.com reports. 

Stinney joined the search crew and happened to tell a bystander that he had seen the girls earlier that day.
The police were informed of that and Stinney was arrested for the double murder.
He brought into the station for hours of tough interrogation, without either of his parents being there.

Reports claim the police offered Stinney ice cream if he confessed to them that he committed the double murder.
Stinney verbally confessed and to this day there is no written record of his confession in the archives.
There is no physical evidence linking Stinney to the murder and no record on paper of Stinney's conviction.
'There was only a coerced confession. An oral confession testified to two white officers and told to an all white male jury.'South Carolina attorney Steve McKenzie says he believes the case should be reopened because of the lack of evidence or archived material.

Mr McKenzie hopes attorney general Ernest 'Chip' Finney, will agree to file a motion to re-open the case by the end of this year.
He argues that Stinney was an 'easy target' and was used as a 'scapegoat' by police who wanted to quickly find and punish anyone they could tie to the murders.
Mr Mckenzie told thegrio.com: 'Stinney was a convenient target.
'But how do you exonerate somebody where there is absolutely no evidence one way or the other?
'There was only a coerced confession. The confession was never written. It was an oral confession testified to two white officers and told to an all white male jury.'
He believes, however, the complete lack of evidence will exonerate Stinney of the murders once and for all.
Death Row inmate is executed ... 33 years after he was convicted of killing police officerA 61-year-old man was executed on Wednesday evening - more than 33 years after being convicted of killing a police officer.

Manuel Valle, 61, died by lethal injection ain Florida State Prison in Raiford.
Jeneane Skeen and Lisa Pena, the two daughters of murder victim Louis Pena, hugged and cried after the brown curtain to the death chamber was closed.
Mr Pena was shot and killed by Valle in April 1978, during a traffic stop.

Miss Skeen said: 'For 33 years, people have asked us if the death penalty will give us closure. We finally got revenge on the low-life piece of human waste that murdered our father.'
Miss Skeen was 13 years old when her father was killed, gainsville.com reports.
She and Lisa Pena wore pins bearing their father’s face.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said Valle was 'polite and compliant' leading up to his execution.
Valle, who was pronuonced dead 20 minutes after he was given the first drug, was the first Florida prisoner executed using a new lethal mix of drugs.
Previously, officials had used sodium thiopental for executions.

Now, executions are administered using pentobarbital, despite concerns that it prolongs the death process…..

A DAMN SHAME IF YOU ASK ME!