Ramble On... no, Rumble On.

Peace on Earth and Goodwill Towards Men.

Don't you wish you had thought of that line?

Well, if you're a law-maker in Seoul, Korea, you might have a different viewpoint and a very different motto.

How about? If I don;t get my way, get ready to RUMMMBLLLLLLLLLLE.

Check this out:



Seems that the gloves dropped after a heated debate about proposed media laws for South Korea. Here's the WSJ take on the story:

SEOUL -- The National Assembly passed three bills to modernize South Korea's media industry, including allowing companies to own both broadcast and print properties. The voting, which took place Wednesday amid fistfights and shouting matches among lawmakers, capped months of acrimony over the measures.

The bills -- which must be signed by President Lee Myung-bak to become law -- set the stage for the government to privatize its media properties, which include three of the nation's four broadcast television networks, the Yonhap news agency and 24-hour cable news channel. The government hasn't announced sale plans.

NEWS ITEM #2: What would Della Wear? "Sports Leagues Sue Delaware"

Just to be sure you saw this one... and please be sure that you realize that this story ran the same weekend that the WNBA was playing its All-Star Game at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino - which has a race book, not a sports book AND the USA Basketball Senior National team, composed of ALL NBA players, was training at the sports gambling capital of the world in Las Vegas and staying at The Wynn which was taking action on all sports, including the WNBA, NBA and international hoops. Also, be sure to note the last graph about Montana, too.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA sued Delaware Friday, seeking to block the state from implementing sports betting.

Delaware's sports betting plan "would irreparably harm professional and amateur sports by fostering suspicion and skepticism that individual plays and final scores of games may have been influenced by factors other than honest athletic competition," the leagues and NCAA said in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware.

Congress banned sports betting in 1992 while grandfathering four states -- Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon -- that had already offered it. But the lawsuit argues that Delaware's plan to allow single-game betting would violate the legislation because Delaware has never offered single-game betting before.

Under the '92 law, the leagues and NCAA said, a state like Delaware may only reintroduce the kind of sports betting that it had offered between 1976 and 1990.

They also argued that Delaware's plan is illegal because it allows betting on all sports, going beyond the professional football betting program that constituted the state's brief failed experiment in 1976.

The suit was filed by Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and the NCAA. The NFL has led the effort against Delaware's plans, consistent with its long-held opposition to gambling on its games.

A spokesman for Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Joe Rogalsky, said in a statement that the sports betting plan "will help pay for our core government services like our teachers and police and will also create new jobs in our state."

He said that the state invited the NFL to sit down and share their concerns.

"They decided instead to sue," Rogalsky said.

NFL Vice President Joe Browne said that the league is sensitive to economic issues in Delaware and other states. He said that the NFL wrote to Markell on April 7, telling him the league would be willing to discuss ways to help close the state's budget gap -- "short of using our games as betting vehicles."

According to Browne, Markell responded five weeks later "that he was signing legislation that day which, in effect, uses our games as betting vehicles."

In his statement, Rogalsky also noted that the state asked for an advisory opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court.

In May, that court ruled that the state law allowing sports betting didn't conflict with the state constitution, but the justices also said, "we cannot opine on the constitutionality of single game bets."

State officials hope to have the sports betting in place for this year's NFL regular season in September.

Two of the other grandfathered states have faced resistance on the issue as well.

In 2005, the Oregon Legislature voted to get rid of its state-sponsored sports betting game, in which gamblers place wagers on NFL games, after the NCAA, because of its antigambling stance, had refused to hold basketball tournament games in the state.

Meanwhile in Montana, state and University of Montana officials are working to prove to the NCAA that the state's legalized betting on fantasy sports leagues doesn't violate the NCAA's stance against wagering on the outcome of sporting events. The NCAA has said the University of Montana should not have been allowed to host football playoff games last season because the state allows a form of sports gambling. In a recent letter to the NCAA, the state's attorney general, Steve Bullock, said that Montana's gambling laws prohibit wagering on the outcome of athletic events.

NEWS ITEM #3: Safe Bet?

Speaking of gambling, USA Basketball is on the ground in Las Vegas with their USA mini-camp and the WNBA is making the Mohegan Sun the capital of the Women's basketball world at the casino hotel resort in the CT woods, so you wonder what the opposition is in Delaware, eh?

The next thing you know, they'll be laying odds on who makes the USA team or playing a Connecticut state lottery on the WNBA All-Stars? See this question to Coach K after the second day of the USA mini-camp try-out? "Is Kevin Durant a "safe bet" to make the next USA senior national team?

"Is there a safe-bet in Vegas? I don't know about that. Obviously though, he's world-class talent with a world-class attitude. So a very unique player, a perimeter player at 6-11. I was impressed with his defense yesterday. One thing that we tried to with the last team and going forward is to have length. We may not have all the bulk, but if we have length that's a huge thing for us, and obviously he gives us good length. Q- Many of these players are 20 or 20 years old. Does help create a foundation for USA Basketball past 2012? Coach K: "That's what this is about. It's not just for '10 and '12. Some of these guys are 21, 22 years old. I mean, they might be on the teams in '10 and '12, but certainly they are the future of USA Basketball if you get them indoctrinated into this. Q- Is the talent here at mini-camp an example of USA Basketball regaining its prestige? Coach K: "I think it just says a lot for United State basketball, and the teamwork that the NBA has with USA Basketball I think is critical. It's critical. Jerry with his experience, obviously, on the board of governors and (as an) owner - this is a great growth time while Jerry is in charge. His is the most critical position." Coach K on USA Managing Director Jerry Colangelo: "He gives a certain level, a high level of respect for the program, which, if you are going to allocate resources to a program, you want to know that he resources are going to be well taken care of. And these are the resources of the NBA. When they are with USA Basketball, they need to be well taken care of. The NBA is part of USA Basketball, but obvious the relationship between the two is critical, and that's where he comes in."

Randy Smith... May You Rest in Peace, my friend and colleague

When it came time to pay tribute to NBA great randy Smith, no writer could've possibly paid respects from the fans, media and league office better than former Newsday NBA reporter Jerry Sullivan, now a great columnist for the Buffalo News. Here's to randy via my buddy, Jerry:

***

"People regarded Smith with a mixture of affection and awe. He was, at once, the most remarkable athlete they ever saw and the most humble, genuine guy they ever knew."

Randy Smith: The essential Brave

APPRECIATION: Athletic guard combined style with humility, drawing the love of his teammates and Buffalo fans

By Jerry Sullivan

Durie Burns has done a lot of crying the past few days, a lot of laughing, too. It's the same for Bob McAdoo, and John Hummer, and anyone else who was lucky enough to know Randy Smith well. The emotions run deep. The memories are vivid and eternally young, like Randy. That's why it's so difficult to fathom that the former Buffalo Braves star is really gone, dead of a heart attack at 60.

Oh, and the stories. Burns will be telling them all this week, when he gets to North Carolina for his best friend's funeral. Actually, Smith was more like a brother to Burns, who starred with him on those great Buffalo State basketball teams of the early '70s.

"Randy was the most unselfish person I ever met in my life," Burns said Saturday from his home in Florida. "When I came back from the military, he was the star at Buffalo State. For the first six or seven games, all the write-ups were about Randy Smith, Randy Smith. Before the next game, he came to me and said, "You're playing great and no one knows it. We need to get you some publicity.'"

So Smith shaved his buddy's head. He told Burns to look mean on the court. The next game, Burns was the leading scorer. The headlines in the next day's paper read: "Burns shaves head to play mean and beef up Buff State."

"The point is, it wasn't about Randy," Burns said. "It was about his love for basketball. He was not seeking fame. He told me he would play for free."

People regarded Smith with a mixture of affection and awe. He was, at once, the most remarkable athlete they ever saw and the most humble, genuine guy they ever knew. At Buffalo State, Smith was an All-American in basketball, soccer and track. The 6-foot-3 guard was a tireless worker who developed from a raw seventh-round NBA draft pick to an All-Star who averaged more than 20 points a game four years in a row in his prime.

Hummer, an original Brave, played two seasons with Smith and recalled him as a fun-loving free spirit who earned the nickname "Two Till" because he'd often show up two minutes before the start of practice.

"He was the best athlete I ever played with at any level," Hummer said. "But more importantly, he had the sweetest soul. He didn't have a mean-spirited bone in his body. I can't believe he's gone. I always thought of him as indestructible."

At a certain age, you grow accustomed to losing old friends. But Smith was a physical marvel. Former Braves coach Jack Ramsay said he never coached a better athlete. Smith held the NBA record for consecutive games played with 906 until A.C. Green broke it in 1997. Smith had a warrior's heart. How could it give out this way?

"He was the Iron Man," McAdoo said from Florida, where his 12-year-old daughter was competing in a tennis tournament. "He never missed practice, never missed games. He was happy all the time. I never saw Randy with a frown on his face. It didn't seem like he had a lot of stress in his life."

Ernie DiGregorio shared a backcourt with Smith. By a twist of fate, he and Smith became celebrity hosts at Connecticut casinos — Ernie D. at Foxwoods, Smith at the Mohegan Sun, which is where he collapsed and died Thursday. They saw each other frequently, played golf and shared fond memories of the Braves, the Aud, and the adoring Buffalo fans.

"When we played, there was probably a little rivalry," DiGregorio said from his home in Providence, R.I. "You know how it goes. He thought I took too many shots. I thought he took too many. But we were really good friends the last 14 years.

"He was in great shape, that's why it's so shocking. At 60, he could run up and down the court and play a game. How many 60-year-olds can do that?"

DiGregorio said the Braves had to run a mile in under six minutes at the start of training camp. He used to practice in the summer. One year, he was leading the pack when this blur came flying by. It was Smith. Hummer remembers a mile run when Smith lapped the field. It was a four-lap race.

"And as I recall," Hummer said, "he wasn't even breathing hard."

McAdoo said Smith was "the absolute fastest runner" he ever saw on a basketball court. This from a man who played with the Showtime Lakers in the 1980s.

Burns, who was one of Smith's college roommates (Smith invited him to move in when Burns came back from the military), recalled a time when three roommates challenged each other to find out who was fastest.

"It was midnight," Burns said, laughing. "On Eastwood Place. Randy took two steps and was gone. Oh man, I've never seen anyone faster. Two steps and he was at full speed."

Smith blew by the best of them: Walt Frazier, John Havlicek, Julius Erving. There's a YouTube video of his performance in the 1978 All-Star Game, when he won MVP. Smith was at the peak of his powers. It was the year he averaged 24.6 points a game.

"Here's a little-known story," Burns said. "I called Randy from Detroit the Friday before that game. He said, "Man, my jumper is smoking. I think I can win MVP.' I said, "That's why I called you, because I think so, too.'"

That was also the final year of the Braves in Buffalo. Smith's All-Star Game show was the last great moment in the team's history, a day when Smith elevated to a higher level, in the company of legends.

It's eerie how things work out. The Aud is coming down. Last month, Lockport native Tim Wendel published a coffee table history of the Braves. Wendel said Smith was his most reliable resource among the former players, the one with the strongest ties to the community. Now he's gone.

"Randy called himself "The Last of the Mohicans,'" Wendel said. "He was there to the end. He was the last Brave, the soul of that team. We didn't put him on the cover of that book because it was a nice photo."

McAdoo was "The Man," but Smith was the essential Brave, the "Buffalo guy." Oh, he was a star, a man about town. He dressed the part. But he kept a genuine human quality, an ability to connect with common people. Buffalo fans love an athlete for that. Smith embraced them in kind. It's a common misperception that Smith was from Buffalo. He was a native North Carolinian who grew up in Bellport, Long Island.

Reggie Witherspoon, the UB coach, was among a legion of kids who came of age during the Braves' run in the '70s. Witherspoon got to know Smith later in life, when he helped run the Randy Smith Summer League. He traveled to three All-Star weekends with Smith and was struck by the affection for him among the NBA crowd.

"Everybody loved him," Witherspoon said. "From Jordan to Julius to everyone in between.

"He loved Buffalo," Witherspoon said. "He wasn't born here, so he took nothing for granted. I asked him how he wound up at Buff State. He said, "Michigan State, Buffalo State, what's the difference?' He said he just wanted to go someplace where he could compete.

"Randy had an incredible balance of flamboyance and humility. You saw pictures of him with the platform shoes and big hair, sitting on a Rolls. But he wasn't really that way. That's why everyone connected to him."

Burns said Smith came to town to play golf one day. Smith drove down the street in a Rolls Royce and a bunch of kids came running up for autographs. He began signing, but time grew short. He told the kids he'd be back in five or six hours.

"We got back home and there was a knock at the door," Burns said. "The kids were there. He signed every one. That's the kind of guy he was. He took it as a privilege to be a pro, not something he was entitled to."

Smith never forgot how lucky he was to be an athlete in this town. Teams might leave town, but those kind of players stay in the hearts of Buffalo fans forever.

"Randy didn't have any artifice to him," Hummer said. "There was nothing that wasn't real about him, not one thing. Let's face it, people like that are very rare."

jsullivan@buffnews.com